Florida part ll: Gatorland & Universal Studios

sorry it's taken a couple weeks to post these next two Florida posts. between school, Dylan, my business and trying to keep my house looking like a bomb hasn't gone off, i have had almost no time.

warning. this post and the next one are going to be overloaded with photos. i hope you are okay with that :)

so once we got to Florida, we were exhausted. it was 11:30pm by the time we got to our Marriott so we went right to sleep.

the next morning, we decided to go to Gatorland. i am terrified of alligators, but love to look at them, and Brett is the same way. we had already planned out our trip and the days we were doing Universal Studios and Disneyworld and that left us a couple of days to do what we wanted. and yep, we decided to go see what you can only see in the south. gators.

so as we left our hotel, honestly, the humidity hits you like a wave of water, except its a wave of heat and wet air. you can barely breathe if you aren't used to it. i haven't been there since our honeymoon, so i honestly forgot how bad it is. both of us were instantly sweating, and it was only 10am. we looked at the forecast and it was 82 degrees (and rising) with 99% humidity. we were in for a treat with the exact same weather for the next week.

this place was extremely ghetto looking. it's kinda sad. i wish i would've taken a photo of the outside. but, once you are in there it was pretty nice. and oh my gosh they did not lie when they said it was a land full of gators! there were hundreds and hundreds of them.

gross huh. it was crazy. they had a feeding ground (right above) where you could buy food and feed the gators. it was crazy to just see them crawl on top of one another to get to the food. and they were super aggressive. and there were some really scary birds there too. they weren't part of the park, but they were there trying to eat the food the people were throwing at the gators. i tried getting pictures or photos of them but honestly they were fearless and i thought they were going to stab my eyes out with their foot-long beaks if i did anything to offend them. just picture deformed vultures with almost no feathers. super creepy right? 

they also had a lot of different overlooks and shows that you could watch them tackle the gators, hold them, and teach you about them. 

this guy was pretty much suicidal. i think he is an owner of the place because he was in all of the shows and was the host at all of them as well. but he sat on the back of this gator (there are about 100 below him in a river surrounding this sand pit) and he is holding the gators mouth open with his chin. he is flat-out crazy. but it made for good entertainment. they also had shows about huge snakes and reptiles down there. it made me really grateful to live anywhere but in swampland.

speaking of swamps, Gatorland is huge. and a huge part of it is swamps where they breed the gators and keep the ones that are injured or hurt. they have walkways and pathways around the swamps. they were beautiful and super green. is that weird to call a swamp pretty? oh well. see for yourself.

right? i told you. and just ignore my makeup literally melting off my face. that is how i looked this entire vacay. what can you do? anyways, we loved walking through them even though it was SO hot, like 10 degrees hotter than out of the swamp, it was beautiful. we spent probably half the time in those just looking around and seeing gators all around in the water. it was scary but fun. and hot.

and then there was this guy...

talk about hide yo kids, hide yo wife right? or dogs i should say. seriously this guy was massive! the photos don't do him justice. although i was quite sad for him, his little cage was like 3 feet by 3 feet. sad, but maybe that's what you get for eating people's pets?

so that was our day at Gatorland. that night we went to the hotel pool to cool off and explore the place since we had melted the entire day. we were obsessed with our hotel. if we ever go back (which we will someday) we are staying there. they had fun stuff for guests every night, and that night they brought out a huge blow-up screen to the pool and played a movie and they roasted smore's too. it was so fun. no pics, sorry.

the next morning we woke up as early as we could bare (changing time zones is hard. we never got our sleeping schedules right, so getting up at 8 was excruciating because it felt like 6am) and got on our way to Universal. another bonus about our hotel, it was only 15 minutes from every park. it was awesome. but i wanted to get some good photos of the outside of our hotel so i could remember it:

to say this place is big is an understatement. this is just one side of it. it had at least 10 different buildings full of rooms, it's own lighthouse, boats to rent to ride around that pond on, 12 different pools and hot tubs, a full spa, game room with xbox's (no Brett didn't play) and wii's and tons of games and 4 on-site resaraunts. it was amazing. granted, we were way too busy to use any of it, but it was cool they had it all.

