Jenni & Ailey in Houston

Ailey and I had a great time in Houston last week. Below are just a few pictures of our activities. The main reason for the visit was, of course, to meet Luke. I got an appallingly small number of pictures of him. Luckily Sarah was taking a lot with her camera, though I can't share those here. Luke is a very good baby - he seems to be a good sleeper and eater, very flexible with our travels, and he let Ailey hold him a couple times.

Me and Luke

Ailey and Luke. This was shot about 5 seconds into the "sitting" and a 1/2 second before Ailey was done. Luke started crying almost immediately. Knowing how sensitive Ailey is to crying babies I had the camera ready and actually took two shots. A point for me!

We did a lot of relaxing. Ailey and I both loved their chair! And while Ailey's relaxation was to watch a few Cliffords that Aunt Sarah had saved for her, I got to sleep in every morning. If I could stock-pile sleep, I would have an extra week's worth!
We took a trip to the Children's museum in Houston one day. Among other things, Ailey enjoyed the baby chicks. She was ready to take them home with her.

We all went to Discovery Green in downtown Houston one evening. Ailey had a great time in the water. She didn't stay dry for long!

We had dinner there...
Then sat and listened to music-in-the-park.

My college friend, Jen, and her husband live in Houston and met us at the park. A bonus!
Luke was a trooper the whole time. Heck, I wouldn't mind too much being pushed around in a little comfy bed either!
Ailey's shirt was too wet for her to wear, so she had one of Luke's blankets to cover her on the walk back to the car. She stopped for a few minutes to take in the water and the city sights. (Winston, I think you took this one.)
Ailey and Sarah and I carved pumpkins. Or rather, Sarah and I carved pumpkins while Ailey looked on. Wouldn't want to get the hands dirty, you know!

Ailey rather enjoyed the whole process though, even though she only watched. She was very excited to show Uncle Winnie the pumpkins when he was home from work the next day.

We came home to discover that Marin and Silje had grown a bit and were now standing up! There have been a lot of new developments in the past week where they are concerned, but I'll save that for the next post.As far as Houston goes, Ailey and I are both looking forward to our return at Thanksgiving. While in Houston, Ailey mentioned going home several times, and we marked off the days on our calendar. She was definitely excited to be going home, but during the plane ride to Seattle she talked (aka whined and cried) about wanting to go back to Aunt Sarah's. I have to say I know how she felt - I didn't want to leave Sarah and Winston's (i.e. full night sleeps, good food and company, non-squirmy baby holding), but I was ready to see my babies again!

Ailey did really well on the airplane, so at Thanksgiving she will probably be the bright spot on our air travels with all three kids. We've been pitying the people sitting around us on the airplane since clicking the "purchase" button!

Thank you, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Winnie and Baby Luke for being great hosts. See you in a few weeks!