Time away

I learned in February, while we were in Hawaii actually, that I would be attending a work conference in Florida over the week before Memorial Day.  We considered traveling as a family, but with the length of time it took Wren to adjust to the different time zone in Hawaii, and with how challenging flying was, we decided not to go that route.  My sister had recently moved to Las Vegas and I had yet to visit and meet my new nephew, Landon, so I decided to tack on a trip to see them since I would already be away from home.  I knew the trip would happen, but I blocked it from my mind until the week before when my co-workers started asking if I was looking forward to a week long conference on medical records software....  

I flew out on Friday morning for Vegas and left Wren and Jay for a whole week!  Grandma Sondy visited through Monday to help out (Jay had his hands full as Wren had stomach trouble all weekend) and Grandma Brynn watched Wren two days that week to save Jay from driving back and forth twice a day all week to daycare (50 minutes round trip).  

I had a great time visiting family and meeting little Landon - hard to believe Wren was ever that little! - and flew out Sunday night (ok, Monday morning at 1:30 AM - note: avoid Spirit Airlines!) for Fort Lauderdale.  The week was long for me and it was hard to be away from my family. I even had a breakdown Tuesday night and researched earlier flights home!  My family missed me, too, and when I flew in on Friday afternoon I drove straight to daycare to get my girl.  I envisioned an amazing reunion where Wren wouldn't stop hugging me.  Instead she went about her usual routine of putting on her shoes and grabbing her milk, but I knew she was excited about my return!  Jay and Wren had a good week of bonding though there were extra tantrums and some rough nights of troubled sleep.  

It took a few days to adjust back to the right time zone but it was so good to get back to our normal routine!  

How Wren spent her week without me:

Exploring the OSU campus

Being a good consumer at the Farmer's Market

Burning energy with Geneva!

She's starting to say POPCORN!

How I spent my time away:

On The Strip

Shmoozing with wax celebrities

Snuggling with Landon

Playing with Karsyn

Holding a baby kangaroo

Kissing snakes

Hey there!

Bear Cat - his name is Frito because he smells like corn chips.  Yes.  Really.

Sneaking out of conference sessions to go to the beach

18 months!!!

Believe it or not (it's hard for us to sometimes!) our little Wren girl is 18 months old!  (Well, almost 19 by the time I'm getting around to this post!) This girl is amazing every day. The things she says and does make us smile and laugh! 
At her 18 month check up Wren weighed 27 pounds, 2 ounces (93rd %) and is 33.5" tall (99th %).  She's getting a little leaner but she still has that healthy belly we love so much! 
Wren now has 15 teeth (canines!).  She has recently been introduced to pizza and is a big fan!  She loves popcorn, though she calls it "maki" (that's my guess on spelling) see video below.  She scurries about with her little run and gets into everything!  She locked me out of the house one day - though thankfully I had my keys in my pocket - so we have had to Wren-proof the garage door.  She loves being outside and can now get herself, though not gracefully, into her bike trailer and ask to go to the park.
We are very excited to share that on Sunday, April 28th, Wren used her potty for the first time!  All of our talk about the potty paid off!  We jumped and cheered and congratulated Wren for being such a big girl to use her potty.  No repeats yet!
Wren has been enjoying                                        Digging in the backyard

Making crafts at daycare

Playing in the bird bath

Rolling in our luscious grass

 Climbing up

 Climbing down

 Shopping!

Sliding!

Reinventing the somersault

And eating/renaming popcorn!

Easter!

This year we were very excited for Easter and couldn't wait to watch Wren hunt for eggs!  On Saturday we attended an egg hunt at a local Assisted Living Facility.  Kids of all ages were given the "Go" at the same time, so the eggs disappeared quickly.  But fortunately we found a little sitting room that was untouched and Wren had a chance!  We re-hid eggs a few times for her and Wren had a great time picking them up.  We put back a few eggs on our way out for kids arriving late.  Then we hid more eggs the next morning - Easter morning!  The Easter Bunny brought Wren a bouncy ball, ladybug bath mitt, tractor fork, a small pig, a wind-up toy and the book "Potty" - a great read and I highly recommend it.  Wren did an awesome job finding the 25 eggs we hid around the backyard and then telling us to "open it".   Later that day we went to Grandma Brynn's house for more egg finding fun.  Wren had a special area for egg hunting all to herself and she scurried back and forth across the grass to collect her loot.  We were so lucky to have great weather for Easter!

Matching tutus - thanks Grandma Sondy!

Reading her new animal book with Grandma Ramona

...the end

Our last few days went by in a blur!  On Tuesday Jay had a surf lesson in Hanalei Bay and took advantage of the surf board loan until the very last minute of his rental time.  He had a great time and looked like a pro!  We took walks and were lazy and soaked up our last glimpses of sun, pool, and ocean.  Wren finally warmed up to playing in the sand and we collected tiny shells as souvenirs.  For the record I have to share that we cloth diapered our entire trip.  Not one single disposable diaper!  This definitely added bulk to our luggage but we stayed on the same washing schedule as we do at home, so it all worked out for us.   

On our last morning we were busy cleaning up and packing before heading to the airport. During our trip Jay had lost his wallet :( We filed a police report and had the grounds crew of the condo on the lookout but no part of it ever turned up.  We were extra cautious with arriving early at the airport to make sure security would be smooth without ID and, fortunately, Jay had no troubles getting through since we had a few other items with his name on them.  The flight home was an hour shorter and there were far fewer tears, though we did have some stressful moments and many trips to the tiny airport bathroom just to get away from our seats.

We timed our trip to return on a Thursday night so we had an extended weekend to unpack and acclimate back to our normal time zone and life.  We had a great time and would definitely go again, now knowing a few more things we would like to do.  We highly recommend a visit to Kauai! 

 

Wren loved digging around in the cabinets of the condo, pulling out books, DVDs and manuals, and started a game of "52 pick-up" for me with the UNO cards she found (I'm pretty sure there's more than 52 cards in that deck!)

Thankfully we had more smiles than cries on the flight home.

Here are some photos from Sondy's camera from our trip:

Wren and Grandma Sondy having too much fun while Mommy and Daddy have their hiking day

Such a ham!  Enjoying a spoonful of peanut butter - she takes after her Mama!

The feast from Shrimp Station

Playing at the playground near the entrance to Princeville

We don't really let Wren play with electronics and I promise she can't turn on my phone.  But she certainly can mimic me! 

Queen's Bath