here it is...

Finally! Some time to post a little somthin' somthin'...A LOT has definately happened since before we left for vacation. Which, went pretty well, considering how little time we actually had. I think I'll talk about that first. Btw - I'm not planning on re-reading or editing, so hopefully it makes sense...

San Diego
We were staying at was a family friends place, high in the hills, overlooking a golf course. It was pretty sweet! The only thing we complained about was the cold. It was damn cold. For California anyway. Although the sun was out, there was this cold chill that is different from what we were used to. We weren't prepared, so we ended up buying a bunch of long sleeved shirts, sweaters, jackets, etc...and of course, our family friends were probably so used to it that they never turned their heater on...so we were all pretty much freezing our butts off. Lauryn ended up getting sick with a cold and fever for the last half of the trip.

We made it out to visit some friends in Rancho Cucamonga, and Ontario Mills Shopping Centre!! This is by far, the BEST mall/outlet I've been to! Spent quite a bit of time (and money) there!

Vegas
First thing. Vegas is no place to bring a child. Why didn't we realize this before we left??! Second thing. It was cold here, too!! It was pretty hard to enjoy the casino with a preschooler!! And we couldn't really get anyone to babysit 'cause they were all gambling themselves! We pretty much had to stay within the carpet pathways. If minors are caught around the machines or sitting on the chairs, there would be a $5000 fine! Ok, then, off to Circus Circus we go...not what I thought it would be. I've always heard that Circus Circus was more for children, but really, only a portion of it was. Adventureland, which was connected, but just behind it was fun. We should have gone there first.

We also wanted to take her to the Pirates show at Treasure Island, but it had been cancelled due to the strong winds and cold weather. Great. I guess we can just WALK back to our hotel since there wasn't anything else to do...

We stayed at the Hiliton with my parents, and the rest of our party was at Rio. And, no, we didn't even make it out to the buffets!!! Let's not even go there. The highlight of Vegas for me was shopping at the outlet malls and picking up my very first (3) items from Coach! And winning $40 at Paris playing roulette. We also managed to get a show in. We watched Jubilee, at Bally's, compliments of my tita. It was good. Nick wouldn't be able to tell you that, tho'...he fell asleep. I guess once you see 1 set of boobs, you've seen them all. They all tend to look the same after half an hour...beautiful costumes, tho'!

Disneyland
Disneyland's Disneyland. What more can I say about the happiest place on earth? Oh yah, it was cold here too. I spent about 30 minutes searching for a blanket to cover Lauryn with, but ended up buying an oversized Princess towel instead because there were no blankets anywhere...Lauryn had fun, but was still sick with a fever. Oh and did you know they closed at 8pm? Had we known this, we would have tried to get there before 4!!

SeaWorld
By far, probably the best outing we had. The weather was comfy, sun was out! No wind! The best part was that Lauryn was chosen to help with the Dolphin show!!! She and Nick got to be a part of the skit, feed the dolphins and whales, and pet them. Lauryn was scared, but managed to make the crowd laugh!

If we didn't have to spend so much time driving from place to place, it would have been more relaxing.

The weather was absolutely fantastic on Sunday...the day we were leaving. Do you see now, why I felt like I needed another vacation?!?

reality
Once we got home, we had a pile of laundry to do - which actually took me 2 weeks to do!!! We all went back to our regular routine...took some time to get used to, but we managed. Lauryn was still sick coming back, though. When she finally got better, I caught it. So I was home for another 3 days with the flu. It's always hard going on vacation, then popping in to work, then have to tell your supervisor that you're sick and have to take another few days off...

1 year
I just realized today that we have officially been living in our townhouse for a year!! Wow! That went pretty fast! Our garage is still a dumping zone. The only difference is that, instead of seeing our Mazda 3, you'll see a motorcycle. Yup. HE GOT ONE. There is still SO MUCH I feel I want to do with our place. I've got plans running through my mind every minute of the day!

On a sadder note
I feel ok talking about it because I feel it helps, but is still not easy. After months and months and months of trying, we found out we were finally pregnant 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, we had a miscarriage shortly after. I'll talk about this more in my next post...