Blog | Travel
It seemed like a crime to allow the last remaining day on our Disney passes expire (they were set to expire at the end of September). As a happy coincidence, the Gators were playing Tennessee the third week of September. Sooooooo…what’s a Gator football loving family with two Disney loving girls to do? Why take a whirlwind trip to Orlando! Upon the recommendation of my dear friend Lisa, we stayed at the Art of Animation. Spectacular! The walls of this Disney property are full of early sketches from various Disney/Pixar movies – Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid.
There are four main sections – one for each of these movies. We stayed in a Finding Nemo room!
By pulling down the attached wall, this table converts into a bed! B was ecstatic!
We kept the whole trip a surprise for B – though as we were driving, we did break down and tell her we were going to visit Tia! Here she is as she enters the room.
The view of the fantastic pool from our room.
Both girls loved this pool! M especially loved the splash pad area – stuck her face right in those fountains!
They loved the hotel so much, I was a little worried B would be disappointed to be going to Disney the next day. I worried for nothing – she was thrilled! This time, we just relaxed and did whatever we wanted. We did not worry about getting autographs, or finding certain things. We just went from one ride to the next, whatever struck our fancy, and had fun. Of course, we had to ride It’s a Small World…multiple times…
M loves the song, and especially loved all the little drummers (think the Little Drummer Boy cartoon). She did that drumming motion the whole time, and still does it whenever she wants us to sing that song to her. Here are a few other photos from Disney that day.
We tried to convince M to go in “the cell” with Zurg and B (one of B’s fav rides was the Buzz Lightyear ride), but she was having NONE of that!
They had a splash pad where we could cool off. B liked the idea a whole lot more than the reality…M loved the reality…
The carousel was also a BIG hit – maybe M’s favorite.
We even managed to convince M to take a nap on the people mover – a miraculous 90 minute nap!
Disney was closing early that day (booooo!), so we headed over to Epcot to check out the sites and the Nemo ride. We decided a boat trip would be the most fun – here’s Epcot on our approach.
We rode the Nemo ride twice, after which I finally convinced B to pose inside Bruce’s mouth. M was having none of that either!
We ate in France before heading home – wonderful day!
On Saturday, Jason and I went to see the Gators trounce Tennessee. The famous campus fries!
Gator victory (31-17)!
The girls stayed with Tia in Orlando. They had a blast hanging out at the hotel all day – playing in the pool, checking out all the different sites in the different sections, etc.
B getting her “tank” filled up…
Time to head home – bye Mr. Ray!
Poppa surprised Nana with a trip to the Smokey Mountains, and all of the kids, grandkids, and most of her siblings came along for the ride. We were only able to go for a couple of days, but we had a great time! Here are some pictures from our trip!
The drive there was fairly uneventful…until our directions took us onto a road Jason called “Deliverance” Road. 
It was a windy road through the hills that theoretically could handle two cars, but really only looked like it was wide enough for one. We can confirm, however, that it is actually wide enough for two cars, as long as one of the cars is driven by a crazy local.
Don rented a beautiful (and huge) house that required some pretty tall poles to build. Whether I was standing on the top floor balcony or the basement balcony, I could not see the ground – too far down and all covered in foliage. It felt like we were in a tree house! I tried to capture the effect with a photo, but it really doesn’t translate. So you’ll have to settle for a photo of the view outside our bedroom.
On Sunday, we mostly hung out with everyone and just relaxed. Delightful! As a bonus, we had lots of help with the girls!
Monday we headed into Ober Gatlinburg to check out the amusements/rides, ride the gondola, and generally enjoy the beautiful weather. Before they fully opened, the girls decided this bear looked friendly enough to hang out with.
B pretty much rode every ride available, and M rode every ride she was big enough for…they had a great time!
We also headed into downtown Gatlinburg for lunch. While there, we stumbled upon “the Gibbs mobile” – Jason and I are huge fans of the show, so we had to take a picture…
After we dropped M off at the house for a nap, Jason and I went back to do more stuff with B. The slide was finally open, so we quickly headed that way before the weather stopped us, and before B changed her mind. She wasn’t too sure about the lift ride up to the top, but she did it!
