Wednesday, February 28, 2007

MEXICO

Hola! We are (sadly) back in the land of the snow, home from our journey to Mexico! It was hot in every sense of the word...heh hem...to say the least we had a blast. I know you are anxiously awaiting our pictures, but they are taking a small child's lifetime to upload. I am working on it, I promise. Hopefully I'll have them up on Thursday.

Aventura Spa Palace was everything we wanted and needed! Great room, cold tropical drinks, yummy food, wonderful pools and surrounding grounds, and the beautiful ocean. We weren't disappointed by anything.

Spirit Air, however, can kiss my arse, they almost ruined my trip on several occasions. They finally got it right in the end and I guess that's all you can ask for in this "total and complete utter lack of customer service, our pilot didn't show up, you'll miss your connecting flight, and by-the-way we cancelled your return flight, but we managed to charge your credit card without a problem" day and age! I digress...
We arrived to a little chilly weather in Mexico, but it quickly warmed up to high 80's. Of course we fried ourselves on day 2! What's a pasty white girl to do? I even had SPF 45 on! Didn't matter...still fried.
We met a lot of interesting people, many from Michigan. We had dinner with Jeff "Shaggy" and Shelly from St. Joseph and Vince and Angela from New Jersey. Later we headed to the Thai bar with the white linen draped beds that you are supposed to somehow lay on and drink a shot of tequilla?
We also snorkled in the lagoon one afternoon. There are no beaches in this part of Mexico, just a coral rocky shelf. The resort created their own sandy lagoons behind the rocks, so you still had the beach effect. Pretty cool to just swim around and see the pretty fish.

We ventured to Playa del Carmen on Sunday for some site seeing and shopping. Uncle Joe warned us about this place as the street vendors call you based on what you wear. I was "Hey blue/brown lady"!

We were pretty low key this vacation and most nights we couldn't stay up past 10:30. I attributed this to the fresh air, pool time, and enormous amounts of pina coladas and DosX's we started diving into about 9 am! Anyways, we're old now!

We ran around the resort almost every day and I tried a yoga class. We had lots of spa time too - manis and pedis and massages and facials. We even had a couple's massage in the palapa (tiki type hut) down by the ocean. Awesome and highly recommended.

I admit I started missing the kids on the plane ride home and wanted to keep driving after we arrived in Detroit at midnight. But after Matt was thoroughly questioned about why he would buy ammoxicillin in Mexico (48 pills for $17) by the customs agent and waiting for our luggage and shuttle, I agreed to lower my standards from the Spa Palace to the Ho Jo. Boo hoo.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Buff

Matt and I have been working out to get "bikini ready" for Mexico.

Need I say more?


Except that maybe Beyonce and I must shop at the same swimsuit store...
hmmmm, I'll have to talk to my people about that.







Thursday, February 15, 2007

The final countdown & other assorted ramblings...

The official countdown is on! Monday, 6AM we will be en route to beautiful, sunny, warm, tropical, lush, all-inclusive, drink all you want, sleep in late, no kids allowed, MEXICO! I'll have lots of pics to post when we get back, with my two loves - Matt and the margarita!

A note to JennaBear...
Matt says your cupcakes are the BEST he has ever had. I was slightly offended, but considering I make cupcakes from a box and spread frosting from a can, I couldn't really take it personally. He raved about how moist they were!

TJ became a Bear Scout tonight. Way to go!

Cal had "watch day" at dance yesterday, where the parents (and assorted siblings, grandparents, etc) crowd into the dance studio to ooh and ahh the shuffle ball changes! Very cute!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Valentine's Day


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Saturday, Cal & Matt went to the Daddy Daughter Hoe Down, where they kicked up their heels, did the hokey-pokey, played bingo, and lots of other fun dad-daughter things.

Today I went to TJ's class for their V-Day party. Lots of sugar and fun going on there too, not to mention make your own ice cream sundaes with whipped cream and sprinkles.

Today Chooch also informed me that he used to be an orange puppy and that he ate puppy chow!?! Where does he get this stuff from?
Happy Valentines Day!

Monday, February 05, 2007

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Papa Bob! We love you so much and wish we could be there to wish you a happy birthday in person. We hope you have a great day.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Blizzard




Blizzard 2007, Winter blast, what other cheesy name can "Storm Team 8" come up with? Its a big snow storm, okay? Its fun driving, especially for the 60 people in the pile ups on 131.




Here are some pictures of the snow from Saturday morning at about 8:30 am. Just about 7 inches on the deck...

Matt and I had to venture out for the wedding of our friends, Geno and Amy, at Frederick Meijer Gardens. Here's a shot of the newlyweds.





Today (Sunday) has brought even more snow...we are under a winter storm watch until 7 tonight.
This is the same shot from Saturday, you can see the amount of snow! We have about 15 inches now. It is beautiful but very, very cold. We are hunkering down today with no plans but watching the superbowl later. Stay warm!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Let it Snow!

February has finally brought winter! We are under a winter storm warning for the weekend and will probably get about a foot of lake effect snow when it is all said and done. They are also predicting temps at -10 to -20 (yes, that's negative) by Sunday. Brrrrr! This picture is of my back yard, taken out the back slider.
I love winter! LET IT SNOW!