Family Vacation to Florida - Part 2

Now on to Part Two of our Vacation:

Fort Lauderdale, FL

We stayed at a "resort" (really it was a hotel with a few extra amenities) in Fort Lauderdale for 2 nights, enjoying the beautiful beach and all-you-can-eat buffet for every meal. Did I mention that I gained a few pounds on our trip? Yeah, we ate a lot. :)

For part of our trip we had to go to a time-share presentation (hence the good deal on the trip). What was only supposed to last 2 hours ended up taking FIVE HOURS! With 3 kids!!! Of course the guy taking us through it was a total moron, and honestly the places they showed us weren't nice enough for us to even consider it. Total waste of time. We will never do that again.

So now on to what I considered the most fun:

The Cruise!!!

We went on a 2 -day cruise to the Bahamas. We've never done any cruises before so we wanted to keep it short and see how it went, especially since we took the kids with us. It was fabulous!!! Also, my mom flew into Fort Laud. and joined us on the cruise - the kids loved being able to play with grandma and stay with her in her cabin, it was great!! The food was wonderful - we ate dinner at a Brazilian restaurant on the ship, I couldn't get enough of their bacon-wrapped turkey!

Natalie & Nathan got to play in the kids' lounge while we enjoyed the entertainment after dinner. Of course Tyler wasn't old enough so we still had him with us. But he loved it! And everyone thought it was hilarious how the movement of the ship didn't seem to bother him at all - he was still getting used to walking and already looked a little tipsy.

When we woke up the next morning we were in...

Nassau, Bahamas!!!

At the Visitor's Center

We took a cab over to Paradise Island and spent the day on Cabbage Beach. The water was a perfect aqua blue, and the sand was brilliant white. You could see schools of fish swimming in the ocean around you (which of course scared me away from the deeper parts). It was absolutely beautiful!!

Natalie got her hair braided on the beach - what a little diva! And we had only one casualty - Mom fell in the ocean while trying to get a bucket of water for Nathan (yes, he was still afraid of the waves and wouldn't go near the water). Fortunately Mom didn't mind too much, she even went back again to get more water!

Lovin' the Beach

Back on board the ship, we hung out on the deck - eating and letting the kids play in the water park. Dan had to work for a little while (as you can see in the pic above), so we played and relaxed in the perfect weather. And look at the view!!!

Our ship embarked at 5pm and headed back to Florida that night. After dinner it started to get a bit rough out in the ocean and I got sea-sick (the only one out of all 6 of us!), so I went to bed early. And the next morning we were back. I think we need to go on a longer cruise next time. :)

Yes, the cruise was definitely my favorite part of our vacation. But it wasn't over yet....

Family Vacation to Florida - Part 1

I decided to break our trip into parts due to

a) the many activities we participated in on our trip,

b) the hundreds of pictures I have to sort through to decide which are best, and

c) the fact that if I don't start somewhere I may never get it done!

Here is part One: The Drive to Florida

In April, we took our first ever big family vacation to Florida. We decided to drive since we were staying in several different cities. While Dan was dreading the 20 hour drive (I guess he took a few too many roadtrips growing up), it actually went really well. In fact, it was waaaaaay better than trying to fly with 3 kids. I am now all about roadtrips!!

We took 3 days to get to our first destination. Our first day, Thursday, we drove 11 hours and got in late to Pensacola, FL to spend the night. The next morning we headed out and drove 6 hours to Cape Canaveral, getting there in the late afternoon. The hotel we stayed at had a gated kids' pool, as well as a large heated pool and hot tub. We all went swimming as soon as we got there - just what we needed after two days in the car. It was heavenly!

Afterwards we went to a restaurant right on the water for dinner. Natalie and Nathan were so excited to see the ocean, all they wanted to do was go to the beach. Tyler tried his first lemon there, just look at that face!

We spent Saturday morning at the beach in Cape Canaveral. In the distance we could see the rocket launch site. Unfortunately we didn't have time to tour the Kennedy Space Center (next time!).

