Paris

Last week three-fourths of our family took a little adventure to Paris!  Matt had to go for work, so Evelyn and I tagged along for a few days.  I was so, so nervous for the trip (7 hour time change, an unpredictable newborn), but I'm happy to report there were no major disasters (unless you count major blowouts in the plane and taxi!), and that the trip was tons of fun.  We did miss Avery, but knew she was happy as a clam with Cici.  (Thanks again Cici!)

Evelyn slept 95% of the time on the plane! I think it was the humming and vibrations that knocked her out. Either that or the sleeping pill we slipped her! (jk) If you ever travel with an infant, I highly, highly recommend bringing a boppy. Then you can have your hands free. Evelyn and I flew solo on the way home yesterday, which I was really nervous about, too, but we made it safe and sound.

 Saw the sights:

Ate some good food, including lots of crepes, duck, nutella out of the jar with plastic forks, wine, and gelato. 

 Had a little picnic by the Eifle Tower.  On the menu: strawberries, baguette with goat cheese and fig jam, and quiche lorraine.

Did I mention the gelato?  This one place made the cone look like a flower.  My fav flavors were caramel and, you guessed it, nutella. :)

 This was one particularly tired night, as you can tell by my eyes!  We risked it and ate at a nice 3-course meal restaurant, so I was ready and armed with my nursing cover for when Evelyn started to fuss. :)  This meal in particular we had to take shifts eating with one of us out on the street holding the trouble-maker while the other one ate.

 Took the metro to Versailles for the day.

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Mexico Spring 2012

We got back last week from a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Matt's side of the family. This is our third year in a row going, so it was definitely starting to feel like home... maybe a little too much! :) Avery had a great time with her cousins. In fact, the very first thing she'd say when she woke up in the morning was, "Where'd Katie go?" It took a couple of days after we got home for her to stop asking where Katie went. :)

We enjoyed lots of time at the pool and beach.  However, the first day Avery slipped in the baby pool and went under, then after that it took a lot of coaxing for her to get back in. 

Do you not want to reach right into the picture and kiss those rosy cheeks?!?

 The whole crew:

Avery had her first margarita on this trip!  She shared it with her mommy. :)  NON-ALCOHOLIC strawberry mango, to be exact!

Puerto Vallarta recently redid their city center.  Now they have free little cars to push around, which was a nice break from the strollers!

Puerto Vallarta, we hope to see you again soon!

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Disney 2011

This has been on my To-Do List for far too long!!  Here are a few pictures from our AWESOME Rebarcak family Orlando/Disney Christmas 2011 Trip!!  (complements of my iPhone... sorry--I'll get a nice camera one of these days...)

 Avery's favorite ride--the carousel.

 The worst part of the trip for Avery--too much time in an umbrella stroller! 

 Early morning (matching Minnie Mouse) pajama partys with Cici!

 Avery is liking the water more and more! 

 Spent a day at Epcot.

 And a day at Magic Kingdom.  I don't know if you can see Avery's face, but from afar, she was goo-goo over Minnie.  Up close though was a different story!

THANKS Cici and Papa for the fun trip! 

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California Adventure

Matt and I had the pleasure of taking a long weekend trip sans-baby to the San Franciso area.  It was so much fun.  We stayed most of the time with our friends Nate and Jess, and just the two of us spent a night in Napa.  Napa was AMAZING.  It was my ideal vacation (in no particular order): good wine, good food, good shopping, good friends, nice hotel, nice weather.  Ahh.  We ate some of the best food I think I've ever had.  In fact, my new standard for if it's a good restaurant or not is if they don't have salt and pepper shakers.  I'm starting to drool just thinking about it. :)  Anyway, it was a super nice, relaxing getaway!!  Here are a (sorry, just a) few pics of the trip!

Some of you might be wondering what the munchkin did while we were away and/or if she missed me and/or if I missed her.  Well, she stayed with Cici and Papa in Ames.  She did not miss me at all, and yes, I missed her.  However, I got a steady supply of texts and video messages from them which did keep me somewhat satisfied.  Here's a glimpse of a few!

I got this one one morning with a text: "Avery's cooking breakfast.  Easter eggs, I think."

 Brady sent me this one, along with a text that said, and I quote, "Avery is HILARIOUS." 

 I got this one the night before we left with a text that said, "Good night mommy!" 

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Puerto Vallarta

We are home!!  As much as I love vacations, and as much as I love spending time with family, boy it sure felt good to get home.  Maybe it's just me, but I love to clean my house really well BEFORE we go on vacation.  It's just a good feeling to walk into a clean house.  And then we throw our suitcases and stuff everywhere and it takes us a week to get back to normal. :)  Oh, and I LOVE now to do Fri - Fri vacations.  This is the second time we've done that and although packing is sometimes crammed, it helps me enjoy the end of our vacation more knowing we have a weekend at home when we get back.  Okay, enough about that!  On to the fun stuff. :)

Puerto Vallarta was tons of fun.  Matt's parents vacation there for a few months during the winter, so we went and stayed in their condo for a week with them.  The weather was mid 70s to mid 80s and gorgeous.  Our typical day started with waking up early (thanks to our built-in alarm clock named Avery) then going for a walk along the malacon (the strip along the beach.  I LOVE to go for a walk early in the morning (or any time, for that matter).  We ate some great food and really got to see a lot of the city.  Matt and I got a few baby-free dates to some nice restaurants around town.  Anoter highlight was experiencing a Christian church service there at Grandma W's church.  Anyway, here are a few pictures of our trip:

One of our favorite meals while we were there: Pipis.  Delish!  They made the guac right at your table.

Avery spent lots of time on the balcony counting the cars that drove by and telling each of them "bye bye."  She got really good at waving to EVERYBODY.  Gma and Gpa even thought they heard her SAY bye bye to the cars... hmm!!  We just might have word #2!

Avery spent LOTS of time in the stroller!

I love the look on Avery's face here.  She's such a goof.

Me and the babe in the condo.

We (sadly) only swam once because our pool wasn't heated; our friends' pool was though! :)  So, we spent the afternoon at their resort (the same resort we stayed at last year).  It was a lot of fun but unfortunately that day the front of my legs got fried.  And by fried, I mean you could have cooked an egg on them.  Thankfully now they are better!

I brought a lot of baby food for Avery, but she is definitely aware enough to know that what mommy and daddy are eating looks way better than her pureed green beans; she had fish tacos and steak fajitas to name a few. 

What a fun trip!!

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