Okay, so Brooklyn's birthday was really 2 weeks ago now (June 4), but I am just now finally getting around to posting the pictures from her little party that we had for her, which also happened to be late (we were in Cancun on her actual birthday--isn't that mean? Thankfully she isn't old enough to know any better!)
Brooklyn loved her little party, which was complete with balloons, party games that Jacey made up, presents, and a Starburst cake. Her big presents were a little Dora bike and a Dora scooter, so now she can keep up with big sister Jacey! It was fun to have California Grandma and Grandpa, as well as Uncle Michael at her party.
It's hard to believe that our baby girl has now turned into a little girl, complete with her own personality. She loves to sing songs, play outside, and has somehow already mastered the computer and the internet--she loves to play nickjr.com! Brooklyn is full of life and energy and is always making us laugh. We love her a lot and she is such a great part of our family!
As many of you already know, Jon and I had the opportunity to take a "real" trip (i.e. one that involves flying in a plane and DOES NOT involve taking the kids) to Cancun, Mexico last week. We celebrated our 10 year anniversary earlier this year and decided that we had better commemorate the occasion in proper fashion. Up to this point, we had never really left the kids overnight before, and I had never been outside the U.S., so it was a pretty exciting event.
Jon and I decided to splurge and stayed at a beautiful, new 5-star resort on Playa Mujeres, just north of Cancun. It was an all-inclusive resort right on the beach with 8 restaurants and beautiful gardens and pools all over the place. We ate like kings (we even tried sushi for the first time), ordered virgin drinks in everything, laid in the hammocks over the pool, played tennis, ping-pong, water polo and pool volleyball, and, of course, relaxed on the beach. It was awesome! The service was amazing with people always getting you drinks and 24-hour room service, all included! The only regret we had was in not trying out the amazing on-site spa that they had there. It was expensive but we heard from many people that it was well worth it. Below are some pics of the resort:
The highlight of our trip was probably the "Jungle Tour" we went on, which was an excursion where we rode a waverunner-type of boat out across a lagoon to a live coral reef, and then went snorkeling. It was amazing and there were tons of tropical fish and sea life at the reef. We took pictures with an underwater camera, if we got some good pics I will post them later.
To sum up the trip, we spent a wonderful, relaxing 6 days mostly in paradise, with the exception of one day when we ventured out to Tulum and Chichen Itza (one of the new 7 Wonders of the World) to see the Mayan ruins. While the ruins were awesome to see, it was a lot of driving, very hot, and probably one of the longest days of my life. We definitely felt like we were in Mexico that day as we drove through all of the little Mexican villages on a little two lane road, complete with random dogs running all over and trash lining the roadways. Here are some pics of our day there:
Lastly, thanks to all of our family who helped us out with the kids while we were gone! Mom and Dad, Michael, Jeff and Amy, Cathy, Arryn and fam--we could not have gone without your help! The kids had a great time with all of you!
Okay, so after being a big slacker over the past few weeks I am finally posting an update! Things have been pretty busy around here lately so I will try to catch everyone up without boring you all too much.
The biggest news as of late is that Jacey finished up her first year of school this past Thursday. It is weird to think that our little girl is growing up so fast! I think that the whole school thing will really hit home next year when she is gone all day instead of just a few hours. Jacey had a fun week that started out on Monday with her kindergarten graduation program. She did great with her parts and afterwards we went out to dinner with her good friend and their family. Tuesday was her "Field Day" where the kids participated in various outdoor activities. On Wednesday they had a "pajama day" where the kids could (you guessed it!) wear their pajamas to school. Thursday was her last day of school and they had a little end-of-year party. Jacey brought home her journal that they worked on in class throughout the year and here is one of my favorite entries:
"Maddrs day is kumen up. I am gonig to get my mom sum flawrs win mudrs day is kumen up!"
