And we are here (actually we got here on Sunday)....and we lived to tell about it.... ;)
The trip went better than I could have imagined - Brooklynn was amazing - especially on day 2 & 3. She was also pretty good on day 1 - just a big adjustment for her to sit in a car all day and not be running around like usual. It was also a change for her to actually sleep in her carseat - she usually stays awake for car rides - only occasionally falls asleep when she is completely exhausted. So day 1 was a change for her - but she still did really well considering. My car's DVD player finally got put to use after 3 years and it was a lifesaver...I think my brother and me are forever brainwashed with Dora, Diego, and The Wonder Pets....but hey - whatever worked to keep Brookie happy. We all know when Brookie is happy - everyone is happy (especially while confined in a car) hahahahaha.
The trip itself also went well - there were some long days. Day 1 took about 12 hours including our stops. Day 2 was about the same and Day 3 was a little shorter with only a 9.5 hour drive. We started each day on the road about 4:30am so there were some early wake up calls but it definitely made the day go by much faster. Day 3 we didnt get on the road until 9:30am and the day just dragged on forever.
All the long days were definitely worth it though - the weather here is AMAZING!!!! Its been about 70-75 degrees and partly sunny so it is a very welcomed break from the scorching heat we left behind in Houston. Then of course, seeing my family and friends after a year is definitely worth any drive. We are having a nice time visiting with everyone - especially since we are up here for an extended vacation this time - much more relaxed and laid back - not so rushed and crazy like my past trips have been. We are looking forward to when our family is all back together at the end of July when Andy & Andrew fly up to visit. We will get to spend a week all together up here being tourists before we have to start our drive back home.
Thats pretty much all that is going on for now. Here are a few pics from our drive up....enjoy!
This was at one of our reststops on Day 1 - Brooklynn wanted her turn to help drive.
So tomorrow is the BIG day....we are heading out on our road trip - all 1730 miles of it......and thats just to get up there. I'm hoping it goes well so when it comes time to do it all again in August to come home, we know what to expect.
Here is our theme song for our trip - it plays on Noggin all the time and Brookie starts dancing and giggling when she hears it...I thought it was pretty fitting.....Uncle Michael isn't as amused....lol.
I told him I'm going to download it and play it in the car every morning when we start out on our next part of the trip...hahaha....
Anyway...its been a busy week getting everything in order - spending way too much money on getting my car in tip top shape for the drive. It was a real eye opener what it costs to maintain a car - esp since I normally get rid of mine after a couple of years so I usually avoid having to replace all the tires and doing various maintenance things on it - I can't believe I have had my car for almost 3 years and I'm not itching to trade it in for something different....its a new record for me :)
This was also my first week since I left my job.....its been.....nice. I don't think its really sunk in yet - just feels like I am off on vacation. I'm guessing it wont hit me until we return in August from our trip.
Not much else has been going on - just packing and getting our stuff ready - its pretty difficult to know what to pack for this trip. Its been in the 60's in Toronto but it can get pretty hot and sticky too...so I have pretty much had to pack every season of clothing for Brookie - pants/ jackets/ long sleeves/ shorts/ tshirts/sandals/tennis shoes...you name it. It was tricky finding cooler weather clothes for her that still fit. Her pants that my mom had folded up and hemmed in the winter are going to have to be let down to be worn now. Good thing her clothes are small b/c we would have needed a U-Haul for her clothes otherwise hahaha.
We plan to load the car up tonight so that we can just get up and go in the morning - our plan is to leave tomorrow at 4am and make it to Memphis for the first overnight stop. Day 2 consists of driving from Memphis to Indianapolis and then Day 3 we arrive in Toronto sometime in the afternoon. I am really excited - its been a whole year since we were last there.....its sad that the time between each trip is getting longer and longer. I used to get up there many times a year - sometimes even for just a long weekend......can't imagine that now.
Anyway...here are some pics from the last few weeks. Brooklynn is in the stage now where she wants to copy EVERYTHING you do and be just like you...its really cute. Here she is looking like she is about to head out the door and go shopping with her purse in one hand and cell phone in the other and wearing my flip flops....lol.
Brooklynn has also gotten into playing with baby dolls - she loves carrying them around and acting like they are real babies - its so cute. Her favorite doll right now is her Cabbage Patch Kid - any doubt that this girl is mine?!?!?! hahaha
She likes to have her swaddled up to
carry around...
Here she is sitting on the floor rocking
back and forth trying to soothe her baby
and even says shhhhhh like a Mommy
She takes her on walks in her stroller...
She puts her baby down to nap and
then pats her on the back to get her
to go to sleep just like they do for her
at daycare....
I had to laugh when I saw how this pic
turned out - it reminds me of how moms
feel when their baby just won't stop
crying and they've tried everything...
Now it's time for Brookie to relax and
be 'babied' by her Mommy...
This girl LOVED corn on the cob - she
had a feast with it....
And finally - all proud that she ate like
a big girl like the rest of us....
Anyway....I need to go get all my stuff packed since it won't pack itself...so I better get going.... Not sure when I will get to post again but I am going to try so Andy can see his baby girl while she is out of town.....
One last thing....Andy - I know you read this blog too so I just wanted to thank you so much for letting me bring Brookie with me for such a long time. This trip is so important to me and means the world to me; knowing that I get to share our beautiful daughter with our family and friends in Toronto - you're amazing and I love you....we're gonna miss you and can't wait until you and Andrew fly up there at the end of July and visit everyone with us :)
Yeah - today was definitely one of THOSE days....the ones where you wish you could just run back to bed and start over.....and it wasn't even Monday!
Ok - warning you now - this is a loooooong rant.....
