Family vacation 2017.

Dave and I took the kids to Atlantis in the Bahamas for our family vacation this year. We had a great time as the resort was so family friendly. Dave had meetings (it coincided with a conference for him) in the mornings and had the afternoons with us. We spent all of our time either at the pool, aquarium (in the lobby!!!), eating, and sleeping. We brought Allie, one of our babysitters along which was so helpful. Juggling three kids is no joke (especially when it comes to sun screen, swimming suits, and swimming)! We had intentions of getting out for an evening alone, unfortunately, Sully got sick (literally, in our bed at 3am- yikes!) so we called it off and just spent the time together. We were grateful for an amazing week of warmth and mega family fun. Ill let the photos do the rest of the talking as there is definitely an overload :).

Sully and Greta in the Chicago airport. 

Monster plane nap. 

Everyone naps EXCEPT Piper. Brutal. 

Slightly windy the first day. 

Stalin' Pip. 

SUN! Dave relaxing on the lazy
(he is coming around the bend in the photo).

Sully gets a turn. 

Pool morning, sorta cool, but getting warmer. 

Pool ready at 7:45am. 

They look so cool ;).

Family photo on our way to the pool. 

Raging river fun, Greta had a blast, Sully not so much. 

Greta and Dave floating away. 

Pool fun. 

Master floater from the beginning. 

Our busy, curious, silly, and unpredictable toddler.

Me and my girls. 

Family photo on our way to dinner. 

Dinner with a toddler, thankful for a very family friendly resort ;). 

Allie with the kids on our beach day.

Beach fun. 

Greta started the week slow with the floaties,
but had it mastered by the end of the week. 

Greta savoring every bite of her ice cream.

Bubble fun on the patio.

Dave and Greta swimming in the kid pool. 

Piper and I in the quiet pool near our room.

One last dip before we head to the airport. 

Airport doughnuts. 

More airplane fun? ;).

Piper turns 15 months, date night, and other happenings.

We returned from the Bahamas on a Saturday evening and hit the ground running with activities and fun. Piper had her 15 month appointment and we were happy with a good report. She is 20.2 lbs (10th percentile) and 28.5 inches tall (25th percentile). She is sweet, clever, curious, and unpredictable. She has mastered going up the stairs and is actually pretty decent at going down, too, but one of us tries to be near. Hard to believe the stairs won't seem as dangerous as the have for the last 4+ years soon. She is starting to say some words like, uh oh, hello, yes, Allie (yes, our babysitters name before mine, grrr ;)) dada, and sometimes ma. We are hearing new ones everyday which is a relief as I had just had her screened for a speech delay. Id say the thing that sticks out to me the most of her personality is her soft spoken nature. She can be noisy, but for the most part, she is quiet, watching mostly, and when she does talk, its very quiet and brief, but it is so adorable. We love her so much, it is so fun to see her learn and gain confidence to do new things.

We followed that up with pirate day at school, date night for Dave and I and then a superhero/princess dinner with some neighbors, which was really fun. One of the country clubs hosted this evening gathering with people in costume and a dinner and dance, we were so lucky to be invited to join in on the fun. Sully and Greta went in their usual Spiderman and Princess costume while Piper dressed up as a ladybug (haha). The kids had a blast.

Otherwise, back to the normal grind with school, and other fun activities around here. Its hard to believe February is half over. Spring is just around the corner. Im already excited with what this summer will bring as Sully and Greta are starting to be more independent. Life is easier everyday.

Twins. 

Pirate day.

Greta plays dress up too (with my make-up).

Date night- 'When Harry Met Sally' at the Old State Theatre.
 Followed by sushi and then live music, wine and dessert.
A perfect night. 

Green Spiderman and the Original Spiderman. 

Greta's mind is blown, officially.

Our ladybug meets the princess. 

Movie fun with some cousins. 

