Our Wonderful Family Vacation

We just got back from a fabulous 6-day family vacation. Carter is fast asleep in bed, Dave is doing homework, so I thought, well, I might as well blog about our trip now, before reality sets in tomorrow. I had a lot of apprehension about this vacation because we would be spending a lot of time driving in the car and I wasn't sure how Carter would behave. Honestly, the most difficult part of the journey was before we left--I couldn't believe how long it took to pack and we BARELY fit everything into Dave's Altima. Is it possible that we need a  minivan as a family of three?! Our first part of the trip was spent in Mammoth. On the way up there, we stopped at a gas station to feed Carter. I said to Dave, "It would be really nice if there was a park where we could feed Carter." We looked across the street and lo and behold--a park!

We arrived in Mammoth and stayed at the Westin, which was lovely. There was NO ONE in Mammoth! It was completely dead which was actually kind of nice--everyone in the hotel was super nice to us and very attentive. The weather was beautiful and we walked around the village and ate a great Mexican dinner. We were only there for one night but kind of wished we could have spent more time there. Especially because the hotel was so great--we had a kitchen and a huge window seat. They put us on the top floor so the view was amazing. We loved cuddling as a family on the window seat.

This is the lobby of our hotel in Mammoth:

I had never been to Mammoth and just fell in love with it. I am already planning future vacations there! From Mammoth, we drove to South Lake Tahoe. It was SO beautiful! Dave had never been to Tahoe and I haven't been since I was a little kid (and I think it was during the winter). We went for a walk when we got there and realized how out of shape we both are as we huffed and puffed our way back up the hill (in our defense, the altitude there was much different than what we are used to!)

We spent a lot of time relaxing in the room. Dave and I managed to watch the entire season 2 of Dexter! Our room had two huge jacuzzis right in the middle of the room. Carter was in heaven when we filled the tub and let him play with his toys in the water. Dave was in heaven when he got to watch football on the big flatscreen TV while relaxing in the jacuzzi! We went to Harrah's casino for their buffet one night (I felt funny pushing a stroller through a casino!) and walked around the shops. We also took a big river boat called the Tahoe Queen around the lake. The boat was amazing and it was a wonderful ride (although it was 2 1/2 hours long, which we were not aware of until we boarded!) Thankfully Carter behaved--he loved looking out at the water and he even took a nap on the boat!

Our last day in Lake Tahoe was spent walking around the historic district where we got to walk down to the beach. Believe it or not, it was Carter's first time on a beach! It was so amazing... the scenery was so perfect it almost felt like we were walking through a painting.

We left Lake Tahoe and stopped at June Lake, where my family used to vacation when I was a kid. We used to eat at a place called the Tiger Bar (I even had a T-shirt from there) so I thought it would be fun to take Dave and Carter. We stopped for lunch and had a nice break.

 (I have no idea why this picture will not load vertically and am too tired to mess with it.)

We spent last night in Bishop, just to break up the drive a little bit. We stayed at a Best Western because it was cheap and we were in Bishop and basically just needed a place to stay for the night. We were so surprised! It was a great hotel! They had drinks and really good cookies when we arrived. We were right next door to a famous bakery (and brought home lots of treats!) They had a continental breakfast which was very yummy (fresh waffles, orange juice, and coffee.... my ideal breakfast!). The hotel had a creek that ran along the side of the hotel and there were fish and ducks and all sorts of stuff to look at:

The drive home today was the hardest--Carter was not happy to be in his carseat during playtime and Dave and I took turns sitting in the backseat trying to entertain him. And then we came home to over 100 degree weather when we had just spent a week in breezy, beautiful high 70s.... oh well. I guess it is back to reality for us. I loved the past week. It was great to spend time alone with my two favorite boys. Having Carter in our lives has made trips like this much different than our little weekend getaways as a couple but definitely just as enjoyable! He is such a sweet, happy, and silly little boy and everywhere we go, he is bombarded by people who are just enchanted by him. He is a little charmer.



Like Father Like Son

Dave's parents always tell me stories about how as a little boy, Dave would always take his clothes off. I have even seen cute pictures of this! Well apparently this trait was passed on to Carter. I ran upstairs for one second to get a drink and I came down and saw this:

I have no idea how my contortionist child managed to do this, as his pajamas are actually pretty snug at the top! (And how he managed to do it so quickly!) I was amazed and Carter was pretty proud of himself!



10 Months!

My little monkey is 10 months old today! And guess what present he got? His first TOOTH! Yes, it has FINALLY arrived, after months of waiting and waiting. He doesn't seem too pleased, poor thing. His gums are swollen and sore but you can see the shiny little tooth poking through and you can definitely feel it. Sigh... my little tiny baby boy is growing up.



Carter's Photo Shoot at Light Art Photography

Check out my adorable little boy:

http://lightart.us/slideshows/Hill_6M_Showit/

Family Time

Not much to update on but we've been spending a lot of time with family so I thought I'd lump it all together into one post. Carter went to the pediatrician for his 9 month checkup and he is still not on the growth chart for height or weight (he is only 15.2 lbs!) BUT his head is in the 50th percentile! I find this particularly amusing because my biggest concern when he was a preemie was how tiny his head was compared to other newborns. (It was about the size of my fist!) I couldn't imagine his head ever getting big enough to look normal--guess I was wrong! The pediatrician also said that although Carter is showing signs of teething, she doesn't predict any teeth coming in soon. Poor little guy. He is doomed to many more months of drooling and swollen gums.

Carter loves going to my mom's house because she always has some new toy or activity for him (see the bear pics below) and lately he is completely fascinated with Lily and Dexter (my mom's dogs).  He wants to grab them and give them kisses and gets frustrated when they walk away!

Carter's sweet Great-Grandma came to visit:

Carter still adores his Uncle Brian. Maybe it's because my brother is so loud/animated but Carter is completely mesmerized when Brian speaks. It is so cute. I even think they kind of look alike! Here they are at Rose's Cantina where we had a yummy lunch:

I think that Carter's favorite person is his Grandpa Frank --they spend lots of time together. They go to the park, watch TV, and play games. Here is a hilarious video of his Grandpa teaching him some boxing/wrestling skills: