Monday, August 13, 2012

"Cousin Weekend"


Although there are more than counsins there this weekend, it's what the kids call it. We get together with our Yuba City family twice a year. We get together in Yuba City at Christmas time and here in the summer. We all look forward to the love and laughter of these weekends.

 Debbie's presentation during our inaugural summer drink contest ( we usually only have a holiday drink contest) was the best we've ever seen. She really should've won.
 Haley was thrilled that this year she was tall enough to do some of the older rides with the kids. One more year and she will be big enough for most rides. Even though she was so excited about the rides she was going on, I think she was a bit relieved that she was not big enough for the Dipper.

These are the "kids" that were in our wedding. The oldest 2 are about the start their sophomore years in college. The younger 2 are about to be juniors in high school. Say what?
This year Uncle Mike and Gayle weren't able to join us. It did not feel the same.
Already looking forward to Christmas! I WILL win the drink contest. Oh yes, the title will be mine.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

More on Cancun

I need to make sure I write more about our trip before the details are lost. I want it to be recorded. :) Our travels there were very smooth. We had a delay from Houston to Cancun, but who cares? We sure didn't. We got to our resort and were greeted with cold beer at the lobby counter. Aaahhh...
 There were LOTS of iguanas everywhere. We took a lot of pictures at first and then realized they were  around every corner. Josh still took a ton of pictures and when I went to edit I could have killed him. Maybe 50 shots of these creatures!
 This view of us is RIGHT outside where our room was. Every morning I woke up and opened the curtain to this sight. It was beautiful. The room itself was stunning. Marble everything, including a huge Jacuzzi in the middle of the room.
The resort was HUGE! 3 sections and 3-4 buildings per section. There were 14 restaurants on the resort and we didn't make it to all of them. At any given time you could have fresh guacamole, hot tortillas, or homemade salsa. Delicious.
One thing we all laughed a lot about was Spanish. All of us can speak just a bit of the language...except Josh, who can speak a lot. Every time we were approached, the person would look at me and say, "Hablas Espanol, verdad?" No, I don't. I know I look like a do, but I don't. Then I'd direct the person to Josh. The locals loved this Jewish guy speaking Spanish to them. Very entertaining. :)

I sang karaoke. I NEVER sing and there I am. Brie and I sang some Lady Gaga after several double margaritas. We sounded awful, but laughed through the whole thing. We had some fun dancers join us on stage. It was one night I wore flip flops instead of wedges. I had no plans of getting on stage that night. As you can see, Brie is a foot taller than me with her long legs. Too funny. Fabulous memory.

 As you saw in my last post, we spent a lot of time in the water. We gave equal time to pools and the ocean. It was honestly the most beautiful water I have ever been in. As you can see, Josh liked playing in the waves. I liked going beyond the wave break and just floating in the salt water. The water was easily 85 degrees. Hello heaven!

We went off the resort 4 of the 7 days. One day was to go to Tulum to see the Mayan ruins and one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Pics of that were in my last post. The Mayans were a fascinating civilization and I kept wishing that I taught that unit in 6th grade. I learned so much.
We swam at the beach and almost missed our bus back. All of us were in the water and none of us wanted to check the time. Brie lost in a odds, evens hand contest.
Losing time was one of the stand outs of the trip. With kids, you never really lose track of time like we did on vacation. Having no concept of the time was really freeing.
Another day we went to Xcaret- basically a theme park with water everywhere. It's on the ocean so you can do a snorkel excursion (which we did) and a fresh water river you can float down, swimming with the dolphins, a beach, animals, etc. We didn't really know what it was, and if we did, I don't think we would have chosen it. Everyone recommended it. If the kids were there, it would've been perfect. Glad we saw it but I could've skipped it.
Another 2 days we took a trip out to the adult only resort on the main stretch of beach. It was connected to our resort so we enjoyed all of the all inclusive benefits. We enjoyed the infinity pool and warm ocean water, and the serenity. One thing I realized is that I really am just as relaxed if other kids are around or not. If I am "off duty" I simply don't care.

 One morning Josh and Graham went deep sea fishing. They caught a bunch and brought some back to the resort. The chef at one restaurant cooked it up for us. It was grilled and flavored to perfection! The boys sent the rest of the fish home for the fishermen's families.

 One other activity the boys did without the girls was golfing. Brie and I enjoyed massages and facials at the spa. Did I mention that a $1500 resort credit was offered at the time we booked? Yes. So we did most of the extras for free. It was awesome! All over the resort there were signs for "cocodrillos." The guys saw one on the golf course and got a shot. Cool!

 This is funny. One of my mom friends at Capri was talking about wanting to do something for their 15th anniversary. I told her about our trip that was coming up and told her to check it out. She and her husband booked and it happened that our last night there, was their arrival night. We enjoyed some margaritas and dance floor time. So crazy to be hanging in Mexico!
We had such a memorable time with Graham and Brie. They were so easy to be with. All of us had the same attitude- to do what we want, whether together or separate. We laughed so much and created some amazing memories.
I don't want to forget:
- when I slipped and fell on the floor after exiting the Jacuzzi ( a total Muppet fall that I laughed about then and still laugh about)
- all of us drinking Pepto from "travelers tummy"
- Banana Monkeys and Blue Hawaiians- our favorite poolside cocktails
- ordering everything off the cocktail menu one at a time
- the heat and humidity and my hair being wild
- the incredibly gracious staff and everyone saying, "my pleasure"
- being in the water. All. The. Time.
- being INCREDIBLY RELAXED
On our last day we were ready to get back to our kids. The travels were a mess. We almost had to stay the night in Houston and I knew I wouldn't handle that well, so we ended up getting in SFO, instead of San Jose, and renting a car to get home late that night. We were so happy to be home in the morning with the kids! Our little alarm clocks were back.

