We made it to Mexico

First let me start this one off by saying "THANK YOU MOM & DAD FOR THE WONDERFUL TRIP!" Picture of Mom and Dad above.

So once we got on the plane in Des Moines we didn't have any other issues getting to our resort. We got all checked in were going to find something to eat and then hit the ocean or pool. We did and had a good time. Jamison the waterbaby was in his element. I think Campbell might have even gotten his head all the way wet. (Nope not the first day!) We were all in bed in our room by 8:30 that night. Since Jamison was in bed so early he was also up real early the next day. Good thing Grandpa is too. Jamison had breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa at least 4 out of the 5 mornings. But this child usually has 2 if not 3 breakfast a day. Most important meal he is going to make sure he has all the energy he needs.

Day two starts with us by the pool as Mom reads what entertainment is available. But we are going to relax this day. The women join the Water aerobic at 11:30 with David and Pastor. Roshonne was such a flirt, David stopped to see her every day for the rest of the trip. If I would have know the talent Pastor had in him I might have been a flirt! We had lunch and admired every one's pretty pink skin. On this day Roshonne and Em also started not feeling to well. Campbell has been in the pool for 4 hours and still has a dry head. It is Siesta time. The boys all sleep and I go out to lay by the pool and work on my tan. Everyone is up and back out to the pool. At the end of the day we have 4 that have major sunburns on some part of their body and 2 that have been revenged by Montezuma!

Day 3: 2 more are taken down by Montezuma. Dirk's sunburn is now a tan (hate him) and Brian is wearing a shirt for the rest of the trip. Since we have a few that aren't feeling well we hit the pool and hang around again. We did have reservations for the Steakhouse that night. The people who sat one table loved their food, us others it was okay. Another early night as the guys are leaving the resort at 6 a.m. to go deep sea fishing the next day for 8 hours. (to be continued. . . )

Time to start the bed time prep!

Back from Vacation

I admit I was a little nervous about this vacation. There are 14 in my family 6 children ranging from 22 months to 15. How are we going to keep them all entertained? There are also my parents who don't like to sit. We are on a tropical vacation where I want to get a tan how am I going to manage that if we go all the time. I also wanted to keep this an inexpensive vacation but memorable for the boys.
So the start of the vacation usually sets the stage. Let's start at the beginning. Thursday started off great. I dropped the boys off. and went shopping for last minute items at Walmart and Target. I had lunch with Sherry. I got an aqua massage.(loved it!) I dropped of my camera cards at Walgreens to have back-up discs of all my pictures. Very relaxing and took a lot off my list of things to do. By 4 I was mostly packed. We were on the road before 6. As I am driving and Brian sleeping I am counting suitcases that I saw go out the door and I assume into the trunk. I only remeber seeing 3 plus the two carryons. Yep we forgot to grab the suitcase out of Campbell's room. The one that I had finished packing on Tuesday! So 5 minutes from Interstate 35 (going this way to make sure all roads are clear of flood water) we turn around. Brian called his dad and I thought they talked about him meeting us but where? Brian never said. Well we met in Grundy Center Welcome center and started our trip all over. We get to Des Moines and get a call from my dad saying the exit to our hotel might be closing due to flood water, take an alternate route. We barely know where and when I call and talk to my mom I swear we are having two different conversations. Just give me the road numbers please because we are on the exit you said and that doesn't match the rest of the information. We made it and we made it to the airport. The next day at check in we will pay $12 for a lap child and be on our way. Yeah, RIGHT!
We now have to pay tax and handling. They are going to need to call to get the price. That will be $249 please. Uh oh what happened I just lost your reservation. Hold on let me get someone else over here. We are going to need to call and see what happened (Check in has now been 45 minutes long starting at 4:30 a.m.) Hey guess what they gave me a different price for the ticket. The price will now be. . . $152 (that made my morning!)
No more excitement on the trip there. Jamison liked his first plane ride. No one tried to throw us off. I'll give more later but don't want to bore you to death.

Mexico Trip Update

Three days to go. Only two days of work. I didn't lose any weight, but I picked up a really nice swimsuit to hide my problem areas. Campbell is almost all packed. How many pairs of shoes does a 5 year old boy need to take along? I have most of myself packed. Well I think I do I might think about it more and change things out. I tried to call my mom today to see if we need to bring fancy clothes. It would make it a lot easier if I just packed suits and cover ups. I need to find more clothes for Jamison. I have them they are just in boxes down in the storage room. I was suppose to get everyone packed on Sunday but Brian had to go out to the club and evacuate the clubhouse due to FLOODING. I am really tired of rain and guess what I checked out the 10 day forecast in Cozumel and 86 to 88 every day plus a 60% chance of rain. EVERY DAY. I hope it is like Tampa where the sun shines every day and the rain is only a light shower. Only three more days. I hope Jamison is a better flier than a car traveler. Wish me luck!

Double Bubble

Friday night was what is starting to be a monthly tradition of Double Bubble for 4 of us at work. For those of you that have never heard of double bubble it is also called 2 for 1 or happy hour. We always seem to go beyond happy hour. I did learn not to only eat mac and cheese for lunch when you are going out. we will not go into details but my friends were worried but didn't come check on me. Hmmm. Jeff was amazing us with his music knowledge and he was laughing at my lack of music knowledge. I keep telling him I know movies not music. Pictures will be posted on Wednesday.

Welcome Back to Me!

It has almost been a month since my last posting. Has nothing happened to write about? No but if you notice I normally post on a Sunday and since we have been going to the cabin by the time we get home. I get the boys done with their baths and tucked in. I am ready for bed myself. I am also being very lazy and catching up on some of my movie watching. Right now as I am typing this my poor husband is at Lake Delhi possibly looking for our pontoon boat. With all the flooding and rain another cabin owner called and said his boat and lift were gone and he was on the way up to see if they had gone over the damn. Brian went to see if ours did too. I tried calling but no news yet.

Mother's Day

This is a day late because I was just to tired to post last night when we came home. That could be another post.

I know I always tease my mom about all the bad things I have inherited from her but I have been thinking this past week of all the good things I received from her gene pool and because of her philosophises. Thank you mom.

My youthful appearance.
My long fingers and toes.
My ability to laugh at myself.
My open mindedness.
my love of reading.
My willingness to try new things.
My travel bug.

My mom's ability to do the things she loves by herself is one trait I am working on. I have a problem doing the by myself thing.

Zoo Trip

In honor of Mother's Day my guest blogger is my mom who went to the Henry Dorley Zoo with us.

Went to the zoo with Heidi, Campbell and Jamison. It took a while to figure out how to get to the animals we wanted to see first. We decided to see the elephants and rhinos first because they are the farthest away and we are fresh to walk up the hills. We have a few detours but we arrive and Campbell gets a wonderful shot of the elephant relieving himself. Right after his mom tells him not to take a picture of that. He listens well!!! We liked the cats and gorillas and there are birds everywhere. My favorites are the penquins. I think the boys liked the aquarium the best. Sometimes you feel like you are in the water with the fish. It was a beautiful day, not too hot or cold.