Yeah Mon...

In Jamaica, we started the day by going on zip line tour through the Jamaican rain forest. The actual excursion didn't turn out to be quite as much fun as we anticipated. There was a lot more climbing and the rain forest wasn't as fun to look at than we expected, but guides were really nice and funny. If nothing else, it was just fun to interact with the locals some.

After the zip-line, our driver took us into town. Everyone on our bus wanted to go to Margaritaville, but luckily, a couple blocks down the road, was an awesome beach, Doctor's Cave.



The sand, while white, was actually pretty rough to walk on. But the water was beautiful and warm and the waves were gentle, so we swam around a ton. We could see that right past the swimming buoys, there was a snorkeling boat excursion, so we decided to get our masks and swim around some. It was amazing! The combination of the actual coral formations and the easy tides, made this my favorite place to snorkel!

Unfortunately, a rain shower rolled in, so we had to pack up a little early and head back to bus. Turned out everyone was already drunk and back on the bus waiting! Doesn't take long:)

We sailed at sunset right before dinner, so we went out on one of the decks to admire the scenery. We even found a nice Aggie lady to take our picture...

After the picture, we said "thanks" and went to get the camera back, but she stopped us and said, "Wait... let me take one more just in case that one wasn't good." So we thought she was being super nice and smiled while she took another. The she handed us the camera and told us, "the first one's straight, but I took the second at an angle. I like angles."

Crazy Aggies. It's always something...

Goodbye Jamaica...

Relax...

Barry and I went on a Caribbean cruise a couple weeks ago to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We had so much fun. It was nice to be able to take a vacation with fun activities but still mandatory relaxing time. Here we are sitting at the back of the boat watching Galveston fade away...

By the next morning, the weather was already getting warmer. So we lathered on the sunscreen and went outside to begin our mandatory relaxing time...

We had gorgeous weather going down to Jamaica. Everyone was out by the pool drinking and sun bathing... not a good combination. We had a lot of fun hanging out on one of the upper decks talking and reading... more relaxing...

Of course, with my sun allergy, we couldn't stay out too long. And, we didn't want to get burned the first day and ruin the rest of the trip! So we scampered off to see what else they had to entertain us. Barry of course, had to try out the putt-putt. I beat him the first time through, so we didn't play any more...

And here I am relaxing more while Barry goes down the water slide with a bunch of other 12 year olds:)

Usually we feel guilty or wasteful for laying around or napping on our vacations. It was a welcome change to be in an environment that encouraged such laziness. It was great that our "soul training" exercise from our bible study this week was Sabbath rest... check...

Welcome Spring...

We are loving all this warm weather! We've been spending alot of time outside, especially since we now have a garden to tend. Before we left, we finally got our garden planted! We have two 5 gallon pots with a squash and zucchini. I can't remember which this is, but I thought it was amazing that you could still seed and how it sprouted out and everything, so I took a picture...




Leslie has been a big help! We fill up her water bottle, and she goes around and sprays every plant every day to make sure they get enough water...

I keep all the pots on the grass because then the sprinklers water them for me, and then, I don't have to rely exclusively on Leslie's green thumb:)



Here is Leslie watering the big garden box. We planted jalapenos, bell peppers, green beans, green onions and spinach in here...

We also have a Topsy Turvy tomato plant...

Calla loves climbing in and out of this chair. She has to work at it to figure out how to not tip over, but when she finally gets in it, she just sits and smiles with pride, hits the arms rests, kicks the legs a little, and then, tries to figure how to get out it without it tipping:) And, repeat...

This was such a nice evening that we decided to have dinner outside. We have never gotten any patio furniture because in the summer, the flies get super bad. But the bugs weren't around, and we still had some tables and chairs in the garage from Leslie's party, so we made some sandwiches and lemonade and had a picnic:)

Everyone had such a fun time. Even Calla did reasonably well at staying seated and eating at the princess table. We look forward to many more of these experiences as the girls grow. Welcome Spring...

More April Extras...

Leslie had her dance pictures a couple weekends ago. This is her "Cuddle Cub" dance outfit. Her big end-of-the-year recital is next weekend. Check back for pictures of the big day!




Every where I take her, Calla just wants to conquer and climb things. EVERY TIME I pick her up from any childcare they comment on what a climber she is. At least she's usually pretty good at it. I have to take pictures like this next one to help people understand why she always has bruises, bumps, and scabs on her face (although anyone that has watched her, already knows!)

