Paradise Found- Part 1

Lauren, Kalon, and I just got back from the best girls trip ever. We left Memphis one early, early morning to head to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. You may wonder why we went there? JoAnne and Brittany have been there several times and raved about it. JoAnne insisted that we go there if we ever got the chance. We got the chance, so we took the opportunity to go check out Punta Cana.

Flight one to Atlanta.

Flight two to Punta Cana. 

Our arrival flights were awesome. The landings were perfect, the scenery was amazing, but the flight attendants were no fun. We had some pretty crappy assistance on the flights. They were thoroughly ticked off to be accommodating us on those flights. We made the best of it, and turned their rudeness into a joke. They couldn't ruin our day! As we were flying into Punta Cana these were some of the views that I captured on my trusty iPhone!

When we arrived in Punta Cana we were blown away by the airport. We stepped off the plane and walked across the landing strips into the airport, which was a HUGE straw hut/building. 

The airport situation in the DR was less than perfect. We got off the plane excited to get to the resort. We were extremely disappointed to see the looooong lines formed to get a tourist pass. We were in lines over an hour in a straw hut with zero air conditioning. The only air that was flowing in the building was from some large fans called "Big Ass Fans" with a picture of a donkey on the blades.We finally got through all the annoying lines, and made our way to claim our luggage. We grabbed our bags, and headed to find our transportation. Wow, we were extremely overwhelmed with all the people trying to con us into riding with them. We had specific instructions on who to ride with, and we couldn't find him. We were anxious, nervous, and had no cell phone reception at all. After almost resorting to illegal calming drugs, our driver found us. We loaded the bus, and headed to our resort. We were beyond ready to get settled. We were tired from traveling and holding/dragging bags everywhere.

We rolled into the resort surprised that the front of the buildings weren't very pretty. The landscaping was amazing, but the buildings were less than stellar. Well, when we walked into the front doors we knew that the front of the buildings didn't need to be beautiful. The inside, the property behind the front walls, and the surroundings were absolutely breathtaking. We stayed at the Hard Rock Resort, so everything was super cool and edgy. We checked in, and a sweet guy named Moises took all our bags to our room for us. He gave us the "low down" on the resort while we were walking. He was a huge asset to us that day!

This caught my attention, of course. I knew that Dad would think it was cool. This was in the main building where all the restaurants and shopping were. The car looked like a miniature version compared to the huge interior.  

After taking the tour of our "suite" we started unloading all our goods. Needless to say.... we went to the main building and got a buffet supper, came back, and crashed AFTER we got dessert via room service. Fudge brownies and diet coke was on the menu before we could rest.

While I was away I had Suzy's schedule worked out to the "T", so I thought.... I didn't expect to see this little pesky picture come through to my phone shortly after we were settled..

Suzy had been complaining for a couple days about her toe, but I never could find any sores or cuts on it. I put peroxide on it and doctored a toe that I didn't see any problems with. It festered up so quickly that Mimi knew she needed to see the doctor. It was very sensitive and it hurt extremely bad. I hated that I was away from her and everyone else was having to take care of her while she was in so much pain. The doctor never could figure out why her toe did that. There were no sores or cuts, so it is still a mystery. They gave her strong antibiotics that she had to take for 3 weeks! I am proud to announce that her toenail fell off, and she is as good as new!

Kalon, Lauren, and I have terrible sleeping patterns/habits. Lauren snores very loudly, I girt my teeth very loudly, and Kalon snuggles very closely. We were quite the trio. Our neighbors probably hated Lauren and I, and I hated Kalon because she was snuggled so close that I had like a cm of bed to myself. She and I started out sleeping normally. By the end of the night, so was almost on top of me. She has no idea she is doing it in her sleep. We like to pick at her about it.

We woke up pretty early to enjoy our day to the fullest. We caught the buffet on the way out to the beach, and went to claim some chairs. Our first day was pretty overcast, so there were plenty of open chairs. We didn't mind the cloudy skies. We were in Paradise. We were staying out there regardless. Would you stay inside if you had this to look at?

Day 1 on the beach! 

We had to drink Tecate while we were there. We had two choices: Tecate or Dos Equis. We choise Tecate Light as our beer of choice. We had to take this photo with the Five Star huggie. It was a just a little piece of home in the DR with us! 

We were in the DR for seven nights, so this blog will take a few entries to be completed. There are too many pictures to add to just one blog post! Stay tuned.....

