Oregon wedding adventure

We're back from our whirlwind trip to Oregon.  It was a lot of fun, but it involved some mishaps as well.  Getting there was fine - we made it to the airport, we didn't forget anything, the plane was on time, Jayden napped for 1-1/2 hours of the flight, it all worked out well.  

Again, using baba as a pacifier during take-off allowed him to pass right out once we got up in the air.  He did the same thing on the flight home, only he slept for almost the entire 2 hour flight.

Once we landed in Oregon, however, things got interesting.  The main highway that we needed to take was closed, meaning we had to find a detour, adding an extra 20 minutes or so to our already long drive.  Once we finally got on the road and figured out where we were going, Alaska Airlines called me and asked if I'd forgotten an item at the airport.  I thought, "no, of course not."  Then the lady said something about a pack n play, and it dawned on me - we had checked a pack n play, and lo and behold, it was not in our car.  Hmph.  So back to the airport we went.  It did give me time to find a better alternate route to get across town, but Carmen and I were both frustrated at this point.  We finally get to where we're going (the Nike employee store where we spent too much money) and get on the road to the hotel.  We were supposed to get to the hotel, where my friend and her son were staying, around 6:30 or so.  Due to the detours and delays, we ended up stopping for dinner on the way and not getting to the hotel until around 8:30.  We go to check in and they tell us our reservation is for the next day and they are completely booked and there's nothing they can do.  By this point it is waaay past Jayden's bedtime and Carmen and I are both exhausted.  I go to say hello to my friend, tell her the drama and then let her try to finagle her two year old into bed.  We drive half an hour back the way we came to one of the few hotels anywhere nearby with a room for the night, unpack and pass out (Jayden in the bed with me, because of course he won't sleep in the pack n play, which we might as well have left at the airport).

The next morning we drive back to the the town where the hotel is to meet my friend and her son at the park.  This is when the trip started to get good.  My friend's son is about 25 or 26 months old  - only a few months older than Jayden.  They're about the same size, and my friend has been telling her son (Reid) about Jayden for the past few days.  So when he finally meets him, he goes "Jay-den!"  They become fast friends, following each other around the playground and grass, with Reid doing most of the leading and Jayden most of the following.  Jayden even got on the swing because Reid wanted to get on the swing - and Jayden usually hates the swing!

On the tire swing - Reid's "smile"!

"hanging" out

Hey - look at the camera!  Good job, Reid.  Now, Jayden?

1, 2, 3, swing!  Good job Reid.  Jayden?

Great job Jayden - now Reid - ohhh.  Neither Carissa nor I could them to both swing and look at the camera at the same time.  Oh well.  I absolutely adore the series, so it was worth it anyway.

On the sailboat.  Reid had the idea that to "sail" you had to hold on to the handle on both sides and wrap your body around the end of the sail.  It was pretty awesome.

Jayden ran through a mud puddle multiple times and got his shoes dirty.  He does not like to have his shoes dirty.  This is him pointing out his dirty shoes to me.  Soooo, he went barefoot.  And when Jayden went barefoot, Reid wanted to go barefoot too.  Even though Carissa said he usually hates it; once Jayden did it, he wanted to do it too.  

The five of us ate lunch together and then Carissa and Reid left to walk back to the hotel and hopefully get Reid to pass out.  As soon as they left, Jayden became very anxious and started pointing and saying "Ree? Ree?"  It was cute - they really became good friends in a matter of minutes.

The wedding was that night and it was beautiful.  There were huge grassy fields for the kids to run around in and they definitely got their moneys' worth.  Carissa, Carmen and I didn't get to participate much in the festivities - we were mostly chasing kids, breaking up fights over cars, supervising them as they tried to chase the duck around the pond, etc.  In fact, we were both so busy that neither Carissa nor I really got any pictures of anything!

Phil and her husband!  It was the first time I'd met him.  She is just so happy, and he seems like a cool guy.  They're off to Scotland to honeymoon right now, lucky them!

Carissa and her baby (who's not so much a baby really).

Carmen and I and our baby.  Who is totally still a baby.  :)

The kids did great and stayed up until 8:30 or so when we all decided it was time to head home and save ourselves the pain of another 10 pm night.  Turns out we got a 10 pm night because Carmen thought it would be good to stuff Jayden's stomach full of cupcake at about 8:00 pm.  Since it was apparently my job to get him to sleep, we tossed and turned for a while until he finally passed out.

Our trip home was uneventful.  Like I said, Jayden slept wonderfully and people afterwards commented how he'd barely made a peep and how well he did.  When kids are passed out they rarely make noises, so I guess that's the key.  I just don't know what we're going to do when we get on a flight that's more than 2 hours; it's going to be rough.  But we're back, and we're back to work and Juju's and all of that.