Spring Break 2016

Sigh...spring break. It's that week during the school year that I count the days down to. It's a much needed week off after the hubbub of the school year. January through March always run together to make for a long stretch of time and it seems we don't get any breaks. Our parent/teacher conferences were the week before spring break, so that week I was running on fumes. Since we had conferences until 8 pm on Tuesday and Thursday night, our comp day was Friday. Brad and I decided it would work well for him to take off Friday so that we could start our spring break vacation!

Friday morning we drove to Cedar Rapids around 9 am so that we could get to the airport on time. Our first flight was around noon, so we had packed plenty of snack for Dayton and planned to eat lunch during our layover in Chicago. Even though Dayton was missing his nap due to our flight schedule, he did great on both flights. He only had one "toddler" moment that a snack fixed quickly. Whew. We arrived in Greenville around 5 pm. My mom, sister, and grandpa picked us up and we met my dad out for dinner. After dinner, we headed to my parents house and relaxed the rest of the night.

One of the reasons we wanted to make this trip was because my grandpa (my Papa, now called "Big Papa" by Dayton) is living with my parents for a few months. He lives in Connecticut, but he came to visit my mom for a while in the south. I knew I wouldn't be able to see him over the summer, like I normally do, because I'll be busy having baby boy #2! So between getting back home, seeing my family, and seeing Big Papa we were more than happy to get out of Iowa and visit sunny South Carolina for a few days.

Saturday was gorgeous. It was over 75 degrees and sunny. There is a huge children's consignment sale called, Switcheroos, in the south that happened to be going on that weekend. We stopped by for a while, got some great deal, and then headed out to the Greenville airport for the "Meet a Police Officer" event. The Greenville police put on event where they had several officers to meet, including all of the different "branches." The K9 unit was there with a few dogs, the bomb squad brought their vehicles and robots, the police helicopters were brought 2 aircraft for kiddos to see, and the "situation unit" also brought their tactical van. I probably called all of these branches the wrong thing, but this was the best I could come up with! Dayton loved it! Especially the K9 dog.

One place we always visit is Cabelas. The hubs just can't stay out of there and well, let's be honest, neither can i! Dayton loves to see all of the animals and the fish.

Since the weather was so beautiful the whole time we were down there, we also made it a priority to eat outside and play at the park! Now that little man is a little older, it's fun to watch him play at the park. He is cautious and adventurous all at the same time. He's just cute as pie!

Since my family won't be able to travel Iowa for Dayton's second birthday, we celebrated just a little early! Dayton loves opening presents (he finally gets it), so it was fun to watch him tear open packages and get excited about his new books, puzzles, and toys! Dayton got a golf set from my parents and playing with the clubs and hitting the balls became a favorite pretty fast. We even had cake and ice cream to celebrate. The cake came from Whole Foods and it was delicious!

Tuesday afternoon, we headed back to the airport and said our goodbyes. It's always hard to leave, but I'm so glad we were able to make the trip! Thanks to our miles adding up, we had two free plane tickets and this was the last time that Dayton was able to fly as a lap child (i.e. free). Whoop! Until next time South Carolina...you'll be on my mind.

Oh...and this happened on the way home around 8:15 pm...during some pretty intense turbulence. I was praying and holding on to him tight and he was passed out. Bless him. This mama was not complaining one bit. I miss these moments!