I scream, you scream, we all scream for...

ICE CREAM! Sydney's favorite treat. It's not very often that she gets to eat junk, but when the chance comes, she enjoys every last minute of it! Unfortunately she is not big enough to clean up after herself yet, so we get stuck with the not-so-fun part of dessert.

On the road again...

After a lengthy 9-day stint at what was once our home, we were packed up and homeless again. We lived with my sister-in-law and her family for pretty much the last three years, but now we are moving on - and they are selling their house too.

Donnie has an internship in Atlanta this summer with an accounting firm and so we had to move across the country for three months. We knew taking a 15-month-old on a 2000 mile road trip would not be easy, so we prepared by packing lots of candy and movies to entertain her. We drove about 8 hours the first day and she did wonderfully, but about 4 hours in to our 12-hour second-day adventure, she was a little uncomfortable. She never really cried or screamed, she just sort of whimpered. It was very sad to hear. We let her eat lots of suckers and cookies and tried to give her time out of her carseat whenever we stopped for gas, but finally we had to just stop for two hours and let her work it all out of her system.

Day three was the longest day of all and we spent most of it convincing Sydney to "Just go to sleep and it will be better." All-in-all she travelled well and never screamed, but we plan on taking five days or so to go back across the country so we can stop more and check things out.

After spending so many hours stuck in her car seat in a tightly packed car, Sydney finally found a way to be comfortable - she would scrunch up into a little ball and sleep. She looked so funny. She would pull her blanket over her head and conk out. She also worked on her flexibility. She kept putting her foot in her mouth and at one point, even used her foot to move hair out of her eyes. The only thing we will not let her do next time, is eat a Milano cookie. She had chocolate everyhere!

At home...

After nearly a month away, Sydney and I returned home to Donnie. It would have been nice to come home and relax our play - ya know, continue on with our vacation, but it was back to work.

We spent all day, every day packing to move. Everytime I packed something, Sydney would come right behind me and unpack it, so it took a lot longer than it should have! Finally we found something for her to play with - the sticky paper left over from a sheet of stamps.

When that wore off, we let her "pack" herself. She had a great time playing in one of the plastic bins!

After boxing everything up we moved it all into a PODS and we were ready to leave.

Sisters' Trip

For our Sisters' Trip this year we went to the Florida Keys. It was my first time to that part of Florida, so I was really excited. We flew into Miami and then rented a van and drove down to the Keys.

For future reference, volunteering to rent a car and drive six other grown women around Miami is not a good idea. It's one thing if you know where you're going, but when you are relying on the others and all are shouting directions at the same time...well, let's just say it's not a good idea.

Anyway, back to the trip...We found our way to the condo we rented and immediately wanted to hit the beach. Only it wasn't what I expected. Apparently the Keys are a bunch of rock islands and so the "beach" isn't much of a beach. The water was still really pretty though. We were pretty much alone at the condo though, so we took over the pool. The"complex" was pretty small. There were four buildings, each with only two condos. The condos were three stories each with a roof-top deck to hang out on. There was one other couple there. They owned one of the condos and were able to give us some tips on what to do, where to eat, and where to play.

We went to a nearby public beach one day and hung out there - mostly in floats in the water because the sand was a little rocky, but we spent mosst of our time at the pool. Unlike our last trip, no one was horribly sunburned and miserable, so it was a success.

We ate at home most of the time - didn't want to lose precious hours by the pool - but one night we ate at Island Grill. They had two outside dining areas, each with live music. Everyone had seafood - except for me and Jana. I had the best ribs ever!

Our last day in Florida we spent back in Miami at South Beach and then in Coconut Grove. Key Largo was very laid back and not a lot of traffic, but South Beach and the Grove were the complete opposite. It was cool to check out the different shops and restaurants, but I much prefer relaxing climates.

Easter

Sydney and I went to visit my side of the family for Easter this year. Donnie had another obligation and couldn't make the trip, so we had to go it alone. We normally do not travel for Easter, but our mission this time was twofold - 1. Celebrate Easter and collect lots of candy on the egg hunt and 2. Babysit for two weeks after the whole shindig.

One of my brothers (I have 3)is moving to Guam with his family. They will be there for about two years, and it is work related. He and his wife went over to finalize some plans and find a place to live. While they were gone, Sydney and I helped out with their 4 children. They are all older (the youngest is 6 and the oldest is 16) so it was a really easy assignment. We pretty much just provided taxi service and meals.

So on Easter all 30 of us congregated at my brother's house after Church for dinner and the egg hunt. It was nice to see everyone and to spend time with family. Sydney didn't "find" too many eggs though. Once she picked up her first two she refused to let them go and pick up more! She held on to those two little plastic eggs for close to an hour, but it seemed like all day! Some of her cousins pitched in and gave her a few eggs. Of course they were the eggs with the "yucky" candy!