Spring Break 2010

We kicked off JP's last spring break with a quick trip to my parents' lake house. Landon adores his Papa and Gigi and was SO EXCITED about the trip. We couldn't leave until after 1 since JP was taking a midterm, but Landon was very patient and helped me pack and clean the house all morning until finally at around 11:30 he had the brilliant idea that, "Mama and Landon can go in Mama's car! We no need Daddy."

When JP got home we threw our dogs, our bags, and our toddler into the car and took off for Livingston. We arrived about 5:30 and Landon immediately showed his puppy around the grounds.

The life vest was a new and mandatory accessory any time Landon stepped outside the house. With four dogs ranging from 55-95 lbs. running around him I was living in fear of hearing a splash in that deep, murky water. We had been trying to play up the awesomeness of the vest, so when I put it on him I exclaimed, "Landon you look so handsome!" Landon had already taken off towards the point, but he yelled back with a chipper, "Yeah, I know!"

On Saturday my dad made Landon a balance beam and he loved walking across it. It cracked us up that he'd only go one direction; hopping off the end and running back to the other side to start again. I think it's another daycare kid thing, kind of like how he tries to make the dogs walk in a line and lectures them on sharing and "being nice to our friends."

It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend and we spent a lot of time running around the yard, playing washers (pictured above; Landon was a proud member of the mens team, the expression on his face makes my day), eating, sitting, and beating JP at badminton (oh wait, that was just me). Now that Landon sleeps in a twin bed in a different room, rather than the pack and play right next to our bed, we could get some sleep and enjoy the trip so much more. My brother was home from college for the week so he and Landon were roomies.

Now, I try not to recreate too many "my toddler is so adorable" stories because I know every parent has their own, but I must share this one. We had told Landon not to get out of bed until my brother got up, figuring that while we wouldn't make him stay in the room until noon, maybe if he woke up really early he'd see Eric sleeping and go back to sleep himself. Well JP woke up around 7:30 and poked his head into the other bedroom to check on the boys. He found Landon half-sitting up in the bed, wide-awake, patiently waiting for Eric to wake up. Too sweet.

And while I would never have described Landon as a timid child - he threw his elbows around to walk with confidence amongst our crazy pack of labradors - he was very uncomfortable with the jet ski and the speed boat. He kept up a vigil whenever JP was out on the jet ski and would frequently yell out to me that "he's going too fast! he's got to BE CAREFUL!" Once, when JP did a fast turn and splashed up a bunch of water, Landon burst into tears because he thought daddy was falling. JP was not falling, which was good since the water was freezing, but he did go further out to do any additional tricks so Landon wouldn't see and get worried.

All in all it was a wonderful mini vacation. Our dogs are absolutely exhausted- they had to keep up with my parents' much younger puppies to constantly defend the property against birds, ducks, and other potential threats. Landon fell asleep so fast on the car ride home that his hand was still inside his little bag of crackers. I am also exhausted but unfortunately found out a memo that I thought was due mid-week was actually for a call with the client at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning, so I to work frantically from the moment we got home until just a few minutes ago to get it done. But it is finished and circulated and I can still feel my post-lake glow. I just wish I had the rest of the week off for Spring Break too!