Back in Texas: Our Big Week: Ally, Jackson, and Grandpa's trip to Canada

This was a big week for the Haynes family! We started off the week by packing for our trip to Canada. My family hasn't met Jackson yet, but Steven had classes this week that he couldn't miss, so it was just Grandpa, Mom, and Jackson for a couple days!

Jackson was a champ on the airplane. He fell asleep during take-off, which really worried me because I thought it might be painful for him if he wasn't sucking on something to relieve the pressure from his ears, but it didn't seem to bother him at all! He woke up after about 45 minutes and decided that he wanted to play! Surprisingly, especially for my little adventurer, he was able to entertain himself very well in the floor space in front of his seat.

As you can see, he was even FAA compliant, as he had his little baggie with him (full of my make-up). He looks pouty here, but he was great! He even got lots of compliments from other passengers - on both flights!

When Daddy and I left the airport, we noticed that the signs were in both French and English. We laughed about how refreshing it was to be able to at least read the characters on the signs - something that's much more difficult in Japan and Taiwan! We got our rental car, and headed over to my Nana's place.

Visiting my Nana was our main purpose in taking this trip. She has had Alzheimer's for 3 years now. She was diagnosed right before my wedding, but I remember talking to my Dad about it when we visited her the Christmas before that (2005). I had just finished a Neuropsychology class and I remember seeing a lot of warning signs during that vacation. She was officially diagnosed 6 months later, after she became very confused while driving in Toronto, a city she has lived in for 50 years. After living with my aunt for a few months, she now lives in a retirement home, and her memory has lasted extremely well compared to the doctor's original expectations. It is still no where near where it used to be, so we decided to bring Jackson to see her. This way, when she asks about him, we can tell her all about all the fun they had together!

We visited with Nana for awhile, and she really loved seeing Jackson, even though I don't think she entirely understood who he is. She showed us her room, and even tried to find things for him to play with! Jackson had a great time exploring the new space and Nana had a lot of fun watching him! As it came close to dinner time, we decided that it was time to go, but told Nana that we would be back in the morning. We left for our aunt's house, where my cousin and her boyfriend are living right now.

We met up with Adele and Leandro at their house, and found out that one of my other cousins, Mike, had slept through his stop on the train - oops! We decided to meet up with Mike and his wife, Mariska, for dinner at their new house! Another family member was there to meet us - Jackson's sweet new second cousin, Bianca! We were so excited to introduce them to each other, and even though they weren't too interested in each other, we got pictures of their first encounter. Jackson also gave Mike & Mariska a "crash" course (so to speak - haha!) in baby-proofing for a kiddo on the go! I got some snuggle time with little Bianca (something Jackson wont tolerate anymore - he's a going boy!) and some serious quality time with my cousins, who I haven't seen in 3 years!

I'm looking tired after a looooong day of travel, but we had the best time catching up! Jackson and Bianca started t get sleepy, so we called it a night and went back to my aunt's house to crash.

The next day we slept in a little (Jackson had a tough night!), spent some time chatting with my cousin Adele, and went over to visit with Nana again. She was confused and thought that they were going on a field trip, so we told her that the bus had broken down (there was never a field trip, but we thought that it would be easier to give her a reason that it hadn't happened rather than try to convince her that she was wrong) and asked if she wanted to sit outside with us.

We went downstairs for a little while, then a nurse stopped by to tell us that Nana couldn't find her glasses that morning, so we went back up to her room to find them. By the time we found them, it was time for lunch, so we left to get our own lunch and give Nana a break.

Daddy and I went in search of delicious Canadian food and we found it in the form of Harvey's and Swiss Chalet - double yum! This was nice for Jackson too because it gave him a chance to take a nap, which was a challenge during our whirlwind trip!

We went back to visit Nana again and when we walked in she said "Oh! You're back already?" Which was so exciting! Up to this point, she really didn't have any idea who we were, except when she asked me if she had been to my wedding. We stayed awhile and talked while we watched Jackson play. Finally, we decided that it was time to go to the airport. She asked where we were going and we told her that we were going back to Dallas, where we live. Then she asked if we were "going to see David" while we were there and she lectured us for not seeing our "Uncle David" more often. We realized that she thought that my Dad was one of my cousins, and tried to explain that he WAS Uncle David. After going around in circles for awhile and looking at pictures, my Nana finally realized who we were. It was a really tough moment, but as hard as it was, it really made the trip worth it. We later found out that she called my aunt to tell her that my dad had been to see her.

We got to the airport and walked right on to an earlier flight to Dallas. It was a great surprise and we made it home so much earlier than we had expected! Here's Jackson, passed out on the way home to see Grandma and Daddy!