Off to Chi-town!

What a weekend Tommy had! Last weekend for my fall break, we flew up to Chicago on Saturday morning and met up with our friends PJ, Kristen and their son Gilbert (you may remember pics of them from their Nashville visit in April). Gilbert and Tommy are only 6 weeks apart and have always been fine with each other but this time they were real buddies! Tommy got to ride in his first train, bus and taxi cab! And as you can see below, he also thoroughly enjoyed his first smoothie. We went to the Children's Museum and the Shedd and even entertained ourselves by watching the boys run up and down the hallway in the condo building when it was raining. We had a blast and LOVED seeing the boys together. On Sunday we headed to Ryan's cousins' house where Tommy was the hit of the household with Riley, Morgan, Jan and Terry. He loved all the attention and didn't want to leave. They gave him a book called "Good night Chicago" which is currently the ONLY book in rotation: literally, we read it through 3 times a night before bed. We can't wait to get back! Sorry for the amount of pictures but I just couldn't cut it down...too many cute ones.

Yeah Uncle Jerry!

A couple weeks ago Uncle Rob and Aunt Lara were in town so we all traveled out to Lebanon to have lunch with them at Lara's parents house, now lovingly known as Margot and "Uncle Jerry". Jerry has a hangar (where the wedding and reception were held) with 3 of his own airplanes. With Tommy's fascination of airplanes, the trip was a hit and of course "Uncle Jerry" is now the coolest guy Tommy has ever met. Tommy didn't get to actually fly in one but Drew, Carter and Catherine did along with most of the adults. Tommy was pretty content to sit in them and spent the majority of the day either saying "yeah Uncle Jerry!!" when he would fly a plane, or rotating from plane to plane. And I worried that we hadn't brought toys out there for the kids to play with???? I included a couple pics of Tommy in the planes and then had to have Jerry pictured in at least one so you can see him. 2 weeks later and Tommy STILL talks about how Uncle Jerry flies the yellow airplane!

Little Ring Bearer

Last weekend, Tommy's uncle Rob and Aunt Lara tied the knot here in Lebanon, TN, and Tommy and all the cousins were in the wedding. They all successfully made it down the aisle although Tommy was pretty much done after that and just wanted to eat all the fruit and cheese. As you can see, Rob and Lara are about the most beautiful couple in the world! We were so happy to share in their day and let's face it, the boys look pretty pimp in their suits and bow ties. I, however, forgot Tommy's bow tie for the family pics, but luckily we had a friend pick it up and deliver it in time for Tommy to wear it down the aisle. A big thanks to Gram and Grandpa (or Bampa as Tommy says) for all their help with the little guy so Ryan and I could party it up with the fam. Also included are some pics from hanging out with everyone on Sunday.

#1 Vol fan

So Tennessee hasn't had the best start to the season, but we are not fair weather fans, so regardless of how things are going, Tommy is being brainwashed, I mean trained, to love the Big Orange. Here are some shots of him sporting some of his game gear on game days. The cute girl in one of the pics is one of Tommy's favorite friends, Rachel. She and her husband Chad are early risers so they usually join us for an early breakfast one day each weekend. I also included a short video with some of his new favorite words. He is now officially at the point where he will say just about anything we do, so it is time to be extra careful, particularly in times where an expletive is always the first thing out of the mouth!

Tickle game

So here is a short clip of Tommy and Ryan's newest game. Ryan says "do you want daddy to tickle you?" and Tommy says "yep!" while he giggles his head off. I could watch this for hours! It should put a smile on your face for sure!

Tommy's travels

July was a busy month for us! We spent the weekend of the 4th with all the cousins at the lake house, but for some ridiculous reason, I took no pictures! Then the following week, Tommy and I flew out to Tucson to see Carissa and Darcy. They have always played fairly well together but this trip was by far the best. Tommy was smitten with Darcy to say the least. We had so much fun taking all sorts of outings: the zoo (where we fed giraffes, Tommy's current favorite animal), the children's museum, the pool (of course, it is 110 degrees there for crying out loud!) and even the mall a couple days just to let them run around. There were also many diaper dance parties where the kids showed off their awesome moves. I tried to capture that one in a movie but of course they stopped when the camera started rolling! Below are lots of pics of our visit. Ryan joined us for the last few days of the trip, too, which was an extra bonus. There is picture below of Ryan and Tommy "relaxing" which is Tommy's new trick that Ryan taught him how to do.

After Tucson, we flew to LA for a wedding and got to meet up with my brother for breakfast, so the last pic is one of Tommy with his uncle "Yanni" as he says it!