First Flight!!!

6/30/14

Erica earned her wings over the weekend!!!  (Pictures at the bottom)

Our trip begins last Wednesday night when my cousin, Holly, came over to our house for some orientation on what to do to take care of Lexi while we are away.  Of course, this lasted only a few minutes, and then we hung out after Erica went to bed.

Thursday morning, we found ourselves waking Erica up and packing into the car to go pick up grandpa and grandma on our way to the airport to visit our relatives in Tennessee!!!

Before we get into the trip, I need to give a little background info on our reason to visit the south:  My mom has some distant relatives that live in Nashville and other scattered cities around the state.  I've gone down there on vacation since I was Erica's age or even younger; although we used to make the 15 hour drive back then!  My mom's Great Aunt Ruth (who is in her mid-late 80s) lives in Nashville with her son, Will (who is about 60)...who we've all fondly called Aunt Ruth and Cousin Will since as long as I can remember.  They've always been more than distant relatives to us.  I recall making the long drive every few years growing up for some time down there to hang out at their house in Nashville.  Aunt Ruth has 3 grown grand daughters, Jen, Amanda and Lori who live outside of town.  We've always met up with them and they've always been more like cousins to all of us.  Now all 3 girls have young families of their own; Jen has a 10 year old girl and 8 year old twin boys, Amanda has a 14 year old girl and an 8 year old boy, and Lori has an 8 year old boy and a 5 year old girl...they are great kids, and the house was a lot calmer this trip down, now that the kids have all grown up quite a bit!  I was last down there almost 4 years ago, so the kids have grown up quite a bit since then!  We booked our trip in early Spring and were all excited to go on the trip!  Suddenly, in April, Aunt Ruth was hospitalized with some lung complications.  Then, even more suddenly towards the end of May, Will had an aortic anuerism and stroke within days of each other and was hospitalized for about a month...and as he said, "Damn near died a couple times!"  Needless to say, we were very excited to get down there and see them and visit with them...and were very surprised they wanted to put up with us while recovering and insisted we come see them!

I think I was more nervous than Laura was for Erica's first flight!!!  She can't sit still nor be held in a lap for more than 10 seconds at a time, so a 2 hour flight scared me to death!!! 

We made it through security with ease...well, Laura and Erica did!!!  They were able to walk through the metal detector, but because I'm a handsome white guy, they selected me for the full-body scan.  I just hope the person watching the screen appreciated my smile!!!  Once we passed through security, we found ourselves with well over an hour to kill before our flight was scheduled to leave.  We found some breakfast...Taco Bell for dad, and some breakfast Stromboli's for mom and grandpa.  We made our way to the gate only to find out that we were not allowed to board early with Erica (despite past practices).  The ladies at the gate were very helpful, and allowed us to get on early anyways and get settled in on the plane.  Laura was shocked at the small size of the plane and quickly noted that it was the smallest she had ever flown on!!!  Erica was exploring our seats/playground once we buckled in and was fascinated looking out the window as we taxied toward the runway for take off.  I held her for take off and pointed out the window as we climbed out of Minneapolis...her eyes getting bigger and her fingers pointing while sucking out of her bottle!  We tried to entertain her for a while and finally decided a nap would be good for her and worth a try.  She hadn't slept in anyone's arms since my "cold days" (snow days) this past winter, so we were curious if it'd work.  After some fussing and restraining with my arms, she finally fell asleep and didn't wake up again until we were about to land in Nashville!

We landed and made our way to the rental car, which came equipped with a car seat, courtesy of a free upgrade, thanks to our AAA membership!  I'd strongly recommend this to anyone traveling with kids...no need to hassle with a car seat in the airport!!!  We made our way to a burger joint for lunch and then headed to Aunt Ruth's.  Erica started a few new trends while eating lunch:  She wants to drink whatever mommy is drinking, and she likes chicken strips and fries!  We made it to Aunt Ruth's and greeted her and Will with hugs. We hung out there for a little over an hour before heading back to check into the hotel a few miles away and put Erica down for a nap.  We woke up and made our way back to Aunt Ruth's and met up with Amanda and Lori and their families for dinner at a downtown burger joint.  The food was great, the beer was even better and we had fun catching up while Erica tried keeping up with the big kids.  Lori's daughter, Lily Kate, quickly became buds/babysitter with Erica!!! She loved chasing her around, playing with her and trying to teach her new things.

