A Week of Vacation!

This past week Nate has been on vacation. We struggled for the past few months to figure out what would work best for the family. We really wanted to head to FL at the end of September for a week, but we chickened out not knowing how Sophia would do during the 12 hour drive. It could have been a recipe for disaster! We tossed many ideas around but finally settled on a few!! Too bad the weather wasn't better this week -- I think it has rained 4 out of the past 6 days!

I invite you along to relive our vacation through pictures!!

Friday evening Nate and I went to a wedding downtown! We had a great time with my parents, Sarah, and Brandon! Kristin was a beautiful bride and the appetizers were out of this world!!

Aren't we hot stuff? I was thrilled to get in my "little black dress!" Nate parents were gracious and came out to watch Sophia!

Saturday it was gloomy most of the day! We went to the nursery to look at trees, to Beasley's Orchard to get some apples, and ended the day with a photo shoot at the park! We thought we should get some 9 month pictures, since our last shoot was at 6 months. Sophia was quite somber in those pictures! (I will try to post a few in the next week or so!)

Sunday we had a wonderful run at Eagle Creek Park in the afternoon. Here is a picture of Sophia all bundled up getting ready to head out!! Isn't that little Halloween outfit adorable? (Thanks Apryl!)

After the run, we decided to snap a few pictures. I set Sophia down in the leaves and she went WILD! This is her first "run-in" with crunchy leaves!!

I turned my head to get my camera and found her eating the leaf!! Ahhhh! I had to do a full finger sweep in her mouth to get all the little "crunchy" pieces out! Thank heavens she didn't swallow any!!

Shouldn't every Monday morning be like this one?? Nate and Sophia chillin' after her breakfast!! Later that morning, Sophia and I headed to group. She weighed 19 lbs 15.5 oz this week!! Almost 20 lbs for my baby!!

After Sophia got up from her afternoon nap, we headed down to my parents in Greenwood. Here is a cute picture of Nate reading Sophia a book before dinner! Don't you love her "major cheese" and the fact her shirt says, "SMILE?"

Much to my surprise, Sophia slept really well Monday night! We all were up at 7am for a great breakfast! (Thanks MOM!!) Here is a cute picture of Sophia playing after eating!! What she didn't realize is that mommy and daddy were going away for a few days and she was going to be with Grammie and Grampie K! CHEESE + squinty eyes = hilarious picture!!!

Tuesday morning after breakfast, Nate and I headed south to Brown County! Unfortunately it was pouring down rain!! What to do? I did not want to camp in a monsoon! We ended up booking a cabin in the woods instead of a campsite! The Abe Martin Lodge just remodeled and built an aquatic center inside -- so we enjoyed the pool, slide, and hot tub most of Tuesday afternoon. By the evening, the rain had stopped, so we headed out to do a nice 2.5 mile hike!! Here is a shot of me in the woods with my walking stick! I don't know what we would do without them! Really makes the hike much easier on the knees! :) (Boy I sound old!)

Wednesday was BEAUTIFUL all day!! We started off the morning with a 7.5 mile hike! Here is the view before we started the hike at Ogle Lake! It was such a beautiful morning!

After our long hike, we headed back to the cabin for some yummy snacks, then to the hot tub to relax!! After a few hours at the pool, we headed out again for another 3.7 mile hike! Yes, we are crazy and hiked over 11 miles in 1 day! What a vacation huh? :) It was great!! Here is a picture of me at the end of the day -- VERY glad to be done hiking!!

Thursday morning we woke up to more clouds! Are you kidding me?? Nate really wanted to do a 3 mile run around Brown County before we left --- so I put on my rain gear and we headed out. Thankfully it didn't start pouring down rain until we were finished!

Needless to say, after hiking 13.5 miles and running 3 miles of hills, my legs felt like jell-O!

Nate and I headed back to my parents to pick up Sophia! I was so glad to see her!! She had the best time staying overnight with Grammie and Grampie K! I am not sure who had more fun, my parents or Sophia!! Her days were packed full of activities and playtime!! I am so lucky to have my parents close by to help out and volunteer to keep her for overnights!! What a blessing! (Thanks mom and dad!!)

We woke up today to more RAIN!! I think it has been raining for 48 hours straight!! Nate and I deemed today as a PJ day! All three of us stayed in our PJ's ALL DAY LONG!! Don't you just love those kind of days?

What better way to end a PJ day Friday than with a nice, warm bubble bath? Right Sophia?

Hope you enjoyed the journey!! We sure did!!

Allyson and Sophia