Family Vacation pt. 2

The following morning, we were up and headed to the Zoo.

Now let me take you back many many months ago. I was approximately 33 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child, and my husband was about to walk out the door to move to NM start a whole new adventure in our life. We went on a little family vacation to Abilene and went to the zoo. Our then 2 year old (now 3 1/2) was obsessed with elephants, and if you've been to the Abilene zoo, you know that there are NO elephants there. Well this rocked her little 2 year old world and mama and daddy promised that we would, one day, go to a BIG zoo sometime so she could see some elephants.

Well, her little mind that forgets not, has reminded us, and asked us often in these 18+ months about WHEN we were going to the BIG zoo to see the elephants.

So when we were planning this trip to the GWL, the Zoo was a must in our trip. So to the Ft Worth Zoo we went.

Windy was in the forecast and I immediately thought, -Oh no, we can't go to the zoo if its supposed to be windy- then I remembered we were going to be in TX and the "wind" in TX is NOTHING compared to the wind here in NM.... wind so bad that you just simply do not walk out the door. It ended up being a perfectly, BEAUTIFUL day. Also, mind you it was a Tuesday and there was hardly anyone there.

The long awaited Elephants!!

Our sweet baby girl in front of her favorite elephants. I knew I wanted to get an "updated" photo of her and her daddy from when we went so long ago. :)

Yay for strong daddy's and uncles. 

Once they have kids, we owe Karl and Crystal a ton for all they do for our kids. ;)

I think my favorite is the lion. They're just amazing creatures. When they yawn, you can't help but to get a little chill as you hear the eery, "low" roar.... 

As we are looking at the lion I can only think of what we would do if he decided he wanted to get out of his "home."

Yes, Im one of those people who, the whole time at the zoo, thinks of all the animals escaping, and what we would do if ever such a thing would happen. 

I'm a freak. 

Quite possibly my favorite thing we did at the zoo was the bird entrapment. Oh, the kids just LOVED it. At first we just took the girls in and they were just so intrigued. It was neat. Then I was thought, what the heck, I bet Stetson would do this too.

He was quite entertaining. 

He did not want to leave. ;)

Petting zoo.

Finally got to ride the train after hearing it all day long.

little boy was completely fascinated with the train. 

After awhile, not only was it hitting nap time, but it was way passed lunch time... so as we walked, and walked, and walked and walked and walked to a bunch of closed eating places. We finally found a place and we settled in for some full bellies, I think everyone kinda perked up after that. It was neat that we got to eat being able to see a man built pond area.

Then we got some Ice Cream..... Stetson very quickly informed us that he was NOT happy that everyone got a cone but him..... he stole his Nana's right outta her hand!!

Sweet P.

Nat's favorite.

We had a BLAST... and it couldn't have been a more perfect day. 

Loved the weather. 

Loved the company, 

and loved that my little babies did SO good and had such a great day. 

Family Vacation. Pt.1

We had a FAN-TASTIC time on our little vacation this past week. We've had this trip planned with my in-laws for a few months now, and I have looked forward to it sooo much. 

I don't remember a time that we've had all 3 kids that we've actually taken a vacation just for fun. Nat and I have gone alone... but not all of us. 

So I was THRILLED to see them take in all the newness of all that we had planned. Not to mention that they're all at such a fun age that they'll actually enjoy it! I was looking forward to that more than anything. 

No bottles. 

No formula. 

No 3 naps a day

No baby.

Just 3 sippy cups.

diapers for the little man and thats all the "worries" I had.

(Just another one of those - YAY!!!! Our life is getting way, WAY easier- moments. ;)

We headed to Angelo, stayed the night, and got up early to head to Grapevine for the Great Wolf Lodge. After a fun little trip of girls in one car, and guys in there other, we made it.

Although a nap should have been at the TOP of our list when arriving, we put our suits on and headed to the water park. 

Well.... not before Stetson got a "sip" of water.

 and chatted on the phone

While the guys unloaded the vehicles, us girls took the kids to the water park. 

The kids were overwhelmed with FUN! Payton, as usual, was extremely cautious and took a while to warm up to all the water. As she is not a natural water baby. But boy, oh boy, when she warmed up, she was having the time of her life. That is typical Payton though, You think she is going to hate something, but in the end turns out loving it more than anyone else did!! I like to call it "The silent joy".... cuz I can kinda relate. ;)

 Little man is one insane dude. Had he not had a designated helper at all times, he would have surely drowned. His fearless spirit was a little overwhelming when in a foot and a half of water. Thank you Lord for life jackets!!!

 Madelynn had a blast!!! She was definitely at the perfect age for this!!

 After playing in the shallow waters with the kids, we made our way to the lazy river where we were all 5 able to enjoy.

 This was a HUGE play area that was full of tons of water fun. I thought the kids wouldn't like it too much, but turns out we had the most fun up there. 

We are standing on the ground looking up...

High, right???

Ya, there were 2 twisty, turny water slides up there.... and ya, my 18 month old planted his little hiney at the top of the slide and went down all on his own. Ughh.... gave this mama a little anxiety to let him do it... but once it was done, it was done.... and it didn't stop until we MADE him stop. And then he cried.

