Anniversary / Birthday Cruise! {just the two of us ...}

We are back!  Last week Stevie and I took a vacation (by ourselves!!) to celebrate our 5 year anniversary and our upcoming 30th birthdays!

We are extremely fortunate to have the means to do something like this and even more fortunate to have the grandparents who are both willing AND able to take care of the girls for a full week for us.  Without them, our lives would be much different.  More on how their week was in a minute.

In the weeks leading up to our trip, which we planned about 8 months ago, I started having a lot of anxiety about being away from the girls, on a ship in the ocean nonetheless.  But I worked on reminding myself of two things: the time together would be good for Stevie and me, and the time the girls would have with Grandma and Grandpa would be really good for them.  In all honesty, I knew they would be having more fun with Grandma and Grandpa than they would with us - I was just scared of what I would do without them!  

So, last Sunday we dropped the girls off at my parents and left around 11AM for the 7 hour drive to Long Beach; into the sun.  After getting checked into the hotel we went to dinner at Islands in the “happening” part of downtown.  I was pleasantly surprised by Long Beach - it was not at all what I remembered.

Monday we boarded the Carnival Inspiration and set sail that evening.  We had a lovely cabin with a big ocean-view window.  We made a pact on Monday to never take the elevator on the ship and we stuck to it!  I definitely missed the balcony that we had for our honeymoon cruise but this particular ship only has balconies on suites.  Hopefully for our next cruise, because (yes) we are already discussing it, we will have the balcony again.

Tuesday was a port day at Catalina Island.  While eating breakfast on the ship we saw about 50 dolphin swimming and playing near our ship!  When we did this same cruise 7 years ago with my parents, we rented a golf-cart and let my dad drive us around like a crazy person!  This year, knowing it would just be the two of us, we decided to hike.  When all was said and done, we probably walked over 8 miles.  The hike part of that was over 4 miles and it was much more strenuous than I anticipated.  It was beautiful!  We hiked to the very top of the island where we could look over and see both sides.  It was also wonderful time together - just the two of us.  I had a couple “almost falls” during which I managed to hurt my shoulder somehow, but overall it was a huge success. I think I may have caught a hiking bug - I really enjoyed it and hope to do some hikes in Tucson too.

 Wednesday was a port day at Ensenada, Mexico.  We debated just staying on the ship since it’s not that much different than Nogales, but decided to get off and just walk around.  I’m glad we did!  We bought some cute things for the girls and had some yummy tacos and a pina colada.  And it felt good to walk.  Together.  We also ran on the track that day.  The track so small that you have to do 11 laps to equal 1 mile, but I did 3.5 miles nonetheless.

Thursday was a sea-day.  We tried to run on the track but it was way too windy, so we went to the gym.  I did the treadmill for 31 minutes, overlooking the beautiful ocean.  The rest of the day was spent doing activities on the ship.

Some highlights:

•  Winning the “Ship-on-a-Stick” trophy a bottle of wine for knowing the answer to this trivia question, “Which rock group was formed before the 1960s, with 4 members, 1 of which was assassinated, but not the Beatles?”
•  Leaning to fold a few of those Carnival towel animals
•  Two comedy shows
•  Stevie doing pretty poorly at the Michael Jackson trivia
•  The “Love & Marriage” show with the could celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary.  When asked what the secret to a long, happy marriage is, she quickly replied, “He keeps his mouth shut and his wallet open.”
•  Everything about Catalina Island
•  “Pooh Bear” pole-dancing during dinner
•  The magician at dinner - to whom I gave my wedding rings and they ended up attached inside a zippered pouch in his pocket
•  Sleeping in, although most days I was still awake at 5AM
•  The time together
•  Did I mention we won a “vessel-on-a-tressel?”  dingy-on-a-thingy?
•  Stevie would want me to include NOT buying any artwork as a highlight