Doctors and Popsicles

Suzy and I had a very busy start to our summer break together. To start the summer break off, Suzy had swimming lessons with Lauren Spencer. Suzy went for a total of 5 days for about 45 minutes to an hour per day. The first day or two she was a little whiny, but eventually got over it. I was a smart mama. I decided that I didn't need to be around for the lessons, because Suzy tends to "show out" when I am around. After Lauren had taught her everything her brain could absorb for the day she would run out to the car to get me. We always left with a snack of some sort and a good report card. Suzy now knows  how to swim underwater without a Puddle Jumper. It still scares me to death to think that my baby can actually swim! Not only did Suzy have swimming lessons with Lauren, but Mimi, Papaw, and Memaw took them too! Now, all the non-swimmers of the Geeslin/Pheasant household have some skills to save themselves from drowning.

Suzy left lessons with Pretzels this day. She usually opted for Cheetos or a Popsicle. 

After a week full of swimming and playing outside in the water, Suzy landed a major ear infection. She woke up one morning with blood running from her ears. I immediately called the doctor, and he fit her in the very same day. She had to take some major strong antibiotics and use some major expensive ear drops to clear up the infection. She never slowed down much from having such a bad infection. She kept good spirits the whole time.

The many.... 

faces of...... 

Suzy Smith. 

Suzy scored a sticker and a Popsicle at the doctor's office that day, but it wasn't enough. She had to go to Mimi's house for a "Top-Tart", better known as a Pop-Tart. 

Speaking of doctors.... Kalon asked us to take her cat TinkTink (short for Tinkerbell) to the vet one day. Tink had been limping for a while, and Kalon really thought she would get better on her own. Finally, Kalon decided she may need to be seen by the doctor, because she seemed to be healing slowly or not healing at all. Suzy and I loaded Tink up, and took her to the doctor. I described her symptoms to the best of my abilities. The doctor checked her over very thoroughly, and laughed as he told me that the cat "was perfectly fine". Scott O. suspected that Tink may be milking her injury to get some attention, and I think he was right! The old wise cat knows how to make someone feel sorry for her, that's for sure. As we were leaving the vet's office Suzy said, "Tink needs a Popsicle or somethan', Mama".... I had told Suzy earlier in the day that we had to take Tink to the doctor. Well, when Suzy goes to see a doctor she leaves with a Popsicle every time. She thought Tink deserved one as well!

This is Tink. She's like 100 years old and weighs 43 lbs. I cannot imagine why she would be limping, can you? 

I have been really trying to poddy train Suzy while we have been out of school, but I am having zero luck. She will use the toilet, but you have to ask her or make her use it. She would rather keep playing than tell me that she needs to poddy. I have tried leaving her naked as much as possible to see if that would help. She has even started wearing big girl panties. One day she went through an entire pack of new panties before lunch. I sat her on the poddy every thirty minutes like clock work. As soon as she wouldn't "go", I would pull her panties back up and 5 minutes later she was "wet". When she is ready, she will do it is what I keep telling myself. Gosh, I am SOOOO ready to quit buying diapers!

This particular morning, Suzy decided she would play in her boxes while being in her "birthday suit"...

After "wetting" the previous box, she was summoned to a diaper. She didn't mind one bit. 

Suzy has also spent tons of time taking baths this summer. She takes at least an hour long bath in the morning and usually a 30 minute bath at night. Sometimes at night she doesn't even want to get out of the tub. She tells me she is going to sleep in the tub with her blanket towel. It is a fight to get her out and dressed for bed these nights.

Who knew a Jacuzzi tub could be a playpen for a two and a half year old? 

Duck Daisies

Not only did we have the joy of having a puppy the first few weeks of summer, but Mimi also had the bright idea that we needed some baby ducks to live at her house. She has a pond at their house, but it is overrun with geese. She wanted some ducks to raise in hopes that they would stay around there. We did what all rednecks do, and headed to Trade Days one Saturday morning. Us and every other redneck from Tate, Panola, and DeSoto county were there. It was muddy as heck and smelled horrendous. We went down one aisle only. That aisle was enough. We headed straight for the animals. We found ducks, but they were all little bitty babies. Mimi wanted some that were a little bigger so they geese wouldn't hurt them and the turtles wouldn't eat them. She decided that she would get the little bitty ducks, and just keep them close to her house until they were big enough to go to the pond.... We ended up with four ducklings. Suzy thought they all needed to be named Duck Daisy, but we finally talked her out of that. We had Daisy, Donald, Neumon, and Harriet. Neumon and Harriet got their names in a very peculiar way. Dr. Neumon is a plastic surgeon in Memphis. He did some "work" for a friend of mine. One of the little ducklings found comfort on her chest, so we had to thank Dr. Neumon for that. His wife's name is Harriet, so the little duck that was the closest to him inherited the name Harriet.

