Chiclets & Popcorn

They make a great combo don't they? Welp, in this house they do! And I'm not talking about these "Chiclets":

I'm talking about THESE delicious Chiclets!

Addison has a smile that has every ounce of adorability and hilarity all rolled into one. I can hardly contain myself when she flashes it. And she is soooo obedient at flashing it for us. All we have to do is say "show me your smile!" and bam....there it is.

Anytime she is sad or throwing a fit, I ask for her smile and ask her if she's happy. Amidst the tears and trauma she'll repeat "happeh happeh" as she forces this cute little grin. I know, Mommy is cruel, but surely you can understand why! Look at that cute-ness!


Part Two:
She is her Daddy's girl. He has grown up with a love of popcorn all of his life. It is one of the "staples" we must keep stocked at all times. And of course, his love has been passed down to his daughter. She L-O-V-E-S the popcorn parties they have. Just tonight she got to stay up late and enjoy one. Once Daddy uttered the words she was repeating "Poporn Poporn", headed to the kitchen, and got her little pint-sized bowl out of the cupboard. Check out this cute-ness:

Christmas Day 2010 Popcorn Party

Christmas Day

I could sum up this post simply by using one word to describe our Christmas: Wonderful!

But, my devoted readers know me better than that! I'm too verbose to use just ONE word! I must use a MILLION words!! ;-)

Our Christmas was definitely wonderful. Addison "gets it" more and more each year. As a result, it gets more and more exciting for us to watch it all through her eyes. This year, she didn't quite grasp the "Santa" aspect. She wasn't fond of sitting on his lap but she did manage to carry on a daily conversation with my Santa statue/decoration that sits by the door. Maybe she's just making his acquaintance this year and next year she'll come to love him.

One thing she did catch on to was opening presents. She LOVED it. It didn't hurt that Santa wrapped her presents in Mickey Mouse wrapping paper. The first moment she spied that paper she was shaking the present in excitement and shouting "Mou!! Mou!!" at the top of her lungs. I don't think she even realized a present was in there until we tore the corner. And lets just say, Disney & Sesame Street have trained us well. Addison could have easily shot a commercial for each of them since she was adorned in their clothing, their ornaments were hung on our tree, and 95% of her presents had to do with them. Get 'em while their young right?

Santa was very kind to our family but more than that, it was a great Christmas just spending it with each other and the fun times we had doing so. Throughout the month, we had many special opportunities to reflect on the birth of our Savior and the true meaning of Christmas:

John and I got to see "The King's Singers" in concert for our anniversary. It was a great concert and what made it even greater was that ALL of their songs focused on Christ instead of the commercialization of the holidays.

We also were lucky enough to attend the "Ozark Mormon Chorale" and hear nearby churches (and ours) sing about the Savior. Addison even enjoyed it as she sat so still and drew through most of it (her favorite pastime) and after each musical number she'd set her pen down and join the audience in applause. It was hilarious to watch her.

I won't lie, it is fun to get caught up in the hype of the holidays. Shopping amidst the bustle of the stores, listening to the music, sitting on Santa's lap, wrapping the presents, anticipating their excitement as they open them, etc. BUT, it's sooooo nice to step back from it all and remember Christ and His birth and feel the special spirit that comes with that too.

Merry Christmas 2010!!

Enjoying our Christmas Eve tradition of pajamas. Check-out Addison's favorite gift to date: Elmo slippers. She looks like she's walking on the moon when she wears them. Which is probably why Mommy happily obliges when she wants to put them on daily. :D

Here Comes Santa Claus!

He's coming tonight!! We are very excited at the Hufford house. Yesterday we were lucky enough to see the REAL Santa Claus at the mall. He had ringlets in his real beard and a shiny gold watch. Plus he was the nicest he could ever be. Especially when my child tried to jump off his lap in tears. So glad he could accommodate our visit with only two days left before Christmas day.

And of course, before we headed home we had to partake in one of our yearly traditions (as in we started it only last year). Addison got to ride the green tractor and loved every minute of it.

Check out that cheesin' smile! A.door.a.bull.

And her expression when I plugged in the three quarters!! (Prices are on the rise folks!) Soooo animated she is.

Needless to say, we've been VERY busy this holiday season. Between Christmas shopping, a pre-Christmas celebration w/the Bell side, Christmas concerts w/a live nativity, a Primary Christmas party, and ringing in the holiday festivities, we've hardly held still. However, we've had a TON of fun doing it all.

