Florida...

We planned a sort of impromptu trip to Florida to visit Jason's family and we're so glad we did!

We hadn't seen them in almost two years when we visited them right before we moved to Cali and Jason's grandpa "Pa" has had a few surgeries lately so we wanted to spend some time with him.

Traveling across the continental US basically corner to corner just plain takes long...not much we could do about that. We had a quick change of flights Thursday morning because we were supposed to connect through Houston when they were getting their crazy winter storm...so they rerouted us through Denver instead. We had to leave our house earlier than planned and it was a bit crazy getting out the door but it all worked out great. Denver had lots of snow and winter weather as well but they were much more adept at handling it than Houston!

We got in late Thursday night and Jason's dad was anxiously awaiting us..mainly to see this little girl!

We got our rental car, grabbed some Steak 'N Shake, and then made our way to Lakeland to get some sleep. Time changes are a big deal...for us...and especially for Riley so we were all out of whack with our schedule. I think we all got to sleep by 2 am Florida time that first night and slept until 10 or so.

We stayed with Jason's cousin Ryan and his sweet wife Amanda! They have a great house and we had plenty of room! Riley is very fond of their dog Toby and he's so sweet!

Riley and Toby ran around in the backyard and got some energy out!Our first day Jason went running around Lake Hollingsworth which is something he always enjoys doing while Riley chowed down on some Pop Tarts - I think she's only had these twice in her life but her Uncle Ryan hooked her up and she was so glad!

I may or may not have had some myself - I lived off these things in college and wish I could get away with eating them for breakfast every day now but that is just not the case!

After Jason got back we grabbed lunch at Chili's and then went to his Aunt Cindy's office to say hi!

Riley sat in the conference room and denied us all a raise...she's going to be one tough boss someday!

Then it was time to see GG and Pa...they couldn't wait to see Riley and GG always has all kinds of sweet treats for Riley! GG always says "she can have whatever she wants" and Riley learns how to take advantage right away! :)

GG had these cute little teapots and Riley loved serving everyone tea!

Pa loved playing with Riley and liked to get a rise out of her...he would yell "calm down" and she would yell it right back at him..it was hilarious!

It was during one of these times that we realized she just might have gotten some of her strong-willed personality from Pa!

Riley loves Joey their dog and always joined GG when it was time to take him on a walk...sometimes she kept wanting to walk him inside too!

Riley didn't get much of a nap that day and we headed back to Ryan and Amanda's for dinner...Riley ate her dinner and then crashed on the couch next to her Papa John. She NEVER falls asleep on the couch like this and I know he enjoyed getting to cuddle with a sleeping baby...she was so tired!

Saturday morning the guys all went to play golf so us girls...me, Riley, and Amanda...headed to get our nails done!

This was Riley's first mani/pedi in the salon and she did GREAT! She had the whole place going...she was talking to everyone and just working her charm! She sat so still and just did great!

She kept telling everyone her favorite color was pink...shocker! She also said to the girl painting her nails "I like your jacket...maybe my mommy could be a doctor and get a jacket too" I just love her to pieces!

The finished product...now the tough part...sitting still to dry!

My mom and I always got pedicures together (pre-Riley) and I have such fond memories of that...now I get to share that with her and when my mom is in town the three of us can get pedicures together!

I didn't pack any sandals for us girls and Riley wanted to show off her nails so we grabbed a yummy lunch and then headed to Target to get some sandals. That is the last time I go shoe shopping with Riley..haha! She is opinionated already and I'm not ready to give up control of her wardrobe. She had such a meltdown she almost didn't leave with any new shoes but she turned her act around and got some cute pink sandals!

She got a nap that day...thank the Lord! After her nap we headed to dinner with more family!

Riley loves Jason's cousin Sarah who is Gaby's age!

Who thought it would be a good idea to give my child ice cream this late in the evening?

She was a little difficult to get calmed down that night for bedtime...she was in her tent and we were in bed but she was so restless and kept chatting and turning all over the place...finally she gave in and went to sleep!

The next morning was an early one...Jason's dad really wanted us to come to the Salvation Army center that he works at in St Petersburg and attend church with him.

We enjoyed the services and it was great to meet everyone...he was especially proud to show Riley off!

After the first service he took her and when we finished talking with some of the people at church we came in to find this...he had set her up with chocolate milk and a huge donut and she was in heaven!

After church that morning we went to the beach to eat some good seafood!

Jason's dad introduced us to soft shell crab and it was delicious!

Jason is such a goofball!

Riley wanted to get in on the fun!

Riley still trying to make another silly face!

After lunch it was time to head to the beach!

Poor girl has seen snow much more recently so she yelled "snow" at first glance and wanted to make snowballs!

I just love this pic of her sweet painted hands and toes in the sand!

There were a ton of seagulls hanging around and she loves to chase birds. One family was feeding them french fries and kindly gave one to Riley to feed to the birds. They attacked her before she knew it and then she was freaked out!

Here she is yelling at the birds!

"Aaarrrggghhh"

She had an absolute blast playing in the water...I wish we could have stayed all day!

Papa John would bury her feet in the sand and she got a kick out of that!

Kicking and screaming we had to pull Riley out of the waves...it sure does stink when all the fun comes to an end. We headed back to Lakeland for the Super Bowl and to spend more time with family before we headed home!

Here's Riley with Sarah and Uncle Ken!

Jason's cousins Sarah and Carter...Riley had them wrapped around her finger!

The binky came out and it was time to cuddle with Amanda and Toby before bed. Yes she still sleeps with her binky.

It was a whirlwind trip but we were so glad we did it! It's always great to see family and we all had a blast!

Cheesin' It Up at Chuck E Cheese

What could be more exciting than a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese?

Probably not much in the mind of a 3 year old!

