Up, Up, Up and Away!

I promised that I would right a post about our trip to Balloon Fiesta. Here it is!

I have been trying to make it to this balloon festival for the last few years. But something always came up, out of town guests, being hugely pregnant, etc, etc. When we found out the first day of the 2008 festival was the weekend we would be driving back from Arizona we were so excited that we could see what all of the fuss was about. Let me just tell you - it was worth it. I have never been that much of a hot air balloon fan but this is something else. There are so many balloons and people. It was a blast. It takes place in these fields that are completely surrounded by the mountains around Albuquerque; so not only are the balloons pretty and the sheer volume of them unbelievable but the views are stunning. I am pretty sure Sam had more fun watching people than the balloons but it was worth it all the same.

We rolled into Albuquerque about 5 pm the day before and checked into our Hilton. Little did we know the hotel room would be the sight of one of our top five worst nights of sleep ever! After walking around a bit I started to freak out that Sam would be too cold the next morning so we headed into a Gymboree to get some gloves and an extra pair of socks. (Now Gymboree is not my first choice for these items since it cost us $21 - yes $21! but we didn't have a lot of options in the small outdoor shopping area we were in.)

The night of not-so-much sleep

We had planned on Sam sleeping in the bed with us. Port-s-cribs tend to freak me out (see the Dominican Republic story) and the pack and play she slept in while we were in Arizona was under about 2 tons of stuff we had stuffed in the trunk of our car. We had planned to leave for the dawn send off at about 5:30am. After spending most of the night tossing and turning and the hour from 3:30 to 4:30 trying to convince Sam that this was sleep time and not playtime we caved and got ready to head out the door. I am sure the people in the adjoining room appreciated our departure more than we will ever know. In the end it turned out to be a blessing that we left earlier than planned. We got a great parking spot and missed most of the traffic heading into the event. (always looking for a silver lining...)

This is what Sam thought of getting out of the nice, warm car and into the chilly morning air. Especially since she had to sit in her stroller. Oh the horror! I have to admit the thought running through my head at this point was - Quiet kid! You have been up for hours. There's no complaining now! If anyone should be crying it should be your me. Or maybe your dad since he has a 10 hour drive home ahead of him. It's the sweet maternal instinct in me. What can I say.

Can't you tell how much she loved the $14 mittens we got her?

I was so glad that we were there for the dawn patrol. It was my favorite part.

They send off 12 balloons first thing to check the wind conditions before the other gazillion balloons take off.

We rested for a bit between the dawn patrol and mass ascention. Since we haven't had any cold weather I had the poor kid so bundled up. Hat - check. Hoodie - check. Mittens - check. Long sleeve shirt - check. Undershirt - check. Jeans - check. Socks - check. Two blankets on top of all that - check.

If Sam was looking at the camera, there were no people milling around in the background, and there were more balloons in the picture this would be one of my favorites of the three of us. If, If, If...

Some of the balloons were really cool. There was one balloon of Darth Vader's head, supported by grown-ups in full costume (I have no idea what character they were dressed up as since I haven't sent he movie in about 20 years. White plastic looking costumes?) and Nemo which you can see here.

After all the excitement she was so tired she fell asleep chewing on her blanket. And the big, huge, silver lining of getting up at 3:30 in the morning? She took a four hour nap and slept from Albuquerque all the way to Amarillo - it was awesome!

I am an ardent Obama supporter but I had to take a picture in front of the McCain bus. It was parked in our hotel parking lot when we went back to check out. Apparently he made a campaign stop at the balloon festival the day after we were there. The picture of me sticking my tongue out does not need to be posted on the Internet for all to see and judge. Just know that there is one and I can show it to Sam when she is old enough to understand. This bus did prompt a long discussion between KC and I about letting our kids make up there own minds on politics and still liking them if they decided to be Republicans (ha. ha.)

How 'bout those fightin' Phils?

I know I have mentioned what big Eagles Fans we are in a few random posts. We faithfully watch every Sunday, even when our quarterback just can't figure out how to close the deal we keep coming back for more. But KC is actually an even bigger Phillies fan. Something most people don't know about him since due to contracts with cable provider we can not get any Phillies games on TV in Dallas, even with the MLB package from Direct TV.

