18 month stats!

Violet is 33 inches (88%) (although it took us two tries with two hissy fits to get an accurate one) and 24.6 lbs (74%). Growing like a weed!

Violet 18 months!

Violet is one and a half today. She has sprouted into a little person in the last three months. She can say tons of words, it would be hard to list them all here. I guess it is a second child thing, but she says much more than Harlow did at this age. She often says "we ve (tv) and "nack" (snack), I know awesome parenting ;-) Burger is "bobo".  Harlow is something like yoyo. She loves babies (pictures of them, real babies, baby dolls). She also has developed a love of shoes early. That is why she has these boots on in the photos because she wanted to wear them even though they are too big and it was 80 degrees. She loves to put on Harlows shoes and is particular about which shoes she will wear out of the house. She still has to do everything that Harlow does. She is goofy and wild, but also my little snuggler. Happy Half Birthday Violet!

Cali Part 3: Disneyland

The rest of the trip we stayed at Disney's Grand Californian which was AWESOME. I didn't have high expectations of what we would actually do at the parks with a 1 and a 3 year old but just the whole experience of staying right there was so fun. We definitely used the pool. I can see why people pay a lot of money to live in Orange County. The weather is just so beautiful.

Our day at Disney we managed to ride Dumbo, see some princesses, go to the parade (I think that was everybody's favorite part) and ride Space Mountain, so overall it was a success. When we went in to see Belle, Cinderella, and Snow White, Harlow took one look at each of them and said "I wanna see Rapunzel!". So we tried to go back and see Rapunzel when she was making her appearance but we walked forever and fought a crowd and then it turned out to be Aurora and not Rapunzel! #epicfail. We were saved though because Harlow got to see her at the parade (and all the princesses for that matter which was great).

We went to Surf's Up for breakfast with Mickey and that turned out perfect. ALL Harlow's favorites were there...Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Stich! Each character spent a few minutes with the girls and they loved it (I though they might be a little scared but weren't). Mom and Dad loved it to because we got to eat and drink endless coffee during it. We definitely want to go back and learned a lot about how to navigate the whole process!

Aunt Sarah looks as excited as them

It's a Small World Before 

And After, that repetitive song lulled Harlow right to sleep

Love V in this one looking up at Mickey, Taylor and Harlow have the same face. 

Happy even after our failed Rapunzel excursion 

Waiting on the parade, lollipops kept them occupied. 

 

In awe 

waiting for breakfast 

so happy to see Daisy 

Minnie was ticking their faces 

Stich, Harlow showed him her hair clip "like Lilo" 

Poolside 

Ice cream after the pool 

Cali Trip Part 2: Long Beach

The first day and a half of our trip we spent in Long Beach where we got to check out my brother and SIL's new place. They OWN it which I think is a pretty neat accomplishment in Southern California. 

It's a great place and we got to do some hanging out on their rooftop. After a little 'empty propane tank' dilemma we were set to go with the fire pit :-) It was a nice way to spend a jet lagged evening. The next day we had an awesome brunch overlooking the ocean. We were able to beat the crowd since by the time we got there at about 9am the girls had been up for hours already. We played after brunch. We had high hopes of hitting the Aquarium in Long Beach but the girls fell asleep in the car and so we just took a driving tour up the coast and let the girls nap in the "Silverware" Van as Harlow called it. 

Cali Trip Part 1: The Flights.

I have been planning/stressing/anticipating this trip for so long, I can't believe it's over! We had an awesome time in California visiting Uncle Taylor and Aunt Sarah and going to Disneyland. The girls did better than I expected on the flights (GSO>ATL>SNA) especially Violet who did not have her own seat.  Turns out the hardest part was in the airport because they thought it was really funny to RUN AWAY. So we would be chasing kids, but then there is that pesky rule that you shouldn't leave your bags unattended. We had a bit too much stuff to carry on. I mean we were trying to carry backpacks, baby dolls, blankets, carry ons, double stroller (that was TOTALLY necessary, see running away comment above) and of course our coffee onto the plane. Next time, I would just check more stuff, really it's worth the extra $50.

The Hits:

Doodle Buddy and another Peppa Pig coloring iPad App

New art set for H from target $3 bin

Vidoes of V and H as a baby (over and over) for V

PACIFIERS

empty mini vaseline V could take the top on and off

Chocolate donuts (although not so much for the sweatshirts I envisioned them wearing all trip) 

The Misses:

Headphones (both hated em)

Stickers (as much as I wish she would. Harlow is just not really into em)

Every other iPad app I downloaded except the above

When the beverage cart hit V's head and woke her up

Their babies, I'm glad they had them with us to sleep with at night, but they didn't care about them on the plane and it was just one more thing to keep track of/carry.