All four little duckies. 

Suzy could not wait until we got home to hold them.... She had to hold them on the ride home too. 

Lucy thought she was their mama, and they thought she was their mama. They followed her around everywhere. 

They kept jumping in the swimming pool at Mimi's house. When we would get all four out, they would one by one jump back in. It was a never ending battle. We gave up, and they took over the pool.

Snazzy and Sue Baby swimming with the duckies. 

The four ducks that we bought sadly ended up being one lonely duck. Harriet and Neumon lasted longer than any of them, but only by two days. One afternoon, we found Neumon, and we decided that it was time for Harriet to get out of dodge. Mom sent her to Oxford to live with The Danfords. They have lots of ducks, so Harriet adjusted just fine. The chlorine from the pool and close by doggies didn't do these little ducklings any favors. We tried our best to keep them out of the pool and away from danger, but they were stubborn little rascals.

Neumon and Harriet resting in the shade. 

We learned our lesson.... We cannot keep little ducklings any safer by keeping them closer to the house. They may have had a better chance fighting off turtles and big, mean geese. We know from now on that all ducks must be mature before they go to the Geeslin residence.

Puppy Daisy

A good friend of mine, Jamie Smith, is a huge animal advocate in our area. We do CrossFit together, run together occasionally, and socialize in the same circles. Of course, since we have all these things in common, we are friends on all the social media outlets. Well, one day Jamie posted a status about needing some foster parents for a litter of puppies she had rescued. There were 8 puppies, I believe. The mama needed major relief from these little fatties, so I decided that I would foster one of the babies. I left CrossFit one afternoon to scoop our new foster baby up.... in the pouring down rain. It was quite the experience. I opened Jamie's gate and there they were.... a litter of the cutest puppies ever and a mama that was not too keen on me taking one of her babies. I picked the one that seemed to be the most curious about me. I grabbed her and headed to Mimi's to show Suzy. Suzy and Mimi contemplated names for a few minutes, but Suzy's name of "Puppy Daisy" was the winner. Not just Daisy.... Puppy Daisy. You know us southerners.... gotta have the double names :) 

Her first ride to Mimi's house. 

Introducing Lucy to Puppy Daisy.

She was in Heaven. As soon as she saw her she said, "Oh I lub her, Mama".

Mimi loved her too! 

We took Puppy Daisy with us everywhere we went. Not only did we want to, but we had to. She had major separation anxiety the first week or so. She didn't like being alone at all. The first few nights we had her, she cried and cried allllll night long. I just couldn't let her out of her kennel, because if there is one thing I can't stand it's a house smelling like a doggy has used the bathroom in it. She adjusted to her kennel after a few nights of hollering. She realized that we would wake up and she would be the first person outside :) 

This was the first day we had her. Suzy instantly had a BFF. 

Suzy put PD in the wagon and climbed in herself. She didn't request that I take them anywhere... Just wanted to sit there with her. PD didn't last long. She wanted out pretty quick. 

I looked up one night to find Cheeto stains all over Suzy's new pink chair and PD asleep in the chair. I guess they shared Cheeto Puffs which put PD in a food comma. 

Speaking of eating..... They both look busted to me. Suzy was feeding PD Pringle Sticks on the way to Mimi's house. PD was really enjoying them, I believe. 

Life at the pool is hard. 

 We have been trying to work on poddy training this summer, so I have been letting Suzy wear her big girl panties as much as possible. This particular morning she decided she needed to get some accessories to go along with her Dora panties. She has her sock monkey toboggan on backwards, a pair of green Keens, and her puppy. The girl is a mess.

Poor Puppy Daisy. 

Solving the World's problems one squeaky pig at a time.

She melts my heart. 

Unfortunately, we had to let Jamie have PD back. My old, grumpy lab didn't really like her. She kept growling and being ugly to PD. I did my best to keep them separate, but PD got too close to Bella one afternoon, and I thought Bella was going to eat her alive. I knew then that it was best for PD to go back to her mama. I am pleased to announce that Puppy Daisy has been adopted, and will have a forever family to love on. She was such a fun, cute little foster baby. We got very attached to her in the short time we had her. I am so thankful there are people in the world like Jamie that help these babies out. There is a special place in Heaven for people like her.