Well, it's Monday, so you'd think I was posting about just the last couple of days, but I'm still behind from the weekend before! :) So, here goes...
Josh and I (and Elena, of course) headed to Springfield for a long weekend. Jessie had a bridal shower on Saturday, and Josh had Monday off, so we decided to head to his parents house Friday night and stay until Monday. Needless to say, it was quite the undertaking with a newborn! But we got everything in the car (barely) and headed out! We got there late Friday, and just hung out with the Lootens. Of course, everyone was excited to see how big Elena had gotten in the last couple of weeks!
Saturday we split up, boys and girls. Mom, Jess, and I (and Elena) had a wedding shower for Jessie to go to in the afternoon, and we spent the morning painting in the house she and Luke will live in when they get married. Elena mostly slept in her swing while we were painting! That afternoon, we headed to a tea room called "Tea Bar and Bites" for Jessie's shower. It was a kitchen shower, so the girls throwing it made her an apron, and gave her a chef's hat to wear during the shower... she looked so cute! :)
Jessie got lots of cool stuff for her kitchen, and we all got to watch her try to chew on a large wad of gum for one of the games. They asked Luke questions before the shower, then asked Jessie the same questions. If she couldn't guess/didn't know his answer, then she had to add another piece of gum. It was pretty entertaining... although I think she did better than my sister Jess did when she played that game! :) The other cool part of the shower was that my uncle Drew and cousins Marra and Meghan stopped by to see me and meet Elena. It was a great surprise! I guess Drew usually plays the harp there on Saturdays, and stopped by that day just to see us.
Anyway, after the shower, Elena and I headed home to eat and rest, while Jess and Mom worked a little more on the new house.
Meanwhile, on the boys fishing trip, they were having a fantastic time. Josh has been wanting to do some serious fishing for a long time, and it was a great chance for he and his dad to spend some time together. And, of course, they dominated the fishing. They both caught really nice trout- Josh caught a huge brown trout, and Dad caught a really pretty rainbow trout (I'm not sure if fish are supposed to be pretty, but rainbow trout just are).
Anyway, after the boys got back from fishing, we ate chili and hot dogs and watched MU DOMINATE Nebraska. So, all in all, a great Saturday! :)
Sunday we headed to Silver Dollar City to meet up with our relatives from Texas, who were in town for the weekend. Josh and I got to visit them in Texas in April, when we were there for Bob's wedding, and they are just really fun to hang out with. So we had a great time taking Elena on her first trip to Silver Dollar City... where I'm sure she'll spend lots more time! It was a lot different having little kids with us... we usually have a pretty leisurely time at SDC, but with kids it's racing from one ride to another, riding some of them 3 or 4 times in a row. I didn't think it was a good idea for me to ride a bunch of rides a couple of weeks after a c-section, so I sat out most of them. But it was still lots of fun watching them ride the Lost River time after time and come off dripping wet. The boys' enthusiasm was infectious, and we all ended up acting like 5 year olds... or at least Josh and Dad did! It was neat, too, to see the boys around Elena, because I don't think they have been around babies much, so they were just fascinated by her. Pictures of the city...
Just before take-off on Powder Keg...
And just after... :)
Collin and Aaron admiring Elena
The ride-riding gang after a good drenching on the Lost River
The boys, after they discovered that "Uncle Rich's" t-shirt was see-through when wet!
It was a great weekend, and we really enjoyed spending so much time with the whole family!
She was SACKED OUT! She never relaxed like this at the old house, and I can only imagine that it is better for her to be able to relax occasionally. I tapped on the window a couple of times, and she sat up, but even this look is a "Wha? YAWN... Me? Sleeping?" kind of look! It was so adorable!
