Florida 2014

SUPER late posting this - but we were lucky enough to get to go to Florida in November. We were SOO excited to FINALLY get to go to Harry Potter World as well as Disney World.  We went with Megan's parents, her sister Mckenzie, and her Grandma.  Mckenzie was presenting at a conference (which was the reason for the whole trip) and we tagged along.  We spent two + days at Universal and 3 days in Disney World.  Rebecca did amazing and sadly didn't seem to care about where we were.  But that's alright, I didn't expect her to.  I was pretty terrible at taking pictures of our trip so this is all you get.  :)

 At Universal Studios.  Benn could hardly wait for Harry Potter World.  And I have no idea what Rebecca is doing.

 Walking around Universal and Rebecca's poor legs got a little tired.

 I made sure to make this picture extra big so you could see the pure enjoyment on our faces.  This ride was fantastic and waiting for it was great as well.  So many fun things to look at!

 The castle was amazing but I barely made it through the ride with my breakfast. 

 Rebecca walking the streets of Hogsmead.  She had no idea how excited her parents were to be in this place and all Benn and I could talk about was how great it would be to take our kids back someday (after they read the books of course, not just watch the movies).

 The Gate into Hogsmead.  You can see the train on the right.  You can ride it to Diagon Alley.  The train ride was really cool and it may have been a favorite of Rebecca's. 

A pretty terrible picture of the Castle at Disney World.  I just really love the Disney theme parks.  And I really hope that someday my kids love them too.  Rebecca LOVED the tea cups and the play gym thing in the waiting line for Dumbo.  And I ate as many churro's as Benn would let me buy.  :)

 Rebecca was exhausted from all the fun and unfortunately our flights coming home were a giant nightmare.  Our first flight was delayed 2 hours which would make us miss our connecting flight so they rerouted us through Minnesota.  Then that flight was also delayed because of bad weather in Minnesota which would cause us to miss our connecting flight again.  So we found a flight we could get on that would get us to Rhode Island and then a friend from Church was going to come pick us up.  It's only about a 45 min drive one-way.  Well, then that flight was delayed for an hour and a half because they had to repair a light in the overhead compartment (and of course, didn't have the part handy).  So it was too late for our friend to come pick us up in Rhode Island so we ended up renting a car and driving home.  We finally crawled into bed around 2 that morning (we got to the airport in Florida around 3 earlier that afternoon).

So we had a horrible ending to a wonderful trip.  :)  It was amazing to leave the cold of New England for a few days.  Plus we got to spend time with some of our favorite people in some of our favorite places.  We love making memories and Benn and I are looking forward to taking a trip child free (yes, you read it right....child free) in the coming months as a sort of 'We made it through school!' kind of celebration.  We have been thinking about a cruise or an all-inclusive resort so if you have some favorites of those, shoot them our way!

Summer Time

I am considering this summer like our first New England Summer.  But wait Megan, you have been in Boston since August 2012.  Yes Yes, I know.  But last summer I finished teaching with a little over a month before Rebecca came.  I was SOO large and going out into the humidity was just not on my 'To Do' list.  And then we really only had a monthish left after she came and I was just focused on keeping myself and my new baby alive.  So yea, this summer has been like our first New England Summer.  And while the humidity is pure torture, we have really enjoyed getting to experience more of New England. 

We have been able to have lots of Mom Group Dates with other women around Boston, which is amazing because these women are smart cookies.  They've been around for a summer or more and know the best places to go, when things are free or discounted, and they are so great to share their knowledge with this west coast farm girl (even when I ask really dumb questions).

We've also been lucky enough to have some great family time.  Benn was able to work his class and work schedule out so that he has Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings free.  So if he doesn't have work he needs to do, he gets to tag along on our outings.  We are trying to take advantage of the time he has now because it won't always be this way. 

We have been able to experience a variety of places so far and quite a few of them revolve around water.  Miss Rebecca is a total fish.  She absolutely loves the water, even if it's a little chilly.  She was a little unsure of the sand at first but that didn't last long.  Thankfully she hasn't found it very appetizing so far...let's hope it stays that way!

I'll leave you with some fun pictures of our outings so far.

 We went to a the Boston Children's Museum because we had a discounted pass.  They had a whole area for babies to crawl around.

 At the Boston Children's Museum they had a little water bed type thing.  She was not a fan.