We got to make some scrumptious sugar cookies and deliver them to family & friends. I was hesitant to make these as I remember these things taking FOREVER in years prior (in my single days). However, we got quite the system down and knocked them out amazingly fast. Next time I won't be dragging my feet to make them. After all, they were DELICIOUS!

Now we are off to make some more cookies w/friends for Santa's visit tonight. I hope he likes peanut butter!!

Merry Christmas!!

Girls Weekend 2010

I think we've finally started ourselves a tradition. Thanks to my sister Cassie's ingenious idea, we embarked on our first ever "Girl's Trip" a few weekends ago. The only unfortunate part about the whole weekend was that neither of my sister-in-laws could make it. Which is why I think it's our new yearly tradition so they can catch the next one once they see what kind of fun we had this year!!

Our wonderful husbands were able to play "Mr. Mom" while we all jetted away on a wild and crazy trip. Okay, really it was only a 2 hour drive (for me) to Springfield and then on to Branson. BUT, it was definitely wild and crazy nonetheless. Going into it, I really only had two requests. 1. That we get some type of commemorative jewelery to remember the event. And 2. That we eat at a nice restaurant and order piping hot food and are able to enjoy it without having little mouths to feed (again, this was a kid-less trip). Not only were we able to accomplish those but much much more as well.

Friday night we all converged upon Springfield, MO (my hometown) and were able to see some of our long lost cousins at a Luau they were throwing (they are part Samoan). It was fun to catch up with all of them and even see their dancing skills. The good kind of dancing, it was in a church after all!

Then we had to head out early and converge upon our next destination. The condo's at Branson! (Seeeee! I told you we were wild and crazy!) We spent the evening eating junk, watching Titanic (the only thing on I promise) and making hair bows for our cute little girlies we left at home. Then we woke up nice and early the next morning and spent the WHOLE day shopping. And yes, we got lots of good deals and bargains. We had to combine all of our purchases at each store to qualify for our coupons so needless to say we had to bring our abacus to dinner w/us that evening just to figure out who owed who what. It was worth all the work as we were quite fashionable after that weekend! We headed back to the condo and I hit the road home so I could teach that Sunday and of course see my little baby that I missed oh so dearly.....oh and Addison too of course! ;-)

Little Garrett, my nephew who was the lone boy amongst all of us girls. Lucky him he is still a nursing baby and got included on all the fun. This chunker has a smile that goes from ear to ear - seriously he does!

And the whole gang at the Luau. Please note the palm tree. My Grandma was very intent on getting it in every shot we took. All ten of them!

Turkey Trottin'

I was lucky enough to get to trot with the turkeys this past Thanksgiving. It had been my first 5k since this past May so I was the one who probably most resembled a turkey as I trotted. (And trust me, I don't go much faster than the "trot" pace. I like to call it a normal person's "walk with a bounce!" ;-)

I hadn't known about the race until a week prior but thought it'd be fun to try. I mostly wanted to see if I could finally accomplish the goal of running the WHOLE thing. Soooo....the night before the race I was pumped and mentally prepared. Until that morning when the sleet, and freezing rain hit, and everything went south fast. I had doubts of even getting out of bed but luckily pushed through and did it. Then I continued to have doubts along each step of my journey. Poor John and Addison were under the weather so I left them home and went out to face the weather. I don't know how many times I entertained the thought of just turning the car around. BUT, my first (and only goal acheived that day) was to just buck up and do it. After all, it was only a light mist and once I got running hopefully I would warm right up.

Welp, lets just say my original goal of completing the race w/o walking......fell short. I almost had it in the bag until I was faced with the final hill. Apparently, the hill, the rain, the freezing cold, and the wind, were all in-cahoots and timed themselves to attack me together. It wasn't my best time by any means. I was a little bummed I couldn't achieve my first goal of not walking, but glad I was at least able to achieve the 2nd goal (aka finish it). I guess it just leaves me an opportunity to sign up for the next one! Any takers?!

Griswold Family Christmas

This past weekend, John worked his tail off to make sure our Christmas holiday mirrored that of the famous Griswolds. I'd say he did a mighty good job wouldn't you?

Joooyyyyy Tooo Thheeee Wooooorrrrllld!

OURS

vs.

THEIRS

Okay so maybe we have a few more years practice before we achieve "the look". But it is a heckuva start. I came home late last night from babysitting and quickly realized our house was the only one GLOWING throughout the first half of our subdivision! I don't think I'll be losing my way home anytime soon.

