family vacay. {disney bound.}

[Totally back-tracking on here, by oh, almost two months. But it's my blog, I do what a want. Ha!]

There were quite a few months this past year that were a blur to me, one of which was October. [Which is probably why I'm craving a much slower pace now.] Because, frankly, it was filled with a lot of fun. Crazy, blessed, fun.

We were given the opportunity to stay {for free} in an absolutely beautiful resort in Orlando, Florida, which included three bedrooms, a full kitchen and living room and balcony. And two jetted tubs! When an offer like that is on the table, who can refuse?!  So, back in June we had a family vacation planned to visit Disney World at the end of October. Audrey watched Disney World YouTube videos for four months straight. Not even kidding.

Now here is where I insert the word adventure instead of vacation. You guys, going on a trip with a 4, 2, and 6 month old is so.much.work. Well worth it, but whoa. About three days before we were leaving, we got smart and recruited my younger sister to go with us for another set of helping hands. There were many times during the trip that we thought how would have we done this without bringing help?

We were that mini-van full to the brim (hello, we had to take a double stroller) AND with a car-top carrier on. Which actually came in handy, you could spot our van from a mile away in any parking lot. To get us through the 20+ hour drive (that included stops), I wrapped inexpensive gifts for the girls to open every few hours---crayons, coloring books, magnetic dolls, books, markers, etc. This way, every time they started to feel ready to explode, I could give them something new to have fun with. On the way there we decided to try driving through the night, which worked ok until about 3am when Naomi was over being in her carseat. On the way home we broke the trip in half and stayed in a hotel, which worked well until Naomi was ready to be home at 3am. Notice a trend? Yeah, Naomi was a tough traveler. She wanted the endurance of her sister, but wasn't quite there. Still needed naps and lots of sleep, but didn't get it. Lincoln, however wins the best traveler award. He practically slept in the Ergo carrier the entire time. Nursed and just hung out. It was wonderful. Audrey did pretty well too.

In the week we were there, we hit up Downtown Disney one day, Sea World one day, Disney World Magic Kingdom one day, and even drove an extra few hours to visit the ocean. We had two "down days" at the resort, enjoying the pools.

My favorite moments include watching Naomi in absolute awe of Mickey Mouse when we met him. When Audrey saw the Disney castle it was truly magical. And when Lincoln rode his first ride--a little train, sitting next to me.

Here is where i overload you with a TON of pictures. Mainly from my iPhone, because it was easy and quick access when you have a baby strapped to you.

Hanging out at the resort:

Downtown Disney:

Best part of Downtown Disney was definitely the Lego sculptures! 

Sea World:

Audrey loved getting her face painted, she picked the "mermaid" one. 

Naomi, however, enjoyed watching but didn't want the man touching her. Ha!

Train ride with my buster!

I call this one "super-dad." He took all the kids for a short nap-car ride while my sister 

and I got to ride a few roller coasters!

Disney World:

That's my sister holding Naomi, but it looks like me!

 Spinning on the tea cups!

Watching the parade!

Riding the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom

The ocean:

We definitely made some wonderful memories. I went home and made a vacation book up from my Instagram photos using Blurb. It's fun because the girls love looking through the book almost daily and no I did not get paid to share about Blurb, I just really like my book I bought. 

It truly was the perfect way to spend my last week in my 20's. 

Now we've decided the next vacation we go on will be just for the parents. Ha!

away.

After a lovely date with Audrey on Thursday, I had a weekend date with my husband. We went away to one of our favorite places, Madison, Indiana. It was just us and three other couples from our small group at church. All of us have kids, but we went away without them to focus on our marriages. It is so easy to get caught up in parenthood and put on the back burner our relationship with our spouse. [I know this, because we do it all the time.] And as difficult it is to leave our little ones behind for a weekend, it is totally worth it. And the kids actually benefit from it, because we come back with a stronger relationship with each other and kids can tell, no matter what age, you know.

Any who, moving on from what could be a really sappy post...

