Arizona

We just got back from vacation.  It was my first real vacation since my wedding.  We've gone away for a weekend here and there but not a real vacation for years!  My best friend got married at the Grand Canyon.  Now let me preface this with while the Grand Canyon is supposed to be amazing and all it wasn't at the top of my list of places to see.  I would rather go some where tropical, with a beach or very cool mountains (maybe east or west coast) 

So because I love my best friend so much I decided to go where ever she wanted to get married.  And she chose the Grand Canyon.  So we rented a house in Flagstaff.  The house was amazing, while the decor needed a bit of updating the layout was great!  There were 8 of us staying there.  We all got our own rooms and gave us a break from each of us if we needed it.  Everyone knew the bride and groom but didn't know hardly anyone else.  Overall I think there were 18 of us out there. 

I got to meet and hang out with some of the most amazing people.  We had an absolute blast.  We spent the day in Sedona, just walking around and exploring.  It was great!  Jason and I went on a jeep 4x4 tour and learned a ton about the area.  It was a lot of fun.

The day of the wedding was great.  The girls got their hair and makeup done, let me tell you we were gorgeous!  After we got ready and left for the 2 hour drive to the Grand Canyon we had some time to kill and enjoyed the trip up there.

Of course there was some drama before the ceremony.  I told the bride that there is going to be something that happens that will make a great story for the future generations.  Well, sure enough, there is now a story to be told.  At the time I reminded the bride that this was her story and she informed me that "I don't like stories." with a very somber face.  I told her she would like it tomorrow.

Well, now the bride and groom are husband and wife and the pictures are taken and we are all having dinner.  We hung out and talked and drank the night away.  Over all the day was amazing and I would love to do it again! 

The newlywed couple left the next morning for their honeymoon cruise and left the rest of us to our own devices.  Jason and I went to Out of Africa animal park.  We had a blast there too.  There was a great white Bengal tiger that puts on a show with her 'friends' (humans who are willing to get into a cage with her).  She splashed and hunted the blow up toys.  It was a blast to watch her.

After we got back, Jason, Ariel, Mike and I went to dinner at Salsa Brava in Flagstaff.  It was featured on Diner's Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network.  It was amazing!  Best Margarita I've ever had, best food and the company was amazing!  We later went to the Lowell Observatory and looked at the moon and Saturn.  Kind of neat.  However the most entertaining part of the night was after I downloaded the Fat Booth application for my phone.  It was a blast.  You take a picture of someones face, then let it do it's magic and behold, you are fat!  It may not sound so interesting when you are sober but let me tell you that after a few drinks it is hilarious!

After a late evening with a ton of laughter it was time for us to go home.  I was incredibly happy to see my girls.  I missed them a ton!  It was great to cuddle with them!

Now it's back to regular old life with all that it offers.  Changing diapers, feeding, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, and all that goes along with it.

I guess the point of all this rambling is that even if it takes you another 5 years before your next vacation.  Make sure that you do everything you to have the best time of your life.  That is what vacation is for.  Go see something that you've never seen before and make it memorable!

Time's a wastin'

I don't even know what to write about today but I realize that now that I'm back to work and don't have many hours of the day to sit and surf the web I need to make time for my blog.  I am gone for about 10+ hours a day, haven't been home until after 10:30 most nights so far and I just need to figure out how to run my life with the 3 beautiful children that I have and work at the same time.  Oh, did I mention that I would also like to take a shower every few days at least?  I figured that since I already had 2 kids I would just float right into life with 3.  Well, I lied to myself.  It's not as easy as I led myself to believe it would be.  I have really good kids but there is just so much that needs to be done.  So this is what I have decided.

#1 Shower whenever you are able.  There may not be another chance for a while.

#2 Let the kids that are able pick out their own clothes.  It saves me a few minutes to get something else done and they get to learn how to make decisions that they have to live with for the rest of the day.  Who cares if the red plaid is matched with the greens stripes.  They are going to daycare, nobody cares what they are wearing.

#3 Sometimes it really is easier to eat fast food than bring a lunch.  Don't sweat it when there isn't any leftovers to take.  You didn't fail.

#4 As long as your children are fed and kept warm they are fine.  Sometimes reading a story will get bumped for taking a shower.  Don't worry about it.  There is more time for stories later,  also there is more time to shower later (well maybe not but you can skip this occasionally)

#5 Long hair is great, there is little you have to do to get ready and when you don't have time to spend on it you can throw it into a ponytail and go.  Same goes for your children, long hair just needs to be combed and washed regularly.

#6 Let your husband do the dishes, laundry, vacuuming.  Even if you don't like how he does it at least it got done.

#7 Macaroni and cheese and hot dogs is perfectly acceptable for dinner.  And the children love it.

OK, those are my new rules to live by.  I'm going to remember that life keeps going regardless of what you have going on.

Candice's wedding is fast approaching.  Two weeks from Friday is the Bachelorette party of the century!  Pure Romance party to start the evening with good food and drinks.  Then on to Brit's Pub to partake of the Royal Wedding Reception.  Should be an absolute blast.  It will be EPIC!

Three weeks from this Friday is the wedding in Arizona at the Grand Canyon. Our flight leaves on Wednesday and we return on Sunday.  This is FIVE days of only adults.  I'm not sure how I'm going to handle being away from my children for that long as I haven't ever been separated for that long.  Oh, and I'm nursing Alex so I get to pump all week to keep up the supply.  I do have quite the pile of frozen milk in the freezer for while we are gone though. 

I'm not sure those of you who don't have kids realize how much stuff I have to pack for these 5 days with Grandma.  There's the normal stuff like clothes, underwear and that sort.  Then there is blankets, stroller, carrier, extra shoes, pillows, formula, milk, bottles, diapers, and more that I can't even think of.  I'm going to do my best to drop all of this off the day before we leave and then just drop off the stuff that we can't live without for a night, like pillows and blankets.  What a trip we are taking!

I plan to drop the girls off at daycare that morning and then finish packing for myself.  I don't even remember when my flight leaves so I don't know how early this morning is going to be!  Oh, well it will be a great vacation and probably the last one for quite a while.  Once I get home from this I have nothing on the books for months.  I plan to take 3 days off to get my tubes tied in June and then I have nothing besides birthday parties from here to the end of time. 

So I'm hoping to survive the next 3 weeks!  Wish me luck!!!

Well, Vacation is OVER!

So today is the last day that Jason is home.  He goes back to work tomorrow.  Meaning I will be home all by myself with the girls tomorrow.  Of course, Abby has school from 9:15 - 10:45 and Alex has a doctor appointment at 1:00. So I get to haul all three of them around half of the day tomorrow.  Oh, well.  I guess it will be fine. 

Currently Jason is holding Alex so I can have some 'free' time.  I figured I would do some social networking and get caught up on the outside world. 

Last night Alex slept from 9:00pm - 2:30am (5 1/2 hours) and then from 3:00am to 7:30am (4 1/2 hours).  Yes, she is 11 days old and we only got up once to feed during the night.  I have been blessed with good sleepers with Abby and Kate.  I'm hoping that I get to be that lucky with Alex. 

I don't have too much else to say and Alex is fussing, which means that she is hungry when Jason is holding her!  He just shushes her and waits for me to finish what I'm doing and take her back.  He'll be alone with her soon enough!