anyways, back to our day. we got to Universal and we were so excited. the parking isn't bad at all, and we got there early so we weren't parked super far away from the park (although they rob you blind with parking rates. $20 per day. ugh). but once we got into the park, our honeymoon just came right back. i was surprised at how familiar it all seemed (besides the part that wasn't there when we went there aka Harry Potter World).

when we got to the big Universal world ball, i remembered we had taken a picture right by it. so we had someone take one of us again. we hadn't realized how much they had changed it since we had been there last (the ball was way bigger and closer to the newer fence). kinda fun to compare though. we did it with some other places too as you will see.

after we took photos (along with everyone else in the park) we headed to the Island's of Adventure part of the park (we bought one day there and the next day was to be Universal Studios. dumb how they make it two separate tickets but whatev). and they have this cool app that tells you the wait time for all the rides. and i kid you not guys, we didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for any ride in either of these parks, except for the brand new Harry Potter ride that opened like a month before we had gotten there. we waited 2 hours for that one. and Disneyworld we waited 40 minutes for only one ride and the rest it was 20 or less. if you ever plan to go on a theme park vacation, go over Labor Day weekend. it was so worth every penny since we rode each ride multiple times. it was awesome.

so we checked the app throughout the day and obviously went to the rides with the least wait times. we both had remembered going on the Storm (from X-men) ride and since there was no wait we went on that one first. i love rides like this, the ones where you spin around. Brett isn't such a fan. but he was a good sport. you wouldn't even know it from the video evidence. all he is worried about is his phone. my nerdy husband ha. i just love him.

after that we headed to the Hulk which is right next door. it's massive but so much fun.

we went a few times. then headed all around Island's of adventure and rode lots of different rides and made our way to Hogsmeade. i was dying to get there. yep i'm a nerd. i was practically skipping all the way there.

this choir literally sang 4 different long songs. and they had to wear those dark cloaks. i felt way bad for them. i was dying and i was just in shorts and a t-shirt. 

we made it!!!!!!!

i may have gotten 3 of these in one day. i thought butterbeer was amazing. we got them cold everytime. Brett didn't really care for them. i am craving one as i type. yummmmm.

this happened when we were there on our honeymoon, only then it happened every single day. this only happened once while we were there. one minute it was sunny and nice, and the next it looked like a monsoon had hit. we were soaked to the bone. it was cool though, and didn't last very long.

waiting out the rain while we wait to get into spiderman.

we went on tons of other rides too, we just didn't get pictures. they had two Harry Potter rides in this park and they were both so much fun. one of them you kind of float around inside while Harry, Hermione and Ron talk you through. and the other one is called the Dueling Dragons. it's two rollercoasters that are right next to each other but do different things (if that makes sense). that was super fun. we rode it like 4 times. and that was our first day. by the end we were absolutely pooped. we were there from 9am until 7 that night. long but super fun day.

Monday (Labor Day) we went back and this time we went to the Universal Studios part of Universal Studios. oh we LOVED this park. and the best part? Diagon Alley. it was so cool! just look at the pictures :)

these are all photos from waiting in line for the Gringott's ride, and then inside. it was crazy walking in there. it was so realistic. these little goblins moved, looked around, blinked, everything. every single one of them. the one Brett and i snapped a quick pic with (the line was moving really fast at that point) he looked up and talked every minute or so. it was so realistic. i was dying. it was so cool. but don't worry, this ride was so not worth the wait time. i mean i think we would've waited regardless because it was brand new and i'm a huge Harry fan, but it lasted about 2 minutes and it was kinda boring. it was kind of cool to see all the actors acting like their characters again and doing things you hadn't seen them do before. 

now these are all outside of Gringott's and around Diagon Alley.

inside the Leaky Cauldrin where we ate lunch. super overpriced and not worth the amount we paid, but cool inside.

and this dragon here, we had no idea it spit fire. we had just gotten out of the wand shop (don't worry i didn't buy one, but i won't admit if i wanted too or not) and we noticed everyone staring up at the dragon on top of Gringott's. i got Brett's phone out and turned the camera on because everyone else had theirs on too, and just in time i got the shot of it spitting fire. it scared us because we weren't expecting it but it was cool to see.