She rode down with Tia, so I wasn’t really able to get pics, but they had a sample slide to check out at the bottom.
B and Tia also successfully made it through the maze!
That night we had fun playing various games with the family. B had fun with the Wii.
M seemed particularly enamored with the arcade machine.
Poppa tried to show her foosball…
but she quickly got down and pushed her stool back to the arcade to make it clear which game she preferred!
Jason also enjoyed the arcade b/c it had his favorite game – Galaga! He was determined to beat the high score…and he succeeded!
On the day we left, we headed back into Gatlinburg. Both girls loved the gondola, and M was particularly fond of being able to reach the straps.
While in Gatlinburg, we did an Old Timey photo (per Tia’s request). They turned out great! And B loved dressing up!
We had a great time, and the drive home was thankfully uneventful. There was even a rainbow to greet us as we arrived home. 
We spent the weekend of M’s 18 month birthday in the mountains visiting J’s step-dad, Bill at Bill’s sister’s beautiful mountain house. We haven’t seen Bill since B was a baby, so it was a treat to get to see him and let him meet M and enjoy the girls.
We picked up B from school about an hour early and headed out expecting to arrive around 9PM. That plan was quickly obliterated. Fifteen minutes after we hit the highway, we hit stop and crawl traffic…for 75+ minutes due to an accident. Because of that, we subsequently hit rush hour traffic. Three and a half hours into our trip, we had only gone 150 miles. At this point, everyone was cranky and stressed, so we stopped for dinner at a Cracker Barrel. The girls had a great time with the rocking chairs!
Unfortunately, M ate her dinner and drank her milk a little too quickly, so she spit some of that up. When we got back to the car I decided to just change her there…much to her delight…as soon as I got her clothes and diaper off, that child promptly peed on the asphalt and then started running around (trying to avoid capture), naked as a jaybird…
We proceded on with our trip only to hit another section of stop and crawl. Basically, by 11:30PM, we were still an hour+ away from our destination (remember, we left at 2:30 for what should have been a 6.5 to 7 hour drive…). We gave up and stopped for the night.
The next morning we finished our trip to arrive at the mountain house. Whew! We had the entire downstairs to ourselves, where B oooohhhhed and ahhhhhhhhed over the pinball machines and The Girl’s Room – all done in pink and beads and fun toys and… While I thought I got a picture of that room, apparently I did not.
The first thing the girls noticed was The Bear – a GIANT stuffed bear (about my size) that entertained the girls, and particularly M for hours that weekend.
After naps, we went down to the stables to see if B would be interested in riding one of the horses. She wasn’t, but M sure would have if we had let her! The girl even fearlessly pet them and fed one of the horses a carrot. B was quite content to admire them all from a distance.
That night we celebrated Jason’s upcoming birthday with steaks (Jason’s fav) and birthday cake – I’m pretty sure M enjoyed her cake…
The next morning we went to a nearby mountain lake, which I was pleasantly surprised to discover was warm! B loved that lake! M did too, until she fell in the water one too many times, where each fall caused more sand to go down her pants…
We also got to meet several members of Bill’s family that we had never met before – it was a wonderful trip, although much too short!! And, the trip home was MUCH more pleasant. We stopped for lunch at our dear friend Lisa’s house and got home at a reasonable time.
Later that week, we celebrated Jason’s real birthday. B decided he wanted cakepops, and since he never indicated otherwise…he got cakepops (which B and I made ourselves)…
Whew – I am so behind! Lately, it seems like the only chance I have to do blog posts is on the weekend, and the last few weekends have been hectic. So, I’ll try to knock out a few blog posts in the next couple of days, starting with M’s way overdue 18 month post.
This picture quite effectively captures our Miss Personality (aka lil bit, aka our menace, etc.). She is on the go the minute she wakes up and she wants to get into, explore, play with, and do EVERYTHING. She is very adventurous, much more so than B ever was or even is now. In the pool, she is fearless. She has no comprehension that she cannot swim, no comprehension that she cannot just magically make herself taller, and no concern what-so-ever about water coming up to her mouth or nose. She’s gone under so many times now, at this point she has learned to hold her breath before she actually goes under! I think next summer will include swim lessons…
The day she turned 18 months we were in the mountains and she got to visit with some horses. She was all about watching the horses and petting the horses.
