Saturday, April 4, 2015

ARUUUUBA part 2

Here is part 2 of our Aruba vacation! You can read part one here.

Monday morning we woke up and Eddie had a meeting to attend so I had breakfast with the boys.  We quickly met up with our friends and had some races on the deck.  


The beach floats were not put out on the beach yet, so the kids grabbed them and made beds-- the float guy was NOT impressed with their creativity!


We decided it was time to get to the pool, so while Eddie had a meeting, the boys and I went to the room to get ready to go! After the sun we got the day before, swim shirts were needed this day!

We spent some time on the beach...and Andy and Avery totally hit it off.  Avery is about 6 weeks older than Andy and they had a lot to say to each other!

I looooove this picture!!!





These four had so much fun playing in the sand together.   They sat like this just chatting away to each other while playing.  It was lovely to watch!

 Here are the ladies! Obviously with drinks in hand :) Me, Jackie, Tara and Andrea.  We all had SO much fun together! Andrea and I joked we were tag teaming the whole trip- she would watch one of mine while I took the other potty, and I would take one of hers to the pool while she finished up on the beach.  It was a perfect match. 

We knew we wanted to do an adults dinner the next night and put the kids in kids club.  We didn't want to drop them in for the first time that night, so we did a short visit during the day on Monday so they could get a feel for it.  This was us right after we dropped them off.....


 Monday night was the "theme" night and I think it was the best theme night we've ever had on one of these trips!

We were on the beach as the sun was setting....





Everyone was super happy and it was just a beautiful night!

After Andy finished eating dinner, he plopped himself on the sand and was super content to just play-- 

And then the dj started up.  And it was awesome.  He played every catchy/cheesy song you can think of and everyone was dancing and singing like crazy...and it was awesome.  These boys danced SO hard.  They were having the time of their lives!

I couldn't get a picture of them when they were dancing because they were moving so fast.  

All of a sudden these people came out in some craaaazy spandex with HUGE head dresses on.  I grabbed Andy, fully ready for a freak out, and he said "it's okay...I am okay...." and got down and kept on dancing. #miracleshappeninaruba
They even posed in front of the people...




Well soon the dancers left, and our crew over took the "dance floor." These boys worked up a sweat so we stripped their shirts.  Then the real fun began... look at these smiles! They were having so much fun.

The mommas were having quite a fun time too-- we were all dancing right along with them and singing out loud.  

Last picture of the night.... Hunter, Andy, Beckett and Cal-- not ready to go to bed!




We woke up Tuesday and hit the pool after breakfast.  Once again, these guys were swimming fools!

There are lizards and iguanas all over the resort... can you see the one behind Andy? He (the iguana) wouldn't take his eyes off of him.  We swam away and his head followed us the whole way.  Andy was laughing so hard, he was having a hard time swimming (plus trying to swim and watch an iguana who is watching you is not easy!).  

We spent some time on the slide on this day.  We all went down it! Here is Cal...


And Andy got to the top the first time and froze and said he didn't want to do it.  He walked back down really sad (but not pouting!) saying he really wanted to try it, but he was scared.  I said I would walk him up there... we got to the top and he started to say no, well, actually he did say no.  He said NO very loudly.  I sat down on the slide with him tucked under one arm and man handled him down the slide.  It sounds bad, I know... but as soon as we started, he said, "this is so great! I am not scared at all!" The second our feet his the water, he turned and said "I want to go again!!!" When we got back to the top, the worker told us this was our last time riding together because we gained too much speed when we went together.  Andy agreed to go solo the next time,  And he did! Over and over and over and over again! He looooved the slide:


 After a million times on the slide, we headed over to the beach.  It was a seriously gorgeous day.

The four kids all got on a raft together and had so much fun kicking around in the ocean.  You could hear them laughing from up on the beach.



We discovered that it was best to bring iPads to the beach for some shaded rest time.  I totally resisted this-- I am anti-iPad on the beach.  But I knew they needed the shade and they needed a break-- was I begging for a meltdown? Beckett and Avery brought theirs down too, so it made sense all around.   

We had lunch on the beach-- this one drank more 7up than he knew what to do with...#whenonvacay

Andy fussed a few times, which he just hadn't been doing and little things were setting him off left and right.  I carried him up to our chair, wrapped him in a towel and held him tight.  Next thing I knew, he was sound asleep on me.  I had a nug in my arm and a book in my other hand (with a drink close by!) and I was quite content! Eddie took Cal up to the pool for a bit and then up to the room while Andy slept. 