they made Diagon Alley so fun and realistic. you really felt like you were there. and another cool thing about it was they have sensors all around the Alley and if you buy a wand, you can do different spells at different sensors and they do stuff (like turn on lights, make water come out of a fountain, stuff like that). everyone was doing them and it was fun to watch how excited little kids got when their spell worked. okay, even some grandma's were doing it. that was just funny.

this was so cool. this is the Knight bus that Ron, Hermione & Harry ride (i think it's the Prisoner of Azkaban). you see that little head, it talks. and it moves it's mouth as it talks. and it's head moves. just like in the movie. it's even the same voice. that "bus drive" standing by us would talk to it and told it our names and we had a conversation with it. i was really intrigued and thrilled, kinda like a 3 year old. i still have no idea how it was possible. it was magic.

now moving on from Harry Potter's land. and on to Universal and the studios. we rode the Mummy 8 times throughout the day. it was our favorite ride there. it has good drops, and it's super fast and fun. i miss it.

Back to the Future Car and Train:

my score in Men in Black. i beat Brett. i had to document that i beat him in a shooting game.

so they sold these nasty E.T.'s there when we were on our honeymoon. as you can see, we were still thrilled they still sold them. no idea how they are making any sort of profit off that guy.

i am sad they got rid of the Jaws ride. that thing made me pee a little last time we were there. but, they still had the shark.

i am sad i didn't get a picture of the Rip Ride Rockit rollercoaster (so i had to steal the one above, thank you google). but this rollercoaster was so much fun. we didn't go on it until the very end of the day, and we wish we would've gone earlier. each seat has it's own speakers and you choose a song from a list of 10 or 20 and they are all hard rock and it plays as you go on the ride. it was so cool. i chose Evanescence "Bring Me to Life" and it went perffectly with the flow of the coaster. coing straight up was slow and steady, and right as we got to where it drops you the guitar and drums came in and it got me all psyched. sounds lame but it was so cool. loved this ride.

and that's a wrap for our last day in Universal Studios. it was so much fun, but by the time the second day was done, we were ready for a day break before we started Disneyworld. we couldn't have had any more fun. we just loved it. my next post will be our beach day and our two days at Mickey's land :)

Florida part 1: getting there...

note from the author: normally i wouldn't do a whole blog post just about getting to the actual place i am blogging about, but it was kinda eventful so i wanted to write about it, again so i can remember it all.

so getting ready to leave for this trip was interesting. i was so dang excited about going away alone with Brett, but i knew i was going to have such a hard time leaving Dylan. weirdest feeling ever. two complete opposites at the same time, basically from the time we started packing all the way until we came home. so packing the night before, i was packing for both Dylan and myself. he knew he was going somewhere, he saw all his stuff going in a seperate bag than mine, and he was getting excited. i dreaded when he would realize he wouldn't be going with us though. but excitement was there too so that kept me at bay.
the morning we left, i made sure the house was clean, laundry was put away so we could come home to a clean house. we got everything in the car, and went and bought tons of food and snacks for Dylan to have at Grandma Hancock's while he was with her. then we went and picked up Heather, Brett's sister, who was so nice to take us to the airport. Dylan was so excited she was with us, i am pretty sure he thought she was coming with all of us out of town. i had avoided telling Dylan we were going to the airport because he knows exactly what that is and what it means to go there (he has been on a plane 10 times). Brett decided to share the news as we got on Bangeter, and Dylan went crazy. he started clapping, laughing, kept saying over and over "planes! planes! airplanes!" ugh, i was dying inside. i knew he would be a wreck when we left. so i sat in the backseat with him and just spent the last few minutes of our ride there just cuddling him and taking photos so i could look at him whenever i wanted while we were in Florida.

then we got to the airport. and we stopped at the terminal, and Brett and i got out. we got our bags. then came the moment i was dreading. we opened Dylie's door, and he is just so excited to be there. he is trying to get out of his carseat because hello, we are all going on an airplane. Brett hugged him first, we just left him in the seat because we didn't want to make it harder on Heather than we had too. he didn't really get what was going on. then Brett said his goodbyes and it clicked. panic set in. he started crying and kicking and screaming and yelling "go with you mama, go with you!" i started too lose it, but put on a strong face as i hugged him and kissed him as best i could through his tantrum. we gave Heather hugs and thanked her, then we shut the door and i lost it as we walked away. i knew it would be hard to leave, since i had only been away from him a total of 2 nights in a row ever. i was sure at that point he hated us, and that 7 days would kill our relationship with him.

