Just Because - Alligator Farm Then and Now

I took him to the Alligator Farm a couple weekends ago and snapped a picture of him sitting on the alligator they have in front of one of the show sites, which reminded me of the last time I got a picture of him there.

Merrick at 9 months old:

Merrick at 2 years old:

The Next Michael Phelps (well, minus a few indiscretions)

I'm telling you, this kid is swimming! I mean, I don't know what else to call it. Does he float? Yes. Does he go under water? You bet. Is he kicking and using his arms whilst floating and under water? Check! I guess the only ingredient we're missing is his ability to lift up his head while swimming!

Now, here's a little video of him showing off. I will admit, it took me a VERY long time to get comfortable with this. In fact I still am very tense while watching. Guess that's just the over protective Mommy in me:

Our July Trip to Oregon

In July we made the long trip to Coos Bay, Oregon to see Merrick's Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Worthman.

The trip took about 12 hours door to door, consisted of a layover (2 layovers on the way back), and Merrick was nothing short of amazing the entire time. He didn't fuss one bit. My little man is destined to be my lifelong travel buddy.

Oregon was beautiful, and the weather required pants, long sleeved shirts, and sometimes jackets. What did we leave behind? 95 degree temperatures, insane humidity, and a ton of annoying bugs!

Merrick got to meet his great grandparents for the first time, and it was so special to have that opportunity! Not only that, but we also met Grandma Patty and Papa Roy out there. He was thrilled to see them again.

After a lovely time with the family, we made the long trek back home. Once we got in our car and were headed home, Merrick asked where we were going. When I said, "we're going home honey", he started crying and said "I don't wanna go home, I want to stay in a hotel!" Ahhhh, another bit of proof (and there's not much) that he truly is my son...he's got that passion for travel just like his Mama!

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The World's Longest Sentence

I know I am WAY behind on the updates, and I have a lot to add so I will try to get it done early next week. However, I just had to put in this update before I completely forget what Merrick said.

Let me set up the scene for you...we were sitting on the sofa and Merrick was picking out a couple books for our nightly story time before bed. He was looking for a particular book, 'The Ocean Book' (as Merrick called it), and it must be a book he's read at school because we don't have it. So I told him we'd have to go to the store to get it. His response is below...

"We have to go to the store and get a sprinkle cookie so I can get my beach book, and then we will get to see the vacuums and not rip the cards."

To give you some context, whenever we go grocery shopping I let him get a sprinkle cookie to occupy him for - oh about 2 minutes. And when we go to Target he ALWAYS has to see the vacuums. I have no idea, he's always been obsessed with vacuums. And then last weekend while we were at Target, I was looking for a birthday card and he decided to help himself to a handful. I was so busy finding the card I wanted that I didn't notice he was ripping them, until he had completely destroyed 3 of them. So of course we had to pay for them. :(