Here we Go!
I think I figured it out! Here we have the next installment of life with the little man. This should be much lest disjointed than the last few because I learned how to upload the pictures first and then write. So, strap in. We have had a wonderful and pretty crazy summer. Chris and I have learned that the 'less-busy-time' that we keep thinking is coming does not come. Part of that is because we are just people who stay busy. Thankfully, Jed is a great go-with-the flow little guy and keeps up pretty well with us.

In late July to early August, we had a lot of great visits from family. First, Chris' parents came for a weekend, then my parents came the next weekend and dropped off Aunt Emmy for a week of visiting. Jed really enjoyed seeing everyone -- even though he was still healing up from an ear infection. This makes 4 in 6 months. Yuck! Pray for him. We are hopeful that God will heal this and he won't have to get tubes in his ears at such a young age.

One of his favorite things while he had such captive audiences over those 2 weeks was to get them to read books to him. Here are Grandpa Adamow and Aunt Emmy. Jed's favorite books right now are the Sandra Boynton books and Goodnight Moon.

And now we move on to the Adamow Family Vacation! This is the first vacation we've taken where Jed was really a part of things. It is also the farthest we have travelled with him -- 2200 miles! I would like to take this opportunity to thank God for blessing us with such an amazing traveler. He might have fussed for about 100 of those miles and it was usually when he needed to fall asleep and didn't want to. We also learned that dried fruit is a young boy's best friend on a road trip. Chris would hand him a piece of dried apricot or a few grapes and he would munch on them like gum for about 15-20 minutes. This was a great gift when it was getting to be meal time but we wanted to squeak out a few extra miles.

Here is our first meal stop. We found a little park off the interstate and made Chef Boyardee. Jed loved it. I learned on this trip that all the homemade meals that I've made for him don't compare to meals from a can, box, or bag. He loved bags of noodles and things like that. Maybe I'm working too hard. . .
Here he is entertaining himself in the car with one of his books. He'd turn the pages and point to the pictures and try to say words like we do when we read the books to him.
When we were almost to Craig and Jesse's house, we stopped for lunch at an IHOP because I had a craving for breakfast food. Here are the men enjoying their beverages. Jed thinks he's pretty cool when he can drink from a straw.
Our first and biggest stop on our vacation was a visit to my cousin Craig's house. He and his wife, Jesse, have an amazing little son named Rocco who's about 6 months old now and we hadn't gotten to meet him yet. What fun! We went to the park right down the street from their house that night and Jed discovered that he loves sticks almost as much as his cousin, Joshua. Stay tuned for more pictures of Rocco (I've had lots of requests) as well as playground time.
The next day, after relaxing for quite a while -- what a treat -- we headed to Colonial Williamsburg. We got there pretty late and so all the shops were closing, but we got to wander around the streets and it was neat to see.
Back at the house, Jed discovered Craig's Nerf collection (this is the shotgun!) His favorite part was watching the empty shells catapult out after you fired it. He giggled and giggled about that.
The next day we headed to the beach so Jed could see the ocean. Rocco was in rare form. I don't think there are many things cuter than babies in beachwear.
Here are Daddy and Jed heading to the water. Jed loved walking into the waves. As soon as one hit his feet he'd run after it, getting a little further into the ocean. The next would hit his knees and he'd run again. The next would hit his waist and knock him down, but he'd stand up unscathed and run after it again. Even when a few waves got him right in the face, he'd scrunch his face up, spit out the water, and then start laughing. This kid has NO fear!
Here are the men after Dada took them waist deep in the ocean. They loved jumping over the waves and we've never seen the look of awe on Jed's face quite like he had when going into the ocean.
Now he's exploring the sand. This didn't last long, because as fearless as he is, the one thing that makes him cry is getting stuff on his hands. If he'd fall in the sand, he'd get so frustrated that we'd have to bring him back to the water and wash off his hands. Chris tried playing with a bucket and shovel with him, but that lasted about 2 seconds. Back to the waves, Dada!
I got to sit in the waves with him and try to keep him from wandering into the abyss on his own. It was quite a task. He just wanted to go further and further into the water all the time.
Stay tuned for more pictures of Rocco at the end of this blog. . .