And on a random note, Addison has a new found hobby. She L.O.V.E.S. to draw, color, write, you name it. She gladly accepts any/all writing utensils and can busy herself for HOURS (seriously folks) just coloring away. The bad part is now she has a meltdown anytime you try to take away the writing utensil. John bought her a huge coloring book that is easily as big as she is. She spent all day today just coloring away. And yes she just looks adorable doing it. But, I could be biased after all ;-)

Giving Thanks

This year for Thanksgiving our family tried to spend more time reflecting on the specific things we are grateful for. Obviously, it didn't take long since we seem to be surrounded in blessings. Here are just a few that come to mind...

This little girly. My little buddy Addison. And Christmas lights of course! We were lucky enough to see the lighting ceremony on the Bentonville Square last week.

Kind strangers....that take blurry pictures. I'm always grateful when I meet kind people. Even if they speak limited English. Thankfully, once I performed a few charade moves they got the hint and happily snapped our picture. :D

Pies. Seriously, no joke! These 13 pies fed the whole Hufford clan for Thanksgiving. Can you say 1 pie per person? Thanks to Uncle Richard for constructing a pie gurney to carry all of them on as well! We are also thankful for the delicious dinner that came before the pies!

Kind cousins. Addison loves playing with them. Especially the older girlies that do so well at including her and sharing their crayons and paper. This kept her occupied for 30 minutes! Thanks Karah and Brianna!

Dogs. Addison loves the time she gets to spend with Gracie. Not sure if Gracie feels the same towards her. She's the perfect size for Ms. Addibell.

Christmas music. We've been listening to this one even before Thanksgiving. John grew up listening to this CD and we've adopted it as our own family tradition as well. Thanks to Ebay and some mad bidding skills from John, we are now owners of a mint condition, out of print, "Christmas Through The Years!" Woohoo!

Uncles that read to cute little girlies. Thanks Uncle Tom for giving Addison some one-on-one time and reading to her. It's her FAVORITE past time. And thanks to Bryce for sharing your Daddy - even though I think you are giving the stink eye in this pic! ;-)

Family. All of 'em on both sides of course! Grandpas, Grandmas, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, etc. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families that love and care about us.

Little helpers. Especially the cute ones. I love when Addison joins me in tidying up the place! One of the rare times she's seen cleaning a mess instead of making one! :D

And most of all, Daddies & Daughters. Especially Daddies that love their Daughters as much as this one does. He's a hard worker for our family which makes me lucky enough to stay home and raise this cute little cheesin' girl. He spoils us rotten. Which reminds me of one more thing I'm thankful for....Girls Weekends in Branson! Just got back from a day and a half of nothing but eating, sleeping, shopping, and laughing with my Mom and sisters. Couldn't have done it without a wonderful husband who assumed the role of Mr. Mom while I was away.

So so so grateful for so so so many things!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Nursery Times

It's official....Addison is indeed growing up. It has been confirmed. She is now a church nursery-goer.

Technically she's still a couple of weeks away from the 18 month mark but we were lucky enough to get a jump start on the transition phase. And frankly, I think Mommy is having a harder time transitioning than she is. I'll admit it, I was the one who chose to sit w/her in nursery the WHOLE time her first Sunday. Even though she seemed perfectly fine. But I've since weaned myself and am doing LOTS better!

I'm so proud of how well she has adjusted. She cries a little when I leave but thankfully is easily sidetracked w/toys and other children. (Secretly, her ability to be easily side-tracked is one of the qualities I L.O.V.E. about her. I use it to my advantage quite often. I'm sure as she gets older I'll enjoy it less and less though). I was terribly shy when I was younger so I'm definitely relieved she isn't as much.

John was able to snap a few pictures of her undetected. Here is an adorable one of her coloring her picture at the table. Am I the only one that just wants to sqquuuueeeezzzzeee her when I see this? Yes folks, she is my first, the little things still excite me. :D


There are so many benefits of having her in nursery. John and I can actually enjoy church again without chasing a toddler around. Addison can learn to socialize w/o her Mommy by her side. She can be entertained much better than we ever could with our diaper bag collection. And she comes home completely tuckered out and ready for a nap! Two thumbs up for nursery!


A Bit Of Randomness:

And just for documentation purposes, Addison has hit the "lovey dovey" stage. We are LOVING it as well. She has learned how to give hugs and kisses. Granted her kisses sometimes involve a booger exchange but I'll gladly take it. Plus, her hugs are nice and long (surprising for an active toddler) and she takes the time to lay her head on you and pat you during the hug. She seems to initiate them a lot just on her own. But is also very obliging when we ask for them too.

Funny Story #1: As we were shopping in Walmart the other day, I kept leaning in for kisses. Each time I'd make a buzzing sound and get louder and louder and then plant one on her. She liked the game at first but quickly got annoyed when I kept on. However, despite her annoyance she still begrudgingly participated as if she had to. You could see the look of frustration on her face as she kept leaning in w/a kiss. I think she even grunted a few times in disgust when I wouldn't stop. I LOVE that she doesn't realize her free agency yet! Mom's way is still the only way apparently! Woot!

Funny Story #2: Again, shopping at Walmart (yes we frequent the store uh.lot). We walked down an aisle and she shouted "MOU!!" in a growly excited voice. I couldn't see exactly where she spotted Mickey Mouse but she is rather good at finding him. Anyway, as we turned down the aisle in the opposite direction, a lady parked her cart right in our way and started looking through a rack. At the exact same time Addison again spotted the mouse and used her excited growly voice to shout "MOU!!!!!" The lady jumped and quickly apologized and moved out of our way. Apparently she thought she was getting scolded by a toddler. It was hilarious but I tried to reassure her as we passed. I won't lie, it kinda scared me a bit too.

Baby Mama

I am this baby's mama. But, she is the little baby's mama. And she is a VERY good one at that.

(Just disregard the messy hair - it was a long day.)

She's at the age of baby dolls now. It is soooo fun to see what motherly qualities she has and she's not even 18 months old yet! She loves to carry her baby around, give it kisses, and hold it close to her while she lovingly pats her.

Because she loves her baby so much, I've joined in the festivities. We've adorned her with a new dress (aka Addison's swimsuit), draped the toy necklaces around her, given her rides in the cardboard box (just like Addison), shared her food and bottles, given her a bath when Addison takes hers, and rubbed lotion on after the bath. We even let her take the baby to bed one night until I had to wake up three times just to see her flopping and flailing on the baby doll.


I swear, each phase Addison grows into, I seem to love it more and more. Granted we still have our tantrums, whines, and rough naps but more often than that we have our giggles, our play time, and happy moments. She's growing up into such a little girl and losing all of her baby chunk.

She knows where her nose, eyes, belly, ears, hair, fingers, piggies (toes), teeth are and points to them on command. She jabbers away in her own little language while she turns her hand up and acts like you should know exactly what she is saying. Yes, I've had grocery checkers ask me to interpret as if I know what it all means.

She is learning a lot of words, even though most don't have the ending part, but it's still adorable. I know it's bad to encourage the baby talk but I just love speaking her language with her. I guess if she grows up with a speech delay we can blame it on me ;-)

Just a few words she has learned so far:

"Nack" - Snack
"Bye Bye" - she says this over and over every time we put on her shoes and she waits by the door until it's time. She LOVES to go bye-bye.
"Side" - As in outside or inside. She mostly likes to go outside of course.
"Doh" - Dog. She shouts it each time she hears one bark and gets all excited
"Dad" - Simple as that. No Da-da or Daddy.
"Mom" - Again quite simple. Sometimes I get a "Ma".
"Up" - Usually when she wants on the couch with us but has now decided that every time I ask her to use her words it means to say "Up" even if she wants down, out, in, etc.
"A,B,C,D" - Repeats us as we say the alphabet. Seems to fade about the time we get to "E" though.
"Cat" - Likes to say the word but did NOT care for them when she had her first encounter with a kitten a few weeks ago. A girl after my own heart I suppose. ;-)
"Mil" - Milk. She signs this one well and tries her hardest to say it too.
"Baybeh" - Baby. A favorite of course.
"Ju" - Juice
"Shoe" - Loves to play with them and loves to repeat it over and over while we put them on.
"Sock" - Again loves to repeat it as we get dressed each morning.
"Mou!" - Exclamation included because she gets sooo excited each time she finds him somewhere.
"Go, go, go," - Usually is running full speed with excitement while she says this one.
"Boon" - Balloon. She LOVES them and spots them everywhere. Especially the ones w/"Mou" on them.
"Jumpy jump jump jump jump" - This is from a CD of Gabba that we play in the car. I just noticed her singing it while we were walking around the block yesterday. Adorable.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some so I reserve the right to re-post as they come back to memory!

