The Mexico Post

As you probably know, my friend Adrea and I spent a fabulous 4 days/4 nights in Mexico last week.  We both turned 30 this past spring (exactly a month apart). Since we have known each other our whole lives, but never traveled together, we decided to plan a big trip.

She also works at a charter school in a stressful position, so throughout the spring we would send each other emails that would sometimes explain a stressful situation followed by "32 days!!!!!!" or something like that.

We were SO excited for a few days in the sun, on the beach, to relax.

We got EXACTLY what we were hoping for.  It was fantastic.  Fantastic weather...fantastic accommodations...fantastic food...fantastic drinks...fantastic everything.

In order to make this not a ridiculously long blog post, I decided to choose two of my favorite pictures of each day, and then will post the link to the rest of the pics at the end if you care to see them.  Here goes...

Sunday
We woke up VERY early for a 7:15am flight...we arrived at the resort around 5pm.  Long day, but worth the wait.

There was some confusion about the reason for our travels...

First drinks: "Electric Lemonade" and "Ticket to Fly"

Monday
Breakfast...beach...lunch...pool...fancy Italian dinner...sunset...great day!

All dressed up for our fancy meal

Picture perfect sunset

 Tuesday
We decided to be a little adventurous and take the 40 minute public bus ride into Puerto Vallarta.  We weren't very well planned or prepared (forgot the map, ooops) so we probably spent more time on the bus than actually in the city.  We were also in a part of the city were there weren't any other tourists, so we were definitely in the wrong place.  But it was an experience and we made it back in time to spend some more time at the beach, pool, etc.

Taken from the city bus

Mariachi band at dinner

 Wednesday
Another day for breakfast...beach...lunch...pool...fancy Mexican restaurant...Cabaret show...Texas band...tired!

Giant margaritas at dinner

Yay for 30!

Thursday
We spent some time on the beach and had lunch before heading to the airport around 1:30.  We landed at home at midnight.  The only picture I have from that day is us in our new hats with our last drinks.

Adios Mexico!  It's been real!

So there you have it- a snapshot of a great vacation.  The rest of our pictures can be found on the Shutterfly site.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers leading up to the trip and while we were gone.  Despite missing my peeps at home, I really was able to relax and enjoy myself!

While Mommy's Away...

...a lot of people do a lot of WORK!!!

I've started to go through pictures from my trip and will work on a post to share those with you later.  But what I want to focus on today is the amazing help we received while I was gone.

This week showed that it truly takes a village to raise a child.  I love our village. ;)

Callie spent time with Boom, Bops, Laura and Mari on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  They were in and out depending on their schedules, and Callie was surrounded by love no matter who she was with.  And I got updates throughout so I knew a little of what was going on.

Some highlights from her time with the Henderson side...

An email from Laura:
Hey! I was eating lunch with Cal and she made some comment about where mommy was. I said , "you know where she is!" And Cal said - Mexico with Adrea! Then we talked about how it would be a few days and she said something like "mommy will come back later to see me. I love mommy." It was cute :-)

Morning Mommy!

Hola Mommy!  Te amo!

Callie ended up spending the night at the Gosselin's most of the time I was gone because of all the work that was being done in our bathroom.  Chris' cousin Andrew was also staying there (and helping Mary with our yard- FANTASTIC!), so she got to hang out with him a lot.  And then she of course spent a lot of fun quality time with G-ma and Auntie Cat.  G-pa and Chris spent a lot of quality time working on our bathroom and it is looking AMAZING.  That (and our yard) will definitely be worth their own post when they are done.

Here are some highlights from her time with the Gosselin side...

Dinner with Andrew!

Bubbles with Auntie Cat

Badmiton with Andrew

Message from G-ma:
Hi Kati-Callie has been a really good girl but I know she was thinking about you because everything we would say she would add "And Mommy too!"  Hope yr week was fun.

There were many more pictures and messages, and I'm so thankful that I was able to stay connected to home while taking breaks from the sun. :)

So stay tuned for a beach post and a new bathroom/yard post sometime this weekend.  Didn't get in til about 12:30am so I'm running low on energy.  But the BEST feeling in the world was waking up to a babbling toddler at 6:45am, running to her room, and having her pop up to give me the most gigantic hug.

It is good to be home.

Hola!

And that's why God made Mexico
A place where we can lay low
And the cuervo goes down nice and slow
Anywhere the warm winds blow
Don't you know
That's why God made Mexico

-Tim McGraw

Greetings from Nuevo Vallarta!

Adrea and I are having a blast.  It is beautiful here and we are getting really good at just laying by the beach.  Especially at night, during the sunset.  It is by far our favorite past time.  And why wouldn't it be, when it looks like this?

And while I'm playing here, there are a lot of people doing a lot of work on our house, in our yard, and with our 2-year-old at home.  I've been getting updates about all the things going on and couldn't be more thankful.  But I'll dedicate a whole post to that when I get home.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the last day and a half.  Adios!

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Early Edition

Well, I leave the house at 5am tomorrow morning, so I'm doing the weekend wrap-up a day early.

Friday
I got to spend most of the day with my girl.  She napped at Boom's house so I could get some things done, but otherwise it was just the two of us and we had fun.

