What a great weekend we had in Dodge City! It was the perfect opportunity to celebrate R's birthday with our family there and also got to attend a fabulous wedding to boot (no western pun intended (oh man, I am my Uncle Doug's niece)).
We woke up Saturday morning to a delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and REAL bacon (we usually get the turkey variety, so this is a definite treat). R got to blow out candles for the first time this birthday season. Needless to say, she was.....reluctant.
Then it was present time. I tell ya, just like Christmas morning. A highlight of the morning was R receiving this amazing Master Moves Mickey (aka M3). He's pretty unpredictable as far as what moves he's going to pull out, so she has to make sure she's backed far away from him. But he's pretty freakin' awesome. Can you do a one-armed handstand and the windmill?
We were excited to attend Jaymi & Matt's wedding in Spearville that afternoon. Man, there's nothing like a good old-fashioned Southwest Kansas small town wedding. The wedding was short and sweet (and Catholic!), the BBQ supper was delicious, beverages flowed like wine, and the music was perfect.
What's a Kansas wedding without Red Solo Cup?
All in all, one of the best weddings I've attended and the perfect way to begin Jaymi and Matt's life together. Congratulations you two!!!
Sunday brought church, then....wait for it....birthday celebration #3 at Nonny's house! Still hadn't overcome her candle hesitation.
And more presents!!! She insisted Uncle Doug help her.
Whew. Would someone have another baby already, someone is getting WAY. TOO. SPOILED. ;)
R turned two yesterday, wahooo! Our baby weighs a whopping 32.5 lbs. and is three feet tall! That is above the 95th percentile, I suppose we would not accept anything less. ;)
I took the day off and the original plan was to attend Daddy's track meet that just so happened to be in Manhattan and finish the afternoon off with her 2-year photos with our friend, Kayla, with Capture Photography. Then nature decided to ruin both plans by forcing a postponement of each. Ugh. Aw well, we still managed to have a splendid day.
It started out with Cake Batter Pancakes that I saw on Pinterest some time ago. Normally Chad is the pancake-maker in our house, so I managed to impress myself.
A knock on our front door led to us receiving this. Thank you Nana & Papa, we love M&Ms!
We crashed the Parents as Teachers playgroup then swung by Sonic to get us a Wacky Pack, then home for a nap. Had to rest up for the rest of the days festivities.
I impatiently waited all day for Chad to get home so we could give her her present. We can't quite reach the pedals yet, but she's a mad scooter.
We followed this up with the all-too-common birthday dinner at La Fiesta. Here she received the best gift EVER for a girl who associates the restaurant with the squacking mechanical chicken that lays plastic eggs filled with random cheap toys. Yes, she received a chicken 'purse' filled with quarters from Ken & Megan.
She still doesn't like the sombrero/singing/whipped cream combination. Maybe next year?
We went home to another birthday present from Grammy & Guy. This one probably trumps the quarter-filled chicken. We had a little mishap at first, but it was quickly corrected after this little episode. :)
Boy, what a great weekend we had. By far the best Easter I've had in a long time. This was the first Easter where R could actually hunt for eggs as last year she wasn't walking yet. We had three official egg hunts and one unofficial. With each one we become increasingly more skilled.
The first hunt was the annual Kingfisher Easter Egg Hunt near one of their local schools. R had just woken up from a nap so between that, the crazy scary Easter bunny on site, and the bagillions of people, she was reluctant. Let's just say she wasn't quite ready for an egg hunt strategy session. She was in the 2-4 age group and us adults decided that four-year-olds should not be grouped with 2's and 3's. They are seasoned veterans by that time. Maybe we should write a letter to the editor. ;)
Finally worked up the courage, she totaled four eggs in the hunt that was over in 30 seconds.
This was followed by practice runs. The girl definitely needed it. ;)
We got to go to the Kingfisher golf course where we watched Daddy throw his golf clubs and Papa hit the ball like a pro. :) :) :)
Did I mention it was 80+ degrees?! Beautiful!
The Easter bunny left eggs for us to pick up Easter morning!!!!
All dressed up in our Easter Sunday best, since it is in fact, the reason for the season.
We had a lunch of ribs, brisket, and all the trimmings (and DESSERTS!) at cousin Debbie and Darrell's where we had our third and final hunt. Finally got the hang of it.
"Pooped" is definitely what our girls were on the way home. Hope everyone else had a very Happy Easter!
Man, what is this, four days in a row of posting a blog? I'm on a roll.
Remember how I was talking about how scraggly R was starting to look? Well we decided to bite the bullet and take her in for Miss Lachelle to work her magic. Perfect timing, considering Easter is this weekend and her 2-year photos are coming up very soon.
She was a little hesitant at first and would absolutely NOT sit in the seat by herself. But with the help of goldfish crackers we got it done and she was an angel.
I'd a like to have never gotten her 23-month photo. First of all, it was taken just yesterday because we haven't had the time, and secondly, well let's just say we are starting to see the "terrible 2's". She threw an all out fit. I tried to get one of her faceplanted into the ground with the sticker on her back but she wouldn't allow it, believe it or not. That would have been classic. I'd have to say this one didn't turn out so bad, but man does she need a haircut. Later on that.
