Joshua Charms the Masses...

What a whirlwind of a weekend it was! Sorry for the delay in new posts, but we've been dealing with the annual Key Club District Convention this past week/weekend in Hershey. We had a great time, although I feel like I did more chasing of Joshua than I did work for Key Club. Jason assures me that he did enough for the both of us, and I agree with him wholeheartedly.

We left for Hershey on Thursday afternoon during Joshua's naptime after packing our UHaul...just kidding...but we could have probably filled one! But it definitely looked like we were going for a whole lot longer than 4 days. I believe we had 6 large bags for three people (one of which only weighs 22 pounds!) We got unpacked and settled, and then got to work with the Key Clubbers and adults there. Joshua ordered off of the kids menu at a restaurant for the first time which I found amusing. He had some buttered noodles and a grilled cheese sandwich and some applesauce. He was mostly too curious to eat and just picked at a little of what everyone was eating.

Friday started the official madness. There were buses and kids and advisors and suitcases spread from one end of the Lodge and Convention Center to the other. But Joshua enjoyed walking all over the property meeting friends and "introducing himself" to all the groups of kids. It was wonderful to see old friends again, many of whom have been watching Jason and I come through the Key Club organization since our high school days. At one point on Friday, there was a giant Hershey Bar character in the lobby of the hotel to cheer up the crews who were not so patiently waiting for their hotel rooms to be ready. I had a feeling that Joshua was going to be scared of the character, but boy was I wrong. He LOVED him! He kept wanting me to pick him up so that he could touch him and give him "five". After he'd had a chance to properly meet and greet this big chocolate friend, the chocolate bar walked away. Well---- Joshua evidently wasn't done with him, so he ran through the crowds chasing him all around the hotel lobby. It was adorable. And of course I didn't have my camera or video camera handy to catch any of it.

I think we walked 100 miles on Saturday. Joshua took his little pull along puppy along with us to Hershey and he pulled that dog all over the convention center and hotel on Saturday. He also greeted every single member of the hotel housekeeping staff to try out their mmm...ps. He was so tired from all of the activity that he literally fell asleep in his ham sandwich on Saturday during lunch- with blaring music and 1000 people in the large dining room. I've honestly never seen anything quite like it. Nana stayed with him while I did some convention work, and then we kept walking during the afternoon until dinner time. Don't tell anyone, but Nana and I made a great escape during Saturday morning to check out the Carters outlet in Hershey and found some great stuff for the little guy, including an Easter outfit that I can't wait for him to wear. Thanks Nana!

Saturday night was a real treat. Joshua wasn't faring well through the General Session and was getting a bit restless. I had to be in the session room for the introduction of the Kiwanis Committee, but figured that I had time to go upstairs with my mom, give Joshua a bath and get him into his PJ's and still make it downstairs in time for the intros at the end of the session. Dad had my cell number just in case things got moving along. But in 13 years of attending these conventions, I've never seen on take off like Saturday's did. So no sooner did we have him out of the tub and into his jammies and my cell phone rang. Dad said, "Uh- you better get down here." Joshua was reading a book and drinking his milk and wanted no part of me running out of the room. So, to save a screaming match (and with no time to try to console him), he had to come along to a formal session in his dinosaur PJ's. I figured that he could sit in the back of the room with my parents while I went on stage, but that didn't work either. So there we went- me in my fancy clothes, Joshua in his pajamas (with bear and his bink), in front of about 700 people. He didn't seem to mind the attention at all. Not quite how I planned that to go, but that's motherhood----- we just roll with it the best we can.

Another notable highlight from the weekend was that Joshua had his first taste of chocolate courtesy of Pat Black. She thought he might like a peppermint pattie, so she gave him a cup full and he proceeded to bite off a whole half of one WITH THE FOIL STILL ON IT! This started a mission for Pat to introduce all kinds of things that would make me have a stroke. Not a fun game for mommy.

We got home yesterday afternoon around 2 and got unpacked slowly. Joshua's schedule is completely out of whack, but he doesn't seem quite as grouchy and tired as Jason and I do. :o) Hopefully his day with Grandma today got him back on track. One thing's for sure- it was awesome to have him there with us. And although tiring, there's nothing that makes me prouder than for other people to comment on how well behaved or how pleasant or how handsome our little man is. He sure did make a lot of friends this weekend.

We hope you're all doing well. More to come soon.