I'm sad I missed doing this tribute on the actual Father's Day, but really....are we surprised?  I'm not so good at the blog upkeep.

So Father's Day... with Dan typically waking up for the day 1-2 hours before me, breakfast in bed was a long shot.  Although I was up early this day and went downstairs to find Dan eating cereal.  So plan B....breakfast for lunch!  Chocolate chip waffles - per his request.  Dinner was taken care of, we had the annual round of dinner with my fam in Scottsdale followed by dessert with Dan's fam in Mesa.

I just have to say what an amazing father Dan has been in just the 14 short months we've had Maddy.  She gets beyond excited when she hears him come through the door, with huge grins and squeals, and running all over the place.  It is so fun to watch!  She adores her Dada who sneaks her all kinds of treats when Mama isn't looking (and even when she is...), she loves dancing with him, going to the park while I cook dinner, and getting to splash him during her bath time. 

A Daddy and his little girl have a special bond and I am excited to see their relationship blossom and she will get to learn all sorts of things from him as she gets older.  Not to mention, with another girl on the way, Daddy will be really outnumbered, so he has to get Maddy on his side from the start! :) 

Dan, thank you for being the amazing husband and father that you are!  We are sooooo lucky!  XOXOXO

 

I have been horrible with the blogging lately...not that you all feel deprived, but it is sort of our family journal so I need to resolve to do better!  With that said....

What we have been up to:

*May 2009 - Took a weekend road trip to Prescott, AZ for some r&r and cooler weather.  We had lots of outdoor time with hikes, glorious scenery, and a stop in Jerome on our way back to Phoenix. 

*June 2009 - We flew to Portland and took the Seaside to Florence to Medford route.  We spent a night in Portland going downtown a couple of times to walk around, visit Voodoo Doughnuts, bookstore, town square, and the Portland Saturday Market.  Next day was Seaside, OR where we stayed in a hotel on the beach, and what an amazing beach it was!  Miles of clean, soft sandy beach which Maddy LOVED!  (see pics in our Photos link)  Florence was just a brief stop, the most unique was the inn we stayed at, described as "you'll feel like you're back at Grandma's house."  Which was true, if your Grandma were obsessed with Lighthouses.  Of course it was called Lighthouse Inn.  Then on to Medford where Dan's sister lives with her cute family.  It was soooo nice to be in one place for more than one night!  We had a lot of fun with the family, Maddy loved having her cousins to play with, and we got to see a few things that Medford and surrounding towns had to offer!  Dan and I even toured Harry & David and picked up some goodies to give away, and sample :)

On our return route we stopped to see the breathtaking Crater Lake and stayed a night in Bend with our room right on the banks of a river giving us some nice background noise to sleep to!  We got to the airport about 3 hours before our 5pm flight and I noticed an earlier flight that was currently boarding.  With Dan and his airline privileges we were offered an attempt to catch it.  Imagine chubby pregnant lady pushing daughter in stroller, wearing sandals, "running" through the airport with husband - having been stopped for a search at security - with 2 carry on bags in hand trailing behind.  It was an exhausting sweaty experience, but we caught the plane, had a full row to ourselves, and take away Maddy peeing her pants, and subsequently mine since we didn't have time to change her diaper beforehand, and her increased agitated state having to stay seated for the 2.5hr flight since she had already been strapped in her carseat for the previous 2hr drive to get there....it was worth it!  It gave us time to get home, unloaded, and still keep Maddy on her bedtime schedule.  After a week of different porta-cribs almost every night, she slept quite soundly in her own bed....ahhhhhh....   And that was a run down of our Oregon coast adventure!

Next up!  CHICAGO.... and no driving....HOORAY!
(pictures of the above mentioned trips can be seen by clicking on the "Photos" page and following our web album link)