We're Back from "Bacation"

That's what Courtney called it. We went to Palm Desert to visit my father-in-law for a week. It was our first family vacation. I have to admit I was pretty nervous. As usual, I obssessed about the sleeping situation: How will we get her to nap without the big stroller? What if she wants to sleep with us in that tiny guestroom bed? Do you think your dad will get up with her in the morning? Turns out my worry was for not. She was amazing. Went right down in the port-a-crib at night and slept all night every night. She napped twice a day every day, even for my FIL one day when he watched her for us. She had a great time, though we battled bouts of crankiness due to a stubborn tooth breaking through on the bottom. I'm exhausted, though! Seven days straight chasing after a 14 month old is no walk in the park, let me tell you. I can tell you that I treasured every moment, but that would just be an out and out lie. I'm sure that sounds terrible, but I'm just being honest.

Despite my post vacation exhaustion, we all really did have a good time, especially Court who had 4 grown people fawning all over her 24-7.
Day 1: spent hours spending a small fortune at the Palm Springs Outlets on baby clothes. $400 later, I realized I only bought myself an $8 T-shirt. But Court got some really cute Skechers that light up on the bottom. A definite must-have!
Day 2: The living desert. Palm Desert's version of a zoo. It was freakin' hot, but she didn't seem to care, as she brushed every single goat in the place...TWICE.






Day 3: Tried swimming in the pool. She wasn't having it. I'm stressed, of course. We spent a ton of money on swim lessons last spring, and now she's afraid of the water. Maybe she's only afraid of cold water...she's used to a pool heated to 90 degrees. I'm hoping that's what it is, but you can be sure that I will soon be placing a call to Fremont Swim School to book her for the winter session. But, she did look cute running around in her diaper. As soon as I took it off so she could wade around naked, she peed on the ground. Not quite housebroken!





Day 4: A break at last! The in-laws took her for a day. They were so excited and I gave in despite my initial worry-wart, overprotective reservations, because I was desparate for some time with my husband. So Casey and I went to lunch and gambled at one of the local Indian Casinos. He won $700 playing cards, which paid for the trip (except for the outlet spending spree), and we came home to a napping child! My FIL rocks! They took her to a children's play museum and to the park. I guess their plan was to fully exhaust her until she fell over into a nap. Well, it worked.
The pic below is one they took of her dressing up as a vet. I don't think she liked it, but it made for a great picture!





We basically chilled the rest of the week and took a ton of pics. I'll close off this entry with my current fave!
Also..I should mention that the pic of Courtney and my FIL at the track won 3rd place in an online photo contest!