Today we headed downtown to Klyde Warren Park. We wanted to take Emmy to a splash pad and this park has a few of them. It was a cool atmosphere with lots of food trucks and things to do in the park, but we were there for the water!
Emmy likes the pool, but it turns out she does not enjoy splash pads. She acted like she was scared of the small streams, let alone the big columns that would shoot up.
She seemed much more comfortable in the ankle deep standing water.
It was a fun day downtown. Splash pad or not, it is always fun to see Emmy explore and discover new parts of her world.
One of the great things about living in Dallas is that we are much closer to some friends. Brett and Kyle both were going through pilot training in Del Rio, and now Kyle is in Oklahoma City for a little while. He was planning to come down for a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo, which I guess is one of the better ones in the country. You know how I feel about zoos, so we met up with him in Fort Worth.
Emmy took to Kyle pretty quickly. She played hard to get at first, but as soon as he bought her a Dippin' Dots, the ice cream of the future, she was pretty committed to the relationship. She ate her banana split flavor, but also wanted to try his mint chocolate chip.
The zoo itself was pretty cool! They seemed to have a lot of baby animals in the exhibits, which added a cool dynamic to the habitats. In Memphis, while the zoo was amazing, I never felt like the animals that shared habitats were family. My favorite, the gorillas, were awesome to watch. The big male and a female were napping and holding hands. I didn't get my camera out quick enough to capture it though.
They had a little baby running around, too. It was climbing all over the male, and the big guy just playfully would try grabbing him. It was cool to see their family dynamic and relationship.
Emmy liked the giraffes, and I liked that they actually had grass. In Memphis, the giraffes were just on a big patch of dirt and concrete.
Cory always likes the elephants. There was a baby elephant, too, but it was kind of hiding off in the distance and hard to see.
They had a white tiger, too. I learned from the sign on the wall that white tigers are not a separate species. It is just a recessive gene, so it is like a red-haired human. All white tigers in captivity, though, are descended from a single progenitor.
There was a section called Australia's Great Barrier reef, and the first tank when we walked in had Marlin, Nemo, and Dory swimming around. It was kind of funny.
I forget how big bald eagles are when I see them. They could easily pick up a small child.
Emmy liked watching the penguins, too. She obviously thought they had a very special bond. The penguins never seemed to reciprocate her affection.
It was fun to spend the day with Kyle. We went out for some Torchy's Tacos afterward, and then he headed off to Six Flags. He came over to our place afterward to visit some more, and Emmy was excited to see him. Hopefully we can see each other more often since we are closer now.
We are pretty much settled in. The boxes have been unpacked. It doesn't take very long when you have nothing to do all day. Now that the apartment is put together, Cory turned her attention to what she does best, finding fun things for us to do as a family! I got an email from her yesterday afternoon with a list of free things to do in Dallas. She works fast. Today we headed downtown to Pioneer Plaza, where there are 49 bronze longhorns and 3 cowboys on a cattle drive. It was pretty cool.
The longhorns are over six feet tall, and the cowboys are even bigger, so it was fun walking through the herd. I had Toby Keith's "Shoulda Been a Cowboy" running through my head most of the morning. Emmy was fascinated by the whole spectacle. She kept saying, "horsey!" I love my cowgirls!
Well, we have been in Dallas for all of one weekend! It just so happens to be Father's Day weekend. My mom and dad helped us move out here, so we get to spent the holiday with them, which means we spent both Mother's Day and Father's Day this year with them. I don't know if that will ever happen again, so it was a treat. Emmy surprised me with a special magnet message!
We spent most of the weekend unpacking, or exploring our new surroundings. Gigi and Big Daddy bought Emmy a new movie that we watched together. She never watches a full movie, so we sometimes watch in chunks over a few days.
While out exploring, we stumbled upon Carlo's Bake Shop! It's the bakery from Cake Boss! I guess they have a Dallas location now. Buddy wasn't in, but it was cool to check out.