I braved lunch with all three. It ended miserably. Greta chugged chocolate
milk and inhaled a cookie resulting in a huge vomit in the bathroom stall
(so close to making the toilet). Dang. And then I went out to a parking ticket. 

Piper's first ponytail. 

Greta shows Sully the heart she made at Miss Jean's.

Piper snuggles daddy. 

Gymnastics fun.
I need one of these swings in my basement! 

Its all for the kids.

Dave and I decided the year Sully was born that we wanted him (and the girls) to go to the Spanish Immersion school. It was initially located in the eastern part of town and was part of a district school, but as interest grew, the city was able to open a school completely dedicated to immersion. The new location happens to be in the footprint of Dave's childhood school and there is no longer a waiting list, the school currently does a lottery. Since Sully has a summer birthday, we were able to enter the drawing for the 2017 year and have a choice to defer. If we didn't get in, we could try again next year. We worked the system, and enrolled him knowing we will wait until 2018 to actually send him. Dave was on call the night of the lottery, so Maggie came along to support me.  The lottery was very straightforward, they simply drew names from a large bowl full of names.  The first 57 names were 'in' and the next 44 would be on the waiting list. Nerves ran high, but MUCH to our delight, Sully was number 28! Yay, such a relief. We are so excited about the opportunities and for our household to become bilingual. It will be awesome to hear our kids speaking in Spanish to each other at the dinner table (since he was accepted, Greta and Piper are automatically 'in').

On the Saturday following his acceptance, I participated in the Woman's March in Sioux Falls with my mom and some of her friends. It was an incredible and empowering experience as more than 3,000 men, women, and children turned out for the event. It was so cool to see neighbors, coworkers, and friends in the crowd. Walking with my mom was the best part of it all. Her vision and voice is something I'm proud to be part of. I marched for me and for my kids and their future. No matter what they chose in life, I will be proud, I'm already proud. I'm grateful for a husband who will support them and myself in our choices. Above all, I want Sully, Greta, and Piper all to have a fair shot, I want equality.  

The official acceptance letter.

A perfect photo of all three. 

sisters

Women's March. 

Selfie with my mama. 

Our crew. 

My mom, me, and my aunt Jo.

New year, more family fun.

I generally give myself a two week break after the new year to regroup and recover from the holiday madness, and to get through January. It is such a cold month that if I can make it through the first two weeks, we are usually home free and then anticipating spring, which is just around the corner.

We have been busy. We celebrated Christmas with Dave's family here last week and it was an absolute blast. We had dinner, lots of wine, and played a few really fun games. Everyone being such great sports makes the evening so memorable. Dave and I have already started brainstorming games for next year. We feel we really need to up the ante in order to top this year's gathering.

Dave had a week of vacation this last week and I was able to get a few shifts in which was a nice and welcomed break for me. Im sure he is thrilled to get back to the grind on Monday ;).

I embarked on a project over the last week. My niece, Lauren, is expecting a baby in March, she and I were brainstorming nursery decor ideas. Initially she was hoping to order something but after loads of googling and youtube videos, we thought it would be fun to take the project on ourselves (I may have nudged her a little). Lauren hosted two craft nights where a few of us gathered to eat, drink, and create. We were successful and it was so fun. We came up with paper flowers that she will hang on her wall. They are breathtaking and so unique. I can't wait to see her finished product displayed, and of course to meet her sweet baby girl (9 weeks to go!).

Snowman fun.

A brief sledding outing. 

Party props.

Greta takes a turn.

Sully climbed into bed late one night,
I looked over and Sully was holding Dave's hand.

Party prep. And this ends the photos of the family party, Im
so disappointed I didn't take more. Ugh.

Breakfast on the couch. 

Annual allergy visit. 

The reactions were worse than last year :(.
Still no tree nuts and shellfish for this girl. 

Paper flower fun. 

The end result. 

Sully's first ski lesson. 

He did great! 

Washington Pavilion outing. 

Rocking my baby to sleep (a rare occurrence these days).