She even fed one of the horses a carrot (sorry, I don’t have a picture of that)!! She thought the experience was one big grand adventure, and she was NOT happy when it was time to leave.
At 18 months, M is a pretty good sleeper (11-12 hours at night, 2.5-4 hours in the afternoon). She even takes a 1-2 hour nap at school when she is there. The girl likes her sleep, and will tell you “nigh-nigh” when she is ready.
As for food, we are still hit or miss on many things. She still loves avocado, pretty much any type of baby food (“sauce”), turkey and cream cheese wraps, blueberries, black beans (especially those given to her at school), cantaloupe (pretty much only at school), peas (only at school), smoothies, cheese (especially the free samples at the grocery store), chicken nuggets, noodles, egg whites (scrambled eggs, not so much), toast soldiers, gold fish, pretzel crisps, and pirate booty. She prefers fruit to veggies (really, other than sauce, she is not much interested in veggies at all). She also is not much interested in sweets, unless it is sorbet or ice cream. While it is sometimes a challenge to make sure she eats enough of the right foods, the girl can eat…she is in no danger of starving…
Her vocabulary and comprehension is really taking off. Unlike B, however, we need to be more diligent about taking her bink away (probably her favorite thing in the whole wide world) to help her speech development. Favorite words include B-B, bink (binkie-binkie), Mickey, sky kitty, kitty, sauce, noodles (noonos), milk (mik), more, Mommy, Daddy, and night night (nigh-nigh). She has also started branching out into multi-word phrases, e.g., milk please (mik peas), more milk please, more sauce (mo sas), Mommy up, socks and shoes (goks and goos), etc. She also is quite fond of identifying various body parts (eyes, ears, mouth, nose, cheeks, tummy, knee, etc.). The only downside is that the eyes are her favorite…and she likes to point them out when she says eyes (e.g., poke you in the eyes repeatedly). We’re working on that… at least Bear doesn’t mind…
She chatters constantly, and even I only understand about half of it. But she definitely has something to say, and is not afraid to say it!
She walks great (falls down much less), and has even started running. It’s necessary to run, you see, to keep up with B and to chase Sky Kitty… She also puts that mobility to good use, as she loves to help. She will help get her shoes, throw things away, get the lunch table ready at school, etc.
If you compare the girls’ hair at this age, they both have roughly the same color hair (though I think M’s is a little darker). At 18 months, B had longer hair, but it was stick straight – not a curl in sight. M, on the other hand, has curls in the back. I am very curious to see whether the curls continue or if she ends up with straight. I think she just may end up with wavy dark hair like her daddy, or curlier dark hair like her Mimi. Only time will tell!
She is quite the social butterfly – she knows the names of all her school buddies, and loves to interact with them all. She also loves to tell them what to do and how to do it. I’m told she was the first to be able to say all of their names. I don’t know if any have managed to say hers – it is a pretty big mouthful for a toddler!
Best of all she LOVES playing with her sister! The two of them seem to have a great time together, playing with cars, being silly, etc. It is wonderful to hear their belly laughs so much!
Now that B is in kindergarten, M has me all to herself on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Honestly, both of us are still trying to figure out what that really means. It is quite strange to not have B around deciding things for us and telling us what she wants to do. I’m sure we will manage, though! It is fun to be able to do some things with her that B would perhaps not be interested in, or wouldn’t have much patience for.
Day four of our trip had us heading back to Magic Kingdom (Poppa and Tia sat this one out with M). Our goals were to finish getting all of the princesses’ autographs, ride the rides we hadn’t gotten to yet (Peter Pan), and re-ride whatever rides B wanted to do again (Small World, Dumbo). While the day was much cooler, it was a BEAUTIFUL day. And we accomplished all of our goals!