The next day, we woke up and had a southern favorite, breakfast at the Waffle House.  It's kind of like a Denny's, but less fancy!  I had "hash browns all the way," which is hash browns topped with cheese, onions, jalapenos, chili, ham and sausage gravy....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...so tasty!!!  Erica again helped Laura drink her orange juice and munched on ham.  After breakfast, my dad dropped Laura and I off at the historic home of Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage, about 10 miles away from Aunt Ruth's house.  We toured the place for a couple hours and took lots of pictures, while grandpa and grandma took Erica to Aunt Ruth's to hang out there.  They picked us up around lunch time and we headed to a vineyard owned by Kix Brooks of the old country duo, Brooks and Dunn about a half hour south of town.  The vineyard and winery was beautiful.  Erica hung out with grandpa while grandma, Laura and I "indulged" at the tasting counter.  We loved everything we tasted.  We weren't thrilled about waiting 40 minutes just to get the counter (they checked us in as if we were waiting for a table at a restaurant), and the tastings were smaller than a shot, and we only got to taste 4 of their dozen or more wines.  I know, I'm not supposed to be greedy, and wine is a bit classier than breweries, but if we come all that way, give us more than a small mouthful of wine, and if we want to try more, allow us an option to pay for additional tastings, or offer a fee to taste all wines!!!  Regardless, we all enjoyed each wine we tried, and by the end of it, Laura and I bought a bottle of Reisling to have in our hotel room, and we had signed up for their wine club, bought a wine glass with the vineyard name/logo on it, and a cool wooden box with the logo on it.  We made the drive back to town in time for dinner with Will and Aunt Ruth.  We had "Witts" for dinner.  Witts is a BBQ company that has fantastic pulled pork for sandwiches, cole slaw, beans and ribs.  Yum!!!  After a second consecutive day with Erica's schedule/routine going to the wayside, we headed back to the hotel.  We got her ready for bed and handed her off to grandpa and grandma for the night....and we went "Honky Tonkin!!!"  Dad drove Laura and I to downtown Nashville, to a 3 block strip of Broadway that is home to lots of bars, restaurants and gift shops.  We stopped in a few bars and listened to the live country music.  If you're a country fan, this is the coolest place ever...if you're not, I'm sure it's hell on Earth!  But we loved it!!!  We hung out at a spot for over an hour listening to a group that covers lots of other well-known groups.  They were awesome!  They had a fiddler in their band, and she was outstanding...she alone could've filled a bar just to listen to her play...and she rocked a few fiddle solos on a few well known country songs, especially Alabama's, "If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band."  We made our way up and down the strip, and mostly shopped the little stores trying to find souvenirs.  Every bar we walked past had lines out the door just to get in! So we were glad we made an early trip down there on a Friday night. We ended our night at Rock Bottom Brewery for a couple of appetizers before taking a cab back to the hotel. 

