Family Vacation || Destin, FL

We had an awesome time in Florida and I'm so glad we were able to vacation with my sisters and family.  At times (mainly when the Brouzins were running wild) I wondered what were we thinking, renting a house for 11 people.  But I loved watching the Brouzins bond all week.  It's all about the memories and I love watching them together.  

Family Vacation || Kalahari

I was a little hesitant to go back to Kalahari.  Last time we were there J had a seizure and ended up being hospitalized.  And of course that had nothing to do with Kalahari but it was a bad memory that I unfortunately associate with them.  But this trip was uneventful and a much needed get away. The boys have been in swimming class for years now, and Nathan has progressed tremendously and can swim laps.  Even still, he still wanted a life vest.  J, while not a strong swimmer, is much more comfortable in the water and was quite adventurous.  We all had a great time.  

5 on Friday: Disney Edition

As always, here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week (highlights from our Disney Cruise that we just got back from on Sunday):

1. The morning we left for our cruise Nathan saw my Mother of All Things shirt and says "Mom your shirt says Mother Dr. Seuss. So Dad's says father, right?"  Now mind you Carl didn't even have on his shirt as it was packed in his bag to put on once we got to the cruise terminal.

2. Our conversation on the drive to the airport:
Nathan:  Will our car stay at the airport?
Me:  Yes
Nathan: No one will steal it?
Me: Nope, we're parking in a protected lot!

3.  During our flight to Miami Justin was so excited about flying that he made up a song and started singing "we're flying high in the air, up up up high in the sky".

4. At the end of our trip, as we were pulling out of the port on our way back to the airport J yelled out "Goodbye Disney cruise, goodbye"!

5. We had some time to kill between leaving the port and our flight home so we took the boys to the Miami Children's museum.  While there Nate asks "Mom can we go on another Disney cruise, can we go on another one today?"

6.  While at the museum Nate asked to play elevator.  I told him sure, go ahead.  He starts pressing buttons and says "Ok we're going to deck 7, our room was on deck 7, then we'll go to deck 9 and go swimming and then deck 5 for kids club".

7.  When we got home Justin said "Dad I liked going on the vacation, it was very fun"!

8. I've had this conversation with Nate ALL week:
Nate: Mom can we go on another Disney cruise?
Me: Yes we will Nate
Nate: Mom can we go next week, how about next Wednesday?
Me:  I wish Nate, but we will go on another one I promise.

9.  I've gotten this question from Justin ALL week:  Mom can I go back to the kid's club?"

Vacation: Riviera Maya, Mexico

Last week I went on vacation with Tiffany, Leah, Wade and Kelicia, who was the common denominator.  Tiffany, Leah and I were all bridesmaids in Kelicia's wedding.  Kelicia and I have been friends since 2002 when she started at E&Y and we were on the same client.  Kelicia and Leah have been best friends since elementary school.  Kelicia met Wade & Tiffany in grad school and they worked for E&Y as well; one in Atlanta, the other in New York.  But it was as if all of us had been friends all our lives and we had a BLAST.

I'm very thankful for Carl holding down the fort while I was away; not that I ever had a doubt but he did a great job with the boys AND cleaning the house, even doing some laundry.  Maybe I need to go away more often.  I'm already thinking about my next vacay sans kids and husband!!!!!

Tulum Ruins

Resort Waterfall

Our last day in Mexico

Snorkeling in cenotes

Getting ready to zipline

Fun times at the beach

Our last night in Mexico

Family Vacation 2012

This year's family trip was more low key than in the past, but nonetheless, we had fun at Kalahari (that is until Sunday but more about that in a future post).   Carl and I ziplined and did the ropes course;  although I put Carl to shame on the ropes course because he chickend out after the first level.  Even though he's repelled from helicopters and towers and attended Air Assault school during his time in the military it was too much for him. 

 

We all enjoyed some of the slides in both the indoor and outdoor waterparks,  play time at the playground and the animal park.  And since Richard's family arrived Saturday they offered to watch the kids for us so Carl and I, along with Kenny, Carlene, Richard and Lalla enjoyed the night club on the resort.  

 

To see the rest of the pictures from our trip click HERE.

Road Trip: Chicago

We took the boys to Chicago this weekend; they did really well on the ride there and back.  Friday night we had a tough time getting them settled down for bed and of course they got into a routine by Sunday night when we were leaving the next day.  We had to keep them busy and out of the confinement of the hotel so in between visits to the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago Children's Museum and Legoland we spent time at the mall, local parks and sightseeing at Navy Pier and the Museum District.  We're already making plans for another trip to Chicago, sans kids next time though. 

5 states, 30 hours

and I'm totally drained from our long weekend in North Myrtle Beach for my cousin's wedding. Road trips with kids under the age of 3 are for the birds so we'll definitely be flying on future trips.

I thought the ride down was pretty rough but the return trip was 10 times worse. J got sick and threw up all over the place so we spent about 30 minutes on the side of the road cleaning up the mess. After that he did okay for a few hours, happily watching Elmo and reading his books, but towards the end of the trip he got so restless and was really fighting his sleep. I spent 20 minutes in the back seat, hunched over Nathan's carrier trying to console J in his car seat.

But, all in all, we had a great time. My cousin's wedding was beautiful and it was nice to spend time with the family.

I asked for a crib

and this is what they gave me. Now you know my first born, if he can climb out of his crib at home he can definitely climb out of this pack n play.

1st Family Vacation

Going on vacation takes on a totally different meaning once you have kids. Gone are the days of rest and relaxation, at least when your kids are young and require your constant attention. But we had fun and I welcomed the much needed change of pace. And it didn't hurt that I had the help of family (sisters, brother in law and dad).

The boys did great on both flights and we got so many compliments on how well behaved they were. One woman commented that she didn't even know we had kids because they were so quiet.

Create a free scrapbook

Free scrapbook created with Smilebox

This picture collage generated with Smilebox

Create your own photo album

Photo album generated with Smilebox