While waiting for our fastpass to see some princesses, B picked out her Mickey ears – princess style, of course. There were many princess-style Mickey ears, but she chose the ones that had pictures of the most princesses on them. AND she wanted it a bit big so it would last longer (of course, this meant it didn’t fit her particularly well that day, a problem we have since remedied).
We rounded out our princess “to do” list with visits with Mary Poppins (what, you didn’t know she was a princess?), Rapunzel, and Tiana, and even squeezed in extra visits with Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty! I plan to do a special post re: pictures with all the Disney characters B met.
One of B’s favorite parts about her second Magic Kingdom trip was the show in front of Cinderella’s castle. She had a front row seat (in M’s stroller), and she was quite transfixed by the show.
Many of us had the “privilege” of wearing B’s mickey ears (best way to carry them):
Jason refused to wear them…
We completed this day with a trip on the kiddie roller coaster (probably the longest line we stood in) – B sat in the front car with Nana
We ended our Disney experience with a quick photo in front of this lovely sign. I suppose we should have put this first, but on Day 1 there were WAY too many people around.
Day 5 brought a trip to Sea World from Nana and Poppa. Mimi, Tatie Kat, and Uncle Mike had to head home, but Uncle Matt joined the rest of us (including M). B’s favorites include the dolphin show, the killer whale show, and this giant boat play area.
Here is the boat:
It had a net ladder, and a deck play area. She went up and down and all around. M also wanted to get in on the fun (yes, she is being as mischievous as she looks).
While the little kids went off with Nana & Poppa, the big kids rode the big roller coasters (Manta & Kraken) – post roller coaster bunch:
The Sea World trip ended with the killer whale show (photo op first!):
Poppa arranged to have B’s picture put up on the big screen! Such things don’t photograph well, but you get the idea. She is in the lower right hand corner.
On our last day, we headed to Downtown Disney for some low key fun. After having lunch at a dinosaur themed restaurant (complete with moving dinosaurs and sound effects!), we headed to the Lego store to play.
B’s Lego city:
There were some pretty impressive Lego “sculptures” to admires as well. The Hulk!
The Loch Ness monster (probably B’s fav)!
Prince Philip battling Maleficent!
Near the Lego store was a GIANT Disney store, complete with more princesses…
B also got to participate in a surprise princess parade through Downtown Disney, complete with a free merry-go-round ride!
B is in the back, waving like a princess:
Free merry-go-round ride (Disney sure has customer service down to a T):
She ended her day with a train ride:
Bye-bye Disney!
Jason and Don took some pretty amazing animal pictures as well, but those will have to wait for another post (and for Jason to get them to me).
That song is still stuck in my head more than a week after we returned home…fortunately for me, I actually like that song! As for those of you harboring evil gleeful thoughts at me HAVING to ride It’s a Small World After All, I am very sorry to disappoint you…and very sorry that I ONLY got to ride that lovely ride three times! I was hoping for at least a nice half dozen. It has always been my favorite. Sing it with me now!
After celebrating M’s birthday, we started our week of B’s birthday surprises. It would be too crowded during her actual birthday. Besides, this way we got to celebrate both birthdays with most of the family. During this trip, we collectively took over 3000 pictures. In case you are wondering how we got B to cooperate for so many pictures, we bribed her…I promised I would create a photo book of the trip just for her. 3000+ pictures is a lot of pictures to go through…
On Day One, we started with a trip to the Brevard Zoo, a gift from Mimi and Tatie Kat. The “birthday” girl was accompanied by her baby sister as well as Mimi, Tatie Kat, Uncle Mike, Tia, Jason, and me.
She loved seeing all the animals, and THOUGHT she would like feeding the birds and giraffes, but when it came time to do so, she was less enthused. The birds were all right, until one bit her. The giraffes are so big, I think they just intimidated her. No matter, she still had a great time! Some of her favorite animals were the monkeys, particularly the tamarins. This statue here was donated by a family in memory of their daughter who died when she was two. B was fascinated by the statue, and quite sad that the little girl died so young.
