To say that we have been taking advantage of our SeaWorld passes is an understatement. I think we have been about four times in the past two months and we have done it ALL. Food, shows, rides, drinks….you name it, we’ve done it. Averi has gone from afraid of rollercoasters to riding them on repeat. I knew that she had my thrill DNA somewhere inside of her. Now she is bummed because she isn’t tall enough for the scarier rides.
Averi’s favorite ride was the water ride.
Sound on.
However, once she braved Manta, the other roller coaster that she is tall enough for and it doesn’t have loopty loops, is now her favorite ride.
Between rides we take food breaks to watch a show.
The skyride is perfect for a cool down break.
Sometimes I say “yes” to games and face paint but in return they have to sit with me and listen to some music.
BUT….my most favorite thing to do at SeaWorld is riding Emperor. The front row is the best, shoes off is even better but it you want to feel like you are really flying through the air, eyes closed and hands up.
Here you go….
I have such a good time hanging out with my girls on those sunny, (okay so it hasn’t been sunny in weeks, sigh) Saturdays.
The irony of my blogs name….Finding time to blog has become an art to say the least. It’s been 55 days since I last posted here, not that I’m counting. I will feel my guilt tug at me and consider sitting down to tell y’all about what we ate or how we are all getting older…. but then I start to feel more guilty and just don’t…I am sure there is a therapist reading this with BIG thoughts.
In reality, I am back in the classroom and just wrapped up DRDP (Desired Results Developmental Profile) to prepare for conferences.
And now that is done, and I am ready to catch you up. Even though it’s been some days since we last chatted, I do remember saying that I was going to make a few of Jet Tila’s recipes out of his cookbook….and I did.
Obviously it was delicious as we knew it would be.
Shawna turned the big 49 and we took ourselves to Vegas to celebrate. Casey and Aileen gifted us a stay at the Golden Nugget so that is just what we did. We LOVE Downtown Vegas. Sure the big hotels with the fancy shit and $25 buy-ins might look nice, but dammit it’s not worth it. (insert Ted Lasso’s voice) They are great for certain shows and concerts but I promise you, the fun and the food is just as good downtown. The end.
Fun story happened minutes after this picture was taken. We were sitting at a great table outside ready to watch a country (cover) band that we quite enjoy. A man approached our table and said “I’ll give you $300 for your table.” Shawna replied with a “fuck you.” I mean it’s Vegas you guys….Then he pulled out $300 and she said, “babe, grab your shit, we are moving!” And that is how I saw my first ever bubbly vending machine.
We took that money and ran….to a pool table and sipped some bubbly with someone who could have been Lil’ John, and didn’t do half bad on the Roulette table.
Oh, I almost forgot Dancing Chucky, you’re welcome.
We also saw the Padre’s play, they lost but the food and weather were winners.
The girls like to make TikTok videos…. but just for us (no they don’t have SM or post this shit..over my dead body.) Anyhow, they liked this one.
We spent Easter Sunday at SeaWorld, we have SoCal passes and can go back and back and back until Averi conquers a roller coaster, little scaredy cat…Definitely not my DNA.
The only plus is that she holds all our stuff while we ride the fun ones.
It’s a phase right?
I think that brings us up to April. I hope to see you guys sooner than 55 days…Cheers!
Kaili asked to go to sleep twice today. Even at SeaWorld she said she was ready to go home and take a nap, this marks the first day I didn’t have to drag her out of the park. I will admit though, that 5 minutes after she went to bed she came out saying “she slept good” and wanted to get up. No way Jose. It must be all the sunshine wearing her down, not to say she is sleeping in at all…sheesh, that’ll be the day.
Have I mentioned how nice it is now that she is in underwear? Not having to lug around diapers and worry about where I am going to change her. She has blown my mind with how fast she got it down and how well she is doing. Her first big accomplishment, this must be the proud mom thing I am feeling.
On the flip side I feel like I am telling her no all.the.time. “Kaili, don’t drill the cat.” “No, don’t lick the cat either.” “Don’t eat your toes, gross!” “NO, you can NOT poop in the shower.”
She doesn’t quite understand why there are certain things I can’t do due to my growing belly. She gets that there is a baby inside but you can’t reason with her. So when I tell her I can’t hold her for very long, shouldn’t lift her up all the time and can’t go on rides with her I feel so bad. She gets frustrated and I don’t blame her. I wish I could explain to her all the whys and why nots, I want to relish in these last few months where it will be just me, her and daddy. She gets so much one on one time with me that my heart breaks a tiny bit when I think about how that will all change,{in a good way} but nonetheless it won’t ever be like it is now. Not that I am worried for her, shit, that kid is some kind of fierce. She will handle everything just fine, it’s me that I’m worried about.
Lately when Kaili sees my hideous c-section scar she comments on how I have an owie like she does and points to her hand. I always tell her how that was way the Dr. got her out of my stomach, then she replies, “ya, you let me out.” Ha, more like dragged you out kid.
“I’m in the mighty forest.”
She says some wild things that just remind me how great this age is. While strolling around SeaWorld she was pointing out every man saying “that’s not my dad!” At least she wasn’t asking them if they were her dad, awkward. She had less interest in the actual mammals and fish this time around, poking around the stores and just being on the go was more exciting. We wandered around the entire park until mama had enough. We visited Shamu last, he was her favorite this time.
