The trip marked Brooks' first airplane ride. The long journey across the country went much better than I anticipated. I guess if you expect the worse than everything is better. Brooks definitely inherited the Ball gene though and fell asleep before we even took off for our first leg to Atlanta. Woohoo. It's funny how nobody wants to talk to you prior to the flight and gives these looks of disgust b/c your taking a child on the plane... until afterwards when he hasn't made a peep. Then, they all want to play with him and say how well he behaved.
On our flight back from Denver to Charleston, Brooks also slept, but not before he decided to poop. Unfortunately, the plane hadn't taken off yet so I couldn't change him. When he did wake up the beverage carts had trapped us in our seats. An hour an a half later, we made our escape to the shoebox bathroom. Apparently, kids are not considered when designing a plane. I had to lay Brooks on top of the toilet like a dead bug... arms and legs in the air.
We had a great time on vacation. I think Brooks enjoyed playing in the backyard the most. He had so much space to walk around and play. I look forward to living in a house with a yard. Here are some highlights of his experience.
Much of the backyard is filled with rocks... definitely a favorite for Brooks. He would sit and put them in the bucket, take them out and throw them for a good 15 minutes at a time.
Brooks also enjoyed the swing. I used it a few times to prepare him for nap time. Who can resist the rocking motion?
Brooks quickly learned how to turn on the bubble machine. Even if I turned it off after he walked away, he would walk right back to hit the switch.
It took almost all week for Brooks to warm up to my dad, but obviously sitting the hammock was way more fun than playing shy.
My mom forced me to go through some of my childhood keepsakes and we came across the Indian Princess/Guides vest & headband. Brooks wore it for awhile and showed off his new-found ability to stick his finger up his nose.
Riding in the red wagon also proved to be a favorite for Brooks. He fit perfectly into the seat. Justin pulled him around the lawn a few times and got a good laugh out of him.
One of the main reasons we took the trip to Colorado was to see our new nephew. Everett Gordon arrived on Mother's Day. I detected a little bit of jealousy from Brooks when I would hold Everett, but otherwise he had very little interest in him.
This picture took at least 15 minutes to take. The bright line down the middle is from another camera's flash. Cousin Wyatt made it clear he did not want his picture taken until Gramma offered to hold everyone in her lap.
I'm not sure when we will make it back to the mountains, but hopefully it won't be another three years.