then we got to the counter, checked our bags, went through security in 5 minutes (there was no line. so weird, yet very convenient). we had an hour to kill. so what do you do when you aren't super hungry, but know you won't have time to eat until you get to Florida? Cafe Rio at the airport of course. once we went there and sat down to eat and just talked, we texted Heather. she said she gave him her phone a little after they drove away and he was fine and was happy as could be. i was okay then. i didn't worry, i was just super dang excited. excited to ride an airplane and actually enjoy the ride and know i could do whatever i wanted and not have to worry about keeping a little boy happy. and excited to get to paradise.

we boarded and the flight was great. except for the fact that they didn't give us any snacks whatsoever. i got my bloody mary mix just like usual, but no pretzels, no chips, not even one small peanut was served. United airlines are cheapskates, but whatevs.  luckily i had packed for such an occasion and those gummy worms tasted divine.

we got to Pheonix and had about 20 minutes until our plane left for Florida. i needed to use the restroom. and guess who had come to pay me a visit? aunt flo. all over. all over everywhere. of course she would come after 5 months of not making any sort of appearance. she would of course have to come the one day i at 30,000 feet. let me just tell you, i have the most unpredictable period known to man. i never know when its coming. it's honestly a miracle Dylan was ever conceived, especially since we weren't even trying when that happened. but anyways, i panicked. i obviously hadn't packed any feminine products, didn't even cross my mind. but as i sat there looking at the mess i needed to get out of, it then struck me why my lower back was killing me the day before. i should've known. so lame.
so anyway, i run out to Brett who is waiting with our carry-on, and that carry-on happened to hold a pair of clean garments that Brett had made me put in just in case our bags got lost. i didn't think it was necessary, but he insisted. ummm, talk about divine intervention. i told him what was up, we went and bought some tampons from one of those little airport stores with the most awkward cashier man on the planet (seriously, what guy says "oh boy, lucky girl. best time of the month." i wanted to punch him). i ran back into the bathroom, got my new garments on, put my nasty shorts back on and met Brett in line. then we were on a plane. then we were floating. and all was right in the world, we were heading to the land of Mickey, sun, beaches, roller-coasters and fun.

and after 4 hours of being in the air (and seeing lightning up close and way more personally than i ever hope to do again), we made it to Florida.

intro to Florida...

so a few weeks ago, Brett and I went to Florida. alone. with no Dylan. yeah, for those of you who have kids, you understand what a big deal that is. and a side note, Orlando is where B and i went on our honeymoon 5 years ago this year, so that place has special meaning to us. and oh my stars, this trip did not disappoint. it was about 1000x better than the ol' honeymoon. not that our honeymoon was bad, it was awesome; but just between us girls (and guys i guess?), knowing what to do and how to do it makes a honeymoon-like trip go much smoother and makes things much more fun the second time around. you catch my drift? oh how i wish i could go back. i would give almost anything. almost. it was THAT good.

i have been wanting to post about our fabulous trip, but the thought of doing it seemed so overwhelming. we were there for a full 7 days. 7 glorious, amazing, sun-filled and humidified days. and we took hundreds of pictures. that's not estimating. that's actual. hundreds upon hundreds. we wanted to document every single second of our trip, as if taking photos every minute would take us back there whenever we looked at them. and they do. and i love it.

