The Golden Princess

We have been on a few cruises over the last 5 years - Royal Caribbean and Carnival - and this time we were sailing via Princess. I have to say, Royal Caribbean was the coolest boat I'd ever been on with a huge promenade in the middle of it and a flow-rider on the deck! Carnival is definitely the best food (and the cheapest of the cruise-lines so that's kind of a shock) and we've done Carnival twice and loved it! I felt like princess wasn't anything super special but I did LOVE the service and it didn't matter that there wasn't anything super fancy on the boat because we were going to Alaska - no one was going to be swimming or surfing anyway. And Princess did have the BEST chocolate banana smoothies :) mmmm I had way too many of them...

So we all hung out together for the most part and participated in fun activities. Like the ping-pong tournament, DUH! 

 Meanwhile, this happened:

 Let's just say there were a lot of spoons, straws, and napkins strewn around the ship throughout the week... anything to keep G occupied :) 

The Wingers practically took over the entire tournament (except for one little old, but spry, Asian grandpa! say whaaaaat). Zach got out preeeeetty quick haha so he hung out with us for awhile.

And then it was down to Frank and Cam battling it out.

 And it's Cameron for the win! Frank with the silver :) Cameron is the best ping-pong player around.

It was so fun having so much family around to play with G all the time. She loved it and they loved her!

 Even the head waiter made time for her every evening at dinner. He was so sweet to her and she would just stare at him the entire time, checkin' him and his foreign accent out :)

G was....ok at dinner time. She required a lot of attention sometimes but she had lots of family to distract her and play with her. Sometimes she just fell asleep in my lap and I'd have to eat with one hand and have Zach cut all my meat :) and sometimes she just napped on Aunt Kristen's shoulder... pretty good all in all!

Pictures from one of the formal nights:

 Aaron & Kristen:

Cameron & Chandice:

 Dave & Tiffany:

 Jared & Sheree:

Cathy & Frank:

 Jordan & a hot date ;)

Then we went outside for more in the freezing cold!!

Love spending time with this family...lots of laughs and a good time! 

Winger Alaskan Cruise 2013

This vacation came so fast! Before I knew it, it was time to pack up for Alaska!! I remember when The Wingers planned this vacation about a year ago and decided on Alaska, I was not thrilled. I am just a beachy, tanning, pina-colada kinda girl... but when it drew closer, I realized it was SO the better choice!!! I did not want to cart G around again in the sweltering heat and watch her sweating it out every day again (we did Cancun earlier this year) and I was SO beyond happy to get away from the crazy heat of Utah. I am so so so grateful they planned Alaska for the Winger family vacation of 2013! And vacation luck was on our side... the weather was gorgeous! 75 and sunny practically the whole week... Cathy & Frank went on this same cruise the exact same week, one year before, and they said it was rainy and freezing. The universe must love Georgia, otherwise we would have been stuck on the boat by ourselves, but instead we got to explore Alaska along with the rest of the fam. It was so great and we have such awesome memories.

We cut it a little close on Sunday morning, but we made it just in time for a quick break before for family boarding. 

This little girl loves hats. She oos and ahs over them whenever Zach wears them...

We started it off with the best surprise ever! The first faces we see on the plane?? Kristen & Aaron right there in the front seat! Turns out they had a layover in SLC and didn't even realize we were on the same flight. So Aaron offered me his front row seat and went to go sit with Zach. 

It was practically love at first sight for these two...Kristen was her 2nd momma the entire trip, with a magic shoulder tjat G loved to nap on... amazing. 

 Kristen was ready to go with her cutest anchor shirt... how fitting :)

Of course we were the last ones to board the ship so Zach and Aaron couldn't resist the urge to call their dad and tell them how late we were running and didn't know if we would make the boat ;) ahhh those Wingers are so predictable!!! Can't believe they fell for it!! Haha I can always count on them for a good fake-out.

Boating @ Deer Creek

Zach's friend from work recently got a boat and we couldn't wait to test it out with them! We headed to Deer Creek for some tubing and extreme heat! I was happy we went so late in the day so it cooled off a little. 

 Always a great day and a grand view with these boys...

 They had a baby life vest for G and I felt so sorry for her, choking/sweating it out all day! But she never complained. Looked a little annoyed with life, yes. But no pouting! 

 This boy....always pushing the limits...always willing to sacrifice his scarred and beaten body for some good ole risky fun! 

He wanted to go as fast as possible, as hard as possible. "Ride me dirty rotten" were his exact words. 

You can't tell from the pictures, but they were going crazy fast around turns and I was getting anxiety from how fast Zach was whipping around and flying off! Over and over:

 I really don't like to tube.... I don't like whiplash and feeling like my life is slipping away from me. And let's be honest, boys ALWAYS lie! They tell you they won't go fast or throw you off and then they LIE!!! I almost got away with "taking care of Georgia" but they wouldn't let me. 

I screamed the entire time (high-pitched and out of control, exactly like my mother...embarrassing) but did have tons of fun. There were times we went faster than I cared for, but I will admit, it IS fun. I didn't get thrown off but I did hop in the water after and go for a nice swim. The water felt great!  

