Trip to the Big City

Last week we went to the big city near us for doctor appointments and for a vacation. We were gone for four days total and had a blast. It was such a break for me after Jared had been gone the week before, and was also a fun time to just spend as a family. I did not know that staying in a hotel, with two small children, could be so much fun.

The first day morning after arriving we had doctor appointments. Jacob had his one year shots and check-up, Jared had some booster vaccinations, and I had my first prenatal visit. Afterwords we went to a pizza/Baskin Robbins ice cream place. In Kentucky we had a tradition of celebrating baby landmarks during my pregnancies with visits to Graeters ice cream (for black raspberry chip, of course). This did not quite compare but was still pretty yummy. Jacob loved the pizza, as you can see below.Josiah loved the ice cream. He has suddenly decided that cookies and ice cream are his favorite foods. We laugh because these are two things we almost never have. Josiah and I sharing an ice cream cone.

Josiah tring to get that last bit off of hit lips.Josiah and Jared went swimming every day we were there. Jacob and I usually went to Starbucks, yes there is one right next to our hotel and I frequented it regularly, then headed over to watch them swim.

We went to an indoor play area one morning. We had heard of it from some friends and were told it was very clean. It was, even clean enough that we let Jacob explore to his heart's content. There was lots to do, a ball pit, trampoline, swings, slides, stuff to climb, tunnels, a zip line, etc. I had trouble getting pictures of Josiah. Most shots ended up being of the back of his head as he was running away. Here is one, as he was swinging around a palm tree on these hanging ball things.
Jacob spent much of his time playing inside this slide. It was a see-through slide, with a tunnel below, and water going through the clear part. He loved going in the tunnel and looking at the water.
The boys also had some great times with Jared, wrestling in the hotel room, throwing pillows, and laughing. Josiah and Jacob are getting pretty good at this.
Now we are back home, back to language study and regular day to day stuff. This language study stuff is tough, it was great to take a break but even then we were reminded regularly of where we fall short in our ability to converse with others. Back to studying and practice.