i am super excited to blog about this because while we were there we didn't Facebook, and we didn't Instagram. we just were. us. nobody else. without electronics and people buzzing in our ears. it was Brett's idea to go phone-less (except if we were calling to check on Dylie, which we did, a lot, every day) and I am so glad he brought up the idea and that I went along with it. if you know me, you know I love taking photos, (obviously, i kinda have my own photo biz) not just of others, but of me and my little family and sharing it with my friends. so you can imagine how weird it was at first for me not to share all the photos we were taking. but after a day or two, i didn't miss it. i liked it. it was amazing to be truly living in the moment, not for Instagram or Facebook, but for me and my mr. just being, and documenting just being. we made so many fun memories that weren't shared with the world the minute they happened, and i loved that feeling. knowing those times were just ours. there is something so fabulous about that thought, especially since my life has been so not that way ever since i joined Facebook. i like sharing, but this trip made me truly realize, that not sharing is almost even more special. don't get me wrong, i will still be sharing a lot. i just like too. that's just me. but probably not as much. i liked keeping our trip private. it made it so much more fun.

but, i would like to blog about it so those of you who have been constantly asking to hear all about it can. but more than that, i want to blog about it to document it so we don't forget it. we have the pictures to look back on to take us back, but lots of little things happened in between the photos or while we were taking them, that i don't want to forget. lots of conversations, laughs, cuddles, silences shared that were more intimate than words could be. so much that wasn't documented in the photos. writing it down can take us back there in a way photos alone aren't able too.

so, if you are still interested in seeing and hearing all about our trip, come back and visit throughout this next week. i am planning on breaking it up into a few posts, so i can get lots of details in. if it's sounding too mushy or boring for you, i will be back the week after to post about regular day to day stuff :) but just so you know, we are kind of cute when we are mushy. and i won't share all the mushy stuff. just a little bit of it. and of course i will share all the fun, silly, Mickey & Minnie, hilarious, yummy food and 95% humidity, and appropriate stuff, which is like, 70% of our trip ;)

buckle up kids.

Leaving Utah...

because of Him...

i just needed to share this amazing video that we watched in Sunday School today. it is only 2 minutes long, but it is one of the most powerful videos i've ever watched. watch it, you won't regret it. it's so simple, yet cuts me so deep.

i feel like lately, i've been slacking. slacking on my duty as a daughter of God, and as a member of my church. i need to be better. from watching this video and thinking about it all day, i have a renewed desire to do the little things daily that i know i should and i know that bring me ultimate happiness and closeness to my Heavenly Father. reading my scriptures, personal prayers, serving others, thinking less of myself and doing all that i can for those around me. doing these things, i feel so much better about myself, my life and my faith and my role as a wife, sister, friend, daughter and a mother. i have gotten so caught up in my stress with school, my business and my roles as a wife and mom, that i have let the most important things slack.

i have a testimony. it's simple, but it's mine. i love my Savior. i love the gospel; without it i would be lost. i am grateful for my tests and my trials, without them i wouldn't know the good, and i wouldn't be who i am. i am grateful for the lessons i learn from them. i am so eternally indebted to my Heavenly Father for my family, and for all i've been given. because of Him, i am alive. because of Him, i can make mistakes, screw up, mess up and i know that i can be given a clean slate to start over and over again. i am so grateful that He loves me, even with all my flaws and all my imperfections. because of Him, i have all that i have. it's easy to forget that sometimes.

i love this video. so glad i saw it today. i needed it.

the wheels on the bus...

this little boy. this one right here. he started preschool last Friday (while Brett and i were on a plane ride home from ORLANDO!!!! that's an entirely different post. can't wait to post about it :) and he did awesome! my mom took him and dropped him off (he is in two different ones) and she said he cried for about 5 seconds before he was fine. so i was a little worried about today, especially since this one (it's a preschool through the state, and he is in it to continue to help progress his speech, which is getting better by the day amazingly) they send a bus, a regular size school bus, to come pick up the students and they get into the car seats they have on the bus and they ride it all the way there. without parents. i was a little skeptical at first, and was just going to take him myself (that's always an option if parents don't want their kiddos riding) but the bus driver called me while we were on our way to the airport to leave on our vacay, and she was so sweet and nice. that phone call put all my worries at ease, and we decided we would let Dylan decide what he wanted.

