Two Week Vacay

This should be a wordless post because the amount of pictures is out of control, but I still have much to say :) Haven and I flew our first solo flight on June 29, which was quickly followed by five additional solo flights, the last one on July 12. We had a wonderful time at the beach and overall, the flights weren't the worst, but I'm definitely not ready to do it again anytime soon!

On our first flight (DFW to VPS), we had a flight attendant that was on a serious power trip, but we managed to stay out of her line of fire and Haven got her own seat, so we started out pretty strong...just looking a little rough ;)

Haven knew exactly where we were this time and was immediately asking for Grammy and Amy. I was concerned it was going to be a long, disappointing two weeks for her!

She wasted no time putting her marks on the balcony doors. You could barely see through all the smudgy hand and face prints by the time we left.

On Wednesday afternoon we unpacked, napped, grocery shopped, etc. then I decided to take Haven out to the beach for a trial run before bed. I was SO excited because she actually walked in the sand (a little bit) and was loving the water - such a HUGE improvement from April. We have hope!

Thursday was when the real fun began and we got to go pick up Daddy, Bret, Amy, and Hayley from the airport! Their driver awaiting:

We didn't waste much time getting out to the beach once the whole crew had arrived

Actually in the water and happy about it!

We went to dinner and walked around Baytowne that night. Haven ran the majority of the walk and was groovin' to all the music. The Heftons were quickly introduced to life with us because on the way out to the car, we realized that we no longer had the car keys. It's always something with me and Benton! He let Haven hold the keys and she dropped them in a store; thankfully, Benton went back there first and found them pretty quickly.

Up and ready for more swimming

Going down to the beach

Classic Haven at the beach, "yucky sand, don't touch it, Hayley."

Likes the water, not the sand

We tried to go eat at Stinky's, but there was an 1-1.5 hour wait at 5:30. That is crazy - it's good, but not that good! So, we went to the Smiling Fish instead and found some cute chairs for the girls to play on.

Hayley has the most adorable Miss America wave - I love it!

Most days looked the same - breakfast on the patio, walk on the beach, swimming, lunch and naps, more swimming, showers and dinner, bed for the girls, and patio talk for the parents. It was a perfectly relaxing (as much as possible with two toddlers) long weekend!

Morning grub

We made it to Stinky's about 5 and only had to wait about 10 minutes. I'm not sure what time you have to get there to not wait at all?!

Where are the keys Haven?

The guys played golf on Sunday and then scooped us up for dinner at Elmo's

Future Indian Princess tribe?

Dancing to the new guy at Elmo's

We attempted a booster seat for the first time with Haven and it was disastrous, we could not keep her in it. Thankfully at Elmo's it's not an issue, so it was a good place for a trial run.

"Seriously, mom, enough with the pictures!"

Morning pajama time

Happy Independence Day!

Ms. Independent was teaching herself how to swim and was getting really good at these two tricks:

Blowing bubbles

Going underwater by herself

We went back over to Baytowne for dinner on Monday

Dancing to the band at Hammerheads

more dancing

Haven and Daddy

Mommy and Haven

(I would probably have more and definitely better pictures of the remainder of the 4th, but the Hefton's fancy camera was stolen on their flight home. I am so sad for them that they lost all the pictures - they had some great family and Hayley pics.)

Hayley

Haven

Family pic and Haven was done. Little stinker refused to take a picture in the chair with Hayley.

She wasn't a ton more cooperative when we got back to take pics on the beach

Actually standing in the sand and not complaining about it

Attempting to get a picture of the girls together, but someone was being difficult.

Maybe they can both sit in the chair?

Maybe they can both stand by the chair?

Let's try both in the chair again?

Oh, but Haven would be happy to sit there by herself...

But not as much as Hayley loved it. This sweet girl did not want to get out of the chair. Ever!

We took the girls up for a wardrobe change before the fireworks. Where's Uncle Sam?

We made the poor decision to let Haven stay up and watch the fireworks.

She was a little aprehensive about the noise at first, but was mostly enamored...

So cool!

Oh my goodness!

Loving it...

She did get bored pretty quickly though and then was a complete crab the next day because she didn't got to bed until after 10pm. Looking at these pictures, I would totally let her stay up again, but I know on Tuesday I was singing the opposite tune.

Haven is completely obsessed with lotion and all things lotion-like. There is about 500 gallons of lotion at the condo, and I think Haven got into at least 475 of them. I was worn out from all her rearranging. Benton and I were folding towels in a bedroom and found this disaster when we were finished.

I took Haven to the splash park after Benton left and she might have loved it even more this time.

I'm not sure if she is intentionally pointing and making this face at that girl, but this picture made me laugh so hard!

Taking a break from the water to play at the dry park

And back to the water, which was abrubptly ended by me because Haven decided to lay down on her tummy and try to drink the water off the ground...twice. My germ fears have decreased significantly over the last two years, but that was beyond what I could handle, chlorinated water or not.

Thursday morning breakfast in the corner

Haven found Domino's old leash and wanted to play the part. She's a good dog - walks well on a leash and barks on command :)

We got up at the crack of dawn on Friday morning to fly to West Virginia for a sweet friend's wedding. We had two flights there and two flights back, but thankfully, they were both very quick. Haven and I were about to box just about the time our first flight was descending and then I about strangled her in the Atlanta airport because she opened the defibulator box which made the most obnoxious/terrifying alarm go off. Thankfully, the alarm shuts off as soon as you slam the door closed. She definitely knew she was in trouble after that because her behavior really shaped up...for the short-term anyway!

Checking to see if she can fit underneath the seat or up in the overhead bins

Our VPS/ATL flight was packed both directions, but we were able to sit solo for the other two legs. It is much cheaper to not have to buy Haven a seat, but it is sooo much easier to have one for her and not have to sit with a random person.

Haven fell asleep on our bus ride from the airport to the hotel and slept through check-in, but unfortunately woke up when I tried to transfer her to the crib. Mama not sleeping the night before because she was too afraid to oversleep + waking up at 5:00am (5:40 for Haven) + 2 flights + 45 minute nap for Haven + no nap for Mama = no bueno! The equation does sound much worse than it actually was though; Haven really was a good little trooper...(again) not that I would be jumping at the opportunity to do it again :)

We ate lunch in a bar right off the casino and Haven was very fascinated with the slot machines below her

Rehearsal dinner

Aunt Amy, Grammy, and Papaw finally made it in well after Haven was asleep on Friday night, so she woke up to a real treat! Unfortunately, she woke up early and as soon as she saw Amy, she definitely was not going back to sleep. We waited awhile and then let her go next door to wake up Grammy and Papaw. Once Haven had everyone moving, we got ready so Haven could show Amy and Grammy where all the shopping was before the bridal brunch.

Bride, Bridesmaids, Mother of the Bride, Mother of the Groom and Flower Girl

Flower girl

Me, Haven, Grammy, and Amy

After the brunch, we all went back to the rooms to take naps before getting ready for the big event. At the rehearsal, Haven would not have anything to do with the flower basket and wanted to be carried the whole time, so I was worried about how she would do at the real deal. My mom was sitting right behind the MOB, so I told Haven to go take her basket to Grammy. She was SO excited to go see her and took off on her own, but got spooked by all the cameras and turned around to come back to me. I was ready to book it up the side aisle to meet her in the front, but had to run back to "save" her from the paparazzi. So, she held my hand and walked down the aisle and stood with me for a few minutes before she went to sit with our family.

Oh, did I forget to mention that she ate it? I guess maybe I thought that was a given with my little klutz :)

Haven actually did really well sitting through the ceremony too, which I was also concerned about. Papaw was feeding her gummy bears to keep her quiet and I was peeling stickers as fast as I could for her to tattoo her arms up. I wish I could say that pictures went as well as the ceremony, but they did not. Unfortunately for Reagan and Blake, Haven insisted that if she was in the pictures, I had to be too. I think they got a few without me, but there is definitely a picture of the bride and groom, ring bearer, Haven, and me. Little stinker just got hysterical when I tried to put her down by herself. She also got hysterical when she thought Amy and Papaw were getting on the bus without her, so they had to stay for pictures as well!

Haven and Grammy were among the first to dance and the band played Sesame Street for them!

I was completely shocked by this, but how adorable is it?!! They actually danced together for a decent amount of time (especially for two toddlers).

The reception was a five-ish course sit down dinner, which was fantastic, but not so much for a toddler. Haven did really well, but we got into a bit of survival mode and she ate a good portion of her wedding favor which was a box of four chocolates. Her dress was something else by the end of the night!

Sunday farewell brunch

We only had one option for a flight out on Sunday and it was right at naptime, so I knew we were playing with fire. Of course, Haven fell asleep right as we were descending into Atlanta, but miraculously I was able to put the Ergobaby on and she slept through it and a good portion of the Atlanta airport. She got about a 45 minute nap and I think I got a pretty decent workout!

We survived that journey and had one day to recoup before we headed back home. The last flight was by far the worst one. We almost missed it because I had the time wrong, then Haven was just being a brat on the plane and throwing fits for no reason whatsoever. I could not wait to get off the plane and hand her over to her daddy and then I begged him not to leave me alone with her...but he did...and I let her live.

It was quite the adventure! Two weeks was a long time to be away from home, but Haven settled back in nicely. I was worried I had let her get away with too much while we were gone (mainly not eating in a highchair at home), but she left those habits in Destin like a good girl :) I am looking forward to going back in August, but mainly because we won't be by ourselves!