A week in review...

So I feel the need to post a disclaimer...FYI, lots of pictures, and lots of possibly uninteresting info (info that is interesting and funny to me and the hubbo, but probably not for anyone else!) I am finally getting around to documenting this little vacation. Unfortunately, I am having a little bit of trouble getting everything at our house back in order.

This first picture is a lovely view of us sailing away from San Diego. I was feeling a little bit sick to my stomach that I was sailing away for a week without my kiddos. San Diego was like 90 degrees, so we were a little warm in our long pants and jackets, that we wore on the plane!

The next day was a day at sea, while we traveled to Cabo. I though this would be a boring day, but it was fabulous. We slept in, laid out in the sun, read in a comfy sun-tanning loungers, ate till we were sleepy, and went to bed early! It was really nice to relax for an entire day.

The next morning we opened our curtains, and saw this lovely scene. We decided to spend half of the day on a little snorkeling trip. We went out sailing to a place called Chileno Bay.

Aaron took this picture of the guys who were in charge of our tour. They were so nice, and so much fun!. The entire time we were on the boat, they had the music on, and for this picture, they were trying to get all of us to dance to the YMCA song and the "Macarena."

They sailed us by a few famous landmarks, and then we headed to Chileno Bay.

Lover's Beach-the water was so pretty, it has been forever since I have seen that pretty ocean water.

The Arch.

This is Chileno Bay, where we snorkeled. We saw fish, then we swam to the beach and sat in the sun for a while. The water was so warm, I could have stayed in it all day. I have no other pictures, because we swam to shore, so I had to leave my camera on the boat!

A little view of Cabo. I could not believe how pretty and lush the beaches looked, and how dry the mountains were in the back.

Our Boat. Those things are Ginormous. It is truly amazing that they float.

Our last view of Cabo, as we were sailing away. It was such a beautiful day. The weather was in the 90's (great if you get in the water) and the sunset was amazing!

I had to take a picture of the most expensive phone I have ever used. Unfortunately, our lovely cell phones did not work on our boat. (We did switch carriers today!) So not only did I get to leave my kids, but I could barely call them. I called my Mom on Tuesday, to tell her our phones would not work, and the bill we received for a 2 minute call was $20.

Oh, to be rich and be able to talk to your children...I was wondering if 5 minutes cost $100??? I called once more to see if they were all doing well, and our grand total for less than 3 minutes (both calls combined!) of talking was over $40.

Every night, after dinner, we would come back to our cabin to find a new towel animal. We thought our kids would like to see some of them.

This was our favorite place to eat on the boat. That middle deck, never too busy, and when you do not live by by the ocean, you want to soak it all in. We ate here for almost every meal.

We spent another day at sea-more relaxing-and then we spent a day in Ensenada. Aaron wanted to go horseback riding. I agreed, because I figured they would be old, slow, and well trained horses. They were well trained, but for some reason I got a feisty one. If another horse stood by him, he would turn and start biting it's neck. I had a bad experience on a horse once, so I was a wee bit afraid. Especially when they gave me the horse that wanted to start fights. He also really wanted to run, and would try to pass the slower horse in front of him. I don't mind sitting on a horse while it walks, but I am not much of a galloper.

The only cowboy with us that spoke English, was named Miguel, and he was hilarious. He had us laughing the entire time. We went on a four mile ride, along some scary cliffs (maybe not scary to everyone, but plenty scary to me!), up to a beautiful view of the ocean. I didn't take a picture, because I was didn't want to let go of the reins! I should have given the camera to Aaron who is much better on a horse than myself!

We arrived in San Diego the next day, and I was thrilled to have cell phone service to check on my kids, and my Mom. Thanks again to my parents for sacrificing 7 days to babysit my three little ones. We had the greatest time, as long as I wasn't thinking too hard about how far away I was from my children.

Thanks to my husband who strongly encouraged me to even say yes to go on this trip, it was planned very last minute, and I was a bit leery to go!

So glad we went! It was so much fun, and I hope it isn't another ten years before we do it again:)

Heading South...

The Hubbo and I are headed on a little vacation to Mexico tomorrow! I know my kiddo's are in great hands, but still a little nervous because I have never left them this long!! A big Thanks to my Mom and Dad for babysitting, you guys are the greatest. To pay you back, I will clean your whole house before all the company comes for Christmas!! See you all next week!

A little dinner conversation....

So tonight at dinner, Morgan asks,

"Mom, we have three little cans of root beer (you know the half sized cans from Walmart?) out in the fridge, can Paige, Carson, and me have them with dinner?

