St.Joe MO

BEWARE- LONG AND LOTS OF PICTURES :)

Well, we made it there and back in once piece! A little tired, but all in all, a great trip! We are so proud of Josie for doing well on the plane. THANK GOD we didn't have any meltdowns (only a mini one on the last leg from Chicago), and her ears didn't seems to bother her at all. Of course she dropped a turd before we landed in St. Louis. Nick and I could smell it immediately, not sure if the other passengers could.

We had a short layover and discovered that Southwest has changed their "family" boarding policy and those that don't have a "pre-board" slip board after the 'A' group. Well, that is 60+ people, and of course all the men take the aisle seat so we hiked it to the back of the plane. Not that we wanted the aisle, but I hated to put Nick next to some fat ass. Thankfully, it was time to eat so Josie nursed and fell asleep.

Once we landed, the heat and humidity hit us like a brick, and turned my hair into a frizz ball, so we went to our usual watering hole- Margaritas. We downed some brewski's, ate some amazing food, and headed North. We ended up going straight to Grandma and Grandpa's and I'm really glad we did. They was waiting for us, and Josie took to everyone immediately. Lately, she has developed some separation and stranger anxiety, but she did so well this weekend (with the exception of one meltdown thanks to Uncle Kevin) - Nick and I hardly got to hold her!

We visited for a bit and needed to get to the hotel, check-in, set up her pack n play, and get a little nap before dinner. I think there were 14 of us celebrating Great Grandpa's 90th birthday, and Josie was passed around the entire table-she loved every minute of it. Some she was meeting for the first time, but most she hadn't seen since she was 10 weeks old at her Baptism. Grandma said that she didn't look like Nick or me so the jury is still out on who she resembles. The Hoof N Horn was packed that night and the staff wasn't moving at the pace my grandmother preferred. I think about the third time she came around asking if we needed anything sans our dinner, my grandma yelled at her, 'FOOD, WE NEED FOOD!!!." I don't think she returned for the rest of the night.

new trick Daddy taught her

Josie was really off her schedule that night, and thankfully she didn't make a scene at dinner. She was over an hour behind on eating and bedtime, so as soon as we were done eating, we headed back to the hotel and she literally fell asleep in 2 minutes. I knew she wasn't going to get her usual 3 long naps throughout the day, but wanted her to get at least one good nap in the morning. So on Saturday, Nick went to help wash and wax Grandpa's car, while Josie and I took a nap in the morning. This is what I get to wake up to every morning- wouldn't you be in love too??

We were meeting my favorite cantankerous, old man for lunch at 12, so had a few minutes to go check out the pool! It was going to be 96 and already hot as hell. They had an indoor/outdoor pool, and it wasn't busy thank god. However, I will say that they need to hire someone to clean that shit, because we were literally swimming with dead flies, moths and bugs. Not to mention two severely overweight 10 year old kids who insisted on doing cannon balls and splashing Josie! Ugh, the nerve. 

After lunch we headed back to the hotel so Josie could get take a good nap. We were cooking out at the house that night, so she needed to be in a good mood! It was nice to spend lots of quality time with Grandma that afternoon and just relax a bit. Once everyone returned from church the party began. I think there were about 18 of us? Not entirely sure, but always a good time when the Fisher's get together. I tried to get a picture of everyone with Josie and she was a model citizen again. Loved meeting, and hanging out with her Aunts, Uncles and Cousin. She learned a few new bad tricks from Great Uncle David (naturally)...opening the cabinets, pulling out all of Grandma's Kleenex, spilling drinks on the table, etc. 

4 generations

After dinner we had to say our goodbyes. It was so wonderful seeing everyone- some we only get to see once a year, if that. I know how much my grandparents appreciated us coming back, and we had a great time catching up, hanging out and sharing Josie. 

The trip home went fairly well. Josie was beyyyyyyyyond tired, and fought going to sleep while we waited on the plane. My arms were absolutely killing me because I stood for probably 45 minutes, rocking back and forth trying to get her to nap before take off. Have you ever held a 21 lb sack of potatoes for that long? Needless to say I needed to give her to Nick for awhile. Oh, and of course there were some amazing hair do's in the KC airport. 

I don't have a picture of the second lady, I definitely could have snapped one, because she was of course flying to Columbus. Seriously, this is what it looked like, except it was a blond/brown combo. No joke. 

We landed in Columbus around 2:30 and by 3:45, she was asleep in her own bed. So in closing- it was a very successful trip and we are happy to have her first plane ride out of the way! That doesn't mean we plan on going to Europe with her anytime soon, but definitely gave us the confidence to travel and take her to the places we love. 

Phew- that was a long one! :)