Va-cay!

Disclaimer: The sheer number of pictures in this post should make up for my total failure at posting pictures recently :D.  Click on all the collages to make them bigger so you can see the individual pictures.

Chris and I were able to score a free weekend stay at a hotel in McCall, Idaho a few months ago through the referral credit at a daily deal website.  The only thing we had to pay for was our gas to get there and food. 

The Hunt Lodge

We'd originally planned to make it a romantic getaway but we ended up making it a family vacation.

I am so glad we did!  Averie did better than could ever be expected on the 8-hour drive there and back, which is probably because she looked like this most of the time in the car :).

 And when she wasn't doing that, she was being entertained by this:

Best purchase. EVER.

We checked in and scored some fresh-baked cookies and a bottle of Martinelli's to enjoy during our stay.  We got up to our room and were very pleasantly surprised!  We knew we were getting a suite but didn't know how spacious it would be!  It had a living room where Averie's crib was set up, so Chris and I were able to have some privacy after all :).     

"My jacuzzi?"  "Sorry, but no."  :)

After checking in, we immediately headed down to the hotel pool. 

It was an indoor pool, but the water was still a little chilly, which felt great to Chris and me, but Averie was less than thrilled.  We only stayed about 30 minutes, and planned to go back down to the warm spa later in our trip, but we got so sidetracked with other activities that we never made it.

The first night was pretty rough on Averie, creature of habit that she is, who did not like the hotel crib (and we didn't either, since she kept trying to climb out of it!). 

The second day was our "activity day."  We started with a big breakfast at The Pancake House across the street from our hotel.  

Averie reading while we wait for our table

There, we discovered plate-sized pancakes and cinnamon rolls as big as your head!  It was all deliciously homemade and the prices were amazing for what you got.

 

We drove back down to Boise (2 hours from our hotel) and visited the zoo.  Averie loved getting up close to the animal exhibits.  Unfortunately, most of the cats were either hiding or sleeping...

 

She loved sitting on the "animals" and trying out the Fennec fox ears.

She was dying to try out the giraffe slide, but the metal was too hot :(.

 

We did see the real deal sampling a tree though!

She was a little unsure about feeding the goats at the Zoo Farm.

She loved pressing her face to the glass to see the Komodo dragon, watching the tortoise eat his salad, and getting up close to the colorful birds.

Her favorite exhibit was the meerkats (Timon, anyone? :D) and the meerkats loved her, too!  We got her a stuffed one at the gift shop as a souvenir.

We ate lunch in a park nearby where the seagulls hovered around our table with hungry eyes.  There was a lone squirrel scouting for food and Chris was able to get him very close and feed him!  The squirrel then proceeded to taunt the seagull with his bit of bread.  LOL.

Squirrel is the light brown spot near the top of the tree

After that, we went to this AMAZING playground called Adventure Island.  I am so sad we don't have anything like this near us.  Amazing slides of varying heights and steepness, including a twisty slide, a climbing area that Averie adored, and swings.  Check out this collage -- our camera has a continuous shot feature, so I was able to get lots of pictures of her "in motion" on the slides and swings!  

Beginner slide

A little bit bigger and better

Twisty slide!

Biggest and best! :)

The best part was a splash pad!  Averie ran through in her clothes (good thing we always have a backup outfit!) because we forgot her swimsuit.  

Halfway through, Averie lost her pants because they were so weighed down with water!

It was a great way to cool down after how warm the zoo was.  We are planning to take her up to the similar splash pad at The Gateway.  She will love it!

We stopped in at the Children's Museum, but it wasn't as geared toward children (or at least not toddlers) as we'd hoped.  Chris and I enjoyed a couple of the exhibits and Averie "shopped" in the Discovery Market.  

Pedaling to turn the lights on, a histograph, and Chris writing his name using the mirror

Averie shopping. The chocolate milk was the first thing to go in her cart! :)

The second night back at the hotel went much better than the first.  That could have been due to the fact that we absolutely wore Averie out during the day! :)

Our last day there, the hotel let us check-out later than usual so we could sleep in.  Yay!  We drove in to Boise and the drive between McCall and Boise is like driving through a painting.  It is so beautiful and scenic. 

We stopped at Baja Fresh for lunch, which is like my California version of Cafe Rio here.  There used to be one in Salt Lake, but they closed it, so I was ecstatic to find a Baja on our trip. 

After lunch, it was time to start the rest of the drive home.   

