Okoboji 2012

A lakside family photo! 

Last week was our annual trip to Lake Okoboji, Iowa, for a week long family vacation with all of my immediate family!  The trip is a tradition, and shortly after arriving this year we discovered it was our 25th trip.  I'm 28, so we've only missed 3 years in my entire lifetime.  One year we went to Disney World, one year we did an extended weekend trip to Kansas City, and one year we got married!  I think it's pretty special to continue a tradition like this with all of us and now our own kids.  I hope we have another 25 years ahead of us!  All these pictures are from my phone...this week has gotten away from me, and I haven't gotten a chance to download the others on my camera!

All dressed up for dinner...the little diva was twirling!

As always, we make a big shopping trip on the first day to gather all the "necessities" for a week at the lake.  Now with the kids, it is easier & less-stressful for everyone to make more meals at the house versus fighting the heat and crowds at the local restaurants.  We still did a few meals out to give Mom a break and satisfy everyone's cravings for the Dry Dock breakfast (with Blood Mary's and beer chasers) and Tweeter's.  The rest of the time we ate at home having everything from BBQ Ribs to Filet Mignon to Honey BBQ Chicken Wings!  We ate better than anyone on that lake some nights!

A post-dinner sunset cruise!  Doesn't get much better than this!

We never know what to expect out of the kids, and this year was no exception!  Thankfully, we made it through without any major illnesses or trips to the ER.  Delaney's only major issue was not wanting to sleep.  We had to lay down in our bed next to hear for at least an hour at every naptime and bedtime just to get her to calm down enough to fall asleep.  She was also the family alarm clock every day, graciously waking EVERYONE up before 7 most days.  Chase was an early riser too, but he isn't nearly as vocal as Delaney in the mornings! 

The kid's first "lake swim"!

The kids both did great with the boat, water, and lake.  They tolerated their life jackets like champs in the suppressing heat!  I really don't remember either of them complaining about them at all.  Delaney loved the boat rides, she just had trouble understanding that she needed to stay in one spot when the boat was moving!  Chase loved the boat too, he got to dance with his Mommy and drive with his Daddy.  He even managed to squeeze in a few naps on the boat.  He looked some completely peaceful and uncomfortable passed out in his life jacket!  We even got the kids out in the lake for a little swim time.  Neither one of them liked to "free float" in their life jackets, but they both had a ball in the arms of Mommy & Daddy!

Chase needed a koozie for his drink, just like everyone else!  He thought he was pretty cool!

 It's hard to bring the entire family all under one roof for an entire week, so we really cherish this time.  This year was especially bittersweet since Jess & Nick are now officially living in Iowa.  The times when all of us can be together will probably be fewer and farther in between, so it was nice to spend some serious quality time with everyone!  Next year, Nick will have vacation and won't be commuting for vacation, so it will be even better!  Thanks Mom & Dad for starting & keeping the tradition alive, and thanks to my siblings for going with us!  We had a wonderful time and are already starting the countdown to next year's trip!

The kids had a lot of fun this night playing with Nick and a laundry basket!

Vancouver

A view of the Vancouver skyline from the Harbor!

We left last Friday on our trip to Vancouver!  I didn't do the best job of documenting everything, but I did get some pretty amazing pictures of the city!  I don't have hardly any pictures of just the two of us.  By the time we got all dressed up & ready for dinner every night, taking a picture was the last thing on my mind! 

Every night we had a four course (sometimes more) delicious meal, with beautiful table settings & floral arrangements.  This was from our last dinner at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and it's the only one I thought to take a picture of!  Every night was a new color scheme with amazing flowers! 

Here's a view from our room in the Art Gallery where we had dinner the last night! 

Another picture of our tables at the Art Gallery!  Isn't it gorgeous! 

If you know me at all, you know flying is not my cup of tea!  However, we had four flights total to get there and back, and they were all about a smooth as you could get!  We traveled home with a priest, so I figured we were in good hands!  I even managed to squeeze in a few small, restless naps along the way!

Another view from the top floor of the Art Gallery!

This is a garden just behind the  Art Gallery!

Another view from the Art Gallery balcony!