We discovered several things once we got to the beach -

Natalie is a fish and made for the ocean, she never wanted to come out!

Nathan has developed a fear of the ocean and would NOT go near it, but fortunately was very happy to play in the sand.

Tyler loved watching the waves come in and swirl around his feet, even though he kept falling over whenever the water got to him - I think the movement threw him off.

We loved watching our kids have the time of their lives at the beach, it was awesome!

Once we cleaned up at the hotel and checked out we finished the last 3 hours of the drive down to Fort Lauderdale to start the first part of our vacation package - which will be Part 2 in this series and will be posted at a later time.

Hope this holds you over for now (yes, I'm talking to you Mom)!

Aliens in England

Ever since my nephew, Arthur, had his 1st birthday my kids have been asking all about him. They were so excited to pick out a present to send him, and then to mail it (we NEVER mail packages). But they were a little confused about not actually seeing him for his party. They keep asking questions about him, like...

"When are we going to see Arthur?"

"Can we help him open his presents?"

"What birthday cake should we get Arthur?"

or when Dan's brother Matt (who is single) recently came to visit, "Is Arthur coming with Uncle Matt?" They get confused about which cousins belong with which aunts and uncles.


I tried explaining to them that Arthur lives really far away, over the ocean in another country - and to put it in Nathan's terms...."we have to take an airplane to get there."

So this morning Nathan was again asking about where Arthur lives and I told him,

"He lives with his mommy and daddy in England."

"Alien?" Nathan responded.

"No, Eeeengland." I corrected.

"Alien?" Nathan kept saying every time I told him "England."

He never could say it. So I guess if anyone asks Nathan where his cousin Arthur lives then you'll know... he lives with aliens. ;)

Someday...but not today

Someday I will post all the pictures from our recent vacation (I really will!!!)



but that won't be today....



We just had this for dinner -

All-you-can-eat BBQ at the Salt Lick

Yeah, I'm going to bed now.

Tyler is ONE!

It's true... my baby is now one. And he doesn't seem like such a baby anymore (I'm really trying not to cry right now). Now that Tyler is walking, I guess you could call him a "toddler" - how did that happen?? It seems like just the other day that I was anxiously waiting for his arrival...

Sunday, May 4, 2008:
The day before I had TONS of energy, and I felt like I had to get everything done NOW! I cleaned the entire house, put away all the laundry, ran lots of errands, and even bathed the dogs! I felt great - that could only mean one thing....
The next morning I woke up and felt rested. I remember talking to my mom on the phone, "You think you're going to have the baby today?" she asked. "No mom, nothing's going on so far." I replied. After we hung up I started having some contractions, but that wasn't very surprising. I always have lots of contractions during my pregnancies. But then they started to hurt my back. And they started coming every 5 minutes.
We were getting ready for church. Dan asked if I wanted him to make a big breakfast before we left (our Sunday morning tradition). Except I didn't feel like eating bacon and eggs, something told me it wouldn't be a good idea that morning. We got the kids in their church clothes. Should I put on a dress? I was still having contractions, and even though I wasn't in any pain I thought perhaps we should take a trip to the hospital.
Of course by the time I tried calling my mom to see if she could watch the kids she already had turned off her phone - she and my dad were attending the regional stake conference in which they formed the new Kyle Stake. Since the hospital was right by our ward building I called my friend to see if she could watch the kids at church. I figured we could pick them up afterward if it was a false alarm at the hospital.
When we dropped off the kids at church I felt so weird. I thought, "Here I am at church wearing my grungies and not staying for church, what will people think??" But then I had another contraction and realized I probably wouldn't be the one picking Natalie and Nathan up from church that day.
We arrived at the hospital around noon and it seemed pretty empty. I checked in at labor and delivery and told them I thought I was in labor - still having contractions every 5 minutes. I could tell they were skeptical since I obviously wasn't in any pain. But they went ahead and hooked me up in that little closet room to see if I really was in fact in labor. I remember chatting and laughing with the nurse as she took my vitals, and I even asked her if it was picking up my contractions. They didn't feel as strong when I was lying down. But yes, I was still having them.
Then another nurse came in to "check" me and see if I was dilating at all. I had been at a 3 at my dr's appointment earlier that week. We were all surprised when the nurse told us, "You're already at a 6!" What?!! I'm over half-way there?? So I asked her, "Does this mean I'm not going home?" She laughed and told me, "You're gonna have this baby today!"
They got me checked into a nice big LDR room, got me my epidural, broke my water, and then I took a nap. During all of this we kept calling my parents to tell them the news, but still no answer from them. So Dan's sister, Michelle, came and picked up the kids at church and took them home until my parents could come.
I woke up when the doctor got to the hospital and checked me around 3:30. She said it was almost time to push, so they started prepping the room. Fortunately my parents called right after that and said they were on their way. By 4:00pm they were all set up. So with Dan by my side I pushed a couple times and out came our sweet baby, Tyler. They held him up for me to see and the first thought I had, which I told everyone, "Oh look at his feet - he has your feet Dan!" He was absolutely beautiful and perfect, and big - weighing 8 lb. 5oz.
I watched as they cleaned him up and weighed him, completely in awe of how wonderful an experience it was to bring him into this world. I couldn't stop smiling. I said to the nurses, "wow, that wasn't too hard." They said I made it look easy. I guess I found something I'm good at? Having babies. (Don't tell Dan, that'll make him nervous)

