Catching Up with our A to Zzzzzs

Holy Smokes!  So much has happened in the last couple of weeks that it feels completely overwhelming to even sit down and work on writing out a post summarizing what we did.  Simply stated, I can say that we drove to Arizona, flew to Atlanta, purged my brother's house of lots of unnecessary items, packed up the rest of his house, flew back to Arizona and then flew home.  But, man oh man, it was way more exhausting than that even sounds.

So, instead of a play-by-play, I'm going to do it ABC style.  {Although, right now I'm about four letter/words short of a full alphabet, so those may just get left out.  And, yeah, I realize that some of these are a stretch.  I'm still recovering from all this work, so hang with me.}

A - Let's just kick this one off with Atlanta.  {Hello, Mrs. Obvious}  I wish I could use it for H and call it HOTLANTA because that's what it was - more like Humidlanta.  I don't think I've experienced as much humidity since I left Indiana.  Even Hawaii didn't feel as humid.  But, I did appreciate the warmth, especially at night!  I have probably mentioned this a million times, but I really miss warm summer nights.

B - Let's just say we Busted our Butts packing up Billions of Bags and Boxes!  This picture is not even all of the boxes - there were more from upstairs and you can't see the ones lined up along the wall on the right.

C - With all the Craziness of the week, I barely pulled out my Camera.  So, most of the pictures on this post are going to be from one of our Cell phones.  Corry.  (Err, Sorry).

D - The letter D is brought to you by our {not-so} Dear friends at Delta.  We'd like to personally thank them for all of the Delays they gave us FREE OF CHARGE!  Ugh.  On our first flight out {Monday, 6/27}, we found out about the delay about 5 minutes after we left my parents' house.  Our initial plan was to get to the airport early and get our seats all together and then have some lunch there while we waited to get on the plane.  But, the delay was over an hour long and there was no way we wanted to spend all of that time at the airport.  So, we headed out to Chick-Fil-A and had some lunch and let Olivia play on the playground for a bit.  {Funny side story: She crawled up the steps in the play structure, but didn't want to go down the slide and was too scared to come down the steps on her own.  So, this nerdy looking FIVE YEAR OLD boy asked me if he could help and then picked her up and CARRIED her down the steps!  Amazing little hero.}  

Our second Delta Delay came on the return flight home.  Again, we got there with plenty of time to spare,  but about 25 minutes before we were going to board, they announced that we were going to be delayed by about 45 minutes.  Do you guys understand how rough that is when you are traveling with a two year old?  You can only take so many toys/books/snacks on board and it really stinks when you use up some of them while you wait in the airport!  Anyway, we finally get on board only to be told we would all have to get off the plane and board again.  And, while our flight attendant was really nice, giving Olivia two packages of cookies didn't really help the situation!

E - One of Olivia's favorite things in all of the airports was the Escalator!  She became a pro at riding them!

F - The day after we arrived at Ryan's house, we started packing.  We packed up the kitchen and what little food he had in his pantry {bachelorhood is so different from family life!} and so it was really difficult  making Food for lunch or dinner.  I'm pretty sure Olivia had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day for lunch and since we ate out most nights and kids menu choices are awful, she pretty much ate mac&cheese for dinner every night.  I'm glad to have her home where she can get her daily allotment of Fresh Fruit and veggies!  And, speaking of Fresh Fruit... It's amazing to taste the difference between the blueberries & strawberries that we get out here and the ones at the supermarket in Atlanta.  Those blueberries have no taste!  We are SO spoiled!

G - Anyone in the Atlanta area in need of some Good stuff, head on over to Goodwill!  My dad and brother shipped off a truckload!  (Seriously, he had FOUR vacuum cleaners!)

H - We were in need of a truck to not only Haul stuff to the dumpster and Goodwill, but also to pick up some new furniture from Ikea.  That makes sense, right?  Downsize to make life easier, get rid of stuff, but buy more stuff for the new place.  I see the logic!  Anyway, after calling around to different places, it was clear that the cheapest thing to do was to rent a Home Depot truck for a day.  At $70, you can't beat it!  It does ride, well, like a truck, but we were definitely able to fill it up!

I - Like I just mentioned, Ryan and I made a trip to Ikea and picked him up a couple different bookshelves to store his books, dvds, etc in.  My dad DESPISES Ikea and refused to go in until the very end when we needed his help for lifting all of the boxes.  My dad and I were both {not-so-secretly} happy that we weren't going to be around to put together the items in those boxes!  The letter I also has to go for ice-cream.  Olivia get her own little ice cream cone one night after dinner - and she loved it!

J - My love for that Japanese company, Sanrio, is NEVER-ENDING.  Olivia walked away from this trip with new Hello Kitty and Keroppi stickers, Hello Kitty bracelets and barrettes (yay Target dollar bins) and a new Hello Kitty bento box.  {She also scored some rubber stampers, gel pens and post-its, but she won't be getting those for awhile.  But, hey, while they were in the dollar bin, I had to get them!}

K - While Ryan did give away a lot of his things, I was able to Keep a couple of them for myself.  I scored a quilt that my grandmother had made and while I didn't get to bring it home yet, I also laid claim to this awesome Discover Columbus game he had hiding out in his garage!

