Owen's Birthday

This weekend we went to Atlanta to visit the Hollingsworths, specifically to visit cousin/nephew Owen on the occasion of his second birthday. This was Jonas' first real major road trip in a car. He did pretty well. We had to stop a couple of times to feed or entertain the lil' man in response to a few bursts of backseat tears. No sweat, though. There are many times that the drive through South Carolina and northern Georgia on Interstate 85 bores even me to tears!

We stayed with the Parkers in Woodstock (north of Atlanta). Thanks to Erin, Chaz, and Owen for hosting us at their house. Owen and Jonas got to play a lot with Owen's toys. Owen is really good at sharing them.

Aside from the "First Long Car Ride" mentioned above, the weekend included a couple of 'firsts' for baby Jonas:

1. He got to play with bubbles for the first time. He kicked his feet and laughed as we blew bubbles towards him. He even liked it when they landed on his face.

2. Jonas also got to play in a sandbox for the first time. The sandbox was Owen's big present for his second birthday. It was a pretty great sandbox. It was supplied with a number of fun toys and other sandy accoutrements. Owen was okay with it for a while, enjoying sifting through the sand to find the plastic bug toys and such. But then, all of the sudden, he decided that sand was not a substance that he enjoyed having on his feet. So, he retracted them, held them to his chest, and refused to put them back in the sandbox. It was really cute. Jonas on the other hand kicked his legs and laughed. This is pretty much his stock response to most new experiences at the moment.

It was great to spend some time with the extended fam in Georgia. It's hard for each side to travel one way or the other, so we try to make the most of the chances we get to spend time together.

Here's a picture of Kate holding Owen. Jackie and Ben (aka, Joy Mama and G-Daddy, or just Joy and G for short) got to spend some good quality time holding and playing with Jonas.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip was when the two boys got dressed up in matching outfits, were propped up on the couch, and posed for a lot of cousinly pictures. Here's a nice one.

Here's a slideshow of some pictures that we took showing Jonas with Joy and G: