Since Madi will be three soon, I wanted to get some pictures made, not only of her, but of the both of us together. I take pictures of her constantly but I'm rarely in them. So, a couple weekends ago, we drove to Montgomery and met my cousin Melisa {Sour Apple Photography} to do a photo shoot. Well, today I got some of the "sneak peeks" back and I'm in LOVE. Melisa, you never disappoint. Can't wait to see the rest!
Over the weekend, we made the drive to San Antonio with Nonna, Papaw, Michael, Shannon and Kylie. We had breakfast and then headed that way. After a few snack stops along the way, we made it to the hotel and settled into our room. The very first thing Madi did when we walked into the hotel room was to find the bed farthest from the door, declare it hers, and JUMP on it. Kylie soon came and joined in on the fun while the rest of us unpacked.
We went out for an early dinner and then came back to the hotel room to swim. Madi, of course, stayed in the hot tub. If there's one, she doesn't care about the pool. Kylie made two friends and they played Marco Polo for hours. Madi's face was red and she was sweating by the time she finally got out of the hot tub.
The next morning, we got up early, had breakfast and drove to Sea World. It was HOT. The park wasn't crowded like I expected though- at least not at first. I was a little worried about how Madi would react with the shows, but she once again surprised me. There was only one show that she got a little freaked out at. It was called Pets Ahoy and it was all about shelter pets doing tricks. Well, towards the end, a cat ran along pegs around the walls of the theater and when he got to the back of the theater, birds flew from the back to the front. It was a pretty cool trick, but it scared Madi a little bit. She hugged Nonna until the show was over. But other than that, she danced, clapped, sang, and cheered during all of them. I was pleasantly surprised. Michael and I rode the Great White three times, one was videotaped (below). Michael, Shannon, Kylie and I went on a water ride while Madi slept in the stroller. We waited for about an hour in line to ride it. The whole time we were teasing Shannon that she would be the one to get soaked. Guess what- We were right. I barely got wet and she was dripping. So worth the 1 hour wait ;)
You can't see much, but it still makes me laugh. :)
We stayed from 10 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon. It was hot and we were all tired and hungry by the time we left. We went back to the hotel, got cleaned up, and headed to Saltgrass for dinner. Needless to say, we all slept very well that night. Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast and then on our way back home we went to the Tanger Outlet Mall. It was a nice little stop before going back home. We got a few things, some chocolate at this little store, Madi and I got to pet this adorable little Bulldog, and then we headed back home.
It was such a nice little weekend away before school starts back up for Madi and I. Sea World was wonderful but the time bonding with family was even better.
I kind of dropped the ball on this one. Ok, really dropped the ball. We got back on the 20th and I am just now sitting down to write this wrap-up post about our Vacation.
Never in my life has a family trip been so chaotic. It all started the morning we were leaving. As we were packing the truck with suitcases, Madi started puking. This lasted the entire drive there (12 hours with all the stops) and until Tuesday. She did NOT feel good. The ride there was pretty smooth, Madi just slept when she wasn't sick. We got to the room, and settled in. Madi's spirits were high, considering, and she was really excited to "get to bacation." She loved our balcony and she really loved running all around the condo.
Kylie missed her parents- a lot. Her being upset plus Madi being sick definitely added some stress to the whole situation. But family vacations usually aren't that relaxing, right? ;) Kylie was only upset at night for the first few days, then she got into the swing of things. Plus, by Tuesday night or so, Madi had kicked whatever bug she had and was ready to roll. We spent a lot of time at the beach, and at the pool. Madi loved playing in the sand and getting in the "warm bathtub" as she called the hottub. She was scared of the ocean though. She kept saying that the waves were going to get her. Kylie had a lot of fun in the waves though. She wore Papaw out in the ocean. Daddy and I had to take turns with her. But Madi was content to sit in the sand and play with the sand toys. Though Kylie and I did find a sand crab one day. I saw it poking its head out of a hole in the sand, so I stuck a toy shovel right behind it to block it and pitched it up. It landed on the ground with it's pincher's up. You should have heard the squeal that came out of Madi. (and Kylie & I...)
We spent one day at the Gulfarium, which we do every year. It was especially cool this year because Madi was old enough to really know what was going on. She loved the sea otters, who she said were just like puppies. One of them put their face right up to the glass where Madi was, and Madi loved it. We saw the dolphin show and Madi clapped the whole way through. It was a lot of fun. We picked out some cool toys at the gift shop (highlight of the trip for both of the girls, lol) for family. Madi picked out a sand toy thing that was an ice cream making kit. It had scoops, a half gallon bucket, a sprinkle shaker, etc. Both the girls played for hours in the sand with it.
We also had dinner at the Boardwalk, something else we do every year. Madi played on a playground on the beach at sunset, we walked the pier, had a nice dinner, and got Italian ice cream. Also, that was an "unplugged" night. Meaning, I had my phone off. So, no pictures. But turning it off was definitely worth it. You can't enjoy a sunset on the beach if you can't quit staring at your phone screen...
We visited the Baytowne Wharf again this year also. Madi rode the carousel and played on the playground. Our festivities got cancelled though when giant black stormclouds began to form overhead. Everyone was running back to their cars. Luckily, we got back to the truck before the sky fell out.
We left early (3am) Saturday morning hoping for an uneventful ride home. That wasn't what happened though. We got rear-ended in Louisiana. No one was hurt but it did some damage to the truck. This vacation had quite a bit more twists and turns to it than normal, but I know one thing to be true. We'll definitely look back on it and laugh later on. ;)
