Labor Day Weekend 2018

Labor Day Weekend this year was a great three day weekend! I was feeling overwhelmed due to such a crazy hectic week I had before hand and we had a few plans for the weekend that I knew would be worth it in the end, but I was worried it was too much at once. I can say now it was all so much fun and not too much at all!

For one, we had Cara's tumbling class Saturday morning. It was only her second class, but she only cried through half of it this time. Granted, we had a few more parents and children in the class and watching so it was quite embarrassing for me (I really hope they didn't think I was torturing her by forcing her to be there), but I was so happy she warmed up to it more. It's a bit hard for me to keep up being so big so Larry had to help out a little bit this time, but I held my own for quite a bit. I look forward to when I can really take her just her and me and keep up with her...after this little minion is born.

After tumbling we went home to change and then headed up to Midway for the Swiss Days festival! I haven't been to this in years since I really dislike the crowds, but I was determined to find some cute Christmas gift ideas. We got up there around 11:45, ate a quick lunch (really yummy pulled pork sandwich and bratwurst for our group), and met up with the family to walk some shops! I realized quickly that midday at Swiss Days is NOT something you bring your family to. It also isn't something you do while 7 months pregnant....in that heat....with those crowds! I did end up finding a lot of cute gift ideas (I only collected business cards to look up the ideas later), but when we got scones around 2:30 and I thought that we had seen all the shops and realized we had only seen half of the shops I called it! We had visited with family, ate yummy scones and watermelon (some of the best watermelon I have ever had...but that  might be the slight dehydration talking haha) and got some good gift ideas...I could officially check that off the list. I told Larry next year I'm coming up solo!



How cute are these signs??



Cara would go crazy for these puppets!!

After that we went home and just relaxed the rest of the day, but by Sunday I could tell I was feeling all the tumbling and walking we had done, my back was the sorest it had ever been. If I hadn't already decided that Sunday was going to be a lazy day I would've made that decision then. All we did was grocery shop, do laundry, do Skype, and a quick trip to Petsmart to get some new sucker fish...really long story, but we needed some to help clean the tank. It was a good day, but I did start to think about how I feel like I haven't had any one-on-one time with Cara just her and me. Larry's been around for it since I was off maternity leave. I felt bad, but realized it's because I got pregnant right as she was learning to walk and since I was sick, unmotivated, and couldn't be around her smell too much I relied on Larry a lot. As I got bigger, had less energy (while she was getting more of it) I was still relying on him. I chose to resolve that by taking her out Monday for a couple hours, just us, and do something fun. I figured Larry could probably use a couple hours to himself and I would love to have documented some time just her and me before our next little girl makes her appearance. I wasn't sure what would be open for Labor Day, but I'd figure it out.



A representation of our relaxing time haha
But also, these two never get along, I had to get proof
That they were next to each other knowingly

This morning I woke up a little earlier than everyone and looked at all sorts of activities on my phone for something to take Cara to. Ideally I would have loved to take her to a place like Kangaroo Zoo (with inflatable slides and bounce houses), but since I can't be in them with her I didn't think that made sense. I thought about something free like Red Butte Gardens (they were doing a free day today), but that would be such a drive and we really wouldn't be able to do much there once we got there. I thought of something with a petting zoo (Gardner Village maybe?), but wasn't sure if the petting zoo would be open today or if it was just a weekend thing. I ended up going with the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Pointe. I had never been there, but have been wanting to go and take her for months and months! I was SO excited! I originally wanted to try and make it something Larry had already seen her at since I feel bad taking those first experiences from him, but too bad, I had made up my mind!

This place, you guys, oh man! My excitement was right where it should have been, I had heard some good things and some bad things, but I'm here to say all the bad things were wrong! It had something for EVERY age it felt like! We were there for 2 hours and still didn't see it all. Cara LOVED the Water Works area. In fact, she loved the weird foam/rubber landscape pit area the most. Like she spent 30+ minutes there. I tried to take her away at one point, but she was so determined to stay she acted like I was beating her to get her to leave it. I finally got to a point where I was able to distract her to take her away and to play with the water part. I should've seen the smocks there as a sign she'd get wet, but I just love to watch her explore new things that I just let it go....yeah, she got SOAKING wet! It was adorable.

The foam/rubber pit she loved more than anything!

Baby Bum!

We figured out the water area (she's only half soaked here)

And of course the books. She LOVES books!

I will say since it's more for kids, it only made sense to pay for one parent ($20 per adult is quite pricey...I'm even more convinced that we

need to just get a membership there to make things worth it in the future), but I loved every second of this place! I can't wait to go back (or let Larry take her if he wants) so she can really discover more and play with more as she grows up. The only down side is after I decided we needed to go home I started feeling some Braxton Hicks contractions pretty bad. It worried me at first, but when I realized what they were and got home to drink water and relax a bit it was okay. We also had a successful dinner tonight, Cara seemed to love every bit (that always feels like such a win for me!).

Overall a very successful, very busy, very fun Labor Day Weekend. I just wish I had gotten more pictures of it. Either way, I love 3 day/long weekends with my little family!