Friday was debarkation day.  This takes awhile but we were in no hurry so we just hung out on the deck.  Together.  (We also both enjoy people-watching, and there’s a lot of that to do on a cruise!)  When we finally got off and got through customs we made our way to our hotel and hung out for awhile before heading about 45 minutes north to a mall to meet Kirsten and the babies for lunch.  I’m really glad that worked out - we don’t get to see them very often so even short visits are worth it.  Then we headed back to our hotel and about an hour later headed 1 hour south to meet up with Dan and Erin for dinner.  Again, I’m so glad that worked out!  We rarely see them too and when we do there are usually small, beautiful, energetic children running around so it’s hard to talk.  And Erin and I LOVE (and need) to talk!  The food was yummy when they finally allowed Dan to eat his fajitas!  If it weren’t for those 2 visits, we would have driven home Friday, I was missing my girls like crazy and it was a lot of extra driving, but both visits were really important to us.

In conclusion, it was a wonderful time.  I am so lucky to have the family that I do and to have these opportunities.  

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So, what did grandma and grandpa do with Shyla and Harper all week?  From what we have heard, they mostly had fun and changed tires!  We wanted the girls’ schedules to stay as normal as possible so we had arranged for them to both go to Harper’s school (since Shyla’s is closed) all week.  To make the transportation “easier” we left them the trailblazer with both car-seats.  Turns out we also left it with 2 different nails in 2 different tires.  One my dad discovered and got it down to Big O.  The second my mom discovered when she was taking the girls to Target.  Aye!  What’s that they say about the best laid plans?

Otherwise, it sounded like they kept to a routine and had a lot of fun.  They read a lot of books, did some puzzles, smiled a lot, did a lot of cheers with cups, played outside frequently, and just got to enjoy each other.  This makes my heart happy.  As hard as it was to be away from them and as much as I missed them, I was also thrilled that they got such special time with grandma and grandpa.  Shyla also had her first soccer practice while we were gone.  I hope to blog more about that later!

A thankful shout-out to my sis for taking care of Pancake while we were gone!  It makes trips so much more enjoyable to know that my family are all taken care of and happy.

I am excited to have another week of Fall Break to spend with my girls, we are looking forward to some more fun outings and more happy memories!

Fall Break 2012 - week 1

The first of three weeks is in the books.  I am sad to see it go, this is when I wish I could slow time down, but we accomplished a lot and had a lot of fun!

Because I am me, I made a list of everything I wanted to do this week and checked each off as they were done.  It's funny that the only one I didn't do was the one that could have been done from home!

The girls and I had both quality and quantity time together this week!  I didn't take a lot of pictures of our activities because it's really hard now with them both running around.

A couple highlights:

• we went to the zoo
• we went to the children's museum
• we went to storytime at the library
• we went to story time at Mildred & Dildred
• we rode the escalator at La Encantada
• we visited with Grandma and Grandpa
• Each morning we went for a walk in the stroller - the mornings are truly beautiful right now!
• We had the Yagers over for dinner so Chelsea and I could run, individually

A few things I did for me:

• I went to the dentist
• I got a haircut and brow wax
• I got a manicure and pedicure
• I went shopping and to lunch with my mom

And a couple pics, of course:

Training for Vegas: Week 3

Last week's training was not a complete failure!  Yes!  Things are starting to look up!  I was supposed to do a total of 16 miles; I did 12.1.

My pace continues to be a steady 11:30 min/mile - no matter the distance.  I know I need to be doing some "speed-work" if I ever want that to improve, but for now I'm just happy to be out in the fresh air, on my feet, sweating!  Here's to another decent week!

P/T Conference

I've conducted nearly 600 parent/teacher conferences but last week I had my first one sitting on the other side of the table.  I have to admit, it was a little intimidating!  That's something that many parents tell us - but I never really "got" it.

As every good parent does, I brought a special treat for the teachers since I understand that conferences take a lot of extra time and energy.  I waited until the conference was over to give them their pumpkin cookies from Paradise Bakery, so it wouldn't look like a bribe!

Stevie and I were incredibly impressed by how professional the conference was and how much preparation had gone into it.

