East Coast Romping

We've been busy little beavers this month! Baby A. and I started off the month of November with a trip back to the east coast to see family. We stayed with Glamma and did as much as we could. 

 I love visiting home and friends, and I enjoy having a packed schedule when I am away from home, but it's not as easy to do that with a toddler. He needs to remain as close to his schedule as possible in order to not have him scream his head off (Baby A. takes napping and night night time very seriously), and it was a little tough because not only did we have a time zone change, but also a daylights savings time change to work around. Luckily, he was able to nap pretty decently on the flight there, and he really enjoyed watching the planes take off and the baggage cars riding around at the airport. 

We made sure to visit my alma mater in Annapolis for some Navy goodies and we got a wonderful fall day to go with my mom. Baby A. had a great time running around and looking at the area. We grabbed him a few more cute Navy outfits to represent back in our enemy Army territory in Kansas for Army-Navy week.

Another day, we spent some time with family at my mom's house. We were lucky enough to also spend some quality time with my dad (Baby A. learned to say "Pop-pop") and unexpectedly even caught my mom's husband's return home from his deployment to Afghanistan!

               

Pop-pop brought some gifts from him and Nonna Sandy, including this awesome Elmo book and stuffed toy, which A. was SUPER into and continues to ask for and give kisses.

 Also, there is a kind of weird little zoo in Rising Sun, Maryland, not too far from where my mom lives, and we did visit that as one of only two patrons that morning. It worked out because I was able to let Baby A. run around and view the animals at his own pace and interest level. Part of the zoo is a petting zoo, so he pet donkeys, sheep, and goats.There were llamas and alpacas, which A. definitely recognized and I had to google because I never remember which is which (alpacas have the long hair because they use their hair for like, sweaters and such- see photo). He also saw a bear, zebra, chimps, bison, mislabeled tigers, and a whole slew of other random animals kept in surprisingly small areas that didn't seem to fit their habit needs (I don't typically enjoy zoos because all the animals seem depressed, and especially the bears in tiny cages here). But. We went anyway and he seemed to enjoy being outside and imitating the petting zoo animals, at least. I would still suggest just making the drive to see the aquarium in Baltimore instead. 

 

 And I'm happy I was able to get this great photo of A. smiling big after we made the "baaaa" sound like the sheep to each other for a while.

Still, I'm thankful that our next trip on an airplane will occur with hubs and isn't for another month. Traveling with a toddler, even my cute, cool little guy, is quite an undertaking!

More November updates to follow (and maybe an Mo-vember Mustache photo shoot?!?!)

-Big A.⚓