Can't you just see the sunshine

This weekend we finally took David to visit family and friends in South Carolina. It's a good thing he loves people and chaos because we had a very busy trip. We left Thursday morning. David absolutely loved O'Hare. (There's a phrase you won't read or hear very often.) He was wide eyed and leaning forward in his stroller from the second we walked in the door, just taking in all the activity. Once we were at our gate, he put on a show for his fellow passengers running up and down the concourse with his little head bobbing from side to side. David fell asleep right before we landed in Columbia. He snoozed while we waited for our bags and was ready to entertain for the rest of the afternoon. Highlights from Thursday included his first Chick-fil-a sandwich, lots of quality time playing with his bubble blowing lawn mower from great aunt Judy and great uncle Bruce as well as visits from a couple of my friends from childhood--Alexa and Jana--and their families.

David asleep at the Columbia airport. First Chick-fil-a sandwich! His new favorite toy.

Friday we visited my friend Jennifer and her family. We were especially excited to meet baby Kendall, who was born while we were in China, and to spend some time with Jennifer's parents. We had lots of visitors from both sides of my family that afternoon. Aunt Leslie and uncle Stanley finally got to see David, too.

Fashion forward: showing his leash necklace to uncle Adams.

Kevin with baby Kendall. Playing ball with Haley and Jennifer. The Starnes and Maas families.

Staring contest with aunt Judy. Lots of family stopped by to meet David.

Enjoying central SC's mustard based BBQ. Bette worries about David when he cries.

My parents thought it very important that David not miss out on his usual Saturday morning donuts, so we hit KKD for some hot donuts now. We also thoroughly enjoyed visits from my friends Rebecca and Leila and from 3/5 of the Burke family. I babysat for the Burkes from the time their oldest daughter was 9 months old. She is starting college in the fall, which makes me feel much older than being someone's mom. It was wonderful to see Denise, Leacy and Katie!

The Krispy Kremes were a little sweet for David's refined palate, but he definitely enjoyed his (or really anyone's) carrot cake.

David plays with Leila. Rebecca and Leila with me and David.

This morning we went to church at St. Martin's (or as it will soon be renamed, the southern headquarters of the David Maas fan club). Aside from attempting to climb over the pew to sit with the people in front of us, David was on his best behavior.

The 3 of us with uncle Stanley and aunt Leslie. Posing with my parents.

David was a very independent boy this weekend. He was really walking on his own much more than he has in the past. He also seemed much more comfortable playing with other people without having to have me or Kevin right by his side all the time. It was really fun to see.

There are many many more pictures. My mom sent a really cute one of David playing the piano with my dad, but I can't seem to get it onto the blog. Look for an album of SC pictures and some video in the days to come.

Thank you to all our visitors this weekend. It was a treat to see everyone, and we look forward to our next trip down there.

Update: I've added an album of pictures from our trip to Picasa. Just click on the link to our pictures in the right column.