First Flight, Bus, Ferry and 3 States :-)

London sure did have a lot of firsts all wrapped up in a weekend. I finally made it to Kary's family camp in the Adirondacks in NY after 7 years of being together. I am definitely not the camping type, mainly because I am insanely allergic to all trees, grass, mold, dust, etc. However, this trip turned out to be awesome.
We left Charlotte on Thursday morning and had a quick flight to Newark, NJ. Charlotte security didn't give me any crap and everyone was smiling and waving at London in his cute little pajamas as we walked through the line. He passed out immediately after take-off and slept about 20 minutes and then was ready to explore which included smacking the window, sliding the window blind up and down, latching and unlatching the tray table, and grabbing huge chunks of grandma Gaffney's hair, who was sitting in front of us. We were stuck in Newark for like 5 hours (layover and then delay) and by the time our flight for Vermont arrived London was passed out in my arms and we were spent (especially since we were up at 3:20am that morning to catch the first flight)
We arrived in Vermont and drove to Burlington. We hung out there for a while, had some lunch, saw some cool shops, along with lots of weirdos. It was a very safe, eclectic, weird-kinda place and I liked it.
We rode a ferry across Lake Champlain and London loved it. He was laughing and flailing and got soo pissed when he had to get back in his carseat when we docked.
We drove 45 minutes to their camp through amazing scenery. When we got to the camp, Kary gave me a tour and London, of course, went crazy exploring the place.
We had a great time while we were there. We went to Paul Smith College, Saranac Lake, Lake Placid and had good times involving campfires, margaritas, Kan Jam, rivers, shops, restaurants, etc. I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

An Explosion of Family! Good Times!

We went to PA to visit family on July 22nd and stayed until Sunday. We chose this date because my Uncle John was visiting from Wyoming for the first time in about 5 years. He is one of my favorite uncles and I really wanted to see him, his wife Debbie, and cousin Johnny. Plus, I knew that since he was around there would be a lot of family around to catch up with. Plus, it was time to show off London and introduce him to lots of family members.
We arrived at about 2:30 on Thursday and immediately jumped into my parent's pool. They had build a little resort-like awning and with the 99 degree temp it was the best place to chill after 9 hours in a car, but luckily London was sooo good on the way there and did not cry at all!
I was so happy to be able to spend time with my nephew Mason and niece Isla and it was great to see my sister's baby bump. She looks awesome!
We spent lots of time in the pool, running around the yard, eating, playing, we had campfires, London splashed in the big pool and the baby pool and we just enjoyed the precious time we had with my side of the family.
We went to a family party on Saturday and it was sooo incredibly hot. It was at my uncle's house on Lake Erie. The beach was pretty gross so we mainly spent our time on a picnic blanket on the lawn. It was so miserably hot we didn't get to enjoy family much. London was soaked in sweat, cranky, overwhelmed, and exhausted. We stayed a few hours and then escaped back to my parent's for a swim. I am going to narrate the rest of the trip with pictures.

Headstrong and Independent

London has officially become a tiny person. My little boy has quite the personality. If he doesn't get what he wants, he lets you know. He has no fear. He laughs as he crawls toward stairs, tries to jump off the bed and tortures the dogs as if they are stuffed animals. He loves to climb all over the place and recently started pulling himself up the wall and standing. He can stand for a few seconds but then plops his butt back on the floor. He is an expert at going from crawling to sitting, standing to sitting, crawling to standing, etc. We have to be careful around the stairs. He also is starting to get ballsy and will let go of furniture and stand on his own for a few seconds...so exciting! He loves to be outside, loves splashing in water, is obsessed with making this weird raspy growling sound and has officially started clapping the right way :-) He just started clapping this morning while letting the dogs out. He also loves to dance and swings his arms back and forth in his high chair while we have mealtime dance parties. Kary's dancing makes him go crazy and he laughs hysterically. He also loves when Kary turns his hand into a claw and chases him saying he's going to get him. London crawls around all crazy and peaks to see when daddy will attack, it is so adorable. He also is starting to hand me things and experimenting with block building. He mostly wants to destroy rather than build but at least the blocks are spending a little more time in his hand rather than his mouth. He is so much fun at this age and we are so excited for when he starts talking and walking..so many new things coming up!

London has been trying real foods. So far he really likes tofu and corn. He is able to feed himself and, of course, enjoys knocking it onto the floor to feed the dogs. Here are some pictures from his first time trying tofu. There are a few banana pieces mixed in too...yum.