February

February happenings:   Lauren's homeschool is still going well.  We're both to the point where we're really comfortable with things and it's going smoothly.  The first picture below is of us enjoying a treat at Dunkin' Donuts.  Each month we have a spotlight author and if she reads at least 4 of their novels (of course, she usually reads more) then we'll go out to eat at a place that ties into one of their books and discuss the author's writing and biography.  The month of January was centered on Kate DiCamillo and coincidentally it was announced at the end of the month that she'd won the Newbery Award for "Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures."  Talk about a perfect coincidence!  If you've read that book (we both love and recommend it) then you'll understand why we chose a donut shop to discuss her works. :)  The picture following that beautiful girl is a copy of her new Thursday schedule.  Starting this month, we signed her up for an options day (electives) at a charter school in Riverdale.

This month was Keller Williams Year-End Awards Gala.  My cutie patootie husband dressed up super fancy and was the MC for the night.  I probably should've been in black tie attire on his arm, but instead I spent the night with those crazy ladies.  Yes, there was obviously a lack of communication between us about our schedules, but we both had a good night at our respective venues.

 Lauren's officially a teenager!!  A lot of you asked if she ever got back her DS case with all her games... I called the resort every day after we got off the cruise ship.  About a week later I received a voice mail that the case had been discovered and turned in!  By the time they mailed it back to us it was close to her birthday and we decided to surprise her with it (that's all she wanted anyway - replacement games).  The pictures below are her reaction to opening the package.

Owen turned 6!!!  This year he had a party at Chuck-E-Cheese with his buddies and we all had a fabulous time.  They throw a great, no-stress birthday party.

Bradley went to Vegas on another hockey tournament.  Matt was out of town for work and the younger kids had activities going on so Matt asked his parents if they'd take Bradley - he loved this time with Nana and Papa!  I don't have any pictures but I got these texts while he was gone.  If you want to hear all of Matt's "stories" from childhood you may have to schedule a Vegas trip with his parents as well.

And that's it for February!  Have a fabulously springy March!!

Our Cruise!

Green Family Vacation!!  January 18-24th

Here we are on our way - the kids were great travelers - electronics are a blessing in the car/airplane, right?!

We got to Florida on Saturday night and had plans to spend Sunday at the Kennedy Space Center but the kids wanted to hang out at the hotel (Ron Jon Cape Caribe Resort) and play instead.  Matt, Bradley & Lauren slept in till about noon and I took the little boys to the beach while they slumbered.

Matt called us as we were walking back to the hotel.  We happened to be right outside our balcony as he called so he took this shot of us.  He had no idea we'd snuck out.

After lunch the kids wanted to swim.  It was too cold for me but everyone else braved the temps.

We entered a hula hoop contest and Matt came in second place.  He claims the little girl he lost to hit down his hoop... yea, yea, yea.  ;-)  He made sure the right person won and was rewarded with a Ron Jon t-shirt for his fabulous hip shaking. 

After our time by the pool we went back inside to hang out in their game room, play in the kid playground, and do the obligatory trips up and down and up and down the escalators.

Monday Morning we headed over to the cruise ship.  It was a pretty stressful morning - we thought we might be able to get a few hours in at the Kennedy Space Center but after driving around for a bit we decided we should be safe and just go straight to the boat.  Matt took the van back to our hotel (they offered free parking and a shuttle) and I took the kids to get checked in.  Once we passed through the scanners and security and got in the terminal to board the ship, however, we realized we were the only ones with luggage.  In my "single mom" state, I'd completely passed the porters without noticing them (and without any of the RCI or security employees saying anything, what?!).  To make matters even worse, while we were waiting for Matt, Lauren tried to find her DS case with all her games.  She realized we'd left it back in our room and was devastated - she'd saved up a lot of her own $ to buy most of the games and there were almost 20 in the case.  So... with a teary girl in tow, we called Matt to check the hotel lost and found (no luck), we took the elevator back out of the terminal, rummaged through all our bags to see if the case was in somebody else's luggage (again, no luck), took the luggage across the street to the porters, and then we went back across the street to wait for Matt.  Bradley was such a blessing through all of this.  He could tell I was stressed out and doubled his efforts to be helpful to me and the kids.  We finally got onto the ship, consoled devastated Lauren, relaxed in our room, watched TV to take our mind off things,  and then we got back to having fun!!  The first day was spent exploring the ship and just hanging out.

The second day of our cruise was at Royal Carribean's private island.  We had a great time on their inflatable slide, inflatable ocean playground, building sand castles, and collecting sea shells.  Just fyi, in the first picture Bradley told us to all channel our "hot" poses... we obviously all need help with that, ha ha!

Leaving the island... going toward the boat.

Our third day was spent in Nassau.  We had plans to go snorkeling but when we got off the boat it was so windy that the activity director of our group suggested that it wouldn't be a good experience for the little boys because the water would be too rough.  The boys were actually excited to hear they could stay on the ship... they'd gone to the kid club for an hour the night before, loved it, and wanted to go back.  We decided that Matt would take Bradley and Lauren to the Atlantis water park and I'd stay on the boat with Will and Owen.  Matt's group had an amazing time - they said the park was incredible!!  The little boys went straight to the kid club and stayed there the entire day.  I kept checking in with them every hour to see if they wanted to spend time with me but they were having way too much fun to leave!  So, I spent the day exercising, reading, laying out, and sleeping.

These are pics of Nassau from our deck - gorgeous!

Speaking of our deck... this was the highlight of the trip for me.  Having a family of 6 meant that our choice of rooms was sparse and instead of renting 2 connecting rooms, we decided to splurge and get a suite.  For a cruise room it was spacious and lovely.  We ate breakfast away from the crowds on our balcony, I did yoga with gorgeous water views all around, and we were members of the "suite" club which meant we had special VIP access and privileges.  It was wonderful to have that private space.

Dinners were fancy and fun.  We loved our sweet waiters and they were so great with our kids.  Here are the pics of the kids trying escargot. (Yes, we bribed them to do it - you've gotta take advantage of those opportunities!)  I don't think Bradley wanted his participation documented (maybe just in case he threw up?!) but he was a good sport and snuck one in his mouth. 

Dessert always takes away the yucky memories of slimy snails.

Day #3 was spent on the boat.  Of course, Will and Owen couldn't get to the kid's club fast enough.  They had some really great counselors (Applesauce, Nicki Mouse, Wonder Woman, Marshmallow) that I wish I would've gotten some pictures with.  We spent the day at the rock climbing wall, playing shuffleboard, jumping on the huge tramps, competing in the Harry Potter Trivia (perfect score, of course), and relaxing.

Our last day on the boat.  We had a big breakfast and headed ashore.

We got to the airport early and then our plane was delayed so we ended up hanging out in the terminal for about 3-4 hours.  Again, thank goodness for electronics.  I may or may not have snuck off by myself to enjoy three candy bars and a cinnamon scone while everyone else was engrossed in their movies.  Peanut butter cups, Caramello, and Toblerone - if you must know.  I kept it together pretty darn good all week long - it was bound to come crashing down at some point, right?! ;

Our only regret about this trip was that we weren't on vacation longer.  We only booked 4 days in case the kids didn't like cruising and now we wished we would've done the whole week.  We had a great time! Who wants to go with us next go around?!