Rachelle's Australia

Taking Rachelle with us on this trip was the hardest decision we made. We knew Stellan was old enough to remember it, and since Annie is nursing, she was definitely coming. But it's basically insanity to take a two and half year old on a trip like ours. Lucky for her, I'm a softy. I knew that once she was old enough to realize she was the only one left behind, she would never forgive us. Well, at least not until she had her own two and a half year old child. So we took her.
I won't lie, it was challenging for all of us. She has a short attention span, was barely potty trained, is prone to regular tantrums and doesn't like keeping other people's schedules or agendas. Her midday naps were tough to accommodate, although they were always necessary. In the end, I don't regret it. And she's just so stinking cute, I hate being apart from her anyway.
Some things about two-year-olds are easy. She loves to dance and sing, and can be cajoled out of a bad mood almost 100% of the time with an interjection of "Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee." In fact, that song may be the soundtrack of our trip. She is small enough to pick up relatively easily and could always be strapped in the stroller in a pinch. This was a regular and very real threat to her. Also, she's always looking for a good time, so we did our best to provide one.
Her favorite part of the trip was definitely the beach. In fact, she keeps asking to go to the beach now that we're home, not realizing that the South Pacific in the summer is much more pleasant than the Gulf of Mexico in winter. She also really enjoyed the pool in our yard and would beg to swim morning, noon and night. And she loves the plush baby crocodile she got at the croc farm gift shop. She sleeps with it every night and plays with it all day. I love the way she says it - baby cah-wock-a-dile. Now that we're home, she's got a whole crocodile family with existing plush animals.
Here are some of my favorite photos of her: