8 Days of fun!

Day 1: Park

Alyvia LOVES to go to the park. She finds joy in every single aspect of it. This particular day was the very 1st time that she went up in the playground equipment and down the slide all by herself! I actually tried to stop her and felt like I was on the verge of a heart attack the entire time, but she's amazing and so very independent! My baby girl is growing up!

Day 2: Pool

Alyvia's 1st time in her cute little bikini! She hasn't been in a swimming pool since she was only a few months old. Since she absolutely LOVES baths, I knew she would love this pool too. I didn't think she would ever be ready to come inside! I love my little fishie!!

Day 3: Park

This baby girl cannot get enough of the park! All I have to do is say "slide" and she is at the front door waiting for me! Especially now that she can do more than swing, play in the sandbox, and throw playground bark, (which is all still fun) the park seems to be her favorite place. She is a very friendly girl, too. Every time she sees someone even close to her size, she immediately goes up to give them hugs! Precious.

Day 4: Shoe Shopping (and the park again)

Alyvia's little feet are growing so fast! I tried to put a pair of her size 4's on her and after a couple minutes, I gave up. My little beauty queen has a thing for shoes just like her mommy, so she was quite upset when I wouldn't let her wear the toe squishers. So it was decided. We were going shoe shopping. First we had her feet measured. Unfortunately, her big toe is perfectly even with the size 4 line. This means size 4 is too small and size 5 falls off of her. Do you think they make size 4 1/2? Nope. So we still got a pair of super cute shoes that she will grow into. And since the shopping was more fun for me than for her, we went to the park again afterwards!

Day 5: Monkey Bizness

This place is so much fun! Not only is there plenty to keep Alyvia busy, but I also enjoy going down the HUGE slide with her! She sits in my lap and giggles as we slide down at top speed! She wants to go over and over and then sleeps the whole way home. I was literally dripping sweat by the time we left, and I'm not the sweating type! After we share a Tigers Blood snow cone of course! Ahhh...peace.

Day 6: Ice cream Zoofari

An evening at the zoo! A Creamcicle and a soda. Mmmmmm. Alyvia and Daddy climbed the tree like two little monkeys! Alyvia was a big hit in her new sparkly gold shoes! She's oh so fashionable and loves her accessories, too! The best part of all was when she "barked" at almost every animal she saw! We will definitely be going back to the zoo. She fits right in with all of the other animals!

Day 7: Blue Cow Frozen Yogurt:

There were two reasons for the frozen yogurt trip on this particular day.

1: Alyvia and I LOVE frozen yogurt.

2: I figured it might help my little dare devil's busted lip!

After the zoo trip, Alyvia fell from the couch landing with her mouth hitting the edge of the coffee table. Lot's of blood. pretty scary. Stupid driving. Hospital. She's ok thankfully, but needless to say, we don't have a coffee table anymore. Oh yeah, and Banana Bread frozen yogurt is delectable!

Day 8: Saturday Market (by mistake):

So, this day's event was originally supposed to be the parade downtown. But if you know me, you may know that I have a little bit of anxiety about going downtown by myself. I'm so ridiculously scared of getting lost. Silly, I know. So I drove partially downtown, parked, and we started walking. I didn't even remember that the Saturday Market was this day as well. So that's where we got sidetracked. Alyvia had so much fun running around in the water fountains and dancing in front of the bands and random guys with guitars! Super fun day with my little beauty face! And I didn't get lost!!

One Smart Cookie!

Tongue

Hair

Ears

Nose

Toes

Preface to Potty Training

And so it begins!

The 1st day with her new pink potty seat, Alyvia went #1 AND #2 without any hesitation! I almost cried! And then I laughed because I knew I wasn't the one that would be cleaning it out. Daddy is the best! She even stated that she had to go both times saying "potty" or "poop!" Ahhh I can't wait to say goodbye to diapers!!

Potty Dance

Well, wish us luck as we will soon begin the trials and tribulations of Potty Training! Yay! I couldn't believe the huge array of potty seats that I found online. I though this was one of those things that come in a few different colors, maybe some play music, and that would pretty much be the extent of the potty seat options. WRONG! Some of these royal potty thrones were even priced up to $120.00! Some turned into step stools, some had toilet paper holders, some even had toys and cup holders attached! Ahhh decisions, decisions. I finally found one that was reasonably priced, cute, and comfy. Hopefully Alyvia will be excited to take a ride on this thing!

