On the Road Again...

For the past week and a half we have had a great time visiting with family and friends! Last Thursday Dawson's Grandad (John's Dad) came down to visit, and we had a lot of fun. We grilled out for lunch and spent some time outside since the weather was in the 70s! Dawson had a great time playing with his Grandad during the visit. We also had dinner at a tasty German restaurant here in Huntsville, Ol Heidleburg, and watched some basketball.
On Friday Dawson, Bentley, and I rode back to Maryville with John's Dad to stay the weekend while John was working. (Not to sound like I had all the fun while John worked though...he did manage to sneak in 18 holes of golf with his friend Steven!)
Since Dawson and I were in Maryville for the weekend we got to visit my parents and brother (Dawson's Lolly, Pop, and Uncle Logan), and he got to see his Nana (John's mom), Cousin Drew, and Great Mamaw (my grandmother). Also, while I was there I found Dawson Easter suit which I am SO excited about; his seersucker suit proves that there are cute boy clothes out there! :) I also picked out Dawson's first birthday party invitations while I was in town. Dawson, of course, had fun with all the attention he was getting during his visit.
Monday morning John came to Tennessee to get us and we got back in the car and headed Northeast to visit our friends in Asheville, North Carolina. We stayed with Josh and Cassandra for four nights and had a great time. Cassandra is expecting a baby in July and so we talked baby and played with Dawson the whole week. We also went to a really cool park, went shopping for a few baby items for Baby White, watched a movie, and ate at a couple of cool restaurants! The guys had fun going over to Harrah's Casino (just 40 minutes away) one evening, with no winnings to report...although they did get a free t-shirt. :) The guys also played Tiger Woods Golf on the Wii. Overall, we had a great visit with our friends and can't wait to see them again...and we're excited for their baby's arrival!
Friday morning we loaded the car again and began our long day of driving back to Huntsville with a short stop in Maryville to pick up Bentley who was staying with her Lolly and Pop! The drive was long, but Dawson did really well until the last hour; overall, he's a great traveler! Now we're glad to be back home, but we had a great time seeing family and friends over the past week, and we got some great pictures too!
In other Dawson news...We have been giving Dawson a lot more big kid/adult food (aka not baby food) and he LOVES it. At the White's, Cassandra made big waffles for breakfast one morning, and Dawson ate half of a waffle and loved it! He's also enjoying foods he can feed himself. Both bottom middle teeth are all the way through his gums now and can usually be seen when he smiles! So far, I don't see anymore teeth trying to cut through the gums. Dawson loves to walk behind push toys and cruise the furniture and now he can do it while only holding on with one hand. He even stands still now and lets go for a few seconds, but he hasn't taken that first official step not holding on to anything, although from the way he loves to move we're certain that it's not too far away! This coming week we are planning a little Easter Party/Play Date for Dawson's friends at our house on Thursday afternoon. Wednesday we will have owned our house for 2 years...it's gone by fast! Then Friday is Bentley's 3rd Birthday, and I plan to bake her this doggie birthday cake from a recipe I found recently. Also, sometime this week we will color our Easter eggs and take Dawson to have his picture made with our friends bunny! Otherwise, we plan to relax and enjoy being home after being gone for 7 days.
The pictures below are slightly out of order, but enjoy!

Our family at the park in Asheville, North Carolina.
Dawson's first time on a tire swing.

Dawson eating his sweet potatoes

at the Mediterranean Restaurant.

Dawson and I visiting his Great Mamaw in Tennessee.

Dawson and Grandad.

Dawson pulling up on Cousin Drew.

Dawson in the rocking chair reading a book.

This was a rocking chair my Mamaw got for

me when I was little, and I loved to sit in it.

Looks like Dawson's enjoying it too!

Crawling around at Lolly and Pops!

At the park in Asheville.

Dawson and Mommy at the swings.

This park was awesome. It even had the kids swings

small enough for Dawson to use, and he LOVED it!

The park also had this cool playhouse that Dawson

and I climbed in.

This was Dawson's favorite thing to do at the White's house!

He loved pushing his truck up and down their hallway.

Another picture of Dawson pushing his truck.

Dawson chewing his fingers. He does this all the time now!

You can see the playhouse at the park behind him.

Cassandra and Me (and Baby White).

Our family at the park.

Dawson and Mommy on the curvy slide.