Shyla sat in the corner reading books while they showed us her portfolio and how she was doing on each early development standard.  For each one they had photographs and stories!

Here's what we took away: this girl is brilliant!

For each standard she is achieving at a 4 year old level (keep in mind she is only 3 years and 4 months) and she is even achieving at a 5 year old level when it comes to reciting songs, poems, and stories.

That is all fine and good - but I wasn't surprised.  She amazes us everyday with her knowledge and language development and, of course, motor development.

We know she is smart but that wasn't the part of the conference I was most interested in.

I worry much more about her socially than I probably every will academically.  As you know, the first few six weeks were a really tough transition.  Filled with tears and uncertainty.  But we have seen a switch and a drastic change in her over the past few weeks, so I was most interested to hear from them about that.  Turns out, they have seen it too!  She is socializing well and making good friends; but she is also comfortable reading or playing alone.  She is never crying when I drop her off anymore and always actively engaged in something by the time her classroom opens (I have to drop her off about 15 minutes before her side opens).  She is helpful at school and has picked up the procedures and routines really well.

We are proud!

Bat Night

Funny story:  a few months ago we were out for our family walk when a mini-van with Indiana license plates pulled up and asked us for directions to the Broadway wash to watch the bats fly.  Stevie had no idea what they were talking about but I, very confidently, told them to head down Grant all the way to River and Campbell.  And we sent them on their way.

Fast-forward to this past week when we were notified that Shyla's preschool had been invited by the 1st graders to Bat Night.  To watch the bats fly.  From the Broadway wash.  Which is, you know, about 2.5 miles from our neighborhood.

Oops. 

Anyway, Shyla was super excited about it and talked about it all week.  She got even more excited as she and her friends made their Bat Night shirts with their hands and feet.

When we got there, she got even more excited that Zachary and Lilly were there.  We had decided if we saw the Indiana mini-van there, we would just keep driving, but thankfully no!

(P.S. Love this picture)

The actual flying of the bats was cool.  We had to wait nearly an hour for it to happen, though, amidst lots and lots of people and steep dropoffs down into the wash with children hanging and climbing everywhere.

But it was wonderful to see Shyla in a social environment like that.  She was hugging her friends and waving to them!  She was hugging her teachers and wanting to go see them and talk to them.  She was truly happy and excited.

I am amazed by my girl each and everyday.  I just cannot believe how big and mature she's getting - it's fun to watch and we are so proud of her!

Training for Vegas: Week 2

Week 2 is in the books - and it was almost as bad as week 1.  However, things are looking up I think.

Week 2 included two days of P/T Conferences which are both time-consuming and exhausting.  I was going to get a good run in yesterday, but had a really bad stomach ache all day.

So here's how week 2 went:

I did get a short run in this morning, and it actually felt great!  I also have a plan for the week ahead, which will be assisted by the fact that Stevie doesn't have a basketball game this week and my sister has offered to come over another evening to take care of the girls.

So, in conclusion, it was not a good week but things are looking up.

375th Post!

This is my 375th post.  It's not really that interesting or even much of a milestone, but I couldn't think of a title for it anyway!

Things have been awfully busy around here (but about the slow down in about a week, eeekk!).  Even though we haven't done much out-of-the-ordinary lately, I've still been taking plenty of pictures of my beautiful girls.  Please enjoy!

 I love both girls' expressions in the picture above and I love that when I showed it to Shyla she said, "Awwww, I love that one!"

 Since Harper was born, potty activity has been a big deal around here.  So it's no surprise that she loves to sit on the little potty and clap for herself!

When we get home from school we love to play outside.  I'm not sure why but Harper always gravitates to the door and screams to go outside.  She found these glasses and loves to wear them for about 2 seconds.

Shyla is becoming quite the tricycle rider, until she gets stuck in a hole in the pavers and exclaims, "Daddy did not do a good job on the backyard!"

 This morning we went to the zoo and had a great time!

We also got to have breakfast at The Good Egg with Grandpa Steve.  Weekends are the best!