so last night, as we were getting Dylie ready for bed, i explained that he was going to be going to school in the morning, and that a bus was going to come pick him up. oh my goodness, he was ecstatic! he just kept saying "a bus is coming! a bus is coming!" i was happy he was so enthused by the idea. so he went to sleep, and i woke him up this morning and as we were coming down the stairs to eat breakfast he all of a sudden remembered he was going to ride the bus and said "school mom! the bus is coming! school!" i reassured him that yes, the bus was coming and that's why i had to wake him and and that's why we needed to go eat breakfast, get dressed, then go outside and wait for the bus. oh he was so cute. he ate breakfast faster than i have ever seen him eat, was in such a hurry to get dressed, threw on his backpack and drug Brett and i upstairs to wait for the bus. i quickly made the sign he is holding and thought i would have to fight him to take his photos. nope, he went right over in front of the garage and planted his little bum on the ground and smiled away for me.
after pictures, we went to the sidewalk and waited. after a couple minutes, we looked up the street and saw the big yellow bus coming. Dylan was screaming with excitement; something i didn't expect. once the bus pulled up and stopped, the driver came and introduced herself to Dylan and he warmed right up to her (which never happens with new people, it usually takes him a minute) and then i held his hand to help him up the stairs and stuck him right in the carseat and put his backpack next to him on the bus. he was so happy to be there! i was amazed he wasn't trying to leap into my arms out of terror. he just kept saying "bye bye mom! see you later." i got off and we could see him through the window as he pulled away, and we waved as i prayed he wouldn't have a heart attack once we were out of sight. then we came inside and i kinda lost it. i am sad he is growing up. i am sad he was so happy to go, but i am so happy about it at the same time. and i was worried about him and how he was doing. Brett then had to go to work, and i wanted to keep myself busy so i cleaned the kitchen then worked out.

then 11:30 came and it was time to wait for the bus to come. i grabbed my mom because she wanted to see him get off the bus too, and as it pulled up and stop i heard him yell "Momma!!" I went to see and he was grinning from ear to ear as the bus driver unbuckled him. i asked her how he was and she was happy to report that he didn't cry once going to school or coming home. he just jabbered on both ways and pointed to things as they drove and told her what he was seeing. i was in heaven!! i thought for sure he would have a melt down or ten before they even got to school. but to hear he was calm the entire time? that was completely unexpected. a wonderful way to start the school year off.

once we got inside, all he talked about for 20 minutes straight was school, the bus, the friends and teacher. i am so grateful he loved it. not only is it great for him and to help be a little more independent, it's great for me so i don't have to take him. win win! i am so grateful he loves school so much too. i love knowing that he is around other kiddos and learning from them and making friends and learning social skills i can't really have him learn with just me at home. i now just need him to stop growing up. they need to make pills for that.

he's 3...

well hello there lovelies. i am honestly so sad to see the date i last blogged. ten months ago. i used to be so good and so diligent on recording events happening in our little family. and now almost a year has gone by with nothing written about it. as much as having my own business is a blessing, it's also a curse in this aspect. it's been bothering me the last couple of months, knowing i am editing (non-stop i might add) other families and couples and their memories, but not my own family and our memories. that is why i am cutting WAY back on my business front (that is an entirely different blog post that i will write soon).  i have so much to blog about and catch myself up on, and i pinky-promise to blog lots and lots more.

but for today, i am only 7 weeks late on blogging about my own son's 3rd birthday. oh my, i have a 3 year old. i can't believe it! time oh time, where have you gone? why must you fly by so fast? oh Dylie, i don't even know where to begin about this little boy. he's a full-blown toddler.

he is talking now, not perfectly, but he says tons and tons of words (he was in speech therapy for a year and it helped immensely). we are working on putting two words together and hopefully forming sentences soon. he knows all his colors, abc's and can count to 10 no problem.

he is not yet potty-trained. judge all you want. until you are the one having to try and train a child to go potty on the potty while editing sessions 4 hours a day, you have no idea how hard it is. i have a few weddings and sessions left to edit, then first priority after those is potty-training this little boy. we tried once, and it was a disaster on both child-and-parent fronts. needless to say, i gave up way too soon and now whenever i ask Dylan if he wants to learn to go potty he yells "NO" and runs off until he is sure i am not going to force him to sit on his Cars potty. ugh. it will stick someday. it has to right? i mean, there's no way he will go to 8th grade wearing a diaper (knock on wood) so that's comforting.

