The Secret Garden

This Friday Jon's clinic got the day off-- supposedly they won some award for being "the best" clinic in the entire Air Force last year. I think this is thanks in part to the fact that they keep their residents working at such an insane level compared with other AEGD residencies. (Jon's commander told them they see as many patients in this one year, as someone in private practice sees in FIVE years. Seriously. A side effect of seeing sooooo many patients is that it also takes five years off of your life, but...) Anyway, Friday was a day to celebrate!!

We had heard lots of good things about the Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage casino, and is it's also one of the only family things to do down on the Strip so we decided to check it out. Zachy was SO excited to see the tigers and fishies! He was decked out in sunglasses and hat-- ready for the 90 degree heat!


It's basically 3 large pools with several dolphins that you can literally come within touching-distance of, and you can sit outside and relax by the pools and watch them play.

They don't have any scheduled shows with the dolphins, so you kind of have to catch random interactions with the trainers who walk around, in order to see them do tricks, but the kids really enjoyed it.

As pampered as they may be in a zoo, I can't help but feel a little sorry for these big huge animals stuck in such little cages. This guy was right up at the fence pacing almost they entire time we watched him.


Here are the famous white tigers from Sigfried and Roy's show. Not that you can really see them with my crappy camera-- but they are that big white glare.

And surprise!! That cheater Pete Rose was signing autographs right outside the exhibit, but Jon didn't want him to autograph his hat so we snuck a picture instead.

Hooray for the whole day off!! Oh yeah, and if you go, beware of the "Bare" swimming area (the clothing optional place) because it's entrance is directly across from the dolphin exhibit. Only in Vegas!!

Carolina In My Mind!

In the words of the legendary James Taylor, "In my mind I'm gone to Carolina." And in reality, we really ARE going to Carolina!! Fayetteville, North Carolina, to be exact. Hooray!! Our new base assignment is at Pope Field, which includes the army base of Fort Bragg. I hope my kids get a southern accent-- like "Nawth Cahlina." And while the shock of it begins to wears off (mostly the fact that we're headed right back out East) basically I'm just glad we didn't end up in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, South Korea, or Japan (no offense to anybody from any of those places!). I'm sure they're great.

(Downtown Fayetteville, NC)
And now we will be 45 min. away from here:

Raleigh, NC
and here:

Chapel Hill, NC
and about 3 1/2 hours away from these guys (Morris cousins in Richmond, VA):

and about 2 hours away from this beach:

and about 3 1/2 hours from this beach:

Outer Banks, NC
and about 3 1/2 hours from this place:

and about 8 hours from this place:

Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL

I think we're going to have TONS to do and see. We've experienced life in the northwest, northeast, southwest, and now, the southeast. Here we come Southern livin'!! And we're DEFINITELY going to be open for visitors!! (Hint, hint)

Meet Yucy (Lucy's evil twin sister)

Last week a different little girl took over my sweet little Lucy's body. So to keep things straight, we named her evil twin sister "Yucy," which is how Zach pronounces Lucy's name.

Yucy's first appearance was Monday night, April 4th, when mommy went upstairs to get toothbrushes for the kids and saw that someone had unrolled a FULL roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, stuck half in the toilet and wadded up the other half in the sink and turned the water on. I immediately assumed such shenanigans were Zachary's doing since such an act is a little above a 4 year old, but Yucy eventually fessed up with the explanation that "she was having fun."

Tuesday, April 5th. Yucy reappears at Wal-Mart. Mommy is grocery shopping for birthday cake supplies with both kids, alone, around 4 p.m. (with every other SAHM in Las Vegas) and Zachary is trying to conduct a game of "See Mommy Run," which consists of him running up and down the aisles as fast as he can and knocking things off the shelves. Mommy hates this game so she buckles him in the cart and he begins screaming bloody murder. Mommy finally distracts him with some goldfish crackers when he suddenly lets out his most blood curdling cry yet. Yucy has bitten his foot so hard he is bleeding and he is inconsolable for the next 20 min. Everyone is STARING.

Thursday, April 7th. Yucy strikes again. Zachary received his brand new train set for his birthday, and while mom is in the shower Yucy takes a glue stick and SMEARS a streak down the middle of the entire track. The dried glue is almost impossible to pick off once it's hardened and the train can't attach to the track anymore. Daddy loses it.

Friday, April 8th. Yucy colors on the stainless steel refrigerator with permanent marker.

Saturday, April 9th. Yucy wants to play with Zachy and Daddy's birthday cards, so takes them outside (money and all) and loses the birthday check mommy's parents sent. When Daddy finds her with the money and gift cards he takes away the gift cards so Yucy secretly replaces them with credit cards from mommy's purse.

Sunday, April 10th. Mommy goes in the downstairs guest bathroom to find poopy brown water SOAKING the floor and the toilet clogged. Again. Yucy has overfilled the toilet with toilet paper and used the toilet brush to "clean up the floor." Barf. And retch. Mommy loses it.

Tuesday, April 12th. Yucy gets gum in her hair and mommy tries everything she can think of to get it out. Nothing works. She cuts 5 inches off in one fell swoop with the kiddie scissors. It's still pretty curly, but no more ringlets from what I can tell. What do you think? Think it's time for Yucy to go back where she came from and Lucy to come back home?!? Me too!!

The gum knot. Lucy FREAKED out when I showed her this chunk of hair. She said, "Don't show me that mommy! It didn't even hurt!"

Zachy-Poo Turns 2!!

