Emma on the go
Emma (and her parents) had a very busy weekend this past week, driving down to NJ for her cousin Hunter's baptism. Since Em has decided of late that she would really rather not sit quietly in her carseat for any length of time, Mommy and Daddy came up with the solution of bringing her favorite Wiggles video along with us in case she started screaming. (We figured hearing the Wiggles singing over and over was better than six hours of screaming toddler!) Sure enough, it wound up coming in handy at about hour 4 of the trip (which took a bit longer than usual thanks to lots of road construction). Mommy and Daddy would therefore like to extend our most heartfelt thanks to the Wallman family for graciously lending us their portable VCR/TV system! Here is Emma's stunned reaction to the sudden appearance of her buddies the Wiggles right in front of her face in the car. She couldn't believe her eyes at first, but then she started dancing away in her carseat as Mommy and Daddy sang along in the front (oh yeah, we know ALL the words - all the actions too). Em was so excited to get to Grandma and Grandpa Hunter's house because that meant she could hang out with their four dogs. As a matter of fact, the only thing she said, over and over and over again on Friday night was "Doggie! Dogogogogog DOGGIE!" She said it all the way upstairs and into the crib! On Saturday morning we were all up bright and early. Daddy went to play golf with Grandpa and the uncles (Matt, Mike, Sean and Joel) while Aunt Amy and cousin Hunter took Mommy, Grandma and Emma to this really neat park. It had a train ride, a zoo, a huge playground, a carousel and pony rides! After we scoped out the zoo via the train, we headed in to check out the animals. Emma wanted to get down and check out the chickens up close as soon as she spotted them, so Mommy let her out of her stroller. Emma had already "seeded" the area with lots of cheerios from her snack tray, so the chickens were coming right up to her! She walked all around the chicken area, calling "bock bock bock bockah" to them the whole time. Em really enjoyed hanging out at the park with Grandma, cousin Hunter and Aunt Amy! After checking out the zoo, we headed to the playground where Em had a nice lunch and then worked off the calories on the swings and slides and other playground equipment. After that we headed over to the carousel, where of course Emma wanted to ride on the "bock bockah" - I mean rooster! We finished off our day at the park by taking Emma on her very first pony ride which she really, really enjoyed!! After a nap, we headed over to visit our friends the Drapers and to meet their newest addition, baby Ethan (who was born just before Emma's birthday). Emma was happy to see her friend Collin again, and especially liked it when he built towers of blocks for her to knock down. The parents tried to take a picture of all three kids but it proved to be tricky and soon the kids were tipping over on the couch! Another thing Emma enjoyed at Collin and Ethan's house was their dog, Jackson. Em thinks that New Jersey is the land of the dogs, since every place we went and every house we visited had at least one dog! On Sunday we were up bright and early again to go to Hunter's baptism. Emma actually missed the baptism itself because she was in dire need of a nap, so Daddy had to take her out of church, but Mommy filled Daddy and Emma in on everything later. Before Hunter was baptized, Uncle Mike was baptized, and then it was Hunter's turn. After church, Em and Daddy came back inside and the whole family posed for a group picture... or rather several as it felt like the paparazzi was snapping pictures, there were so many cameras! (Speaking of which, if anyone has a better shot, please email it to us - this was the best one our camera took!) Emma was fascinated by Aunt Megan during the photo session (which is why her head is turned away from the camera in this picture). Em just can't believe that Aunt Megan has a new cousin "cooking" inside her for Emma to play with next spring! We then headed back to cousin Hunter's house, where Emma ate a lot of food, played with lots of toys, and hung out with the relatives (like Uncle Joel) for a bit 'til she started getting really sleepy. Sure enough, she was asleep before we got to the highway as we headed home Sunday afternoon! It was a fun and busy weekend and Emma can't wait for cousin Hunter and Aunt Amy to come up for a visit in December!
- posted by Heather @ 3:43 PM