My family loves to tailgate.  Any excuse is really a good one.  Seriously, have you met my dad?  Since football season only happens for a short time we had to come up with more reasons (excuses) to spend time in Aggieland.  Baseball weekends are the perfect solution.  The weather is fantastic, and more importantly it is a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience than football weekends. 

This year Randy towed my parents’ extra RV (that usually lives up at the lake) behind his truck.  Now we had 2 bathrooms, 2 refrigerators and 2 places for babies and people to sleep.  Randy, I know it was a lot of work but you did a great job!!!  

We were able to convince more of my college friends to join us, and it turned into a wonderful weekend.  Not only did we get the best weather so far this year, but it was the first weekend of Spring Break.  This equals no one in College Station!!  We parked the bus and the trailer at Olsen Field and had as much space for the kids to run around as they wanted.  The bubbles, tunnel, little people and car were plenty of toys for these little ones.  I think my favorite part was the bubbles.  They were so sweet trying to catch them.  I’m pretty sure all the kids slept well after all the playing and running around!! 

Thanks so much to everyone who came and for all the food contributions.  I can’t wait for next year’s baseball weekend!!!

The annual tailgate is growing larger and larger every year.  The funny part is that we don’t have to buy additional beer or food because our group is growing via babies and not new friends and spouses.  Tailgates have changed over the years, but I’m so thankful that we still get together once a year.  Now we need to add baseball weekends in the spring!

This has been the “mother of all summers” in south Texas, according to one San Antonio weather man. The endless 100 degree days had beaten us all down to the point that we were experiencing true cabin fever for the mere fact that it was simply too stinkin’ hot to do ANYTHING outside. So, we took the chance to use some Southwest Airlines tickets that Julie has accumulated, and go somewhere we had never been before, and preferably North.

Before I get into the details of the trip, Reed had some notable firsts!! He started army crawling by using one arm and the opposite leg to inch his way toward anything he is determined to touch. The shinier it is, the more determined he is. He also can’t seem to resist anything that is paper. I suppose it is the crinkle and the light weight that makes it attractive to him.

He is also babbling. He used to either squeal, laugh or yell when he wanted to make noise. Now it is a much lower volume, steady mumble and it makes us smile every time, especially when in the car and completely unprovoked.

He seemed to start both of these on the same day. It’s like he just woke up one day and was tired of laying around and had something to say about it. 🙂

Sept 24 to Sept 30

We flew into Manchester, NH and rented a car to drive to Stowe, VT. There, we had a condo lined up through a rent-by-owner deal. We didn’t know that this condo was actually part of a larger resort where there were exceptional amenities…. On top of that, after checking out the comparable rooms in the resort to our condo, we were paying about 1/3 the price!!

Our plans once we got there was to have NO plans. We were going to be there in Stowe for 5 days and we wanted to completely go with the flow. We didn’t even plan to go out to eat a lot. Julie really looked forward to the small markets and the variety of foods they offer from the local farms.

This of course was also Reed’s first plane ride. The kid had his own suitcase full of stuff. We even checked the carseat base to have with us in the rental. We then checked his carrier at the gate and held him in our laps. He did wonderful and slept on all four flights. He did get fussy a few times, but only because he has been fighting harder to go to sleep. We laid him down across our laps, with his head on Julie’s leg and his body across my lap, and he was down for the count. (This required some strategy to hit the bathroom beforehand in order to commit to a few hours without interruption.) Julie did a great job timing his meals to feed him right when we sat in our seats so that he would be fat and happy for the flights. She even did something I thought I would never see… she nursed him right there in public (with the appropriate hooter-hider, of course)!

We spent the first morning in a coffee house in downtown Stowe. It is off the main drive so a lot of locals go there. We were fortunate to the meet the owner (after she apologized for no changing table in the bathrooms), and she gave us some advice on the walking/biking path that winds around town and to go see the town of Burlington on Lake Champlain. We added those to our list and went back to that coffee house several times.

One thing we did want to do was go pick fresh apples at an orchard. The one we found was over in Cabot, VT, just about an hour drive each way from Stowe. We had no problem finding the place, but when we turned down a dirt road and went up the hill, we found signs that advertised the orchard, but there was hardly anything that I would consider welcoming for visitors to come and pick apples. I swear this place used pictures from another orchard on their website. We did drive farther up the hill and found some of the most scenic landscape that we had seen yet. I left Julie and Reed to nap in the car and I took a walk with my camera.

On the way back we did stop at a unique farm stand that was unattended and just asked that you write a list of what you took and a slot to leave the cash. I love the un-jaded sincerity that is often lost in urban populations.

