Staycation 2018 : Visiting Mystic Aquarium

On Monday we took a day trip to Mystic, CT to visit the aquarium with one of our favorite families! It was a chilly day which made the outdoor parts of our adventure short-lived but as someone who loves visiting any sort of animals I was thrilled to walk around and see what we could.

So come along with me as I photograph our day at Mystic Aquarium. I think you'll be inspired to visit too!

We met up with this little girl in the parking lot and she was beyond excited to visit the "fishies home" with us.

She took Tim by the hand and quickly led him inside.

One of my favorite exhibits is when you first walk inside the aquarium and is the beluga whales. There are two whales in the exhibit and they are super friendly. They will come right up to the glass and interact with you which is so much fun.

Emma is pretty enthralled by them but we got cold quickly so we headed inside to the main section of the aquarium to see what other sea creatures we could find.

I loved testing out my new camera by taking pictures inside the exhibit. I think I managed to take a few good ones too!

This little girl seemed to enjoy her second trip to the aquarium. It won't be long before she is running around with her big sister.

Such a cutie.

After spending quite a bit of time checking out all the indoor exhibits we headed back outside to see the beluga whales again.

Emma was so excited every time one swam by. Her excitement was so contagious and it was nice to have the area all to ourselves so she could run back and forth and enjoy the exhibit.

Once we had finished looking at the belugas we headed past the seals and over to the penguins.

At this point it was super cold and hailing so we didn't stay outside too long. The penguins weren't really swimming around or doing much, mostly just standing in a group so we didn't have too much excitement at this exhibit. 

Say cheese!

Thanks to this family for inviting us to spend the day with them at the aquarium!

We had a great time and it was so nice to spend time with some of our favorite people :)

Parker was pretty exhausted by the end of the trip but we headed to Friendly's for a delicious meal after the aquarium anyways.

We had such a great time and highly recommend Mystic Aquarium if you are in the area. They are redoing several of their exhibits right now but it is a great place to spend a few hours if you are an animal lover like me!

Life Lately: Puppies, Visitors at Work, and Family Lunches

Happy Monday everyone! This is an extra happy Monday for me since I am on vacation from work this week! I love taking a staycation and not having to go to work. 

Here's what I've been up to recently...

I visited with my brothers puppy Kai last Wednesday before I had dance team. He is such a good dog and has SO much energy! I am almost done with the dance team season which is nice but I will definitely miss it! The season goes by too fast....

On Thursday I had two little visitors at work...

Parker is such a happy baby! She loves to eat, smile and seems to enjoy sleeping too which is great for Brittni and Stephen! She was such a good baby as she gets passed from person to person. 

Emma was pretty hilarious as well. I always set up a word document when she visits so she can type away which she seems to enjoy. She calls it pushing buttons which keeps her from pressing the power button (although she did that too!). She also poured all of the paperclips out of my container onto my desk! Little trouble maker :)

Yesterday Tim and I met my extended family for lunch at Outback which was a nice time. We haven't seen them since Christmas so it was great to spend some time chatting with them!

So far our plans for my week off include visiting the aquarium, babysitting Tilly, senior night for my dance team, and a valentines day dinner. What are you guys up to this week?

Life Lately: Oh TWOdles!

We had another baby-filled weekend around here with another birthday party! Emma turned two last week and her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed birthday party was a blast!

Emma is obsessed with Mickey Mouse and constantly is saying "oh Toodles" so this was a perfect theme for her party. 

Brittni had asked me to make Mickey mouse versions of my pretzel treats and Emma was loving them! She immediately started pulling them off the plate and kept trying to get adults to give them to her. She's hard to say no to!

Here's what the treats I made looked like:

To make them you simply have to place a hershey kiss on a pretzel (I use butter snaps) and put in the oven for about three minutes on the lowest setting. Take them out and the hershey kiss should be nice and melted. Press a large m&m into the center and two mini m&ms in the same color above to create Mickey's head and ears. I then place them in the fridge for at least 24 hours before I serve them. They are always a crowd pleaser whether you put them in the shape of Mickey Mouse or just place one M&M inside like I've done in the past.

Tim and I took a selfie with two of our three nieces. The best part about best friends is that when they have kids they become your nieces and nephews! Even when they aren't related by blood they are some of my favorite people to hang out with! You can see my recap of Tilly's first birthday from last weekend here.

Tim is determined to turn Emma into an Eagles fan. We all have different teams we are fans of so we shall see who she decides to choose!

Tilly was having a great time running around with this walker! She is on the move now and is running! After not getting a ton of time with her at her party last week it was so nice to hang out with her!

She was also more interested in eating the cookies they were supposed to be decorating then actually decorating them. I can't blame her!

Emma enjoyed putting as many sprinkles as possible on hers! Anything to make a mess :)

How sweet is Tilly in this picture?!

Emma's cake was perfect with all the Mickey characters- she loved it!

Brittni's sister brought a blow up bouncy house for the little ones and Tilly was a little apprehensive about it!

A sweet family moment!

Emma climbed right on my lap to eat a pretzel. Love this little girl!

My other little love Tilly holding my hand while Emma sits in my lap- my heart just melts when these girls love on me!

Overall it was a wonderful Saturday afternoon birthday! Brittni and Stephen asked for money in lieu of gifts so they can purchase a swing set for their backyard. It was such a nice idea and when I mentioned it to my mom she said they did something similar for my brother and I when we were little. Great minds!

After the party we stopped home quickly and then headed off to the Warwick Mall to do a bit of shopping since we both had gift cards burning holes in our pockets. 

After a little shopping at Old Navy we decided to eat dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.

We picked Buffalo Wild Wings because we had a gift card but I was not impressed with my buffalo mac and cheese! It just wasn't great and I wouldn't necessarily choose to eat there again in the future. Tim did like his wings though!

We headed home shortly after and decided to watch All I See Is You starring Blake Lively (she is my ultimate girl crush---I mean who has hair as beautiful as hers? No one!)  I was pretty disappointed that the movie wasn't as great as I thought it would be. Definitely not one I would recommend.

On Sunday we had an event to attend at Quidnesset Country Club in North Kingstown.

Tim coaches football and his team had their banquet on Monday. We enjoyed a yummy meal and it's always so funny to see the kids interact with Tim.

After the banquet we spent the night hanging out at home! It was another quick, fun weekend!

What have you guys been up to lately?