Cancun

When I found out our school was going to start doing year around school I told Steve that during our break in February we needed to go somewhere warm and sunny to get away from the snow and inversions.  My parents decided to rotate taking each of our families on a vacation so we decided to go to Cancun with them (they go almost every year).  We booked airline tickets back in August and got Andrew's passport and we were all looking forward to the trip.  It is a bit ironic though as we left that it was 67 here in Salt Lake and sunny--it has been such a mild winter with not much snow or inversions, but it was still a good escape from life.

This was Andrew's first plane ride and I will admit that I woke-up a few weeks ago after having a nightmare about a 4.5 hour plane ride with our little monster. :)  He did good on the way there--he enjoyed several lollipops (he hasn't had too many treats yet), chilled, listened to music with Grandpa's earbuds, movie, coloring and we had only a few outbursts.

We made it through customs in Mexico in record time, got the rental van, and made it to our condo.  Then we went out to dinner at one of the best places in Playa del Carmen, Super Carne.  After dinner we went to the grocery store and stocked up for the week.  Can I say they have quite the selection of microwave popcorn there--we fell in love with the carmel microwave popcorn.  There was a chipotle one that got two thumbs down, but Dad still ate most of it and then he didn't sleep well that night--we blamed the nasty popcorn he kept eating.

Monday we took the kids to the beach.  Mimi and Grandap enjoyed seeing the girls excited reactions to playing in the ocean and on the beach.  Ellie wandered out pretty far the first day and got knocked down by a wave, just as she was coming up another wave hit her and knocked her into the dirt.  Scared her a bit and she wanted to go to the pool, but after jumping into the freezing pool she wanted to go back to the ocean.  Even Andrew ran around in the sand the first day having a ball and playing in the water.  I enjoyed the day out on the beach with the kids, but forgot that an antibiotic I was finishing up made me sensitive to the sun so I got fried--I've never been burned this bad and I don't even know how my back got it as bad as it did since I hardly had my back to the sun.  Ironically that night I ate a Dove chocolate Mimi brought and the saying inside said, "you look good in red".  Good thing because my skin is bright red--we all laughed.

That evening Grandpa convinced us to walk the market, he was surprised by how many people were there that evening then we realized it was Carnival.  We thought they were performing on the plaza there so we kept walking, but as we tried to come back we realized that it was a parade on the narrow streets and we had quite the time working our way back.  We didn't get any pictures, but there were a lot of big, colorful, risque costumes with loud music--let's say it was quite the experience.  The pollo (chicken) diner we found did have excellent roasted chicken and sides so it was worth the adventure.

The next two days we spent at the beach and the pool.  It was so nice to be able to see the beach and pool from our condo balcony so I could see what everyone was doing while I was up there letting Andrew nap.  Andrew did not enjoy the beach as much as he did the first day, but he still played there a bit.  Andrew loved drinking the pineapple juices from the big cups with a straw at dinner.

The girls thought it would be fun to eat at the pool bar so Wednesday we let them order lunch there.  They got too cold waiting for the food to come and eventually ate pool side. 
Wednesday afternoon we came in a little early all having had a lot of sun in the last three days.  There was a cool breeze so we decided to head to Tulum. 

We spent an hour looking around and talking about the ruins.  Many believe that Tulum is where Nephi and his family landed in the promised land.  The 'castle' there is very similar to our modern day temples.  It goes to show that God is constant--teaching the same truths forever it just depends on the people to listen and obey.

On the way back we drove into Porta Ventura and looked at the dolphins and had dinner there.  Mimi and the girls killed time taking pictures while we waited for our food to arrive.

Thursday morning I got up with Andrew and walked out to the front room to be greeted by the girls.  Ellie said, "Mom, Mom something happened to Lila's eye during the night."  Lila, "I must have scratched it or something."  I looked at her and realized she was having an allergic reaction to something her face was swollen with one eye almost swollen completely shut.  Fortunately I had packed some Benadryl so I awoke Steve to help with the baby while I gave Lila a dose.  Thursdays weather was questionable so we decided with that and Lila's condition to play it safe and stay in doors.  We did go walk the market while the cleaning lady was at the condo.  We got churros and enjoyed walking together.  The girls picked sea snow globes and notebooks with woven cases.  I bought vanilla and a nativity scene.  Steve got a nice shirt that he's not so sure about--he calls it a Mexican cowboy shirt.  We decided to buy Andrew a guayabera he can wear to church in the summer instead of the sombrero.  

This is Lila's face after two doses of Benadryl--she's not winking that's as much as she can open her eyes.


