Sunday randomness

Our smallest bundle of joy is inching toward the big 2. The last 21 months have flown by! It won't be long til I can no longer say my baby is 1 and a half!

While she seems to be far from exhibiting the typical "terrible twos", (so far) she sure is entertaining! 

" I'm not a baby, I'm a toddler" is heard quite often in response to anyone that calls her baby.

Little does she know, she will always be my baby!

 

Such a sweet girl

Playing Play-Doh

 

Best buds

 

Copy cat

 

In other exciting news,we survived our first family vacation! The girls did great in the car, both ways, and it's hard to believe all that packing and planning is done and over with.
Even though it rained 2 of the 4 days we were there, we got to see some beautiful scenery, experience an awesome aquarium, and enjoy a couple hours in the pool.We managed to survive the trip without any injuries, major tantrums or illnesses. Despite the rain, and touristy prices (of everything) it was a success!
Here are a few pics to highlight our trip!

 Violet with her metal man friend

Daddy with his girls ( Vi is busy on the phone)

 Rapids in cade's cove

 Braving the raindrops

 Stopping to pet some wild horses

 Church from the 1800s

Elijah Oliver Cabin

 Water feeding into the water wheel

Where they make corn starch

 At the top of the sky lift

 

 Holding daddy's moonshine



On the road and letting go

Good morning friends and thanks for checking in with us, most importantly with Miss Violet.

 Today is a special day! It is Sunday, (as you know)and Father's Day, (as Im sure your aware)but more exciting, it is the day we set off on a family road trip with all 5 of us in tow!! For the first time since Violet came along we are taking a family vacation, (besides the lake) which means Tahoe packed up,and hitting the road for 8 or so hours! We are about 2 hours out as I'm writing this, with all 3 kids asleep, so far so good!

 Pulling out of our driveway

One hour later

While we are all looking forward to spending a few days away from home, swimming, sight seeing and enjoying some family time, I can't shake an odd feeling. Of course there are normal questions...Did I bring everything? Will the kids make the car trip without any tantrums? Will our hotel be as nice as the pictures? 

However traveling with Violet is still a learning experience for us, so our worries expand a bit further...Did we remember the breathing machine? Do we have enough of all of her meds, plus back ups? Are we sure there's a fridge in the room for meds and PediaSure? Did we bring enough Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer?

Confidently I can say "Check" to all the above. 

I am as prepared as I can possibly be, and while this is a learning process, and may take up more cargo room and a bit more time, that's ok. It is all about making this a memorable experience for Violet, ( & the other girls ) and letting her be as normal of a kid as possible, while still safeguarding her from germs.

Recently one of her doctors corrected me as I was telling him how difficult it is to plan a vacation because of the things Vi can not do.He told me she can do anything we allow her to.....Anything? But... what about the germs and risk of infection???

He made me think a bit and realize that everyone has their own level of comfort and we may need to re-evaluate ours as Vi gets older.

We have done an infallible job of keeping her out of public places, and away from germs the first year and a half of her life, but it's only getting harder. As she is getting older she is more aware of when she's being left behind, and talk about a heartbreaking cry! More then that though is the importance of letting her have new experiences and enjoy being a kid. One day she will have to go to school, and will go on a plane, but we are not there yet. So we are starting with baby steps....play dates, zoo trips, and now a family vacation. 

So with fingers crossed, and hand sanitizer I

in place, we are closing our eyes and making the leap! We hope the reaults will be more then worth it!

Stay tuned for lots of pics during our adventure!!