Saturday was a rough day for daddy!  I slept poorly all night with stomach pains, and woke up in bad shape!  I know what you're thinking...and no, I wasn't!!!  Laura will vouch for me that I wasn't feeling good before we left Rock Bottom, "because you didn't even finish your beer, and that's not like you!"  I think I had my first bout with heartburn.  I never had it before, and hope I never get it again.  We're guessing the Waffle House breakfast from the day before, and a few greasy burgers didn't help the cause either.  I laid around until about 9:30 while Erica, Laura and grandpa and grandma did some shopping nearby, and then they picked me up and we headed to Aunt Ruth's for the day.  I popped Tums all day, and by dinner time, my chest still felt tight, but I was doing better.  We had a southern, "boil" for dinner; shrimp, sausage, red potatoes and corn on the cob, all boiled in a pot...yum!!!  Erica loved chasing around all the big kids at Aunt Ruth's.  Lily Kate and Avery kept tabs on Erica, while Laura entertained the kids at times with some competitive BINGO.  The boys loved their foam swards we picked up for them, and the girls liked trying to teach Erica how to use sidewalk chalk!  Needless to say, Saturday was a blast being with our awesome relatives for the day!!! We said our goodbyes to all the kids and Lori's family as they headed for home that night.  Despite a 3rd day of being off her routine, Erica was a trooper!  She missed a nap or two, but was great, even with a bed time over an hour later than usual!!!

Sunday, we woke up and had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel...another southern staple...think of Applebee's with just southern food....so tasty!!!  We headed back and packed up the hotel and headed to Aunt Ruth's for a short visit before heading to the airport.  We said our goodbyes to Aunt Ruth, Will and Jen and wished them well on their continuing recovery.  I'm hopeful we'll head back there sooner than later to visit with all of them again!!!  I just love it there and I was so happy to be able to take Erica down there and get a feel for something I've loved doing the past 29 years!!! 

Our plane for the flight home was smaller than the one that took us there...I'm sure Laura was super pumped!!!  The flight home started with Erica napping for over an hour...she was sleeping before we left the gate!!!  Once she woke up, she was moving and I'm glad that flight didn't last any longer!!!  Despite strong winds, our pilot nailed the landing...even though Laura was nervous next to me, I knew it was pretty darn good compared to some rough landings you hear/see about on the news.  We put Erica back in her own car seat and dropped grandpa and grandma off before heading to Cub for some staples and dinner and then made our way home to see our Lexi!  Our puppy was really excited to see us.  I think Lexi was more excited to see Erica than we thought she'd be!  Our trip ends with me trying to unpack my suitcase, while Erica put the stuff right back in it, and then she climbed on top of the closed suitcase and sat on it...I think that means she wants to go back to Nashville again...now!!!!

Erica's first flight and vacation away was a blast.  She did really well with all of the chicken strips and fries, stolen drinks from mommy, and she loved all the ice cream stops grandpa made for her!!!She did so great with a weird schedule and being limited in space on an airplane.  Her ears popping never bugged her, and she rolled with the punches at every step of the way!  Our trip was a huge success and I was so happy to be able to bring her down to meet the Tennessee Family I've loved seeing over the past 29 years, and glad she got to spend some time hanging out at Aunt Ruth's house with her and Cousin Will!

And lastly, a big thanks to my parents for all they did to help us out on this trip!  They had Erica sleep in their room one night while we went Honky Tonkin and changed countless diapers, helped with feeding, chased her around and kept tabs on her, as well as countless other things that we probably didn't even notice!  They were great and Erica will be told many stories of her first flight and trip she shared with grandpa and grandma!

Thanks to all of you for checking and reading about Erica's first flight!  Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary...we appreciate your thoughts/prayers and/or well-wishes!  Take care!

Getting ready for take off to head to Nashville

In the air...and happy!!!

The Hermitage, from the driveway. A classic plantation style home

The back of The Hermitage

Our newest addition to our favorite vineyards!!!

The front of the winery...it had tons of patio space in lots of areas to enjoy wine!

The vineyard...and of course, my favorite varietal, Laura Jean

Honky Tonkin...I tried taking a picture of us, and thought it took so I was turning the camera to look at the picture and suddenly the flash started going off, so this was my expression of panic as I tried to save the picture...not bad!!!

Erica's new favorite cousins, Avery (10) and Lily Kate (5)...Erica (almost 15 months)

Laura and Erica walking around the huge yard at Aunt Ruth's

If there is a big yard and a mower, this daddy will try to cut it!!!

One of the simple joys of the trip...letting Erica run to the room from the elevator!!!