She had a great time at the cheetah exhibit. The cheetahs weren’t all that interesting (hard to see and sleeping), but the exhibit also had a cheetah challenge! After Tia helped her down the first time, B was definitely up for the
challenge!
I don’t have as many pictures of the zoo trip as I do of other trips – Jason was doing most of the zoo photography. We will do a post with his fabulous pictures later. The Zoo was a great way to start our trip. And we finished the day at Downtown Disney so we could activate our tickets…would you believe that with all that Disney stuff all over the place, B still was oblivious as to where she was?? We did a VARY GOOD job not telling her anything about Disney…perhaps too good…
Day two we headed to the Magic Kingdom, including breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table with the Princesses! the whole day was something of a joint gift from Mimi, Tatie Kat, Jason, and me. In the morning, our group consisted of B, Poppa, Tia, Jason, & me. After M had her nap, she, Mimi, Tatie Kat, and Nana joined us. Before we left the house, we told her we were going to have breakfast with Cinderella. She looked a little confused…”the REAL Cinderella”? She was very happy, but you could tell she didn’t quite understand. We got to the park before it opened so we could watch the opening show. She saw all the characters (including several princesses and Mickey), but she still didn’t quite get it. We even told her we were at Disney. The “aha!” moment was when she rounded the curve inside the park and saw Cinderella’s castle.
THEN she understood. She was pretty excited. As you can see, she wore her “twirly” dress and princess boots to show Cinderella. As soon as she met Cinderella, however, she wanted to put on her Belle dress…which she wore the rest of the day, despite the heat!
So many princesses!!
B’s current favorite (most of the time…it really does change a lot)
After breakfast, we met up with Poppa & Tia to ride some rides and meet some more characters, including some of my favorite from the Hundred Acre Wood.
We rode lots of rides, including Winnie the Pooh, the Carousel, racecars, Little Mermaid, and the Teacups (YAY for roundy-rounds!) before stopping for lunch. While we were eating, Mimi, Tatie Kat, and Nana arrived with M, fresh from her nap and tricked out in her new Disney clothes!
We immediately headed off to do more rides – Pirates of the Caribbean (probably B’s least fav), the Magic Carpets, It’s a Small World (one of her favs, and def M’s fav), the Belle attraction, and Dumbo to name a few. We grabbed one last quick ride on It’s a Small World before heading back towards the front to watch the fireworks. The girls were pretty tired, but they were troopers! We opened the park and we closed the park. At the end of the day, we had one very tired, but VERY happy princess.
Day Three involved a trip to Animal Kingdom from Tia. Everyone tagged along for this day, even M. B had a great time looking at all of the animals (including a safari ride), watching the Nemo show, riding the triceratops ride, and pestering us with questions about the roller coaster we rode that she did not (was it scary? was it fun? did you like it? why was there a monster? why was it dark? were you scared? was the monster white? why?….I think her favorite part, however, was getting her face painted and the activities in Camp Minnie-Mickey. First, the face painting. She was one distraught little girl because the children’s section of the park contains a roller-coaster she really, REALLY wanted to ride. Unfortunately, she was too short (the height requirement was 4’…in the children’s section…sigh). After shedding her tears, Mimi offered to get her face painted. Bingo! You can’t cry when your face is painted…it will get all messed up! She did such a great job sitting still as she was made into “Sleeping Beauty” and it turned out great!
Win-win (even though we all agreed that it was a ridiculous height requirement (looked like a very tame roller coaster)! In case you are wondering what is around her neck – that is her princess pin lanyard. Each day she got a new pin to add to her lanyard (except for Day One) representative of some favorite thing from that day.
At Camp Minnie-Mickey she got to meet all the characters, even the elusive Pocahontas, with little to no wait AND guitar Dan came out and sang her a song he made up just for her! She danced with Tia while he sang her that song, and then she danced some more as he went around and made up more songs for more visitors. She LOVED it! And we even got some great group pictures.
And thus ended day three! Seems like a good place to stop for now. I will post more about the rest of our trip another time.
I’m going to break this down into two posts. After she sees the pediatrician for her 12 month checkup, I’ll do that post. For now, here are the pictures from her actual birthday. We spent her birthday in Orlando with family and had a wonderful, relaxing day.
