Our journey to Minnesota: Part 1 -Getting there

Delaney and I had the opportunity to go back to Minnesota for my stepmom's family reunion and we jumped at the chance. Dan couldn't take any time off work, so we made the journey alone. Dad, Kim and Maddie flew out on Saturday and Delaney and I followed on Tuesday. I was very nervous about traveling all by myself with a 2 year old, but all in all, she did pretty well. However, we had some unexpected issues arise. We missed our first flight out of Sea-Tac due to a gate change and by the time we got there, they had already given our seats away. They were able to get us on the next flight out which only would have been a little over an hour later, but it was delayed three hours. So, we spent a total of six hours at Sea-Tac before ever getting on a plane. Due to the delay, we also missed the last flight out of Minneapolis to Grand Forks, ND so we were forced to stay overnight in Minneapolis. The airline wound up putting us up at the hotel in Minneapolis so it turned out just fine in the end. We caught a 10 am flight out of Minneapolis and were in Grand Forks by 11 am. We got there a day late and spend almost 24 hours traveling, but it actually turned out to not be too bad. I was absolutely exhausted, but Delaney was a trooper. Here are the pics from our travels to Minnesota.
Enjoying a burger at the airport. Watching all the planes.
This is what kept me going during our 6 hour stint with a very cooped up 2 year old at the airport. Oh coffee, how I love you!
Finally on the plane. It was already 6:45 pm when our flight left and Delaney hadn't napped so she conked out pretty quick. I turned on her beloved Monsters, Inc. once we were up in the air and put on her headphones and I think she may have made it about 15 minutes into the movie. She slept most of the flight and woke up when we landed.
It was almost midnight Minnesota time when we landed (10pm here) and we still had to go catch the hotel shuttle. Oh, did I mention we didn't have our bags because they were already in Grand Forks? There is nothing worse than traveling all day and then having to wake up and put on the same clothes in the morning. We went down to catch the shuttle at the airport and immediately Delaney started pointing out all the buses (aka shuttles). You should have seen her face when I told her we would get to ride on one! We had to wait almost 25 minutes for our shuttle and Delaney never stopped talking about all the buses while we waited. We finally got on ours and get on the road. The other group of people on the shuttle were talking about how good she was. She had been an angel. I looked down at her during the ride and she was beaming from ear to ear. She looked up at me and said excitedly, "Mommy, we on a bus!". I think this may have been the highlight of her trip. This was the first thing she told everyone about when they asked about our trip. We finally got to the hotel and got checked in a little after 1 am.
I had to be back up by 7 to get everything ready and get us down to catch the shuttle back to the airport. I woke Delaney up in the morning and she protested about getting up. I finally got her little butt up and she said, "Mommy, I napped". How true kid, how true. That is all that it felt like we got. Here is my little sleepy head trying to get some more sleep in the morning.
We got back to the airport and had no more issues. We ran into my aunt Peggy and her grandson who happened to be on our same flight to Grand Forks. Delaney did great on the plane and we finally made it. More pics and stories to come!

Farmer in the Dell

So, just in case any of you out there forgot the words to Farmer in the Dell, here they are. Well, some lesser known version of it at least...

Farmer in the dell from Laneysa McGuire on Vimeo.

Happy Father's Day (a little late)

Happy (belated) Father's Day to all you dads out there! Each Mother and Father's Day, Delaney makes something special for the celebrating parent. I love that her daycare does that! I had a nice card with her handprints on it with a little poem. This year, they made a little shirt card with their favorite thing about their daddy in it. I couldn't help but burst out laughing when I opened it up in the car when I picked her up. Here is what it said: Is it wrong for me to be a little pleased with this one? I loved it and so did Dan.
Happy Father's Day!

Delaney's playhouse

Delaney got a new playhouse for summer. It is awesome. We had a nice weekend a few weeks ago and it made us all ready for summer. Unfortunately, we have not had the nice weather since. Here she is seeing it for the first time.
She is quite proud of it.

It has little shutters that open and close.

And it even has a working fountain.

It makes her very happy.

Here is the full view.

However, the box is just as much fun.
There is a new pool too. We haven't put water in it yet, but with the little slide, who needs water?
Our little one.

She showed Dan all around her new little house. Now, we just need some sun to get back out and enjoy it some more...

Ah, the little things...

This went on much longer than this video even captures. I wish I was entertained so easily. Oh wait, I was.
On a side note, please ignore my giant ET finger. Phone home!

Untitled from Laneysa McGuire on Vimeo.

Snake Lake

For the long Memorial Day weekend, the weather was not too cooperative here. But, Monday, the sun started shining and we took the opportunity to get the little one out of the house and free to run. We were trying to think of somewhere close that wouldn't be too crowded. Snake Lake! It was like a flashback to a 4th grade field trip. Now it is actually called Tacoma Nature Center, but it was perfect. There was hardly anyone there and Delaney could run on the trails. She had a great time pointing out all the tree shadows. Almost every picture I have of her looks like this. She was so cooped up from the time at home with the rain, that she ran as much as she could.