Boy howdy this girl is talking. She's obsessed with cows and puppys, always wants to know where her Daddy is, repeats the same questions over and over and over, and repeats practically everything you say. You can't even throw her off with "chiropractor", she nailed it...ky-o-pac-tah. And don't even get me started on "epephants" (elephants)!
March started out with a much-loved visit by Nonny (my Grandma). Riley and her were two peas in a pod.
Otherwise we've been keeping busy with coffee time....
Household chores, such as making the bed....
And playing in snow from yet another unwelcomed storm with our friend Skylenn.
Cue snow picnic.
We got to dye Easter eggs for the first time with our friends Cortney and Skylenn. R "helped" and watched but couldn't have cared less. Maybe next year. Definitely looking forward to Easter egg hunts next weekend.
I've always wanted to go somewhere for my 30th birthday. I didn't care where it was as long as it had a beach. We ended up in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic because....well...it was different and pretty much the same exact price as Mexico as it was Spring Break. Plus our ex-neighbor is from there so we've heard a ton about it, so why not?! On St. Patricks' Day Chadder and I began a fun-filled vacation to the Caribbean.
We experienced a lot of firsts at the Punta Cana airport: first international airport, first time exiting the plane on the tarmac, first time in an open-air airport, and first airport with thatched roofs!
It was a little bit of a cluster trying to figure out what we needed to do (but not as much as a cluster as when we came back, geez!). We found our shuttle bus and were soon on our way to our resort that was about 30 minutes from the airport. Hey, atleast the bus was air-conditioned, unlike the airport.
We arrived at our resort and checked in. The lobby was monstrous.
Our bell boy took our luggage along with another couples and "explained" to us where our room was so we could go ahead and he'd follow with the luggage after dropping off the other couples. He beat us there. Their room numbers were very screwy. But I was greeted with a birthday banner!
Our room was nice. We were just thankful it was only Chad and me in the room as the wall to the toilet was only glass. :)
Our balcony view. The swim-up bar is in the upper left.
I was on a mission to try the mamajuana first thing, just for our good buddy and ex-neighbor Wascar (a Dominican native).
That night they had a White Beach Party which was fun but it was windy and cold (!) so we didn't stick around too long. I did have my first drink in a coconut. The guy literally chucked off the top, added rum, a little bit of sugar, and a straw. Not the most delicious drink I've ever tasted but who's complaining, I'm on a beach!
The next day was spent at the beach and then pool.
The resort's "animation team" was always around trying to get you involved in games and the like. We were suckered in the first day, I mean, there's only so much laying around on the beach you can do, right? First game was horseshoes. Chad would say it wasn't exactly horseshoes, but oh well, we didn't win so who cares. The next game was capture the flag, which was a blast, I wish I had gotten pictures. They laid a rope down the center of two teams of six and when they called out your number you were supposed to run up to the guy holding the flag and grab it. Whoever grabbed it, the other person then had to tag the other. Well I was a numbskull and grabbed the silly thing thinking I could out run her and she got me. It's hard to run in the sand! I could barely lift my legs the next day.
We ate lunch at the seafood restaurant that has a lunch buffet. This was our view from our table.
That afternoon came us being suckered in yet again, but this time for no other than arm wrestling. I was really surprised Chad partook considering how modest he usually is. Me, on the other hand, not as much. But I did forget that I don't lift weights anymore. So there was a three-way tie amongst the girls.....me, a middle-aged "mom-looking" gal, and a nearly 70-year-old. I felt better once they told me the 70-year-old was a retired personal trainer. :/
The next day brought the good and the bad....which would you like first? You say the good? Ok, we did our one and only excursion (remember I just wanted a beach?) and that was called Outback Safari which basically showed us the local lifestyle and ended with boogie boarding on Macao Beach. I'm sooo glad we did this now, it was a good break from the resort-lifestyle.
This is a school in one of the villages. School was unfortunately not in session because the teachers were on a sort of strike.
Driving through the villages was eye-opening. Waving at kids, seeing an old man get his haircut while the entire family watched, just their normal stuff. We did notice there was a lot of "sitting around" though. Our guide informed us not to give money to kids because that will make them lazy. He told us there was no welfare in the DR so everybody has to work. We saw a TON of mopeds and he said that these were "taxis".
They took us to a typical house where we saw how they make cocoa, cocoa butter, and coffee. They also roll their own cigars which is what we brought home.
Our guide also explained to us about mamajuana. Well Chad and I being the seasoned veterans that we are already knew all about it. :) But just in case, here's a video of our guide talking about it.
We ate lunch at a mountaintop ranch that had amazing views.
Random bananas and horses on the roadsides.
We ended at Macao Beach for boogie-boarding and relaxation. I didn't last very long, but Chad boogie-boarded his heart out.
Okay, so now you want to hear the bad? Let's just say we are thankful we brought Pepto and Immodium. :( That's all I will say about that. And no, we did not drink the water!
That night we ate at the Japanese Steakhouse which was the best food we had.
The last day was more beach and pool time. The couple walking in this picture are actually a part of a group of Canadians who took us under their wing. We were "honorary Cannucks".
And finally....the DR coastline from the plane the next day. Bittersweet. Missing sand and palm trees, but atleast now I got my Riley.....and normal food. :)