After an hour, I shifted to wake him up and the boys hit the bath....with lollipops, because....why not? 



 The kids went to kids club so we could have our adults dinner out on the beach.  This was our view:

The girls....

We had a pretty large group and they offered to put 6 at one table and 4 at the other.  But who was going to decide how to split us up? We all wanted to be together... so someone (maybe it was me....) suggested we sit girls at one table and guys at the other.... and it was SO MUCH FUN!

A sweet lady having dinner by us commented she wished she had done that more often! hahaha She then took our picture and sat back down still smiling at us.  It wasn't as romantic as it could have been, I guess, but we didn't care!

Here was our whole group:






 Can't wait until the next time we get to travel together!!!!

So that wraps up post 2 from our trip....phew! A lot of pictures, right??? More coming............!


 

ARUUUUUBA! part 1

We just spent an AMAZING week on vacation in Aruba! It was seriously the best trip and we had so much fun as a family-- no major meltdowns and everyone happy-- that right there makes it a success!

We try to take two trips a year-- one just me and Eddie and one with the family.  No, it isn't always easy traveling with kiddos, but I strongly feel like it's worth it.  The memories we were making are memories I hope will stick with them for a long, long time.  I know I will hang on to those memories for a long time! We went with a group of friends with whom we have traveled before, but this time, we all took kids-- we were excited for the kids to all meet since they were all so close in age. 

I always debate how to do trip recap posts.  Do I completely overload readers with a million pictures in one post? No.  That would drive me (and y'all!) crazy.  So I am going to split the trip up into several posts... here is post one!

Disclaimer: I took our "good" camera on this trip.  I did not take one picture with said good camera.  I took every single picture with my phone.  Oops! Oh well... here we go!

So, a little confession- do y'all do this? I lay out each outfit as I am packing and then plan all my accessories and lay those with it and then take a picture of it. That way when I am trying to pack everything, I don't forget to grab those earrings or that bracelet and then when I am getting dressed on vacation, I don't have to try and remember what I was going to wear those shoes with.  Slightly OCD? Possibly.  Okay, fine.  Whatever.  



The boys, on the other hand, get all their stuff in nice neat-ish piles.  There was actually a method to the madness below....

We had an EARLY flight Saturday morning.  We left RDU at 6am.  Flying with kids internationally and checking bags, we wanted to get there plenty early.  That meant a 3:15 wake up call.  And, oh buddy, it felt EARLY!

Andy was on our floor so he was up and at it right away, super excited to get going to Aruuuuba.  He even walked into Cal's room and turned on all the lights and sat on the floor talking to him-- Cal never woke up.  It was hilarious. 

Here they are at the airport.....


We flew to Miami and Nug sat with me...he was pumped!



A little note about Andy on this trip: Andy can be difficult. He can fuss/scream/pout/be a real difficult kiddo.  But on this trip, he was HAPPY.  I mean, like smiling ear to ear the entire time happy.  It was such a great relief.  I know that sounds bad-- but when you never know what you're going to get with him, it is so wonderful to get this happy, go with the flow kid.  

We landed in Miami and the boys had a hopping competition...anything to get out some wiggles!



The second flight, Andy sat with Eddie and his early morning wake up call took its toll and he took a great snooze.  He slept for almost the entire flight. 

Cal, on the other hand, did not! He was too excited-- and hyper! 

Behind us, we saw this...

 So we stayed at the Hyatt in Aruba, which is a gorgeous hotel.  It is not all-inclusive, but there was a package for our group so it was all inclusive for us.  We took full advantage of the inclusive-ness! The boys were handed a punch drink right when we arrived.  He was thrilled...


We got into our rooms and decided to do a quick change and head to the pool.  But first, a quick trip to the potty...


 We got to the pool and about 4 minutes after walking up, the boys were doing this:
 Both of these were jumping in fearlessly-- Andy too! He needed a little catching at first, but by the end of the trip, he was swimming like crazy.  He kept telling me how much he loved it. Go figure!

 Two studs, pool ready!

We had SO SO SO much fun at dinner the first night.  Sadly, I forgot my camera! We ate outside with a bunch of friends and then we walked on the beach and let the kids go swimming in their clothes.  It was amazing!  My friend, Andrea, took a ton of pictures and will send them.... I can't wait to see her pictures! The kids were laughing so hard-- we kept saying "we are making memories!!!"

