Ruby's First Flight

I never thought Ruby's first flight would be to Las Vegas but last week that's where we went. Paul has to take his oral boards at the end of the month in Chicago so he took a two day course in Vegas in preparation for that. Ruby and I decided to join him to get away for a few days and we had a great time. Ruby was a pretty good traveler... a little antsy on the way there but on the way home she fell asleep for two-thirds of the trip and made friends with everyone around her for the rest of the time.

We were able to spend two afternoons at the pool, which of course, Ruby loved! The second two days were quite windy and only in the high 60's so we had to forego the pool on those days.

When Paul was in class, I took Ruby to M & M World.

We also went to the Shark Reef and Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.

Our favorite were the fountains at the Bellagio. We watched them multiple times and each time Ruby sat on the ledge with her arm around me. Made me teary... ;)

When Paul got back from class we went out for supper and Ruby wouldn't let go of his hand. We really do have a sweetie on our hands (most of the time!).

Our trip was probably the most low-key trip anyone has ever taken to Vegas!... no gambling, no drinking, no shows...we didn't even do any shopping! But we had fun nontheless! ;)

Easter

Paul had to work the entire Easter weekend so the weekend before, we decided to take Ruby to her first Easter egg hunt. It was IN a toy store...bad idea. It was a complete bust and she (ok, I) only found one egg! Good thing Ruby didn't have any idea what was going on anyway! So we took her to a second one...in a park. The priest leading the hunt rang a bell to get everyone's attention but instead all the kids took off to find eggs. Once he got everyone back to the line most of the eggs were gone! So we ended up on the swings instead and I'm sure Ruby was just as happy doing that!

Ready, Set, GO!

Ruby and I headed to Sibley for Easter weekend and went back and forth between my parents and Paul's parents.
Ruby got to go to two more Easter egg hunts with Paul's family. These were much better! ;) Even though Ruby was simply happy with just one egg!

On Sunday, we went to my grandparents house. These are all of the little kids, plus my cousin Bern being a goofball and me still trying to get Ruby's jacket on. Chaos! But LOTS of fun!

I hope I always get hugs like this one!

Stampede

Ruby got to experience her first Hockey game last night. One of the surgical groups associated with Avera invited the ER doctors to join them for a Sioux Falls Stampede Hockey game, so we decided to join in on the fun. We had great seats and Ruby enjoyed all of the action on the ice... despite a few rounds of chase down the long aisle behind us! I couldn't tell you much about the game as we did more socializing and Ruby-duty...making sure she didn't fly over the edge... but I do know the Stampede lost to the Omaha Lancers 7-3.

15 Months and a Heat Wave

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We celebrated by having Paul's parents, brother Joel, and a couple friends over for some March Madness watching and supper. But it was too nice to be inside the whole day so we spent much of the day out on the deck with breaks every now and then to check on the scores. Ruby also turned 15 months today and is as silly as ever. I really don't understand where she gets the silliness from. ;)

She had her 15 mo. appt. a week ago and is starting to slim down a bit. However she is very tall! She weighed 24 pounds 6 oz (79%) and was 32 inches tall (97%). Ruby is starting to learn more words...some of which are ball, cracker, water, and no. We are also quite sure she can say Hattie and Joel. We will work on the rest of the family members soon! ;) She had her first time-out the other day... she kept touching the TV and thought it was funny. She kept doing it so we put her in timeout for one minute! Ha! I can't say it helped 100% but she's improving! ;) She absolutely LOVES being outside which she has gotten to do a lot lately since the highs have been in the 70s for almost a week now!

My Egghead, My Valentine

Paul has a new hobby... grilling. But not just regular grilling... grilling on the BGE ~ otherwise known as the Big Green Egg. My dad got him started with this over the summer. The BGE is a ceramic smoker that uses charcoal or wood chips. A couple days before Valentines Day, he got a second Egg. I decided this would be his Valentines gift. ;) My dad then built him his own special table for his two Eggs to sit in. I think he is officially an Egghead now. After all, he even takes pictures of the food he makes on his Eggs! But I can't complain... it's all delicious! He has used it throughout our mild South Dakota winter, and so far he has made ribs (our old fave!), a whole chicken (our current fave!), potatoes, steaks, brats, asparagus, and even a pizza!

Pictured with Paul: My dad, also an owner of two Eggs, and my brother, who just received his first Egg for his birthday!

Cities Trip

In early February we took a little trip to the Twin Cities to meet up with Jon, Stef, and Sydney. We stayed at a hotel right near the Mall of America with an awesome pool for our girls. They absolutely loved the pool. The first night we spent nearly four hours in the pool area!

We also spent quite a bit of time at the Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America. Ruby was able to experience her first roller coaster, ferris wheel, carousel, and many other rides. At first we weren't sure of her feelings about them, but after the first afternoon, she loved them all!