 A new fancy playground opened and so we had to check it out.  Its about a 5 min drive from our place.  I think Rebecca will enjoy it way more once she is walking more than 2 or 3 steps by herself.

 We wen to a petting zoo using a Groupon that had tons of cool animals.  We were able to touch an alligator.  By 'we' I mean, I touched it and then made Rebecca touch it.

 Some dear friends of ours moved to Maine and we had some fun at a big park.  Benn is trying to wrangle these 3 cuties, all within 2 months of each other.

 These next few are all at a beautiful pond about 15 min from our place.  It's free, has a little playground, a nice sandy beach, and the water was great.  Only downside is the geese that hang out there.  I heard they can get kinda mean and bite.  One kept hissing as us and it was kinda freaky.  So as long as you keep an eye our for them (and their poo droppings), you are in for a great time.  Oh, and parking is free.  Double bonus!

 I love this picture of these two cuties playing together.  Benn is such a great Father and Rebecca is a total daddy's girl.  Her happiest part of the day is when Benn comes home.

 The first splash park we went to was in downtown Boston.  Rebecca wasn't as big a fan of this one, but I am pretty sure it's because it was a little chilly that day.

 We made an IKEA run and scored some amazing birthday presents for Rebecca.  She was a little confused while we walked around the showroom and she wasn't allowed to crawl over everything.

 The Ocean and all it's glory!  This particular beach we went to was absolutely splendid.  The water was simply wonderful!  Temp was perfect and Rebecca loved crawling around in it.  She loved when the waves would come in and splash her.  I walked in with her up to her chest and she was in heaven.

 Rebecca has finally started trying to 'play with' other babies.  This cute boy wasn't really sure he wanted to play so it was pretty funny to watch Rebecca chase him around and maul him when she got the chance.  Luckily he can hold his own and did a little mauling right back.  This may sound bad, but I was kind of glad.  Rebecca is just bigger than most of the other babies and her attempts to play with them don't always turn out to be pleasant for the other baby.

 Strawberry picking was horrible and wonderful at the same time.  We left with about 10 pounds of delicious strawberries that were made into jam.  We had some tropical weather coming through so humidity was horrendous.  And we would have waited to go picking but they were afraid the tropical storm would ruin the rest of the strawberry crop so we toughed it out.  Even if the jam doesn't turn out, the day was worth it after we got some strawberry donuts and a strawberry lemonade slushie.  I would go back to that farm JUST to buy those 2 things.

 You can't really tell, but Rebecca was super sweaty from just sitting in the stroller while Benn and I picked.

We had the rare opportunity to get in an actual pool at a friends house.  You can't tell in this picture but she was in paradise.  She loved it soo much I am going to see if there are any other swim lessons we can maybe do with her.  A total water baby!

Christmas Trip

Christmas was a blast this year!  We were able to fly out West to spend time with both sides of the family in Las Vegas and Idaho.  After all our travels, we had been gone for a little over 3 weeks and it felt like 5 weeks!  It all started off the morning of the 23rd...

It was an interesting day of flying to say the least.  Our flight from Boston left about 30 min late and we ended up landing in Texas an hour late, which made us 30 min late for our connecting flight to Vegas.  So we ran from that gate to our connecting flight gate (and when I say ran...I literally mean we ran).  They had already shut the door, but hadn't left yet.  There were a couple other people from our flight trying to get on so we waited patiently to see if they would let us on.  So they would let us on, but said we wouldn't get our checked bags.  Or we could have been redirected to Denver then to Vegas and have our bags.  We decided it was worth not having our bags if it meant we had one less flight.  So we got to Vegas and thought about leaving and not even seeing if our bags came.  Luckily we hung out at baggage claim because out popped our bags!  We decided it was a Christmas Miracle! 

All ready to fly out!

We spent Christmas Eve with Benn's Dad and family.  Unfortunately his grandfather was in the hospital.  But we made a night out of it by going caroling to him in his hospital room.  We even took some decorations to make it feel a little more like Christmas.  I was really excited to do this because my whole family (and I mean WHOLE family...aunts, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins) go caroling around my home town every Christmas Eve and this was the first time I wasn't going to be in Parma to do that.   So even though I was bummed about that, I loved getting to make new traditions and getting to share such a special holiday with Benn's family. 

We opened up presents at Benn's Mom's and then went to his Dad's on Christmas as well.  Here are a few pictures of Rebecca opening presents.  I use the were 'opening' loosely...

