Rock Climbing!

I suggested awhile back to my MOMS club that we should go to the rock climbing gym for a mom's night out. Well it got put off for one reason or another (too cold, too close to Christmas, etc). But finally we planned it out! We didn't have enough interested in our group to do the discounted group rate, but my friend Allyson got some other people together and we made a group! 

We had a really fun time... I'd really missed climbing without even really realizing it! 

Me, working my way up.

Me at the top.

Rebecca

Allyson

Me, on belay. 

Playing Catch Up!

I am terrible about updating my blog within a reasonable amount up time... but I still have hope to one day be able to blog more recent events!

Until then... this might actually help me get to that point!

Kids table at a dinner w/ my family (Taelyn & Caitlin are in the back). 

Our wine & palette class I took with my mom & sisters.

Homeschooling is still going along well here (most days, anyway!). Here is the project we did together as we studied Ancient Egypt. It was a lot of fun to paint ant put together. There is actually a wrapped mummy (well wrapped paper mummy) in the sarcophagus and organs we made w/ clay in the jars!

The kids valentine's lunch. We exchanged valentine's at our co-op but I had to do something on the actual day!

The kids got chicken pox somewhere in this timeline of events... here is Bella with some of her bumps still on her face. I think they took this picture because she made Jackson the decorated t-shirt and the necklace.

And happy Easter! I thought I had some pics of us decorating eggs but maybe those are on my cell phone that I can't get to upload! 

Hunting eggs!

Happy New Year! 2013

With kids we usually don't have really big plans for New Year's Eve so when my parents invited us over for the evening, we decided to go! (One reason I was eager was so that Mike would actually be awake at midnight!)

We had a fun night of snacky foods and playing Trivial Pursuit. The kids had fun playing together and staying up super late! Oh and popping the noise makers!

Christmas!

So we get back from our cruise and we didn't have much time before Christmas was upon us! It felt a bit more hectic than usual but I am thankful that we still managed to get in all our Christmas traditions (the horse carriage ride to see the lights, unwrapping Christmas books each night to read together, visiting Santa, making Christmas cookies, etc).

Here are some pictures we took during that time!

 My family came home from the store with some pretty Christmas flowers for me (Mike said it was Bella's idea).

Our silly Tommy up to some more fun shenanigans! 

Our Gingerbread house we made together... (we actually did this after Christmas... notice, no tree! But ah well... the kids didn't mind!)

Here we are on the horse drawn sleigh for our Christmas light tour.

And my pretty girl!

Our traditional chocolate croissants from Williams-Sonoma for Christmas morning. Yum!

Bella on Christmas morning after making a headband from a kit she got.

 Isabella's Santa gifts!

Jackson's Santa gifts!

Jackson got some Spiderman silly string... Daddy got webbed. 

Bella got a checkers set since they had so much fun playing together on the cruise.

After the day at home, we went over to my parents to exchange gifts with family and have Christmas diner.

Birthday Cruise: Comes to an End

We had 2 days at sea after our last stop and those were spent doing this and that around the ship. (Some pictures I have already posted like the water park and the challenge course.) We watched some pretty fun shows as well. Our favorite was an illusionist who was also a comedian and pretty funny and entertaining.

Oh and near the beginning of the cruise, we were visited by a magician at our table at dinner and Bella LOVED it. Here is a picture of him (I think this was the 2nd time we saw him at dinner though.) I think he is tricking me here into looking for the card that he actually has in his mouth. So after we saw him the first time at dinner, we saw that he had a magic show late. We at first told Bella it was too late. But she really, really wanted to go. So I then told her if she was still awake 10 min before the show, I'd take her. So we all got into bed and she managed to stay awake! I think the show was around 10:30p or so and we were getting into bed around 9:30p. It was fun to go off together for the magic show and she really enjoyed it. :)

Oh & here is Mike and I on one of our formal nights (as well as the kids).

I don't think I posted this but it is Bella & I dancing on the first day.

So our last full day had come and we decided to have a drink at their little pub they have on board. My parents had already been but we hadn't so we headed down before dinner to check it out. 

Bella and Mike played their first game of checkers together (which really was kind of a Bella, Papa, Grandma, & Mom against Daddy game). It was fun.

We had a nice last dinner and then headed to bed to get as much sleep as possible before we had to get out of our room. I will say that getting off this ship was a breeze compared to our past 2 other cruises... not sure if they've streamlined the process or if we just got lucky when we got off but it was so super easy and quick. A really nice cruise all around. (But I almost hate to say ... my body was looking forward to getting back to some healthy food!)