This is a somewhat small example of memories and something special he got from having family that lived nearby and was an integral part of his life. His Great Grandmother (Mable Whittaker - also where KC got his first name - Whittaker not Mabel) lived until she was in her 90's, right down the road from where we grew up. And until she died she was the biggest Phillies fan ever. She kept the box scores in marble notebooks and watched every game with a package of cookies in front of her. KC has all of these amazing memories of watching games with her and having cookies for dinner. I don't have a lot of memories of my grandparents. Partially because we didn't grow up close to them but also because by the time I was 10 there was only one still living. Great Gram memories aren't the only legacy from KC's grandparents. His Pop and Gram taught him to golf. Something he would rank a close third on a list of things he loves (right after Sam and I of course. No wait, Andrew might be third. Maybe golf is fourth? Care to offer a guess Christina?).

That's what I want for Sam. All of those small special things that when shared with a grandparent make them more special. I anticipate hearing Sam stamp her feet in frustration with something I am doing and threaten to live at Grandma's around the corner. I even plan to let her think she's gotten away with it for a few hours (maybe squeeze a movie in?). Maybe it will be hitting the garage sales first thing on Saturday morning with Grandma, or sailing with Mom-Mom and Skipper, and golfing with PaPa and Pop. Or maybe if it's cooking with MeMe and riding carousels with Grammie Di. I want her to have those things. Those are the kind of things I think you carry with you forever. They shape the person you become. Sam is so very lucky already. She has 7 grandparents who adore her and want to be part of her life. As big a part as they can be. I think maybe if we just went away and set up a rotation we might not be needed for about 2 months.

This all came about because of the Phillies recent post season success. If you aren't a baseball fan (and really it takes a special person to be a fan of a game when nothing happens 90% of the time) then let me tell you the Phillies are on fire. Winning playoff games for the first time in 15 years.

In honor of Great Gram - GO PHILS!!

I had Sam's picture taken as a surprise for KC's first Fathers Day. I intended for her to look much more like a girl but the bow I had attached to her head with syrup kept falling out. After a while I just gave up. We know she's a girl.

How the west was won

By two crazy parents and a very patient 10 month old.

*warning - this is a pretty long post. We did a lot and had quite a few 'firsts' on our trip. Pictures are at the bottom if you don't want a blow by blow account of our trip.

At some point this summer we decided that it would be a good idea to drive from Dallas to Phoenix for vacation. At first it was on the table because plane tickets were ridiculously expensive. But as the cost of tickets went down we decided that we really, really did want to drive. KC and I have always been a big fan of road trips. We took almost three weeks to drive from Philly to Dallas when we moved here (yes, mom I know it has been 7 long years!). I have to admit in the weeks leading up to our drive I started to have second thoughts. She is so mobile at this point what if she loses her mind? What is she is still sick (a distinct possibility after weeks of illness)? There was no turning back though. We were so excited to spend a week in Arizona with Pop and Grammie Di that we decided to forge ahead with our ambitious plan. Even though 4 days before departure I came down with a stomach bug.

It is a 16 hour and 1066 mile drive according to the Internet. We left on a Friday evening about 6pm and hoped to arrive Saturday night (best case scenario) but were ok with arriving by Sunday night (worse case scenario, especially since the Eagles played on Sunday night) we had a deadline! Off we go at 6pm on Friday the 26th. Our goal for the first day was to reach Amarillo, a 6 hour drive. If anyone has ever driven in Texas you know how fun driving through small towns can be. There is no straight highway to Amarillo. You get on 287 which winds it's way through numerous towns with population signs spouting - population 396 - or 1855 - or even 5933 and of course the speed limit going from 75 to 35 in every 25 miles. Cruise control is not possible and if you haven't made the drive before (as KC had not) the complete lack of lights of any kind can make it hard. The fact that we were both sick with no appetites and clearly dehydrated did keep our stops to a minimum. At about 3am we called it quits and checked into a Hampton Inn in Tucumcari, NM. Since Kc and I had not been to New Mexico before we got to add one state to our total and Sam picked up state number 3! After a later start on day 2 (about 9:30) we headed west again. Sam really did well since she took a 3 hour nap (!!!) that morning and only woke up when she was starving. Between me in the backseat playing and feeding her, the car didn't really seem to phase her too much. After a quick break at a rest stop between Flagstaff and Phoenix we rolled into Phoenix at 7pm local time. 27 hours door to door.