After our stay with Craig and Jesse, we headed to the Shenandoah Valley to stay at a mountain cabin. We were not quite prepared for the drive. We got out into the boondocks and ended turning off the pavement to drive straight up the mountain for 6 miles in 1st gear on gravel roads. Jed thought he was on a pretty cool ride. He just sat there and looked out the windows. We had a pretty scary moment when we turned the wrong way down the mountain and bottomed out quite a bit. After we made an 8-point turn to get back up the mountain, Chris had to gun it so we didn't get stuck in the potholes. He burned rubber going up! Go Hyundai Elantra! We stopped at a house to ask directions and the guy I talked to said "Y'all went down thar? Thet's a rough piece a road!" You're telling me, mister mountain man with the 4-wheel-drive vehicles!

Here you see Jed and Chris walking up the 'driveway' to our cabin. I would like to submit that it was more like a hiking trail, since I've been on many driveways and hiking trails in my day, I think I know the difference. Thankfully, the cabin-owner warned us that we might want to park at the top and walk up and down.
After we made it to the top, Chris informed me that we weren't coming off the mountain until after our 2-night stay. I didn't argue. That meant that the hike I was hoping for turned out to be walking down the roads we had just travelled. Still, since they resembled hiking trails, it felt really good. And as you will see, the views on the mountain were incredible. Here's Jed in his adventure mode.
And here is the view from our cabin. Well worth the crazy drive.

About 10 minutes after we got to the cabin, Jed discovered a chocolate bar that Jesse bought us in Williamsburg that had completely melted. What a find! He got it open, got it on himself, and on a cushion in the cabin. Thank you Dawn dishsoap! We got the stains out of the cushion and Jed's shirt. Sure looks like he loves chocolate, huh?
After we left the mountain -- 1st gear all the way down -- we headed to Louisville, KY. It actually is an amazing little town. I wish we would have had more time to explore. We did, however get to make a surprise stop to visit my friend Ashleigh and her new husband, Rosevelt. It just happened that they lived in Louisville and I joined Facebook in time to find this out and see them there.
After a stay at a glorious Bed & Breakfast, a visit to a Bourbon Distillery, and several great restaurants, we drove to a bluegrass festival on the Ohio River. If only it hadn't been over 100 degrees outside, we would have stayed for a while.
We escaped the heat and headed to Paducah, KY for the night to visit our friends, the Masoners. Jed loved that Amanda is a knitter and crocheter because she didn't mind Jed wrapping himself up in all her yarn. I refer you to my previous blog where I spoke of his affinity for putting things around his neck.
So, throughout our whole vacation, I was reminded what a daredevil our son is. He really has no fear and I'm not sure if this is a good thing, but I do know that it helps him to have a wonderful time on the playgrounds with Dada.

Yep, he goes down the big slides by himself, too. And this one he went backwards.



Look, Mama, one arm!

Besides the daredevil, he is still quite the musician. Here he is with the ukelele -- holding it the right way. If Chris hands it to him the wrong direction, he quickly fixes it before starting to strum.
Here he is entertaining himself -- and his parents, by playing in the car -- this almost always included singing.
Here he is jamming with Dada at Craig and Jesse's.
Notice when he plays a big guitar, he has to put the strap around his neck. He'll strum and sing, finish his song, and then take the strap off. When he wants to play a new song, he puts the strap back on and goes to it.

So, after such an exciting trip, we have to have some pictures of our boy getting his rest. He did a great job sleeping wherever we found a place for him. Here he is on the cabin's futon and then on the floor at the B&B

And now . . . Rocco Florschuetz!!!!


Yep, our family makes really cute kids! Until next time, we are the Adamows!