Mammoth Cave Vacation

We had a few basic criteria when choosing where to take our family vacation this year. First, it had to be somewhere you could drive, for obvious economic reasons. Second, it had to be somewhere only a few hours away, for not-killing-my-husband-or-crabby-toddler reasons. Third, it had to be a long weekend since I'm trying to save up as much vacation as I can for an extended maternity leave. We settled on Mammoth Cave.

We packed up the car early on Friday morning to make our journey. Were all very excited.

However, Sophie's excitement waned a bit as she started to succumb to the gently rocking motion of the car.

After three and a half hours on the road, we make it to our hotel and grab some lunch. Then, off to the pool, where I forgot to bring my camera. After about an hour in the freezing water, we decided it was time for a nap and some dinner. Here's Sophie and Daddy heading out.

I think she's getting huge, but when I see her standing next to Daddy, she seems so itty-bitty. The sleeping arrangements got a bit tricky. We didn't specify anything special for our room and got two double beds. Never having slept on a double bed, I really had no concept of how small that really was. Sleeping on a California King made these tiny beds seem like midieval torture. We quickly decided that Mommy and Daddy would each get their own bed and that Sophie would take turns snuggling with us. Daddy graciously offerred to take the first night.

They really are so sweet together. Most of the time, if Sophie has to choose, she picks Daddy first. Unless she's hurt or scared, like at nearly midnight when she rolled off of the bed and onto the floor. She was nearly inconsolable. I finally got her calmed down and sleeping in my arms on my bed, until I realized that the bed wasn't even big enough for the three of us - Sophie, Mommy and Cashew aka my big ole belly. I made a little nest on the floor out of my comforter and transitioned Stinkerbell. She didn't seem to mind a bit. We even had to wake her up after both showering because she was in such a deep sleep. This is where she slept for the remainder of the trip.

She didn't let the night's happening scare her from the beds, though. She was up and wrestling with Daddy after breakfast again. It became clear to us pretty early on that Sophie was really enjoying all of this unadulterated family time with Mommy and Daddy. Since we both work full time, it's not very often that she gets 5 whole days with us all day. She started to get jealous whenever one of us left the room...even if it meant shutting the door to the bathroom to get a little privacy. How dare we seclude ourselves from her. She let her feelings be known as she'd bang on the door until you finally came out.

Lucky for Sophie, and the door, neither on of us take very long.

We met up with my friend Mandy and her family the next morning to head off to the Cave. They had signed us all up for a tour that afternoon, so we tried out some of the activities in nearby Cave City in the meantime. First up Huckleberry Hound Miniature Golf and Go Carts. Here's our budding Tiger woods in action - and cheating.

Yes folks, apparently if you pick up the ball and just stick your club in the hole, it counts. Overall, though, I think she did great for her first time. It had been quite rainy the past few days and the greens were extra squishy. Our new walker had a bit of a hard time staying vertical, and ended up with soaking wet pants. I felt horrible for her. It's bad enough to have wet pants, but to have the wind hit you and go into a cold cave with them just seemed like torture.

So we headed to Cracker Barrel to get some lunch and hopefully find a bathroom with an air dryer. Though we were out of luck with the latter, we were inside in the warmth long enough for her pants to dry. We realized while inside that we had forgotten Hada, her travel buddy seen above napping with Sophie. She's become quite dependent on Hada for car napping, so we stopped by the Cracker Barrel General Store on the way out and picked up Snuffles, a fuzzy elephant shaped pillow. She was quite a fan and slept all the way to the cave.

In fact she was kind of angry with us for waking her up when we got to the cave. Sophie next got to enjoy another first...her first bus ride.

My camera wasn't really cooperating too well inside the cave, but I did get this fam shot.

And we took the bus back through the park to our car.

Sunday was our last day there, and, incidentally, Mother's Day. I got to spend the first hour + of Mother's Day doing one of my favorite things. Snuggling with Sophie in bed watching a movie. She was being so sweet...almost as if she knew it was Mother's Day. At one point in time she lifted up my shirt to expose my belly and gave my belly button - aka the baby - a kiss.

After a yummy breakfast at Shoney's, we traveled back to Cave City for a trip to Gun Town Mountain. For those that have never been, GTM is a wild west town, complete with stores you can enter, a salloon that has shows and sells real refreshments, a petting zoo and a shootout and stunt show right in the middle of Main Street. To get there we had to ride a ski lift, which was horrifying for my acrophobic self, but we really had a good time. After the Can Can show, Mandy's stepson Mason got to take a garter off of a saloon girl. He was super excited.

Daddy checking out the coffins at the Undertaker's....

Sophie feeding an extra hungry goat... And her favorite new trick...climbing on anything she can. I'm told she won't grow out of this phase for quite some time.

After GTM's stunt show, we headed to McD's for a quick lunch and headed home. It was a great vacation.

Soaking Up the Sun

Last week I had an unexpected day off with Sophie. It wasn't really off cause I had to work from home that day, but when I'm home, my eight hours can be spread throughout the day however I choose. So, Mommy got up early and worked for a few hours before Stinkerbell was even awake, and then decided to have a special lunch with Daddy - a real rarity since we work on opposite sides of town. After a quick bite at Applebee's, we jaunted over to the playground behind our local library to give Sophie some slide experience. She loved it!

