Family Beach Vacation Recap
Have you ever had one of those vacations that was your saving grace from complete breakdown? That was this vacation for me! I tend to be a list maker and put way too much on my plate. On top of working full-time, being a parent to a toddler, and being 6.5 months pregnant I have also gotten sick so many times this pregnancy. I'm sure it is from the combination of everything, but this trip saved my mind and body from a potential collapse. Seriously.
Sunday through Wednesday went a little something like this: Our day started around 7:30 with the ritual of the morning mad-dash to the beach; coffee, breakfast for all, changing into our suits and lathering up, packing the beach bags with snacks and other supplies, and then making our way down. I don't think we ever got there before 11 am even with all of our efforts, but we got really good at preparing to stay all day. We set up two canopies for shade for the kids...and the pregnant lady. We also got a blow up pool and filled it with a very small amount of water so they could stay cool playing with toys without us worrying about waves, etc. Under our tents, food was never sparse and there was a continuous flow of our version of beach tunes playing. We basically set up camp and I pretty much stayed parked in my beach chair, feet buried in the sand, for the majority of the week.
We did make it out to eat one night of the week. Lulu's is a must for any family visiting Gulf Shores. They have good drinks and a live band, and for the young kids they have sand and water to play in. A change of clothes is a good idea; within 5 minutes they were soaked!
Saturday we headed to Lafayette to stay the night. We made a pit stop at an antique shop in Alabama first, and then one more stop to visit Aunt Layla, in New Orleans. I used to visit New Orleans a few times a year, but we hadn't been since before I got pregnant the first time. It was a quick visit. Just enough to see the horses pulling the carriages, look at some beautiful art, listen to the brass bands, and enjoy a Cajun/Creole dinner. When your waiter asks, "what would you like dawlin'?" you know you are in New Orleans.
This week we are back to reality and feeling refreshed, and only slightly depressed that it all had to end. Now that my batteries have been recharged I am ready to tackle our projects that we need to finish before baby. 11 more weeks!
Nikki
Let's Take it Back to Mardi Gras Weekend
Who says pregnant girls can't have fun at Mardi Gras!? When the woman on our float found out I was pregnant she was shocked. I had been dancing to every song {we are a dancing family}, so she was sure that this baby was gonna come out ready to party and having a good time :). I reassured her that as soon as a song comes on Abram starts to shake or drop it like it's hot!
Our friends invited us to be on their float for a parade, in Baton Rouge, and it had been so long that there was no way we were turning it down. The theme was Flamingo Dynasty {flamingos are always a part of the theme}, so we rocked the camo and pink...and a couple beards. Our friend buys pool floats on sale at the end of the summer to throw...GENIUS...I have never seen this done and they get the crowds going wild!
Our parents split watching Abram back in our hometown, and my parents took him to the children's parade where he racked up the goodies. They were throwing balls like crazy and that happens to be his FAVORITE.THING.EVER and the only word he says, on repeat.
The weather was perfect and we got crawfish after the parade for the first time all season. It felt good to be back in Louisiana; we cannot wait to show our kids the rich traditions and culture of our home state!
Vacation Recap Part 2
He graduated on Friday night and we had a little celebration with our close family afterwards. I don't get to see them enough! I am so proud of my brother and so excited to see what he accomplishes during his college years and beyond. I know "uncle red" will be a great role model for Abram!
Our visit was very surreal. My parents live 5 minutes away from where the huge tornado hit, and my uncle's house was 1/4 mile away. On top of that, my aunt's sister was a teacher in Plaza Towers. She got a group of students into a closet and held the door shut while the tornado hovered above them. We drove around to look at the damage and I honestly cannot believe how destroyed the schools and a few other buildings were. It didn't really hit home until I saw people just getting to their houses to search for their belongings that survived. They were wearing gloves and climbing on top of the rubble.
I love blogging and reading blogs about home decor, crafts, and diy. When I came back to my house with all of the furnishings in their "place" and saw these blogs I love showing off their homes; it reinforced that all this stuff is just stuff. It can be taken in an instant! Please continue to pray for those hit in the tornado.
Sunday we headed to church with the fam. The church happened to be the #1 recovery center for the tornado, and my mom had been volunteering as families came in the first day to search for loved ones, get a warm meal, and a place to sleep. Their message was "I heart this city"...it was wonderful! It wasn't the perfect visit (somehow we gave 11 family members the stomach virus on Sunday), but it was good to be in a place I once called home and see how everyone comes together. I love my family!