Here are some pictures of her graduation program and field day:
Jacey's spring dance recital was the Friday before her graduation and she did great there too! She definitely has the "performer" gene in her blood. Unfortunately Jon was out of town during that weekend so I left Brooklyn with a babysitter and went to see it by myself (I did get video of it so at least daddy could watch it later!) Jacey has given me a guilt trip many times in the past about not bringing her flowers for her dance recitals, so this time I repented and got her some roses. Below are yet more pics of Jacey:
After Jacey's recital we got Brooklyn and I took the girls to McDonald's for dinner--yum yum! Since Jon was still out of town, the next day the girls came with me to work at the bank for a few hours, and then we went to a little kids carnival in town afterwards. The kids had a great time there sliding down and jumping on the inflatables, and eating hot dogs and cotton candy. My "mom moment" of the weekend was when Brooklyn was jumping in the bounce house and refused to get out when her time was up. I sent Jacey in to get her out and Brooklyn kept getting away when Jacey would get her close to the front where I could reach her. With millions of kids and parents watching, I had to crawl through the tiny hole to get into the bounce house, and then crawl around it trying to grab Brooklyn as she shrieked and laughed and ran around like it was all fun and games. The crowning moment was when I finally got her out and all the parents and kids started clapping for me! It was a relief when Jon got home that night, ready to help me with the kids again.
Jon had a conference in Las Vegas last weekend, so we decided to tag along with him and make a mini-vacation out of it. Jon's colleague Scott was going down for the conference also, so him and Jon went down together early Thursday morning, and me and the girls went down later that afternoon with Scott's wife and their two boys.
We had a great time and the kids didn't want to leave! We went to Caesar's Palace to eat at our favorite restaurant (The Cheesecake Factory), and while we were there we showed the kids the cool aquariums and played around at FAO Schwartz. While the guys were at the conference, we took the kids to Bounce U (an indoor playzone with inflatable slides and bounce houses) and I took Jacey and Brooklyn swimming at the hotel pool. I think that swimming was their favorite part of the trip! They did great and didn't want to get out of the water. We also did a little shopping at the outlets and of course had to sneak in a couple of trips to In-N-Out for lunch!
The kids had such a good time that we definitely want to take them back sometime when we can have more family time together and see some of the sites that we didn't have time to see. The weather was also really nice while we were there--definitely a nice break from the cold and the wind!
It was finally a nice weather day today so we ventured out to the park with some friends of ours and spent a couple of hours there letting the kids run around. I realized how much my kids felt caged up when Brooklyn took off a few times on her own just running and running down the sidewalk. One time she even took off on her own up the trail leading into the canyon and laughed as I tried to chase her down. She definitely keeps me on my toes!
Today was also Western Day at Jacey's school and so we tried to make her look the part as much as possible. I dug up a cowboy hat that I had been given a while back and she wore it to school along with the most "cowgirl-like" clothes that she had in her closet. I thought it was especially appropriate that she was missing one of her teeth in this picture!
We went to get Jacey's dance pictures taken last week and she looked so cute in her costume, that I couldn't resist taking my own pictures of her. She definitely is a girl through and through and loves to get all glammed up. Jacey loves to dance and I am trying to decide whether I am going to keep her in it or make her try something new, like sports! Her spring recital is coming up soon (May 16) in case anyone is interested in coming!
Jacey has been full of questions lately, especially when I am trying to get her to bed. In the past week or so she has asked me many difficult questions, about topics from outer space to heaven. Yesterday she was asking me how we were going to get all of our things to heaven, like our beds, toys and clothes. When I explained to her that we couldn't take anything but ourselves to heaven, she got very sad and said,"But I really like my Bitty Twin and wish I could take her with me!" Her Bitty Twin was a present from "California Grandma" that she has grown quite attached to lately, and she likes to take her around anywhere that I will let her. Here is a picture of Jacey taking her doll for a bike ride.
Jacey also writes up many sweet notes that she gives to us. Her kindergarten teacher has taught her how to sound out the words and to write what she hears. The other night Jon had to stay very late at work and didn't get home until after the kid's bedtime. Jacey wanted to leave a note for him on his pillow to read when he got home, and this is what she wrote:
"Dad I mist you to day! I love you. I am gald youe hom Love Jacey
We have been married for 13 years and are the parents of three wonderful kids, Jacey (9), Brooklyn (6) and Landon (2).
Jacey
Brooklyn
Landon
Kids Say the Darndest Things!
Brooklyn: "I have been nice and naughty this year, so I bet that Santa will bring me toys AND coal."
Jacey: "Mom, did you live back in the times of the cavemen?"
Jacey, while playing at a park in California: "Mom, the kids on the playground were trying to tell me something when I was on the slide but they can only speak Spanish. I didn't understand what they were trying to tell me, so I just said "Si."