That night, the boys CRASHED in their bed together-- they were so sweet sharing a bed.  And they slept great.  Maybe we need to start that at home? Just kidding.  #kinda

We woke up Sunday morning to a beautiful day! We headed down to breakfast:
 see?? happy kid....


We came back to the room and got suited up for a day at the beach/pool! These guys were ready!

We started at the pool where Andy was ready to start jumping in, immediately.  

These two were having SO much fun!!! And because it was all-inclusive, we didn't stress about them ordering virgin pina coladas by the pool and taking half a sip and saying "all done!!!" Plus we were drinking our own fruity drinks-- hard to stress with a fruity drink in hand!

There was this little cove thing over by the bar where the boys loved to swim and play.  It was shallow (both could touch) and there was a little bench that went around it.  Did I mention it was next to the bar? This was our favorite spot all week.  A friend commented on the below picture on instagram about Andy's sorority squat-- hahahaha love it!

More jumping in and swimming!

All three boys had fun swimming!

 Saddled up to the bar-- this made me laugh so hard....

We headed out to dinner this night a little pink in the cheeks, but still super happy! Seriously, the boys were so stinkin happy.  I keep it real on this blog and I would say if it was ugly-- but it really was great seeing them so happy!

 Cal had the best time with his buddy, Beckett. We met Beckett's parents in Turks and then we went on another trip with them to Mexico (we took kids, they did not).  After meeting our kids in Mexico, they kept saying how much Cal and Beckett would get along-- and it was true! They were like long lost brothers!


So, the first day is in the books...or, errr... the blog!



 

Friday, April 3, 2015

#carriedaway: week 11

Week 11:

Day 71: lessons in domination #goducks

Day 72: go heels!

Day 73: love the red swords

Day 74: soaking up the bright blue skies with my sisters and some wine. And loving it.

Day 75: thankful for patient swim instructors.

Day 76: zzzzzzzzzzz

Day 77: ballers

 

BLOGLOVIN'

I mentioned in a previous post my love for the Bloglovin' app.  I have finally figured out how make it work so now you can read MY blog there too!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin



 

Friday, March 27, 2015

Friday Favorites: Face products!

My beauty routine is lame.  I know it is.  I know there are all these awesome products out there that I should try.  That's why I love reading these kind of posts! I like seeing what kind of products others are using.  Here are a few of my favorite facial products for my Friday Favorites post:

How boring am I?!?!
 1. Aquaphor: I have written about this amazing-ness before. Remember in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" how the dad tells everyone to put windex on everything? That is me with aquaphor! I use this stuff on everything.  A zit pops up or I feel one coming on, I slather this stuff on it when I go to bed and it's gone by morning.  My wrinkles are feeling rather large on my forehead, load up some of this and they appear less in the morning.  I put it on scars, burns, cuts, bug bites... you name it! I use it on everything for the boys too.   Here's the thing with zits-- it's totally counter-intuitive from what you think because it's greasy feeling.  I am not saying it makes sense.  I am saying it works.  Trust me.  In fact, I might go slather some on right now...

2. Oil of Olay Regenerist face wipes:  These are my ADDICTION.  I use these to clean my face every morning and every night.  I am not a fan of leaning over the sink and splashing water on my face...feels great, but not my favorite thing.  These get all my makeup off and leave my face feeling super clean and fresh. 

3. Oil of Olay Regenerist Regernerating Serum: I put this on every morning either after my shower or after I wipe by face with above wipes.  I looooove this stuff.  It's a serum instead of a lotion so it has a different texture (#duh), but I love the way it feels on my skin.  It makes my face super soft. I plus to this one is they just started carrying it at Costco for cheaper than drug stores.... love it.

4. Oil of Olay Regenerist Moisturizing Night Cream: Before bed, after I use my face wipes, I slather this on my face and neck and let me tell you-- it feels like heaven.  It is super thick and my face soaks it up. 

Pretty lame, I know, but these are my daily must have staples.  Throw in some carmex chapstick and I am set! ha! Best part about these products is they can all be bought at the grocery store, walmart, target, etc etc... Part of me really wants to try some new stuff, like Rodan and Fields or some Lancome goodies, but part of me really likes to use some easy to get stuff. 

What are your favorite products? Anything I should be trying?

 
 
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