"And after I have conquered climbing over the zebra several times, it is still mildly fun to ride..."

Calla has moved up classrooms in the nursery at church, so most Sundays, she doesn't get to take her morning nap. She conked out as soon as we put her in her car seat. I tried to wake her up when we got home, but she was not having it. So, I just sat down with her and enjoyed it. These amazing moments are so fleeting...

April Extras...

I am scrambling to get caught up on blogs because I know everyone just wants to see cruise pictures, but I couldn't pass by these goodies of my sweet girls...

A recurring theme in Calla's life is her love for big kid toys, especially bikes. So, when I rolled out Leslie's bike for her birthday, Calla just had to have a turn on it as well...



Safety first...

Leslie was alot of help with all the preparation that went into her party. I really think it made her enjoy it more when she knew that she helped with things. Here she is stuffing the pinata with Daddy while Mommy finished up painting Swiper (something that she was disappointed to not be able to help with!)

"You got it- Dude!"

Calla loves to play on the couch with her daddy...

Her hair is really getting long, but still too short and fine to do much with. At least it stays out of her eyes! I still look back at pictures and think she looks like a little mop-headed orphan:)

Leslie really loves her Hulk gloves. We have had a couple of learning opportunities when she has responded to me with the fighting phrases that her Hulk gloves say:) While funny in context, a 4 year old randomly telling an adult, "You're making me angry! You won't like me when I'm angry!" is probably not the best response.

Calla was scared of the gloves the first few days. But, much to Daddy's delight, she finally let him put the glove on her (which engulfed her entire arm) and ran around the house flinging her arm around trying to hit something hard enough to set off the speakers:) Barry was so proud! This is Calla's "You won't like me when I'm angry" look...

Grammy and Binx visit...

Leslie was so happy that her Grammy and Binx got to come down and visit for a weekend and come to her party! They were a super big help all weekend long, especially party day. And, they decided to fly, so we got to spend alot more time with them then usual. Here's Hulkster Leslie fighting Butterfly Fairy Binx...



Calla really enjoyed all the extra attention and play time. Here she is enjoying a snack while cuddling with her Binx...

It was a gorgeous weekend, so we spent alot of time outside. Here is Calla taking a rare break from the swing to cuddle up in Grammy's lap...

Grammy took this picture of Leslie. It's so relieving that someone actually caught a good picture of her. After two straight years of "bad pictures" I was starting to worry that my love for her was clouding my vision/judgement! As you can see, it wasn't. This is my beautiful Leslie, pretty as ever...

Midland doesn't have alot of fun things to go do like Houston does, but it was nice to just sit around and spend some time being a family together, too. We're planning on making a trip to Houston over the summer, so hopefully, then, we'll be able to go have greater adventures together! Love you Grammy and Binx!

Palm Sunday Weekend...

We had such a fun weekend before Easter. We started the day with a birthday party for one of Leslie's friends. Part of the party was outside. While the big kids went on a "treasure hunt," Calla made a bee-line for the trike. She LOVES LOVES LOVES big girl wheels...


After the party, we dashed over to the church's Easter Egg Hunt, or rather, Easter Egg Dash. Basically, they just threw several hundred eggs out on to a field, split the kids up in to age groups, and said, "Go!" Since Calla was the youngest out there, I picked her up and took her ahead of the other kids so she could have a fighting chance at a few. She did pretty well putting things in her "bucket."

Leslie, on the other hand, got caught up in the adrenaline of things and just started sprinting to the other side of the field. Barry had to stop her several times and remind her to pick up eggs. We never figured out her reasoning, but once she did stop to pick up some eggs, she was very selective about which ones made the cut to go in the basket...

Here's Calla with a big cute pink bow in her hair. You can see her clapping. She likes anything as long as you applaud her for it...

That's actually how I finally got Calla off the bottle... EVERY time she took a sip from her cup, I would cheer and clap for her excessively. After a couple days of constant positive reinforcement, she was ready to make the switch!

And here Calla is playing in our friend's Chapel's ball pit...

The girls strolled into Chap's playroom and started trying out every toy they could find, the ball pit being the favorite by far. They played in that ball pit the entire hour! Calla especially would just lay down and roll around in them. Poor Chap hid in the corner behind a big rocking horse most of the play date. I don't think he quite knew what to do with my crazy energetic girls! We finally convinced him that Calla wasn't going to body slam him if he came out of his corner, but this is still about as close he was willing to risk:)