April

April was an adventure all by itself! We took a spring break road trip and it was a highlight of this year for sure! Enjoy the stories and pictures!

She loves a crown!

Abi got to eat at Burger King and enjoy the childhood joys of paper crowns and play places. The play place was only so much fun for me though because she got up in the top and wouldn't come down. I had to ask another older child to go help her down the slide.

Snuggling

When you're feeling the effects of morning sickness, it's nice to have a snuggle buddy.

Watching General Conference

This is the best way to watch General Conference - with hugs and honeydew melon. Haha!

While we ate out one night, the rain down poured and left puddles all over the parking lot. As we left, we just had to stop and play in the puddles! Abi loved it, we loved it! We did get honked at though. I'm sure the lady was well-meaning but her face said otherwise - it spoke very heavily of us not being good parents to let our child splash in the road - how dangerous! Yes. And you're only two once. What can we say? We have this adorable memory now! But most people who saw us were nice and smiled with a look that said, I wish I were two again. We know. Just do it! Don't hold back!


OUR EPIC ROAD TRIP: Our road trip took us to Washington DC, Raleigh, Atlanta, Orlando, Charleston, Raleigh and Home. Phew! It was awesome! Juli had never been on such a long road trip so that was fun all by itself. Plus, she got to see the whole east coast! We stopped in every state to buy a souvenir key chain that she could start collecting from all 50 states. Fun! We drove through eight states not counting New Jersey. Abi's state count is ridiculous now for how young she is! Good grief!

Cherry Blossoms in D.C.

Our first stop was Washington DC where the cherry blossoms were just finishing their beautiful blooming season. It was awesome! Abi wasn't super impressed with the museums but she loved the automobile section of the American History museum so she and I spent a long time sitting on an old Chicago subway train singing The Wheels on the Bus while James and Juli toured the museum (I have been several times and James never has since he's usually working when we go to DC).

We love this guy!

Abi found some statues she loved! This girl sure is interested in statues and mannequins!

Sharing a bed

We stayed in hotels most nights and usually with two queen beds. We tried to get Abi to sleep on the floor but she insisted on sleeping with us. It was probably the most challenging part of the trip but left us with sweet memories.

Not sure who's drinking this milk...

This was an awesome optical illusion we just had to take a picture of. :) By all accounts, it appears that Abi's cat stocking cap is drinking the milk from her cereal. Good fun!

Washington D.C. Temple

We spent Sunday afternoon at the temple eating a picnic lunch and touring the grounds and visitor's center. Abi's lively personality was a bit much for the Visitor's Center but she loved walking around the grounds and trying to sneak into the fountain. She never succeeded.

The tallest temple in the world

Tradition

This is the third spring in a row we will have visited the DC temple and each time, we've taken pictures of James throwing Abi in the air! It's a fun tradition that must end eventually since either we will move or Abi will outgrow James's ability to toss her... Hehe... We'll see how long this keeps going.

"Oh no, balloon!"

We had to find creative ways to entertain Abi while we drove and at the hotels. I brought some balloons and we played with one in the hotel until the static electricity stole it. Abi was quite concerned. The best part of this memory is that she was just starting to say, "Oh no, __fill-in-the-blank__!" with regularity (she says it all the time now by July) but it was still new. She had walked into a room in the Smithsonian museum where they had an army jeep suspended from the ceiling above us. Abi saw it and said, "Oh no, truck!" Haha, the balloon on the ceiling was just as troubling.

Adorable sleepers

Sometimes, Abi didn't take up too much space on the bed.

We took the scenic route leaving Virginia and let's just say it's gorgeous! We stopped by the homes of James Madison (Montpelier) and Thomas Jefferson (Monticello). I had studied Monticello at Brigham Young University as part of my major so this was a real thrill to see it in real life.

Dream garden

These pictures are of his gardens which are simply dreamy if you have the time to put in the effort. :) Someday...

Monticello - check!

Abi was, again, a bit too lively for the tour so James and I took the tour separately but it worked out fine. Abi got to walk the grounds and visit the underground cellars and pet the dogs. :) I'm so glad to check this off my bucket list! I love architecture and hope to someday own a home that has character and design.

Sleeping in a corner

We stayed with cousins one night on the going and returning trip and took no pictures! Sad. But here's how Abi looked when we woke up. Haha! Thanks, James and Shawna, for housing us! That was REALLY fun! We loved it!

Cheetohs and a nap!

We spent something like 40+ hours in the car all together on this trip so we got pretty good at napping along the way. Here's one of many shots we have of Abi sleeping with Cheetohs all over her face. Poor girl!

Don't try this at home

This is a dangerous shot I do not recommend doing at home but I'm glad we have it all the same. James was amazing and drove most of the way. He's my hero pretty much!

Abi loved the aquarium!

