Harris' Birthday

We had a great day celebrating Harris' 5th birthday! The day started off with presents, of course. He was a little spoiled and got a lot of really fun stuff. His favorite things he got though were his new Michael Jordan shoes from Chet and his fishing pole from his cousins.

He was so excited when he saw the shoe box that a look of pure joy came over his face. Like father like son I guess. :)

He then insisted that we put them on him and that I take a picture of the shoes to "put on facebook".

After opening presents and a breakfast of "fresh hot waffles" we headed out to the pool. The kids were all pretty excited to get in.

Harris decided that he needed a break from the pool to warm up. No better place to do that than in the awesome lounge chairs that my dad bought for us.

After several hours of fun in the pool we got ready and took everybody to see "Toy Story 3" in 3D. It is such a cute movie, but Harris takes after me and was ready to leave about halfway through. I told him no and he sat and enjoyed the rest of the movie with the help of some licorice.

After the movie and some dinner at "ollie gardy" aka Olive Garden we headed home for cake. It was a wonderful day and I am so glad that Harris was born!!! Love that baby boy!

Vacation 2010 pt. 3

So, Jaime asked me to do wrap up her 3 part blog.  Jaim did our trip to the Keys as well as our cruise aboard the Norwegian Sky and I will be blogging about the last leg of our trip, South Beach.

Last year, when Jaime and I went on vacation we were lucky enough to stay at the Marriott South Beach and just absolutely loved it.  The hotel is beautiful and the amenities are fantastic, including access to the very south end of South Beach which is the most beautiful beach in the continental USA.  When we came back again this year we talked my sis into staying there with us.

I know how weird hotels can be about check in times, so when we ended up disembarking from the cruise earlier than I thought and were in South Beach at 10:30AM, I thought we would just have to make do and wing it.  The Marriott was extra awesome to us and gave us our rooms right away and upgraded me and Jaime to the concierge floor with an amazing room that had a gigantic deck with beautiful views of the city as well as the beach.  The deck proved to be a great place to hang out.

When we got all checked in, everyone decided that it was nap time, so I headed down to the pool.  I mean, I can nap at home, right?  I definitely can't enjoy tropical weather at home...

Anyway, once everyone was awake we enjoyed a beautiful time on South Beach.  The water was ridiculously warm, too warm in fact, and we had fun swimming around trying to find cooler water currents to sit in.  We had some great sunshine and good fun too.

We went in around dinner time and got ready for the evening.  We decided to splurge on nice sea food and went to a restaurant called Quinn's.  Quinn's had amazing food, and I enjoyed some of the biggest and best king crab legs I have ever had.  I was even feeling generous and let my little sis try a bite.  Just watching her expression as she ate the king of all seafood was well worth it (my sister is a bit of a foodie).

The next morning I woke up extra early for a sunrise swim, one of my very favorite things to do.  It was so calm and so amazing.  I will live somewhere with great sunrise beach access someday.

With that, we packed it up and headed to the airport to finally be heading home!  At this point the vacation felt like a very long one, all legs of the trip felt like their own vacation (Keys, Cruise, South Beach) and we were ready to see our kids again.

Well, mother nature had other ideas for us. 

We made it out of Miami just fine and had to fly through Atlanta.  We arrived in ATL at 3:00PM for a quick layover to catch a 4:30 flight to ABQ.  That flight was delayed and changed to a 7:30 flight.  Lame!  So, Jaime and I did a thorough tour of the ATL airport.  And then we waited some more. 

As we got to our gate, nearing the time we were supposed to leave we saw that our flight (along with many others) had been postponed until 9:30.  We checked with Delta and it turned out that we were waiting on a flight from DC and it hadn't left yet because of lightning in the ATL area.

At this point, Jaime and I were exhausted.  You can only spend so much time in the ATL airport.  We watched a couple of shows on the iPad, read, walked some more...

We sat there some more and around 8:30 at night the lady at the gate announced that our flight still hadn't left DC and wouldn't be there until 11:30 or maybe later.  At this point I decided to capitalize on my platinum status and give Delta a call.  I calmly explained that I understood it wasn't their fault but that there was no way I was going to spend another minute at the airport.  Delta took care of me and put Jaime and I on a flight the next afternoon (first class I might add, thanks Delta!).

I logged onto the internet from my phone, found us a great rate at the Marquis Marriott in downtown ATL and we decided to call it a night and enjoy a 4th leg of the trip, Atlanta!!

Jaime and I spent some time in Atlanta a couple years ago and really loved it.  The Georgia Aquarium is the largest in the world and is worth going to Atlanta for by itself.  Jaime and I took the opportunity the next morning to spend some time there enjoying all they had to offer, especially the 6.5 million gallon tank that houses 4 whale sharks!

Another thing we really liked about our last trip to the A is a certain dessert we got at the Fox Sports Grill called Banana Bread Pudding.  Now this isn't bread pudding made with banana bread, but it is a mix of banana's foster and bread pudding and is almost worth a trip to Atlanta all by itself!  So after we finished up at the Aquarium, we took a cab to get some lunch (and dessert!) and then took another cab to the airport.  (it is much easier to travel like this when you have no luggage, everything we checked had to stay at the airport...).