We had many adventures planned before we ever got there.  One day it was a Sea Safari.  They took us out in these inflatable boats and toured around Howe Sound.  We saw a lot of the native wildlife including sea lions, bald eagles, and many other birds!  Sadly, we didn't get to see any whales!  The Sea Safari was really a smooth boat ride that allowed us to get up close and personal with nature & it's creatures! 

This particular sea lion liked to have his picture taken!

A group of sea lions hanging out on one of the rocky islands!

More sea lions!

This is a fresh water waterfall that flows into the Howe Sound!  It was beautiful! 

Another sea lion

The same waterfall

A shot of Whistler, where the ski/snow events from the 2010 Olympics took place!

This is a $600 million highway that was build in preparation of the 2010 Olympics that links Vancouver to Whistler mountain!  The locals all raved about the improvements that Olympics brought to their city!

The clouds rolled over the mountains into the sound!  It was so peaceful!

We found a pair of bald eagles along our tour!  They say they mate for life!

Here's the only picture of the two of us on the trip!  We had to wear these huge flotation suits for the sea safari!  Aren't we glamorous! 

One of our other adventures was a mountain biking tour of Stanley Park, which is a huge park/forest right in the middle of the city!   Neither one of us had been on a actual bike (that wasn't stationary) in MANY years, so it took us a little while to get comfortable.  We thought it would be about 4 miles, but it turns out by the time we were done it was more like 10!  My butt is still sore!  It was a great way to see the city though! 

Totem poles at the entrance to Stanley Park!

There was a group of totem poles at the entrance of Stanley Park.  This is just one of them!

Craig taking in the view at one of our stops on our bike ride!

Some of the foliage on Beaver Lake which is right in the middle of the forest in Stanley Park!

The Forest in Stanley Park

More trees!

A beaver dam in the middle of Beaver Lake!

Here's a reference picture that shows the size of some of these trees!  This one was obviously one of the biggest, and they say it is thousands of year old!

We arrived in Vancouver early on Friday, so we had some time to kill before our first official event.  We had hear the Vancouver Aquarium was a must-see, so we headed that way!  It was pretty neat to see, but I have to say we are pretty spoiled with the Henry Doorly Zoo right here in our own backyard!

The seawall is a big deal out there...it's a huge walking/biking path that runs all along the shore.  We walked down it on our way to the aquarium, and this is one of the many views we got of the city!

A couple of the little penguins that live at the Aquarium!

Dolphins!

Beluga whales are a big draw at the Aquarium.  Here's a picture I took of one of them through the glass of the underground viewing area.  They were so graceful for being some of the biggest creatures at the aquarium!

I also didn't think to take any pictures of our hotel room!  It was amazing!  We stayed at the Four Seasons in downtown Vancouver, and it was crazy!  The service was wonderful, the rooms were big and beautiful, and the view was great! I think we had house keeping in our rooms every time we left, we had new towels, empty trash cans, etc. 

This is a rooftop of a nearby building to our hotel!  Craig thought it was cool!

Another view from our hotel room! 

I have to tell you about the food!  We had some amazing food while we were there!  Obviously, the seafood was amazing!  We had salmon, sushi, scallop ceviche, jellyfish, and so much more!  I tried to be as adventurous as I could!  We also had about 4 desserts every night!  I actually tried creme brulee for the first time, and it was to die for!   One night after a five course meal, they pedaled in a gelato cart on wheels.  So, along with our creme brulee, citrus salad, and strawberry rhubarb shortcake, we had gelato!  I don't think we had anything that wasn't amazing!  The amazing part it somehow, miraculously I didn't gain a pound while I was gone!  I credit that to being on the go the entire time! 

The flowers around the city were gorgeous!  Many of them were the same type of flowers we have hear, but the environment out there means they all had HUGE blossoms!  It was amazing!

We are all looking forward to the weekend for some quality family time and some rest!  What an amazing gift we were given! I'm sure we'll never be able to take a trip like that again, so we are beyond grateful! 

A Weekend Away...