Here is the birthday girl in her new birthday dress! B has a matching dress, but we didn’t get a good picture with both of them wearing their dresses.
During the early parts of the day, we had fun by and in the pool. I don’t have pictures of it, but I do have video of B going under water several times…willingly!
The girls also met their cousin Jordan for the first time. Yay!
We did a ladybug theme. We couldn’t get a ladybug cake, so we just made the colors match.
Publix made a small cake just for M.
After naps we got down to some birthday business – presents and cake!
M really liked the ribbons…and the cards…
Posing in her new shades
I’m ready for my cake…whatever that is!
Hmmm….what is this?
Oops! Don’t rub your eyes with your cakey fists!
Poor cake…
We had a wonderful day!
To finish off Brianna’s birthday and to test the “road trip” waters, we headed out for Atlanta last weekend. I was a bit apprehensive, but Brianna was a trooper, and even Mackenzie traveled unexpectedly well. There were plenty of times during the weekend where little M had every right to throw a screaming fit and she didn’t. Amazing! We started the weekend at my friends’ house (Lisa and Clay) – they have two daughters, one of which is B’s age. The first night the girls were WIRED!! This picture captures the only calm moments of the evening between when we arrived Friday late afternoon and sometime after midnight.
They slept in a bit in the morning, and given how late they went to bed, I was impressed with how well behaved and cooperative they all were the next day. All three did willingly take a nap…
I didn’t get many pictures because, quite frankly, they never stopped moving! On Sunday we said goodbye to our friends and headed into the city to see a baseball game with more of our friends (Kelley and Brad and their kids). Brianna was fairly resistant to this baseball plan at first, but she eventually decided she liked the idea. She stayed the entire game, and said she had a great time! After the game, the kids had the opportunity to run the bases and B said she wanted to do that. We stood in line for over an hour – here we are as we got closer to home plate.
Unfortunately, they would not let me or Jason go with her, and at the last second she balked at the idea of doing it by herself. *sigh* The whole thing was made even more frustrating by the fact that by staying for the base running event, we missed the last MARTA shuttle. *sigh* As a result, we did not get back to our hotel room until 7 hours after we started this particular adventure. Everyone’s nerves were a little frayed (except M, who was more of an angel than anyone could have asked for), but we made it. We all slept really, really good that night…
The next day we headed to the aquarium! Unlike the first time we took her when she was about 18 months old, this time B darted from this spot to that, barely stopping long enough to see all the fish! When we first arrived, she visually latched onto Deepo, the orange fish shown here, who is the main character in a 3D movie at the aquarium.
Deepo provided good behavior motivation for the rest of the day…
She did allow us to get a few pics, but not too many as that would have cramped her style, ya know.
with Daddy
Look Daddy, I am taller than you!
She had big fun crawling through all the myriad of tunnels they have, and even stopped once or twice to allow me to capture her picture.
All done (with the prized Deepo, named Avery by B, in hand)!
After the aquarium, we stopped at another friends’ house (Kelly and Dan) to visit with them and their kids. We had a GREAT time, and wished we could have stayed longer to visit more friends, but this was as much time as Jason could get off from work. It was wonderful to see everyone and to take the girls on a trip. I’d be lying though if I said I wasn’t happy to get home. Right now with two girls, the trip to Atlanta is about as far as I want to go in a car…
We had a FANTASTIC trip to Tahoe. We started our trip with a ridiculously early flight. Brianna was such a trooper.
She was soooo excited to fly on an airplane that she did not sleep the entire first leg of the trip (unfortunate since it was the longer leg and since she had an entire seat to herself). But she was so good – the people around us all complimented her on her excellent behavior. She had a brief problem with her ears, but thankfully she is old enough to say “ear hurts” and we told her how to fix it. No more problems after that!
We first flew into Denver and then on to Reno, where we picked up a gynormous car (a Yukon) so that we would have 4-wheel drive in Tahoe. While we were driving to Tahoe I saw what looked to me like practically vertical ski slopes in the distance – you could not pay me enough money to try to ski down those particular slopes!
