Day 1 of Cancun!

 After a LONG day of travelling, we got to the resort at 9pm, ate some dinner, took a walk aroud the resort and the beach, grabbed some dessert, and then went to bed.  We woke up the next morning and had omelettes and mangoes, then headed to the beach!  The beach is gorgeous!  Such fine, soft, white sand and turquoise water.  There was always a slight breeze too, which was really nice.

 We spend most of the morning relaxing on chairs under a cabana, listening to the waves crash and the smooth, calm, latin rhythm music playing from speakers.  Sooo relaxing!

 We joined in on the water aerobics held in one of the resort's pools.

Our resort had several buildings, this was the one we stayed in and several more surrounded the pool and housed rooms as well as restaurants.

 The chef's special!  We loved the zucchini stuffed with veggies and topped with cheeses--delicious!  Each time we went to the Trattoria to eat, we asked for one of these!

 They were all about presentation here!  This is my chicken breast stuffed with spinach and cheeses, atop veggies including baby onions and peppers. 

 Outside of the restaurant after dinner.

 We took in a show and loved it!  This guy had stilts for his arms and legs.  The show was Quetzal's Rising and there were lots of creatures likes this, aerialists hanging from scarves doing all kinds of amazing tricks with their bodies and even while holding balls.  Men hund from the ceiling during one act with straps around their wrists and we were amazed at the strength it took to complete their acts. 

 Inside the atrium of one building where the shows took place.

 Some of the aerialists, it was not only dark and humid, but a fog machine was adding to the effect as well making it really hard to capture any pictures!  Such a great first day!

Mini Golf Family Date!

We took the girls out for mini golf and dinner and a blast!

Kendra is the most tenacious 2 yr old I know.  She actually hit the ball all 27 times it required to make it down the green and into the hole.  She would NOT give up or touch it with her hands and would jump up and down excited when she finally got it in the hole each time!

I think they liked posing more than playing!

Finally accepting a little help from dad since it was taking a really long time!

Best attempt at a family picture on the course.  We had a great time out together and look forward to more family outings this summer.

Megan's "My Girl!"

This year, Megan's Kinderdance class is performing a ballet number to "My Girl" and a fun tap dance to "W-I-O-WA!" She loves both ballet and tap and looks forward to her class each week.

The morning of the school assembly performance Kendra was feeling a little left out and wanted a tutu on too, so we happily obliged.  She was quite happy to wear hers to school!

I know I'm biased, but I sure think this girl's pretty darn adorable!!

Mikayla is "Stronger!"

Mikayla's jazz dance class is performing a dance to the Britney Spear's song, "Stronger."  She loves her jazz dance and has learned a lot this year.  She loves the hip shaking, high kicking, chasses, and everything they else they do that Mom doesn't know the names for!

Mikayla and her friend Julia before the school assembly performance.

I took a few pics of them posing and practicing at the dance studio.

She is so excited for her first recital next week!  She'll perform once on Friday night and once on Saturday and loves getting up and dancing in front of people.

I'll Miss It...

I'm going to miss hearing Kendra ask for her "elfun gee-gee."  She has always called her special blanket a gee-gee since she could first talk and though she can say blanket, she still refers to her elephant blanket as her gee-gee.  She loves to cuddle with it at night and naptime and lately wants to carry it around the house too, rubbing the silk edges between her fingers. I made her this blanket before she was born as I fell in love with the soft pink flannel the moment I saw it.  I'm glad she's grown to love it so much and I love this toddler-speak and will miss it when it's gone....

Random...

Trent's get-up to avoid any chance of an allergy attack!

Girly-girls wearing fake press-on nails...that lasted about 10 minutes until they were too annoyed with them and took them all off!

Can't tell if there's more chocolate donut in the mouth or on the mouth!

Little poser before church

She HAD to be in the picture!

Kendra is very headstrong and wants to do everything by herself.  Imagine our laughter when she came out of her room proudly announcing, "I did it!  I got my pants on by myself!"  Haha, still not sure how ones puts pants on inside out, but she is just persistent enough that she got 'er done!

Open House

I was the Art Docent for Mikayla's class again this year and this was one of the projects we worked on and had on display for Open House.  We explored the concept of line in nature and they had to draw a simple line drawing of an animal or nature scene, outline it in black marker, and then paint with watercolor.  They all turned out quite different and I loved working with them on projects this year!

I couldn't help snapping this pic of a sweet moment where big sister is showing little sister around her classroom and explaining the life cycle of a butterfly.  So sweet!

Mikayla learned about the different types of volcanoes and knows much about sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks as well. 

Mikayla and her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Parks.  We have loved having Mrs. Parks this year and she has been really good for Mikayla.  Her writing and reading have drastically improved and I appreciate all the time and attention she's given to Mikayla to help her make great progress throughout this year.  A few months ago Mikayla came home from school with the Student of the Month award and Miss Integrity award.  To get the integrity award, the teachers each submit a write-up of why their student should be chosen and they debate amongst each other which student is most deserving.  We were very excited and proud of Mikayla for her to win the award for her school for the month of March.  Keep up the great work Kayla girl!  On to 3rd grade!

2 Bodies Are Better Than One?

They actually got the elliptical jammin pretty fast together!

Red Suspenders Day 2012

Eating her favorite snack of blueberries and raspberries while waiting for the fun to begin!

The girls were so excited for Red Suspenders day!  We all got ready to go in the morning and right as we were about to leave Trent got a call to come in for an emergency surgery, so mom took the kids to the downtown fun and Papa met us there.

We wathed all the bed races.  Two teams race each other down the street literally pushing a bed on wheels with a rider wearing a hat and a nighty.  At the end of the street the rider must switch hat and nighty and places with a pusher who puts the clothes on and jumps on the bed and they rush back to the other end of the street.  Pretty darn funny to see the firefighters competing against community members and high school football team members too.

Then we watched the big tire races.  Kids had to push these awkward tires down the street, around a cone, down and around another cone and all the way back.

We watched the parade which is always a highlight and then Trent joined us for lunch at Sylvio's for some of the best calzones in the world.  After lunch we headed back to the fun and they took a ride on these furry creatures.  There's a switch to turn it on, and no gas or brake.  So, for 5 minutes you literally just ride around in a circle or wherever you want in the enclosed area, the girls remembered it from last year and were so excited to go for a ride again!

There were people giving out free cotton candy and who can resist that crazy sweet, sticky goodness!

Kendra and Papa waiting for the firemen games.

Me and my hot hubby in his new hospital shirt.

We saw so many people we knew around town today and ran into lots of our babysitters.  The girls loved sitting and playing with Carrie and Renae.

In between heats of the firemen games, they raised their ladder and hose high in the air and let it spray down on the street.

The kids loved getting soaking wet and playing in the street with so many other kids!  We finally got home before dinner and it sure made for a long, fun, tiring day.  We love our small town fun!