I just want to say that I'm sooooo grateful that I get the privilege of spending my days with this cute little girly. Yes, some days can be looonnngg but I wouldn't trade it for any other job on earth. She is the best co-worker I've ever had. I'm enjoying the days where I can just be her buddy. Before you know it she'll be a teenager and then I'll have to be the mean Mom!

Grand Slam!

This past Saturday, Addison & I scored a Grand Slam!! Every once in awhile, when the moon is full, and the temperature strikes juuuusssttt right.....John makes us breakfast. :D I really look forward to those days. See why?

Something similar to Denny's eh? But much MUCH tastier!

Although he seems to cook breakfast few and far between, he definitely makes up for it with beautiful and tasty creations. Plus, I actually cook breakfast even fewer and further between than he does. Most days we just fend for ourselves and dine on cereal or a granola bar....if that.

I always feel like I'm eating at a fine restaurant when he cooks simply because presentation is just as important to him as taste. Heck, I'm lucky if the food I cook actually makes it from the pan to the plate! Sadly, I couldn't find very many past pictures of our delicious and beautiful meals he has created. I'm definitely documenting every.single.one.of.em from here on out. Just to make all my blog readers jealous of course ;P.

We are very lucky to have such a fine cook in our midst. He spoils us rotten in many ways - cooking is just the tip of the iceberg. Addison and I are lucky to call him ours. I could go on and on about all of his great qualities. Hmm....maybe if I do we'll score some more fine meals! :D

Fear Fest

It's official! We've finally finished celebrating Addison's 2nd Halloween! It seems like so much goes into the holiday before it actually happens....ALL of it being fun of course. So what did she dress up as you ask? Just check out this adorability:

Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz!!

Both of these pics are from our last minute Saturday fun. We were lucky enough to get to hang out w/Aunt Josie and cousin David at the Bentonville square and get some more use out of our costumes!

We even got to eat lunch together at Chick-fil-a. Yum E!
(Thanks Josie for takin' such cute pictures! You can capture that smile so much easier than I can!)

But of course, even as adorable as she was in her Dorothy outfit. It was indeed our "Plan B". Wayyyy back last year, I scored some cute things at the after-Halloween sale. One of them being this C.U.T.E. monster outfit WITH matching tights people!:

But unfortunately, as I prepped her with a few dress rehearsals earlier this week, I slowly gave up my dream of her wearing it. Why? She was terrified of it. So much so that she would walk the long way around the living room just to avoid it - and eyed it as she took each step. I did manage to bind her into it twice and both times it ended w/her in tears. I finally decided to be a nice Mommy and dig through my resources for other options. It was worth it in the end. We had one VERY happy Dorothy...much better than a crying pink monster eh? And really, she's cute no matter WHAT she wears.

We had three chances to Trick or Treat w/friends. We hit up the Rogers downtown festivities and got LOTS of smarties and LOTS of patience as we waited in forever long lines. Then the next day we hit up the Bentonville square and did much better. Far shorter lines and much better candy! Woot! And alas, we enjoyed our first go-round at the ward Trunk or Treat. She spent most of her time parading around the parking lot and having a blast.

This year, Addison definitely seemed to "get it" - at least partially of course. She understood the overall concept:

Step 1: Walk up to the candy giver.
Step 2: Hold out basket.
Step 3: Wait patiently for said candy.
Step 4: Smile & cheese it up for the admirers.
Step 5: Rinse & repeat.

And yes, she had rules for me too.

Rule 1: She wanted to walk UN-assisted!
Rule 2: She wanted to hold her OWN basket.
Rule 3: She did NOT want me to hold even a smidgen of the basket, even when it got heavy from all the candy.

My baby is growing up! sniff. sniff. I agreed to all the rules for the most part but broke a few when it was time to pick up the pace and pick up the child. We had so much fun ringing in the Halloween season. It's definitely true - Holidays are wayyyyy more exciting when you live them through your little kiddo's eyes. And what beatiful eyes they are! Now we get to countdown to Thanksgiving! Loving this season.

Here we are posing by our creations. Addison has Mommy wrapped around her finger. I slaved over the big pumpkin and carved her favorite: Minnie Mouse (aka "Mou!")

Cali-forn-I-A

Addison and I were lucky enough to get to tag along on one of John's recent business trips. Thankfully it was to exciting California instead of a small...middle of nowhere...town! We spent most of our days just hanging out together but were able to spend the last two hanging out w/John as well. It was a blast of a trip but the best part of any vacation is coming back home.


