Family Vacation: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Well, we took the girls on our first family vacation last weekend. We went for a long weekend to San Antonio to do Sea World and Aquatica (Sea World's water park). It was..... interesting. It was really good at times and really bad at times. I'll start with the good.

Day 1 (the good): We left super early Friday morning to head to San Antonio. Our plan was to leave at 6am to beat the Dallas morning rush hour and get to the water park before lunch. We ended up pulling out of the garage at about 5:45am! We hoped the girls would go back to sleep once in the car but they didn't. They were really good on the drive though . They just watched movies the whole time. Early morning traveling is the way to go. Nobody has the energy to fight with their sister or constantly ask, "When are we going to be there?" We got to SA around 11:00 so we stopped at a McDonalds near Sea World and ate lunch before going in. Aquatica is inside Sea World so you have the option to do both in one day but we decided to just focus on the water park the first day. The girls loved it! I couldn't believe how brave they were with some of the water slides. They tend to be scaredy cats sometimes so I didn't know what to expect but they didn't hesitate to do every slide they could. In my current pregnant condition, I couldn't do the slides so my job was picture taker, backpack holder, and water drinker. Kind of a bummer for me but it was fun to see what a blast they were having. They also LOVED the wave pool. So, after all that excitement, everyone was having so much fun that we decided to dry off and head into Sea World for dinner and maybe a show or to see some animals. After dinner, we went to a sea lion show which was really funny and kind of amazing that they can train sea lions to basically "act" in a skit. Macy fell asleep and missed some of it but Ava loved it. Next, we went to a pirate 4-D movie and then decided to call it quits after that. It had been a long day and we were all pretty tired so we stopped off for ice cream and then crashed at the hotel. Day 1 = success!

This is the first really big slide that they went down. They rode with Ben in an intertube down huge, twisting tunnels. One of the tunnels was made of glass and you could see sting rays swimming above you. In this picture, I am trying to capture the LONG line they had to wait in. The picture doesn't really do it justice but it took 50 minutes from the start of the line until their turn.

This is the slide. You can see the sting rays swimming around in the bottom of the picture.

Here they come!

Telling me all about the slide.

This is what they did next. Ben could only ride with one of them. So he rode with  one while the other rode by herself. They took turns doing that then they both wanted to ride alone and didn't want Ben anymore!

Day 2 (the bad... with some good too): We got back to Sea World around 9am the next morning. First, we went to see and feed the Dolphins. The dolphin feeding started at 10:00 so we stood in line for a while to get our fish to feed them. I was able to take the girls to see the dolphins for a bit while Ben stood in line but they still had to wait for a while. Feeding and petting the dolphins was really cool though and definitely worth the wait. Next, we moved on to the Bay of Play which is a huge play area with jungle gyms, carnival rides and games, and a splash park. It is all themed around Sesame Street characters. Obviously, this was their favorite part of Sea World. Forget Shamu and petting dolphins. They rode some of the rides then Elmo, Cookie Monster and some of the other characters came out and did a performance then walked around for a meet and greet. The girls got a picture with all of them then we headed for some lunch. So far, so good. There were a few cranky moments in there but nothing to really write about. I could tell the waiting for the dolphins, waiting in line for rides, waiting in line for pictures, and waiting in line for lunch was starting to wear on Macy but she was holding it together okay at this point. After lunch we went to a show called Azule. This was kind of like Cirque du Soleil with acrobats, dolphins, and birds. It was very entertaining but this is where Macy started her descent into "the bad." Ava was very interested in what the animals were doing and watched the show attentively but Macy started to get antsy and whiny. She had a hard time sitting still and paying attention. Not a huge deal but I could tell it was going to take a miracle for her to snap out of this mood. After the show, we went to check out one of the "big" rides. It was a roller coaster/ water ride. The sign said the girls were tall enough to ride as long as an adult was with them. I couldn't ride so Ben and the girls headed to get in line. I was going to find a bathroom when I noticed the sign that said, "the current wait for this ride is 1 hour and 30 minutes." They would have never made it waiting that long! They had waited about 50 minutes for the water slide the day before but that was when they were fresh and not already cranky. I fought my through the line of people and found them. Ben was already fussing at them about waiting patienty when I got to them. We decided to leave the line and try coming back later that evening when some of the crowds had dwindled. Well, this did not go over well with already tired and cranky and easy to upset Macy. She did not handle getting out of line well. And things descended rapidly from there. It was SO hot and SO crowded. We decided to get a drink and a snack and then go see the penguins which is inside and we hoped cooler (has to be cool where the penguins are, right?). The line to get a drink was crazy long but we stuck it out and got a drink and a snack. Of course, there were no available tables so we went back out into the heat and sat in the grass to eat and drink. Macy just kept on with the whining and fit throwing. She was hot, she didn't want to sit on the grass, she wanted gatorade not apple juice, Ava had more pudding than her, and on and on. It went from whining into full blown tantruming. Now, I know my girls and their moods, and I knew that she wasn't going to recover from this. She might have been okay if we had been at home and she could have napped for a while but there was no way she was going to be able to make it in the heat, waiting in lines for the next 6 hours. We had been threatening for the last 2 hours that we were going to take her home if she didn't straighten up and finally when people started to stare at our screaming child in the middle of Sea World Ben looked at me and said, "I'll take her to the hotel and you and Ava stay." I agreed without hesitation. Usually, I am the queen of empty threats. But this time, I knew we had to follow through and really take her home. At least this way, Ava and I still had a fun day versus all of us leaving or Macy staying and ruining it for all of us.  Of course, she screamed bloody murder when Ben was taking her out of the park. He said he was sure people thought he was kidnapping her the way she was screaming. I don't know if that was the right parenting move, and I still feel kind of guilty about it but I knew that there was no way that she was going to be able to get it together and enjoy the rest of the day. And it wasn't fair to Ava if we all left. Ava and I actually had a great time together after all of the Macy drama. I felt terrible for Macy and even worse for Ben, but Ava and I saw the penguins, went to dinner, went to the Shamu show, and she rode more rides. It was so nice being able to give her all of my attention and letting her choose whatever she wanted to do without having to take turns with anyone. I wish I could spend more one on one time with them, but it is just so hard to do (and only going to get harder when #3 gets here!).

