Call Me Crazy

Because I am.

First, I willingly got on a plane with Isaac and Maddie by myself and flew to Colorado this past weekend. It was quite a personal feat for me.The only glitch the entire time was the ipod that wouldn't turn on at 30,000 feet (it turns on fine now, go figure). Thank you peanut butter M&Ms for occupying my two-year-old the entire flight.

Then, if that weren't risky enough (the whole flying-with-two-young-kids-by-myself thing), I stayed 3 nights in a hotel with 3 kids (each young enough to sleep in a pack-n-play) and two other adults. There were some sleepless moments (Isaac melting down at 1am and again at 3am), but overall it went a whole lot smoother than I ever expected.

To top it all off, I drove 11 hours home across Colorado, Nebraska, and Iowa with Ryan's sister and my two kids in tow. The only person crazier than me is Shannon because she drove with me (if that's not true sisterly love, I don't know what is).

Thanks to about a dozen dum-dums (I owe that sucker company my sanity) and only one major meltdown from each child, we made it home to Des Moines after only two pit stops (grab food, change diapers, gas up, and go). We really had a great time. Here are more pictures than I can count from our fun weekend.

This little bundle of joy was the reason for our trip--we all got to meet her and she is beautiful.

Isaac and Grandma getting reacquainted. A few minutes after this picture was taken I took him and Maddie upstairs to take a nap. About a half an hour later I heard crying and went to check on them and Isaac had not only jumped out of his pack-n-play, but also filled Maddie's crib with all of his cousin's toys. It was literally overflowing with stuffed animals and such. He kept saying, "Wanna play wif dis, Maddie? Wanna play wif dis?" as he plopped more toys into her pack-n-play. Needless to say, nap time ended then and there.

Addie, Krystal, and Maddie

Krystal made Maddie this picture star for her wall--it has different pictures of Maddie on it. It even matches her name above her crib. How cool is that?

Maddie showing off her balancing skills. I lost count of how many tumbles she took. This girl is fearless. She's also a little reckless (heaven help me).

Shannon and I playing "Dancing with the Stars" on the wii. She wiped the floor with me on that game (I'll gladly take on a rematch to try and redeem myself, Shannon)

The hotel room with all three pack-n-plays.

Maddie and Uncle Gavin--he makes a pretty good kissy face, don't you think?

Addie, Maddie, and Isaac getting ready to swim at the hotel.

Hanging out in the hot tub.

Ellie braving the chilly pool.

Isaac was a little skeptical at first, but he pulled out courage from somewhere and ended up loving it when Grandma threw him into the pool.

He even got dunked a couple of times and would come out of the water and say "I O.K.!" and want to do it again.

The kids and I.

My fearless water baby loved being tossed in the pool.

She didn't even mind being dunked in the water, either.

Ellie was great with Isaac and he loved to play with her and listen to her read him stories. When we pulled into a gas station in the middle of nowhere on our drive home, he saw a little blonde girl from afar and said, "Look! It's Ellie!"

My brother-in-law, Gavin, is quite the gourmet chef. Here is the chocolate souffle he made the night before we left.

Celebrating with souffle the night before leaving.

It was a great trip. Thanks everyone! We can't wait to see you all in July!