Party in the USA

It has been such an amazing and exciting summer for the Meise's.

WARNING: LONG POST AND LOTS OF PICTURES!

 We have been a lot of places and I will eventually get to writing about all of them. Summer started in June when Hudson and I went to the US. First stop was Pennsylvania where we spent a few days with Nanna and Pops (that's what we're calling him, right?) and started adjusting to the time change. Hudson did pretty well on the 7 hour flight. No crying but I definitely was exhausted by the end keeping him from pulling blankets off of the people sitting next to us and basically trying to crawl in to their laps. He is so darn cute though that I don't think they minded.

Then we headed on another long flight (about 5 hours) across the country to my family in Arizona. Hudson was a dream on that flight. We had an entire row to ourselves and he slept almost the entire time. Bliss for this mummy.

We spent 3 glorious weeks playing with Grammy and Grandpa, Aunty Christy, Uncle Jason and Hudson's cousins Jaden and Eli. Hudson and Eli are only 9 months a part so it was cute to see them interact. Hudson turned 8 months AND hit a big mile stone and started crawling. Here are some pictures from our time in Arizona-

Hudson with Grammy and Grandpa by the pool

Hudson and Grandpa watching basketball together

More pool time

He loves it!

Hudson was obsessed with the dog and would giggle each time he touched her.

Hudson with Uncle Josh and cousin Eli

Playmates

At the Phoenix Zoo

So hot and tired at the Zoo

Lots of toys to play with

Cousins Jaden and Eli

This turned into a tug of war with the toothbrushes

Hudsy and Aunty Christy

I was also able to go through the new Gilbert LDS Temple

After Arizona, our trip was only half way done. We got back on an airplane and flew to Pennsylvania again to spend more time with Nanna and Pops! For some reason whenever Hudson would see Pops for the first time he would get really scared and cry but by the next day they were the best of buds. It was just really funny every time he would react that way. Hudson had such a blast learning lots of new tricks here. Nanna taught him how to play catch and each time he caught it we would clap and say "yaaay" and he would clap and get the biggest smile on his face. It was pretty adorable. Here are some pictures from our time in Pennsylvania-

Hudsy and Pops are the best of friends

Nanna and Hudsy being silly together

Nanna time!

My little cutie!

It was so beautiful in PA that I had to do a little photo shoot in the backyard. The grass was SO green!

Up until this point (4.5 weeks) we had been away from Daddy and missed him lots. He had to go to New York for work so he met up with us in PA before we headed there. We got to celebrate Hudson's first 4th of July all together as a family.

So happy to see Daddy!

4th of July 

4th of July

We let Hudsy stay up late to do sparkelers

He thought they were pretty cool

The Meise men and their "smiles"

Then it was off to NYC for Jeff, Hudson and me! We spent a whole week there getting to see old friends and exploring the city we once called home. I told Hudson all about the time we lived there and how he was in my tummy then. Poor Jeff had to work the whole time so we didn't get to see as much of him as we would have liked but we kept busy!

Exploring midtown

9/11 Memorial

World Trade Center

9/11 Memorial Grounds

Hudsy loved to sit in the window in our hotel room and watch the cabs drive by

He usually sleep in a pack n play and so he kept standing up in the crib and wouldn't go to sleep. It was a rough week during the nights and he didn't get many naps. When he would be naughty we would stick him in "baby jail" 

Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

I even got to go to the Manhattan Temple with my Aunt Dana who lives in Baltimore. I think this is my favorite temple.

Cookie shots with the lovely Kylee Maddux

 Getting ready to leave NYC and go back to Nanna and Pops

I told you it was a looong trip! Back to Nanna and Pops we went. Luckily they only live about an hour and a half from the city so we didn't have to travel far. We spent one more week with them going shopping at the outlets and playing at the beach in Jersey. Don't worry, I have lots of pictures of Hudson's first time at a beach!

Beach baby

He loved it right up until we tried to put him in the water. Then he was terrified...

Happy as a clam

Ready to go home. ha

Every trip has to end though, and so back to London we went.

Waiting for our plane to arrive to take us home

We had such a wonderful time getting to see our family and especially for me getting a little break here and there while Hudson was babysat. We are always so sad when it's time to leave but we know that we will see them again!