I realize that I just wrote a novel and I doubt that anyone is still reading but here is the moral of the story: vacationing with little kids is NOT a vacation! It is actually more work than just staying at home. However, I know we will have many more family vacations to come, because there actually were some really great parts too.

Watching the dolphins while waiting in line to feed them.

Looking at the fish before feeding the dolphins.

This is the Shamu roller coaster. They are in the second cart. You can barely see their little heads in the cart.

The Sesame Street characters came out during one of their performances and gave high fives to kids in the audience. It was funny to see how star struck the girls were with them. They kept saying it's the REAL Elmo not just somebody dressed up.

Ava is at the top of this ride by herself. This was after the Macy drama but she didn't mind riding all of the rides alone.

We saw this statue of Shamu and Ava said, "You should take my picture by that. That would be a cute picture." She keeps me on my toes.

Waiting on the Shamu show to start.

Baby Wyatt is a ..........

GIRL!!!

I have had a feeling all along, but especially for the last few weeks, that it was going to be a girl. I just couldn't picture anything else. The bad news is Ben won't have a baseball buddy (softball maybe??) but the good news is we will have another precious girl to make our family complete. I can't imagine it any other way.

Everything on the ultrasound looked good. Her heart, brain, and other anatomy all checked out great. They couldn't get a good look at her left arm because of the way she was laying so they want to do another ultrasound in a few weeks to check that out. They are not worried about it but just want to account for both hands and all 10 fingers. The doctor also wants to take another look at the fluid level around the baby. He said the amniotic fluid around her is in the "low average range" so he wants me to really hydrate and drinks tons of water then come back in 3 weeks to check it again. It's probably something we'll just have to keep an eye on throughout the pregnancy. It's kind of weird because the fluid levels were something that we had a lot of trouble with when I was pregnant with the twins (among other things). Ava had way too much fluid and Macy didn't have enough. Just kind of a strange coincidence because all of their issues were due to the fact that they were twins but then here we are again with fluid issues and only one baby. It should be fine though. I'm drinking lots and lots of water and expecting no major problems. On another note, my blood pressure is good and I've gained 9 lbs now. And I'm really starting to feel her move a lot which I love! She was moving around like crazy during the ultrasound. So cute!

