4. Ryan got a $100 casino chip from his boss. So we took it and gambled the night away. No, no we didn't. We took it directly to the cashier, who informed us (like we were the worst parents in the world) that we could not have a baby on the casino floor. Really lady? You think I like my kid exposed to all this?
The Whitaker Family
Friday, May 20, 2011
Las Vegas!
4. Ryan got a $100 casino chip from his boss. So we took it and gambled the night away. No, no we didn't. We took it directly to the cashier, who informed us (like we were the worst parents in the world) that we could not have a baby on the casino floor. Really lady? You think I like my kid exposed to all this?
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Lastest Obsession
This is a picture of my shopping trip from yesterday. I purchased more than just this, but these were my big savings. In this pic, the total retail price would be about $51 at Wal-Mart. With ad-matching, store coupons and manufacturer's coupons, I paid $11.84. I think that's a pretty good deal. And it's really fun to see if you can find the best savings possible. Another good thing is that we eat/drink all those items- except the Sierra Mist. We don't drink much soda, let alone buy it at the store. But it was free. You hear me? FREE. I couldn't pass it up. I figured if we gave it away, it'd be worth it.
Just to break it down even more, the cereal was $.49 a box, the Fuze drinks were free, and the Sun Chips were $1 a bag. Ryan's favorite chip and I could afford to get him more than 1 bag at a time. Those things are expensive!
I'm excited to keep scouring out the deals and finding items we love for dirt cheap prices. I'll let you know if I have any more cool finds!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Chicago
I've been to Chicago lots in my childhood and I was looking forward to experiencing it as an adult. I was also looking forward to seeing parts that I've never seen. I've pretty much only gone to Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field (where the White Sox play, but pretty sure it was called something different back then) and the Chicago Temple. Luckily, we stayed in the heart of downtown. We stayed at a fancy hotel called the Palmer House Hilton. It's an historic and iconic building in downtown Chicago. Anyway, when we told people we were staying there we only heard good things.
One great thing about the trip was that we didn't have to pay for any of our dinners while we were there. We were able to get a nice selection of Chicago restaurants. Our first night we had to go have our Chicago pizza. Now, I grew up with two parents who are from Chicago. My dad is a die-hard Chicago pizza lover. Even going to the extremes of driving to Chicago (4 hours, like I said earlier) on Christmas Eve, pick up some uncooked pizzas from his favorite pizza place and drive back. Pizza was our tradition for Christmas Eve dinner growing up. So, needless to say, I know my Chicago pizza. When I moved to Utah for college, I was shocked when everyone referred to the deep dish pizza as the Chicago pizza. You see, I grew up eating extra thin pizza from Chicago, with sweet sauce, cut into squares. That's the only way I knew it. I was excited to find a pizza place a block away that had my thin pizza. It was delicious.
Unfortunately I didn't get too many pictures, except for Rhys, of course. Our last day there, we were flying out at 10 PM, so we had all day to explore the city. Ryan skipped going to his conference and spent the time with us. We walked to Navy Pier. It's a touristy pier that's right on Lake Michigan. It was about a 30 minute walk from where we were staying, but we just followed the lake to get there, so it was pretty. Unfortunately, it was really foggy that day, so we couldn't see too far out. Apparently the Chicago skyline is amazing from Navy Pier, but we could not see it.
On Navy Pier there is a Children's Museum. Finally, a place where Rhys could walk around and touch anything he wanted without getting told no. We did it as a precursor to his birthday and made it his birthday celebration. (His birthday was the next day). Lucky for us, because babies 1 and older cost money. Missed it by 24 hours. Rhys had an absolute blast. We would take him to rooms that were age appropriate and let him chose where he wanted to go. He was having the time of his life. I wish we had something similar here. He loved exploring and seeing all the other kids. It was the highlight of the trip for me (and him).
The flight home wasn't too bad. Except Chicago O'Hare Airport is stupid. We asked if the plane was full and the lady at the gate told us it wasn't. So, we asked if we could move around so that we could get a third seat by us for Rhys. She said she had to ask her supervisor who told her that we would have to buy an extra seat to do that. It made me so mad for some reason. I've never been told that before. Most of the time people are really easy going and make it possible for kids to do that. I feel it makes everyone happy on the plane, so you don't have a screaming baby on board. But whatever. I'm still annoyed by it, clearly. Everything worked out great, Rhys slept in our arms the whole flight. And then slept through the transition of getting our luggage, going to car and driving home from Vegas. We were so glad:)
All in all it was a fun trip. I'm glad we went and got to see a part of the country that we don't get to see too often. And it was Rhys' sixth state that he's been to in his short first year of life. Too fun!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Crafts
This is what I made to hold our Christmas cards. I never know what to do with all the ones we get, so I saw this crafty idea. I got some cheap frames from a second hand store, spray painted them white. Then I ran some necklace wire throughout them for the cards to hang off. The cards are held onto the wire with clips.
This is what I made my parents for their Christmas present. It's a star photo album. When you first get it, it looks like any other album, but...
I just painted them red and Mod Podged on some scrapbook paper and there you go! Not too exciting, but I think they're fun:)
My next projects all involve a sewing machine... I just need to read the instructions and figure it all out. I want to make us Christmas stockings and Rhys a quiet book. Oh and I am still working on Rhys' never ending scrapbook!! Hopefully, I'll have more projects to share soon.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Videos of Rhys
I mainly put these up on the blog for the Grandmas to be able to see some Rhys. Do not feel inclined to watch these, they're not THAT exciting:)
Rhys Crawling!
Jumping in his bed- just thought he was cute!!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Late Christmas Post
Rhys had a pretty good Christmas day! He didn't have a clue what was going on and ripped some paper a little bit. But he enjoyed all his presents (and still does). I think his favorite thing he got was the bag that Grandma Eileen's gift came in. He played with that bag all morning! I can't blame him, it was a really cute bag.
Here he is "opening" up one of his presentsRhys with all the presents he got! (including the pjs)
Rhys and Daddy after all the presents are open!
Just trying to read my new book (that I still love and don't like to put down)
Rhys had a blast watching his cousin Mylie play around our house. He loves her and was always seeing what she was doing. She was so good to him too. Always sharing toys and talking to him. It was really cute to see them interact. Rhys also got over his stranger anxiety for the weekend and let Grandma and his Aunt Angie hold him a lot. I was shocked but also very relieved that he now likes some of his relatives. He still needs to be a little better about being around other people. But it's a process we're learning.
That's pretty much all for now. I'll try to be better at this, but it's not on my priority list. I do have some blog post ideas, so we'll see if they make it on here! Until then...