Family Time

One of the great things about Owen being born before summer started was that we got to travel a lot with him to visit our family.  Nick is pretty lucky to have the majority of his family live close to him for most of his life.  I on the other hand moved a lot growing up.  My dad lives in Reno, Nevada and my mom lives in Greenville, South Carolina with aunts and uncles scattered every where in-between. Family has always been important to us and I hope that Owen feels the same way as he grows up in our  own new family!

We started with a trip to Indiana and Chicago to see Grammy, my dad, his girlfriend Jeannie and my 

sisters Emily and Nicole.

First time she got to see her great grandchild.

Owen's first visit to the Windy City.

One of my favorite Chicago restaurants, Ed Debevic's

Jeannie is Vietnamese, but she definitely knows her way around a Chinese menu.  

She ordered for us in Chinatown.

It was RIDICULOUSLY hot, so of course we went swimming.

Guess we know were Owen gets his good looks from!

Owen got to spend some good quality time with his "Naunties".

Our second family visit was to South Carolina, where we got to visit my mom, Bill, my brother Michael and his finance Gwyn.  It was also Owen's second trip involving planes!

Owen Waiting patiently in the boarding area.

He started to get a little antsy and wanted to eat his ticket.

Sophie was Owen's travel buddy.

Paw Paw is really getting the hang of things!

Aunt Gwyn and Uncle Michael

Owen loves to hang out with MM and Paw Paw.

He also LOVES his baths.

It was so hard to say goodbye at the airport when it was time to go home to Illinois.

Our las trip of the summer was to Wisconsin with family friends! It was a great way to end the summer before Nick had to go back to school. 

I got stung by a bee on our first day there and I forgot how much that hurt!

Little guy all pooped after a day of fun in the sun.

We caught a pretty amazing water ski show one night.  I don't know how they do it!

All bundled up for the boat!

Owen loved the lake too!

David, our driver for the week.

Nick getting ready to Wake Surf

David showing off his skills.

We had a great time hanging out with David and Kelly.

Loon Days!

It was wonderful to have so much time to visit family and friends this summer.  It was also nice to know that when summer was over I got to go to "work" at home with Owen.  It is such a blessing to be able to spend time with Owen and family.

"Debbie sure did get cranky..."

So the summer has come and gone and I thought that I would be a lot better about keeping up with the blog, but I guess not!!! It has been wonderful to spend time with Owen as Nick and I watch him grow. We have kept ourselves busy with him and family.

Our first summer trip was to Florida.  I was a little nervous with this being Owen's first big trip, plane ride and vacation, but he was a CHAMP!  He slept the whole time on the flight down to Florida.

We had a great time while we were there spending time with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Matt, Aunt Lindsey and Cousin Jake.  Owen had a lot of firsts....

Swimming (in a pool and the ocean)

 

Sea World

'

They little guys were pretty tuckered out by the end of the day.

The Beach

Bonding with the cousin

Actually, Owen slept while Nick bonded with Jake at the beach!

 

                                                                                                         Jake dared Owen to eat Nick's 1 pound burger while he was in the bathroom.  

Jake wanted to sleep near Owen so he slept in the wardrobe at the foot of our bed.

Sightseeing and enjoying the wildlife

Tropical Storm Debbie

First tropical storm of the season and of course we are staying in St. Petersburg, right on the beach.

Grandma decided the best place for Owen was in the bathtub!

Nick and I even got to do something for the first time... parasailing and it was awesome!

It was a great way to start our summer travels and definitely got Owen prepared for traveling and gave us a better idea of everything that traveling with a baby entails!