Once supper time rolled around, we made our way back to the room to eat, and then they had a bedtime story time in the lobby that we went to. At this point in the day, after no nap, and playing in the water for hours... the kids were soooo exhausted. But, as always, they're troopers and did amazingly with what they were handed.

 We (I) was surprised when they brought out Wiley the HUGE (scary) wolf. If you know much about me, you know that I do NOT do these human stuffed things. They're creepy and I just don't want to have anything to do with them. 

Go ahead and laugh.

I'm not ashamed to admit it. 

I do, however, put my fear behind me so my kids don't see that..... and I stand in line with them till were a little too close for comfort, and I silently slip outta line and let my mother-in-law take over while I stand quietly behind my husband who shall protect me in the event that I need protection. 

After the fun in the lobby, the honey and I slipped away without the kids for some fun.

I LOVE roller coasters and I LOVE water parks. Put them together, climb hundreds of steps to slide down an amazing water slide.... mmmm sign me up!! There were no lines and we went until I was on the verge of seeing my supper again. (Sorry.)

We finished the night off with some Ice Cream!

The next day, before going back to the water park, we used up the girls' Paw Passes, which is basically all the "extra" things at a discounted rate.  

Little man snuck off to the arcade.

They got to color T-shirts.

 and themselves.

 Then they got glitter Tattoos

 while the boys waited.

 Then they got to pick, help stuff, and dress an animal. Madelynn got "Violet," Payton got "Rachel" and Bub got "Wiley." That was pretty neat for them, as Madelynn is obsessed with stuffed animals and gets very attached to them... 

 and Violet is no exception. ;)

The after.

Were done, were done, were DONE! 

The whole "during" process I regretted doing this over and over again. I told myself I'll embrace everything WOOD in our house and NEVER try and change it again. I honestly didn't realize all that would go into doing the cabinets. BUT, Now that were done, I'm highly in love with them and even more so with the new hardware. ;) 

I wont bore you with the "before, after" business.... just know the wood is BEFORE and the white pearl ash is AFTER.

see the wood swirly thing above the sink?? 

You can tell in the  after pics that it is gone, and made such a huge difference... I definitely love the straight, sleek look, rather then the swirvy look. Also, hiding up under the swirly thing is a hideous, yucky light. That has also been replaced. We also left the cabinet doors off the 2 high ones above the sink.

We also took out the above (main) lighting and replaced it with a similar one as this one, just bigger. (No pic) 

oh and note the new dishwasher too.

Next up is to replace the stove top and built in oven. Which will be quite the ordeal financially AND physically.

 Seems that the people who built the house in the 70's made just about everything a "special order" size. and thats just plain 'ol frustrating!!!!! The stove top is a whack size thats in between the "normal" ginormous size, and the "normal" smaller size.... so, seeing as the counter tops are already cut out for it, we would only be able to go bigger, to cut out more counter top... 

bigger= more $$.... 

and the oven is 27".... who in their right mind would build their kitchen around a 27" oven?? Someone who obviously does NOT cook for a big family. I can barely for a 9X13 in it, and Nat took my regular size cookie sheets and cut the handles off cuz the extra small tiny cookie sheet just did NOT cut it when cooking for my fam. Its been frustrating, to say the least, learning how to get around cooking in such a small oven. Sooo... when we replace, we shall replace BIG. I'm thinking huge, DOUBLE oven for this mama!! 

oooh I can't wait. Every time we go to Lowes, I go to the appliance section and just look and dream about that double oven.

Anyways, since the smaller over is built in, we will have to bust out some cabinet area to fit a bigger stove. Nothing too terribly difficult, but thats what will have to be done to get anything at all remotely bigger than what we have now.

Also, we have some countertop stain stuff which I'm also really excited about. The counter tops now, with gold swirls in them, I just highly dislike. Highly. So, were gonna give it a try. We leave to go on our trip next weekend, so were gonna stain them right before we leave because you're not supposed to use them for 2 weeks. (eeek... we'll see how that goes. ;)

Anyways... I'll fill you in on that when we get it done.

So, there you have it. I am loving my new WAY brighter kitchen.

Thanks for going on this little make over with me... and listening to me vent about my not finished cabinets. :)

Check up.

Little man had his 18 month check up today, and everyone was quite impressed with how advanced he is in life. Always makes a mama proud to hear people bragging on her babes. :)

He weighed in at a whopping 27 lbs and he is by far still my biggest baby.. And to be quite honest, he was too busy jumping off things, opening the door and running out and acting like a maniac so I have no clue about his other stats. :)

As far is his rash/sickness goes, after being exposed to his cousins with it, the Doctor thought it was hand foot and mouth... Although after reading about it, Im still not thoroughly convinced that's what it is. I still vote chicken pox... But who the heck knows. All that matters is that he is healing beautifully and the girls have kept from it this far!!

This is my little man in a nutshell. Climbed off the table, (yes, the high
Up ones) walked over, pushed the chair to the sink, got up on it and drank....... All before I could blink and realize what he was doing. He's such a turkey head!!