Well, we took a trip to the happiest place on earth in April (aka "Disneyland"). I'm a little bit of a Disney fanatic and have been wanting to take Grace although she is still young. We purchased her an autograph book and a feathery sleeping beauty pen so we could look back and remember these magical moments (can you tell I was reliving my childhood?)!
Of course we had to meet Mickey and Minnie:
Riding on the merry-go-round... she looked like such a big girl holding on by herself!
Casey Jr.'s train ride:
We did some splurging and enjoyed lunch with the Disney Princesses at Ariel's Grotto. It was so much fun to see Grace meet each princess (reliving my childhood again). I have to laugh because she really had no idea what was going on and isn't looking at the camera in any of these pics... oh well.
Off to meet Tinkerbell...
After riding Dumbo...
Enjoying a ride on the teacups! Steve and I usually try to spin as fast as possible, but in this case, it was a pretty relaxed ride.
Encounter with Jack Sparrow... I just love Grace's expression in this one; they just stared at each other for the longest time.
The merry-go-round for a second time...
Grace looked so cute with her seatbelt on as we went from ride to ride. I was surprised at how many rides she could go on being so young... it was pretty cute.
Before leaving, we stopped by Build-A-Bear and got this cute little stuffed dog. Grace is obsessed with dogs as of late, and she can clearly say "doggy" and make an adorable barking sound. If we didn't live in such tight quarters, I actually would consider adding a furry friend to our family.
And in more recent news, our little angel is growing up quickly. I emphasize the "growing up" part because she really isn't "growing" all that fast and is quite petite. However, she is learning so many new things... it's amazing how quickly children learn! She loves this show called "Word World" and has been learning her letters! I have a bunch of magnetic letters that I made on the fridge, which she loves to point to saying "A, B"... "C"... "T".... "E". I was really surprised when she started doing this because I never really taught her any letters, but then I realized while she was watching her favorite show, she was repeating the letters that they spelled!
And here is a pic from Easter. I actually missed her first Easter egg hunt! I had to work that day, but Steve documented the event for me.
And, I always seem to find some time for crafting. I took an old tank top of mine and created this...
And after wanting to do a triathlon for the past 2 years, I finally reached my goal! I did a sprint tri in St. George, Utah. What made this event even more special was that I did it with my 2 brothers, my sister-in-law, and my niece who is in the pic below! My niece did awesome in her "mini-tri" race... following in her dad's footsteps!I ended up placing 6th out of 27 in my age division, and 19th out of 147 overall for women... that was definitely a surprise!
I performed a lot better than I thought I would, especially considering that I really could not swim well at all 2 months ago. I decided to take some private swimming lessons since I never had lessons as a child. My first 2 lessons were torture and I was getting so out of breath. After some great coaching and a lot of practice, I was swimming much better within 2 weeks. I also had the added challenge of swimming in a lake, but luckily I scored an awesome wetsuit on Ebay and could handle the chilly water better. I think I look like I stepped out of Star Trek...
And meet "Coach Chris". This guy taught me how to swim in 4 lessons, and also gave me a lot of pointers on doing triathlons having completed several Ironman's himself. I probably would have been the last one out of the water if it wasn't for his help. I am now swimming in his Master's swim class and can swim 2200 meters!
Because I had so much fun doing this race, I actually said "yes" to my younger brother when he asked me to do a half Ironman with him this August! So, I basically workout now for 2+ hrs a day, and I'm getting used to waking up at 5 am or earlier to get my workouts in (I have to beat the heat here in AZ!). It sounds like torture, but surprisingly, I'm loving it!And of course, my training won't stop because I got into St. George Marathon this October! I didn't make the lottery last year, and I was pregnant the year prior, so I'm super excited!
And before I wrap up, I have to mention that Steve is finally into his 4th year of medical school! He will be traveling a lot for his rotations this next year, but we are hopeful that it will help him get into a great residency program. He has decided on doing emergency medicine, and I think it will suit him well. And luckily, we get to do a rotation in Utah for 4 weeks!
More updates to come soon....