A last picture before heading the airport. Grandpa and grandma with Aunt Ruth and mommy, Erica and daddy with Cousin Will

Hanging out with grandpa and grandma on the flight home

Erica made unpacking tough...her way of saying, "let's go back to Nashville!"

1st week of Daddy Daycare 2014...at the lake!!!

This is the first week of Daddy Daycare this summer, and we are celebrating it by spending the week at the lake!!!

After a looooooong week last week making up for our numerous snow/cold days, I was ready to get out of town!!! Two days last week were spent on diversity training and the other 3 were spent downtown Minneapolis for a PLC conference that was awesome. But...now...it's summer!!!  Since Laura is in Sioux Falls on work this week, I decided to head up here to the lake with Erica and Lexi. Although the lake isn't nearly as relaxing as it used to be when I ventured up here alone in the past, it is equally fun and rewarding!!!

After a long weekend with Erica being needy and getting into mischief at home, I was scared to do this week up here alone!!! She was equally troublesome on Monday afternoon when we got up here. It was a long day chasing her and repeating "no!!!" A million times, but once she went down I decided I needed a new mental approach to try and get through the next day with more fun. I decided to take things into my own hands, be a better, more entertaining and proactive dad and see how that would treat me...and I'm so glad I had that enlightened moment!!!

We woke up yesterday and had breakfast before heading into Two Harbors to see if there were any ships. We pulled in and got Erica situated in her umbrella stroller for the first time. Lexi was a pain in the ass for the duration of our walk on the pier...whimpering and whining for unknown reasons!!! While we were out walking, a quick fog moved in and we couldn't see the end of the pier nor town behind us!!!  Before heading back to the car, we walked down to the tiny beach at the end of the pier and I showed Erica how to throw rocks into Lake Superior...a right of passage for any Minnesota kid!!!  We got back in the car after a few minutes of throwing rocks we packed up in the car to take my girls on a special tour...

We pulled into Superior Shores Resort and I explained to my girls how their mommy and I were married on the beach 5 years ago. We walked across the big lawn between the resort and the beach and made our way across the little bridge where I first laid eyes on my beautiful bride on our wedding day!!!  We looked for our special rock we wrote our names on, but didn't see it amongst the large pile of special rocks from the numerous other couples that have tied the not on our beach over the past 5 years after us. We walked to the water past our "alter" and threw more rocks while Lexi sniffed every rock nearby.  We took a few "selfies" on the beach and I snapped a few more of my girls on our special beach before we made our way back to the car amongst some running and giggling through the grassy lawn of the resort. We made it back to the lake in time for lunch...and a quick breath before heading out on our next adventure...

Swimming!!!  I picked out Erica's swimsuit last weekend, so we had to try it out. I almost died trying to inflate her floating raft, but was saved by an air compressor in my dad's garage!!! We packed up and headed a few miles up the shore to the resort our development is partnered with. We waded into the pool water and I shrieked at the chilly water. Erica agreed with me as we waded in with her in my arms. She cried when I tried putting her into the raft that almost killed me. So we swam around in my arms for a bit before discovering a beach ball. That ball was the best thing Erica could've asked for in the pool!!!  She love her raft, finally, because she could better play with her ball!!! After a little while, we made our way into the hot tub...don't worry...it was pretty much bath water!!!  She loved it and relaxed in my arms for the few minutes we were in there. We played with the ball some more before heading to the shower where I rinsed her off before getting her ready to head back to the lake for a nap. We ended our day with a walk with Lexi around the neighborhood before having dinner and a bottle. 