Sunday it poured on us ALL DAY. It was a blessing because we were ready to take a break from driving and sight-seeing. We opted to veg the entire day and curl up to some chicken pot pie and football… heaven!! The only thing we left to do was a quick tour of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory just up the road. Honestly, I felt like I was cheating on BlueBell the whole time!!

Monday cleared up enough for us to get back outside and take some more pictures. We found the walking/biking path and also took a trip over to the Trapp family lodge (the family that inspired The Sound of Music).

Tuesday we packed up and headed back to Manchester, NH, where we stayed overnight to be close the airport for the flight back on Wednesday.

We were thankful to not have any real issues on the trip. It is certainly more work to travel with an infant, but I think the older he gets from now on the more difficult it would be. Not until he can carry his own luggage do I think it would be any easier. So, I’m glad we took this trip when we did. It was the perfect time of year to see New England, and I would highly recommend Stowe to anyone looking for a place in the Northeast to visit.

Check out the pictures below, but here is the Full Photo Gallery.

-RB

Last weekend was our annual Comal river trip with The Pikes. Jim and Sarah come in from Houston every year and we converge on a condo somewhere on the Comal river for a little tubing, a few libations and lots of relaxation. We started this tradition back before either of us was married, so it has been a steady progression for both couple as our lives change, and it has been great to stay in touch. For the most part it feels as if we have lived parallel lives: An accountant, a computer geek and now a child.

Kate Pike is actually the first of Reed’s friends that we announced here on the blog. She is coming up on a year now and has certainly become a sassy little girl. She is VERY mobile on the ground, so Julie and I had to watch our step around the kitchen and living room. Reed enjoyed playing with her toys that she brought, but occasionally she would remind us that they were, in fact, HER toys. She did interact very well with Reed and he could interact with her a little bit since he is sitting up now.

We spent some time down on the river, but having the kids certainly changed our game plan from years past. Friday and Saturday afternoon we just hung out on the river bank and watched the kids get used to the cold water of the spring-fed Comal. Kate wouldn’t have ANY part of it. Reed, however, we setup in his float in the shallowest water, and he just sat there… watching everything around him, and paying no mind to the water temp or even the blazing sun. We coated him in sunscreen and stuck a hat on him and he was good to go. When we pulled him out, the poor kid had purple-ish feet and wrinkled toes, but he seemed to be just fine. Sarah and Julie did pull the “girl time” card and took off down the river to get some tubing in, leaving Jim and I with the kids.

We had a few episodes with the kids during the weekend that was a testament to the fact that these trips will never be the same again as they were when we were living the “DINK” life. However, it will only get MORE fun when Reed and Kate (and siblings) start splashing around and playing in the river like only kids know how.

-RB

Reed’s first trip to College Station!! More importantly, the parent’s first weekend road trip with an infant and all the crap you HAVE to take!!

The Reasonovers use their RV at any opportunity to tailgate, and most often it involves Aggie sports. Last year we did an Aggie baseball weekend and it was a huge success, so we followed through with another one this year… only this time we made sure to pass the invite along to others and make it an “official” tailgate (rather than just a family BBQ!)

Baseball weekends have proven to be much less intense than football weekends, as you can imagine. There are less people and less RVs, and the weather is going from cool-to-warm rather than hot-to-warm.

We got a hotel room this time, as opposed to toughing it out on the floor of the RV. That was the smartest thing we did (and another reason baseball weekends rock… hotels are AVAILABLE!). We setup his pack-and-play for him to sleep and it was much more comfortable for us and all our luggage.

We went to the Friday night game and sat in the general admission section behind the visitor dugout with all the hecklers. I was eating it all up and capturing what I could on camera. Oh, if I had gone to A&M myself, THIS is where I would have been!

As for Reed, he did awesome!! He was either enamored by all the activity around him, or he was fast asleep in somebody’s arms. We could not have asked for a better baby!

On Saturday, JIm, Sarah and Kate joined us. Jim sister and brother-in-law, Amy and Chris met up with us as well and brought their twins, Aiden and Emily. We had hot dogs and then caught the afternoon game. The second smartest thing we did that weekend was to purchase Reserved seats in the shade for this game. Reed and Kate’s fair skin would have taken a beating if we sat in the same seats from the night before. Once again, Reed was a champ and watched the first few innings with Dad and then conked-out in Grandma’s arms for the rest.

It looks like baseball weekends are going to become a tradition. We are going to try and add another trip to our travel schedule and get there earlier in the season next year. Ya’ll are always welcome to join us!

Full Photo Gallery

-RB