Vacation Recap
We headed over there with one of my best friends and her family. They used to live there, so her 3 year old is a total beach bum. She also has an 8 month old that will be Abram's best friend...he just doesn't know it yet. We brought a tent and pack-n-play to the beach {yes we were those people}, and it helped us to contain the little ones and stay out there ALL day without getting too hot.
Abram LOVED the sand. Within the first hour he managed to face plant right into the sand and come up with a smile. The water will take some getting used to....
Most of our time was spent relaxing at the beach, but we did manage to make it out to Lulu's to listen to the live music and go to the zoo.
It was a fantastic trip until about 10 minutes into our 9 hour drive home when we had to pull to the side of the road for me to throw up. Yup folks, I had a stomach virus for all NINE hours. An hour later Matt got the aches, chills, and fever along-side me and we moaned the whole.way.home! Luckily, it was a 24 hour virus.
Part 2 up next...
One Last Getaway
28 Weeks
Sleep: good
Belly Button in or out? It is slowly flattening out
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy because of my mom helping me out! :)
17 Weeks
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: great
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Chicaaago...Now I'm Hungry
After a LOOONGG delay on the plane (went from a 2.5 hour flight to a 7), we arrived late Sunday night and found dinner at Mother Hubbard's, on Hubbard street...which was a street with a lot of action.
Monday was rainy so after Matt got off we walked around to some stores...I pre-gamed at H&M to get ready for the next day...and we ate Chicago style pizza at Lou Malnati's...AMAZING! They have a gluten-free pizza and (in the words of Erika)...you'll never guess what the crust is made of!?...Italian Sausage...it's absurd! :)
Tuesday, I hit the streets/stores while Matt was working. Two stores were enough for me to do all the damage I could do (Marshall's and H&M). I stocked up on dresses to wear when my belly gets nice and round. That evening we did an architectural boat tour through the Chicago River and walked around the Navy Pier. We capped off the night fulfilling another one of Matt's requests...steak...at Weber grill (they actually cook on the round Weber grills)...delish!
Wednesday, we saw the sun set at the Sears tower (now called the Willis). 103 stories up there are all-glass lookouts that jut out of the building. Matt cautiously walked out to get some pictures...I am TERRIFIED of heights, so the only way there was gonna be a picture of my feet on the glass was for Matt to walk me out backwards while I looked straight INTO the building. I accidentally looked down at the end and jumped off QUICKLY...makes me sweat just thinking about it.
Thursday, we were so tired and cold (and I was having a preggo diva attitude :( ) so we just walked around Chicago and went to Millenium Park to see the Bean, the festival area, and fountain...apparently we missed out on the good fountain. We capped off the night at Rockit which we were told has the best burger in the city...Matt agreed...I had a salad (stupid glutens).
Friday, we headed over to Wrigley field on the subway. Neither of us our huge baseball fans, but we figured the history of that stadium made it worth seeing. We went on a tour through the field, locker rooms, press box, etc.
Friday night we headed to the suburbs to stay with Erika and Wayne for the weekend. I must have been too busy talking to take any pics because I have zero with them and the kids. In summary; I got my virgin mojito, we watched horse races at the racetrack (our first time ever...it was cool), we shopped, and hung out with one of the coolest couples and couple of kids around. Sunday, right before we left left managed to meet my Aunt and Uncle for lunch (they had just flown into Chicago).
The Windy City
In a couple of weeks Matt and I will be heading to Chicago for a work visit. To clarify, Matt will be going for work and I will try and be the ultimate tourist all by myself eekk. He has training for the week with a company paid flight, hotel stay, and meals so it was just too good to pass up. We are also going to be visiting some of our favorite people and staying with them an extra weekend.
- Bring my camera and find cool architecture to take pics of
- shopping...H&M anyone?
- Erika said it is a really active city, so I plan on bringing my running shoes and finding the hot spots to go run with the locals
Our House's Mascot
This girl!
Well it was not really purchased by me. If you've read some of my posts you know I have a secret obsession with gnomes and random objects with character, I hate my HOA, and I love my Tigers. We were in an LSU store in Baton Rouge this fall looking for cool shirts, and I saw something I had to have! The conversation went something like this...
Nikki: "Matt, look at these awesome LSU gnomes...it looks so cute and would totally tick off the HOA"
Matt: "Haha...oh wait you are serious? Oh lord..."
