Boston Family Vacation 2012

This all started a couple months back, Dad and Kelsi have a conversation.  It led to Kelsi planning an entire family vacation to fulfill my dad's want of going to Bryce Canyon. The family rented a little (and by little I mean not little at all, it sleeps 20 or something) cabin in Duck Village (?) near Panguitch Lake.

Thankfully, as I've said before, I have a dream child who was a CHAMP on the  5-6 hour drive.  He didn't even really sleep and wasn't really grumpy in the slightest.  He just talked to his dad on his phone, learned to "snap" his fingers, and ate food.

Kelsi, Chris and the two of us were the first ones there.  It was nice to do some relaxing right when we get there before the family fun began. The cabin was really nice.  Much better layout than the past cabins we've rented. Best part of the cabin was it's creek in the backyard, the hammocks on the back porch, and the wi-fi (how sad that I am that kind of girl now)

Day 2 was a near nightmare.  I'm not going to sugar coat it.  It was probably the most frustrating day I've had with Hudson ever.  The plan was Bryce Canyon- which is about an hour away from the cabin- Holy Smokes! Let me back track a little, before we left Logan, Hudson definitely had some sniffles.  I didn't think anything of it because I can see he is getting 4 (yes 4) new teeth, 2 of which are molars.  He had a runny nose then so why should I have worried over that.  Oh, he was MISERABLE.  The poor boy had a cold and I was completely helpless- I didn't drive there, there was no grocery store to buy cold medicine at- He seriously screamed (not exaggerating) for a good chunk of the morning.  Can you see in our faces that we're not ok? "Smile damnit" is what my face is saying to me.

I am actually glad I am a stubborn, not wanting to miss any of the action kind of gal because I finally strapped him the baby-to-go and all seemed to be well. If I had left, I wouldn't have been able to hike Bryce Canyon (with that extra 22 lbs) and see it.  He took a good snooze and all was well later that afternoon. 

 Day 3 was MUCH better.  My parents and I (with Hudson, just assume if I say I, I really mean the two of us) took a good walk and he took a long nap (we're still a week later thrown off of our napping schedule) and boy, that Huddy boy's attitude is much better with some sleep.

 Truth be told, I was a lazy son of a gun that day.  HA! It's vacation right?  At one point Audrey stayed back with Hudson and I at the cabin.  I think Hudson really loves having another kid to play with.  Besides when on Wednesday when he's at the babysitters, he doesn't get to see kids.  Do you see that face? He was so happy.  He even kept trying to kiss her.  But she was "too busy" for that.

 Day 4- We went bright and early to Cedar Breaks for a hike.  I don't really constitute what we did as a hike.  But it was beautiful and the girl ate a few too many Red Vines over the course of the trip so a walk did me some good.

 Later that afternoon we stopped by an animal museum.  I don't know what I was picturing, but what I saw wasn't it.  That was some ANIMALS.  Hudson loved it.  He loves saying what animals say right now- all of which say moo or rawr.

I took a lot of pictures for Daren because I felt that was something he would have loved to see.  I just knew you wouldn't want to see them so I cut it down to a few that I thought were kind of awesome.

 Hudson got to feed the deer.  He struggled with it but once they finally licked the corn out of his hand he squealed! And was done.  He definitely loved it.  But wanted to just "moo" with them rather than feed them.

 After that adventure, we headed to Mossy something or other.  It was a waterfall.  The trail was closed but some family members (not me) went off and made it to the waterfall.  It was getting super hot at that point to me.  I let Hudson go into the little stream for a second.  Bad idea, that boy is a fish I tell you. He was upset to not get back in.

 Day 5 was literally spent all day in the car. You would think with the lack of sleep Hudson got he'd want to sleep in the car.  Wrong!  I think Hudson and I are done with car trips for awhile.  Except, I do have to admit some of the best times were definitely had in the car- Cry Baby gum chewing, being stuck while they were herding their sheep, Atomic Fire Balls,  singing many great songs but mainly Coming to America.

And for your viewing pleasure, a video of my darling boy.  It really doesn't do it justice.  He loves electronics  and turning them on.  There was a cd player at the cabin with a delightful cd already in it.  It was a band (I had to do my research I didn't even know if it was just a mix that someone had named this) called Alter Bridge.  Oh my laws, my child loves heavy metal apparently.  Who doesn't love a good early morning dance party.  He was doing a bunch before I was able to hurry and grab my camera. 