Riley was so excited to share Easton's 4th birthday with him...look at these two? So cute!

There were several families the Welch's invited and we all had a great time!

Jason had lots of fun playing games and taking Riley to ride on the rides! He also kept asking the waitress why the characters weren't the same from when we were kids...I had to remind him we weren't there for his birthday..hehe...after all he is just a kid at heart!

Me and my girl...cupcake time!

The boys...always bein' funny!

Happy Birthday Easton...you are such a special little guy!!!

Bouncing until Goodbye

The week after Jason got home was our last week to spend with the Hollender's and it was hard to see them go but we definitely had a blast the last week!

Patti and I spent the last year with one of our husbands being gone at almost all times...I think the boys were both home together for just a few weeks total.

One night that week Patti and I went out for a movie and coffee while the boys watched the kids and busted out the bouncy castle. We bought the bouncy castle for Riley's party and had planned to surprise her with it...however she found the box and the surprise was over!

We had dinner together several nights that week and that Saturday Braden came over to play all day so they could get their house all clean. Jason had gone to Lake Tahoe for the day to "try" snowboarding with his squadron so I had the kids all day and let them just play and bounce all day!

We made a fort on the couch and they had lots of fun crawling through it!

Then came time to play dress up...notice how Braden stayed as far away as possible and tried to read a book..sorry buddy!

First we had Belle...

then we had a rockin' Tinkerbell!

To wind the kids down before lunch they snuggled on the couch and watched some Thomas the Train!

Then their buddy Will came over to play!

Nicki and I got silly and tried on Riley's wigs...what a fun day!

We miss the Hollender's and Riley often asks about her best buddy Braden! I made the kids an alphabet photo book with pictures of all the fun they have had together and Riley likes to read it all the time! The advantage of military life is all the great friends you meet along the way but the con is having to say "bye" too soon and too often!

Heading to the Mountains...

It wasn't but a few days after Jason came home that we headed up to Lake Tahoe for our first trip this year! We were excited to put Riley on skis for the first time and she was stoked...she kept talking about "skiing in tahoe" with her "little skis" and "sticks"!

Jason usually does all the planning for our little trips and is a pro on Priceline but this time he wasn't as lucky as usual...due to Priceline throwing him some loops he managed to score a decent hotel at a great price...but we had to stay in Carson City, NV...on the OTHER side of Lake Tahoe! At first I was not too thrilled but we decided as long as we were together as a family that was all that mattered and it would be an adventure...and it was GREAT!

We left Friday afternoon, got all of our ski gear, and headed on our way. We like to eat at restaurants that Guy features on his show Diner, Drive-Ins, and Dives and we had one in Truckee called Burger Me that we wanted to try!

We made it just in time and Riley had already eaten dinner so she got a treat!

Jason and I have been on a pretty decent low carb kick but this was a night to splurge...and these burgers and sweet potato fries were totally worth it!

Luckily Lake Tahoe had not seen recent snow and there were no bad road conditions so the additional driving ended up not being bad at all...we got in late and called it a night and we were up bright and early the next morning to hit the slopes!

Who wouldn't love to drive to this every morning? The beauty of this place never gets old!

Riley was all decked out and ready for her first day of ski school!

My cutie pies!

Family Pic

Riley was totally excited about ski school...and they were excited about labeling every item she had on!

Once we dropped her off we hit the slopes for a bit before she headed out to ski...we were so excited to watch her!

The first day went pretty well...she sort of dropped out of school after a bit and we picked her up a little early...I think it was a lot for her to take in and we learned that she didn't do so well with us watching and interacting with her while she was at school! She is so used to simply playing in the snow and we all know that ski gear isn't the most comfortable so it was all a bit too much for her!

Here's some video from her first day!



All in all she still did well and she was zonked when we left!

Sunday morning we headed out early again for another day of ski school for Riley!

Day two proved to be much better...she got up on her skis and thanks to a sweet girl Amanda who worked with her very diligently Riley was up and skiing and had far fewer meltdowns than day one!

Here's some video of day 2...




After ski school we did some playing in the snow and had a snowball fight!

Then her Daddy took her on the magic carpet and the bunny slopes for a little bit of skiing again!

I think she was most excited about riding on the lift...sometimes she wanted to ride the lift but not ski down...we had to explain that in order to ride the lift she had to ski!!

I just love this pic of her and Jason riding on the lift together...so sweet!

We had a great weekend...Riley had her first official taste of skiing...and we had some awesome family time!

Daddy Home = Spoiled Riley

We were very fortunate to have Jason home and off work for 2 whole weeks after this deployment!

There is always transition when he comes home...he is sleeping all sorts of weird hours trying to get back on our time, we are changing our routine to include our whole family, and life slowly but surely gets back to some level of normalcy.

Those few weeks having him off was great and is always a sweet time. He gets to spend lots of time with Riley and we go to lunch and just do family things.

This time was no different than others in that it involved some special treats from Daddy! One day he and Riley ran lots of errands and she managed to get some cool new treats!

First off was a new doll that she named "Dolly Doll"...can't you tell this girl LOVES her Daddy!

The second treat was a big surprise to me too because I had no idea they would come with another living thing...however after a trip to Petsmart to "look" at the animals Riley came home with her first fish. I think it is a princess fish...what do you think?

Jason had to brace me when he told me what Riley named the fish...she named it "Cactus"...so sweet yet it took me awhile to get used to hearing the name "Cactus" all the time...it's definitely bittersweet but so glad that Cactus can forever be a part of our family.

Riley loves to feed her fish and if it weren't for Jason the fish wouldn't get fed. I have to say I was a little leery of the whole idea at first but once he showed me the pink aquarium and all the fun things to "decorate" it with I was in and we had so much fun putting it together!