The Smith Family Reunion

The Smith family reunion took place at a beautiful park. Best of all, the weather could not have been more perfect. It was great seeing everyone I hadn't seen for a while. At the last reunion, the boys were in the NICU and I didn't feel comfortable being more than a few minutes away from them even though it was only about 3 hours away. They weren't even 2 lbs yet and much too critical, I felt, for both of their parents to be that far away. Finally, the boys got to meet more of their family. I spent most of my time with Hayden while Nicholas was having the time of his life. Nick had so many people to play with (Daddy, Aunt Brandi, Uncle Curt, Grandpa, Great Uncle Steve, Great Aunt Mary, and Cousin Jessica) that he was in heaven and very worn out by the end of the day. Nicholas went for his first walk on the beach and in a lake with Grandpa and Great Uncle Steve.

After that he gave everyone a workout on the playground. His first real time on the playground, too. Later in the afternoon, Grandma watched Hayden for me so I could play with Nicholas on the playground for the first time. We had a great time on the slide. There was a double slide that was a lot of fun with. We held hands and slid down about half of the way when Nicholas inevitably put down his shoes and stopped himself, so I had to grab him and he flew down the rest of the way. It was so great to see him laughing and having a great time. Thankfully, this is one of the days I was able to be completely in the moment with Nicholas and simply enjoy him without any other thoughts. I always feel so bad when I am with Nicholas and can't help but keep thinking about how Hayden may never be able to do whatever it is that we are doing. By the time he and I were done playing, he was completely exhausted. Grandma rocked him to sleep in a few minutes and laid him down on the picnic table to sleep. He was out cold. He woke up just a few minutes before we left the park.

Hayden did great with all of the people. In situations like this, he usually pretends that he is asleep. We were so glad that that wasn't the case this time. Best of all, he only vomited once while we were there, but we had everything we needed, so Grandma and I had him taken care of in no time. When we got back to the hotel, Aunt Brandi, Uncle Curt, Tony, and Nicholas hit the pool. If it hadn't been time for Hayden to eat, he would've hit the pool too. Nick enjoyed the pool and Tony tried to teach him to kick, but he was more excited to get my feet which were dangling in the pool while I took pictures. A few minutes before we left the pool, Nicholas really wanted to go into the whirlpool where my feet were enjoying the water. So, everyone got in and Nicholas loved it so much that he almost fell asleep in Tony's arms. So adorable!

After the pool, everyone cleaned up and met in grandma and grandpa's room for dinner. After dinner, we kissed Nicholas goodnight and brought Hayden back to our room so he could get his meds and be hooked up to his pump for the night.

What a great weekend! Thanks to all who planned the reunion. We were so glad we were able to be there.