15 Months

 I love having my phone attached to my hand, it makes it so I can take tons and tons of pictures.  I am so upset with myself for not being a better picture taker back in the day.  But I am grateful that I have the pictures that I do of Hudson.  You really do start to forget some of the little things.

Can you believe he is 15 months old? I was thinking about how silly my though process was when he was a baby.  Like how dramatic I was that I wasn't going to get a good night sleep for weeks (all 7 weeks of his waking up at night is NOTHING compared to the 65 weeks of his life) Or how I was just all sorts of anxious for him to be able to eat "real" food by the time he was 4 months.

 For the fourth of July I wasn't going to let Hudson stay up for the fireworks and just have a typical night.  But at the last minute decided why not let the dude watch his first fireworks.  I am SO glad I let him stay up to watch them.  He was mesmerized by them. Before the fireworks started we played some croquet. He was more intrigued by the ants and bugs then anything else.  He is all boy.

 We went for another hike, again I hope we can stick to it- I quite enjoy the fresh air.  It was much, much hotter this time.  And there were KAZILLIONS of cows. Hudson only knows one (ok maybe like 4 but the main one) animal noise...which is moo.  So, when they moo'd he'd join them.  It was just so darn adorable.  Then he'd even hit his chest and tell them to come here.  I was terrified they were going to charge us.  One almost trampled not bright silly Meli.

 Hudson had enough of the heat by the end...We couldn't make him happy.  He thankfully fell asleep in Daren's arms. I won't be doing that particular hike again. It was still great but the heat and cows were too much for this protective momma.

 We do lots of fun things during the day.  

We torture(not really) the dogs by putting them in the backpack leash. 

 We work so hard on our lap tops.

 Hudson had hair cut #3 I think it's the best one so far.  It was probably the first real legit hair cut he has had.  It is short and so boyish.  He lost most of his baby curls and I'm a little devastated.  I even joked about letting him have a little rat tail because I wasn't ready to part with that hair in the back.

 Went to the doctor today.  My little guy is just a tiny squirt.  Who would ever have thought this boy was a gigantic 9 pound baby.  Ok, who am I kidding his head is still "large" 93%.  And who knows where he got his "height" from- 78%.  His 22 pound weight puts him in at a whopping 18%.

Am I a mean mom for taking a picture post shots? Probably so.  I couldn't comfort him he was just screaming SO loud.  I have NEVER seen him the way he was after his shots.  He didn't want that sucker(not at first anyway...) and I couldn't even get his clothes on.  He just wanted to get the heck out of there.  He cried for almost 2 hours after.  He didn't want to be set down.  He just wanted to be in my arms...something in which this mom won't complain about EVER.

Nobody Likes A Girl In A Hamster Ball

 OK, so remember that fitness challenge I posted about? And not knowing the winner? Well, I still don't know the winner.  I shouldn't let it get me down but I am.  However,  to reward myself I bought myself some snazzy new shoes.  Awesome right? Regardless of if I won or not, I haven't bought a new pair of running shoes since 10th grade (almost 10 years ago HA!)

 This particular relaxing moment was actually the first time Hudson calmed down all day.  He is glued to Michael Jackson music videos.  I love that the boy would rather watch that dvd than any other one in the collection.  I love the way he comes and just sits on my lap to watch it. As long as we bypass Thriller he's happy, the werewolf definitely scares him.   His current favorite videos are Man in the Mirror and You Are Not Alone.  Oh, just adorable.

 The family of 5 went on a 5 mile walk the other moment.  It has been such a long time since I hiked! I loved it more than I thought I would.  It was so relaxing!

 Hudson was content on Daren's chest and holding onto the camelback. I really didn't know how he would react during the hike and was absolutely prepared to turn around at any moment. He got a little tuckered out near the end.

 I just love this boy.  I don't know what I would do without him.  He definitely tries my patience each and every day but it makes the random kisses, tight hugs and choosing to snuggle instead of run around all the more special.

 Oh yeah, and it was annual swim night! We usually end up with some crummy weather but it was perfect! That heat wave was wonderful for a good ol' swim night.  Hudson still isn't too sure of a pool.  Dude may love little pools and sprinklers but large pools are not his favorite.  One day he'll like it.

Oh my laws, that picture is my favorite thing I have seen in a long time.  He exploded worse than he has in a long time on the way to my parents house for Sunday dinner the other night.  And go figure, me being optimistic I didn't put a change of clothes in the diaper bag.  Which meant he got to wear AJ's too small shirt.  Then to add to the awesomeness,  he insisted on wearing the Mr. Potato Head glasses.  Oh this boys little personality is a hoot.  Keeps me on my toes.