**On a side note, I ran on the track up on the upper deck one evening when we had some extra time... it was so beautiful and amazing to run out in the cool ocean air. And amazingly enough, I ran the longest I've ever run as well as the best time I've ever had. I at first thought it was the ocean air doing me some good. Then I thought it was maybe the flat track. Then I realized, that while I'm sure those things contributed, I actually think that it was all the carbs that I had had in the days preceding that run! I had been "carb-loading" without even realizing it (or meaning to!). :)

Birthday Cruise: 3rd Stop- Nassau, Bahamas

The fifth day brought us to Nassau, Bahamas. We came off the ship into an indoor market with souvenirs and then we got stopped by a couple people trying to give us tours. We decided to give one a go and wen to join a group of people who were already "signed up". It was a "pay after the tour" kinda deal so we felt pretty good about not getting ripped off. Once in the van we began the tour with an older gentleman as our driver/tour director. He took us away from the port and the city was very congested for a little bit. They were getting ready for a parade that would take place through this area that evening. So I am not sure if it is always so busy & trafficky or if it is due to the parade.

This is the Governor's house.

An interesting eatery.

Very interesting Christmas decorations... are they American or just striving to overdecorate like some do?

The first stop we got out was the Queen's Staircase. This is the info I found online about it: 

The Queen's Staircase, in the Bahamas, was built by slaves in the late 18th Century, between 1793 and 1794. The slaves used axes and other sharp hand tools to carve the 65 steps that make up this 102ft staircase. It was named in honor of the 65 yrs of Queen Victoria's Reign. The Staircase is made of solid limestone.

However, when we got to the staircase, at the top is a guy who is a volunteer who will tell you all about the staircase. He said that the passageway was created by the slaves as an escape route for the people at the fort (we didn't get a chance to view but you can pay to go into the fort). He said it was really hard labor and many slaves died in the making of the passageway. He then said that after Queen Victoria freed the slaves, freed slaves came and chiseled the 65 stairs to pay tribute to her for her reign.

Next we traveled through the city and then across a bridge to Atlantis, which is a large hotel/casino that can be seen from pretty far off. I'd seen it in various vacation emails but hadn't paid too much attention to it. Our tour guide told us that Michael Jackson stayed in the room that bridges over between the two parts and apparently it wasn't cheap. Oh and speaking of stars, we also passed the hospital where Anna Nicole Smith's son died and her baby was born. (I had forgotten that even had taken place, much less in the Bahamas but our tour guide reminded us.) So anyway, not sure why the tours take you to view Atlantis... I guess it is a popular thing to want to do? I dunno. We don't gamble and you can't walk into the hotel part itself so we just walked where we could and then waited to leave to head to the beach.

Lastly, we had our tour guide/driver take us to a beach that was within walking distance of where the boat was docked (he dropped everyone else off at another beach and I think took some back to the boat area). We were starving so this beach was a good spot with a few food stands on the beach. I think Mike got some jerk chicken. I cannot remember what the kids got! I ordered the fish... which took a while longer (he pulled the foil packet out of the fridge of the fresh fish and then stuck it on the grill right then) but it was really yummy. I only opened a little bit of the foil as I started eating but then I opened a bit further and saw my fish staring at me. It was a surprise since we don't often receive our fish this way here but it didn't deter me from finishing it. (I will say I did go back to eating it a bit covered. My Dad ate some of his cheek. yum. ;o) )

The beach was pretty nice. A bit rocky but the kids didn't seem to mind. The water was too cold for me... but again, the kids didn't mind! The weather was mild and pleasant. There was a group of drunk younger people partying it up, but they weren't too annoying. (I feel old!)

We packed it up after a bit of playing and headed out for the walk back to the ship.

Birthday Cruise: 2nd Stop- Freeport, Bahamas

On the fourth day we docked at Freeport, Bahamas. When you get off the boat you are right at a little Strawmarket with various vendors and Sr. Frog's. It took us a few minutes to figure out where to catch a taxi over to the beach but once we figured it out, we got in a long line that went pretty fast- loading groups of ppl into taxi vans. The rate was reasonable and the vans were nice enough. 

The taxis drop you off at another Strawmarket which is across the street from a bunch of hotel/casinos and the beach. So after a pit stop at the bathroom, we headed over to the beach (our main goal for the day!). It was so nice to be on the beach and the kids really enjoyed playing in the sand and water. The surf wasn't rough and so they could get in the water without us holding their hands (unlike Costa Rica on the Pacific side).




We spent a couple hours on the beach. The weather was cooler and windy. A bit too chilly for me in the water but the kids didn't mind and I didn't mind just sitting on the beach. The disadvantage to the beach is that it was directly in front of the hotels and so it appeared to be, in a way, their territory. They had some outdoor cafe/bars and I went to one to get a bottle of water but they would only take cards or put it on your hotel account. I didn't have either but a nice hotel guest at the bar put my water on her tab. (I of course tried to refuse and then tried to pay her with cash, but she said no!)

After the beach, we headed back across the street to find some lunch. We found a good spot and had a pretty good lunch. I had a conch salad that was pretty interesting (a bit too many onions but otherwise good).

We then found a coffee shop and a candy shop. Then headed back to the taxi area to go back to the docks.

Here are my cuties that night at dinner.