L - While Olivia and I are glad to be back home {and I know David is glad to have us back too}, it sure was hard to Leave my parents after almost 2 1/2 weeks together.  My brother and I are so LUCKY to have such wonderful parents who would literally do ANYTHING for us.  After working my parents like dogs on refinishing Olivia's dresser and nightstand {and putting my dad to work around the house and yard}, my brother worked the three of us even harder.  My dad did repairs around my brother's house, trimmed trees and bushes, spackled holes in the wall, installed a new shower head, and drove that Home Depot truck all over the southland!  My mom and I packed and sorted and organized until our bodies and minds were drained and my mom still managed to be the other half (err, quarter) of my parenting team with Olivia.  Lucky doesn't even begin to cover how fortunate we are to have them.

M - We treated Olivia to a trip to the Children's Museum on Saturday.  All Friday night we told her about going to the Georgia Aquarium and seeing all the fish and the belugas, but upon arriving there the next morning {without pre-purchased tickets}, we realized the 3 hour wait in the heat was not going to be fun. So, we trotted a few blocks down to the Museum and realized it was a much better {and cheaper} experience for her.  She loved it and was able to do so much more there than she would have been able to do at the aquarium.  And, lucky for us, there was a little "fish exhibit" there too.  

I love this picture.  She's all, No Poppy, that's NOT the way to do it.

N - Olivia has learned all of our Names now.  She knows her whole name and knows Nana's and Poppy's too {first and last}.  When we ask her what Uncle Rhino's name is, she says, Uncle Rhino.

O - Well, this one is Obviously for Olivia.  She was SUCH  a trooper these last two weeks.  She for sure didn't get all of the attention and playtime that she was used to.  And, she definitely watched WAY too much tv.  She missed out on countless hours of sleep because her poor body had no clue what time zone it was in, but she really did do such a great job with being flexible with our crazy schedule.  She slept with me for a week and half and while it wasn't the best sleep either one of us had, it sure was nice waking up and seeing her precious sleeping face.

P - With all those delays at the airport, it was certainly nice to find a little Play area there where she could burn off some energy.  {Thanks, Poppy for taking her there!}

Q - Can you believe I passed up an opportunity to get Dairy Queen?  Neither can I!  But, this belly of mine is feeling so full that after a yummy bbq meal, I couldn't have eaten another bite if I tried!

R - Seriously, a huge thanks goes out to the Ryan Cooper Foundation for flying Olivia and I out to visit and treating us to virtually ALL of our meals while we were there.  Yes, we may have worked hard for it, but it was worth it to be able to spend some time together.  So, thank you, thank you, thank you!  {If I weren't 33 weeks pregnant, we'd come back out again soon to help you decorate your new place.}

S - Mmmm, I sure do miss the Diet Sweet Tea from Publix!  {And, don't even get me started on their brownies or their donuts!}  What I wouldn't give to have a Publix Supermarket around here.

T - Maybe I am a control freak or maybe I just worry too much, but the morning before we left, I sat at Ryan's computer and typed up FOUR pages of notes for him.  I typed up a To-Do list, a Things to Buy list, a What Goes Where list and Pack This with This list.  By the time we were home, he had already crossed off a bunch of things from his lists.  {And, as of today, he is all moved in to his new place!}

U - One of Olivia's favorite things are these Happy Tots "squeezers."  I love them because they are an easy snack to take with us and they are jam packed full of good things - fruits, veggies and fiber!  Unfortunately, they are also over the 3 oz size limit for flights.  I've taken them with me before and just done a TSA body search in order to keep them sealed.  I opted for that choice on the way out, but had the most UNBELIEVABLE search that I've had yet.  {Although, it wasn't quite as bad as the poor old woman who was forced to take off her Depends.}  I swear they inspected EVERY single thing in my purse and in Olivia's little carry-on.  Never again will I take those squeezers on a flight!

V - Olivia was a true rockstar while we were in Atlanta.  Not only did she jam out to my brother's keyboard, but she also played on his Rock Band guitar...which she always called her Violin.

W - Even though I have spent the last several weeks going through all of our stuff, I still came home feeling like we have WAY too much stuff and am determined to rid ourselves of even more of it once I get some energy back.

X - And that energy can start making its way here anytime.  I'm EXHAUSTED.

Y - We are almost there.  Are You guys still with me?

Z - While at the airport in Atlanta waiting to board our flight to Phoenix, Olivia and I met a little girl named Zoe.  She had just turned 7 and had two American Girl dolls with her.  Olivia was in heaven.  As luck would have it, she and her dad were seated right next to Poppy.  About two hours into the flight home, I took Olivia up to sit on Dad's lap and play with Zoe.  The girls had a great time with each other and it made the flight SO much better for both of them.  When we were all getting our bags, Zoe came up and gave Olivia a huge hug goodbye.  It was so sweet!

As exhausted as we all are, we really had a great time together.  I swear I haven't laughed so hard in ages. I hope to get back to a regularly scheduled blogging routine soon.  Thankfully, Olivia went right back to sleeping like a champ.  {I swear, I never thought I would say those words!}

Happy Thursday from the Central Coast!