another busy month goes by

I can’t believe it’s been a month between posts again!!??
I’ve been trying to find activities for Rowan to get out and meet some people. Someone at work told me about Kidstation. We went one day to find out about it and discovered that it’s FREE for under 2! Rowan had a great time and made some friends. He loved the ball pit and the slide. We’ll definitely be going again. I’m at home with a dial up connection, so I’ll put a video of him on the slide later.
Right after that, Mom, Dad, Rowan and I took a 14 hour road trip to Richlands, Virginia to visit with Aunt Anda and Uncle Tim. Regina stopped by the house for a short period. Her high school life is pretty busy. J This is her after completing the task of putting Rowan in his pajamas. Good Job Regina!!
Amber and Richard brought Andrew for Rowan to meet, a cousin his own age. They had a good time stealing toys from each other. They also thought it was hysterical to take turns falling down.

We then drove another 5 hours to Luray, Virginia. There we stayed with Aunt Julie and Uncle Kenny. Uncle Ollie and Aunt Bertha Dale live just on the other side of town and we saw them almost every day. Rowan was getting very good at meeting family and saying “lub oo”. No kids his age, but Kelly (a third grade teacher) drove from her place about 1 ½ hours away to make sure she saw us. Thanks Kelly!
Kaleb came home from college to visit, too. He thinks a little like a kid, so they had fun.

We also drove a day to visit with Beth and her boys, Travis and Mason. No pictures, I think they’re all on Mom’s camera. Oops!
While Rowan napped one day, Uncle Kenny took us up the Shenandoah Skyline drive. There were lots of scenic over views and I took a lot of pictures of trees. Hmmm, maybe I’ll keep my day job. It was beautiful. I’ve been up before, but it just looks better each time.
So, Rowan and I are finally home with Eric. We got home late on Saturday night, due to maintenance on the plane. Rowan was a trooper on the long trip. All starting with a 1 ½ hour drive to the airport and leaving at 8 am. (This was hard on the central time zone adjusted family) We then had THREE flights to get from Washington D.C. to Boise. Rowan was doing great, until he fell asleep 10 minutes before the first flight landed. I was not happy. His track record is very poor for staying asleep when the plane lands (like 0 for 22) But, surprise, surprise!! He slept over an hour in the sling after we landed. And that was with getting food and walking all the way to the new gate. (By the way, anyone traveling with a small child, a sling is my best friend. It’s better than a stroller, I don’t have to check it and I have my hands free to carry other things, and it doesn’t count as a carry on. Also, it’s so much easier to carry him. Thirty pounds starts to get awfully heavy in just ten minutes.)
After he woke up, we walked around a little bit and found out we were at the wrong gate. Oops! But no problem, we had a three hour layover. When we got to our gate, there were no less than 4 children 2 years old and under for him to play with. All the parents watched and they shared toys (and yes germs, but happy children are worth the inevitable cold) Rowan had a great time.
Then we got on the “forever flight” from Chicago to Salt Lake City. It was over 3 hours and the plane was full, so Rowan was a lap baby. Luckily, our seatmates and flight attendants were extremely helpful. We even had to have an emergency diaper and clothing change on the floor in the back of the plane with people stepping over us to go to the bathroom!! Again, Big Kudos to the flight attendants on that flight for setting it up for us. The plane we were on continued from Salt Lake to Boise, so we didn’t even leave the plane (again, NO FUN! Read this as active little boy trying to spend energy on two airplane seats before the next passengers boarded.) We finally arrived in Boise at 7:30 pm, 13 hours after we started our adventure. Rowan was a little hesitant with Eric at first, but warmed up before we got our baggage. Now, Rowan is asking for “Daddy” whenever he leaves his sight, and only wants Daddy to read to him. It’s so good to see them playing together.
Sunday we woke up and it was cold. It snowed some that day, none stuck to the ground, but it did snow. Eric had to cover our garden on Sunday night. Monday was chilly too and it snowed again!! Tuesday it was 60 degrees, but windy and we had a pretty low wind chill. (I’m not sure how cold though) Today it rained. Lots of weather changes.
Rowan is having fun with all the animals, too. On Sunday, we went to the goat farm where Eric bought our foundation herd. Rowan was fascinated by all the goats, dogs, cats and kittens. He was able to run around after a bunch of baby goats. He was a little frustrated that they wouldn’t come to him like the dogs do. Then he found the baby slide that they had for the goats. He loved it. In fact we had to drag him away. The owners of the farm, Wayne and Lindy Gifford are wonderful, generous people. They have been operating a Boer goat farm for some time. http://gifford-ache-r-age.com They offered to let Rowan come over any time and play with the goats. They also have field trips for schools and special education groups come over to the farm to meet the goats. They are helping Eric so much with starting our Boer Goat farm. http://redtreeranch.com I can’t wait until next spring when we’ll have a bunch of little goats running around the farm! Ok, so I’ve written a novel. But a lot has happened in the last month. I guess I’m just taking after Keilah!! Ha ha! Hopefully I’ll have more pictures of our adventures soon.