My Mom's Birthday Visit

My mom's birthday was on August 24th, so Valerie and I went down for a visit! Instead of the 7-hour drive (10+ with a 5-month old!), we took the 1 hr, 20 min flight straight from Seattle to Medford! Here we are in the airport, waiting to board...Valerie was a real trooper... she gave me a bit of a scare when she started squealing like the world was going to end just before we boarded the plane, but as soon as we got one, she was so enamoured by the "grandma" sitting next to us that she didn't even think about crying. A few minutes into take off, she was asleep and didn't wake up until our decent. It was fabulous!

We got to Grants Pass and had a super relaxing visit... we worked in the garden (this is just some of the produce we picked one morning!).We visited with Valerie's cousins, aunts and uncles...She absolutely adored my mom's Maltese-mix puppy, Lilly. She has never giggled so hard or so long as when Lilly would come up close to visit her!We hung out in the sun...And went swimming in Grandma's pool! Cousin Lexi even helped to tie on the swim diaper!Visiting with great-grandma and great, great grandma!Hanging out with Grandpa!My sister still had an infant car seat from when Lexi was little, so thankful I didn't have to haul Val's car seat on the plane. Here she is, sitting in her temporary seat!Birthday Girl: We celebrated my mom's birthday with a BBQ on Sunday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day and loads of family came out to visit...On Monday, her actual birthday, we went out to a local favorite - The Roadhouse Grill... a place where you can eat peanuts and just discard the shells on the ground. Then when you get seated you hear the crunch, crunch, crunch... all the way to your table! Another fun event was watching Ethan BMX race! This was only his second time racing, but he is getting really good and we had a blast watching him and the other riders...Valerie makes such funny faces these days...Here we are at the airport... one last Dutch Bro for everyone before Val and I head back to Seattle where Starbucks rules the land!Okay - she looks a little grumpy, but that's just her wake-up face. Valerie had another great flight on the return home. She fell asleep soon after take-off again, but only slept for about 1/2 hour. We stared out the window while flying over Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier... and Valerie enjoyed flirting with a few of the gentlemen sitting around us. Silly girl!