Friday Lila's face was still a little swollen so Mimi went to the Pharmacia to get some Prednisone which helped a lot. It was funny because I told Ellie & Lila to make breakfast this morning and Lila responded, "I can't my eye is broken."  Ok, I'll give ya that.  Friday's weather was worse than Thursday so we stayed in again.  I'll admit the girls watched a lot of Disney Junior that day, but it was en Espanol so educational right and it's vacation.  Friday Andrew starting running a little fever so I kept him on some Ibuprofen, but that night he screamed at 1am and I went to check on him and realized he was burning up--103.8.  I took his onesie off and gave him more Ibuprofen then we watched a show with him until he fell asleep in the bed with us.  I really didn't want to end up in a Mexican hospital with all we had going on so I prayed that night and I asked Heavenly Father if Andrew could be well so we could enjoy our last day on vacation and then travel home safely. Saturday morning he seemed to be doing much better.  His fever was at 99.9 and he was happy so we enjoyed another beach and pool day with lunch by the pool again.  

Then that night his fever spiked again to 104.  I was in tears with worry so I sent Steve to get my Dad so they could give him a blessing.  It was short and sweet stating that his fever would break and we would travel safely.  I have to admit for a little bit I wondered if it was what I wanted to hear or really promises, but I had faith and sure enough he has not had a fever since.  I was hoping to take a few family pictures while on vacation and Dad brought his nice camera to do so, but with my sunburn, blowfish face, and Andrew's fevers we never got to.  We spent a little time Sunday exploring this little ruin park next to the condo that would have been perfect for family pictures, but we were in our traveling clothes and not ready for pictures so we snapped a picture maybe we can use as a backdrop toe a family picture later. 

Traveling home was a bit more stressful since he was so tired and not feeling the greatest--I felt bad for all the people sitting around us, but we did our best to keep him happy.  On the car ride home we talked about our favorite part of the trip; Lila first said her face going normal again and then the beach.  Ellie spending time with everyone doing fun activities.  Grandpa seeing the kids reaction to the ocean and beach the first time.  Mimi being together as a family.  Britney relaxing and enjoying the fact that we really had no idea what time it was because we had no schedule to keep (I managed to read several books since my sister loaned me her kindle).  Steve swinging in the hammock with Andrew (probably because that was the only awake time Steve didn't spend chasing Andrew).

As we were getting everyone to bed last night, Steve and I talked about how the traveling that day seemed long, but it didn't seem like we were gone for a week which is a good sign that the vacation was wonderful, relaxing, and rejuvenating--we watched movies, played games, ate a lot of carmel popcorn etc.  Tomorrow I plan on taking the kids to Idaho to visit great grandparents, got to make the most of these school breaks. :)

Hot Stuff ;)

Last Friday we had a great babysitter over while we went to the temple.  Our girls adore her and she always brings fun games and activities to do with them.  This time she brought stuff for the girls to heart attack the house.  They loved it and were so excited for us to see it.

Quotes on the hearts: 
"Love is a open door." "Welcome home."
"We love you."  "Thank you for everything."



The girls had their school parties yesterday--it seems we always have some sort of a holiday party before we go off track.  Since it was our last week before break and we had SEPs (parent teacher conference) it was early out all week so we managed to have lots of play-dates and fun times.  I have also been busy prepping for our Valentine's celebration and packing for our trip tomorrow so it's been a jam packed week, but I love celebrating valentine's with my family--they are my true treasures!  The kids woke-up to their valentine surprises in new back-packs--I found them for $1 at Walmart and thought they would be nice for the trip--they could carry their blankets, snack, games, coloring etc for our 4.5 hour flight.  I also found Steve some great shirts on clearance at Walmart for his Valentine present, a Sriracha Hot Sauce shirt because he loves that stuff--seriously it goes on everything and a couple of really nice shirts for the beach also clearanced for $1.  It was fun to find such useful stuff for such a deal.

Traditional heart pancakes with heart sprinkles this year. Do you like how they are wearing their backpacks.

Then we headed up to Mt Green where we picked up Grandpa and left Andrew with Mimi so we could go skiing.  The girls had 3 hour lessons again and the three adults went and explored the big mountain this time--it was fun.  We had a nice gentleman from Powder Mountain who greeted us and Steve asked if he would give us a tour and he said, "Sure, I'd rather being skiing than greeting."  So he spent an hour-and-a-half skiing with us showing us the ropes.  Then we took a short break in a lodge (there are several there) and did a couple of more runs before we went to meet the girls.

Here they both are coming down the mountain with their instructors.  Lila didn't leave the rope tow area because the other kid in her class was not as comfortable skiing as she was so when we got her she kept asking to go on the big lift.  So Steve went and bought an edgie wedgie because her teacher seemed to think she needed it and we all went up on the lift together.

 





















Ellie did not want to stop for pictures she wanted to ski and show us all these places she learned to go through trees etc and when she did there were jumps she loved taking fast--little dare devil.  Lila snow plowed the whole way down taking her time (I don't think she really needed the edgie wedgie, but better safe than sorry).  She was cute and would dance with the top of her body while she skied down the mountain.  Lila made two runs on the lift and Ellie did four with us and then we called it a day.  Did I mention that it was so warm that we all skied with only our jacket liners and I was grateful that the ski school had sunblock I could use on the girls. We went back to Mt Green for our traditional fondue dinner with Mimi & Grandpa and now we're home and working on finishing packing for our trip.  See all the hot stuff: Steve's shirt & card, skiing in the sun, and then our trip to the warm beaches.