Today's adventured brought us to the car dealership for 2.5hrs for our warranty clear coating. I was shocked to be awaken by my alarm and not Erica. Go figure...the one day this week we had to get up early, she let me sleep in!!!  I was terrified by the thought of staying in a waiting room for 2hrs with her, but she did great. It was like a separate service center within the dealership, so we enjoyed  lot of empty space for her to roam and explore while we waited. This overlapped nap time and I knew she was tired, but as expected, she refused to sleep in my arms. But by the time we left, she was sleepy and fell asleep by the time we left the dealership and pulled into town...a mile up the road!!!! We drove to the harbor again and napped as a ship was getting ready to leave but woke up as it started backing out, so we got out of the car and headed down the pier again. It was super windy and with my arms full with Erica and an attempt to take a picture, my hat flew off and floated off the pier and towards the water before snagging on a  rock. I was reminded of the great people in this world when a guy walking by on the pier told me to hold his bag and hopped through the wiring on he pier to grab my hat!!! Apparently I looked lost with Erica in my arms and a hat blowing away, so he took it upon himself to grab it from the rocks below without thinking twice. If only the world had millions more caring people just like him!!!  Anyways, we took some more pictures and headed back to the lake for a bite to eat and a 2.5 hr nap for Erica...she made up for the non-nap this morning!!!  After dinner, I gave her an early bath and loaded up the girls for a surprise in town...Dairy Queen!!! Erica scarfed down some ice cream and unexpectedly helped me slurp down my smoothie!!!  Lexi got to lick the remnants of our ice cream treats, and all was well in the world!!! Erica squeaked and giggled the whole way back, so apparently, dad was spot on with his surprise!!!  She went down for bed soon after we got home and since then, I've been working on this entry!!!  

Tomorrow, grandpa and grandma will arrive in the afternoon and our week in solitude will come to an end. Laura will be up Friday night after working in Duluth and it will be an early night to bed for her because she is running the Grandmas Half Marathon on Saturday!!!  She has been a running machine over the past few years and I'm so proud of her for ramping up her training to tackle her next challenge!!!

Thanks so much for checking in with us. I'm so glad to be done with school for the summer and ready to kick off a busy summer with my Little Nugget and Lexi. I'll try to be better with more frequent updates. Enjoy the pictures below and thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary!!! Take care!!!

In the car, heading North!!!

Talking with mommy on the phone, cuddled in for the night

In Two Harbors, strapped in to the new stroller

Struggling to take the first picture on the pier

My 2 girls!!!

Erica and Lexi throwing rocks on our special beach

Erica on our beach

The cutest little girl ever!!!!

Ready to go swimming!! (Daddy picked out a cute suit, didn't he?!?!)

The pool toy that almost killed me!!!

A cute moment before bedtime with her "bah bah"

Erica wanted to buy this car while we waited, but daddy said no

 Watching the ship leave...just before daddy's hat blew away!!!

Our bed time treat...Erica helped me finish my treat after she finished hers!!!

Loooooong overdue!!!

This update is loooooong over due!! I last posted a few days before Erica's 1st Birthday, and today, she is now 2 months past her big day!!!

I look back and try to figure out why I haven't had much down time since then...and the only thing I can think of is that Erica has become a crazy little walker/runner in the house since a week or so before her birthday...and since then she hasn't stopped walking around and exploring the house at nearly every waking minute!!!

Her first bday party was a blast. We had all of Erica's grandparents at our house and by aunt and uncles from my

Mom's side, a few of my cousins and more importantly, Erica even had her great grandparents over to our house, although we did miss Laura's grandparents who were unable to make the trip from North Dakota.   We had a big taco bar with 10lbs of beef for nearly 20 of us!!!  And while we were eating, Erica had a surprise visit from some real princesses, courtesy of our neighbor, Tim. (He is prime minister for the St Paul winter carnival and he had a few of the princesses at his house before an event and they called to see if we want a visit for some pictures...it was awesome!!!). Erica was showered with gifts...everything from books to blocks, a baby doll to a shopping cart, and of course, lots of clothes.  Her biggest gift was a swing set from Laura's parents that is now standing in the back yard. It has a slide, 2 swings and a small platform with a ladder leading to the slide, with a little enclosed place with a small door underneath that serves as a small play house.  The highlight of the day was letting the birthday girl dog into her cake!!! Laura made a cake shaped like a cupcake especially for Erica to destroy...and she put a pretty big hole in it before she filled herself up with cake and frosting (everyone else had cupcakes that matched her big cake).  

