Cancun!

Brandon and I took a 5 day get-away to the absolutely amazing beaches of Cancun! We had such a fun time! Aside from the beautiful, all-inclusive resort we stayed at, we went to the flea market (wow, that was an adventure), visited a "theme" park called "Xplor" which had an underground river and zip lines that were REALLY high (and scared the crap out of Brandon...seriously, I've NEVER seen him like that!), and chartered a boat that took us to an island for shopping, lunch, and parasailing (yet another wild adventure).

I've really never seen anything like the sand in Cancun. The closest thing I can liken it to is Bisquick. Soft, sikly...perfect. And the water in Cancun is crystal clear--blue, green in color, and its warm too--I had no problem swimming in it and I'm a wuss when it comes to cold water.

This was our first trip away from the kids, which was really hard. I was ready to come on day 5. But, it was also REALLY nice to get-away for a few days, just the two of us. I have an amazing husband and it was SO nice to have some time to reconnect! Love you, Brandon (even if you did scream like a 6-year-old girl on the zip line)!

13.1 Revisited--Halloween Style

Well, I guess I'm a gluten for punishment...I entered another half marathon. My cute peeps and I had so much fun running our guts out at the Halloween Half. I finished in 2 hours 10 minutes--15 minutes faster than my first half marathon. This one was nearly all downhill which I thought was going to be a good thing. But, wowee, the next day my legs hurt like never before. I had to come down the stairs backwards! My calfs were so tight and hurt like crazy. It took a long time to recover! But, I'm ready for the next one. Kelli is SURE we can run a full marathon next summer. Hummmmm.....

Yellow Belt Brykn!

Brykn started karate a few months ago and he's doing sooooo good! There are lots of rules to karate--rules that help teach a bunch of rowdy four-year-olds respect and discipline.
I have been really proud of Brykn. He's becoming really coordinated--he can even skip and do jumping jacks! Brykn's teacher, Sensei Michelle, is really cute with the kids and Brykn really likes her.
At the test for the yellow belt, Brykn did awesome! He had to perform a number of karate moves (hits, kicks, positions) by command, complete a written test (he got got 100%), and even count to ten in Japanese--something I STIILL can't do!
These pictures are of Brykn receiving his yellow belt. Evidentally it's customary to put your old belt on your head after you get to the next level. That picture is really cute! Great Job, Brykn!

Lagoon!

This year we went to Lagoon a little later in the season than usual...but, we had a great time at "Frightmares!"

No Problems

Sure glad 50% of our kids are easy going! Seriously, I think God looked at me when I was pregnant with Harlee and thought, "Well, another one like Brykn is going to send that woman straight over the edge." And, he was right. Whew!

Harlee is an easy going little kid--thank goodness! She's now sitting--she hit this milestone just today. Still topples easy, but she's doing good!

Hope Your Bad Luck Turns to Good Luck...

Okay, so Brykn has a bladder the size of a pea and let's just say that when he has to go, well, he has to go! We were in the Carter's store buying new pre-school clothes when he started doing the potty jig. There's just one problem...Carter's doesnt have a public restroom. (Seriously? A kids store? No Potty? All I can say is that a DAD must've come up with that stellar idea.) Anyway, I whispered to Brykn that he would have to wait until we got to the car, which was parked in BFE, and he could pee on the tire (I never said I should win Mother of the Year...).

Well, we made it to the car with Brykn dancing the entire way. I opened the door and told him to stand close to the car and go ahead and go. Then, I walked to the front door of the car and put our bags in. Suddenly, I felt something warm...and wet. Yup, you guessed it, pee. I shouted "Brykn, what are you doing? You just peed on me!" Finished, now, he asked, "I did?" I said, "YES and I didn't really want to walk around all day with pee on my foot (I was wearing flip flops)." And, he promptly replied, "Sorry. Hope your bad luck turns to good luck."

Part of me wanted to kill him! But, lucky for Brykn, the bigger part just had to simply laugh. Nothing like taking a four year old to put you in your place--wet foot and all.

Look Mom, No Training Wheels!

Yup, we are training wheel free! Okay, so it's been a few weeks, but nonetheless, it's a great accomplishment! I really thought it would take him a week or so to get the hang of it, but boy was I wrong. He took off like lightening after the first couple feet. Wahoo!