Nikki: texted about 4 different ones to Debbie Faye
Debbie: "hahaha...love them, you should get one!" (she knows me so well)
Nikki: "Well I want this shirt too, so not right now" :(
2 months later: An LSU gnome arrived on my front porch...from Debbie (Merry Christmas) :)
I accidentally opened the box which I wasn't supposed to do until Christmas, so I re-wrapped it to give to Matt on Christmas. He opened it and just started laughing...his mom said, "There has to be a story with this!"
Matt placed the gnome on our mantel, next to santa, and it has been there ever since. It may just have to go in the front yard, next to our LSU flag for the weekend....take that HOA!
We leave tomorrow to head to New Orleans...20 friends in a house near Bourbon, with the Saints and Lsu games thrown in the mix...this should be interesting. Matt had a free ticket to the Championship game, but it fell through...typical :/. We might just grab our favorite drinks and head to the house to watch the game so we don't have to stand at a crowded bar the whole time. Bijou will be staying at a kennel...this girl is taking no chances! Have a great weekend and Geaux Tigers!
Cruisin' to Cozumel
After a rough month-and-a-half, Matt and I were more than happy to take a short cruise to Cozumel given to us as an early Christmas gift by my Hubbard grandparents.
We left Thursday at around noon (after staying up all night to build my model) and boarded the ship at 4 pm. This was Matt's first cruise so I quickly introduced to the large buffet and then we found our room. That night we relaxed and caught up on our sleep.
Friday we got a late start, but were able to work out and pool-it for half of the day. Dolled up for formal night, we headed to the dining room with our unsocial table-mates. Afterwards we played some blackjack (I won), saw a comedy show, and hit up the dance club on the ship where I lead the cupid shuffle (yes Ashtyn I actually lead a line dance) and we danced 'til we dropped since we knew Matt would not be able to for a while.
Viva la Mexico...Saturday was the day we spent in Cozumel. We started off with an excursion on a catamaran that took us to a snorkeling spot and then a beach for an hour. The fish were beautiful and the water was an AMAZING blue that was so clear. After that we went with my parent's approach to traveling, we grabbed a cab and hit up a nearby beach that was connected to a Carlos and Charlies (with hopes of catching the LSU game on one of their t.v.s). We ate refreshing guacamole, cheesy nachos, and drank fruity drinks while watching the tide roll in. We also enjoyed some time in the perfect October ocean...paradise. Unfortunately, the game wasn't on...but by the time we got back to the boat we were able to catch the second half and watch LSU lose.
We accidentally slept most of Saturday evening (missing dinner), but I was tired and on vacation so it was worth it.
Refreshed and reinvigorated, we woke early Sunday to get as much sun on that last day as we could. We pooled it, rode the slides, and drank tons of fruity drinks (or at least I did). We met Tulsa people and right when leaving met four people from Austin who graciously waited for the sunset to turn orange to take our picture as per Matt's request. That night we didn't feel like going to dinner with the non-talkers who appeared to be everything we never want to be, so the Austinites invited us to their table. Of course, not one of the four is originally from Austin (like most people there), but they were very cool and around our age. They also helped me convince Matt to move there in a couple years ( I LOVE that place). After dinner we all went to another comedy show and then gambled for a few hours. I really do think if you are gambling to have fun and not to win money, that is when you get lucky...maybe it is the positive vibes of the good company. So finally we made friends on the last night (we forgot to take any pics with them)
, but we did get their e-mail. We received an e-mail from them today with the picture we took of them, their number, and an invite to Austin! Love making new friends!
Can We Stay on Our Honeymoon, Please?
Our honeymoon was the most needed vacation I have ever taken and was also one of the best! We left the hotel at 3:30 on Sunday morning...we had just enough time to shower and take a short nap. We slept on the first flight and the second watched the movie, "Valentines Day" with the other 90% of the plane that were honeymooners. Most of the girls wore their "bride" shirts or sun dresses and some guys had their "groom" shirts. All had their shiny, newly polished rings on that glistened in the light, freshly manicured nails, and a newlywed glow. Matt and I had bags under our eyes and no rings (thought it was a smart idea when going to the ocean), but we did have pretty nails. ;)
We arrived on St. Lucia and were greeted by the rain and gray skies due to the recent tropical storm. We didn't mind, we just wanted to sleep...but this didn't happen until we rode an hour and a half on very windy roads...many got car sick while Matt slept haha. We were greeted by friendly staff at Ti Kaye who gave us welcome leis made out of banana leaves and a welcome rum punch in a wooden cup. That night we ate dinner at the resort (the only available place to eat at night, averaging 100 dollars a dinner).