My friend Tracy (known her since Jr. High) invited us out to her family home in Tahoe. This is the view from the windows in the back of their home – AMAZING!
We were not there long, so we generally tried to stay on Eastern time as much as possible, which meant we were up early enough for this gorgeous sunrise.
The first day, Jason hit the slopes while Brianna and I hung out with Tracy and her boys (Charlie and Geordie). We went to a local park to have some fun sledding down the snowy hill.
The second day, we all went to Northstar to show Brianna the skiers and snowboarders and the general skiing environment. You had to take a gondola up the mountain a bit to get to the ski lifts. Brianna LOVED the gondola. We must have ridden it 20 times – she talked non-stop about “more gondola” so she could see the “mountain far away.” Here are a few pics from our gondola and mountain experience.
Are we there yet??
First gondola ride.
Hanging out with Daddy.
Posing with Mommy with the half-pipe in the background.
Playing with Mommy in the snow.
She was having so much fun, she started clapping.
That afternoon, we went back with Tracy and the boys while Daddy skied. We had fun walking around the neighborhood – Brianna was especially fascinated with the icicles that formed on the snow banks. I would break them off and she would smash them on the pavement and then giggle.
The third day we let Daddy ski some more while we hung out with Tracy and the boys again. Since the afternoon was supposed to be rainy, we decided to head back to the park in the morning for more sledding on the fresh snow. Little did we know we would get to experience a mini “blizzard”!
We were only supposed to get a few inches overnight, but I think in total we got between 8 and 12 inches (and a “few” in the 30 minutes or so we were at the park). Still, Brianna and Charlie had fun – eating the snow, watching us sink knee and hip deep into the snow, and generally watching the spectacle.
Hmmm…not sure I really want to sled right now…
Mmmmm…snow…
This stuff is COLD!
After a while, enough was enough, so we headed back to the house to warm up and have a snack. Isn’t she adorable in her borrowed ski pants and my hat??
We left on Thursday. But before we left, we took a couple of pictures with our friends – Tracy is holding her two boys (Charlie is 30 months and Geordie is 6 months) and Bear is sitting next to Brianna. Bear is the sweetest most child-friendly dog I have ever met! As you might imagine, it took a few takes to get everyone to smile and look at the camera…
the “candid” shot…
yay – everyone is smiling!
My beautiful friend Tracy
Then we headed to the airport. On the way we saw Brianna’s “mountain far away” up close – this was the mountain she was so fascinated with while riding the gondola. I wasn’t able to get a picture while riding the gondola b/c I waited too long and the clouds obscured the view.
We gave Brianna’s new friend Anais a ride to the airport (she is Tracy’s au pair from Paris) – Brianna had lots of fun playing with Anais and learning a few words in French.
Then it was time to go – here is a picture of Brianna and Jason standing in front of the airplane we are about to board.
Bye-Bye Tahoe!
I know, it has been a loooong time since I posted anything. I meant to do a quick post before we left for vacation, but you know how that goes…To make up for it, I posted the picture above first – isn’t she just adorable? As you will learn below, this picture is from the end of our trip at the Bla Bla store (where she acquired her new “baby” bla bla). Plus, the gobs of pictures below should also help pacify the grandparents.
We had a WONDERFUL vacation. It was quite busy, and Jason is currently napping on the couch to recover from a cold he apparently caught, but we all had a great time. We started our trip last Saturday (the 19th) by driving down to Atlanta, partially to break up the trip and partially to take Brianna to the fabulous Georgia Aquarium. We arrived in downtown Atlanta just in time for the UF vs. Tennessee game (yay Gators!). After Brianna had a nap and after the game, we walked over to Ted’s Montana Grill and tried bison – it was yummy! Here is the view of downtown/Centennial Park from our hotel room.
We stayed at the Embassy Suites right down the street from the Aquarium so we could maximize our Aquarium time between Brianna’s naps. The hotel also happens to be right next to Centennial Park – Brianna loved walking around (despite the drizzle) and looking at the fountains (there was one in the park and one in the hotel).
