California

At 1 am this morning (Thursday), we walked back into our house after our trip to California. It was a short, but jam-packed trip. And I have to say that Jordan took it all in stride. He was remarkably well-behaved and adaptable to the time change and to the 3 different beds at 3 different houses that he slept in. We started the trip last Friday. We drove to Louisville, boarded a plane and flew to Phoenix. We changed planes in Phoenix and took another flight to Oakland, where we were met with a luggage fiasco. Luckily, we did get our luggage, and my best friend from college, Kimber, picked us up at the airport and took us back to her house in Menlo Park where we spent a great weekend with her, Brandon (her husband), their son Ryland - who is only 3 weeks older than Jordan, and their beautiful new addition, Christian, who is 5 months old. Despite a few tired moments of not wanting to share, Ryland and Jordan hit it off and had a great time. On Sunday afternoon, we picked up a rental car (actually, minivan WITH a DVD player) at the San Jose airport and drove 4 hours down the coast to Santa Maria where we spent an evening with Auntie Danielle and Carl's stepmom, Sylvia (or Grandma Sylvia - as she is mortified to be called). On Monday, we drove another 2 hours to Oxnard to visit Grandpa and Daddy's high school buddy, Pete. We then headed down to the San Fernando Valley and had a great dinner with Deirdre and her beautiful boys, Jake and Maclean, as well as Bill and Brenda and Rob. We spent the next two nights at the Dickeys (Neal, Deirdre, Jake and Maclean) and then hopped back on an airplane on Wednesday, flew to Chicago, changed planes after a two hour layover, landed in Louisville and drove back home to Lexington. And with the exception of a few minor meltdowns, Jordan was an angel. We had a fantastic time!

Jordan was a little drowsy on the airplane, but he LOVES Daddy's IPOD, so he was listening (and singing) to it intently.

Jordan and Ryland's daddies took them on a trip to the park:

This is the "puddle" that Jordan fell in - causing his clothes to be soaked and filled with sand and dirt.

Breakfast and Sesame Street on Satruday morning.
Ryland got a guitar for Christmas and Kimber was smart enough to go out and buy an extra. But Jordan was also very interested in the accordian. They had their own little band.

They performed Jesus Loves Me and seemed to have a little bit of a disagreement over who Jesus actually loves:

Jordan showed off his new robe to Auntie Danielle:

Here are Deirdre and her beautiful boys at dinner on Monday night: Could these guys be any cuter?

Jordan receiving some instruction from Grandpa:

Maclean isn't choking Jordan, he's trying to put his arm around him, but my son seems to be a little claustrophobic (he MAY have acquired this trait from me . . .), so he didn't really like that very much:

Running off some of the energy at the restaurant before bedtime: