Hannah’s First Amusement Park

(Sorry for the lack of posting everyone. Hannah and I are still enjoying our road trip and are currently visiting her grandparents in northern Ontario. Hope to get beck to more regular posting next week. C&H)
A couple of times when I’ve visited M3 and her family we’ve spent time at Gilroy Gardens. M3’s friend Maggie joined us and we were off. I’ve always wondered what it would be like when Hannah was with me and today I found out. My baby girl did not disappoint and she had FUN!
Gilroy Gardens is an amusement park designed for children up to about 8 years old with lots of little rides for them to enjoy while wandering around beautifully landscaped paths that offer plenty of shade on hot sunny days. Today we had sun, shade, beautiful scents wafting from the gardens and…fun, fun, fun!!
Our ride adventure began as we boarded the antique cars. It was Hannah’s first ride and she thought it was great!



We enjoyed a bunch of rides including the ferris wheel,

monorail,



train

and hot air balloons.

By now Hannah was feeling pretty confident and ready to go on some of the rides by herself. I can admit to being totally surprised at her independence and willingness to venture onto these rides by herself at just 16 months of age. Trust me, mommy made sure the seatbelt on each ride was good and tight!

By far Hannah’s favourite ride of the day were the little goldfish. She rode it 3 times in a row and then still cried when I took her off. Next time sweetie, next time.

The perfect ride to end the day was the merry-go-round.


I had imagined this day for years and it was so much better than I ever thought! Hannah has an adventurous side to her and I can tell that she’ll be lots of fun at amusement parks!
We loaded back into the van and the girls were all sleeping shortly after we left the parking lot.
It’s a good thing they napped too as any day of fun ends with ice cream/frozen yogurt! M3 found a new taste treat at a place called Yogurtland. Mmmm! We went with Maggie this evening and then called her the following night when we wanted to go a second time only to hear her snicker on the other end of the phone, admitting that she’d already been there with her mother earlier that day! If you have a Yogurtland near you it’s worth checking it out.

Having So Much FUN Leaves Little Time for Blogging!

Hannah and I have been having a blast with the Salsa family and finding time for this mommy to blog is tough!! Saturday we celebrated the 4th of July…on the 3rd.

The girls donned their adorable coordinating Wela Wear and even Miss Hannah got into the red, white and blue! Here they are in front of BobBob’s 1930 Model A car. We met up with M3’s parents before the parade to say hi, collect some early candy and introduce Hannah to some of the Red Hat Bingo buddies that I met on an earlier trip.

M3’s friend Maggie parked her golf cart along the parade route the afternoon before and snagged us a great spot!

Hannah took the opportunity to grab a quick nap before the parade started while the older girls prepared themselves for the bounty of candy that would be tossed our way.

By the time the parade started Hannah was up and ready to play with the big girls.

At first she didn’t really understand the candy stuff and would watch and then try to throw it back on the road but soon she realized the cute little matching purse that Wela had made was there to put her stash in! (Too bad she can’t eat it yet. :o)

The girls hopped into the rumble seat of BobBob and Wela’s car when they drove by and caught a ride up to a great picnic lunch that Wela had packed.

M3 and I started to walk with Hannah but thankfully Maggie came back and picked us up as it was hot, hot, hot and it was quite the trek up a huge hill to the picnic area.

Lunch was wonderful followed by a quick picture opportunity in the car then home for play and naps.

Hannah is having so much fun with Ro and Ree and they’re GREAT with her!! So helpful and include her in their play. Hannah is in her glory as their is a whole new house of toys for her to play with.

Early in the evening we headed out to the second part of our 4th of July celebrations. There was a delicious BBQ, jumping castle, balloon animals and face painting.

The big girls got their faces painted and then it was Hannah’s turn. The girl doing it was great and within about 15 seconds Hannah was sporting a (slightly smudged) red heart on her cheek.

Our group of little cuties (l to r) Melanie, Ro, Ree, Savannah and Hannah. Don’t they look adorable in their red, white and blue?

The day ended with a bang! A great fireworks show that was impressive for a local show. Here’s a bit of the finale that I captured.

Hannah had a great day yet all the excitement was just too much for her. She crashed in the middle of the fireworks and was out for the night. I was able to get her home and diaper changed without her waking. Like a good Salsa girl her Wela wear was transformed from daywear to nightwear once her head hit the pillow!

What fun it was to celebrate the 4th with you friends!

Finally! A Dream Come True!!

Yesterday I was finally able to introduce a (sleeping) Hannah to her Auntie M3 and Uncle TD! Today she met Ro and Ree and the 3 hit it off immediately!

I'm going to wimp out as I must get to bed, and ask you to check M3's blog for all of today's fun!

Just a couple of quick pics here but lots more pics and stories over at M3's.

Learning how to make cupcakes on the iPad.
Ro and Ree are such a big help with Hannah and are helping to keep her safe. They point out all the 'sharp corners' to her....even those a foot above her little head! :o)

'Hey girls! Follow me!!'

We went swimming this morning and Hannah was so zonked after yesterday's travel adventures and waking up at 5am because of the time difference that she fell asleep on my shoulder as we walked around the pool! So sweet!!

Tomorrow we're celebrating July 4th (yes, on the 3rd) with a parade, picnic, party and fireworks! Hannah will be sporting her adorable new Wela Wear so will look totally adorable coordinating with her new friends! More stories and pics tomorrow...

What Was I Thinking??

Note to self: In the future never, ever, EVER book to fly out of the Buffalo airport on July 1st!



Hannah and I left home with what I thought was plenty of time. Normally it takes us about 3 hours to get from home to the airport so this time, wanting to err on the side of caution because of the holiday, we left 5 hours early. You guessed it. Even that was not enough time! When we were about an hour from home I turned on the news and the 2nd item was the l-o-n-g border waits. Uh oh!! The bridge I normally cross at has taken me 10 - 20 mins and the wait was said to be 2 1/2 to 3 hours long!! I felt sick to my stomach and immediately called in my prayer warriors. We kept in touch through the long wait and even though we missed our initial flight, all went well and we eventually made it to California.

The wait for us to cross the border took 3 hours to go 1.7 km. I know it was 1.7 km because each time my GPS clicked down another 10th of a km. I cheered! It was a beautiful day and once I calmed down from my initial shock and disappointment, Hannah and I decided to make the most of it. We sang, danced to some great Disney CD's (yes, it is possible to dance in a car seat), chatted with people in other cars and those out just walking and stretching their legs, and I gave her some snacks. Normally bottles are in mommy's arms but since I couldn't get to her I passed it back. We were stopped...again, when I noticed her bottle was upside down and she was grinning. I turned off the car - we weren't going anywhere anyway, and went back to check out the damage. She'd made a little pool of milk in her car seat and was happily splashing away. Heh!! She was doing SO well that I couldn't do anything but laugh! By this time she'd been in her car seat for 5 hours and there was no end in sight.



We finally made our way to the bridge and through customs. It was a pretty view from the bridge so I snapped a quick pic of Niagara Falls.


I quickly called my prayer warriors and updated them that we were across the bridge and now heading to the airport. There was one flight to our destination but it left in an hour and 20 mins and we were still 30 mins away from the airport. I figured we might be spending the night in Buffalo and then heading out the next day.

After parking our car and unloading our luggage, car seat, stroller, etc. we took a shuttle to the terminal. We went to the Southwest counter and even though the flight was now leaving in just 20 mins(!!!) they said we could run and make it! We jogged through the airport, unloaded for security which is no small feat when you have a laptop, CPAP machine, stroller, diaper bag and BABY to get through but, we did it! We made our way to the gate and would you believe made it!!

We were the last 2 on the flight and as I entered the plane all I saw were middle seats available. Oh no! Hannah was being SO GOOD but to ask her to sit quietly on my lap between 2 people for the 4 1/2 hour flight to Vegas was going to be too much! Thankfully as I looked longingly at people for a seat I spied the very back row where a man was sitting with 2 empty seats beside him. Phew! It ends up he has an 11 month old daughter and was only too happy to have us sit with him as he was missing his little girl.

Hannah was great on the flight and slept about the last hour of it. Once in the Vegas airport I found out that we were on stand-by for our destination and all the flights that day were completely booked! More praying! (I want Hannah to learn that God cares about all situations including our travels so we often stopped to say a quick prayer. Her little 'ahh-men!' at the end is precious!!)

We eventually caught a flight to a different destination not too far from our original one and are now here! Our luggage went to the first place but we were able to pick it up on our way to M3's last night.

Even though this was not the day I had planned, God wasn't surprised and was with us every step of the way. We arrived safely and are now enjoying fun, fun times with the Salsa family!



I'm sure you're excited to see pics of Friday's fun so I'll try to get a post up before calling it a night. Lots more info and pics on M3's blog

To all who were praying for us...THANK YOU! God heard your prayers and allowed us to arrive only an hour and a half after our original arrival time! God is so good and I thank Him for the opportunity to share with Hannah praying and praising Him through all things.

California - Here We Come!!

Today is a day I have long dreamed of! Today I will introdcue my amazing daughter to my precious friend M3 and her wonderful family! It's been over a year since M3 and I have been together and we both agree that that's far too long! There was good reason with my trip to China and all but I'm still thankful that today is the day!!

M3 has lots of fun planned for our visit and we'll be sure to update our blogs as the girls allow. Hmmm...blogging with 1 baby is tough. Wonder what it will be like with 3 sweeties to keep us busy? Oh how I'm excited to see our precious daughters together! It will be a dream come true for sure!! Cannot wait!!!

To our family and friends at home 'Happy Canada Day!' We'll proudly be wearing our red and white on the flights today. We'll miss you like crazy and look forward to seeing you when we get home. Grandma and Grandpa, Nana and Papa, I know it' will be a loooong time for you to go without seeing your little sweetie but we promise to visit you just as soon as we can when we get home! WE LOVE YOU!!! xoxoxoxo