We did so much that week and had so much fun I could write a novel but since this is just a blog I will touch on the high points (all 54 of them)!

First of all our resort was wonderful. 2 great playgrounds, a splash area in the pool, and some nice walking trails right across the street. Sam loved the playgrounds and the fact that we hit them with our footed jammies still on really helped the ability to slide.

If you have never been to Phoenix I would absolutely recommend it. There was tons of kid stuff. The railroad park that we went to that had a little train you can ride for $2 (kids are free) so we went one Sam's first train ride. The funniest part was when we went through the tunnel and it got dark. There was also a carousel there so we knocked that off of Sam's list of things to do. She didn't really get into the carousel until almost the end. I think the movement going up and down and around was a bit much for her in the beginning. But once she got used to it - watch out! At one point she didn't even want to hold on!

We shopped until we dropped. Everywhere from Nordstrom Rack, to Gap, to the best store ever, babystyle. Grammie Di spoiled her rotten with all kinds of cute clothes and shoes. We also found a book "Quiet Loud" that she loves. And it gives me the opportunity to makes lots of funny noises! I think that is one of the (many) benefits of being a parent - getting to do all of the dorky things you couldn't pull off before kids. KC thinks my troll voice from "The Three Billygoats Gruff" should be dialed down a bit or it will end up giving her nightmares.

We went walking with Pop and Grammie Di. Scottsdale (where we were) has this great thing called a greenway that runs for 25 miles right down the middle of the town. It has walking trails the entire length of it so it is perfect for the stroller. It runs by lakes and playgrounds. Both of which we took advantage of. Sam got her first experience with feeding the ducks. And her first time riding a dragon.

We also ate at this wonderful restaurant in Cave Creek (a town about 20 minutes north of Scottsdale), El Encanto. It is Mexican restaurant but it had a lake right in the middle of it with turtles, fish, ducks, birds, and butterfly's. I swear it was created with babies in mind. We sat along the glass wall and watched the turtles sun themselves right next to us. Sam loved the fact that there were so many things to look at.

We created a monster. She goes by Horsey Girl. Pop and Grammie Di bought her a rocking horse with a seat on it and she loves it. Grammie Di even bought her a cowboy hat to go with it. Sometimes when she is on your lap she will start rocking back and forth. We have to keep a close eye on her though. Our little daredevil likes to stand up in the 'saddle' and ride that way.

I could do without the heart attack when I look over and she is balancing like a circus act.

We left on Friday morning amidst lots of hugs and kisses and took off on our journey home. The first day we were only trying to make it to Albuquerque since we were stopping off to take in the balloon festival and she did great. But one of my worst fears did come true. We had a diaper explosion about an hour before we hit Albuquerque. I should have known we wouldn't get through the trip unscathed. And we cut tooth number 7! I was so surprised to arrive at dinner in Albuquerque and see another tooth. We are currently working hard on #8, 9, and 10.

I am pretty sure I covered almost everything (and really sure you are ready to see some pictures and stop reading). I am going to do a separate post on the balloon festival because we have so many amazing pictures from it. I took over 600 pictures on our trip!

We had an amazing time and I am sure we will be doing it again since Pop and Grammie Di will most likely be living there in the next few years. (Thank you Pop and Grammie Di for everything!)

Oh, before we get to the pictures I wanted to mention that Sam made some progress in her 25 things in 52 weeks list. Sidenote, I am pretty sure the pigtails just aren't going to happen.

Our new favorite toys: the hotel room card and a water bottle. These occupied us for almost 30 minutes. And the best part? The room card continued to occupy Sam for the rest of the week. I carried this Hampton Inn card around with me - well, it's actually still in my bag.

Stretching our legs at a rest stop about an hour north of Phoenix

Taking in the beautiful mountains (KC and I decided this is what Dallas is missing. Go ahead and say it - DUH!)

Dad and Sam at the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale

Sam on her first train ride. Sitting with Pop and Grammie Di



Not so sure what to think about the tunnel (especially with the other kids yelling.) You can't tell in this picture but without the flash it was pitch black in there.

Pop and Sam at the Railroad Park

One of my all-time favorite pictures of Sam

"Look ma, no hands!" (Our first carousel ride, hanging with Grammie Di)

Seriously, this kid had no fear once she got the hang of it.