Emmy was all smiles sitting in Bid Daddy's lap.
Emmy gave lots of hugs for Father's Day. Big Daddy Mike is always willing to give Emmy whatever she wants, and Emmy knows it. She frequently goes to him when she wants something Mommy and Daddy have denied her.
We also saw Grandpa Wayne a couple of days ago. He and Uncle Logan drove up from Austin to help us unload the truck. Emmy always thinks Grandpa is super funny, and starts trying to mimic his funny gestures.
I am so grateful for my little girl. She not only brings a higher degree of joy and fulfillment in my life, but she also is the reason there is an extra day of the year to celebrate and honor me. That really is a gift in and of itself! I kid, but Father's Day has been a fun holiday the past two years with Emmy Rae in my life.
Cory, Emmy, and I packed up all our possessions and left a city that has carved a special place out in our hearts. We moved to Memphis two years ago knowing basically nothing about it. We knew it would probably be a temporary place for us, and didn't expect to grow so attached. We are really going to miss it. Emmy was born there, and we made so many friendships and so many memories. My parents came down to help us with the move. This was how I felt leaving Tennessee. A double chin was another thing I acquired in Memphis. All the soul food took its toll.
What was super nice about this move was we left Memphis in the morning, and were already to our destination in Dallas that afternoon. I drove the moving truck, and my parents each drove one of our cars, while Cory made sure Emmy survived the car ride. We got everything unloaded and are starting to get everything in its place.
Our time is winding down in Memphis. We leave next week! One of the last big things left on the calendar besides packing everything up is the FedEx St. Jude Classic. The FESJC is a PGA golf tournament hosted here in Memphis. I signed up months ago to be a volunteer and was asked to join the Island Club Committee. Basically, I worked a hospitality venue on the 11th hole island green holding up a sign for people to be quiet while the golfers were putting. It was awesome. I got into the tournament for free the whole week. I got a ton of free gear. I got to basically stand and watch golf all day, and I saw some big names. This was my view all week.
You see that man in the green shirt? That's Phil Mickelson. Before my shift one day I watched him tee off on the first hole, and he walked by probably about 5 feet away from me. I will probably be really good at golf now. I also saw other players like Ernie Els, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, etc.
I loved it. I loved the atmosphere and being a part of the tournament. Holding my "Hush Y'all" sign was an easy task in exchange for a couple days of spectating. I'm a little sad I won't be able to do it next year.
There is no question that the second best part of a pregnancy, after when the child is actually born of course, is finding out the gender. It makes it seem more real that we are having a baby.
The second time around is definitely different. I don't
think about the pregnancy as much. I am much less worried and don't
hardly have any questions. Things have been smooth sailing and we are
flying through this pregnancy!
We just found out last week that we are
having a boy and Sean and I are thrilled. I know Sean is so excited to
have a little man in the family that can be his little sidekick. It will
be so fun to see them together. Having a baby your same gender is such a
special experience. Emmy is my little lady and it's about time Sean had his
little man around the house. We decided to go shopping and pick something out for our little guy. Sean picked out a cute sleeper with rockets.
We didn't think we were going to find out the gender today, but at my appointment my doctor said that she couldn't quite get a good reading on the heart beat, so she sent us over to the ultrasound tech. The heartbeat turned out to be completely strong and normal, and we got to see our baby boy! Sean cannot stop talking about how he no longer feels the burden of continuing the Gilmore name. Emmy cannot stop smiling now that she is going to have a baby brother!
Each year of our marriage there comes a special day that Cory eagerly anticipates, remembers, and plans for, while I, without fail, forget. Don't get me wrong, the day is important to me, too, but it just sneaks up on me. It is not on my radar at all until Cory inevitably says, "Do you know what tomorrow is?" I scramble for the answer, going through every major date in our family and relationship timeline. A twinge of guilt stabs my heart. "No, I'm sorry." Cory's smile fades just a little, the disappointment barely detectable. I have let her down once again.
