My first visit to Cedarville

As promised, my recent trip was quite an adventure.  Mommy and Daddy took me to visit Gram and Gramps in Cedarville.  It has been hard readjusting to a normal schedule now that we are home and this is the first chance I have had to sit down and tell you all about my trip.  The trip started with another plane ride to Reno.  This was the first time Mommy and Daddy haven't brought my car seat on the plane with us and I got to crawl back and forth and play with all the magazines from the seat pocket in front of me.  I did take a small nap on Daddy's shoulder but it wasn't very comfortable so I wasn't out for very long.  When we landed we picked up a rental car (and rental car seat) and headed to a place called Graeagle.  I didn't like the car seat at all.  It sat upright and I didn't have a good place to lay my head so I cried the whole way from the airport to Graeagle.  Luckily it was only an hour drive for Mommy and Daddy because I can be very persistent when I want out!  When we got there we were greeted by a whole bunch of family that I was meeting for the first time.  It was Gramp's side of the family (his aunt, cousins, and a few of their kids).  Gram was cooking spaghetti dinner for everybody.  I was tired but managed to hang in there and visit with everybody through dinner.  That night I did not sleep well, not only was it a new place and new bed, but I also had a lot of pain in my mouth, and I had one of my front teeth poke through my gums.  That night set the tune for the rest of the nights on the trip.  Teething on vacation is not something I recommend.  

The next morning was cool. Daddy put pants and socks on me and I wasn't sure what to think about that.  It felt weird and I had to give my legs a few good shakes to see if they would come off.  Daddy went off golfing and Mommy, Gram, Meg, the dogs, and I all went for a long walk in the forest.  It was very interesting there.  I loved to look at all the trees and streams, and watch the dogs run through the brush.   I got to practice my favorite word a lot - DOG!  Once we got home we all took naps and then headed over to the other house for the family reunion dinner.  It was fun to meet everybody.  I had a lot of fun with all my cousins, especially Kelly and Lindsey.  They liked to play on the ground with me.  I am the first baby in the next generation and everybody thought it was very fitting to have me there.  Here are some pictures from the evening and our group picture:

The next morning we got up and packed up the cars.  Then we headed down and had lunch at a little bakery in Graeagle, although I just got my standard baby food and some crackers.  After a quick visit at the other house we headed out to Cedarville.  It was just Gram, Mommy and I in the car with Brinkley.  Daddy took the rental car and left for Lodi/Stockton so he could do a day of work.  The drive was terrible.  My mouth hurt, I hated the car seat, and I just decided to cry the whole way home.  Gram even pulled over at one point to make sure I was ok, but I was fine, I just didn't want to be strapped into that thing.  Finally after about 3 hours of screaming I finally fell asleep for the last 40 minutes of the drive.  When we got to Cedarville it was raining.  They were having a big thunderstorm with rain and wind.  It was really cool and very nice there.  We played a little bit, then it was dinner time, bath time, and bed.  Once again I had a rough night and Mommy ended up taking me into bed with her so that I would quiet down and we could both get some sleep.

The next few days were much the same.  We went for a walk every morning with the dogs.   The first morning it was Mommy and Gram and I with me in the stroller.  It seemed like it was a good workout for Mommy, she was out of breath a lot.  The next morning it was just Daddy and Mommy, and the next morning it was Gram, Mommy, and Daddy and me.  Gram bought Daddy a nice backpack to carry me in.   Unfortunately they didn't get a picture of me in it, but I really enjoyed checking out the world from Daddy's back.  The afternoons were spent playing inside in the kitchen with pots, and spoons, and toys or in the living room with blocks and a tent.  We also spent a lot of time outside on the lawn with the dogs and exploring. 
I loved it! 

Mommy and me in the kitchen

Mommy building towers and me knocking them down.

Playing in the tent.

 Spruce cones were so interesting to look at!

 I wasn't too sure about Awk - she scared me a little bit.

Crawling through the grass

Outside with Tucker, Brinkley, and Auntie Meg (Tucker was my buddy!)

Brinkley wasn't too sure what to think of me and hid a lot

I loved spending time with Gram and Gramps.  Here is Gramps letting me help him on the computer.

 Gramps tried on my hat and I am learning he likes to do lots of silly stuff like that. 

Gram feed me breakfast a couple of times.  I promise I loved it.  Gram picked me a lot of fresh veggies from her garden including zucchini, yellow squash, and cherry tomatoes. 

I also got to see a bunch of other veggies including these cucumbers which I thought were pretty fun to play with.

One morning Mommy's friends Rikki and Joe brought their little girls over to meet me.  Their names are Taylor and Madison.  It was nice to have somebody to play with for a little while.  That is until Madison tried to grab my face and I got a little grumpy. 

 Here are some more pictures of us hanging around outside. 

Gram even let me help her make frozen yogurt.

On our last full day in Cedarville I was grumpy.  My teeth were bothering me and I hadn't slept well, but Mommy and Daddy packed me up anyway and we headed to the Modoc County Fair.  This is THE event for everybody who lives there and Mommy got to see lots of people she knew.  Mommy and Daddy decided to enter me into the Diaper Derby, a crawling contest for babies. 

Pre-competition strategy talks with Daddy

At the starting line (I wasn't too sure what to think of that clown behind me)

I put my head down and went for it (the guy in blue was the announcer and he was giving the play by play for the fans)

 Almost to the finish line - way ahead of the competition

Daddy giving me the High 5 for the win!

They made sure everybody finished

Me getting crowned - Queen!

Mommy and Daddy were proud of me and my big plaque (it is now hanging on my wall in my room)

The King and Queen of Diaper Derby

After the excitement of the Diaper Derby we wandered up to the livestock area of the fair.  It was awesome but a little overwhelming.  Besides dogs (and one cat from earlier in the week) I had never gotten to see so many animals up close before.  We saw sheep, pigs, goats, cows, horses, rabbits, chickens, ducks, and even some reptiles.  I liked to shout "DOG!" at all the animals but Mommy, Daddy, Gramps and Gram corrected me with the names of all the animals.

Duck

Rabbits

Ducks

Horse

After seeing all those animals I took a nap in my stroller for awhile.  When I woke up we headed back to the kids area to play and meet some more kids.

I like driving the cars!

Our last adventure for the day was to go see Uncle Danny participate in a rodeo event called "team doctoring."  Basically the cowboys had to separate a cow with the correct number from the herd, rope it, tie it and put a mark on it's forehead.  I had a great time in the stands watching the activity and playing with Gram and Gramps.

Cowboys receiving their instructions

Auntie Meg took me over to check out the cowboys

Danny is getting ready to go.

Auntie Meg took this great shot of Christian (Danny's brother) - he is in the blue

Here's Danny trying to rope the calf.

Unfortunately the cow won that round and they didn't get to move on to the next round.  Here he is trying to rope the calf and get his first rope back.

After an exhausting but very fun day at the fair, we headed home for dinner, bath, and bed.  The next morning we got up and hit the road to head back home.  I started crying again as soon as we got in the car and Mommy ended up coming into the back seat with me.  She held my head up so that I could take a nap.  We made it finally to the Reno airport, and then on to another plane.  This time the plane was full so we had a lady sitting next to us.  I fell asleep for a little while and spent the other part of the trip playing with the kids that were on the plane with us.  Boy was I glad when we finally made it home and I could crawl around!  Overall it was a wonderful trip and if it wasn't for teething, it would have been perfect.