A Visit With Christine and Frank

Mandy and I went to the AAP together for CME and education this year. We brought Jake with us and stayed with Christine and Frank and Parker. It was a good time and we wish we had more time to spend with them and vistiting other old friends we have not seen in a while. It was a great time for Jake who not only has an old playmate about the same age as him but tons of new toys to play with. I think he might have at least learned what sharing is. Next step is to get him to share with other kids. Both Parker and Jake love cars but fortunately there was enough to go around most of the time. I am also pretty sure Parker influenced Jake to start using many more words. Jake is now counting to 3 with prompting and learned to say "no" among many other new words this weekend. I took some pictures and video of them together for our families and for Addie who I know would like to see them. Bobby and Bob got to meet Jake for the first time as well and we have several good pictures from dinner ar their house.

The videos are from today when Jasmine (the nanny) and I took the boys to the park and hen after lunch. I am not sure if Jake was trying to hug Parker or wrestle but it was pretty funny.

Oktoberfest....In Las Vegas

Our first vacation of the year drastically changed as soon as we left for the airport. Everyone tries to maximize their vacations and we are no different. We had plans to fly to Las Vegas on Friday night to meet up with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Kris. Unfortunately Mandy was running late at the clinic. No big deal, I went to go pick up Jake from daycare had him ready to go in the seat and unfortunately the Xterra wouldn't start. Our flight was scheduled to leave in just under 2 hours and Mandy quickly rearranged my flight until Saturday morning so I could stay back and get the car towed. I was able to get her and Jake to the airport just in time to make the flight and had already talked to the dealership about dropping the car off before they closed at 2000 but so far no tow truck. USAA covers an 11 mile tow radius and the dealership was about 14, no big deal I thought. I told the dispatcher that I could pay the 10 dollar overage fee in cash. Instead of sending the tow truck she had sent another few people in a ford explorer to get the cash first. I still could have made it to the dealership on time however the people in the Ford explorer decided to give the gate guards on base a hard time and were in the process of being kicked out. It took me a while to figure out that the tow truck wouldnt come until I payed the fee upfront becuase drivers for this company were not allowed to handle cash. Long story short I can't drop the car off becuase it is now too late, and eventually get the car towed back to our house that is in fact within the 11 mile radius late at night. At this point after meeting the drivers I am just happy to have the car back at home in one piece. I didn't find this out later but Mandy did an amazing job getting herself and Jake from the airport in Vegas to the hotel with all the luggage and baby gear. Thankfully Jake was a good sport and random people were willling to help her out.

After I arrived the next morning I found out that her Grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer on Friday. This caused another change of plans. We decided to all go to Iowa instead and spend time with the family instead of driving south. With the help of Orbitz and my laptop I arranged tickets to Iowa and another return flight to Phoenix (our return flight to Atlanta is from Phoenix). Jake got to fly to Indianapolis with Tom and Kris and then drive to Iowa while Mandy and I stayed in Vegas for one more night. Before we left everyone went out to the Hofbräuhaus in Vegas. Jake has grown into his Lederhosen from Wolfgang and Ellie and was an immediate hit with the servers.