Since her birthday, April and May have gone by in a blink!!!  In April, I was gone for 2 weekends in a row at the end of the month to go 4 wheeling at the cabin and turkey hunting (I bagged a nice Tom this spring!!! I pretty much had to shoot it in self defense as it came in for a landing about 20 feet from me after flying away from being shot at by Dan Hopkins on the other side of the field I was sitting on!!!). I brought home one hell of a cold that weekend two...and since the last weekend in April, one of the 3 of us has pretty much been fighting the cold!!!  Over Memorial Day weekend last weekend, we were trying to help Erica fight a 102 degree fever and a rash. Not fun...especially when the weather turns warm and hits 80 degrees for the first time since last September!!!

For the sake of time...and, I'm sure your angry at me for not updating this blog at least once in the past 2 months...I'll provide a few snapshots of the things Erica has been up to lately:

- she is a runner!  She runs/staggers around the house and babbles the whole time. If she is not pushing or pulling a toy behind her, she is carrying something in a hand!

- she is now eating all normal people food. She loves chicken, strawberries, green beans and cheese. 

- she loves tormenting her puppy, Lexi!!!  She sits with Lexi in her kennel, picks at her food while she eats and takes her toys. Although they truly love each other, Erica giggles when she bugs her but Lexi is a trooper and let's her get away with a lot of crap. It's cute...if they are apart for a day or 2, both girls get moapy and appear lonely...and then they are so excited when they are back together again...Lexi doesn't eat normal and Erica appears lonesome. Adorable!!!

- Erica's favorite toys are anything mom and dad have with buttons. Whether it's stopping the dishwasher cycle, cell phones, computer, cable tv receiver or her toys, she loves pushing buttons and hearing electronics at work. 

- she is developing a great personality and sense of humor. She is a trooper when she is sick because she isn't too crabby but just wants to be held. She still laughs and plays, but gets more clingy. She has recently started noticing that her actions cause us to laugh, so she sees our reaction and giggles herself and tries to keep us smiling at her expense. 

- lately she is becoming a climber. She is trying to lift her leg/foot onto anything just to see if she can get on top of it. She tries the couch, her toys, the dishwasher door, chair legs...everything!!

- she loves being outside!!! She loves her swing set and water table (an activity table that holds water for her to stand next to and play in). She would be outside for hours if we let her!!!

- she loves shopping with daddy!!! Of course, we go to cool stores like Gander Mountain, Cabelas and Home Depot...and she loves it! N she sits in the cart and we make faces at each other. She's very helpful at holding things, putting things in the cart and drawing lots of attention from other shoppers with her babbling and cuteness!!!

- lastly, we are getting a nice addition to our yard for our girls...Lexi and Erica are getting a fence!!! We will have a black, chain link fence that will enclose our backyard, hopefully by the end of this month!  That way, our girls will both be safe and free to run around in their yard!!!  

I'm sure there's a lot more that I've missed, but that will have to do for now. I'm sorry this was so delayed and I'm even more sorry for my lack of pictures. I got a new phone last week and I hardly have any pics on here now, let alone snapshots of the past few months. I'll try to get some on here soon!!! Until then, these few will have to do....but of course, thanks so much for checking in and seeing how Erica's life has gone over the past few months!!!  Take care!!!

Real food!!

Bath time with Lexi

Sharing a bed time snack with daddy

Daddy and grandpa building a new fence on the cliff at the lake to help keep Erica a little safer

Erica playing with her water table on the deck

Erica's first bike ride in the carrier...we pretty much got this for free while Laura was pregnant...our goal is to go on bike rides a lot this summer!

Erica's personality at play...take that mommy!!!

Erica's swing set in the yard

Our little, musical prodigy