Day 71: One more day until vacation officially began...here we are getting our weekly play time in with Carly's favorite friend, Holden
Day 72: 5pm hits and we are celebrating vacation! Dance party with Mr. Incredible in Tomorrowland!
Day 73: Spent the morning at EPCOT with the lovely Roeth family & watched the Cyclones get another victory that evening!
Day 74: Farmer's Market, Splash Pad fun & more Cyclone basketball
Day 75: Church as a family then back to Magic Kingdom where Luke had his first Dumbo ride
Day 76: Spent the morning at Fort Wilderness Campgrounds where Carly rode a pony named Cricket. She loved her ride & talks about Cricket all the time!
Day 77: Off to IOWA! Luke's first plane ride & Carly's first time flying in her own seat. The kiddos traveled fantastic & we couldn't have asked for a smoother trip. The layover was a bit chaotic as our family with a million things ventured through the O'Hare Airport, but we made it without any casualties! Carly was so excited to see Gramma & jumped into her arms. We had been telling her all day long she was going to Gramma & Grampa's house!
Day 78: Carly & Gramma got right to play while I headed out to get my hair done for the first time in 18 months. We completed our March Madness brackets & celebrated Uncle Nathan's birthday.
Day 79: Proof that Carly saw some snow...if we only knew what the next week was going to bring I probably wouldn't have run out to snap this photo. I got to spend much of the morning with my friend, Carley & Brian planted himself on the recliner to watch some basketball! We also saw cousins Lisa & Justin and enjoyed Great Plains Pizza with Uncle Dick & Aunt Crystal.
Day 80: Can you tell we love our Iowa State Cyclones? We got dressed in our cheering best & headed to Reiman Gardens for a look at the butterflies & some lovely pictures. We went out for frozen yogurt, took naps & watched basketball. Brian's Aunt Dawn & cousin Zachary stopped over to see us as well as his former care provider, Lyn. We were able to meet Chris & Nikki at Old Main for an hour after dinner before parting ways to watch a Cyclone victory!
Day 81: My first run outside & boy did my lungs feel it! I feel so bad about the terrible winter the North had this year! Brian's Aunt Paula stopped by in the morning & then it was "see ya laters" for us as we ventured across town to my folks' place. As we were parting ways, Carly looked at her grandparents & word-for-word said, "Thanks for playing with me so much." I think that may have been the most precious thing she'd ever said. The car ride over was a bit strange for little miss. She was really sad that we were leaving so I turned around to ask her if she wanted to go to Nana & Bapa's house. She gave me a look that said, "Mom, I never see both sets of grandparents in the same day...you can't be serious." She was quite confused, but replied, "I want to do that!" I was SO thrilled to see my siblings & introduce them to Luke. I hadn't seen Trey since July & Tiff since October. We've since vowed never to go that long without seeing one another! Trey was the first to steal Luke while Bapa took Carly into the kitchen for some candy (as if she hadn't already gotten enough of that...). Carly later got some play time in with Uncle Trey while Aunt Tiff became the baby whisperer. We just sat in the living room catching up that evening & of course, watching more basketball.
Day 82: We've reached Sunday! I always enjoy attending E.Free & seeing so many loved ones. Carly was a bit distraught that her classroom put a limit on the crackers she was allowed to eat, being that it's unlimited at our church. When I asked her how church was the first thing out of her mouth was, "crackers...no more crackers!" After church we took an updated family photo to include Luke, then later was met by Tiff's boyfriend, Luke, and my Grandma! We had SO much fun watching the Cyclones dance their way into the Sweet 16! The day didn't end there! We all gathered around for dinner then it was off the the Plex for some 3-on-3 basketball! Trey, Luke & I took on Dad, Brian & Tiff and won both games. I think it was thanks to my incredible defense which denied Tiff the ball. ;)
Day 83: Monday was a bit chill. My Mom drove Tiff up to Minneapolis the night before to beat this snow storm & my Dad was at work...so Brian, Trey & I hung out with the kiddos. Carley & I went for a walk & later that evening I was able to spend some quality time with some gals from college.
Day 84: Tuesday was more play time, lunch at Jeff's Pizza, a walk through the Memorial Union with a hello to my favorite job ever, a very fun visit to the Loecke household, dinner at El Azteca & some more time at G&G's for miss C.
Day 85: Brian was out the door before 4:30am to catch his flight back to Florida. I think it was a tie between me & Carly as to who had more tears about him leaving (especially in the middle of the night when Carly woke up screaming & Dida wasn't there for comfort her...). I got the kiddos up & out the door before 9am & took them to Altoona to see my cousins. There are 10 great-grankids on the Stubbs side of the family, 6 of which are 2 & under. We had four adults & 7 kiddos in Shayla's living room! If we lived closer I'm sure we would have many play dates!
Day 86: While Brian enjoyed 54 holes of golf in Celebration, the rest of his family was still in freezing cold Iowa...but in good company. ;) We enjoyed Hickory Park for lunch & more basketball that evening.
Day 87: First a long final walk with Carley (we attempted to walk the baby right out of her but were unsuccessful) and then a great way to end our vacation...spending it at Mimi's, of course! But not without a stop to see my 98-and-a-half-year-old great-grandma. We had lunch at her place & enjoyed hearing her play the piano...still by ear. The woman can't read music but can play just about any hymn! She may be the most fascinating person I know. Mimi prepared a Mexican-inspired feast for the Iowa Sate game to be played that evening, so we spent the day laughing & filling our bellies, as per usual. I got to see my Uncle & cousins & although we cheered loudly the Cyclone basketball season came to an end. By the end of the day Carly had the worst cold she's ever had & her cough was sounding like croup! Such a bummer the day before a flight! My brother had croup 7-8 times in his first few years of life, so my Mom graciously took the monitor that night so she could listen for labored breathing. She was up for a few hours in the night...poor kiddo!
Day 88: Up early to finish packing before heading to the airport. My bag weighed 56 pounds so it was tricky to spread 6 more pounds out between my back pack & duffel bag. I received a "flight delayed" text just as we were passing Ankeny...so we debated heading back to Ames but instead went to the Urbandale Library! Carly thought that was pretty fun! I then got another "flight delayed" text just as we were leaving the library, so it was out to lunch followed by frozen yogurt! I'm so glad I got the text before checking in! Phew! When we did finally arrive at the airport we walked up to the counter and heard, "You must be Tricia & Carly!" Ha! Looks like most of the other passengers weren't as lucky as us! Also...turns out Allegiant's bag weight max is 40 pounds...so there I was unpacking 10 MORE POUNDS of stuff. Ugh. If Allegiant wasn't the only airline that flew direct to Central Florida...I would not fly with them. Anyway...alls well that ends well...my Mom got an escort pass & was able to take us right to our gate where we saw some friends who helped buckle my car seat in. C & L both did great on the plane...all of us snoozing probably 90 minutes of the 2.5 hour flight. We were so happy to see daddy on the other end...even though Carly kept requesting to go to G&G's house. She continues to request her family members each day!
A big thank you to our family & friends who always welcome us to our home state with such love! We always look forward to being in Iowa!
I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE PANTS UNTIL I READ THIS BLOG JUST NOW! #imtheworst
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