Memorial Day at Sea World

We spent our Memorial Day with Tara, Brad and Carter at Sea World!  Carleigh wanted nothing to do with her stroller ... but everything to do with Carter!

The Sea Lion area was a hit!

But the Bay of Play was a home run!

Our first trip to the Lost Lagoon was fabulous!

Until next time (Wednesday!), Sea World!!!

 

Waterslide Video

I know I posted a ton of pics but had to post the video I took!!!

Opening Day at the Gym Pool!

 Yesterday we went to our gym's outdoor pool for opening day!  Wow, what a blast!  2 hours wasn't enough time but we had evening plans.  The biggest difference this year from last is that all Carleigh wanted to do was "slide."  She kept repeating the word and saying "again" over and over!

At her size, she has to go down in a life jacket and with a non-pregnant adult, so luckily Daddy was there with us.  Not sure what I'm going to do when she and I go alone... maybe I'll just pretend like I can't lose the baby weight. :)

It filled me with so much joy to see her so happy!

During break time, she started banging and pulling on the closed gate to the slide.  Impatient, much?  She even recruited Daddy to wait in line with her before the whistle blew.

 Sorry for the similar pictures, but she just kept going on it again and again!  Thanks for being a tropper, Daddy!  I think they did 6-7 runs on it!

Happy, happy, happy!

We practiced her kicks and bubble blowing when not sliding.

Look at that bubble blowing effort!  I see lots more gym pool time in our future!

Drinking Skills

Look who snagged "Mama's Juice" as she calls it and blew me away with her ability to properly drink it without spilling?  (It's just crystal light).

Two hands on the bottle at all times!

She is learning how to close off her esophageal flap and pull the bottle away from her face between sips.  And can put the top back on (or close enough)!

So pleased with herself!  Way to go big girl!!!

Mommy and Me Fun!

One of the many benefits of staying home with Carleigh is seeing how happy I make her!  Not to toot my own horn or anything :)

Yestereday, she and I had alone pool time in the neighborhood and you'd have thought we were in Playa Del Carmen!  She was so stinkin' excited!  She just got diagnosed with Swimmer's Ear Monday, but nothing was going to stop her!  And we made sure her earplugs were in good and tight!

She did put me to work jumping into the pool after she did.  "Mama, jump!" was her phrase of the afternoon and like a puppet, I did as she asked.

She tested out the lifeguard chair (no worries, she didn't jump) and most of the lounge chairs because they were empty and because ... well, she could.  And I caught this photo of her walking to the kids pool.  Look at those stomach muscles!!!

We practiced her kicking and blowing bubbles in the big pool and she's making progress!  Love my time with you, C!!!

Carleigh's 1st Interview

How did I get Carleigh to sit and focus for my interview?  The Pop-Ice, of course!

Video transcript (she's a bit hard to understand)

My question: What’s your name?

Carleigh’s answer: Carleigh

My question: What’s your favorite color?

Carleigh’s answer: pink

My question: Who’s your favorite person to play with?

Carleigh’s answer: First she repeats me “play with”; then “Daddy”; followed up with “pay daddy.”

My question: What’s your favorite video/movie to watch?

Carleigh’s answer (delayed response because she first says "pink"): Tinker

My question: What are your dog’s names?

Carleigh’s answer: Maddie

18 weeks!

Definitely beginning to pop!

Taylor Time!

It's not oten that Carleigh gets to see her second cousin, Taylor, since they live in Minnesota.  So this past week, they got to spend a few days playing together and boy, did Carlegih warm to her!  At almost 4, Taylor did a great job playing with Carleigh and showing her new things!  Thanks, Tanya for taking the pics and getting them to me.  We will miss you guys!

Beach To Bay Relay Weekend 2011

This past weekend we went down to Port Aransas for our annual running of the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon!  This was my fourth time running it, and definitely the hardest (even though last year's torrential downpour wasn't easy, either).  I'm not sure if it was the pregnancy thing or just the intense heat and humidity but wow, was it challenging!  We had two teams, one boys, one girls and Dusty and I ran the last leg this year.

We didn't want to have mishaps with the handoffs like last year, so we got to the starting point of our leg with 3 hours to spare.  At least we had nice scenery!

The boys killed us on time, but the most important thing was having a great group of friends together for the weekend.  I was so happy to see them at the finish line!

Saturday night after a hard day of laying poolside following the race, we went out.  This year, rather than Sharkey's, we went to Bernie's.  Let's just say that as the only sober person there, it was a sight to behold!

Kim, me and Jenni

Shay, Kim and Kelly

Dusty was in rare form!

He and the girls were crazy!  It was so funny to watch.

Sunday morning, though groggy from the previous night, we were all ready to head back home!  It was wonderful spending the weekend with no kids but we were more than ready to see Carleigh!

First Visit to Sea World!

Although it was hot, humid and drizzly today, no weather issues were going to stop us this afternoon as we headed out Sea World!  It was Carleigh's first visit and Dusty took off a half day to go with us.  Though the humidity and heat stuck around, the rain went away so we could play, play, play!

The last time I had been to Sea World was when I was about 8 months pregnant with my sister, mom and John and James.  I remember being miserable but we also went for the entire day in June!  Thankfully, Carleigh can only handle about 2.5-3 hours max so the annual pass will come in handy for short little visits.  Wait, who am I kidding?  It's me who can only that long!

We first visited the dolphins.  She is very familiar with them and was so excited to see them in person.  She waved at them and said "hi, dolphins" and enjoyed feeding them fish.

We then trekked all the way to Shamu Stadium and got to see the Believe Show.  Carleigh was so excited to see the killer whales jump through the air and flap their tails!  So impressed at her focus!!!

Since we had passed the Bay of Play to get to Shamu, and it caught her eye, we decided to venture there.  It was really hot by this time, too!  We were all in need of a little water time.  I think her face says enough about what she thought of this!

She saw the tunnel system and climbing nets and guess where she had to go next?

The funniest thing is that there was a live Elmo and Friends Musical Show going on and when she saw it she was intrigued.

She had to get closer!

She was dancing and singing "la, la, la" along with the costumed characters and having so much fun.  (she is normally so scared of costumed characters - i.e. the Easter Bunny, Santa, etc).

She even grabbed Zoe's hands and danced.  (briefly)

The Bay of Play area had so many rides, though she'd only ride the carousel.  But she actually rode the horse this time and that's progress from our last carousel ride!  So maybe there's hope in the future for other rides...

It felt like a weekend with everyone together and we are so happy we took this special midweek trip because so many special memories were made!