Adventures in Birmingham

Whew! We are just getting back from a four day adventure in Birmingham and boy are we worn out. Since Collin does not get to see his grandparents in Birmingham as often as we would like, I decided to take him there for a visit and to give both of us a change in scenery. We headed down on Wednesday morning and came back last night. Collin had a great time during the days he was there. He got to go to the park every morning and run around. He LOVED this as he had the entire play area to himself. We also hit the zoo every morning so Collin could see the animals. He got to see kangaroos, parrots, sea lions, giraffes, lions, and monkeys to name a few. Despite all the animals right in front of him, Collin was far more interested in getting out of his stroller and walking around on his own. He loved the exhibits that were indoors where Mommy let him down so he could run around. He really liked the tiger. It was right next to the window and Collin just stood at the window and smiled at him. No fear at all of the animal that was more than triple his size. We also took Collin to a great toy store called Smith's Variety. It had a baby sized grocery cart that Collin pushed around the store. He went so fast with it that we thought it looked more like bumper cars. He could have spent all day in this store but I am pretty sure they were ready for him to leave. Collin also got to go swimming with his Granddaddy which he loved.

The nights, on the other hand, were a different story. Collin let it be known that he was not going to sleep in a pack-n-play. He had terrible sleep each night we were there. I think he likes to snuggle with his bumper and he couldn't do that there. When Daddy came on Friday night Collin was so excited to see him that he woke up at midnight and wanted to play with him. Thank goodness for some Motrin that put him back to sleep:) Birmingham is also an hour behind us so Collin was getting up around 5:00am every morning. It was definitely a long day for Mommy getting up so early and having no relief. It made me appreciate Patrick and how he gives me a break from Collin when he gets home so I can regain some sanity and have some "me" time which everyone needs.

All in all it was a good trip. I am so glad Collin got to spend quality time with his grandparents and we got to see some family we haven't seen in a while. Needless to say, we have got to come with a plan for how we are going to get Collin to sleep on our beach trip in less than a month. I am thinking we may have to rent a crib because this Mommy needs her sleep.