Before heading back for naptime - for both of us...I LOVE when I can work from home - I got a quick shot of Sophie and Brandon. This one may be getting framed.

Next up....Family Vacation!

Mommy Turn (GULP) 31!!

Although I will have to admit, 26 was the hardest birthday yet.

When I turned 26, I was single - newly out of a very bad relationship - and feeling like I was running out of time. I was definitely closer to 30 than 20, and aside from a pretty good career, didn't feel like I had accomplished nearly what I should by that age. I was very upset when I turned 26.

By 27 I was still single, but was very happy with my single status. I had rediscovered what it was like to be me without a boyfriend and was thoroughly enjoying myself. I had backpacked around Europe and felt like the world was my oyster. I decided that I would celebrate every birthday that still started with a '2'.

28 was the first birthday that I celebrated with my now husband. I knew on our first date that previous July that I was going to marry him. I had reacquanted myself with community theater and was performing with quite a few local groups. I loved being on stage, I loved being with Brandon, and I loved 28.

Gosh.... a lot can happen in a year. By the time I turned 29, I had bought a home and was planning my wedding. We got pregnant on our honeymoon, so I also had a baby before I even turned the big 3-0.

So...31 really isn't a big deal. I still have a great job. I still have a cute husband (who is a GREAT father), we're working on renovating our house, I've got a beautiful, sassy daughter and I'm pregnant with our second child. I feel like my life is just where I want it.

A special Thanks to husby for taking me to The Melting Pot for my birthday. You made it very special. I love you.

Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout, Mommy?

I'm now entering my fourth month of pregnancy, walking boldly out of the first trimester, but morning sickness is still holding on strong. Morning sickness, afternoon nausea, and evening queasiness to be more accurate. I'm taking a lot of naps, because, quite frankly, sleeping is the only time I feel good. I feel like I've been missing out on Sophie, though and that makes me really sad. She's such a fun kid, but I struggle to play with her and keep down my lunch, leaving me with a very short wick. I've been feeling extra sentimental lately and am trying to get her to snuggle with me and kiss me any chance I get. Either she screams and claws at Daddy to save her or I get this look.....

The only times that she comes to me voluntarily are if I have food/drink or if I hold up my shirt so that she can see my belly button. She loves to poke me in the belly button (her version of tickle) and to kiss the baby aka my belly. I feel kind of cheap, but I'll take what I can get, I guess.

The doctor estimates that my nausea should be gone within the next two weeks and my energy should get a boost, too. Until then, I'm a stranger to my little girl :-( I miss you, Stinkerbell.

Easter

Easter...what do you give a thirteen month old for Easter. As I overhear mothers at the chiropractor debating which $50 Wii game the Easter Bunny will be bringing and cringe, I wonder....When did Easter become mini-Christmas?? But I also didn't want Easter to be candy-centered, especially so early in the game. She just ate cake for the first time...I don't want her to OD on robin's eggs. In my search for a happy medium that didn't cost more than $20, I found myself in the dollar bins at Michael's and am quite happy with the economical Easter compromise.

First the basket. Some leftover ribbon and a recycled gift basket from Sophie's birth were transformed quite nicely into her basket. I managed to find some fun, springy, practical toys that were in my price range.

Finally, Sophie woke up. Yes, I'm blessed with a baby that not only sleeps through the night, but that sleeps IN!! We introduced her to her Easter loot.
A snap bracelet in the shape of a happy flower (which she carried around ALL DAY)...

Her first pair of sunglasses....

A dapper duck (he's wearing suspenders).....

Not pictured were also a mini watering can and hand rake so that we can play in the dirt outside when it gets consistently nicer. And yes, I gave her a little bit of candy. I found a package of jelly beans that contained maybe 30 (she eats @ 1 a day) and one package of peeps (which she generally shares with mommy). For her first peep experience, we let her dive in on her own. When mommy gave her a bath later that day, I had to scrape yellow gooey sugar out of the rolls in her neck.

And our Easter grand total.....$12.50. This is a holiday I can definitely get on board with!!

Apparently the Easter bunny had made a stop at Grandma Judy's, too. When we got there for dinner, there was a handmade sock monkey waiting for Sophie. Daddy, appropriately (and unimaginatively) named him Sockers.

Here's a little rewind to show you how much can change in a year. This is last year's Easter family picture....
And this year's (with a family of 3.3)....

My family is very musical. EVERYONE of the Duncans (including our parents) can play a musical instrument and/or sing. The talent, we are finding is definitely hereditary, because it's seeping into the grandchildren as well. My nephews Nathan and Chad were even professional enough to play in the band at our wedding. Sophie will probably not be an exception. In addition to the fact that she sings constantly (mostly da,da,da) she is also showing an early affinity for percussion. Daddy's brother Ted also happens to have some musical talent and brought his snare drum down to the living room so he and Sophie could have a jam session. Honestly, Ted spent most of his time dodging drumsticks (apparently she's all about injuring her aunts and uncles), but Sophie had a blast.

We had a hard time convincing her that it didn't double as a seat when she needed to take a break.

And she ended the evening trying to figure out how Aunt Sue's camera works. She takes after her Daddy, too, after all :-)