"It's National Donut Day. Free donuts at Krispy Kreme tomorrow."
HOW COULD I FORGET???
Every year Cory somehow has June 3rd programmed in her internal clock and remembers the somehow-not-fake holiday. And every year we go and get free donuts at Krispy Kreme. This year was no different. Emmy is proud to be an American, where we have a day dedicated to donuts!
We regularly take walks as a family at Shelby Farms. The trail is a little less than 3 miles. Emmy has been riding that trail in her stroller for all of her life. Shelby Farms has a herd of buffalo that graze near the trail every once in a while. Today we caught group of them on our walk. Emmy was captivated. It was almost like being at the zoo!
We took a red-eye from Salt Lake to Atlanta, arriving in Atlanta at about 6:30 am on my birthday. Emmy didn't sleep at all the entire flight. She wasn't fussy either, she was just awake. Conveniently for her, as soon as we got off the plane, she decided to take a nap in her stroller while we headed for our next flight to Memphis. We got home and crashed. When we woke up we decided to spend my b-day afternoon at the zoo! My favorite place! And my birthday was on a Tuesday this year, so it was free! A birthday miracle! Emmy liked watching the elephants today.
We took a stroll through cat county and the panther was laying out prominently on his log. Usually he is tucked away and hard to see. Another birthday miracle!
My parents sent me a UT Southwestern t-shirt. Should I wear it on my first day to work?
I was mostly just glad to have gotten home in a timely manner on my birthday. We didn't have any delays or hold-ups. I'm also grateful that we celebrated my birthday at the lake house, too.
Well, it has been about two weeks since I graduated, and we set a date for our move. We will be heading to Texas in less than a month! My fellowship doesn't start until August, so we are taking advantage and going on vacation! We had a family get-together in California and spent a week at Jake's family's lake house. It was awesome.
We flew to Las Vegas where Jake picked us up and drove us into the California desert. There, in the middle of nowhere/the Mojave Desert, is Newberry Springs, and a man-made lake that the Tarabildas have a house on. Let the vacation commence! Also, just to preface the rest of the post, there were over 500 pictures taken on this trip, so I cut that way down, but these pictures are not in chronological order by any means.
Emmy was so fun to observe on this trip. She absolutely loved wearing a life vest. She absolutely loved going on the pontoon. She absolutely loved riding on the speed boat. She absolutely loved being outside. She absolutely loved kayaking and paddle-boarding with Mommy. She absolutely HATED being in the water. It was baffling. She couldn't get enough of every single thing to do, short of actually touching the water. In her defense, the water was very cold. She was a cutie, though.
And I am not kidding about the life vest. Very few pictures exist from the trip of her without it on. She even wanted to wear it inside, and would get a little cranky if we tried to take it off of her. Cory very promptly established a rule that Emmy could not go on the deck or a boat without a vest. Little did we know, Emmy was way ahead of us in the safety department.
Emmy also really loved playing on the pontoon when it was docked. We could set her up in the captain's chair and she was content to sit there and pretend to sail the open water.
Emmy also loved anytime Cohen was involved in anything. Cohen and Jake were twinning with the backwards caps, and it seriously wasn't long before Emmy tried to weasel her way in there to get a turn driving the party barge.
Cohen isn't quite big enough yet to really be able to play with Emmy, but there was still plenty of interaction, and Emmy learned to be gentle with the baby and give him hugs and kisses.
Just two cousins hanging out at the lake house. I wonder what they will think of these pictures in twenty years.
I am just throwing this in here to prove that Cohen not only thinks I am funny, but clearly loves me even when I haven't showered in two days...
Yeah me and Cohen are pretty tight. He actually spent the least amount of time with me, which makes a lot of sense with Mom and Dad, grandparents, and aunts all around as well, but we didn't need a lot of time for the bond to strengthen. Cohen aka DJ CJ aka DJ Coco knows where we stand. It goes without saying.
