Disclaimer: There are several pictures/videos that I would like to add to this post, but I haven't gotten them from Mark's mom yet. So I'll post what I have, but I'm sure there are better ones that will be posted at a later date for your enjoyment! :)
Mark's parents have a timeshare at the Newport Coast Villas in California, and they invited us to join them this year. We had a separate condo, shared with Mark's brother Cory and his family, while Mark's other brother Brian and his family shared with the parents. The youngest brother Alex wasn't able to join us this year because he had to work and recently took a different trip with a friend. It was our first out of state actual vacation with Cadence in our family.
It was something that all of us were looking forward to: a chance to spend time with family, a nice break from the everyday, nice weather, taking the kids to SeaWorld and watching their reactions to everything, celebrating Cadence's 1st birthday... it was going to be a blast!! And all except for all the vomiting our kids did that week, it was. :)
Cadence threw-up twice in the van on the way to Las Vegas, NV (where we stayed with my Uncle John and Aunt Mary, thanks so much!). Driving to Newport Beach on Sunday went fine (I think). Monday night, just after giving her a bath and finishing her nighttime bottle, Cadence threw-up again. Tuesday I called the doctor and she suggested that it might be a sensitivity to cow's milk and to put her on soy milk for 3-6 months and try again. So we bought the expensive stuff, and she was fine the rest of the week.
Tuesday we all went to the beach, where Canon loved running away from the waves, but hated the water actually touching him. Cadence played in the sand- a new texture for her- but the wind really bothered her. It was super windy, and after about 30 minutes of it she just started throwing a fit. The only thing I could do was hold her against my chest with my towel over her. She didn't really want to be cuddled, but every time she lifted her head away, the wind would hit her face and she would just fall back onto my shoulder. Figuring that it was better than the wind, she resigned to let me cuddle her for the rest of our trip to the beach. (I know Mark's mom has some videos and pictures of this, but I don't yet. Maybe you'll see them later.)
Wednesday we were planning to go to SeaWorld, but at about 1:30am Canon started throwing up in his sleep. The poor boy threw up about 7 times that night...well, heaved that often. His stomach ran out of stuff about the 3rd time. I heard him crying out in his sleep, "Oh no! I can't do it!" I think he was referring to making it to the toilet in time. We pulled him into our room and gave him a bowl to use when he was nauseous. That morning we decided to allow Canon the day to recover before going to SeaWorld on Thursday. He seemed mostly fine that whole day. I think this was the day we visited the Pier and watched the beautiful waves, saw dolphins from a distance, and ate pizza while watching
Wreck It Ralph.
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| Too sunny for Canon to give a good smile! This is the pier. |
Thursday we did go to SeaWorld, and Canon certainly loved the Shamu show, and really all the shows with the animals. Cadence didn't do so well in the heat, but eventually crashed in the stroller for a nap. Cadence really seemed to enjoy the animal shows too, applauding and shouting much of the time. At lunch Canon complained of a tummy-ache, and I told him there wasn't really anything that I could do about it. After eating some watermelon, he threw up all over the table and floor. After that, he felt much better. And he enjoyed the rest of the day at SeaWorld too. Poor kid! We bought Canon a souvenir Shamu, and Grandma Dahl bought Cadence a penguin she fell in love with as a birthday present. When we wanted to show Grandpa Dahl the penguin, we discovered that Cadence had dropped it somewhere, and it was nowhere to be found. So, Grandma bought another one, which Cadence also loved just as much. Thank goodness the penguin was about 1/2 as expensive as the gifts they'd normally like to buy for a grandkid. :) (By the time we were packing our bags to go home, we somehow didn't have Canon's Shamu. I guess those SeaWorld animals are slippery creatures and very hard to keep track of! *shrugs*)
Friday we celebrated Cadence's birthday. I saw this idea on Pinterest, and I heard of a friend doing something like this too. So, I was excited for it, and I am kind of proud of how it turned out. Canon's first birthday cake was a Tigger cake that I designed and decorated. His 2nd and 3rd birthdays were not nearly as cute- in my opinion- and I would really like to have fun cakes for my kids. At least for her 1st birthday I wanted to do something fun. I took pictures of my creation all along the way so that you could see how it worked out. Can you guess what it is?