Now we begin the search for the perfect name and start the nursery. Ava is very opinionated about the name. She does not like the name that Ben and I are leaning towards and is not afraid to say that she DOES NOT want to name the baby that. She really wants to name her Caroline or Reagan. We like both of those but like another one better. She will not hear about anything else though. She is really set on Caroline. I decided to start a list of names we like and told her we would put everybody's top favorites on the list. It has satisfied her for the time being that Caroline is on the list but I don't know what she'll do if we end up not picking that one. So, what are Macy's favorites that she added to the list? Captain Hook and Pecan. Yes, I actually wrote both of those on the official baby name list. Everyone gets a chance to voice an opinion and she said those were her favorites. She obviously doesn't take baby naming as serious as Ava.

Sweet little foot

This is her face. Kinda scary.

Profile. Much cuter than the full on face shot. : )



4th of July and Grandparents Galore

We had a fun 4th of July this year with neighborhood friends. On the 3rd, we went over to some friends' house for dinner and had a small, informal neighborhood gathering in their front yard. The kids played in a blow up pool and rode bikes while the adults ate, drank, and visited. Fun times! On the 4th, we went to the pool, cooked out burgers, and then met up with friends again for a fireworks show. The fireworks didn't start until 10:15! The girls had been so excited about the fireworks all day but by 10:15 they were pretty cranky and tired, so I don't think they cared that much about them.


Getting ready for fireworks in their red, white, and blue.



The next day I met my parents half way between Monticello and Frisco so that the girls could spend a few days with Gigi and Papa without me. Mom likes to have them to herself for a few days every summer. It gave Ben and I the weekend to get some things done around the house without the kiddos. We have been working on finishing up Ava and Macy's bedrooms so that we can get started on the nursery. I headed to Monticello on Monday and spent a few days then took the girls to Little Rock later in the week so they could spend time with Grammy and Pawpaw. They had so much fun with all of their grandparents. Both sets kept the girls super busy and spoiled rotten. Just in a little over a week, the girls went swimming, went to 2 movies, went to the library, got manis and pedis, visited all of their great grandparents,  played on the slip n slide, went to a children's museum, went shopping (to buy toys for themselves), played with huge water rockets, and ate an endless amount of popsicles and ice cream.

Playing the race car game at Ray's (their favorite restaurant in Monticello)

They loved playing in the back of my dad's truck. They would use his tools and say they were fixing things. They loved these bungee cords that have these little hooks on the end. The funny part was that they called them "hookers," so one night when I called to check on them, they told me they were having fun playing with Papa's hookers. Hmm......interesting.



Jumping off the diving board! No more floaties for these girls!

Loved playing with Nana's dog, Sandy.

Even though Macy is making a face, I love this picture. To me, this picture tells it all. True personalities. I am going to try to devote a blog post to Macy and her silliness and crazy facial expressions.



Then, as if that isn't enough grandparent time, Mom came to Frisco the next week! I had 3 days of continuing ed workshops (ugh!) so Mom came here and kept the girls for me. Again, they went to movies, swimming, restaurants, the splashpad, and GattiTown. I mean seriously..... spoiled rotten and loving every minute of it! I think next week will be grandparent detox for us. Healthy eating and staying at home! : )

In baby news, I had my 16 week appointment a couple of weeks ago and everything looked great. They weighed me, took my blood pressure, listened to the heartbeat, and sent me on my way. My appointment was the fastest appointment in the history of doctor appointments! My appt. time was 10:15 and I was back in my car at 10:29! But, I didn't really have any questions or concerns and everything is going according to plan so it's all pretty quick and easy. I had only gained 3 lbs. total but not to worry I have packed on some serious weight since then. My belly has really popped out in the last week. The exciting news is that we go this Wednesday (the 25th) to find out the gender of the baby! So excited to find out!

TOT Performance and Weekend Guests

This past school year the girls have been participating in TOTs at their preschool. TOT stands for Teams of Tomorrow. They teach sports skills and some academic skills. Ava and Macy participated in the program that focused on basketball skills. I posted about their halftime performance at the Texas Legends game here. Last weekend they had their big, end of the year performance where they showed off all of the skills they have learned. We were very proud of their b-ball skills. Macy is quite the little dribbler. At the end, each child got a trophy and then of course we had to go out for celebratory ice cream!



