Photos by Brookie

Did I mention in the Nashville post that my friend Brooke was good enough to take Jones's pictures while we were in town?

Well, she was.

She's a mind-blowingly talented children's photographer, who did a shoot with Jones just after he was born, and, at 7 months, she did another one, which I appreciate more than she'll ever know, though I hate that I don't have a talent with which I can reciprocate her incredible gifts to me!

At any rate, she sent me the pictures yesterday. I ADORE them.  Actually, "adore" doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about them.  I love them so much that I don't even hate how I look in them. THAT'S the mark of a magician.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Jones goes to Omaha.

The third leg in our triangle of Teach Them Diligently Convention trips was to Omaha, Nebraska.  This, of course, involved a flight from Atlanta, whose airport makes me want to drive a pair of plastic pilot's wings through my eyes, to Omaha, a place where we were exponentially less likely to be cut in front of by a Delta employee.                                                       

Jones's first flight went incredibly well.  We'd gotten to our gate in Atlanta early enough to ask if there were any empty seats available for him. Turns out, the very last row of the plane was available, which ended up being awesome. There was no window to look out (not great), but the engine was right beside us, which was great, because any time Jones made a noise, which wasn't often, it was drowned out by the roar of a jet engine. 

Another great thing about the flight was that Coie Watson was flying out with us. I had no idea how much we'd need her help, but having her there ended up being a TOTAL God-send, especially when I spilled Jones's unzipped diaper bag, as I walked down the jetway. 

Rookie mistake, I guess. 

Anyway, Jones did great. He slept for about the first thirty minutes; the rest of the time, he was awake but completely content to stay in his seat and play with toys.  The flight was smooth, and by the time we landed in Omaha, it was pretty nearly time for Jones to go to bed, which he did. No muss, no fuss.

Though Omaha seems like a super city, our time was almost ENTIRELY consumed with convention work. We did get to visit the Old Market area of town (lunch at the Old Spaghetti Works), but it was raining, so we didn't get to do too much more than eat. 

Thankfully, Mom flew out to keep the kids during the convention, so she did her thing, and we did ours, and then we came home on another great flight, once again with Coie, gratefully, in tow.  On the second flight, I held Jones the entire time. Well, Coie held him some, too - see what I mean about her being helpful?! It was an entirely full flight but a smooth one, nonetheless.

After landing back in the ATL, we got our car, ate at California Dreaming, and drove back to Canton by way of Goats on the Roof, a place I'm sure we'll visit many more times between now and when Jones graduates college. 

Something to look forward to.

Happy Memorial Day!

Before Jones was even born, Jeremy and I decided to take him to the lake for his first Memorial Day, and that's just what we did. We headed out Friday after Jeremy got off work and spent Saturday morning at the Hayesville Parade.  That's what made us want to take him there in the first place! Jones didn't seem all that enamored with the floats; he did, however, love sitting on the truck bed with his Pop and Nan! Well, I SAY he wasn't enamored with the floats, but when a certain John Deere Gator passed by, he could not take his eyes off of it!

Later that same day, Jones took his first boat ride. He did great, even helping Pop to steer the ship before falling asleep in his Nanny's arms. The next day, though, he was less excited about the boat. Actually, I think it was his life vest that he wasn't excited about. Poor little guy couldn't even get his thumb in his mouth for the massive layer of foam across his chest. He seriously cried all the way to Boundary Waters before finally crying himself to sleep.

The next morning, Jeremy and I went to Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church.  Visiting there is one of our favorite parts of being out at the lake. Jones stayed home with Nan and Pop. Monday, he got to go on a stroll at the dam with them, while Jeremy and I went to some antique shops, and Tuesday, we all ate breakfast at the Country Cottage before Jeremy, Jones, and I drove to Atlanta to catch our flight for Omaha.

All in all, it was exactly what we hoped it'd be - an incredibly relaxing weekend, made all the more relaxing by the fact that Mrs. Pressley got up with Jones every morning!  Bless her little pea-picking heart.

Here are some videos of the first boat ride and way more pictures than you could ever care to see of Jones's first visit to a place I'm sure will figure very prominently in his childhood memory bank!