Chris and I were grateful for the mostly empty roads that allowed us to get home a little bit faster than the GPS had calculated (which bases travel times on speed limits)....

My lead foot got away from me....

This trip was our first ever vacation as a family of three and I am so happy with how it went.  There were more frequent stops for food and diaper changes, but we all had such a wonderful time.  I hope we can do it again soon.

A job!

It's definitely not the one I thought it would be.  Not the one I thought our family deserved after a 10-month struggle.  But it's a job nonetheless.


I should be jumping for joy, but instead I feel like I'm trying to find the silver lining in a bad situation.  I'm happy and grateful for a job.  I think that's all I can say right now.

LATER TODAY:
I'm feeling better about this now.  The company Chris is going to be working for is a great, family-oriented company.  The benefits are really good and Chris will have a company laptop, and possibly even a phone (or our current bill will be subsidized by them).  It's a lot more great things than he had at Convergys -- a shorter commute than some of his options in Salt Lake, and lots of potential for growth -- even if it's not as great as some of his other prospects had been.  However, I need to be grateful for what we do have. 

Ultimately, I know the Lord's hand is in this decision and even if I can't understand why this is the right job for us right now, I know He knows it's the right thing for us and has put this position in our path for a reason.  I look forward to getting back on our feet and realizing that my spiritual self has been strengthened through this difficult time.

Broken

I should have known better than to get my hopes up again.

Little Miss Sass

When we reprimand Averie (which has been all too often lately, defiant little thing that she is), she sticks out her hip and rolls her eyes!

Who traded in my toddler for a teenager?

Kung Fu Panda

We took Averie to see her very first movie in the theaters this past weekend and this is the one we chose.  We were a bit hesitant to take her because we're very anti-babies-in-theaters, but we had some free Fandango credit we needed to use and figured if we had to walk out because she wasn't cooperating or was disturbing others, at least we weren't out the ticket money.

Averie surprised us by being on her best behavior!  She got restless in the last 10 minutes, but that was most likely due to it being time for a nap.  I think we'll be very selective about which movies we take her to in the future, but it's good to know that she can be a well-behaved companion for the kids' movies that Chris and I enjoy seeing too!

Averie: 19 Months

Averie had her 18 19-month well-child visit on Friday (we got behind!).  She continues to be our long, lean baby toddler at 24 pounds even (40th percentile) and 34 inches tall (95th percentile).  Wow!  I am so glad it's summer because now we don't have to worry about her pants being long enough! :)  Her shorts are just...shorter.  LOL.

Averie is feeding herself with a fork and spoon, going up and down stairs, and pointing to the body parts we name (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, bellybutton, toes and hair).  She knows how to use a phone and a hairbrush.  She can stack 4+ blocks all by herself -- her towers start to get a little wobbly after that, so if we straighten them out, she'll stack up to 7 blocks!  She also helps put away her toys at the end of the day, which is a big help!

The only area Averie continues to be delayed in is speech.  Lots of babbling and with such inflection and excitement that I'm sure her "words" mean something to her, but the rest of us can't decipher it!  Her pediatrician is concerned, but not overly so, and we'll have her evaluated if things don't improve in the next couple months.  She does understand lots of the words we say and is effective at gesturing to what she wants or needs, so that makes communication easier.  

The happiest news from the well-baby visit is she is ALL DONE with her shots until her 5-year kindergarten shots!  Those are the worst part of a well-baby visit for both her and us, so I know if she could, she would say how happy she is that she won't have to get poked for another 3 1/2 years :).

Averie has also started using the potty at bathtime.  Based on our own research and the advice of her pediatrician, we don't push it at any other time, but after peeing in the bathtub every time we put her in it, we figured a little time sitting on it while the tub was filling would be good!  She is very proud of herself when she goes. 

A fairly recent accomplishment of Averie's is climbing into the office chair all by herself and clicking and "typing" away!  This picture is a little blurry but by far, the best representation of the look on her face when she gets caught!

She is turning from my baby into a little girl.  Soon she'll be going off to preschool.  We see a sibling in her near future (no, we are not announcing anything!)......

Hangin' in there

Seeing as it's been 2 months since my last post, I figured I'd better let all my blog friends and family know we're still here. 

So...we're alive.  Nothing new to report . . . . yet.  Take that as you will ;-). 

Here's a goofy baby picture to brighten your day.  Peach juice makes great hair gel.

And a picture of a happy baby ready for summer for good measure!