California Trip

Last month we traveled to California to visit with Jonathan's sister and her family.  We had a lot of fun and it was filled with lots of "firsts" for Navy and Brighton.  Jonathan's parents and his youngest sister Michele went too.  We were so grateful to have extra hands to help with the kids. 

We arrived at the airport early, just in case anything unexpected came up--it did.  As we were in line to check-in, Jonathan realized he had left his ID at home.  Luckily his brother James was able to swing by our house, (after he dropped us off at the airport) grab Jonathan's ID and then bring it back to the airport.  Thank goodness we only live about 6 minutes from the airport. 

Here we are arriving at the airport: 

This was Navy and Brighton's first time flying.  Navy was really excited!  She did very well on our first flight from Evansville to Detroit.  Brighton did really well too.  Overall, flying with a 10 month old wasn't as bad as I had feared.  He got bored and a little fussy at times, but I am confident we were never in danger of being kicked off the flight :).  

 

Navy enjoying the tunnel in the Detroit airport.

 

One of the nice things about our second flight (Detroit to San Francisco).  This kept Navy entertained at least part of the time during our 4+ hour flight.  

 

We arrived in San Francisco around 7:30 our time.  Needless to say, Navy was over traveling.

 

She bounced back pretty quickly, though, once we got to Heidi's house :)

 

 Our first full day in CA, we went to downtown San Jose for lunch.  We were able to check out Allen's record store, which was really neat.  Later that evening it was time for a short trip up to the foothills to enjoy the view. 

 

 

The next day we headed to Santa Cruz to enjoy the beach and boardwalk.  It was Brighton's first time at the beach and the first time at the Pacific Ocean for Navy and me.  We enjoyed a seafood dinner and ended the night with ice cream. 

 

 



 The next day we celebrated the 4th of July with a movie, an awesome meal and fireworks! 

 

 

On Sunday we relaxed with some shopping, haircuts (we got to see Heidi's salon) and of course, more ice cream! 

 

Our last day in California was filled with Muir Woods, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.

 

 

Navy loved the street artists in San Francisco along the pier.  She was very brave--touching snakes and playing drums. She even posed for pictures with strangers---something she would never do. 

 

We ended our last day with ice cream! 

Everyone was excited to get home and sleep in their own beds. 

These kids were happy to be flying back home! 

We had a great trip!  Thanks so much to Heidi, Allen, Nara, Alicia and Ava for letting us all stay with you guys.  We had a blast and it was great to see you all. 



Brighton---11 months

Brighton was 11 months old on Monday!  He continues to be such a sweet and happy baby.  He has, however, become a "little stinker" the past couple of months.  If he shouldn't get into it, he is in it!  Right now, his favorite thing to get into is a drawer in our kitchen where I keep extra napkins.  Recently, when he opened the drawer, he got "stuck" and couldn't get out from underneath the drawer. 

 

 

 



This month was the first month I had issues getting him to sit still and not EAT his monthly sticker!  We can usually distract him, but this month it didn't work.  Jonathan wasn't there, but I honestly don't think it would have made much of a difference.  I even gave him a candy bar to hold, hoping it would keep his hands away from the sticker, but it didn't really work. 

He went through a growth spurt the past couple of weeks---He grew out of his shoes overnight, and he has completely grown out of his 6 month sleepers.  His cheeks are getting chubbier as well.  That may be due to the enormous amounts of food that he consumes.  He seems to never get full!  He cut another tooth this month--that makes three on top and two on the bottom.  A fourth tooth is getting close to making its appearance on top as well. 

He is saying "Dada" and "Momma" although he says Dada more.  He loves to swing and seems to enjoy being outside more than he did a few months ago.  He likes being in the pool and doing anything as long as Navy is there with him.  She is really sweet with him now and "allows" him to play with her sometimes.  They like to have pretend picnics in the living room.  He loves being in her room and playing with all of her toys (or putting them in his mouth). 

Earlier this week, Navy fell asleep in the recliner.  Brighton wasn't done playing with her, and he tried to wake her up by pulling her hair.  He was laughing as he did this, of course! 

 I see a lot of this kind of thing in our future :)

Bright---10 months

Brighton was 10 months old on June 13th!  He is crawling EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING.  He is much more curious and mischievous than Navy was.  He gets into things Navy never even noticed. 

 

He continues to sleep through the night, takes good naps and is overall a happy baby.  He loves to eat.  If we are eating, he fully expects to eat as well and he wants to have what you are having.  Brighton has also started to throw fits when you take something away from him.  He will throw his head (and body if you are holding him) backwards and cry.  He loves his big sister a bunch.  He gets so excited when he sees her in the mornings after he wakes up.  He loves when she plays with him and especially loves it when she shares her toys with him.