This little boy was more of a scaredy cat than me! Eh, what can you expect from little boys? ;) I'm sure I'll eat my words someday...

 Scott's wife, Maddie:

 My two favorites:

We ended the night with some pretty crappy Mexican food in Midway (it was NOT Don Pedros) and even crappier ice cream... oh well. Can't win em all :)

Salt Lake Date w/ Amanda

This is my friend Amanda:

She is one of my favorites :). We worked at APX Alarms together (back when Vivent was APX... yikes) and I don't think she liked me at first. But I clawed my way into her life, threw some homemade cookies (yes that's right, homemade!) over the wall into her cubicle, and forced her to see how fabulous we are together and then she saw the light and we have been awesome ever since! When we shop, she is like my other half. I love her! 

Her smile and laugh and personality are so contagious and I love that about her. G does too! 

Some good conversation goin on ;)

I have wanted to go to Blue Plate diner forever! Since my friend mentioned that it was Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. So when Amanda said it's one of her go-to's, I was super excited. The food was great! We had good burgers and fries and stuffed ourselves stupid.  

Then we were really naughty..... and headed over to the mall. But I partially blame the heat wrath of Utah because I was dying to get anywhere with AC so we ran over to the City Creek mall for a quick stroll/walk down death-by-shopping lane.

I had a serious talk with Georgia. I taught her about the importance of shopping and the "magic cards" that get you anything you want ;) if you just ask Daddy!! haha just kidding.

cheap plastic beads for the babe... the mall is always a win/win!

Don't be fooled by the modern leather seats and bling. This place is CHEAP! ha. My kinda store ;)

City Creek is such a beautiful mall! I had the best time & real talk with my girl. Love you, Manda!

Miss Goo @ 7 Months

Ahhhhh just look at this face!!! 

I can't believe this baby is 7 months already.

This girl kills me. She's so dang cute and cuddly and fun! 

But let's be honest for a minute...the majority of this photo shoot went like this:

hahaha but it's ok, because I worked extra hard for these handful of smiles :)

What has this girl been up to the last month?! Besides bringing me the most joy I could ever know?

She is still rolling EVERYWHERE but she is SO good at it now! She uses her arms to pivot around, sometimes in full circles, and then rolls her way to whatever she wants. It's too funny.

She loves to sit in the carts at the store now, I never bring her in her carrier which I love, it's so much easier! 

She sits up by herself perfectly fine now and isn't wobbly at all! 

She throws her toys and always drops everything we give her on the floor 100 times just to watch us pick it up for her again. A couple weeks into being 7 months, she learned new "words"! Just one day, I noticed her blabbing away and was shocked that she wasn't cooing anymore! I was sad for like 2 seconds and then couldn't stop smiling because I love it when she talks, it's so funny. Whenever she sees Zach, she oos and ahs at him and leans towards him, just to break his heart! As soon as she's in his arms, she is frantically looking around for me and won't take her eyes off of me. She is so funny, always wanting what she doesn't have! Remind me of someone.... ;)

I love this little face.

She's been boating, shopping, facetiming, cruising to Alaska, hangin' in the baby bjorn, dipping her toesies in lakes and waterfalls, and lots more! She is the cutest, most stylish babe I know and her Auntie Sissy has made it very clear that if her upcoming babe (Feb 2014 WOOHOO!) is a girl, prepare to have all her belongings stolen! Finally the handmedown gods will favor her. And if it's not a girl, prepare to lose a favorite Aunt because she will surely lose her mind and turn into a vegetable. Yikes.

By now she's eating squash, fruit yogurt, and gagging on breadsticks (oops... I blame Princess Cruises). 

She is happy as a clam as long as I'm near and cries when I leave the room or sometimes turn away from her. But it's never for very long.

 I'm so lucky to have such a happy and fun lovin babe.

 She LOVES facetiming daddy when he's working out of town!

 She loves when I spin her around in circles and getting thrown in the air and looking at herself in mirrors... a tad narcissistic ;) and she's always got her tongue stickin' out everywhere we go! I love it. Always chewin' on something or sucking on her upper lip.

She is a crazy growling little grizzly bear! She started doing this low long growl out of nowhere and it is hilarious. It's so weird and for no reason and it cracks me up! Her eyes are changing so much. Somedays they look dark blue, other times they look hazel. Her one tooth is growing in so big and CROOKED! haha. 

The other night after rocking her to bed twice, I let her cry it out and then went in to check on her an hour later to find THIS:

 It totally freaked me out! the blanket was really tucked in under head and she breathing hard. I felt so grateful that I checked on her! I made it right:

without waking her too much. And then exnayed minky blankets at night from then on! Just cozy foot pj's and maybe a breathable swaddle blankie. Have I been doing it all wrong this whole time?! Does everyone else know not to send their babies to bed with a minky blanket?? Geez. It made me feel wonderful to hear Zach say that he feels fortunate that our child has survived this long...happy 7 months Georgie.... glad you've made it this far! I'll do better tomorrow.