Dad Visits

This past weekend Matt's father visited us from New York. It was a quick trip with him flying in on Friday and leaving early Monday.

So Friday evening we just ordered pizza and stayed home. Saturday morning Matt and his dad got up early to go check out the CV-22. Then when they got back, the four of us went to the big playground for the morning. Once we got back, Ethan laid down for his nap and Matt and his dad drove over to the Sandia Peak Tramway. Unfortunately, due to wind, the tram wasn't running that day, so instead they drove around the east side of the mountain and up to the top that way. When they got back, the four of us went out to dinner at the Standard Diner, where we saw the BIGGEST cream puff EVER. Seriously. It was huge.

Ethan and Olivia at the playground together

Me and my not-so-baby baby boy

Ginormous cream puff

Since Sunday was Father's Day, I reserved Matt and his dad a tee time at Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Course for an early morning round of 18-holes. While they were golfing, Ethan and I walked to the big playground for the morning. Then after the guys got back (and we all napped, lol) we went to Nob Hill Bar & Grill, one of our favorite restaurants, for happy hour. Finally we came home and relaxed, then put Ethan to bed and had a late dinner.

So I'm bummed Ethan wasn't looking at the camera for this one, but I also kind of love his expression at the same time, lol

Ethan and his Grandpa :)

Step in Time with Grandpa!

Like I said, it was a short trip, but we really enjoyed having Dad here for a visit, especially since it was Father's Day weekend. :)

Ethan's First Swim Lesson

This morning Ethan and I woke up bright and early and headed to his first swim lesson at the indoor pool on base. I was a little anxious, and if Ethan understood where he was going he would've been a lot of anxious. Every time I've taken him to the pool this year (whether that be the indoor pool, the outdoor pool or the baby pool in our backyard) he has detested it (unless naked, that is). I mean, he wasn't crazy about the pool last year, but by the end of the summer he warmed up to the idea and would at least go in with one of us. So I was hoping maybe this summer he'd be ready to jump right in (literally). But alas, his fears all came rushing back and he wouldn't even dip his toe in without screaming at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly signing him up for this 8-day swim class seemed like a bad idea. Eight half hour swim lessons of pure screaming flashed before my eyes, but I tried to stay positive. I crossed my fingers that the routine of getting in the pool everyday might relax him a little and get him to actually enjoy swimming (like I do so much).

We arrived a little early to the pool, which turned out to be a good thing because there were swim lessons already going on and Ethan could see all the other kids splashing around and having fun. You could tell he was hesitant at first (clinging to my body), but he quickly wanted to get down and walk around the pool to watch the other children.

Finally 8am rolled around. We walked down the stairs into the pool (Ethan in my arms) and successfully got into the water (no screaming, hooray!). Then, per the instructors advice, swayed the babies back and forth until submerged up to their shoulders. Ethan wasn't thrilled about this, but he clung onto my body (even tighter) and still didn't scream. It wasn't until the instructor told us to get the children to put their legs out and kick that Ethan lost it. I can just hear his little thoughts now, "I'm sorry, what? You want me to unwrap my legs from around my mother's waist and kick? You want me to detach myself from all that is safe? In this big abyss? Oh no no no. No sir, no thank you." And so that went for the next 20 minutes. Attempting to get Ethan to kick. Ethan screaming. Watching the other kids kick and blow bubbles and splash. Ethan screaming. Letting Ethan sit on the side of the pool. No screaming. Putting Ethan back into the pool. Ethan screaming.

Fortunately, I have a pretty high level of patience when it comes to my little guy, so we just kept working at it. And working at it. And working at it. And it wasn't until the instructor pulled out the kickboards that Ethan's eyes finally lit up. Without even having to coach him, he let go of me and grabbed onto the kickboard. With my hands under his belly and legs, and his upper body on the kickboard, everything was fine. I asked him to kick, he kicked. I asked him to blow bubbles, he blew bubbles. It was like night and day! It felt like all that worry beforehand and positive-thinking and finger-crossing was worth it just to see him happy and relaxed in a pool! Yay!

Hopefully tomorrow won't take 20 minutes of screaming prior to the happy/fun time in the pool, but I guess we'll just have to cross our fingers some more and wait and see!

Kendall and Dave Visit

This past weekend we had more visitors - yay! This time Matt's Mom (Kendall) and her boyfriend (Dave) came from New York to spend five days with us, which was awesome. As much as we try to call, email, Skype, etc. to keep in touch with family, nothing beats a good old fashion visit. :) So they arrived late Wednesday night and stayed with us until Monday morning. It was a great visit with a good balance of site-seeing and downtime.

On Thursday, their first full day in Albuquerque, unfortunately, both Matt and I had to work, but they made the most of it and rode the Sandia Peak Tramway and then afterward wandered around Albuquerque on their own. When evening time came, we all had dinner together and then took Ethan out to the playground behind our house after dinner.

On Friday the four of us (minus Ethan who went to daycare) were able to go to brunch together at the Flying Star Cafe (one of our favorite restaurants in Albuquerque) and then Dave, Kendall and I went to the Albuquerque Botanic Gardens for the afternoon. I hadn't really been to the Botanic Gardens since January 2009 when Matt was stationed here and I visited him, so to see the gardens in the spring was really spectacular. The Butterfly Pavilion was also bustling with life, so it was neat to walk through there - and a butterfly even landed on me, which Kendall said is good luck, so cool!

Saturday morning Dave, Kendall and Matt all got up bright and early and headed out to hike Tent Rocks while Ethan and I hung out in the air conditioning. Matt also showed them the CV-22, which is always cool to see (although I may be a bit biased, lol). Then Saturday night we cooked in and just relaxed since everyone was pretty tired from the day of hiking.

Sunday was their last full day in town, so we decided to go out and buy Ethan his own baby pool. Last summer it took a lot of pool trips to get Ethan comfortable in the pool, so I wondered how this would work, but considering it was more like a tub in his backyard I thought he might adjust faster. Well, Ethan must've been on the same wavelength (this is like a bathtub in my backyard), because once he convinced us to strip him of his shirt, shorts AND diaper, he was all about hopping in that pool and splashing around, lol. Silly naked baby. Good thing it was his own private pool!

Eyeing up the pool... not sure what to make of it yet

Oh, this splashing thing is fun

Oh no, my shirt is wet, nooooo!

Okay, this isn't so bad, but these shorts are kind of bothering me

Yessss! I'm free of all clothing!

Splashing with Daddy

Ooooh yeah, this is the life!

After pool time, we went out to Sadie's for dinner. Matt and I had heard great things about Sadie's Mexican Restaurant from friends, but had yet to try it out. Well let me tell you, Sadie's did not disappoint! Not only was the service friendly and attentive, the margaritas were awesome and the meals were HUGE and amazingly delicious. Between the carne adovada and the beef brisket we couldn't decide which was better and were all happily stuffed at the end. Well, stuffed, but not too stuffed to not try the complimentary sopaipillas topped with honey after our meals. ;)

My ginormous beef brisket burrito with beans and potatoes and "Christmas" sauce on the side - yum!

Then, of course, after Sunday comes Monday when Dave and Kendall packed up and flew home to New York. We're always sad to see our visitors go, the house just seems so quiet when it's back to three. At least we have more visitors coming in just a few short weeks AND we'll get to see Kendall and Dave again in August when we make our whirlwind homecoming tour after Matt finishes his training. :)