I debated for a minute, and then said OK. I was feeling a little guilty telling them no when I had already had more than my share of diet Cherry Coke that day. It isn't their fault that I am such a rotten example, they cannot help that I love that bubbly stuff. (Just so you know, we don't so this every night for dinner, they just begged for those cute little soda's at Walmart, and I had a week moment!)

So Morgan goes to the garage and gets the pop, and gives one to her brother and sister. Paige promptly turns the can around to read the label and excitedly tells us:

This pop has zero fattness!

She does not know how bad I wish that were true.

We might need to explain how calories work next!

Next my little boy opens his pop, pours it in a cup, and starts licking it like a kitty. We were about to tell him to stop, when he looked at all of us and said:

MMMMMM....... TASTY!!!

We all started laughing, and so after that every bite of his dinner he would tell us again! Lucky for us, never a dull moment at dinner !!

Happy Birthday Meghan!

Thirteen tears ago this young lady (on the right) became the first niece and granddaughter in my little family. I cannot believe that she is a teenager now. I think I will forever think of her as little "May May." Megs, I hope you had a fabulous birthday, and that you will have a great birthday party! Since we can't be around to celebrate with you, we though we would post our Top Ten Favorite things about Meghan!!

1. She is the most willing babysitter, especially to that little brother!

2. She loves to play with my kids, and they love to play with her. When Meghan is around, I don't even see my daughters.

3. She is incredibly creative. Our entire family loves a great short story written by Megs!

4. She is quite funny, I especially love it when she teases her Mom.

5. She is the sweetest big sister ever!

6. She is an artist, we all love her artwork- it can be rather funny as well.

7. She is a great help on the computer- I think she knows how to run it far better than me.

8. She makes the BEST brownies in the West!

9. She Never backs down from a water fight, and on the 4th of July when we have a yearly tradition of a huge family water fight, she is out with the boys (The big ones!) for hours.

10. She has a such a strong ambition to do what is good and right, I love that she is such a great example to my kids.

We hope you have a great day lady! We miss you so much, and wish we could come spend the day with you! We will just have to make up for it at Christmas. We love you!!

Happy Halloween!

Today was a different Halloween than I am used to! Kids home from school, no class parties to attend, no trunk or treat, just a somewhat relaxing day. I had my kids ready early, and I didn' t feel like I spent the entire day running like a crazy lunatic.

I think I could really enjoy Halloween if it could always be like that.

Also, I am such a fan of it falling on a Friday. What good is Halloween, when you have to get home and get your kids to bed by 8-which never happens for us- and then I have to drag them out of bed the next day for school. Don't you think Halloween should be the on the last Friday in October -you know, kinda follow the Thanksgiving rule.

We had a great night, we set out all our candy on the step, and went around the neighborhood as a family for once. It was so nice to have such great weather! Carson did not want to go up to any of the doors, he just sat in the stroller, and ate off his sisters candy.

Morgan was a witch, Paige was a butterfly, and Carson was a bat. Carson wanted to be a "gary" bat, not a nice one. He loved chasing his sisters around, and they were nice enough to play along, that they actually were scared of him.

The only house my boy would walk up to was Grandpa and Grandma Williamson's. He REALLY wanted to scare Grandpa (which was hilarious!) While we were visiting, we realized Carson likes to hand out candy, rather than walk up to doors and trick-or-treat. Every time the doorbell rang, he would run like crazy to beat his sisters. Here are some pictures, and a lovely video of Carson and Morgan (sorry, I am not smart enough to figure out how to flip it!).

Pumpkin Carving Fun/Mess

Because we had something on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday night, we decided to carve our pumpkins on Tuesday night! The kids were awfully excited, Carson had even tried to take the pizza cutter to the pumpkins many times throughout the day:) On Tuesday though, Aaron had to work late, and Morgan had piano lessons, so the kids had to wait for what seemed like forever (to them and me!)

Carson REALLY likes to do things with his Dad, so we decided we would put the girls in charge of one pumpkin, and the boys in charge of the other! Carson really wanted to do a "gary" (scary) one.

The girls were great at removing the crud, but my little boy was not such a trooper! He put his hand in once, and then just folded his arms the rest of the time saying it was "too messy!"

I don't understand. He never seems to think that smearing peanut butter on my walls is messy -why does he not do the one messy thing I am actually encouraging him to do?

The boy's "gary" pumpkin,

and the girls very large mouthed pumpkin! (Don't look too close MGpa!! You might see something a wee bit familiar!

Oh, and I should have tried to photoshop out the mess on my counters.

Buddies...I think

These two either fight or play great! Here is one of those moments that I quite enjoy, when they are getting along, and I can cook dinner in a quiet kitchen.

Just thought I would document good behavior, so I could actually remember sometimes that it happens! Those kids can be pretty cute, I just wish they would do it for more that 15 minutes!