We decided to escape from the stresses of home and invited ourselves on a trip to Kansas City with my parents. We left on Sunday and came home this afternoon. It was a quick trip, but it was fabulous. Delaney handled everything like a rock star considering everything we did. She even managed to sleep all night last night, which was a huge victory as you'll remember from my previous post about Thanksgiving. She's had a little trouble sleeping away from home. We did a lot of shopping down there! It's so nice to have some access to stores that we don't have so close to home. We also ate a lot of yummy food...we even dined at the same restaurant as Mike Rowe last night! If you don't know who he is, look him up. Craig introduced himself to him, and offered to let Mike take care of the "dirty job" that is changing Delaney! Anyway, we're all pretty tired tonight, but glad to be home after a great few days in the big city! Here are some pictures from the trip!

Here she is all bright and shiny Sunday morning, locked and ready to go!

Practicing her "so big"/"touchdown" moves with Grandpa as we cheer on the Chiefs!

Modeling her new Santa hat

This is when she decided 3 AM was a good time to play on Sunday night/Monday morning!

More Santa hat fun

Here Mom, you wear it...

Zzzz...too much shopping fun!

Hanging with Mom gearing up for more fun!

On the way home...worn out!

Okoboji 2010

After a week of being back to "normal" and getting into the swing of things, I decided I should tell you about our trip to Okoboji this year. I was so excited to take Delaney! I have been going up to Okoboji since I was a baby too, virtually every summer with just a couple exceptions! I hope that Delaney will have the opportunity to do this too and love it up there as much as I do!

We had perfect weather the entire time we were there. We got up there the morning after a serious storm that caused major damage to boats, docks, and trees. I'm so glad we missed that! It was warm enough to be out on the water and still be comfortable pretty much every day. It rained a few times, but always at night so it didn't change any of our plans. We went so many places and did so many things...it was a great getaway after a crazy few months at home, but man it is hard to travel and plan for a trip like this with a little one! We traveled with my parents, siblings, and my aunt & uncle and cousins. We had four vehicles packed to the top!


Delaney was spoiled the entire time by her grandparents and aunt and uncles. She loved all the attention, and seems to be a little disappointed when it's just us at home! She got to do a lot of shopping, go on a couple boat rides, and do a little swimming before she came down with her first cold and started working on her teeth! She loved the lake. She would sit outside with someone, and just watch the water. She also had quite the time in her little swimming pool. This was a great $6 investment of Grandma B's, and I'm sure we'll get a lot more use out of it at home!

Delaney had her first trip to the Barefoot Bar on Monday of that week. It was pretty hot that day, so we found a spot under a Tiki Hut in the shade. Delaney enjoyed an afternoon snack and was hanging out on Grandma when she had a massive #2 blow-out. Of course, being the genius, prepared mother that I am I had a back-up outfit in the bag, so we stripped her down and cleaned her up. We'll always be able to tell her that she got naked the first time she went to the Barefoot Bar! I'm sad we didn't document that experience properly, but I was elbow deep in clean up so stopping for a picture was not an option! I also got to enjoy the Rum Runner, I had been craving since last summer!
Delaney loved the boat rides she had. Because she wasn't feeling the best for a few days up there, she only got out on the boat twice. She loved it! She sat with Craig or I and gnawed on her life jacket. That thing was ridiculous, and I'm sure completely uncomfortable for her...but we have to have it! She didn't complain too much! The last night we were there was the annual fireworks show on the lake. She fell asleep before the show started, but the rest of us sure enjoyed it. I'd venture to say it was one of the top 3 fireworks shows I had ever seen. It's a whole different perspective seeing it from a boat over the water. So cool!

Craig had his share of ups and downs on the trip. His first morning of attempting to water ski was mildly successful. Witness accounts say he was "this" close to being up! He pulled a smooth move later that day by jumping on a tube with my cousin Trevor with his BlackBerry in his pocket. The phone spent the next few days in a bag of rice drying out. It's still functioning right now, but I'm not sure how long that will last. After getting his phone to dry land, Craig decide to tube solo and had a wicked crash. He's still sore two weeks later! He's getting too old for this stuff!I spent most of the trip with Delaney since she wasn't feeling the best. I did get out on the boat a couple afternoons while Grandma babysat, which was nice. I also did a little shopping during a couple of her naps! The rest of the week was spent eating, drinking, and relaxing! What more could you ask for?!? It was a nice break from the everyday grind, and I'm already looking forward to next year's trip!