Josh and I had so much fun together. We were reminded, yet again, why we chose to exchange vows 10 years ago. We relived the day and all that it meant to us. I feel fortunate that our parents took our kids (who had a blast that week) so we could have this memorable trip. Our wedding day was the best day of my life. It was the beginning of the greatest adventure. I love us.
Cheers to 10.

Monday, July 30, 2012

10 Year Trip

Last week we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We saved up for a couple of years to do something special and, in November, we booked a trip to Cancun. On Saturday we got back from spending 7 days at a beautiful resort. We met up with good friends, Graham and Brie, who got married two weeks after we did. There are so many stories about our adventures. It was the best time. I took notes throughout our trip to get all the details down, but for now I just want to get some pictures up. We swam, snorkeled, ate, drank, laughed, slept, relaxed, played, hiked. We went. We saw. We did.








Friday, July 13, 2012

Happy Birthday to You...

Dear Josh,
Happy birthday. Here are some top reasons why I am thrilled you entered the world 36 years ago.

1. You are a gangster. As this picture shows, you know how to throw your signs and pucker your lips that lets people know not to mess. Obviously you are a big tough guy.
 2. You are Darth Vader. Need I say more? I mean, I am married to DARTH VADER.
 3. You remain tough, even during cultural holidays, with paint all over your clothes and face while drinking a beer.
 4. You are a singer. I've seen you onstage and you would be the next Idol if only they judged on charisma, enthusiasm, entertainment, impersonations and allowed an Idol to be just a bit off key at times.
I will add the following reasons (as if the top 4 reasons are not reason enough).

5. I get to laugh every single day. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

6. I get to be a part of you being a dad to our kids- an incredible thing to watch and be a part of. You are the epitome of a kid person. You are an inspirational parent.

7. You are hot.

8. You are who you are in every aspect of your life. What you see is what you get. You never apologize for being you and you never should.

9. I am proud to be your wife. I love being introduced to people I don't know and getting compliments about you and how well you are respected and liked. I beam from it.

10. You are an awesome friend to so many people. You are a "one of a kind" man.

 Joni and Lloyd, thanks for having Josh and raising him the way you did. Thanks for being born, Josh. You are the best person I know. I couldn't be more in love. I couldn't be happier.
Happy Birthday.

Posts

When I started this blog it was for family record keeping. Instead of keeping detailed records of stories and happenings in our family, I would just blog about it. I still do that, but realize sometimes I am hesitant to write about certain things. Sometimes I am reflective and other times I just want to record. Some people may not want to read what we did each day of our vacation, but then I always remember the beauty of having a blog- no one has to read it!
There have been some days when I have just wanted to write about my kids and how proud I am of them. I have resisted because I didn't want to be "bragging."
I need to get over it (and I think I have). This blog will be so cool for the kids to look at and read throughout the years. They already love the old pictures and videos from when they were babies.

I write this to warn you- I don't think I am going to be holding back. If I want my kids to see it someday and I want a record of it myself, then it's going in. I won't be editing my thoughts. I will be capturing everything and anything I am thinking or feeling. So, I'll start with Josh...

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Josie Isabel


On June 20th, our new niece joined our family. Josie is perfection. She is already letting Meredith and Nate get some nice sleep (only wakes up once a night) and is the cutest little thing. Haley and Ryan are very excited to have a new cousin!

Pinecrest 2012

We just got back from our annual trip to Pinecrest. This is definitely a highlight of every year for me. I LOVE to camp. LOVE. Camping at Pinecrest brings back so many fond memories of going there as a kid and it is so special to be creating new memories with my family and friends.
The time there was fabulous. No drama or tension with kids or adults. This vacation is not that relaxing since camping is a ton of work- much easier to camp as a kid, but being in nature with the beautiful surroundings you see, brings me into a complete calm and inner peace. I am completely unplugged from the world. It's pure heaven.
The weather was perfect. The lake was refreshing but all of us swan in it. We couldn't get the kids out and we didn't have to since we were on no time crunch. Like I said, heaven.

My parents came by on Friday to see everyone and enjoy a swim in the lake. They stayed for a few hours and enjoyed being there after so many years. That was a special time for me. I love that my parents are so easy and everyone was happy to see them. My friends tried to convince them to stay for dinner. Even though they declined, it's nice to know that others enjoy my parents as much as I do.
 Each year the moms, then the dads go on the 4 mile hike around the lake. Does it get any better than that? Great adult conversation, a stop along the way for drinks and snacks, great exercise and a stunning view.
The week before we left we had some friends over for dinner and I was introduced to the term "planking." For those of you out of the loop, like I was, planking is laying flat as board, face down, and taking a picture. It's a popular thing for kids to do. I think it is so random and hilarious! I had to try it. I admit, it was really funny and I laughed the whole time trying it. It is so ridiculous!

I am still unpacking and running laundry. All of the tents and tubs will go back into the attic tonight. Another awesome trip down. I am already looking forward to next year!