Vacation

Last year's family vacation, a trip to the Smokies with a one-year old, was challenging, to say the least. We decided soon after that trip that with two kids under 2, our next vacation would be for adults only. We figured we'd be needing some down time by the end of the year, so we decided to try a cruise and see if that style of vacation suited us.

Enchantment of the Seas

We took a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean. It was perfect for what we needed. The first day we were at sea and spent the day getting into vacation mode. It took about 24 hours for us to decompress, stop talking like Joshua, and find our way around the boat. We had a great table assignment for dinner with a window view. We enjoyed chatting with the other couple at our table, John Vyn and Amanda.

Formal Night

Day 2 we were in port at Grand Cayman. We took a catamaran charter out to Stingray City were we were able to hold and kiss stingrays. On the way back, we stopped at two snorkeling sites. The coral was amazing! Day 3 was spent in Cozumel, Mexico. I think this was our favorite day. Perfectly relaxing without being boring. We took a cab to a local beach club called Playa Corona. You could walk out from the patio into a great snorkeling spot. Then, when you wanted to take a break, just hang out at the tiki huts and have a snack. Delicious guacamole and excellent snorkeling were enjoyed!

Abuelo Gerardo Restaurante

After snorkeling, we went back to town and ate lunch at a restaurant our dinner server had recommended. It was sooooo good! Then we did a little shopping for souvenirs and headed back to the boat. The last day we were at sea again all day. We started gearing up for the return to the real world!

Daniel got a kick out of our towel art

First time eating lobster - he ordered two!

It was so good for Daniel and I to have this time away to focus on each other and get rested. It felt strange to only have to worry about myself - to shower whenever I wanted to and for as long as I wanted, to eat my food when it was hot, to have uninteruppted conversations. We really had a good time. Of course, we missed the kids and were excited to see them when we got back, but not so much that we couldn't enjoy our time together.

Speaking of the kids...my parents watched the kids and they did great - both the kids and grandma and grandpa! When we got back into port in Ft. Lauderdale I called my mom to check in and warned her that we were so relaxed we were moving pretty slow. She replied that they were starting to move pretty slow there too, but for the opposite reason! When we got home, Josh was just waking up from his nap. Daniel and I went in to get him, and he just started laughing. It was priceless.

I thought the rest and relaxation from the vacation would recharge me enough to feel different for a few weeks, but it was right back to the daily grind - no saintly levels of patience or endless energy, but many great memories!

Our Sweet Pea

Sometimes I call Brielle 'Sweet Pea', and Joshua has started to call her that too. I love the way he says it. Here's some recent pictures of our silly, pretty girl and some videos of her improvised 'walkers'.

Such a sweetie

Classic Brielle

Eyes glued to the TV
She starts panting when the FBI warning comes up on the screen!

She LOVES this frog that my parents brought her. Everyday she picks it out of the toybox and gives it kisses and squeals at it!

Love this one

Joshua's Birthday Part III!?

This kid has more birthday celebrations than anyone I know! Poor Brielle, will we ever match the number of parties big brother had? As if she wasn't already going to have a birthday complex due to sharing it with Christmas. Oh well, let the Joshua party continue - we'll make it up to Brielle somehow! She does get to have the same birthday as Jesus, after all!

Since my parents came to town just a few weeks after Joshua's birthday, of course, another party was in order! Complete with cake, candles, singing, and presents. Josh has definitely gotten the hang of presents now!

A pro at blowing out the candles!

There was enough frosting on that cupcake to even share some with sissy!
(Disgusting, I hate frosting!)
Apparently Josh finds it delicious!

(Sidenote: This is a good view of his missing tooth - which is actually coming back in now...apparently it didn't get knocked out, but pushed all the way up into his gum and is coming back in now! That explains why we never found a tooth. We had decided he must have swallowed it, but that seemed a little unlikely. We've been back to the pediatric dentist, but won't know if any damage to the permanent teeth has been done until he's old enough to sit still for an x-ray and possibly not until the permanent tooth comes in.)

The choo-choo was a hit!

Connor's Amaizeing Acres

In October the kids and I joined Dave, Erin, and McKenna for a morning of fun at Connor's Amaizeing Acres, a combination pumpkin patch, petting zoo, hay ride, corn maize, and beyond. Basically, all the fun fall necessities in one place. Josh's highlight was the 'cow train'. The first time we rode it, he rode solo in his own car!
Notice his death grip on the cow! The ride was surprisingly rough and fast and about halfway through, Joshua started saying, "All done". I was so scared he was going to try to get out while it was moving, but he did a good job of listening to mama. The fun must have outweighted the fear, because he wanted to ride a second time. We played it safe the second round and all rode in one car.
Josh also got in touch with his farm boy side and really enjoyed the hay bales.
Both kids enjoyed the big bin full of corn kernels. I enjoyed it as well because it was like a much cleaner version of a sandbox. Brielle couldn't stay in long though because she was determined to eat the corn! Funny girl - her appetite is never lacking!
There was also a petting zoo. Brielle really enjoyed the animals and kept 'talking' to them.All in all, fun times and lots of new experiences were had. We'll definitely plan to go back next year when daddy can come too.

Attempt at Christmas Card Pictures

Lady in Red and Forlorn Lad

Needless to say, this session did not produce the desired photo! Gave up on a pic of them together and used individuals for this year!