Destino's Family Vacation

Here's us on the Destino Family Vacation.  Sometimes it feels like the Lampoons.  :) 

Art and Ppapa Jim on the porch.

It was warm so he enjoyed wandering around in a diaper.

We are enjoying some time on the boat.

Art getting some sunscreen put on.   Gotta avoid the rays!

If we were near the water, Art was in the lifejacket.  He didn't like this rule.

This is him at the dock.  Just a few minutes from dreamland.

As soon as we left the dock, he passed out.  I guess it was the hum of the engine. My arm was tired after the ride.

And he's alert again.  My two Spikes

Papa Jim spiked his hair up.

Art loves dry land.  We were hanging out on the dock and eating snacks.

Mmmm, Italian cookies

Perfect for two Italian babies

Art enjoyed the cookies, but wanted peanut butter.

Caught with his hand in the pretzel container.

Of course, Jim's econo tours had a coffee stop built into the schedule. We are enjoying a beverage outdoors before we started our day.

Birthday Party--Take 1

The weekend of Arthur's birthday, we had our Destino family reunion in Mooresville, NC at my aunt and uncle's house on Lake Norman.  It was awesome to celebrate with all of the family.   

Here he is in his 12 month fancy birthday outfit. I guess it is supposed to fit a child that is a little larger than the 25th percentile for height and weight.

Here is my birthday cake to Art.  (Brian made a different one a little later on.)

Here were some leftover cupcakes so we got a little creative.

Party favors fit for a weekend on the lake.

They were very useful.

My fantastic cake decorators, Lauren, Dana, and Kristin

Here he is opening his gifts.

He needed a bit of help because he didn't know what he was doing.

We are singing to him.  It looks like he is excited about the cake.

This is what he looked like after cake. Seriously...

He was NOT at all interested in eating his cake.  I even tried putting some on his lips and he wanted no part of it.  He turned away and wailed.  I guess he was worn out.  I was hoping for the smash cake experience on his first birthday, but I should have been happy he refused the sugar. 

This picture makes up for it.  Rowan loved the cake (or maybe just the icing).

My Review of Phil & Teds Metoo Chair - Red

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

Phil & Teds Metoo Chair in Red is surely the world's smallest folding highchair. Metoo brings more to the table! Flat packing portability: the perfect on-the-go feed companion for a phil&teds inline buggy (fits perfectly in your stroller basket). Ideal for children sitting up on the...

Phil & Teds Metoo Chair - Red

Easy to Use and Travel With

By Mom of 1 year hold from Marietta, GA on 8/29/2010

 

4out of 5

Pros: Easily Stowed, Portable, Lightweight, Stylish

Cons: Hard To Clean

Best Uses: At Home, Baby Seats, Travel

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent

We have used this product since my little one was able to sit up. It has been fantastic for keeping him close to the table at mealtimes. He feels like he is part of the action during dinner. We also bring this with us to restaurants so we know it is clean an sanitary. It fits into a messenger bag with his other feeding supplies.

The only issue with it now is that it is difficult to clean. We have to remove it from the table and wipe it down in the sink. The cloth part does not come off of the frame so it has to be handwashed. It would be fantastic if Phil and Ted's created a cover for it.

(legalese)

Cousin Rivalry?

My brother's family moved to Arkansas, but Rowan was in town visiting for a few weeks since Dana had some time off. They are cute together.  Watch out in a few years, Rowan!

This is a little different than 11 months ago, isn't it?

Wagon Wheels

Art received lots of presents through the mail.  Thank you everyone!  Here is one of the first ones we received while we were at home. 

He loves pushing the wagon around and loves riding in it.  He always has the biggest smile on his face when he gets strapped in.  I like to pull him around the house.

Slacker!

Sorry to keep everyone in suspense with year 2 of Arthur's life.  It has been crazy so far and I haven't had time to sit down and type.  I will get better. I promise!

We have been vacationing for what seems like 3 weeks so I will start from where I left off.  It will be a little old, but you can see what we've been up to!

We have a walker!

Well, he has been walking for about 2 weeks now, but boy, is he getting good!  A few weeks ago, he started taking a few steps, but got lazy, would sit down, and just crawl.  When he saw Rowan walking (she was visiting), he had to walk too and kept trying. 

Now, he zooms all over the house!

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

What a whirlwind of a year it has been.  I can't believe that 1 year ago, Art was given to us.  He is such a precious gift and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. 

Some Housework

If you are reading this blog, you pretty much know that our house is on the market. We were coming to an end with the contract with our agent so we decided to take it off the market for now.  Brian and I thought of staying, but we are too excited with the option of moving closer to his work.

We will make a few repairs and then put it back on the market in about 2 months. 

Here is the first of our repairs.  We have had some sewer issues with the house and have been band-aiding the issue for a few years now.  We finally bit the bullet as people would say and invested in a major home repair. 

We had roots growing in one of our pipes which caused it to run slower.  Well, by slower, it actually backed up into our home.  This is when we found out about the issue.  We previously had the pipe snaked, but had to hire someone to dig up the pipe and repair the joints.

This was our front yard on Friday.

I was shocked that one of the tools for the job was a backhoe.  Our yard is torn up.  You can see the pipe poking through in this picture.

One of the culprits.  We had two sections of pipe that needed repair. This looks like a huge hairball, but is actually roots from our tree. Ahhh, nature.  

Our large gaping hole. 

Here's the new pipe.

What our yard looks like under the hay and grass seed. Here's to hoping the Bermuda seed will take quickly. 

It was so sad to see our beautiful grass dug up, but Lenny and Tony at Majestic Plumbing did a fantastic job.  They were out there during a hot summer day and were very pleasant to work with.  Hopefully the grass will grow in quickly so we can put it back on the market.   

HappyTuesday!

I haven't been so great at posting this past week, but here's what we have been up to.  I'm not sure where all the time is going!

We went to a family reunion for my mom's side of the family in Covington, GA.  This is where we frequently visit and you see pictures. My uncle has a pool so the kids are getting some good use.

We didn't bring Arthur's suit, but his second cousin, Lily, let him use one of her Little Mermaid swim diapers.  You can imagine how thrilled Brian was to see his little boy in pink.  Art didn't care because he was happy enough to be able to swim!

We had a friend come over with her baby to chat one afternoon.  This is Art and Logan.  Logan is just about 9 months old.  

Logan and Art cruising around.

Dana came into town with Rowan.  We took a trip to Sam's Club where they have the double children's seats in the carts.  You may recall an earlier picture where they were side by side. 

Art is a terrible shopping buddy now.  I think our days of visiting the grocery store and Target are long gone.  In a trip to Target last week, Art was able to turn around in the seat while buckled.  He had a knee in the seat nd started to cry because he was uncomfortable.  It took everything just to keep him occupied in there.

We did an hour or so at the pool one day.  The neighborhood pool was not refreshing at all because it has been so hot.  It felt like icky bath water.

A trip to the pool constitutes a bath. They didn't have too much fun together.  I was expecting lots of playtime.  Art wanted to crawl out of the tub instead. 

I let Arthur feed himself applesauce with a spoon. You can imagine how much actually went in his mouth.  It basically coated the spoon.

He was hot and sweaty after walking to pick up his first birthday outfit.  I let him roam around the house with just a diaper on.