Layna's Second Trip to Syracuse

Mommy and Layna made a visit to Syracuse due to the loss of Grammy Chamberlain (Layna's Great Grandmother). We drove up with Uncle Austin, and stayed with Grandpy. We spent most of the visit over Uncle Charlie's house spending time with Uncle Charlie, Aunt Debbie, and cousins Caitlin, Allyssa, and Kyle along with Uncle Andre, Aunt Nicole, Lisa (Nicole's mom), Teddy (Uncle Andre's dog), Uncle Austin, Grandpy, and Cait's and Allyssa's boyfriends. It was a good weekend together. Well, we left Saturday and stayed until Tuesday. Layna liked playing with Allyssa on the swingset. She enjoyed following Teddy around. And for the most part behaved well, and slept well. We definitely got off our sleep schedule and eating schedule, and she finally ate a whole meal on the last day we were there.

On Sunday, we went to Aunt Slavka's (ChaCha's) taxi company's annual BBQ. It was good to see that side of the family, and Layna was elated to see her Baby Lilly, her Auntie Rosie, and her Chacha along with swimming at the lake. Mommy was holding baby Lilly, and Andre announce that my daughter who I just rinsed off was playing in the sand at the volleyball court. So Andre rinsed Layna off and when I looked up I saw him chasing the little lady in the sand. Yes, he had to rinse her off and carried her over to the picnic area again. After the BBQ, we went to the hotel where Uncle Andre, Aunt Nicole, and Lisa were staying. We went swimming in the pool there, where Layna had fun and almost drowned Mommy once. We learned that we needed to teach her to ask Mommy if she was ready for her to jump in. Layna asked "Mommy ready?" and I said "no" to see what would happen and she tried to stop herself but ended up diving in and was fine when she resurfaced from the water !

It was obvious how fast Layna is developing, learning, and growing. She knew that we would go to Uncle Charlie's house, and remembered them all easily. She knew the "little playground" was at his house, and we would see Teddy there. If Teddy wasn't there, she would say that he was with Uncle Andre. She ran to her ChaCha with arms wide open and a huge smile on her face, and wanted to be with Aunt Rose because I was holding baby Lilly.

Even though the trip was made for unfortunate reasons, it was successful traveling with Layna and a pleasant visit.


A total sidenote:
A few weeks ago, Layna's best friend joined us at the splashpad Layna goes to. Check out Kaitlin's Blog (Ais' Mommy) for some of those photos: SPLASH PAD FUN

Tall Ships and Splash Pad

Before I start, this is one of those "catching/updating" blog entries. So, just keep scrolling there's a lot of photos and a few of videos to check out!

Now, last weekend we joined Gramma and Papa Robidoux to Newport for the Tall Ships event. It was a bright, no-cloud-in-the-sky day. Layna was well-behaved and was excited to see the "big boats", as she would call them. We parked where we had to take the shuttle, which was a school bus. Layna sat in her seat and looked out her window. She was equally excited to be on the school bus !

After seeing the Tall Ships, we headed to Newport's Easton Beach. We visted this beach at least once a summer, usually after walking the Cliffwalk or/and visiting the Newport Mansions. The water was 70*, which we all loved and enjoyed swimming in. There was it's famous "red tide" where there is red seaweed, or something... Once you get past it you're all good to swim. Layna loved jumping with Mommy when the waves came. She did go under a couple times, but wasn't at all bothered by the salt water. She was definitely back in her element: water! hahaha.... she was running down the beach splashing and yelling with excitement, chasing seagulls, and playing the the sand.

Before heading home for the day, I was able to capture some great photos of Layna on the beach!

the first ship we saw!

so many boats out this day!

she wouldnt get any closer to the hole

a life boat

 

playing in the sand

probably pointing at the "boyydie" aka birds/seagulls 

video of Layna at the beach...

besides my smile... this is such a sweet photo of us!

I try to keep Layna happy, active, and entertained. We go to the park every couple of days to play on the playground, in the sand, and/or in the water at the Splash Pad. This is both of our favorite park. It has "everything" and is appropriate for ages 1-6 years old. Wish we had it in our backyard but 8 minutes down the road isn't bad either. 

literally ran straight through that sprinkler behind her over and over!

we were getting new shutters and she wanted to paint!

We spend a lot of time with Aislyn and Kaitlin. The two of them - Aislyn and Layna - crack me up all the time. This day they decided they needed haircuts along with the babydoll.