My favorite is when she takes my hand and says “I love you, you’re my friend” in the cutest little voice. My heart flutters.
I am having more side effects this time around. My face seems to break out more and more each day, I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy or the 6 birth control patches on my stomach…or both. I am ready to be done with them. I am super itchy and sneezy, part of me wonders if I have a mild allergy to something I am taking. I am not sleeping great but can’t seem to keep my eyes open past 9:00pm. I visit the bathroom 2-5 times a night already and get really thirsty out of the blue so I must have water within reach at all times.
Ok, enough with my whining…whine= wine..which I would like a glass of….
Tuesday I picked up my in-laws at John Wayne airport. After some Thanksgiving day grocery shopping we took them to Sushi Deli down the road for some non-Walla Walla food. Kaili devoured the entire bowl of garlic edamame, ate the crust off the calamari and dove head first into the rice. She just discovered soy sauce and would probably drink it if we allowed her to.
We spent part of yesterday morning at SeaWorld, we all had passes so we didn’t feeling guilty once we saw what we wanted and split. AKA 2 hours later. They have the Christmas season going on complete with Santa and his reindeer.
Kaili was happy to see Penny Penguin…
But when Shamu creeped up on her she was over it and ran away.
After a big lunch we took a walk to the store to pick up all things forgetten from yesterdays trip. I spent the evening baking. The amount of food we will have tomorrow is nauseating. But eating until we make ourselves sick and then killing someone over a T.V. on black Friday is what the USA is all about, am I right?
I am thankful for our baby maker Dr. Garzo, without him our hearts and home would be empty. I am thankful for my husband who works so hard to give us a nice life and pays the good doctor the big bucks to knock me up. I am thankful for my daughter who has shown me what true love really is and makes me smile every time I look at her.
Kaili hasn’t been to speech since July, school has taken it’s place. Her teacher and I decided to just check in every few months. Yesterday I got a reminder call that we had an appointment Tuesday morning, “what time is it?” I asked, “8:30.” 8:30 in the morning? What the hell was I thinking?
Her speech is at the hospital, literally right down the street but somehow I always think we are going to be late so we rush around just to get there early. Nothing more fun than sitting in a waiting room with a 2year old.
In the car, ironically on the way to speech, Kaili was hollering “go people! “Move people” at every red light. Wonder where she got that from?
All said and done, her speech has drastically improved, I was given a few tricks of the trade to help work on her “sh” and “f” sounds. We scheduled another follow up appointment for January and that will most likely be the last of it. Hopefully we wont need to return to Children’s hospital again.
I promised her a trip to SeaWorld on Tuesday so after lunch we headed out. 75 degrees out in the middle of October, who’s complaining? Oh wait I am, 3 hours later, I was exhausted. Defiance and tears were proof that she was too.
The highlight for me, besides the fact that the park was empty were the dolphins…always is. Today we were tossing the ball around with them, petting them, I was in heaven. No offense to Kaili but it would have been more enjoyable if I was by myself {or with help}. Holding her as she whined in my ear really came in between my play time with flipper.
We fed the SeaLions and watched the sharks, you know, the norm.
But the highlight for Kaili came at the end as we were leaving. Low and behold her favorite cartoon character…at SeaWorld.
Good ol’ Franklin. She was stoked and I basically had to drag her away so the other kids could get a chance to say hi. “Bye Franklin, bye Franklin, bye Franklin!
This morning we headed to the Pediatricians office for Kaili’s one year appointment,these are really no fun at all. She only weighs 17 lbs and is 28 inches long. The dr. isn’t worried about her weight although she is a little low on iron. It’s because the girl just doesn’t eat much. Maybe I should start giving her some steaks to gnaw on, they can double as a teether too! Speaking of teeth, Kaili now has 3 top teeth with one on the way, 4 bottom teeth and a molar.
She received her TB test, Iron level test and got 4 vaccinations. Poor thing tried to be so strong but alas a few tears were shed. The Dr. said to expect a fever from the Chicken Pox vax for the next few days and a fever from the MMR vax next week. Fingers crossed she sails through without any side effects.
Shane’s folks have been in town since Kaili’s party last weekend and we have had a busy fun-filled week. Shane and I got out for a date night, we don’t get those very often so it was fun to not have to worry about diapers and cleaning up the floor under a high chair for a change. We enjoyed a glass of wine at a French wine bar downtown then hit up Brian Malarkey’s restaurant, Searsucker.
We took Shane’s parents to a few yummy restaurants and we took Kaili to SeaWorld for her first time. I love SeaWorld!! We got ourselves a 2 year membership and I fully intend on getting good use out of it. Kaili had a great time and was such a good girl. She sat through the pet show and the dolphin show. She loved looking at all the Seagulls circling around waiting to get a snack of dolphin food, she enjoyed watching mommy feed the ducks during lunch and she loved the Skyride she went on with Grandma and Grandpa. She wasn’t too sure about the Sea Lions, I think it’s because they are so loud.
“I will wave for fish”
a little unsure
this guy wasn’t messing around, he wanted his fish and he wanted it NOW
enjoying the dolphin show
Kaili enjoyed the Pet Show, so did mommy!
This past week has been a mini-staycation but all good things must come to an end. Shane’s folks have headed home and Shane is back to work on Monday. Time for a cleanse I think, mind and body!
The Art of Thyming 