Sprinkler fun

Yummy menchie's!

First big leg scrape

Saturday
We spent the morning at the Children's Museum with Cherilyn and Sydney.  There is a new Curious George exhibit that was really fun!  And of course, we did all the other usuals too.

Tonight, Chris' cousin Devyn got married. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding on the beach.  Unfortunately, I was too busy chasing a certain toddler around that I didn't get too many good pictures.  But Callie was able to get in a little dancing before dinner, though she was being very coy with the boys.

So there you have it.  Now I need to finish up packing and go to bed early. Prayers for safe and easy travel would be appreciated.

I've been in a funk today, but I know it is ridiculous.  There aren't very many moms out there who get to go on vacations like this and have so many people back home ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make sure their kid (and husband) are okay.  I'm very very thankful.  And I really am very very excited.  I'm just going to let go, take this opportunity to let myself relax, and try not to check my email 17 times a day.

So, as they say in Mexico, ADIOS!

QOTD

As Callie's vocabulary grows, so does the amount of funny things that she says.  So I figure I may need to start fairly regular Quote Of The Day blog posts to remember the good ones.

Today's QOTD:   

While at our goddaughter  Christine's soccer game, Callie was watching a boy about her age near us throw a big fit.

Chris: (quietly) That boy is being naughty.
Callie: (loudly) Yeah! He is naughty!   
Chris and I: (look at each other and smile...reminder to selves- she repeats EVERYTHING loudly)
Callie: (pauses to think about naughtiness for a few seconds) Some days I am naughty!

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!

Summer Bucket List

I heard people on the radio this morning talking about their summer bucket lists, so I thought I'd start my own.  With the school  year (finally) over, except for teacher clean-up day tomorrow, I've been thinking ahead to what I want to accomplish this summer.  Here's the start of my list.

1. Enjoy the backyard. 
Mary and Chris' cousin Andrew will be coming over next week for a couple days to make it look amazing.  I can't wait, and am so thankful that we'll have another place to play.  G-ma has fun yard things planned for Callie!  Way more fun that this slide, as fun as it is.

2.  Have family meals.  At our house.  At our table.  All at the same time.
It is sad, but true, that this does not happen very often.  I know that last summer one of my goals was to cook more, and I failed miserably.  I'm trying it again.  Wish me luck.  At this point there are about three things to make that please all three of us.  Hopefully I'll find more.

3.  Survive potty training.
I dread the process but look forward to the results.  

4. Travel.
We have a couple of trips planned already, and I hope to get a couple more little weekend trips to fun places planned as well.  

5. Enjoy each moment.
Cheesy, I know.  But time goes so fast.  We got to start our summer break enjoying a double rainbow and playing in the rain.  I hope the rest of the summer brings memories as special as this one.

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend needs to start with Thursday night.  Jenna, Andy, Charlie and Baby Mabel came over!  Callie was SO EXCITED to see "Baby Nabel."  She did a great job holding her.  As you can see below, by "holding" her I mean staying still for 30 seconds so we could lay Mabel across her lap to take a picture.  She "held" Mabel twice and then was all about playing with Charlie.  They got popsicles after dinner and were very happy about it.

Friday night was my dad's b-day party at the condo!

Getting a taste of the frosting!  Yum!

Happy Birthday Bops!

On Saturday morning, Callie and I went to Gerten's with G-ma and G-pa.  I'm TOTALLY spoiled.  While I'm on my vacation, I'm getting a redone bathroom AND a brand new yard.  So we went shopping for the yard stuff on this beautiful morning.

On Saturday night we went to hang out with our college crew at Josh and Alison's house.  Callie and Sydney had a blast playing with our new mister first...and then the sprinkler came out.  As did the swim suits.

Today was a big day.  This morning I ran my 6th half marathon.  Laura ran it as well.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a run, and I did okay.  I finished in 2 hours and 6 minutes, which was 15 seconds slower than the half I did in August, but oh well.  I did really well the first 7 miles or so (under 9 minute miles) and then ssssslllloooooowwwed down each mile after that. :)  Here are a few pictures from the run.  And once again, thanks to our fam for being the best fans ever!

Ready to go!

Go Yoda!

Running in the beautiful city

Eating Mommy's post-race food

Post-race Downward Dog

We did it!

 

Mom and her 2 runners

This afternoon we headed back to the castle park, where this happened.  Thankfully, today was much better, though she was clearly leery at first.

Hmm...I seem to remember poopies in the pouring rain.

But then she warmed up and had fun on the monkey bars.

Then, to continue our busy day, Callie and I headed back downtown to go to the Lynx game with Bops, Boom and Yoda.  We were going to take the train, but they weren't in service, so we hopped on a bus instead.

And then had fun, but only stayed for the first half.  Yoda, Cal and I were EXHAUSTED.

Three tired girls

At one point during the game, when Callie heard the whistle being blown, she yelled "FOUL!"  Clearly she has observed her daddy watching many basketball games at home and yelling at the T.V.  Hilarious.

Four more days of work. Seven more days til Mexico.  !!!!!!!!!!!!