Birthday/Babymoon in Boston

My hubby turned 30 on Friday.

I told him to pick somewhere we could jet off to for a weekend.

He chose Boston.

I think I said things like, "what about San Francisco?" or "what about somewhere with temperatures are in the positives?"

He declined.

 

So off to Boston we went.

We = me + hubby. Quinn had an extended sleepover at Grandma and Grumpa's. Since we'll be a family of four in four short months (HOLY MOTHER OF EFF), we thought it wise to take one last parentals-only vacation.

 

Before I begin our trip recap, I would like to start off with some thoughts on letting your significant other book your air travel:

 

When they tell you they got a ridiculous deal on roundtrip airfare to Boston, ask some questions.

 

Here are my suggestions:

 

- What is the name of the airline and is it a reputable company?

- Does the airplane have more than 9 seats?

- Does the airplane resemble a glider more than it does a commerical airplane?

 

The reason I suggest asking these questions, is to avoid arriving at the airport and seeing this waiting for you on the tarmac...

 

 

 It also avoids things like:

- being asked to co-pilot the flight (I'm exaggerating slightly, but they will make you sit beside the pilot)

- sitting through the most frightening flight of your life. It honestly felt like riding a roller coaster. At several points during the flight I seriously contemplated whether the pilot knew what he was doing.

 

 (smiling to hide my TERROR)

 

Oh and since I mentioned THE pilot, um yeah there's only one. If said pilot has some sort of life threatening health emergency, the plane is going down. There's no backup, no other trained person on board. You are totally screwed.

 

So yeah, it was terrifying. But it was a fucking bargain, let me tell you.

 

Anyways, Boston.  

First day we stayed at a hotel across the street from Faneuil Hall.

 

 

We perused Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. 

We ate an expensive meal at The Chart House in the harbour. 

 

We took cute selfies by the harbour.

 

 

We returned to Faneuil Hall for dessert and then went back to our room and watched Wolf of Wallstreet. 

Next morning we had breakfast in the North End.

 

 

We then packed up and drove to an outlet in South Boston, then we headed to two outlets in New Hampshire. Tilton and North Conway to be exact.

 

We stayed the night in North Conway, NH and then drove to Salem.

 

Here's a funny fact for you - did you know there are two Salems in the US? One in New Hampshire and one in Massachusetts. When you ask the cashier at Target in Salem, New Hampshire about where all the Salem Historical places are, don't be surprised if she looks confused. If you want to see Salem witch-related stuff, please get back in your car and drive to the appropriate state. Lesson learned.

 

So after a detour in Salem, New Hampshire, we finally ended up in Salem, Massachusetts. We ate lunch and saw this creepy house where the first witches of Salem supposedly lived.

 

 

There really wasn't much to see there so we got back in the car and drove back to Boston.

 

On our final day in Boston we went to the New England Aquarium.

 

Turtles, penguins, seals oh my!

 

 

Overall great trip.

Thankful to be back home in one piece, albeit our wallets came back home a little worse for wear. 

 

 

On the plus side, our unborn child now has an extensive wardrobe of adorable clothes.

 

xo, Vicky 

Halloween 2013!

And just like that, another holiday has flown by.

Quinn's 3rd Halloween.
 

I can't believe two years ago we were bringing a teeny little babe in a teeny pumpkin hat to the neighbours house to trick-or-treat.

Time flies.

 

So without further ado, here’s how our Halloween 2013 played out...

First we searched high and low for the perfect gourdes.

 

 

Then we took our precious cargo home and got to work gutting and carving.

 

 

Here's Daddy's creation:

 

 

And here's Mommy and Quinn's creation:

 

 Little Miss Cookie Monster ready for Halloween!

It was raining that night, so she was prepared with her umbrella.

 

 

As for trick-or-treating, Quinn, as always, exceeded my expectations.

She said please and thank you at each house and when the door closed she would say to me, 'Another house?' Gosh she was so excited...

 

My parents and aunt Heather came with us and I managed to take this picture of Q and my Dad on our back home. Although its blurry and not the best quality, its one of my favorite pictures. She just loves her Grumpa so very much.

 

And for fun, I thought I'd share my Halloween costume...

 

My friends had a Halloween party last weekend and one of my girlfriends (Hi Vanessa!) had the genius idea of us dressing up as the ladies from the movie Bridesmaids.

 

Not too shabby for a couple WalMart outfits, some pink ribbon and a wedding dress that won't zip up in the back (eep....I need to hit the gym...) 

 

xo, Vicky

Quinn at 24 months

I know I say this every month, but once again you are so much fun my dear!

Talking:
 

I'll save our funny conversations for the next installment of Say What Now?, but what I will share is my joy at just how much you know. You put whole sentences together and we are at the point where Daddy and I know what you are talking about all the time.

 

Eating:

 

You are still an awesome little eater. Whatever Daddy and I are having, you'll have too. Don't get me wrong, you still pick veggies out sometimes and you still fidget and squirm at the table, but we never worry if you are hungry.

 

One way we manage to sneak in good stuff is with smoothies. You love smoothies. You especially love the banana, blueberry, yogurt and spinach combo. I do too.
Smoothie mustaches are the best!

 

 Sleeping:

 

Ever since you got your teepee on your birthday, you’ve slept in it every night. One night you managed to roll off your mattress and get outside the back of the teepee. When I went in to check on you I just about had a heart attack when I saw you weren’t in there. I frantically ran around your room until I found you behind the teepee, under a pillow.

Fave Things:

 

If our car ride is any longer than 10 minutes, you take off your shoes AND socks. Every.single.time.