Thanks to my aunt and uncle who are so generous to let groups like us use their "vacation place," we all stayed in the most beautiful home that is like a bed and breakfast. We went boating on the river (thanks to our friend's parents who let us take their boat), played games, made s'mores (with peanut butter cups, you must try this if you haven't already), sat on the porch forever and just talked, boys went golfing while the ladies painted pottery, went out to the best local, quaint restaurants, and best of all, relaxed. A LOT.

On our way down to the river restaurant.

A kind of love this guy, a whole lotta.

Showing off my awesome skills while playing our version of the game Minute to Win It. I had to transfer five cotton balls to another bowl on another table using Vaseline on my nose in less than a minute. I was a rockstar and completed it, of course. [This is seriously one of the best games to play with a group of people. We didn't stop laughing through the whole game. Look it up, if you haven't heard of it before. It's a tv show, but our friends turned it into a game for us.]

The ladies at the pottery place. [Side note: Two years ago when we went, I was pregnant and so was my friend, Karlee (front left), and this year? We are both pregnant again, except I'm about 35 weeks along and she is about 11 weeks along.]

It was a weekend to remember. A weekend to focus on spouses and friendship. And to just be thankful. This was our third year doing this with our small group and we hope the tradition continues.

full.

I could have spent all weekend just sitting around and lounging with my best girlfriends and I would have been just as happy. We definitely did a lot of relaxing and lounging around in p.j.s, but we all had a lot of fun exploring Chicago.

My cup is full. I'm refreshed.

We ate at some delicious places and now I can't get that chocolate truffle cake out of my head. [Excuse me, why I clean off my drool right now thinking about it.]

Being that I love antiques and shopping, I thoroughly enjoyed going to the Randolph Market Festival. Surprisingly, I didn't buy one thing. But I did find a lot inspiration. And sometimes that is all you need.

We also went to the Imax Theater on the Navy Pier and saw the movie Inception. My brain is still hurting from trying to understand it, but it was really good. Not to mention, it was my first real experience at an Imax (besides seeing a 15 minute ocean movie with a 150 campers). And not to mention, it was my first movie in a very. long. time.

Then we hit up dinner at Smoque. Delish pulled pork sandwiches, but what was even better were the pictures we snapped using the black glossy wall outside.

My beautiful friends. Sarah, me, Stephanie, and Susan. (Sarah and Susan are twins- how adorable are they?)

Then after dinner, these pictures were taken without flash, just using the street light.

Almost 30 weeks along with Naomi Fae.

To close up our weekend of girl fun we hit up the Bean and the beach.

I even made it home in time to tuck my sweet baby girl into bed. And to sit on my new porch swing my husband hung while I was gone.

A full life.

Things are Just Beachy.

I can't believe it's over. Our week get-away to the ocean. I have so many beautiful memories from this past week. There is nothing like staying in a house with some of your closest friends. We call ourselves the Fab Five. Dorky, I know. But true. We have been close since Middle School and still going strong. I feel blessed to have such close girlfriends.

And I can't get over how much they loved on Audrey. In fact, everyone did while we were there. I had like 14 babysitters. It was kind of awesome. I was happy that Audrey was very social too. She enjoyed the attention. In fact, On Saturday I realized she popped a tooth and I didn't even notice during the week that she was teething.

I was afraid it wouldn't feel like a vacation since, well, my work (aka baby) comes with me. But it was a great vacation. My hubster helped out so much- let me sleep in, let me go to the beach while Audrey napped. I pretty much have the coolest husband. Ever.

The beach is the perfect setting for pictures. Boy, did we get some good ones...

The most important part of this vacation was of course, the wedding of Drew and Steph. All week it was a little overcast, but Friday, it was BEAUTIFUL. ALL DAY. Not too hot. Blue clear skies. And ohmygosh the ocean in the back drop as the bride walked down the aisle and Somewhere Over the Rainbow playing on the ukulele, I definitely teared up.

(My husband built the trellis. He is pretty much a rockstar. Oh, and I am the one second to last from the left.)