Thankful Thursday

Thankful for the opportunity to take a family vacation!

Our annual trip to the lake is on the horizon and I can't wait for the glorious relaxation time that is waiting for me...

A week spent with family- playing games, exploring, boating, shopping, reading, eating, eating, eating... there is nothing better than time spent at the lake with family!

Wordless Wednesday~ Monkey Business

Weekend Roadtrip

With the Iowa/Iowa State game looming and Andy making party plans for the guys, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to go visit my dear friend, Adrian and her family who live in Columbia, Missouri.

The 4 hour one-way car trip seemed daunting with a toddler so I started prepping Rea a couple weeks ahead of our trip.  We bought a special movie to take along, packed lots of books and toys, and promised a visit to the candy shop in Columbia if she was good during the car ride. 

The candy shop bribe worked because we made the trip with only one teeny tiny meltdown. Toddler success!

We had a fabulous time touring Columbia and nearby town, Fulton.  The girls had a blast playing together and Adrian and I were able to get in some much needed catch up time!  We enjoyed so much good food and got in lots of laughs being with our girls.  All in all, a very successful trip!

And the car ride back must not have deterred my toddler because as soon as we pulled into our drive way she asked, "Mommy, when can we go back to Adrian and Jules' house?" 

A few pics:

We're here!

Picking out a lollipop:

National Churchill Museum:

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Guess not, so let's let mom take a picture.

Piece of the Berlin wall:

Where's the toddler? 

Jules was such a good sport sharing all her toys with Rea... and dealing with the toddler demands. :)

Thank you to Drew, Adrian and Jules for hosting us for the weekend~  It was definitely fun memories in the making!


And...since Rea did survive the 4 hour car ride home, she had a lot of energy to burn before bed time tonight. Good thing the temps were perfect for being outside.  Hello Fall!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Weekend Recap

Disclaimer: I started this weekend with a terrible, no good, very bad cold.  And then successfully passed that cold on to Andy.  The fact that we both survived the weekend and even managed to have some fun times with Reagan is a true testament to our parenting skills Tylenol Cold and Mucinex.

Friday:

Reagan was invited to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. We've never taken her before and to be honest, I've heard horror stories.  But she was excited and ready to go.  Much to my surprise, it was quite delightful.  They have an area perfect for her age group and the party she attended was the only big birthday party that night. Score! 

She ate pizza and birthday cake, rode so many fun rides, got to high-five Chuck E. Cheese himself and then promptly begged all the way home to have her OWN birthday party there.  I compromised with a daddy/mommy/Rea birthday celebration so we'll see if she remembers that promise in a month. Chances are, she will. :)

Saturday:

Here's where I thank my wonderful husband for getting up with Rea while I tried to sleep off my sore throat/sore ears/headache/coughing/sneezing fits... He took Rea out for a couple play dates after making breakfast and I got to sleep off my gunk. It worked because I was feeling much better by the afternoon. Which was a good thing as we had a wedding to attend Saturday night of a family friend.

We had a great time catching up with friends, enjoying some good eats and dancing like nobody was watching on the dance floor!

Sunday:

A big Happy Grandparent's Day to our parents for being such wonderful Grandparent's to Reagan. She is so lucky and blessed to be loved by such amazing Grandparents.

We had a family movie day, read lots of books, played our hearts out and had a nice, relaxing Sunday.

Happy weekend y'all- and may you all stay healthy! *achoo!*

Wordless Wednesday~ Toddler Amazement

Labor Day

Most moms who work outside of the home will tell you, holidays off work are sweet little gems... to be cherished with Little's and hubbies. I was so very much looking forward to having today off and we tried to make the most of it!

The day began early with a trip to the zoo. Rea had a free pass from the library so off we went!

The weather was perfect and the crowds hadn't crowded yet.  We hit the train just as it was loading, Rea was 2nd in line to get her face painted and she LOVED feeding the giraffe after another short line.  The stars were aligned for us to have the best zoo trip we've ever had. We laughed at the otters, Rea squealed at the sea lions, we cooed at the baby rhino, and watched the monkeys put on a show. Fun times!

Deep in toddler thought...

She chose a red fox and loved it!

 

As we were pulling away from the zoo entrance Rea said, "Mom, that was awesome."  Awesome indeed.


The weather was picture perfect this afternoon so we decided to explore the park in our development. Rea had fun on the slides and the swing-

We are blessed to have such a great park close by. We'll definitely be back!


We must have worn out our toddler because it was so quiet and we weren't sure what she was up to... when we looked, she was snuggled in, reading herself a story.  Made my heart melt.

I'm sad our day is over but looking forward to being together again this weekend. Tomorrow night starts dance class and tumbling so things will be busy!  Happy Monday my friends!