Long visits & a Roadtrip

We have been blessed with lots of wonderful family time this summer. We had really been missing my mom, and couldn't wait for her to come for two whole weeks! She had just finished 8 weeks of down time after her first eye surgery, so she was ready to get to us as well! She flew into town the same day that the Morgan crew was heading out, so it was back to back weeks of fun for us. We fit in some local fun the beginning of that week, went to my OB check up together, and then on Wednesday we packed up and hit the road to Virginia. We were sad to leave Dan behind, but he stayed busy with work, baseball and many rounds of golf ;) We are SO thankful to have a toddler who travels exceptionally well. He watched his movies, read books, and took the occasional 20 or 30 minute nap. My mom couldn't believe how patient and quiet he was for 8 straight hours. We stayed at my grandparents house again this time. Eli does really well there, and remembered all of the fun things there from our visit at Christmas. I'm also very thankful that he still sleeps so well in a pac-n-play. That has made traveling arrangements much less difficult. We fit in SO much fun during our week long visit, but we also did a lot of relaxing. I read an entire book, and took a nap almost every afternoon. Pure bliss! My grandparents absolutely light up when Eli is around, so it was fun for them to have a good long visit together. We enjoyed many of my favorite homecooked meals, which was just what the Dr. ordered for me (literally!) I was also able to spend time with several of my sweet girl friends from highschool, which is always hard to do when we're home around the holidays.

Eli greeting his Mimi at the airport!
All smiles! Mimi had lots of fun goodies for Eli from Disney World.
The infamous hat. For some reason this kid loves hats. Especially this hat that he came across of my grandmothers. He wore it for at least the first 4 days of our trip.

He is still just as smitten with grandaddy as always. He earned major 'cool points' by upgrading to a riding lawnmower aka 'tractor' the same week that we arrived. Eli spent alot of time in the garage 'driving the tractor.'

And these two are another story! My cousin Patrick, 'Uncle Pat' is just as much a kid as Eli is. So of course they had some serious fun together. They played golf in the backyard one night until they were both completely worn out.
We planned this trip so that we'd be there for the 4th of July. My dad's side of the family has a big family reunion every year on the 4th, and I haven't been able to go since the year that Dan and I got married. It was extra special to be able to go and introduce Eli to so many that had never met him before. It's also a great way to see everybody at once! Eli had a blast playing with his second cousins and enjoyed plenty of sweet treats. The boy was soaked in sweat and in desperate need of a nap by the end of our time there. We headed back to my Aunt's house to rejuvenate and get ready for cookout #2 of the day.
Eli with his 4 second cousins. Dalton and Heather were in our wedding almost 4 years ago...hard to believe!
Happy 4th!
We had a fun family cookout at my Aunt Karen's house late that afternoon.

They have a sweet Bassett Hound named Cleo that Eli is seriously obsessed with. He followed her around and copied her every move...which was usually sleeping on the floor :) He's still talking about her, and insists that every Bassett Hound he sees is Cleo.
We left VA on Wednesday morning. It was another good trip, other than the horrific weather we were in for the last 3 hours of the trip. My mom wasn't leaving until Friday afternoon, so we were able to pack in some more fun before she left. On her final night here we went shopping, took Eli to some play parks, and had a fabulous ice cream date at the outlets. There's just nothing like homemade ice cream on a hot summer night...or anytime for that matter! We were so sad to send her back to Texas, as always, but know that we'll be seeing her again soon.