Weekend at Grammy and Pop's

This past weekend, we traveled to visit my parents for my dad's big 50th birthday bash. Oddly enough, Josh and my dad have the exact same birthday, just 20 years apart. Josh was turning the big 3-0 and Dad was turning half a century (that makes him sound like a geezer!). We left Saturday morning after Eli's mid-morning bottle and just like we thought he would, he went right to sleep and slept the entire 3 1/2 hours to my parents house. He's such a great traveler!

We got there and it was time for Eli to have some lunch before he went swimming. I attempted feeding him in my old high chair again, but as you can see, he decided to make it a challenge for me. I guess standing up and eating was much more fun for him! What you don't see however, is the picture of what the kitchen looked like after his little hand slapped the bowl out of my hand and landed all over Grammy's brand new kitchen cabinets. He was quite happy with himself; Mommy laughed, but didn't enjoy the clean up very much.

Messy boy!

After his lunch, we got him ready for the pool. The glasses we bought the last time we were in Shreveport are no longer working now that he has figured out how to yank them off the minute I put them on him. I think we're going to have to invest in some Baby Banz-glasses with a band that fits around the baby's head like ski goggles-if he spends lots of time in the pool these next few years.

"I'm ready for the pool!"

Grammy bought Eli a little float to help keep the sun off his head, but Eli is against leaning back and relaxing in the pool, so I had to help shade him the whole time he was in the pool. Eventually, he got tired of the confinement and I let him out to swim with Mommy for a little bit. Don't worry, he was coated in baby sunscreen!

Mom and Dad love animals and have even acquired another one...my brother, Caleb, adopted this black lab named Meg, and she has joined the other fur kids. She loved jumping in the pool and fetching this giant frisbee. After a couple of dives, she decided to get out and see if Eli would throw her frisbee for her. Unfortunately, his hand-eye coordination skills aren't quite that develped yet, so she had to settle on just sniffing him a little. He was taken by surprise as you can tell.

"Who's sniffing me?"

It wasn't too long, before Eli was tired of the pool. One of mom's friends gave her these little kid loungers for Eli, so we wrapped him up tight in his towel and let him chill by the pool for a little bit. He loved watching Uncle Caleb and the fur kids, Sophie, Annabelle, Max, and Meg, swim in the pool. He thought that was great fun, especially while chewing on his sunglasses. Can you tell we're still teething?

"Ugh, Mommy! Take these off me!"

After relaxing a little bit, he got in the pool for one more dip with Uncle Caleb. By this time, he was so tired and was ready for a nap, so he didn't stay in long at all. He did have quite a surprise when the fur kids jumped in to see what Caleb was holding. He wanted out of the pool quickly after that. After some good lovin' from Mommy, he was ready to go in and take his nap. He knew he needed to be well rested for Pop's big birthday bash in a couple of hours.

Swimming with Uncle Caleb

The fur kids checkin' out Eli

"Get me outta here!"

Laughing at Daddy behind Mommy

Chillin' by the pool

Safe and snug in Mommy's arms

Eli took a long nap and was in a great mood when the guests started arriving for Pop's 50th birthday celebration. Dad got lots of great gifts, some gag gifts (that he'll probably actually use!), and lots of fun wishes for the next 50 years. Everyone had a great time! Josh and Joshua, my brother, manned the grill for the party and grilled some very tasty chicken and burgers. Those that were brave enough had some crawfish. I'm normally a huge crawfish lover, but these crawfish were the hottest crawfish my mouth has ever tasted. Josh peeled me some (I couldn't touch them since I was holding Eli...hot spicy crawfish and babies don't mix well) and after about 3 I couldn't feel my tongue anymore. That was the end of the crawfish for me! Eli enjoyed being passed around to meet all Grammy and Pop's friends, but in the end he decided he'd spend the rest of the night in Daddy's arms before turning in for the night.

Dad's walker

Joshua and Josh manning the grill

Eli and I bringing Pop his special cane

Showing off his special cane in honor of his 50th birthday.
It squeaked every time it touched the ground.

Eli and Josh

The HUGE universal remote control that Mom gave him as a gag gift
that he actually programmed to use.
I guess he really did need it!

Lots of old people humor in this book...

Every handyman's dream card--a gift card to Lowe's

Cool clothes for a cool Dad/Grandpa

Dad's first letter from the AARP

We all came inside once the mosquitoes made their appearance (gotta love Louisiana!) and Josh opened his birthday gifts. He got several gift cards that I think he's planning on using for some much needed golfing supplies. It was such a great night. I'm so glad we were able to spend it with family and friends.

Josh with all his birthday cards

The next morning, Grandma came down to visit before she headed off to work. Eli loved on her and gave her kisses before she left. Then he decided it was time to check out Pop's computer. At home, he's never allowed on ours, but you know that grandbabies are allowed to do whatever they want at the grandparents house, so he had free reign. He hit the keys and slapped the screen and had a grand time surfin' the net.

Eli and Grandma

Surfin' the net

Chillin' on the couch with Grammy

Before too long, it was time for our family to load up the car and get ready to leave. We all loaded up in the car and headed to Posados for some yummy Mexican food before getting on the road for the trip home. Eli was such a big boy and sat in his high chair the entire time we were there. He didn't even fuss until about 10 minutes before it was time for us to go. It was great! Maybe we can actually start to venture out to restaurants again now :)

Sitting in his high chair like a big boy.

Grammy and Pop tried to tempt Eli with some ice cream, but he wasn't having any part of it. He remembered that Dr. Russ told him no cow's milk until he was 12 months, so he showed some incredible willpower and resisted the ice cream cone. Mommy, Daddy, Grammy and Pop didn't show as much willpower though, and all made sure to get their free soft serve vanilla cone before leaving. Pigs, I know! I'm sure Eli will be joining us in a few months. Our whole family loves ice cream, so I don't see why he is going to be any different.

It was such a great weekend and Eli did very well on the ride home, too. He slept most of the way and the rest of the time he played with some of his toys and books. It was a fun weekend, but a busy one and we were glad when we finally made it home. As Dorothy says, "There's no place like home!"

Eli being tempted to eat ice cream (not really, they were just playing)
I told them that they can take him to Dairy Queen
on his first birthday if they want though :)