Happiest Place On Earth.

First of all, it's been two months since I last posted.

Ugh.

Second of all, it's been over a month since our trip to the happiest place on earth!

How can such a big event go unpublished?!

It's a big deal and I plan on sharing within the next five years our pictures, tips and magical moments.

Third of all, I think calling it "the happiest place on earth" is a bit of a stretch, but when you're home,  caught up on sleep, over the complete exhaustion and reflect on your trip then it feels like it's the happiest place on earth. It's funny how the brain works like that, isn't it?

 I'm still catching up on pictures from the trip (what's new!), but we had a fun trip and made some great memories!

Vacation with a Toddler: 1 Day

After four days of vacationing with a monkey,

 I was finally able to enjoy one day of vacation with a toddler. 

The type of vacation I had expected to have. 

For the most part, Adalyn is an easy-going, content and happy toddler. 

So "vacationing with a toddler" isn't a negative in this situation.

Vacationing with a baby monkey...now that is a different story. 

As luck would have it, she seemed to be feeling almost 100% our last day there.  

It was frusturating that she would be almost better as we were about to go home, but I was thankful that the family got to enjoy her for one day and that she would be better for the long drive home the following day. 

Wednesday was the low key day on the schedule. 

Some people were staying home, some were going to the shops and some...

were going to the Aquarium. 

And let me tell you....everyone else missed out on a good time at the Aquarium. 

We ended up just going with Auntie Ali and it was so nice to have that special time with just her. 

I highly recommend this aquarium {as does TripAdvisor}, we had read some reviews and saw it was ranked in the top 10 in the US so we decided we had to take advantage while we were in town. 

I'm so glad we did! 

This was the first day it actually felt like vacation.

It felt great to no longer be a zoo exhibit, but to just enjoy the aquarium.

{Okay, last monkey comparison, I promise...}

It was super toddler friendly and she had a blast.

      We were thankful for the wonderful and fun Auntie Ali....

and this is one of the many big ol' fat reasons....

so we didn't have have to see mommy's big ol' fat, high butt-cracked booty crawling through the little tunnel. 

Can I get an Amen?

You better believe I was praising the Lord for my slim 16 year old sister. 

It wasn't busy.

She could walk everywhere and see everything.

The penguins swam right up the the window.

I loved her expression- she was pretty much in disbelief that that really just happened. 

We finished off our date with a few goodies from the gift shop and her first taste of dippin' dots.

She was a fan.

She made it through the day without her paci or in my arms...

I was beyond thankful to have my sweet girl back!!

We returned to the cabin, she took a nap and we were off to the Dixie Stampede.

Another local attraction that I highly recommend- everyone loved it!

Unfortunately, I had to wake her up from her nap so we could get there in time.

::Cue the negatives of life with a toddler::

Waking from a nap is bound to be a disaster- through sickness and through health- it's just a sad scary fact.

::Cue bi-polar toddler/you are so incredibly hard to figure out::

She was happy with the seeing the horses.

Meltdown city during the ticket line.

Enjoyed a little snack.

Followed by a squirmy wormy whine fest. 

Danced through some pre-show entertainment.

Followed by throwing things and ripping menus while entering the main venue.

Laughed and shouted "hi" to the horses from our front row seats.

Cried and grabbed on for dear life when the lights went out and the rings of fire appeared.

The show in the front row went downhill from there.

I thought the night would be a bust and I was supper bummed. 

She was losing it and I was getting frustrated.

I enjoy shows like this and I was most definitely not enjoying this one.

I left right as a mouth-watering delicious chicken was put on my plate.

I went to the car and got her carrier thinking she might fall asleep.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear when we get to the parking lot??

A happy toddler.

Talking to the horses.

Not a care in the world.

You've got to be kidding me.

Once I figured that she was a good enough actor to be in the show, I quickly made my way back into the auditorium, grabbed my bag, grabbed my dinner {oh you better believe I did} and made our way to the top row where we enjoyed the rest of the show.

She was free to roam.

Or she could sit on the table and watch.

We were both SO much happier in the top row. 

Phew.

And by the way, one of the best darn chickens I ever had. 

Totally worth the sweat and near tears to retrieve it. 

I'm not even kidding.

That night we finally had a good night's sleep.

We woke early early to drive back home.

And of course, I wouldn't expect anything other than for her to be better the day we left. 

She still wasn't 100%, since it had turned into a little cold, but she was definitely much more her normal happy self. 

Except when she realized I didn't have the colored stars to go with her book.

::Cue overtired irrational toddler::

We drove through the beautiful country and took some breaks along the way. 

We even made it home in one {longggg} day, but we were so glad we did.

We were happy to be home and resume life as normal.

Breakfast with our babies.

There's no better way. 

'Peaks' of CO

We have been enjoying our family vacation in Colorado despite the cold temperatures and the strong desire to be laying on the beach with a pina colada and a tan. 

A winter vacation seems so bizarre to me, but Mr. B, Papa G and the sibs are enjoying their time skiing.

And the grandparents are enjoying their great granddaughter! 

We made it through Adalyn's first flight.

I was a little nervous because it was a nonstop 5 hour flight.

