A Record-Long Post

We spent this past week in Palm Springs. Jon's parents have a time share for various resorts and so we were able to stay at a REALLY NICE 5-Star Marriott Resort for REALLY CHEAP. What a deal, eh? The whole place was so beautiful and the people there were so NICE. I was actually shocked at how cordial people can actually be. After living here in Lancaster for 3 years, I guess that I have become sort of desensitized to the extreme rudeness of some of the people here. Don't get me wrong, there are some WONDERFUL people here, but this little vacation opened our eyes and caused us to realize how much we DON'T want to be stuck here in Lancaster for the rest of our lives! :)


Here are just a few pictures of what this beautiful place looked like! I miss it already...

Lizzie really liked the little kids play area! She especially loved "driving" her own car. My favorite part was when Jon fell off of the teeter-totter...

One of the BEST parts of the trip was the pool. We went swimming every morning for about an hour and a half and then again on a few of the evenings. At first, Lizzie was scared of the water and she just wanted me to hold her.

After FINALLY getting used to the water, she absolutely LOVED this super-cool swim tube that we bought her. The best part about the tube was the shade cover on top! She didn't get sunburned at all! She was so relaxed - she could have stayed in there all day if I would have let her!

We played a fun game where I told Lizzie to swim to me and she would kick her little (excuse me, BIG) legs until our fingertips touched. It was so much fun!

Pictures with Mommy and Daddy...

Of course, Jon and I had to play the giant chess game that they had. Actually, Jon sat on the bench with Lizzie while I moved all of the pieces. I didn't know that playing chess could be good for your cardiovascular health! :)

The resort supplied us with a pack-n-play and a high chair for our room. Surprisingly, Lizzie slept pretty well while on vacation (well, besides the one night that she woke up at 3:00 a.m. and wanted to play!). Maybe I should let her sleep in her pack-n-play more often...

We went out to eat a few times while on vacation (a given). Lizzie loved sampling a little bit of our food at each of the places. She especially loved the cornbread at Marie Calendars.

Here we are at the Olive Garden (how can we resist the all-you-can-eat soup and salad lunch special!).

Here we are at IHOP. I died laughing that morning because I realized that Lizzie thinks that her name is BACON. Yes, BACON. Jon calls her Junior Bacon Double Cheeseburger ALL OF THE TIME and he shortens her name to BACON quite often. One of the waiters at a nearby table asked his customer if she wanted BACON. Lizzie promptly turned her head an looked at him. Why shouldn't she? He did call her by her name, after all.

Car seat fun...

Tired after a LONG day...

We went to an outlet mall and got Lizzie this cute little 4th-of-July dress at the OshKosh store. I LOVE that place!

Oops! I didn't realize that this was such a cleavage shot...

On one of the nights, we went to this weekly street festival that they have. Believe it or not, the Democratic Presidential Nominee, Barack Obama, willingly took time out of his busy schedule to pose for a quick picture with us. :)

When we got home from our vacation, Jon got in one of his "cooking moods" again. He's a FANTASTIC chef - I honestly feel like I'm dining out at a 5-star restaurant every time he cooks dinner! He's the kind of cook that NEVER follows a recipe. He's that good! However, he decided to go against the norm for a little bit and make Lizzie some baby food, following a recipe that he found in a baby-food cookbook. The result -- AN UTTERLY DISGUSTING DISH. I could barely look at it without gagging! It looked like cat food to me. It probably tasted WORSE than cat food! I tried to feed it to Lizzie, and she spit it out (which is very strange for a girl who eats ANYTHING). I felt bad for Jon, so I told him that I would eat it (if I drowned it in Ketchup, I was sure that I could force it down). Needless to say, the whole thing ended up in the trash. Better luck next time, honey.