Texas Bound

When Evan and Passa had a new baby, Jacob, in May we just knew we had to make trip to Texas to meet our new little nephew! The last time we went to visit them I was barely pregnant with Avery and we were going to meet our new niece, Cara, who is 3 years old now. Time flies! Avery only gets to see her Texas Piland family a couple of times a year, so we were really excited to take her on a trip there to play with her cousins, but I have to admit we were apprehensive about the flight there and back. It was Avery's first plane ride and we had visions of meltdowns, tantrums, and freak outs... Oh my! Thankfully all of our worrying was for not, as overall she did a fantastic job. There were restless moments for sure, but nothing too embarrassing. Her favorite parts of the plane ride were the "big bump" (when the plane landed and the wheels hit the ground) and when we hit some pretty severe turbulence. While Erich and I were gripping our seats and praying for safety, Avery was throwing her arms up in the air and saying "Weeeeeeeee! Faster! Faster!". She's our fearless daredevil girl for sure. We can't wait to take her to Cedar Point someday.

The visit with Evan, Passa, Cara, and Jacob was great, but way too short. We got into town around 4pm on Friday and were leaving to head back to the airport at 4am on Sunday morning. We still managed to fit in quite a bit of fun during our stay though... going out to eat multiple times, getting family pictures taken, and walking down to the lake by Evan and Passa's house where we were nearly attacked by some of the most vicious ducks I've ever seen (it's one of those things we can laugh about now, but wasn't quite so funny in the moment). Jacob was an absolute doll. One of the happiest, calmest babies I've ever seen. Avery and Cara had fun playing together, with the exception of a few little battles here and there (blame it on the age where sharing is a tough concept combined with Avery getting two of her molars while we were in Texas... meltdown city).

We had a great time and were so thankful for Evan and Passa's great hospitality. They made us feel right at home!

Avery's first plane ride. She was entertained with movies on the laptop and a steady supply of fruit snacks and suckers. All star parenting!

The only family photo we got of Evan, Passa, Cara, and Jacob. It was a bit of a hectic weekend.

Proud Uncle Erich with his niece and nephew

Cousins!

Two brothers with their little girls. What a sweet moment it was to watch them all walking hand and hand.

Avery was on paci patrol with Jacob. She always wanted to make sure he had it in his mouth. We have no doubt that Norah will be well taken care of by her big sister!