Welcome to Aruba

Byron and I were so blessed this last week to get to go to ARUBA with his company, all expenses paid! We thank our friends from church the Pittmans who were willing to stay at our house and take care of our 3 crazy kids for 5 days!

This is a picture of the tour bus we took around the island the first day, for 8 hrs! but it was well worth it, street signs do not exist, and dirt roads are everywhere. We saw wild goats and donkeys, a cave, indian writings, and went snorkeling and saw a lot of beautiful fish. In Aruba there is a constant cool wind off the ocean, so it never gets hot and bugs don't exist.

Just for Mikayla I was chasing iguanas around the pool one afternoon trying to get a good shot.

We had 2 dinners on the beach, which was awesome. I had the best food ever! For breakfast we had made to order omelets and fresh fruit, for lunches we usually had fajitas, salads, fresh fruit. For dinners we had chicken and steak and fish. One night we went to a Japanese tepanaki grill where they cook and do tricks with fire and knives in front of you, that was a fun and new experience with awesome food! Best food ever! We also had an unlimited supply of pina coladas, and strawberry daiquiris, virgin of course!

One is a picture of our hotel the Westin (the one on the right) from a snorkeling cruise we went on the 2nd day after scuba diving in the morning, that was a busy and tiring day. The seas were kind of rough so I panicked and wanted to get back in the boat but Byron said no way you are going down! This was my 8th time scuba diving and this time the snorkeling was actually better. I think I have decided I don't like scuba diving anymore its too scary and claustrophobic feeling. We saw a school of squid on one of the snorkling trips (we went on 3). Diving we saw a eel and octopus.

On the last day Byron learned how to windsurf and I opted for a back massage. My back felt so much better after that and not lifting Zach all the time. then we tried to relax on the beach but only lasted a couple of hours before getting ancy. (we aren't use to getting to just sit!) I have to boast I did not get burned at all! That was probably becuz I was the only dork wearing a towel around my shoulders most of the time cuz I was cold (I get cold easily), wish I had a picture. The last night we had another group company dinner and then packed to come home. This is the day we started to miss the kids.

We loved our vacation and really enjoyed each others company. It was so nice to do what we wanted without having to fight with the kids.

It has been kind of hard returning to reality. The first 2 nights home Zach has had a fever and been waking us up in the middle of the night, not taking naps and just whinning/crying all day. The house is already a mess and I so do not want to do the dishes! Did I already mention I really loved not having to cook, clean, do dishes or pick up after anyone??? Makes me want to plan another one already!

I would recommend ARUBA to anyone for a vacation for a few reasons: everyone there speaks English, they accept US dollars, its safe, beautiful, perfect temperature year round and from Miami only 2.5hr flight.

YO YO YO WHATS UP???

Zach did this all by himself! Byron and I both thought the other did it to him. He is "raising the roof" (a dance move)

Tooth Fairy

Mikayla lost like her 7th tooth (bottom right) last night. She bravely pulled it out becuz it was bothering her. So a funny story: she found some baby teeth in my drawer and I per my mothers suggestion told her they were mine from when I was a kid and that I wanted to keep them instead of getting money (still not quite sure if she believes me or not) Mikayla keeps begging me to put them under my pillow now to see if I will get more money for them (since back in the day I only got .25 and she gets $1) now.

Zach the Mess maker 2

Follow up post: Some of my friends have commented on the last post regarding Zach (love the comments) Why does he make such messes? cuz he is a boy! of course this is a generalization BUT I totally agree! my sister said that a boy would be easier...not the case YET...I am still waiting....I'm sure by the time the girls are teenagers I will think boys are easier too. Just today Zach took 1/4 a bin of baby wipes and tried to flush them down the toilet. (the other half he threw on the ground) I had to go dig them out...YUCK. good thing I caught him before he got the whole package in there! My girls were never this messy...sure I still spend half an hour shouting out stains on there clothes every week, but with Zach's clothes I have to use almost a whole bottle! He likes to use his fingers/handfuls vs spoons/forks (yes he does know how to use them) and heaven forbid we try and help feed him..he would rather starve! Good thing Zach is so darn cute...as soon as I want to get mad at him...he flashes me his killer dimple smile and I melt.

Zach the Mess Maker

I just got done cleaning up after Zach Again for like the billionth time. So I had to post this before I forgot. Wish I had taken a picture but oh well, next time, becuz I am sure there will be a next time. He loves to dump things out. If you give him a baggie of food (goldfish, cereal, whatever it is) he will dump it out onto the floor to eat it instead of neatly eating it out of the bag. The same applies to a bowl of food. If you give him a bowl of mac and cheese, he will first dump it out, then proceed to eat it off the table or highchair. He just took a whole box of shredded mini wheat cereal and dumped it out onto the ottoman to eat. Quite the pile it made. Sorry I didn't get a pic of it, I wanted to clean it up fast before it threw them all on the floor and made a bigger mess! Why does he want to eat food up off a dirty floor?

Kenzie the teachers pet

I just got back from Kenzies teachers conference. Kenzies teachers LOVE her. They say they are so glad to have her in there class. They actually said "can we xerox copy her?" Byron and I look at each other and think are we all talking about the same child here? At home Kenzie is a PEST...especially to Mikayla...any chance she gets she tries to antagonize and tease her. So here is what we have concluded...Kenzie is a teachers pet, a princess at school and an faker. But hey we will take a child that is good at least half the time instead of never. In fact as soon as we walked in the door Kenzie had meltdown. She was screaming about I don't know what. Well at least she has her teachers fooled!

The Circus

Friday we took the kids to the Ringling Bros circus in Jacksonville, FL. We all loved it! It was in a really nice arena with cushioned seats even. It had a magic show and anti-gravity theme to it. They made an elephant disapear, a person turn into a tiger, sawed somebody in half, and they even did a skit in the rafters upside down...crazy! After the show we raced out of there to do some shopping since we are limited on shopping near us. So on our way to Costco we see a rat come out of the sewer I guess and cross four lanes of traffic in broad daylight and MAKE IT! Made me think of Ratatouille. Not something you see everyday. Then Amber got some crunchy honey chicken to go at PF Changs a really yummy resturaunt. This day was a fun treat for everyone.