Our little man turned 2 on April 6th, and we wanted him to have the happiest birthday EVER!! He has such a fun and funny personality-- we love him SO much and are so grateful he's a part of our family. Some of our favorite things about him are that he makes each of us laugh every day with his silly antics, he is the BEST cuddler, he has an irresistible smile, and with his big blue eyes and curly hair he can get away with just about anything!

But first, a walk down memory lane:

Zachary Jonathan Cardon born on April 6th, 2009 weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 in. long. So little and so sweet!

6 months old and starting to crawl.

Happy 1st Birthday!!

18 months old complete with Buzz Lightyear shoes, a shaved head, and lots of attitude!

And now my baby is a baby no longer. Zachy LOVES trains. He is obsessed with them. So for his birthday we got him a Geo Trax train set that Jonathan set up the night before. He really wanted to see Zach's reaction before he had to leave for work at 6:30 a.m., which I thought would be no problem since Zach is up so early anyway. Naturally on his birthday (perhaps his gift to me) all signs pointed to a sleeping-in miracle, since by 6:20 he was still out. Jon had to go in and wake him up (shudder). But it was worth it. He went CRAZY!!

In fact, he was MAD when we suggested he open his other presents. He wanted nothing to distract him from his "choo choo twack."

Chewing his "dum" (gum). Both of my kids are gum-monsters so they only get it for Christmas and birthdays!! (Sure enough the entire pack is gone this morning).

He literally sat in this spot ALL day. Didn't move from the middle of the track. I had great plans to take him to the park, to the frozen yogurt store, etc. but we never made it.

Once Jonathan got home from work though we tore him away from the train and headed to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate.

This is a cameo of big sister Lucy. She wasn't jealous of all the attention Zachy was getting in the slightest! (That was sarcastic).


Zachy's "Z" Train Choo-Choo cake!! He could NOT wait to dig in to that "coo-coo ma" (Zacheese for anything like a treat)!

Blowing out the candles. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST. BOY. EVER!!!

Where the Magic Begins!

My parents (okay, strike that, read: "my mom") has been dying to take us to Disneyland with the grandkids while we live just a few hours away in Vegas. When we found out their spring break dates we decided to plan a kind of whirlwind trip over Thursday (drive there), Friday, and Saturday (drive home). Now, unfortunately I wasn't kidding when I said Zachary regularly wakes up at 4:30 a.m. pounding on his door ready to get out and play. I was having hives picturing us all sharing one hotel room, Zachary pulling all-nighters and keeping everyone up, and then trying to drag him all day through long line after long line which just wasn't my idea of "fun." So after much debate, I asked my wonderful inlaws (who were spring-breaking in St. George) if they wouldn't mind coming down for 2 days and watching Zach for me. And they did! They showered him with attention and 4 a.m. love (which he certainly NEVER gets from me), and I was able to have the most relaxing toddler-free, one-on-one Disneyland trip ever with the Luce and my parents. We went HARD all three days-- staying out until 10:30 p.m. every night and waking up to be first at the park the next morning. (And not to worry, Grandma and Grandpa Cardon are taking us to Disneyland next month so Zach will get his turn too!)

Anyway, Thursday morning we left about 9 a.m. and made the 4 hour drive to Anaheim. We went straight to the park and started riding rides right away! But first Luce wanted a peek at Minnie Mouse.


And speaking of Lucy, she did brilliantly!! Despite the heat, long hours, and even longer lines she was such a great sport. Being another year older made a HUGE difference from last year's trip to Disney World-- she was willing to try just about every ride, and she didn't mind waiting in line knowing she was in charge of picking everything. I didn't even bring a stroller for her because I knew she could walk, and even when she started getting blisters she didn't complain because she was so stinkin' excited and in LOVE with the whole thing!

Enjoying the dolls on "It's a Small World" (one of her favorites).

Hanging around Tarzan's Treehouse while mom and Grandpa rode the Indiana Jones ride below.

Waiting for the fireworks to begin, and loving every Disney minute with Grandma and Grandpa!

Friday morning we woke up bright and early and headed back to Disneyland to check out Tomorrowland. Here's Lucy and Grandma riding the cars at Autopia.

Posing in front of the Matterhorn, which subsequently is a funny story. I kinda tricked Lucy into going on it with me thinking she'd like it, and from the first 10 seconds she SCREAMED bloody murder the entire ride. It was a D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. No more tricking!

Meeting Cinderella at the Fantasy Fun Faire. Remember the days when she used to call her "'Rella"? They grow up so fast...


Posing with Sleeping Beauty. And I might add, Grandpa TomTom was a very good sport waiting patiently through these loooong lines to meet the princesses.:)

Waiting in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (my personal fav when I was a kid).

Chowing down on Monte Cristo sandwiches for lunch at the Blue Bayou (the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride). So fun!

Surprisingly, Lucy's all-time favorite ride, the Haunted Mansion. And I almost didn't let her ride it because I worried it would freak her out!! Ha. We went twice and that still wasn't enough.

Posing in Pixie Hollow before heading back to the hotel.

Friday morning we decided to change things up and check out California Adventure. I'd never been and was a bit skeptical, but it was fun and the crowds weren't as bad there. Lucy got right up to meet the Mouse himself!

Riding the swings with Grandpa TomTom!

Hopping off one of the rides in Flik's Fun Fair.


Surprise! We turned a corner headed to lunch and found Mulan!! One of Lucy's favorites!

Ready with our 3D glasses for the "Bug's Life" movie.

Such a great trip!! We stayed and played until about 6 p.m. and then drove back to Vegas. And back to reality... Why do vacations have to end??