Lila's Chinese New Year Program

Lila's kindergarten class had a little performance to celebrate the Chinese New Year.  The teach sent home little outfits for them to wear.  It was so fun to watch.  This program has been wonderful for Lila--it has given her something special and she teaches it to Ellie so they are both learning.  It is amazing how quickly they pick it up and how often she laughs at me and says that's not how you say it Mom.  It has been fun to learn more about the Chinese culture through this program with Lila.

Lila with her teacher Tian Loashi and one of her dear friends Helen.

Woof Woof!

We watched my sisters dog at the beginning of the year while they went on vacation.  Andrew loved the big dog and would say "woof, woof" while running to the patio door to talk with the dog through the window.  He loved to go outside and pet him whenever Daddy would take him and sometimes he would reach and scream for the door handle because he would want to go outside with the woof, woof.


We had an incident a few weeks ago where we tried to put shoes on him for church and he would throw the biggest fit when he tried walking in them, but then would sit happy and play with the girls until he tried walking again realizing the shoes were still on.  So needless to say he goes shoeless everywhere.

He can now pull himself up onto the piano bench and then he climbs onto the keyboard and all the way up on top of the grand piano--so we move the bench away from the piano when it is not in use.  We had to change our method of blocking the stairs and all bathroom doors must be shut because he likes to pull himself up and into the bathtub and then turn the water on.

He can now say, "yeah" in the sweetest tone.  I enjoy that much more than his "NO. NO. NO!" when you are trying to keep him from getting hurt.  He also makes the cutest little, "oh" with the roundest mouth (been trying to capture that on camera).  He loves to dance and has now advanced his skills to stomping around in a circle--makes me dizzy just watching. 

We sure do love our little charmer.

 

Girls First Skiing Adventure

Last week my sister was going to watch our kids as part of swap so we could go on a date.  We were having a difficult time coming up with something to do.  Steve somewhat sarcastically throughout the idea of skiing--I said we could probably do night skiing.  So we started talking through things and realized we could probably pull it off.  We were both nervous since it had been over a decade since we both had skied, but we ended up having a wonderful time.  We made plans to take the girls the following weekend which was today.  Steve managed to find a great deal on helmets and goggles at the Costco in Draper near where he works so we tried those on last night and had the girls practice their pizza wedges (snow plowing).  They were so excited to go.  When I did kinder pick-up Lila came running straight to the car (she usually saunters out).  She explained that she was so excited to go skiing that she ran.  The girls had three hours of private lessons.  After the first hour the instructor took them up on the lift and they made three runs down the mountain.  By the end Ellie was snow plowing down all by herself and Lila was still using the little stretchy thing to keep the front of her skiis together.  Ellie decided to go down again with Steve and Grandpa (Mimi & Grandpa came down to go with us).  Grandpa said she went so fast it made him nervous--Steve said she did great.  Lila wanted to go in to the lodge after lessons to obtain the promised hot cocoa.  She hiked up the little hill to the lodge in the ski boots like a pro.  After our little dinner and cocoa we were ready to head home, but Lila didn't realize we had already turned in the skis and started crying because she wanted to go again.  It broke my heart and I felt bad that we had turned in our stuff, but after being in the car for 20 minutes the tiredness settled in and I was glad we left when we did.  Lila asked how come we didn't sign them up for lessons on Saturday again.  I explained that we wanted to try it and see how they liked it before we signed them up for too much.  We will definitely be skiing again!

Family Fun Days

Last Friday, Jan 9th, Steve went to Costco in Draper after work to pick-up some items for us. Late that night he realized that he somehow lost the van keys and that it was most likely at the Costco. Well you know expensive keys can be to replace with all of the high-tech stuff that have in them plus it was attached to one of our keyless entries. So we decided to drive to Draper to look for the keys and planned an adventure to the new museum at Thanksgiving Point to make the day fun. The girls had fun exploring the different areas and Andrew even enjoyed the little kids zones, but it was packed so after almost 3 hours we decided to get some lunch. We enjoyed a hot dog at JDawgs. Then we debated doing some shopping at the outlets there, but we were all beat so we headed home.

Today was a holiday--the kids didn't have school and Steve's Monday meeting had been cancelled so we decided to take the kids bowling.  They each had received a free game of bowling from their teachers and Lila had some arcade money left over from when Mimi & Grandpa took her so after our game of bowling we enjoyed a few arcade games, spent a few of the tickets and went home happy.  Did I mention that I beat Steve bowling--I told him we need to go bowling more often so he can practice. ;) Andrew even held a bowling ball in his stroller for a while thinking he was all bad.  The girls really wanted to order pizza with bowling, but we went first thing in the morning which I'm glad we did--it was busy but we beat the big crowd so when we got home we made our own pizzas.  The girls are becoming pros at rolling out the dough and distributing toppings while eating pepperonis. :)