Our first day included catching a 6:00 am flight which had us getting up/ready at 4:30 am! Little Addison was SUCH a trooper through it all. She just merrily went along with all our craziness and smiled and laughed along the way. And of course a big mighty hallelujah for 'Yo Gabba Gabba'. We had it loaded on three different electronic devices just in case a battery should die along our way. She goes almost catatonic when watching that show - and it's the best remedy for a long day of flying. Even our fellow passengers were proud of how well she did. Literally NO tears...just LOTS of giggles :D.


We arrived so early to Cali that we had plenty of time to nap and even got to head out to the beach for Addison's first time. We were lucky enough to spot about 15 dolphins just swimming off shore right as we walked up....so cool! At least it was once we confirmed they weren't sharks and weren't about to dine on the nearby surfers.

Our second, third, and fourth days were spent mostly inside. Yep, we were lucky enough to bring the rain along w/us on our trip. California gets what? About 3 rainstorms per year? We spent the WHOLE week in overcast skies and about 2-3 days in non-stop downpour! Yay us! We had to make some quick changes to our schedule to accommodate the yucky weather but luckily we still had a blast, just Addison & I, hanging out.

Off to the hotel pool. This girly has NO fear when it comes to water. I love it but it does mean I have to be even more aware of her at the pool. She would jump in before I was even ready to catch her.

We also had a chance to hit the beach up a second time. I quickly learned she LOVES the sand and loves to eat mouthfuls of it as well. The only time she got mad was when I was trying to actually clean it off of her.

We also spent a morning driving to see the sights in L.A. However, the only sights we saw were a 10 second glimpse of the Hollywood sign and LOTS of traffic. Apparently "Rush Hour" is EVERY hour in that city. We had to hurry back to eat lunch with an old friend so we didn't get to see too much.

Thursday was the long awaited day at Disneyland. Just prior to this trip, Addison learned who Mickey Mouse was and could identify him anywhere (thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse). Anytime she sees him she gets excited, points, and shouts "Mou! Mou!" She literally spotted him on every sign, every statue, even on people's shirts as we made our way to the front entrance. Needless to say I was pretty excited to introduce her to the real life version.

Meeting Goofy. She was an excited fan while we waited in line. Pointing and jabbering away. It quickly changed the minute we sidled up next to him.

Minnie was hands down her favorite! Never got scared and loved every minute of it. She kept trying to make her way back to her when our turn was over.

And last but not least, Mickey! We enjoyed ourselves as we traipsed through his cute little house. We finally found him way in the back. Security must be tight over this little guy I guess! She liked him for the most part but was a little timid when we got our face-to-face time.

She easily enjoyed all the rides we rode on as well: the Flying Rockets, Dumbo, Small World, and the Underwater Submarine and the Train. Here she is w/Daddy on the flying Dumbo's. She's our little thrill seeker that's for sure. She'd get sad everytime she had to get off the rides. Can't wait to take her on some roller coasters when she gets bigger! :D

Yep, she has been initiated. She is now a proud owner of her very first Mickey ears!

Overall, it was a G-R-E-A-T day at Disneyland. John and I were amazed at how well she did all day long. Napped perfectly in her stroller, loved the rides, loved the characters, and even loved standing in line (which is where we spent 90% of our day)! She just entertained herself in the mud, the bushes, making friends, and climbing on the railings. I was predicting a few meltdowns along the way but thankfully we didn't encounter a single one! Thanks Addison for taking it easy on Mom & Dad!

The next day we wandered off and found a cute little pumpkin patch/park/zoo/pony ride area in Irvine. Since I grew up around horses I was pretty excited for Addison to have her first pony ride. She didn't quite know what to expect and spent the first circle in tears and clinging to me, the second round she got a little more bold, and the third round she was laughing, riding by herself, and waving at the passer-by's.

Here she is on her third round w/her pony, Corky. Such a cutie!

And we couldn't leave the state without one more visit to the beach. We spent the first few minutes of our visit trying to keep her dry and clean but quickly gave up and let her have at it. It didn't take long for her to cover herself in sand.

All in all, it was a great visit and we had a blast. Our return trip home was a different story since we spent most of the day in the Dallas airport with multiple cancelled flights and grounded airplanes. It made for a long day but of course it couldn't deter us from the fun we had on our trip!