Long Weekend of Firsts - Lots of pictures

There are so many things that the boys experienced this weekend for the first time. Here are the ones I can remember:

1. Joseph took his very first flight to Michigan;

2. Samuel took the first flight that he will probably remember and had his own seat (which on the way home we let him sit by the window and he LOVED it);

3. Samuel went fishing for the first time at the Glasser pond;

4. Samuel touched his first worm (which he almost didn't do because I was so grossed out and screamed when he was about it touch it, then when I realized that I freaked him out I told him it was fine and he didn't hold back. He enjoyed playing with those disgusting slimy worms);

5. Samuel touched his first fish and then continued to pet each one that he and Dave caught (before throwing the fish back in the water, he would always say "Bye Bye little fishy");

6. Joseph met his cousin, Jacob and Aunt Melissa for the first time;

7. Joseph met all his Canadian family for the first time;

8. Samuel took a nap in a big bed one afternoon (just for 40 minutes or so and I had to wake him up, but he did great); and

9. Last night Joseph attempted to eat rice cereal for the first time.

Last Thursday we went to Michigan to celebrate the 4th of July with Dave's family. All the Canadian family came in town on Saturday and we had a BBQ and relaxed all day. The weekend went very quickly.

The flight to and from Michigan was pretty good. Samuel did really well considering he had his own seat and on the way home was functioning without a nap. Joseph did well also. I was a little worried about Joseph because he only eats when he is hungry, so I was worried that if I tried to feed him when we were taking off or landing he might refuse to eat and therefore have issues with his ears. On the way to Michigan he ended up eating both at take off and landing, but on the way home he was asleep before landing and woke up as we were descending and I think it really bothered his ears. He has been super cranky since we got back from Michigan.

The last few days have not been the greatest for Joseph. He is screaming so much, which is out of character for him. I don't know if he is teething and it is really bothering him, if his belly hurts or if he is hungry. He is just annoying me and I have zero desire to deal with him. I feel sorry for Samuel because I hate to say but I am taking out my frustrations on him. Joseph has been screaming so much and Samuel is his normal self, getting into everything, wanting to cook and bake, throwing his toys around and etc. etc. Anyway, I am taking out my frustrations with Joseph on Samuel. I need to take a chill pill, but I am just so exhausted and I have to keep reminding myself to calm down.

Okay, so back to our trip. Samuel was so busy the entire weekend. He did not slow down. He only took one nap the entire weekend. He was just so excited to be playing and running around. Because he didn't nap, we had to deal with many meltdowns, but they were defused quickly. Samuel really liked fishing. He was first really afraid of the fish, but Dave was patient with him and Samuel quickly wanted to touch every fish. I have absolutely no desire to touch the fish or the worms, but it is fun to catch and reel in a fish. I caught a few myself.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

At the airport ready to leave:
Joseph relaxing:

Samuel went and picked flowers everyday with Oma and brought them back to me. It was adorable:

Samuel fishing for the first time with Oma and Opa:

The boys enjoyed the slip and slide:

They also had a blow up pool:

All the Michigan and Canada family (this was during one of Samuel's complete meltdowns, so everyone looks great, except Samuel is screaming and Joseph couldn't stop looking at Samuel. Nice.):

Kristen was the master at putting Joseph to sleep:

Samuel loved eating all the ice cream all weekend:

Samuel's first attempt at T-ball, he actually made contact with the ball:

Having fun on Opa's tractor:

Samuel and Dave fishing:

Uncle Joe with Joseph:

So yesterday evening we tried to give Joseph rice cereal for the first time. He has been acting really hungry lately. He follows our food and drinks and gets really cranky when we are eating dinner. I figured we would see if he was interested in the rice cereal and maybe it would make him less cranky. He hated the food last night. He spit out all of the food. I really don't think he ingested any of it. However, today I mixed up just one tablespoon to see if he would like it again and he totally figured out how to swallow the food. Today he was cranky because I wasn't feeding it to him fast enough. I guess we will continue to give him rice cereal everyday and see if that helps with his unhappiness. Here are some pictures: