A mini-vacation

Kevin ended up not having to do one of his overtime nights this past weekend so we decided to head up to Omaha for an overnight vacation.  Straight to this awesome Holiday Inn my friend Jaesi and her family had stayed at many many times before they moved.  It has an indoor splash play area as well as the big slide, regular pool, and hot tub.  The kids napped in the car on the way up and we hit the pool as soon as we checked in at 4:00!  Actually we were a half-hour early and we knew it but they let us check in anyway.

I didn't get a lot of pictures because my camera lens kept steaming up at the pool but I got a couple to show you what it's like.  There's a few more pictures on the hotel website, the link is above.

The play area has lots of sprinklers and dumping buckets and 2 slides along with the little fountains in the outer areas.  The kids were actually pretty timid of all the splashing in their faces at first but they settled into it the longer we were there.  Except for Carter who didn't like one bit of it.  He'd cry every single time I set him down.  But he also had a bit of a cough and I don't think he was feeling that great.  I think another time he'd like it much better.  He was content to be carried around on my hip though or to be in the big pool so we still had a good time.

And then there's the big slide!  The sign says you have to be 48" tall to go down it and Eli's about a foot shorter than that so he didn't get to go on it.  But the next morning when Kevin took the kids while Carter napped there weren't as many people and there was another little boy Eli's size that was going down the slide so Kevin let Eli try it too.  I guess he loved it and went down several times.  And Kevin took Hannah down with him.  So fun!  It's just a stairway that goes up to the top of the slide and then the slide itself goes outside the building (as pictured) and then enters back into the building and into the bottom shoot area, not a pool so it's pretty kid-friendly.

There's also a regular pool that has a circular area that branches off of it.  That circular area has a current that goes around and around.  With his life vest on Eli could actually just float around on his own without being held, Kevin right behind him.  Kinda fun.

After wearing the kids out in the pool for awhile we got changed into dry clothes and headed out to eat.  The Old Market area of Omaha is about 6 blocks south of our hotel so we headed there, eventually found a lot we could park in, and enjoyed dinner at a pizza restaurant.  While we were out we saw one of the horse and carriages parked at the roadside, so I pointed out "Cinderella's carriage" to Hannah and she was delighted!  =)

When we got back to our hotel room it was almost 8pm so we stayed up a little bit watching the busy city traffic down below (we were on the 3rd floor).  Finally at 8:30 we put Carter to bed and hung out in the bathroom giving Eli and Hannah a bath while Carter got settled.  Then we all went to bed.  Pretty much the only rooms I could find were 2 king beds, so we did that, and it was actually really nice.  Felt like we actually had SPACE in our room!  Plenty of room for the pack n play and more room if we'd needed to sleep kids on the floor.  But instead Kevin slept with Eli and I slept with Hannah and we had no issues!  I was wide-awake at every peep of a sound, making sure that one person didn't wake allll the others, but it was fine.  

In the morning we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel  buffet and Kevin took the kids back to the pool while Carter had his morning nap.  And then we checked out at 11am and headed out for a few errands in Omaha and then lunch and back home with VERY tired kids.

All in all, it was such a fun little getaway!   Something about staying in a hotel and enjoying the pool made it feel like we WENT somewhere!  =)  We'll definitely be going back sometime!  Of course Omaha also has CoCo Key (indoor) Water Resort on the other side of town, but that's huge and for now way too much for us.  Maybe when the kids can all swim we'll make it a treat!  But for now this was perfect!

And now Kevin's on nights again from now all through Outage which will run til at least the middle of April.  Family time is very cherished these days!

Unbelievable.

The weather that we had last week!  Picnics, park visits, and popsicles!  In FEBRUARY.  In NEBRASKA.  Ohhh we soaked it up.  I cracked a couple of the windows in the house for some fresh breeze and it was sooo amazing!