Ava getting ready for the show to start

Macy before the show

TOT trophies



The girls with their TOT teacher, Mrs. Kristen. The girls LOVED her. They have liked all of the teachers and coaches they have ever had and haven't ever complained about anyone but I think Mrs. Kristen might be their favorite of all time. She was pretty special to them.

Mouthfuls of ice cream and gummy bears.



Later that day, Uncle Craig and Aunt Jax came to visit. They went to the Coldplay concert in Dallas Saturday night so they stayed at our house. We were able to visit with them Sat. afternoon and then went to brunch with them on Sunday morning. It was a quick trip for them but we actually got to visit which was nice. Usually, when they come here or when we are in Fayetteville, everyone is running in different directions so we don't get to see them as much as we would like. It was nice to get to catch up with them for a bit. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to prove that they were actually here, but I promise they were.  


This past weekend our dear friends, The Ramers, came to visit. Greg and Ben have been friends since high school (maybe even before?). We hung out with them quite a bit when we lived in Little Rock, so we miss getting to see them and love when they come to visit. They have a precious little boy, Myles, who is just about 8 months older than Ava and Macy. He is so sweet and well behaved. They came into town on Friday so we started the weekend by heading to a Rangers game. Myles loves baseball and is a good little t-ball player so he was very excited to go to his first major league game. Ava and Macy were excited about the nachos and hot dogs. : ) We met the Nalleys there too and had a great time. We stayed for the entire game (a first for us) and everyone did great! Saturday, the guys got up super early to play golf so Kelley and I took the kiddos to Ikea and Chic-Fil-A. When the guys got home, we all hit the pool for a few hours. And then, to top it all off, we had a babysitter come keep the kiddos that night so the adults could have a kid free dinner! We went to The Capital Grille which was delicious and definitely adult only food. No kids menu there! What a perfect weekend! We had a great time and hope they come back to visit soon.

Big News

Well, it's time to reveal the big news that I referred to in my last post. It would be shocking and surprising except I am so behind on blogging that everyone already knows. But here goes.....

We are going to have a baby!! Hooray!!

We are very excited. In fact, we feel excited, nervous, thrilled, anxious, relieved, overjoyed, and just plain happy all at once. Since the girls were born, Ben and I always felt like we would have another child at some point. But for a lot of different reasons, the timing just wasn't right until recently. Even when we decided that the timing was right, it was still a very scary decision because the girls have finally reached an age where I feel like I can come up for air. Also,  I'm happy with my current job situation and don't know what adding another one will do to that and most of all I was terrified that I would have twins again. But despite all of those reservations, we knew that our family was not yet complete. So, here we are. Baby #3 is set to arrive in mid-December. My actual due date is December 22nd but they will take the baby by C-section about a week before that. I am currently 14 weeks along and feeling really well. I had a few weeks (between 7 and 12) where I didn't feel so great. I wasn't as sick as I was with the girls but I have had some major food aversions and queasiness. I was also SOOO tired. But, I am happy to report that I will now eat just about any food that I can get my hands on, I am having very little queasiness, and my energy has returned. We had our first appointment and ultra sound at 8 weeks where they confirmed that it is only one baby and that everything looks perfect. I had another appointment at 12 weeks where again everything looked right on track. It is very strange for me to have "run of the mill" appointments where there is nothing to report, the doctor has no concerns, and everything is just as expected. It is actually pretty wonderful. I don't even miss the constant ultra sounds because with the girls they really weren't ever fun. They brought on so much anxiety because we never really new what they were going to find. And most of the time, it wasn't good. So, hopefully everything will continue to be uneventful and boring. : )

Like I said, Ben and I are excited but Ava and Macy are beside themselves. They can't wait for December and already love to give my belly hugs and kisses and high fives (kinda funny). I think they will be great big sisters. We told them at the same time we told Ben's parents which was fun. Ben and Joyce were in town for mother's day weekend which happen to be right after our 8 week appointment. Because everything went well at the doctor, we decided to go ahead and share the news. We told Ben, Joyce, Ava, and Macy on mother's day morning after giving Joyce her gifts.  Ava and Macy didn't act like they were that surprised... just excited. Later that day, we skyped with my parents and Ava and Macy told them the news. More excitement all around! Later that week, I sent out an email to extended family and friends to share the news. I also included this picture..........

Yep,  that pretty much sums up how they feel about it. Keep checking back for more baby updates! : )