While not inside or on the water, we played some lawn games. Ladder golf and badminton mostly. Buzz brought along Myles, who she has been dating. I guess I was the last one to finally meet him. It feels nice that they were "dying to get my approval", according to some sources, and "couldn't feel settled until I was okay with the whole idea." I mean it's flattering, but live your life people. Everything doesn't revolve around me. No, but really, Myles was my badminton partner against Jake and Coach Tarabilda (Jake's dad) and Myles won the match for us by sacrificing his body numerous times. That grass was sharp!
We weren't just boating on the water. At least once a day we got out there on some kayaks or paddle boards. There was a tandem kayak that we enjoyed the first day.
Emmy also rode on Mom's paddle board with her while Dad kayaked. Fun fact: I only capsized getting out of that thing once, and it was my first time, so just give it a rest.
Despite what you might think about me, I actually know nothing about boats and water sports. So when I say we also did things with the "speed boat", I just mean the boat that goes faster than the pontoon. I don't actually know what constitutes a speed boat and a regular boat. I will also say, that my natural inclination is to avoid being outside in nature, because nature is trying to kill me, but I didn't want to look like a loser to Jake, who is VERY excited about outdoor activities. Luckily he had Myles there, who also was VERY excited about all the nature. It's not that I didn't enjoy tubing. I did. But also in a very real sense, if I wouldn't have tubed, or done anything on the boat, my vacation would not have been worse. So, there is that. I just really want Jake to like me though, and I am afraid he won't want to be my friend if I don't do everything he wants to do. I would have played ladder golf and badminton all day, for the record.
Jake taught me the whole "tube on your knees" technique.
Jake and Myles really like jumping back and forth between the tubes...I didn't get it. I did think it was kind of fun, though, to try to hold on to the tube when I tipped over and see how long the boat would drag me before my arms were ripped from their sockets. You can see me perfecting that technique if you look closely in the picture below.
I was glad Cory got out there to tube with Anna. She is pregnant, she isn't dying people! Coach Tarabilda aka Captain Tarabilda aka Jake's dad made sure not to go too fast for them, but they acted like they were going over tsunami waves. Emmy kept waving to Cory and repeating "Hi." over and over again.
In fact, Emmy loved riding in the boat any time someone went out to tube/ski/board. It got to the point that she cried if the boat left without her. She had to be on that boat, but when she was, she never looked like she was having that great a time. Just a hard stare with a slight grimace. I think she liked being a part of the group, though. She has really become sensitive to the FOMO. That means "fear of missing out" for everyone that isn't super cool. Cory had to explain that to me. Poor Emmy, but someone was usually very willing to hold her while boating, like Aunt Sarah!
Or Grandma. Grandma always likes being with Emmy! Buzz was behind the camera so much that this is one of the few pictures of her on the trip.
When the sun set, we ate good food together and enjoyed the view. Saturday night we even celebrated my upcoming birthday with burgers and bratwurst. It was delicious.
It was also a perfect time in the evenings to show off all of Emmy's tricks. She recently started going to nursery and has loved learning hand motions with songs. It is awesome to see her not only mimic the gestures, but remember them later and do them at the semi-correct time. I consider myself a pretty rational person, so I think I can say without any bias that she is a genius.
The evenings were also spent watching Angels games, and I learned a lot of Coach Tarabilda-isms.
All in all it was an awesome family vacation. Thanks to the Tarabildas for opening up their lake house to us. We actually weren't going to be able to fly home from Las Vegas, so we drove back up to Provo with Anna, Jake, and Cohen. The six of us made pretty good time in the suburban with two babies. We spent less than a day there, but it was fun to be back. We went downtown to see the new City Center Temple, and snapped a picture. We left on a red-eye flight and would arrive back in Memphis on my birthday!