I wasn't sure how her ears would be, if she would be overtired, if she would want to be walked around, gassy, screaming etc.

You know how people can be with a crying baby!

I changed her diaper right before the flight and sure enough as we are sitting on the plane and the other people are finding their seats...she poops.

Because that's what babies do.

It's like they know. 

I wasn't able to change her, I needed to wait until we were in the air and the seat belt sign was off. 

Awesome.

As we were taxing and preparing for take-off she started to fall asleep.

By the time we were in the air she was fast asleep and I didn't know what I wanted to do-

do I leave her sleeping in her poop, knowing she is peaceful and quiet or do I wake her and change her not knowing how she will be??

There ended up being quite a bit of turbulence and I wasn't able to change her until about an hour in and at that point she woke up.

We made our way into the teeny bathroom where they have a foldable changing table and she hated it.

Can't say I blame her. 

I hate those bathrooms too. 

After that she did great!

She slept some more, watched some Baby Einstein {the miracle movie- they're seriously magic} and played on the tray table. She did a great job!

{Sidenote: my hair has already grown too much and I need it shorter!}

We weren't sure how her ears would adjusts to the altitude here in CO, so we took it slow before heading right to the mountains with the rest of the family. 

Thankfully she has adjusted really well, has been sleeping great and has been a happy girl when meeting new family! 

That is her 98.5 year old great great GREAT Aunt! She is amazing and still going strong!

We stopped for lunch in Georgetown on our way to the mountains to meet up with Mr. B and the rest of the family. 

She sat in the highchair for the first time! 

I get to sit in the backseat with her and it's been a special treat with all those big smiles.

She adjusted well to the high altitudes of the mountain as well! 

I am so thankful.

On Sunday we met Mr. B and the fam for lunch at Vail Mountain.

She's becoming a pro at the high chair. 

I didn't realize she would be using it so much or I would've packed our cover.

The non-skiiers :)

The skiiers come back home in the afternoon and they are completely wiped out so we have been hanging out and going to bed early.

Yesterday we met up with everyone at Breckenridge and they took a little swimming break. 

It was Adalyn's first time in a pool and she seemed to enjoy it just like we thought she would. 

She played in the water for about 10-15 minutes and then quickly passed out. 

Mr. B and Papa G went back for some more skiing and the rest of us enjoyed the pretty views and took a gondola ride. 

We are having a great time and still have almost a week left! 

Productive Much?

Our short trip to NH went by so fast, but we accomplished more in those few days than we had imagined!

It was so nice to be back with this cute little man again.

I love this kid so much.

I hate living away from my little sibs and I am so looking forward to moving back home and being involved in their lives.

My big man was offered an awesome job. On Wednesday he met with the recruiter, an hour later he met with the company, the next day he met with the President of the company, five minutes after he left the meeting they made him an offer.

They told Mr. B to be sure to wear a suit jacket when meeting the President....so the night before meeting the President was spent at Men's Wearhouse buying Mr. B black shoes (he forgot to pack them) and his first real suit jacket. I also suggested he wear his glasses for the extra oomph of intelligence. Had to dress to impress. Success.

My grammie found us the perfect place for this next season in our life. I will post about that story later this week. God is so good.

Complete with a great backyard for Roxie. That is the fence that divides our place with my grandparents. That is their white house. We are expecting "Wilson" moments like on Home Improvement.

The weather was absolutely beautiful. We didn't even miss Florida. At all. Not once.

We were able to go to C-Man's first flag football game.

My beautiful sister. Can't wait to have our "sister days" again.

Can you believe we are 10.5 years apart??

My family is going through a farm animal phase. I will introduce you to the most recent additions later this week. We went to visit a goat breeder to take a look at the newest additions that will be joining the Grace Family in June. They are getting a 1 year old female and 2 baby males. The babies will be born in the next few weeks, but look at how cute these other ones on the farm are....

This is the size they will be when they take them home

They are actually really playful and doglike. We are excited to see how Roxie and the baby goats will interact with each other.

THE biggest dog I have ever seen in my life. I am bummed because you can't really tell in the pictures I took. I think my sister took one that might show it better, but wow. They have 7 Livestock Guardian Dogs that live with and protect the goats from predators 24/7. This dog was like 4 ft tall. Seriously. I think I was more fascinated by the dogs than the goats.

We celebrated Resurrection Sunday with our home church, it was great to be back. Because our flight left early in the evening we tried something new and went out for brunch with my family and extended family, went home for dessert and a mini birthday celebration for my sister and uncle, had a quick visit and before we knew it, it was already time to go home.

Clearly, we were tired from waking up early for our Easter baskets.

When I as younger our baskets were attached to string and my dad would go all over the house, outside, through windows etc, we would follow the crazy web of strings and find our basket. Over the years, my dad became lazy tried something new and now we do a twenty questions type thing. This was probably our last time finding an Easter Basket from my parents now that we will be living in our own place from now on. I think I can handle that change in life.

We are officially in the homestretch! Only 27 more days til the move!!

I have lots of cleaning, unpacking and packing to do today.

I am resuming the 30 Day Shred today as well. I made it to Day 10, but took a break when we were home. So now that I just had a few mini Reese cups for breakfast I think I should get on that....