Our bungalow was amazing with a gorgeous view of the ocean that we would never get sick of looking at. It was complete with french doors that would open to the porch that had a hammock and private plunge pool...that connected to our outdoor shower from which we could look at the ocean. Flowers covered our bed that we quickly brushed off and fell like zombies into until about noon the next day.
We woke to partly cloudy skies and took the chance to relax on the beach...only 160 steps down from the resort. (better than the boat/car ride at other resorts) We ate at the beach bar and grill and took the day to kayak to private beaches and lay around.
On Tuesday, we took a 30 minute water taxi ride to the capital city of St. Lucia, the Castries. While there we had the opportunity visit the craft market, a local cafe for some juice, a 400 year old tree, the city's cathedral, some duty free shops, and see an animation about the island's history.We finally found out that the island was fought over by the french and british until the 70's, when they got their independence...just in time for a hurricane to hit and destroy many homes; leaving the country with little money to support itself. This did explain the mixture of creole food and language with british-english and driving on the left side of the road. That night we ate our cold lunch left-overs from the mini-fridge in order to save money for activities and relax on our porch...
Viva Las Vegas
What do you think of when someone says "Las Vegas"?
One might think scandalous, bad decisions, gambling, heavy drinking, and "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas"
My family thinks..."Yay!...A family vacation!" haha. This vacation might involve some of the above mentioned attributes, but with the family there...what happens in Vegas definitely does not stay in Vegas.
Kristen and I don't mind going with our parents because typically they will just go wherever to continue to explore parts of Vegas they never knew (I mean hey...they are good looking enough to get in anywhere)... I know they are reading this ;)
We joined each other in OKC on the flight to Vegas and most began having fun on the plane.
That night we ate at Tahiti Joe's at our Condo...def. do not recommend this place unless you want to good entertainment from the sing along piano. In our decision making time on where to go that night, we ended up falling asleep...we were just getting rested for the rest of the trip...a whole week.
The condo had a nice pool that we tried to spend some time at each day, especially while the guys played golf two days in a row. Thursday night we went to the Hard Rock and played around...sort of like us kids did when we were young...there was just some gambling added.
Friday, my dad was tired so he went to bed and the rest of us desparately headed out to find the carousel bar. We were so exhausted that we had to stop to get a coffee at the Venetian which gave us a chance to see it as well. Although the bar no longer spins, the band playing was AMAZING. They did all the popular club songs, and sounded really good. They had so much energy and never took a break which woke most of us up and made it a fun night.
Saturday, after pooling and golfing, we decided to try and meet up with Matt's cousin from California. He was taking us out to Vegas's hottest new club called, XS, at The Wynn. Little did we know that in Vegas you must get to the club early to get stamped and then come back because the line is so long you may never get in if you go past 10:30. We stood in line for an hour and then (because we are from smaller places and NEVER wait in line) left, cursing this stupid club. We tried to make it a good night still, but for most the deed had been done so we left with the tires squeeling on the mini-van (literally).
Sunday, my parents, Matt, and I went to the Hoover Dam because Matt had never seen it. We saw the dam bridge being built and the dam tunnels and even went into the dam museum. That night we went to a horrific comedy show that I felt so bad at I made myself sympathy laugh...never take an offer of free tickets! Then we went to New York New York and clubbed a little and gambled.
The next morning, my mom left because of work stress and worrying about Jake starting High School. We went to the lazy river and then found out that XS was open and we decided that just because we couldn't get in before, we HAD to see this club that was so "awesome"! We went to downtown Vegas and learned how to play craps from my dad and ate an amazing Italian meal and then headed to the club around 9:30. We got in!...and it was a really nice club with expensive, weak drinks (as one might imagine). I just danced the night away!
Tuesday was our last day in Vegas so we pooled it, went to Cirque de Soleil Mystere, and then my dad, Matt, and I went downtown to lose all of our money at craps and blackjack until 3 am...I am officially addicted.
It was a fantastic trip and no one missed any flights. Now back to reality with school starting this past Monday. I am a little overwhelmed beacuse our design build is still not finished so we will be working Fridays on top of our toher classes until it is finished. We also have 16 more students added to the 14 old...making it a total of 30 people in a studio that normally holds 20. I feel like I have to prove myself and meet new people all over again (like I am at a new school AGAIN). I figure God wouldn't put me in this situation if I wouldn't learn or gain something from it so I am just taking it one day at a time. Until next time...
Niks