Can you feel the stickiness? We tried our first frozen fruit pop. It was all over - hands, face, legs, everywhere. We were in the tub within minutes.

She couldn't make it through dinner so she snoozed on Pop.

"I'm not really bald. It just looks that way. There's hair up here. I promise."

Our little horsey girl

She got such a kick out of it. It was so much fun to watch.

Again with the no hands thing. Shortly after this she figured out how to use the mane to pull herself to a standing position.

We even played horsey on Mom's back. Wearing our very cool, new cowboy hat.

Showing Pop why the swings are her FAVORITE thing. Just look at those little legs hanging out the bottom.

And who doesn't want to follow up breakfast with a little rubber swing?

Again, she loves to be 'in' something. As soon as Pop set her down she was off - which of course entailed him following. Yep, right through the tube.

Loving the slide. She doesn't really have the full hang of this yet. Her feet and legs get stuck pretty easily.

Riding the dragon. I swear, if we're not careful this child will end up asking for a dragon for her birthday - or, even a real horse! Yikes!

The excitement of the dragon put her right over the top. I had to wake her up so we could feed the ducks.

Sam, Pop, and Grammie Di on the morning that we all left. So sad I cried!

Family Portrait. My glasses lasted only about 15 seconds ion my head before Sam decided se has "had to have them". Darn Kids!

This was on our way home, somewhere in New Mexico, west of Albuquerque. She ended up in her jammies since we had a little, um, explosion.

You know you're a redneck if...

an Igloo cooler doubles as a playpen/highchair for your baby.

To be fair to KC (who was responsible for Sam during this time frame) he was running an errand at my Dad's house and needed to set Sam down for a minute. Well, if you have an active, crawling, into everything baby you know that an un-baby-proofed garage is about the last place you want to set them down. So he made do with a cooler, which worked perfectly, right up until the time when she started rocking back and forth. And then the fun was over.

Pool Time

This weekend we got out our new baby pool and tried it out for the first time. We had not had the pleasure of hanging out in a baby pool, splashing, and chasing large cups around the pool all summer. Mostly because it has been so freaking hot that the only time even a baby pool would be appropriate would be at 9 in the morning. And I work, so that's out. Thankfully we live in Texas so a baby pool may get use well into October. (Being from the northeast where October meant pants or tights on under your princess costume on Halloween it gives me great pleasure to know that we will be sweating in October - and maybe even November - yippee!)

But back to the topic at hand. Why is she only wearing a swim diaper in the first 2 pictures? Murphy's Law - we figured the pool is pretty much in the shade we don't need to bother with a top; just sunscreen and a swim diaper will be fine. Of course, where is the only place Sam wants to play? the sunny spot. The 25% of the pool in the sun - that's where. So inside I went to get the top to a bathing suit. And then where did she play? The shady part of the pool. sigh.

Maybe we want to sit down. Maybe we don't.

Look Ma! I'm standing!

Splashing some water right up into her face. She was both irritated and amazed by this.

No, we are not white trash. It just looks like that because our kid is playing with a Styrofoam cup in the pool. But she loves it and it floats. Plus she was waaay more interested in the Styrofoam cup than the toy monkey that she brought with her. (yep, a bath toy)

I think she looks like a drunk cheerleader in this one. A cheerleader that can not figure out which way her microphone should go.

When those little dagger teeth started to take chunks out of the Sonic cup we switched it for a plastic one. Which she proceeded to drink out of inadvertently.

And that resulted in this face. We called this her "how could you not tell me that was going to happen?" face.

But then we did it again and again so I guess it didn't bother her that much.

Now playing shy baby - "oh were you looking for this cup? this cup? Nope, no cup here."

She had a little trouble using the side (of an inflatable pool!!!) to stand up. So we decorated with a little grass on our face for a while.

"I wonder if they would notice if I just took off? I bet I could make it to the fence..."

Again, touching everything with just one finger. She had a lot of trouble keeping just one finger on the slippery side of a pool.

And then we really took a tumble. She was fine after this but not as excited to get back in the pool. I think she was a little cold by now. (Because it was only 90 degrees out, not 100)

After pool time. Snuggles with Dad.

I love this picture. I think it captures how much fun she is. And the open mouth smile just melts my heart every time.

this was the point when we thinking how incredibly lucky we are to have Sam in our lives. (I was thinking how lucky I am to have both of them.)