We had our first family vacation (via airplane) this winter break. We left on December 30th and traveled to Texas to visit Jeremy's sister and family. They had not met Parker yet and we were all very excited to go.
Parker did very well on the plane. We gave him some benedryl to help with the pressure, which proceeded to knock him out for the first half of the flight. The second half was busy with cars, coloring, and watching out the window.
One of the biggest hits at Gina's house was playing with Geo Tracks. I don't understand why they stopped making these toys - even the big kids had fun building a track and playing with the trains. Parker also enjoyed watching the bunny hop around the office. He continues to talk about how the "bunny poop floor" and how Gina had to put the poop in the "garbage". He also continues to talk about the "horse poop" and "get it shovel" for the "garbage"... he is such a boy when all he wants to talk about is poop! We did get to play outside (once) as Gina has a huge park within walking distance from her home.
We visited the Ft. Worth Zoo on New Year's Eve. It was such a cold day that the zoo was not crowded at all, but most of the outside animals were not on exhibit. We spent a good amount of time watching the monkeys as there were baby monkeys that were out playing. We watched the mommies chasing the babies and pulling them down when they got to high. Parker continues to talk about the "baby monkeys" and "mommy" told them to "get down".
The Ft. Worth Zoo is rated one of the best in the country. Although we enjoyed it, we didn't see how it was so much better than the Milwaukee Zoo. I really enjoyed this underground viewing of the crocs, turtles and fish. It was actually on the side of us as we were eating lunch at Burger King (inside the zoo?!?) and the animals looked fake!
Another one of Parker's memories (and favorite stories to share) was swimming with the boys at the hotel. They were playing with a bouncy ball, and it went "clunk" on Parker's "head" and he thought that was hilarious! He also enjoyed fetching the ball when it got out of the pool. On New Years
Eve, we spent the night in Ft. Worth and visited the Stockyards (while
the kids stayed at the hotel). It was a great time, with quite the
variety of bars and patrons!
The ride home was delayed and we were all tired and ready to get home (to the snow storm and below zero temperatures). Parker had a poopy diaper on the plane and so I learned the airplane bathrooms do have changing tables! As we were landing, Parker told me his "belly hurts" and then a few minutes later "belly hurts more". I thought he was hungry as it was past dinner time and he refused to eat anything. As we were waiting to get off the plane, I realized he had an explosive poopy diaper and needed a new shirt. He walked through the airport shirtless until we could get to his luggage and put on some jammies. One more nasty diaper when we got home, but was fine after that.
I know Parker was happy to be home. He was very unsettled, especially going from Gina's house to the hotel and back to her house again. He wanted Jeremy or I to be with him at all times and even started crying when I went to the bathroom without him. He fought sleep times and had to hold on to me while falling asleep. He had a few cranky meltdowns, which we normally don't experience at home. But it was still great to be on vacation for a few days, even better to see our Texas family, and we are so excited to host them this summer!