(Prince Lionheart Potty Pod)

Road Trip!

Alyvia's first road trip! I don't know how this all happened, but it happened very quickly. We woke up, found out there was a wedding the next day, and decided to go. That easy.

Alyvia did amazing! She slept most of the way and when she wasn't sleeping, she was happily playing and eating crackers. Troy did all of the driving, so I got to kick back and enjoy the ride!

Troy's family is amazing. Some of the kindest & most genuine people I have ever met. Everyone was so welcoming and generous and it made me miss my own family. It was fun to meet everyone and celebrate such a beautiful couple getting married! (Getting $1.00 everyday from the "Bed Fairy" was awesome!)

Just a few highlights from our Utah adventures:


In-N-Out Burgers:

Everyone in Boise always talks about how amazingly wonderful this place is and how they need to get one here, but I'd never had it before...until Sunday, June 13th, 2010, when I ate the most delicious double cheese burger that my mouth has ever tasted. It was then followed by some surprisingly disgusting french fries, but fortunately, the burger made up for it. So there. Now I can say I've had In-N-Out Burger! Thanks Utah.




Bridal Veil Falls:

Troy drove us up into the mountains for a little sight-seeing. Not long, and we came across Bridal Veil Falls. Beautiful double waterfall coming down the mountain with steep trails to take you up close and personal. On the top you can see the remains of a tram and visitor center that had been destroyed by an avalanche in 1996. The scenery was beautiful and I didn't want to leave! The cold cloudy day gave it an eerie feeling, especially after reading the story behind the name of the falls. An Indian woman and a brave from a rival clan fell in love and planned on running away to get married. The woman was confronted by her angry tribe the very night she had planned to meet her lover to elope. Fearing that they had killed him once they learned of their secret, she jumped off of the mountain to her death. The falls split in the middle and looks like a bridal veil formed by Nature itself, who'd been touched by the woman's wild beauty. The mountain protruding between the falls is said to represent an alter where the doomed couple was to marry.







Alyvia's 1st movie theater experience:

Since this vacation has been a mini family reunion, we all decided to go see a movie
together. And by "we", I mean everyone except me. All I could think of was trying to keep Alyvia quiet in a movie theater. I was secretly dreading the entire experience until we actually got there and the movie started. Thankfully there were other babies in the theater, and that's how I know how good Alyvia really did behave. The other parents had to get up and take their crying children out of the theater multiple times though out the movie. I didn't even have to take Alyvia out once! I was so proud of her. She even said "grandpa" for the 1st time while we were there! Oh, and the movie was cute, too.


Indoor Rock Climbing:

I've been talking about going rock climbing for a couple years now and we finally got around to actually doing it! I wish my body had recovered afterwards as quickly as it had 10 years ago when I last climbed! It was so much fun climbing and meeting the challenge to keep pushing myself to the top, but my muscles are still suffering! I can't wait until Alyvia is old enough to enjoy it more! There was a tiny wall for little kids which was really cute, but Alyvia just wanted to watch Mom & Dad this time around.

Baby Rattler Display:

On our way home. Too much Diet Pepsi. Have to pee. Gas station in the middle of no where.

The gas station's front doors advertised a baby rattler display inside. Heck, we're in the desert. A rattle snake display, although weird seeing in a convenience store, wouldn't surprise me much. The display was positioned immediately when you enter the store. There were 3 steps leading up for you to look over the top, along with a sign warning no sudden movements and to approach slowly. At this point, the bathroom was my 1st priority until I saw the sign on the bathroom door: "Paying Customers Only." Great. My cash is in the car and I didn't really plan on buying anything. Back outside, I told Troy to check out the baby rattlers inside. He approached the display in anticipation ever so slowly, up each step, and carefully extended his neck to look over the top, and that's when everyone burst into laughter. These are the "baby rattlers." At least I didn't look first!!

Family:

I met so many new and awesome people, and Troy was so happy to finally see his family after so many years. Showing off Alyvia was fun as usual, and tons of pictures were taken!!!

Extended Rear Facing Car Seats

Alyvia's new car seat. She will probably be rear facing until she's out of the car seat completely. When she's 12. :) This is a great article that I came across showing the safety benefits of keeping our children rear facing as long as possible. Something to think about!

Rear-Facing or Forward-Facing–What To Do and When To Do It

Princess

Bath Time

Alyvia's Adventures