We went to the Atlanta Aquarium which is known for having the largest aquarium in the world! Abi LOVED this place! We got there just in time for the dolphin show and Abi was having such a wonderful time, it brought me to tears! It was like a piece of heaven where we were all so happy being with the people we loved, doing things we loved. So awesome!

Biggest aquarium

Here's the view window for the absolutely ginormous aquarium! I included this pic so you could see the people and understand the size a little.

Whale sharks!

But this picture is really what is so cool - this tank houses four whale sharks along with other amazingly huge animals!

The two cutest penguins in history

They had a cool penguin exhibit that is four feet off the ground so you can crawl around underneath the tank and pop up in various places to really get close to the penguins. Not sure how the penguins feel about it but we thought it was really neat!

Flying in the ocean!

Abi loves to be tossed!

James really wanted to visit the CDC Museum before we left Atlanta and it ended up being cooler than I thought though probably not something to plan a vacation around. If you happen to be there, then sure, but don't go to Atlanta just for this. The first half of the museum was a rotating exhibit about all the various ways to organize data visually. That was a really neat exhibit! We spent a good chunk of our time there! While many of the charts and graphs were more scientific in nature and even disease related (we were at the CDC after all), here are a few that I found interesting. You'll have to click to zoom in and see how awesome they are.

History of Sci-Fi

Right vs. Left

Lord of the Rings

Dance like a pirate!

We finally made it to Orlando which was important since James had a work meeting there (the whole purpose of the destination in the first place). We hadn't planned to do much in Orlando by way of theme parks because it's so expensive and it's the wrong time of life for us - toddler who doesn't do lines and 10-week pregnant mommy. So we decided to make up for it by going to the pirate dinner theater. It was fun and Abi was old to enjoy most of it. It just got hard because it was late. It went from 7:30 to 9 or maybe even later. I don't remember now. Abi loved the music though and the dancing and lights! So it was a win overall!

Dinner and a show

Too tired to care

Juli's parents surprised us by paying for Abi, Juli and I to go to Sea World for a day while James worked. It was a very nice gift and we loved it. Abi still needed her nap though! :)

Splashing at Sea World

While Juli ran around and rode the roller coasters, Abi and I visited the kids area and found a splash pad. She loved it! I loved watching her!

Hugs!

Remember Easter? Abi loves large cuddly costume animals! I tried to keep her from seeing this guy but she's too good at spotting things and so we had to stop and say hi. There weren't very many people in line but she still had to throw a tantrum and kick and scream the whole time until it was finally her turn to hug the penguin. Oh boy!

Fuzzy love!

It was so hard for her to focus on taking a picture rather than smothering the poor penguin with love. Haha! (SO glad we didn't go to Disney...)

Whale!

On our way out, Abi found a whale to take pictures with. This girl loves water! I wouldn't be surprised if she became a marine biologist one day and we could say it all started in Atlanta and Orlando when she was two years old!

Maybe toddlers should be creative consultants

As we were leaving a mall where we had dinner in Orlando, Abi found some chairs that she found interesting. I'm sorry if the designer of these chairs reads my blog but you should know, your designs need to be run by toddlers before going to print... Abi saw these and yelled, "Potty!!" Yeah, pretty much, hun.

Horse!

In Charleston, we met more cousins for ice cream! Again, no pictures - I'm apparently really lame. But thanks, Jackie and Brady, for meeting us there and recommending a yummy place for dinner! Abi got to get up close and personal with a horse pulling a carriage. When James showed me this picture, I got super concerned that she was in danger and he laughed and said that the horse drivers got concerned as well when they saw her so close. Apparently, (and obviously to me) the horse could and maybe even should have kicked her or something but he didn't. She was a lucky little horse-whisperer how got to take pictures that not many people get to take.

Overall, our road trip was amazing and exhausting! We loved it!

Still fits!

Abi is adorable sometimes!

Homemade American food

A blog post isn't publishable without some delicious food! Homemade! It doesn't get much better!

Honoring our honor student

James and I had the privilege of accompanying Juli to a special dinner to honor her and a bunch of other students whose grades were above a certain level. She sure worked very hard this year and earned her good grades!

Helping with laundry

Abi finally discovered the dryer. :) I know I have pictures of me like this...

Stuck in the clothes

I went shopping and Abi followed along. Suddenly I realized she had a hanger stuck in her hair. She was just strolling along with a bra stuck to her back. Poor girl. I rescued her.

It wasn't drugged - I promise!

More cute sleeping pictures. She barely finished her drink in time I think.

Crown!!

Helping with Eagle Scout project

Juli and I had to run errands without a toddler so Abi got to hang out with James while he helped with an Eagle Scout project. She helped too! Not sure if they counted her hours or not, but they sure should have! Look at this hard worker!

Big helper

Earned her lunch