For a week leading up to Halloween, your Daddy wore a scary mask to ‘get you used to it’ so you wouldn’t be scared of it on Halloween. Well, his plan worked. It worked so well in fact, that you request that mask sit with us at the table for dinner. You also drew the mask a picture the other night when Auntie Heather was babysitting you. Point 1 for Daddy.

Auntie Heather and I took you to Dora the Explorer Live last Sunday and you absolutely loved it. When the characters came on stage, your eyes lit up and you had a perma-smile the whole show. I wasn’t sure how you’d react to the crowds of kids, the noise and the length of the show, but you were wonderful. You danced and participated all while wearing a big goofy grin. It was an awesome afternoon. 

 

 

You love your new Dora and Swiper dolls, but your absolute fave toy is still Baby Addie.

You love circle time. You do a circle time every day with all your babies while I get dinner ready. You sing the Goodmorning Train song, the alphabet, you talk about letters, numbers and the days of the week and you read stories. It is so, so, so adorable. 

 

 You love to help Mama cook and bake. Every night you say "Help Mommy, help Mommy" and demand that I put you up on the counter.

 

 

You do your business on the potty (sometimes)! Last weekend we put you in underwear and you only had two accidents the whole weekend! We are so proud!

 

We have so much fun together Quinny.

You are just the best!

xo, Vicky

Thanksgiving 2013

 

Happy Thanksgiving mes amis!

 

I hope all those who celebrated this gluttonous holiday over the weekend ate, drank and laughed way too much.

 

We had an amazing weekend over here.

 

Friday night was spent catching up with some friends from far away and cuddling their little fella.

 

 Saturday was spent at Nana's house enjoying the beautiful fall day and eating way too much turkey.

 

 

 Sunday morning was spent at Saunders Haunted Farm.

SO.MUCH.FUN.

The afternoon was spent at my parent's house and also involved eating way too much turkey.

 

Ahhh.

So much to be thankful for.

  

xo, Vicky

Here's to Us

Dear Simon, 

Three years ago today we promised to love and support each other through the good times and the bad. It was a beautiful day; one we'll never forget. 

Wow, three years. 

It seems like yesterday but also seems like a lifetime ago. We've been through a lot in three years. Two houses, two dogs, one adorable kiddo, new jobs, vacations, road trips and unfortunately some sad moments. 

After all we've gone through in the past few weeks, I feel like I've never loved you more. You were with me through it all. You came every morning to visit me in hospital. You came to all the tests and scans. You held my hand. You told me everything was going to be ok. You tried to make me smile and laugh when I was so down I thought I'd never smile again. 

I would never have gotten through all of it without you. 

You make me laugh everyday. You tell me I'm beautiful all the time. You are the best Daddy in the whole world. You love making Quinn and I happy and as an added bonus, you always make sure the wine rack is well stocked. Seriously, what more could I ask for? 

I am so lucky to share my life with you. 

Love you more than I could ever say, 

Vicky

Halifax!

I've been meaning to post this for about a month, so now that I have a bunch of free time with the sick leave, I figure I better play catch up. 

Ahhh Halifax.

 One of our favorite places to visit.

Not only is it a beautiful place, but there are awesome people living there too.

Two particularly awesome Nova Scotia residents got married last month, hence our trip to Halifax this year.

Before I get into all the wonderfulness that was our East Coast trip, I think I'll get the logistical aspects of air travel with a tiny human out of the way.

Our experience went a little something like this:

Our flight was delayed 3 hours. Damn you Murphy's Law. Being stuck in your own city's airport is probably a lot like purgatory. Pretty sucky.

We bought Quinn a Sesame Street sticker book and a Dora the Explorer colouring kit for the plane. It saved our butts, I can't even tell you how many times.  We did however end up covered head to toe in stickers.

Simon insisted on bringing our backpacking pack for Quinn and am I ever glad we did. She ended up napping in it while we were at the airport and it was so convenient strapping her in there when we didn't want her running around the airport.

We fed Quinn things she should not have eaten (eg. sugar covered donuts) but they kept her quiet and entertained for all of ten minutes. Worth it.

Quinn also spent a good chunk of time looking out the windows of the airport. Watching planes land was pretty cool for her, but not as cool as watching a little moth fly around outside.  

Speaking of windows, Quinn loved nothing more than looking out the little plane window. Our flight was only an hour and half so she spent a good chunk of time looking out at the clouds and searching for birds.

Simon also got creative with his toddler distraction techniques. 

Overall Quinn was awesome both in the airport and on the plane; thank you toddler gods.

Now on to our awesome trip...

We hung out by the waterfront:

We trolled around downtown:

And we of course, went to Mike and Meg's wedding! 

Simon was Mike's best man and Quinn was the flower girl. 

Quinn did so well walking down the aisle, I was so proud!

My Aunt Heather visited Halifax the same time as us and offered to watch Quinn while we enjoyed ourselves at the wedding. After the dinner, Heather and Quinn headed up to the hotel room we reserved while Simon and I got some mingling and dancing in. Thanks again Heather!!!

Not only did we get to hang out with friends, we also got in some family time as well. 

I, of course, took no photos. But I stand by my reasoning that we were having too much fun to take pictures. 

My Uncle Ralph and his wife Susan live about twenty minutes outside Halifax and graciously hosted us for a few days. We stayed in their RV on their property, and let me tell you, it was pretty swanky.

All in all, we had a wonderful time and are looking forward to our next visit to Haliwood. 

xo, Vicky