And like they say, the rest is history. I enjoyed bonding with my new little man in the hospital, and then bringing him home to be with his family. We all fell in love with Tyler from the moment we met him, and that love has only continued to grow. Tyler is part of our family - for eternity.

Now he is one year old.

Tyler had his one-year check up at the doctor's office. They were really impressed with how well his fine motor and gross motor skills are developing. And none of us were surprised that he's still in the 90th percentile for his height (31.5 inches) and weight (26.7 lbs). We've got a big boy!!!

Here are some of this past week's highlights from Tyler's birthday....

The birthday boy

Enjoying his new puzzle from Granddaddy Al -
thanks for bringing it over on his birthday Dad!

What could be more fun than that??

Tyler's little cake on his birthday

(look at that face!)

He likes cake

Cake was enjoyed by all (except Dan, who was in NYC)

We planned to have his party at the Jumpy Place, but Tyler slept through it.

Fortunately, Natalie, Nathan, & Keldon still got to enjoy it!

They loved the big slide!

Twirling

Once he woke up, Tyler was ready to party!

Time for cake

The Cake

The candle was too tempting...

See if you can figure out what happened here

If you guessed that Tyler stuck his finger in the flame and we all shouted during the singing, which scared him so he started to cry, so the kids came to the rescue to blow out the candle - then you guessed correctly!

Isn't it wonderful how something sweet (like cake) can make it all better?

Mmmmm...chocolate....frosting...

We sang to Michael too - Happy 35th!!!

Time for presents (put some pj's on that boy!)

Thanks Grandma for the pj's!!

Tyler loves "patting" Katie, although he's still learning how to be gentle

The birthday boy - "Handsome just like Daddy", playing with his favorite toy, a ball!

Thank you to everyone who remembered Tyler on his birthday, it really meant a lot to us. We look forward to watching him grow and develop over this next year. Happy Birthday, Tyler - we love you!!!

Happy Birthday, Arthur!

Today is my nephew, Arthur's, 1st birthday!! Since he and his parents are living overseas right now we won't get to celebrate with him. So we're sending our love via the internet to you today Arthur!

Way to go on turning ONE! We hope you have an awesome day - make sure your parents let you eat some of your birthday cake!! (sorry your gift is late...that just means you'll have to party all month long!)

We love you!

Tyler & Arthur hangin' out in Utah

*For those who actually follow this blog, sorry I've been a total slacker about updating ever since we got back from our vacation. I've been having some technical difficulties with the pics but I hope to get everything updated soon!