Catching Up.

Things have been busy busy for the Boyds lately... Before John headed off to Japan we made our yearly trek out to Boyd Orchards (no relation) to search out the perfect pumpkin and of course get the first REAL apples of the season for some apple pie! We had a fantastic time because this year our great friends Kim and Andrew got to come along! Jack had the best time exploring the pumpkin patch with his buddy Andrew! The hit of the day was definitely playing in the dirt - lots and lots of dirt! The boys were covered head to toe! It was a great day to spend with the family before John headed out.
Before taking him to the airport we got to go to a fantastic brunch at Kathie's so Jack got to see his big cousin (and idol) Aiden, and the distraction was quite welcomed! We got John off and just kept busy the whole week... We had Great Aunt Anne, Grandma, Grandpa, Ben and Josh over for dinner on Sunday, we went to dinner at Mary's on Monday, Tuesday we met Kathie, Emma and Aiden at Fazolis for dinner, Wednesday Grandpa, Ben, and Josh came over... Whew! And there was still more to do!!
On Friday we went to Cincinnati with Grandma, Meam, Julia and Bianca! What a fun trip! Jack had a blast swimming in the hotel pool and LOVE LOVE LOVED the zoo! We were all a bit disappointed that the giraffes were not there (they are redoing the exhibit) but that's okay - Jack loved watching the elephants throw dirt on their backs, and growling at the lions! He again was completely fascinated by the manatees and thought it was hilarious they were eating lettuce! He thought the peacock was about the coolest animal he's ever seen and loved going on the train ride through the zoo! We met my cousins up there and Jack thought it was pretty cool to eat lunch with the big boys (Drew and Zach) and loved getting the chance to meet Andy and Jen's new baby Nora - she is SO beautiful! It was a fantastic weekend!
We got to pick John up at the airport on Sunday and Jack is convinced that he saw "Daddy's plane" land and was so cute when John walked out to the car he insisted that he sit right next to him in the back! We missed John so much, but were very thankful for the busy week to distract us from him being gone!
So things are getting back to normal around the house - we're all ready for Halloween (I finished Jack's costume yesterday - it's so cute!!). Check back next week for pictures from the big night and check the photosite for some pictures from the pumpkin patch and zoo!
OH! I almost forgot to mention this: Jack can count to ten!!! I don't know what happened, but something just clicked!! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!!!!!!!!

Chicago!!!

We had a fantastic time on our weekend getaway to Chicago! It was a wonderful trip! Jack was amazing on the plane on the way up (even after having to get up at 4:45am to make it to the airport) and so good on the hour long train ride to the hotel! A dream child!! I think he could feel the excitement in the air! He didn't go back to sleep until much later in the morning when we were out exploring the city, but he was in a great mood and a happy boy the whole day! I think Big City life is in his future! Our hotel was right next to a fire station and he LOVED getting to look out our third story window and watch the fire trucks speed by - along with all the cabs, trolleys, and everything else that drove past! We took it easy on Friday and just walked around the area around our hotel and got lunch (while Jack took a cat nap) and then took him back to the hotel to swim for a while before catching a real nap before dinner - and he took a REAL nap - slept for about three hours!!! He was a dream during our very long dinner and loved walking around the streets of downtown Chicago with Daddy and Josh while waiting for our food to arrive! On Sat. we went to the Chicago Art Institute (after taking the VERY scenic route to get there) which Jack wasn't a HUGE fan of, but once we discovered they had a little library with blocks and a storytime he was much happier and John got to see all the fantastic Van Gogh's they had! Sat. night we went out for real Chicago style deep dish pizza, which Jack tolerated, but did not think was real pizza... Even so, he had a good time walking the streets with Daddy and Ben while we waited (and waited) for the food to arrive! Sunday was definitely the most fun for Jack! We went up to the Navy Pier and walked around before having lunch and then went to the Chicago Children's Museum! It was SO much fun and thank goodness I had his pjs in my backpack for the flight home because the child was SOAKED from head to toe (even with wearing the raincoat) in the water room! He had a blast!! I think the biggest hit though was a puddle that had developed on the floor from spilled water - he just kept running through it over and over - it wasn't until it had completely drained that he moved on to the other activities in the room! The journey home wasn't as pleasant as the trip there, but I suppose they never are... after only a 40 minute nap the almost five hours spent on my lap on the train in the airport or on the plane proved to be a bit much, but he took it in stride and didn't cause a scene! We thankfully were NOT the couple with the screaming child on the plane!! Check out the photo site for a TON of pictures from our trip and check below for a video of Jack playing in the water room at the Children's Museum!! It was such a fantastic time - Thank you Aunt Juanita for turning 90!!!!!

TWO Grandpas!!

What a fun week! Jack got to go up to visit his great grandparents on Tues. of last week and even though he thought that meant that he didn't have to sleep he had a fantastic time! We went with my dad so he thought it was just awesome that he had TWO grandpas! He kept saying "two pa-pas" over and over! It was so cute - he kept calling his Great Grandma "Mommy's Me-Maw." He had it all figured out! He was once again completely fascinated by his Great Grandpa and probably even more so this time as he discovered that Grandpa can play "Twinkle Twinkle" (Jack's favorite song) on the harmonica!! It was a great trip - we had so much fun!

We took it easy for the rest of the week (tried to catch up on all the missed sleep) and had a fantastic weekend! John took Jack for a long bike ride on Sat. - he was SO excited! He absolutely loves wearing his helmet - so much so that when we went for a run on Sunday he insisted on wearing it while in the jogger (weird kid, what can I say??). He got to play with Grandma on Sunday while John and I ran a few errands and Sunday night he got to see his Nan and Poppy! He's been so very fortunate to get so much time with his grandparents!

We're all ready for Jack's first plane ride this weekend! We're so excited for our trip to Chicago to celebrate Aunt Juanita's 90th B-day! Be sure to check back next week to see how it went! Check the photosite for some updated pictures from our trip up to the Great Grandparents and be sure to check the new link on the side - Jack's "cousin" (my cousin's son) has started up his own Blog! You ROCK Luke!!!! Have a great week!