Checking out the ducks.

Here she is running towards us while keeping an eye on those ducks.

We even saw a turtle!!

We did the whole loop up onto the hillside and Delaney did the whole thing by herself. She never once needed to be carried. She was starting to slow down by the time we got to the car, but she never stopped.

Running down the trail.

My two favorite people wandering off on a trail.

A great (and free) outing for the one nice day of our long weekend.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! This was actually our first "normal" Mother's Day. My first one was right after my grandma passed away and last year all three of us were horribly sick. So, it was nice to have a nice, relaxing, uneventful Mother's Day. We got up, went to church, came home and had lunch, did a little shopping with my mom, and played outside in the beautiful weather. This last year I have had so many quintessential "mom" moments. Delaney can now listen to an entire conversation and only pick up on the one phrase that is not appropriate for her to repeat and then repeat it 17 times. She lost her temper and tried to hit me when it was time for her to stop playing in the sink (a huge favorite right now) and when I calmly asked her what she was doing, she calmly replied, "I hit mommy". Now, while she was being mean, she said it with such honesty and without any sense of shame about it that I couldn't help but snicker once she had her time out. She plays make believe now and loves to make imaginary tea for me. She sings songs all the time except they are all to the tune of "ABC's" and "Twinkle, Twinkle little star". She helps me bake all the time but absolutely HATES the hand mixer. I try to find recipes that don't require it, but sometimes it just can't be avoided. I could go on and on about her, but I won't put you all through that. So, here are some pictures from Mother's Day of my sweet little girl and my reason I get to celebrate. I couldn't imagine life without this little nugget.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Some other April happenings

We planted some seeds last month so Delaney could help grow something and they have been sprouting. She wants to be held up to see her plants everyday and we are just waiting to transplant them outside. She is having fun watching them turn from seeds, to plants, to (hopefully!) some fruits and vegetables.

I also finally got around to making some McGuire Irish soda bread. I don't think I have made it since Delaney was born. I meant to make it for St. Patrick's Day and that just didn't happen, but I had the supplies and Dan was really dropping some hints for it, so one day, I had Delaney help me make it. She finally got to try Irish soda bread and the verdict was thumbs up. Here she is trying her "yummy" bread. Our yard.

This is one of my favorite pictures of her.

We had some fun in the yard recently with the nicer weather. She would live outside if she could.

Me and my girl.

The Spring Fair

We took a trip to the Spring Fair this last month too. Delaney wanted to go see the animals and we figured she could go on a few rides too. I wanted fair food. So, we headed out as soon as they opened and hoped to be done by around 1 so Delaney could still hopefully take a nap (which did not happen despite her laying in her crib for an hour and a half). Anyway, as soon as we walked in the gate, Delaney saw the carousel and insisted on riding the horsey. So, that was our first ride of the day.

This is the face after her first drink of lemonade.
A rare picture of Dan.

We had to get some corn since that is one of Delaney's favorites. I had a couple of bites and Delaney polished off the rest.

My mom and I.

She went on the balloon ride with her daddy. Her head never moved from this position. I don't know if she just wanted to see where she was going or if she loved the wind in her face, but she was frozen in this position for the whole ride.

She loved it though and talked about it for the rest of the day.

She was very tuckered out by the end of the day. We had a great time though. It is so much fun now that she can get excited about things and enjoy herself.

A belated post about our night out

My mom and I think alike. So, this last Christmas we were both so pleased with ourselves for the gifts we got each other. A few weeks before Christmas we called each other to brag about the great "thing" we got for each other. After a few minutes of conversation, we both stopped and jokingly said, "I hope we didn't get each other the same thing". Since we were both SO confident in our purchases, we shrugged it off and waited until Christmas. Well, Christmas morning came and we opened our last gifts and sure enough, we thought alike. We both bought each other 2 tickets to the Michael Buble concert in April. Our plans for the night changed a little since we now had 4 tickets, but in the end it worked out great. The only downside was that we didn't get to sit together. So, on the night before Easter, my mom, my aunt and Dan and I headed up to Key Arena to see him in concert. Now, I will admit that Dan was not a huge fan, but in the end he really enjoyed it and Michael Buble put on a great show. If you ever get the chance to see him in concert, GO!
Here is Dan and I in the car on the way up. Can you tell we don't get out much? We turn into complete geeks once we experience life without child. It is blurry, but it is the only picture of us at the show.

He had a great band with a full horn section.

He came out into the audience at one point and was very close to our section. We got to see him up close for a few songs.

It was a great show and a rare night out for Dan and I. Sometimes it pays that my mom and I think alike. Even if it does mean we buy each other the same gifts.