It all started normal enough - got up (more or less on time) got myself ready and then got Brooklynn ready. Grabbed everything that needed to go in the car, got her cup of milk for her drive to school and we were off. So far so good right? Well it was until that point. Then I proceeded to load everything into the car, chased down Brooklynn and got her strapped into her carseat and then I jump in and go to start my car. Turn my key....and guess what? NOTHING. Not a single thing happened - my car was D.E.A.D. So I had to call Andy and he had to come rescue us. He was already at work which is a good 45 mins away from our house - so that was kind of crappy. His plan was just to just give my car a jump and we'd deal with it later. Well turns out that wasn't going to happen. My car was parked in the garage - we could not get my car shifted into neutral so we couldn't push it out. So he ended up having to go buy a completely new battery for my car and switch it out. We were finally on our way - I only ended up being about 1.5hrs late for work - not bad considering. Now I am a little weary of my car - especially since we are going on a 3000 mile road trip in just a couple of weeks.......hopefully its all better now :)
Today was also my farewell party at work at 4pm. I'm still there for another week but about 1/2 of the office will be out next week on vacation so they wanted to do it where everyone could attend - so it was today. So my great plan was to leave the office around 2:30 and head to pick up Brooklynn and drive back down to the party with her. That started out just fine. Got her on time and was headed back down to the office. She had just finished drinking her cup of milk and I'm driving down the freeway in the left lane just listening to the music. Well all of a sudden Brooklynn made this awful noise and then IT happened - she threw up EVERYWHERE - and it wouldn't stop!!!! She was soaked from head to toe, the carseat was buried in it, it was all over the floor, the backs of the seats - everywhere. Im trying to stay calm to avoid her freaking out b/c she is about to lose it b/c she is terrified. Somehow I managed to exit right then and there and headed to the nearest parking lot - Target. I got out and was just trying to figure out what to do....I didn't have a thing to clean it up with - and I couldn't bring her into Target like that.....I ended up stripping her down to her diaper and wiping up what little I could with her dress - figured it was soaked anyway - whats a little more?? Then I remembered I brought a small diaper bag with a small container of wipes - so I started wiping her down one by one trying to get her cleaned up as much as I could. Then I worked on the carseat - OMG - it was a mess...so gross. The wipes weren't doing much at all. Plus you have to remember - before this all happened, my car was reading the outside temp as 106 degrees today - Not a good time for this to happen! So anyway - got the carseat cleaned up as much as I possibly could - and I had no choice but to put her back in it. I just put her in there with her diaper - just in case. I had to keep going to work - I couldn't just not go - since the party was in my honor....and no one was home so I couldn't take her home and I obviously couldn't take her back to daycare. So on we went to my work. For some reason before I picked her up at daycare today, I decided to swing by the house and get a change of clothes - just in case she was kinda funky from daycare.....that ended up being a lifesaver - she at least had clean clothes for the party. After all that - the party was a lot of fun and Brooklynn had a blast entertaining everyone - she's fine by the way - I just think something wasn't settling right in her tummy and the combination of this awful heat...poor baby.
So now we are just waiting to see if the carseat is salvageable. The directions on the cover say hand wash only - but I can 100% guarantee that hand washing would have never gotten it back to how it needed to be. I was willing to risk it - I threw the covers in the washing machine - they look fine - they are just hanging to dry now - question is - are we going to be able to figure it all out to get them back on??!?!?!
So thats the end to my lovely day - I am off to bed now to put this day behind me once and for all! Tomorrow has to be better right? TGIF tomorrow!!!!
Oh and just b/c I can't do a post without a picture or something - here is a video of Brooklynn last week as she is 'reading' one of her favorite books :)
The last few weeks have been a blur - its not that we have had much planned, but somehow the days just fly by and we seem to constantly be on the go. Not much new has been going on with us - probably why I haven't sat down to update the blog in a few weeks again. I think we are all in 'summer mode' and just kind of being lazy. It has been so unbeliveably hot for the last several weeks and it doesn't look like we are getting relief anytime soon - both in cooler temps and rain. We joke that we are in hibernation - I never thought I would be saying that at this time of year...hahaha! I used to joke about being in hibernation when I lived up in Toronto - but it was definitely during the winters. The only way we spend any amount of time outside lately is if we are swimming or later in the evening when the sun is setting - its the only way possible. Poor Brooklynn gets so hot so fast......her face turns so red within minutes of being outside. I think we are in the wrong climate for her.....but I've already told her that I've done real winters - and that just didn't work either. So I guess we will figure a way to work something out down here....lol.
So anyway...I'm counting down the days for multiple things. My last day of work is July 2nd so that is coming up fast - especially now that I spend each day training my replacement. It was kind of weird at first training someone to do MY job, but I quickly got over that. She's a sweet girl a couple years younger than me so we get along really well. I never realized how much work I actually did there until I had to break it down into individual things to teach. I knew I had a heavy workload but after being there for almost 8 years, it was routine. So she has definitely got her work cut out for her.
I'm also counting down the days until our summer trip. I think I have pretty much filled everyone in, but in case not, I am taking on my first road trip with Miss Brooklynn up to Toronto. I'm starting to worry it may have been too ambitious but I am still excited. We leave here on July 10th and get to Toronto on July 12th. On the way up we will have my brother Michael with us (he is actually flying in here today in about 6 hours). We are planning on staying in Toronto for a month! I am really excited about that - maybe it won't be so chaotic and rushed since we will have more time. Andy & Andrew will fly up on July 31st and visit up there with us for about a week before we drive back home together. Should defintely make for a fun road trip. And the biggest bonus is hopefully we can get a break from the Houston heat for a little bit...lol.
Anyway....thats pretty much it for now - so I'll just let you see what you came to see - pictures! lol :)
