REWIND- Road Trip

CAUTION: Lots of pictures!

Day:1

Jared, Olivia and I left on our road trip headed to our new home in Michigan on Saturday June 6th in the morning.

All ready to go and saying "good bye" to Utah. :(

On the first day we didn't do anything exciting we just drove straight to Denver Colorado and enjoyed a beautiful drive.

This was Olivia's first time staying at a hotel.
(What a silly)

Day: 2

This was a LOOONG day driving through Kansas to Missouri.

Me and my grumpy little girl. She was such a good girl on the whole trip but sometimes enough was enough for her.
Olivia and I had fun in the back reading books, playing with stickers, coloring, talking on our play phones,(thanks Granny) and watching Disney movies.

While Jared had fun driving.

Day:3

On day three we went to Liberty Jail in Independence Missouri. It was really interesting to see the jail that Joseph Smith and a few other great men stayed in for so many months.

This is a small part of the jail.

Sleepy OliviaI loved how she put her foot up while she was coloring, what a silly girl.

Carthage Jail
After we finished at Liberty Jail we drove to Carthage Jail in Illinois. That was a really sad but neat experience that we were able to have as a family. We were able to go into the bedroom that the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith died in. After that experience we drove to Nauvoo.
Mississippi River

Day 4:

On the fourth day we visited Nauvoo and had so much fun seeing the beautiful Nauvoo Temple, the old pioneer homes, activities, riding in wagons and just exploring.

Olivia
If you know Olivia then you know she had to get a picture with the horses.

Jared and Olivia in front of the Nauvoo Temple.

Olivia and me.

Our little family on the temple steps.

What a beautiful temple!

This is Jared entertaining himself.

After we had a ride from the ox Olivia got to pet them.

Nauvoo was such a fun and spiritual experience and I highly recommend people to visit it if they haven't and ever have the chance, plus all the attractions run by the LDS church are free.

That evening we started heading over to Chicago.
(Nothing makes Olivia happier then a new pack of PEZ).

Day: 4

On the fourth day of our trip we arrived in Chicago and went straight to the Navy Pier. Where we rode on a tour boat that takes you through the city.

Olivia and her Daddy looking at all the towers as Olivia calls them.

While we were in Chicago we stayed at Jared's cousins home with his wife and their beautiful daughter. They were very nice to us and we really enjoyed staying with them in their home and visiting.

Day: 5

It was really rainy on this day :( because of the rain we didn't get to do to much exploring outside.

But Jared did get his picture in front of this "Bean". (It's the one thing he really wanted to do in Chicago?!)

Oh and he really wanted a Chicago style pizza. Jared and Olivia thought it was really yummy but I didn't think it was that special.

She actually ate her whole slice.
Since it was raining so hard Olivia got to experience riding in a taxi a few times with no car seat Scary!
P.S. Taxi's are so gross!

We went to the Field Museum in Chicago. The museum was really COOL and big.

The museum kind of reminded me of Night at the Museum. It had mummies (my favorite), dinosaurs, pretty much every animal (stuffed), fish, insects, things about different cultures, and a lot of other great things. They had this little section for kids where they had dress up clothes (it was kind of gross to let her put them on) and activities for kids as well.
Here is Olivia picking corn.Jared and Olivia standing in front of Sue the T-Rex. All the bones are real except for the skull.

After the museum it stopped raining so we went and rode the ferris wheel on the Navy Pier. It was so cold.

If you ask Olivia about our trip she will tell you all about riding the horse.

Day: 6

We drove to our new home in Michigan!

And made a little stop at Jared's new favorite stadium.

We had a great road trip and had tons of great adventures. We hope that you enjoyed seeing a few of them.

Sorry about all the pictures but I did warn you!

White Coat Ceremony

On Friday Jared had his big white coat ceremony for medical school.
This is what the white coat ceremony is:
(I stole this definition from Jenni's blog)

"The white coat ceremony (WCC) is a relatively new ritual in some medical, dental, veterinary medical, podiatric, optometry and pharmacy schools that marks the student's transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences. At some schools, where students begin meeting patients early in their education, the white coat ceremony is held before the first year begins.
WCCs typically involve a formal "robing" or "cloaking" of students in white coats, the garb physicians have traditionally worn for over 100 years and other health professions have adopted." (thanks wikipedia)

Olivia and I are very grateful that we were able to experience this exciting day with Jared.

Jared right before the coating. I'm sad because I didn't get a picture of the actual coating :( I was to busy holding a two year old, clapping and trying to get a picture and I ended up with a picture the back of a ladies head. (I must not be super mom yet :).

Humidity...

Today are little family decided to take a walk at this park that's about a mile away from our apartment. It was so beautiful and fun hearing all the little frogs while we walked down the trail. BUT it was SOOO humid. I'm definitely not used to the humidity yet, I'm still accustomed to the very nice dry air in Utah. :)

We really have enjoyed having our daddy at home with us these past few weeks, but tomorrow its back to school for Jared, starting with his medical school orientation and on Friday the White Coat Ceremony.

First Swim of the Season

We finally had a day with NO rain!

Hopefully we will have a lot of opportunities to play in the pool this summer!

Potty Training Time?

I need HELP! Does anyone have any advise or comments on potty training 2 1/2 year old little girls? Jared and I have been attempting to teach Olivia for a few days now on how to go potty like a big girl, sometimes it seems like she gets it but then at times she seems clueless about the whole thing. Sometimes she will be sitting on the potty for five minutes get up without doing anything and then wet her pants one minute later. Is that normal? Does that mean shes not ready? Other times when we make her sit on the potty she will go in it. She even will tell you that you only go potty and poo poo in the toilet. I would love advise on this subject like:
Do you sit with them the whole time they are in the bathroom?
How long do you have them sit on the potty?
How often do you take them to the potty?
Should I push her into it or just wait tell she wants to learn?
What do you think about Pull Ups? Are they too much like diapers?

Any advise or comments would be greatly appreciated!

5 Must Haves

Olivia's 5 Must Haves In Her Room:
(A tag from Kimmy)

1) Her Play Pen (it's the only thing she will sleep in). She does own a very cute big girl bed that she refuses to use.

2) The pacifiers (I know I'm a bad mom).

3) She must have a light (or night light) on in her room at all times or she will let you know that its "bark in there".

4) Her hundreds of blankets that she doesn't use.

5) And her piggie bank.