I think building with these extra bricks is going to be a favorite activity this summer!  =)

We saw these popsicles on Curious George or Sid the Science Kid or something and Eli kept talking about how wanted to make them.  So a couple mornings later when Carter and Hannah were still in bed Eli and I made these together.

And now. We're back to arctic temps in the teens.  Oh Spring, you never can come soon enough!!

Carter: 13 months

Wow, 13 months already?!  I do plan on continuing to say "He just turned 1" for quite awhile more though.  =)

Updates...

* He's fully walking so he's FINALLY not putting nasty stuff in his mouth all the time.

* He loves to tot around bringing me things.

* He can quickly stand back up from the floor without pulling up on something.

* I rearranged 2 of the kitchen cupboards so instead of Carter getting into all of my spice bottles he can get out our little plastic bowls and storage dishes.  And boy, does he!

* He loves books, but he wants to hold and explore it himself.
* He puts toy phones to his ear now.

* He still won't take to a sippy cup but he will need to soon because 2 of his 3 bottles have broken!  Probably because he just drops them down all the time!

* He likes to be cool-dude and hold his bottle with one hand now.

* We no longer need to warm his milk at all.

* The steps are gated off all the time now.

* He loves bath and will try to climb into the tub when he hears the water running.
* He loves to climb into Hannah's toddler bed and "play".

* Still naps 2x a day for 2 hrs and goes to bed at ~7:30pm.  But he's getting MUCH more flexible if we happen to stay somewhere much longer than his normal nap time would be.

* Our biggest battle right now is that he continuously stands in his high chair.  Earlier in the month he would shake his head NO as he did it.  Naughty boy!

* I'm still getting used to the increase in food consumption!  More eggs to scramble, more pancakes or french toast to fry, and more gallons of milk we go through!  He seriously eats equal if not more than Eli and Hannah do!

* He blows on his food after he sees me do it.

* He points to things he gets excited about-- ie when we on turn the TV he points and makes an excited Oo sound.

* Says mama, dadda, bye bye.  No real words especially but we can definitely see him trying.

* He's still rear facing in the car for quite awhile longer.

Little boy, you are changing and growing up so fast! 

Happy 3rd birthday, Hannah!

You are just so SO wonderful!!  Happy birthday! We love you!!!

love this.

Video: Carter's first steps

This video was taken about 3 weeks ago... Carter's first steps!  Not THE first steps but a glimpse of where he began.  NOW he's fully walking and can stand up from the floor quickly and everything!  It's AMAZING how fast he's changing!  It's time for a new video soon!

Hannah's 3rd Birthday {Party}!

We had Hannah's birthday party a week early since Kevin is working this weekend.  The gang came down (my parents, Kevin's parents, Nannie, Aunt Sheila, and Paul and Holly and Claire) and enjoyed a nice dinner, presents, and cake.  Since Hannah's been talking about Tinkerbell so much and wanting to be Tinkerbell when she grows up, I went with that as the theme of her party this year. 

very simple cake {for the most part}

Carter enjoying Hannah's birthday cards

Hannah's big present from us and the grandparents--her first doll house.  she loves it!  (Eli too!)

my sweet girl!

Another great day in our book of memories!!

Family Day: Children's Museum

Outage 2011 is coming up next month.  Kevin will be working nights for at least a month straight.  With him sleeping during the day even on his days off that makes it hard to much as a family at all. Except for those few days off, we don't even get any meals together.  SO we're trying to make the most of our days before then!  

Since we don't really need many more TOYS in this house, we used the kids' Christmas gift money to got a membership to the Lincoln Children's Museum.  The kids and I had been there a couple times last year but it's been quite awhile since then.  So we headed there for the first time as a family a few weeks ago.  I mostly stayed with Carter while Kevin took the older kids around.  I'd forgotten how much fun Carter would have there!  I brought the umbrella stroller for him, but that was definitely unneeded cuz he was down on the floor playing almost the whole time!  It's such a great museum for younger kids, we can't wait to round up some friends and head back soon while Daddy's sleeping during the day!