Coeur d' Alene

The Rodda family escaped for a long weekend to Coeur d' Alene to hang out at the family cabin.  We left late Thursday night after Tom finished his fitness boot camp. The car was packed to the gills--Monty, Jack, and all of their stuff!  We arrived at the lake around 1:00am.  Friday we woke up and had a pretty lazy day around the cabin.  We read a little, went into town, and just plain relaxed. Jack, however, did not relax. He refused to take a nap the entire day!  Around 5:00 we headed down the bay to our friends' house, Lynnette and Michael. They have a great house and always throw a fun 4th of July party.  Tom put Jack in the Ergo carrier and he FINALLY fell asleep!  As always, Coeur d' Alene put on a great fireworks display. I watched it on the deck of the cabin with my dad and grandma. Jack and Tom missed the show--they were both sound asleep!

   

On Saturday we packed a picnic lunch and drove into the city park.  It has a great public beach and an amazing wooden playground.  It was too cold to go swimming, but Jack had fun swinging on the infant swings. He even went down the slide on his dad's lap! We know that next summer we will be spending a lot of time at this playground and beach.

Back at the cabin that evening, Jack discovered that watermelon is a great teething toy. He loved the coolness of the rind and kept reaching for each rind that Tom finished. 

Sunday Jack and I drove into Spokane to pick up my mom and visit with my grandmother. Jack used the excursion as an opportunity to nap and slept the entire way, both there and back!

My grandmother loved seeing Jack. It had been several months since she last saw him. Jack made sure that he showed her all of his new tricks--sitting up, rolling over, talking, and even tooting (funny, how it is cute when a baby does it). At one point during the visit, as Jack was sitting on his great-grandmother's lap, he reached his hand up to her face and gave her a little hug. My mother and I immediately dashed to get our cameras, but of course it was too late. It was a pretty cute moment shared between the two of them. Jack also got to visit with his great-aunt Patty and first cousin, once removed (pretty sure that is what she is) Emily.

Back at the cabin it was time for a boat ride. Jack got stuffed into his life jacket, which he wasn't too fond of wearing. To take his mind off of the life jacket, he helped his grandpa drive the boat. It was Jack's first time going fast on a boat. I wasn't sure if he would like it, but when that first wave hit and the boat started bouncing, Jack's grin grew. I guess we may have a bit of a daredevil in our midst!

     

Perhaps the greatest feat of the entire weekend might well have been when my mom successfully fed Jack!  Both Tom and I feel like we have tried everything to get Jack to eat his solid foods. After the novelty of them wore off, it has been an uphill battle to get him to eat each day. Not so for my mom. She sat him on her lap and he joyfully ate the whole bowl. We were in awe!

We had so much fun introducing another generation to a place that we love so much. We are going to have so many fun summers ahead of us!