Once back at the airport, we only had some minor delays and finally made it back home after a 30 hour layover in ATL.

All said, this vacation was one of the longest and best we have ever taken.

Here are some pics from legs 3 and 4 of the vaca...

This was the view from our room at the South Beach Marriott.  Beautiful.  I love South Beach!

 That is me in the water, most people in South Beach are concerned with being cool, I was mostly concerned with enjoying the beach.

At dinner, Chelsie was obsessed with these Popover rolls.  They were delicious!

We came back to the hotel after dinner for desert up on our deck.  Great views of the city (although a tad post-apocalyptic looking in my opinion)

This was the view toward the beach that night.

This is the crazy elevator at the Marquis Marriott in ATL.  There are 47 floors (we were up on 43) and there is an atrium that goes all the way up with glass elevators.  So creepy!

Another view at the hotel.

Jaime and I at the aquarium.  We really do love it here!

Such an amazing place!  It was fun to also pick out all the fish we had seen that week whilst snorkeling.

Whale sharks are so awesome!

Jaim and I spent about an hour just sitting by the giant 60'x40' looking glass at the world's largest tank.  Jaime could have spent all day there but I was getting hungry...

For this!  Oh Banana Bread Pudding, how I love you so!!

Paradise

On our cruise this year Chet's sister and her husband came along. It was so fun! We had balcony suites right next to each other so of course we had to take a picture looking at each other.

Our first day in paradise was Paradise Island, Nassau. However this was not what we originally had planned. Originally we had planned a snorkeling expedition to a private island. When we got to the place where we were supposed to leave for the island they told us the trip had been cancelled but if we wanted they would give us 10% off  a day pass to Atlantis. We went to Atlantis last year and weren't that impressed. But since they were offering us a deal and Chels and Chuck hadn't been there we decided to give it another try. This time it was much better. When we got there there was a guide that told us about the "Cove" beach. It was a pretty far walk but I think it was worth it! It was way more secluded and quiet. As my sister-in-law said "it's paradise!"

We did a lot of snorkeling while we were there as well. There was a pretty good amount of fish, crabs and urchins. Chet's brother-in law, Chuck, had a great time in the water with us. His sister Chelsie was a little more wary. We eventually got her to give it a try and while she was a little freaked out by the fish she said she was glad she tried it.

When lunch time rolled around we ate and then decided to go see "The Dig", the aquarium at Atlantis. I love aquariums and this one is no exception. It was wonderful. They didn't, however, have the giant mantas this year that they did last. They only had little ones and by little I mean 12-15 feet instead of 20-25.  Next time though I think we will do the aquarium before we are all wet. By the time we were done walking around we were all walking like we had been horseback riding all day. ;)

When we were done with lunch we went back to the beach before we had to take the ferry back to the ship. We enjoyed dinner on the boat and then headed to our cabin to get a good nights sleep before our next port-of-call, Great Stirrup Cay.

Great Stirrup Cay had the best snorkeling that we have ever done! There was this giant rock that was easy to swim out to that was teeming with fish! We swam all the was around it. I was a little scared of the back side of the rock because it was fairly close to the sand bar, which is where all the sharks hang out, and the water goes from about 15ft to 50ft but we did it. It was awesome!!!

When we were headed out to the rock, still in the shallows, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was an octopus! It was sooo cool to see one not in an aquarium!

He wasn't the only cool guy we saw though. We saw puffer fish, barracuda, rainbow runners, tangs, damsel fish, angel fish, squirrel fish, wrasse, trigger fish and some I didn't know.  (you can click on the picture to see the fish better)

Since this was our third day in the sun we were starting to get a little crispy. (Some of us more than others.) Chet's sister made herself a shanty to not become extra crispy.

After fun filled days in the Bahamian sun it was time to head back to the boat and then on to Florida, South Beach this time, to wrap up our trip and head home. Maybe...

Tranquility

Since our vacation seemed to be 3 separate trips all rolled into 1 I thought each part deserved its own post. So here goes part one.

The first leg of our vacation was in the Florida Keys. Which meant that we had to drive from Miami to the Keys which is about a 2 hour drive. The drive actually wasn't that bad. It was very scenic which made the drive go really fast. We decided to stop at a place called Mrs. Mac's Kitchen for dinner. It was a total dive but tripadvisor.com rated their food #1. They catch their fish fresh every morning from the dock in the back of the restaurant! The food all looked so good that between the 4 of us we ordered 2 appetizers and 5 entrees! It was amazing! So if you are ever in the Keys and need a place to eat I would recommend this place.

After we finished our delicious dinner we headed to the resort that we were staying at, Hawks Cay. What a beautiful resort it is! We stayed in one of the townhouses that they have there. It was so cute and fun.

When we went inside to check out our rooms we were surprised to find that we weren't alone! This poor gecko was trapped inside the house but don't worry we caught the poor little guy and let him go outside.