 he is obsessed with his grandpa. whenever we pull up to the street where Brett's parents live, you would think we were pulling into the land of Buzz Lightyear. he absolutely freaks out at the fact he knows he is going to see grandpa.

he is now loving Elmo and Sesame Street. that's all he ever wants to watch (when we let him watch shows(, which i love since i feel like he is learning while he watches.

his favorite foods are chicken nuggets drenched in honey. or maybe it's just honey. he wants it on everything, including fries.

he is terrified of hairdryers, vaccums, roller coasters, getting his haircut, swimming without me holding him or being on the steps, loud noises and bugs. i sound like i am describing a little girl. yeah, we hope for his sake it all turns around too.

he LOVES reading books. he has Green Eggs and Ham memorized and recites it all the time. he just loves books.

he loves trains, helicopters, motorcycles (or icicles as he calls them) airplanes and cars. he spots train-tracks from a mile-away and has to make sure you know about them "choo choo tracks! choo choo tracks!" i hear that phrase over and over until i acknowledge that i heard it.

he loves to help in the kitchen. wiping counters, adding stuff while i'm baking or cooking, stirring the food, he loves it all.

he still takes a 3 hour nap almost everyday. crossing our fingers this lasts forever (even though we know we are very lucky we know he has lasted this long with it) and still goes to bed at 8 (although he sits and chats with himself for a good hour or so before he konks, but he doesn't scream at all, just chats in the dark. cutest.thing.ever.

he has a fetish with balloons and bubbles. those are his loves. oh, and ice cream is too.

he loves watching himself in the mirror, especially if he is crying. it's the funniest thing. if he gets hurt or is sad about something, i figured out that all i have to do is take him in front of a mirror and he just watches himself cry for a good 7 seconds then he is all better and all is right in the world again.

he loves dancing and jumping. if there's music, you can bet your bottom dollar Dylan is groovin and shakin his bottom to the beat.

i'm sure i am forgetting a bunch of stuff, but he is the sweetest, kindest and funniest kid ever with the most adorable giggle we have ever heard. he is so well-mannered and listens pretty well. he loves cuddles and snuggling in a blanket with you, and is your best friend if you have food or a drink. we love this little guy, and love how much fun he is and how much joy he brings to us. he makes us laugh all-day long and is just the sweetest thing. we love you Dylie! happy late birthday. the last 3 years have been the best ever.

happy Columbus Day...

one huge perk of being a state employee is getting random holidays off. i love it! Brett came home Thursday from work and announced that he didn't have to work Monday. i totally spaced Columbus Day was coming (does anybody really remember it? sorry Columbus...). so we decided we wanted to take Dylan on Trax and have a day Downtown shopping, grabbing lunch and walking around the city.

it was a bit chilly, but so much fun to get out of the house and be together the entire day. i even gave up my morning ritual of going to the gym to take full advantage of Brett's holiday. big deal people.

when we pulled up to the Trax station and Dylan saw the train, he was automatically excited. until we got up to the tracks and one whooshed by us. then he got terrified. but once he saw that it wasn't going to run over us, he couldn't wait to get on. he loved the entire ride and couldn't stop looking out the window or looking at Brett and i, probably because he isn't used to being free in a moving vehicle.

once we got off, he would've been happy just watching the trains come and go. every time he saw one, he would automatically scream and laugh. this kid is a future conductor, i swear.

we spent the next 5 hours shopping at awesome Columbus Day sales, eating at The Red Iguana while Dylan played in the kiddie land at City Creek, and walked around the city and Temple Square.

Brett then suggested we go to the top of the Church Office Building. i have lived here my entire life and i have never been up there. so we went, and it was so beautiful. my camera battery died so i didn't get any pictures but a couple of Dylan looking out the windows they have up there, but it was gorgeous. chilly, but gorgeous.

Dylan loved it. and our tour guide was this adorable older woman who was telling us the history of the city, the buildings being built. we got a big history lesson.

by the time we got on Trax to come home, Dylan was exhausted. he almost fell asleep on my lap, and for those of you who know him, you know that's a big deal to even get close to that.

we have spent the rest of the night eating pizza, laughing, cuddling, watching Chopped and relaxing.

oh Columbus, thank you for being so important that you have your own holiday. it was wonderful.