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| start with a round cake, double-layered- I chose confetti cake! |
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| cut in half |
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| switch! |
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| cut again |
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| frost white- I chose to use marshmallows in the center to create a body- 2 high, 6 long, stuck there with frosting. |
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| Then I frosted that body with dyed frosting. |
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| I kinda made up how I wanted it to look as I went along. |
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| coming along just fine. |
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| add some pink too |
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| Add a smiley face and some crooked antennae and I have my masterpiece! |
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| Cadence's butterfly cake! Happy First Birthday!!! |
This video is not terribly exciting, but it's her time with the cake... just in case you were interested in watching it. :)
We forgot to bring matches or a lighter, so she didn't get to blow out the candle, but I put one in there for her. She was a bit hesitant with her cake, but eventually decided to make a big mess with it, and it all turned out great.
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| Cadence with her penguin |
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| now with Grandpa and penguin |
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| "Get this stuff off my fingers!" as she shakes them emphatically. |
Once all the birthday festivities were finished, we had to think about what to do with our last day there. Originally Mark and I were going to stay until Sunday, but Mark's grandfather had passed away that Monday we were in California. So we had to leave on Saturday in order to be back in time for the viewing on Sunday in Sandy, UT. Mark and I were able to meet up with my cousin and his wife who live out there close to Newport, and then we packed up and left for home. We stopped at a Carl's Jr. for dinner on the way to Las Vegas. Canon started throwing a huge fit about the toy that came with his kid's meal. He was so upset that he got the holographic ring instead of the Superman action figure. He then exclaimed that he was going to throw up, but we didn't believe him. We thought that he was just saying that because he would get sympathy. Well, he DID throw up. Not sure if he was so easily upset because he had a sour stomach... or if he was so upset that he made himself throw-up. All I know is that I felt bad that we didn't believe him, and I felt bad that he did it at the restaurant and had to have them clean it up.
Here are a few pictures of Canon with his favorite person in the world, his cousin Cameron.
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| Cam reading a story to Canon. |
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| Cam, you're gonna crash!! |
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| Hey, how does this thing work? |
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| Really liking the model car sitting by the fountain at the condos. |
We stayed at my Aunt and Uncle's house again, but this time my brother Rob's family were staying with them too because they were on their way home from a vacation in Hawaii. So it was nice to have a short time to visit with them, even if it was an out-of-state visit to make it happen. We got back in time to get the kids ready, as well as shower ourselves, and go on out to the viewing in Sandy. Sunday night we stayed at Mark's parents' house so we could attend the funeral the next day. Canon threw-up again in the middle of his sleep. He came all the way downstairs, stating that he was "all dirty" on his face and arm. When I turned on the light I saw that it was all over his back and arm... and so yucky! He didn't even realize that he had thrown up again. Poor kid!
We then attended the funeral on Monday (the day we anticipated to be traveling back from Las Vegas). It was so nice to be there and hear things about Grandpa Joseph Milton Smith that I've never heard before. I've known him for the past 9 years, but there was so much more to his life than what I knew of him. It was great to hear the influence he had on so many people, to hear about his faith and testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ, and to learn of his wonderful work ethic and belief in hard work. He was a great man, and he will be missed here on Earth. However, we all know that he is feeling much better where he is now. His last few years were harder and harder on him, and it was a relief for him to be able to pass through to the other side. I know that he is working just as hard as ever in sharing his testimony, and this time he's with his two sons who preceded him in death.
After all of that, our vacation ended. We had a great time with family... lost a binky... lost a Shamu... lost a grandpa... got the sickies... shared said sickies with cousins... but still managed to get back all safe and sound. By the time we got home to Ogden, Canon stopped puking, but Cadence had a couple more spouts of it. Eventually I came to learn that she just had a little bug too, not a sensitivity to milk. So I offer milk to her all the time now, and she's fine. Thank goodness, because soy milk is super expensive.
Now I need a vacation away from the kids... one that will actually be relaxing! :)
