FIRST FAMILY VACATION

Yay for a successful trip with a 13 month old!!  We had such a good time visiting friends and family in Dallas this weekend and returned home with no major malfunctions! 

I did however make some rookie mom mistakes:

 - like forgeting a jacket for my child in 30 degree weather - smooth move mom!!

-  forgetting to get a gift for the birthday party I was attending - luckily Dallas has an insane amount of shopping opportunities

-  not packing for the husband which means he forgets all important items (socks/underwear/ect) - thats not really a mistake....more of an example of dependency

......I'm sure there is more, but before I award myself with a big fat L on my forehead....I'll move on.

We got to celebrate Elise's 1st birthday! The party set up was ADORABLE!! My friend Jenn made most of the decor and she self-admitedly went a little overboard! However, this basically explains the origin of our friendship.  Overboard could be my middle name.....so well done, my friend Jenn!  I envy you, applaud you, and will probably copy most of your ideas in the future! :)

 We also got to visit the fish and shark infested Aquarium!!  In addition to RL's first trip, D and I had never been to a sea of wonder, therefore, amazement was shared among all.  RL has no fears so she explored everything and pranced all over the glass covered shark dwellings.

 She even touched a "Chocolate Chip Starfish".  Coolest named sea creature I have ever met (considering I have met so many)

All in all, a great little vacay.  I will leave you with this following EXTREMELY important  information...pins and needles?

Something I realized this weekend...

I have the ability to leave the house in a complete shambled state before going out of town (extremely important, right? Turn around now before it gets too heavy for you!).  I have always had a rule that the house must be pefectly straight before leaving for two or more days.  How good does it feel to come home to a clean house?  Its kind of like a little piece of extended vacation.

For this trip, it just didn't happen.  The last 28 minutes before hitting the road was spent trying to locate one itty bitty brown shoe.  Either the dog or the husband had hidden it under the couch cushion.  There just wasn't time to straighten the now even more destroyed living areas.  My heart pounded as I closed the door behind me and I battled a borderline panic attack for a good 2 hours of the trip.

Then I returned. Walked through the door frame and discovered that it was much messier than I even remembered.  And....I lived...