Week 12 & 13: Birthday and Keuka NY

Constant hunger. I've always had quite an appetite, but seriously, after having a full breakfast at 6:30am consisting of a fried egg, english muffin and mixed fruit, I just felt compelled to buy a 6" Italian BMT at Subway and devoured it by 10:15am, and still feeling hungry. With no doubt, I will be hungry for another full lunch in about 2 hours. Oye! It's been 2 weeks without an update- NY kind of interfered with that! So lots of updates, but I'll try to keep it brief.
 
2 weeks ago, we celebrated my Birthday a few days early down in Phoenix. Dennis & I had a sushi dinner at Sapporo (shh, at least I kept it mostly to Salmon sushi and a little Yellowtail) our favvvvorite. He surprised me with two 60 minute prenatal massages, 1 for each of my remaining trimesters. It made me cry, ha!! He always surprises me and makes me feel so special, reminding me why I love him so... that, and ya know, hormones ;) We headed to dessert at Flemmings after dinner, and had ordered our reminiscent chocolate souffle, however, they've apparently switched to a chocolate lava cake. Combined with two Lattes and ice cream, it was heaven.  The next day Dennis headed back to Prescott to get some extra work hours in before NY, so I had a date with Maren, just the two of us like old times :) We headed to her favorite vegan restaurant called The Loving Hut, and ordered a yellow curry dish with fried rice- amazing! Was so great to see her, and she gifted me my first stretch mark oil & body cream, along with some pregger herbal teas, yum! Monday was my actual birthday, so I headed to Fountain Hills for a bday lunch with Nanni at my old college-days employer, EuroPizza, and headed to a Physical Therapy appointment for her after we grubbed. Was good to spend some time with my Nanni :) The next day was a catch up session with Lizzy, Augustine & Baby Ella! We went to El Dorado Aquatic Center which was so perfect for the little ones, they had such a blast, "big boy" Augustine didn't quite want to leave when it was time to! It was so fun.
 
I dropped Beezer off at doggy-day-care on Wednesday and Denny met me back at my parents house. Moments later, we were headed to the airport and finally en route back to good ol' Keuka Lake, NY. It was such a quick trip, but I am sooo so so glad we got to go. We're already hoping for a trip next summer. That place is just full of memories and nostalgia, and truly feels like home being on the lake. It was awesome introducing Dennis to the remaining family members he had yet to meet (Aunt Nancy, Uncle Ernie, Uncle Pete, and the entire Wheeler clan). We pretty much fell asleep on the boat as soon as we reached the lake Thursday afternoon, which is the most relaxing place you will ever fall asleep. Enjoyed some slices of Betty-Kay Birthday Carrot Cake before dinner (not too smart ha) and then further stuffed our already stuffed stomachs at the Switz. Friday, we met up with Aunt Nancy & Ernie at Bully Hill for some NY Wine Tasting, later visiting Heron Hill, Dr. Franks, and Keuka Brewing Co. as well. Dennis loved it! Later we had some lunch (and a continued happy hour) on our cottage dock, and before we knew, it was time to get ready for dinner with the Wheelers at the Waterfront. We took the boat over across the lake in windy conditions, and my Dad about took out their patio seating area while trying to dock the boat. Naturally, my Grandpa said "Clearly, he's been livin' in Arizona too long and has forgotten how to navigate in water ;)" Was great to see everyone there, and my Grandma did pretty well for such a long outing. My favorite part of the night was Grandma saying: "So your last name is Lamb now... I like Lamb Chops." Made me giggle. My Grandpa & her are so good to each other and still play around and mock each other after all these years. I love that I come from a line of families I can look up to and model myself after. Early mornin' Saturday, Dennis, Mom & Dad took their turns water skiing on the glassy lake. They all got up first try, no wipe-outs, but a close call for Dad ha! My lovey Christine came to visit a bit later, we took a picnic lunch out on the boat (despite the clouds, again!) and hung out for a long while. We then got ready for Dinner in Watkins Glen with Nancy, Ernie, Pat & Pete, but got to meet up with Brockway & his Fiance Lori first for a quick bit before. Dinner was at the Seneca Lodge, Patty brought our baby's first book, "Lots of Lambs"... it's absolutely adorable. After stuffing ourselves with some amazing ribs, we somehow found it in us to head to Dad's most favorite past-time ice cream joint, "The Great Escape". YUM. We always went there whenever I had a soccer game in Watkins Glen. We said our sad good-byes and returned to the cottage for one last evening. Listened to the sound of the waves hitting the wall, watched out over the lake at all the cottages dimly lit, and tried hard to soak it all in until we can next return.
 

Baby traveled just fine in my belly, although, seems to have grown quite a bit in the last 2 weeks! I'm officially saying good-bye to the 1st trimester, and headed into the 2nd. Ready to move into our new home next weekend, for a return trip to Cali for Dennis' birthday in August, an anniversary trip to Sedona in September, Maren & JP's October wedding in Oahu, Thanksgiving, Christmas, 2014... then ready to meet our BABE! <3