After we checked out of our hotel and loaded up our car (amazing how much stuff she needed for this trip…) we headed over to the Aquarium. I don’t have many pictures as I mostly shot flip video (it may take a while to make the movies, but I promise I am working on it) and I haven’t looked at all the pics Jason took. But, here are a couple.
These pictures don’t even begin to do this place justice. It was FANTASTIC. Brianna loved the water tunnel the best. It is an underwater tunnel roughly 50 yards long with glass/plastic walls where you are surrounded by all kinds of fish, sharks, rays, etc., peacefully swimming next to you, over your head, etc. I think she would have stayed in there for days if we had let her. She also liked walking through the various other little tunnels (much to my back’s dismay) to peak up into various other fish tanks. To those who have never been, I highly recommend it!
Next we drove down to Havana to visit with Jason’s folks. Brianna loves dogs, but generally only from a distance. But Koda, Tia’s dog, seems to have cured her of this problem.
It took her a while, but eventually she became quite comfortable around this very animated puppy. Fortunately, she seemed to remember her positive experience during the rest of our trip, as she encountered other dogs on our trip, and seemed quite comfortable with them as well.
While in the Tally area, we took Brianna to the Jr. Museum, which is really a zoo.
She walked all over the place an looked at the animals. I think she liked the otters best, and maybe the panthers. Here are a few of the beautiful animals we saw that day (again, most of my stuff is on the Flip).
After leaving the Tally area, we headed to Seaside for a family beach day/night. Brianna was still a little skittish around the water (or lello as she calls it), like she was with the Atlantic, but it was better. She even let us hold her while we stood in the water, and she walked along the beach some herself. We stayed at a perfect little beach cottage, had a lovely dinner at Bud & Alley’s Pizza, spent some sunset/dusk time and some early morning time down at the beach, and strolled around Seaside. It was wonderful! I would not mind one bit if that became a family tradition. If it wasn’t so ridiculously expensive, I would buy myself a little Seaside beach cottage… Here are some photos of our time at Seaside.
Jason and Brianna have the same reaction to sand…
I think she looks a lot like Alivia in this picture.
After Seaside, we headed to my folk’s house in Fort Walton Beach. We had a wonderful time visiting with Mimi and Djadju, visiting with old friends at Jason’s reunion, and just generally enjoying being “home.” While there, Brianna got to meet her Djadju (grandpa in polish) and her Great-Grandmom.
She was fascinated by the family bird, Chico. While he wasn’t much interested in visiting with her, she just LOVED watching Chico!
Of course, we also went to the beach here as well…By the end of the trip she even let me dip her up and down in the water. Definite progress if you ask me!
One day we also went to the local mall and Brianna rode the merry-go-round (again on the Flip) and played on the indoor playground. But the best of all was the real life arcade! She loved it!! All those flashing lights and bright colors…she hardly knew where to start.
Sunday morning we met up with the Jowers for breakfast and then headed to Atlanta, partially to break up the trip and partially to visit the Sloans (my college roommate and her family). Unfortunately, I had a brain freeze and completely forgot to take any pictures of either the Jowers or the Sloans! 
Hopefully we will get to see them again soon.
Right before we headed home, we stopped at the Bla Bla store, which is conveniently located in Atlanta. Brianna was so excited to see all the Bla Blas, especially the giant Bla Bla.
It was hard to choose…
but, she ultimately picked out a small pink Bla Bla for herself (which she calls Bla Bla baby or baby Bla Bla, depending on her mood).
Jason also picked out a puppy Bla Bla, which is the green one in the picture below (we are still contemplating a name – any suggestions?). Then, finally we headed home. I think she likes her new Bla Blas, don’t you?
We had a wonderful trip! Jason even believes Brianna grew while we were gone. She is getting so big. She still won’t nap much in the car, but she is at least fairly calm during the ride. The portable DVD player we have was a lifesaver (she loves the Muppets – my favorite part was when she said “quack, quack” when she saw Big Bird!). Someday soon I am SURE she will realize that sleeping in the car is a fabulous thing!