 Benn helped her open her presents

 She was OBSESSED with the bows and sparkly things.

Sitting in her mound of presents...lucky girl!  She is very loved!

The next few days in Vegas were spent seeing family, old friends, and eating at all our favorite places.  It was SO much fun to see everybody.  Poor Rebecca rarely had a nap outside of the car seat but she was a total trooper.  She did amazing!  Time flew by and we worked hard to make time to see everybody.

Rebecca zonked out on her Aunt Emily's bed next to her glow worm.  Maybe it's creepy, but I love watching her sleep!  It's just soo cute!

We left on the 30th to fly to Spokane, Washington to spend some time with my sister and her adorable family.  She's got 3 boys and they were great with Rebecca!  I hate that we live so far away that these cousins don't get to hang out more often but I feel so blessed to have had a few days to spend with them.  Rebecca would sit in a jumpy thing and the boys (2, 4.5, and 7) would pat her head and if she cried would quickly find her pacifier.  It was so cute!  My sister said the youngest kept asking when Becca was going to get there and the other two were asking her to save cardboard boxes so Benn could help them make a race track while we were there.  I love that even though our time with these guys is few and far between, we are still able to make fun memories and enjoy our time together.  Our first morning there we were sitting down to breakfast and Rebecca was making lots of noises so I told the boys that she was just so happy to see them!  To which the 4.5 year old replied, "She loves us....she probably loves us too much."  Here are a few pictures from our stay there...

 Benn playing Lego's with the boys.  Lego's are a favorite past time for Benn so he loved it!

These cute kiddo's wanted me to take a picture of them with Rebecca. 

After a few days there, we drove about 6 hours to my parents house in Parma.  We were able to see a lot of my family and enjoy a few days of relaxation after being on the go for about 10 days.  We introduced Rebecca to rice cereal while there and I'm guessing she acted like most babies do for the first time eating something besides breast milk or formula.  I wasn't sure she even swallowed any of it, but the poopy diaper confirmed that yes...she did in fact swallow some.  :) 

From here we took 10 hour drive with my parents to Hurricane, UT.  For those of you who do not know where that is, it's right outside St. George.  I have some family that lives there that we were able to stay with while Benn worked on recording his 2nd CD in St. George.  We were able to go to the St. George Temple the morning before recording started with my parents and two sets of aunts/uncles to seal some family names together.  It was such a beautiful way to start the recording process.  This CD is mostly centered around our Savior, Jesus Christ and there is no better way to feel his Spirit than attending the Temple.    The recording process went wonderfully!  Benn worked with a singer for a track on the CD which was a fun and new experience for him.  We were able to have lots and lots of people come experience this process with him which was so humbling to see the support and love from everybody.  Benn's younger sister lived next door to the recording studio so on her free time she would walk on over and spend some time with us.  I loved it because I got to pass Rebecca off to an Aunt for a little while! 

Rebecca taking a break from her car seat on the long drive while we were stopped for some gas.  Don't worry, when we started driving again, she was back in her car seat.  :)

 Grandma Cole taking advantage of her time with Rebecca

 She was back to sleeping in the car seat during recording...poor girl

 So here is Benn, the recording guy, and Rashida who is the vocalist that sang for the CD.  We are very excited for the track with her in it! 

 Some of the crowd that came to support Benn.

 My mom with Rebecca and Benn's sister Emily at the Studio.  2 of my uncles in the background.

 Steve doing his thing while Benn does is.  (If you look underneath the big TV, you can see the piano Benn is playing during recording.)

Rebecca having some daddy time :)

After we finished recording, we headed back to Vegas where we just hung around for a few days before we flew back to Vegas on the 14th.  Here are a few more pictures to end the blog off...

Rebecca loves sitting at the piano with Daddy!

 

 So this is a special picture that we will repeat in the future.  For those who don't know, Benn had a younger sister named Rebecca who passed away when she was very young from complications she was born with.  She lived to be around a year and a half.  Our little girl is named after her so this picture is Rebecca visiting the grave site of her Aunt Rebecca.  

If you made it to the end of this enormous post, give your self a pat on the back!  :)  Thanks for reading about our adventures.  Just a quick note about Benn's 2nd CD.  It's called 'Peace Before the Storm' and if you are interested in getting a copy, send an email to benncolemusic@gmail.com.  We will begin selling them in about a month and a half.  His first CD "Blessing of Promise" is on iTunes.  This new CD is the same style as the first.  Thanks!