After the catch and release of the gecko we went out to see the rest of the resort (and to find the hot tub to relax in). There are several pools at the resort but we were looking for the adults only pool. Don't get me wrong, I love kids but if I wanted to hang out with kids on my vacation I would have brought mine. :) By the time we got to the "Tranquility Pool" it was dark. We enjoyed it anyways. On the walk back to the townhouse we saw fireflies! I have never seen one in true life. My only experience with them is on the Pirates ride at Disneyland. It was very cool!

The Keys are beautiful, just not what we were expecting. They are much more lake-like than tropical. Meaning there aren't really "beaches" to hang out on. We weren't too disappointed though because we knew that we were headed to some amazing beaches on the cruise. So we opted for the next best thing... the "Tranquility Pool".

We spent the whole day here. The whole day! It was wonderful. It was so hot though we would be in and out of the pool to stay cool. One of the times we were out of the pool, I was laying face down on my lounge chair and heard a strange noise. I looked up to see a giant iguana right under my face! I wasn't scared I know that they are harmless but it did interrupt my tranquility. All that he was really interested in was the last piece of fruit from lunch.

After a very strenuous day of lounging by the pool we needed some nourishment. We went to another highly recommended place called the Sunset Grille. It was an outdoors restaurant right on the water with an amazing view! After we had filled up on more delicious food we headed back to the resort where we called it a night.

The next morning as the girls were getting ready to head to the cruise ship Chet decided to head out back to try some fishing. He didn't catch anything but he sure looked cute trying.

All in all the Keys were very beautiful and relaxing but now I was ready for the tropical part of the trip. The Bahamas!!!

Gel toes vs. Keens

So, since school had just got out, Liv decided to run a little experiment. She decided to see if Keen brand sandals or her "gel toes" were tougher. The experiment ran like this; Liv and Harris would both attempt to kick a soccer ball at the same time, Harris wearing the aforementioned sandals and Liv barefoot, once contact was made the sandals were to hook onto the big toe nail covered in the "gel" substance and significant force would be applied in the form of a kicking motion. At this point in the experiment we collect the ensuing data...

Ah, science...

Switching now to a narrative of what happened; Liv came into the house screaming and bleeding everywhere. I had one of those weird moments as a father where I just had absolutely no idea what to do, none. Jaime looked at me to ask what we should do about all the bleeding and the screaming and I drew a blank. My brain went through all it's learning and stored info and could not come up with a way to fix the situation. I think part of this was the new surroundings and not having a primary care physician. Anyway, after my brain reboot, I decided to take Liv to the nearest urgent care. I called them on the way over to make sure they were still open (this was about 7 at night) and headed over. What followed will haunt me the rest of my days.

When I got her there, I'm pretty sure she had gone into shock because she was loopy. She had stopped with the screaming and sobbing and had settled into a weird delirium, laughing at funny things and making odd observations. When we got in to see the doctor, the poor Dr. wasn't able to evaluate the injury because just getting near Liv's toe sent her into hysterics. The Dr. determined that shots in the toes were the only way she would get to perform an evaluation. Speaking of hysterics...Liv pretty much freaked out at this point. Now, I can absolutely understand. I had shots in the toes when I had some ingrown toes taken out and it was awful!

Anyway, after the shots in the toes (and much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth) the Dr. showed me that the nail had ripped off and was still half attached at the cuticle and would need to be removed the rest of the way. I then did my best to distract my still hysterical daughter as the Dr. took a scalpel and proceeded to cut the rest of the toenail off at the cuticle. Halfway through the procedure, Liv could still feel the pain so the Dr. decided to give her another shot. Liv overheard and started thrashing around trying to bargain with Dr. for some sort of alternative option. Again, it fell upon me to distract her and the Dr. was able to give the shot without Liv even noticing. After that the Dr. finished up and Liv was thoroughly bandaged, given a special boot to a wear and a pair of crutches.

All in all, a harrowing experience for both father and daughter. Luckily, Liv is on the mend and is only 6 months or so away from a shiny new big toe nail.

Here is some picture evidence:

This is at the hospital.  This was the site I saw that drove me to take her there instead of just trying to deal with it at home.

Liv was excited when the Dr. told her that she would get crutches.  After a whole day of walking around on them, she seemed slightly less excited...

They put this gross but cool surgical foam on her big toe to cover where the nail usually goes.  This is the site we get to deal with every 12 hours when we wash and re-bandage her up.  I'm sure it's much worse for Liv...

My Best Helper

I find that I spend a lot of my time in the mornings cleaning. Since Harris and I are the only ones that are home during the day, he ends up being my best helper. :) Don't get me wrong, Chet and Liv help a lot too, they just aren't here as much.

Fortunately, Harris loves to help! I usually don't even need to ask, he just says, "Mommy I want to mop". (or vacuum or clean the sink) Those are the three things he likes to do the most. Here are some pics that I took of him helping.

He loves to help clean his room, as long as I do everything but vacuum. That's his job.

He will usually rinse all the dishes for me while I load the dishwasher. When we are done with that he will scrub the sink for like 20 minutes. It always looks way better when he does it.

He loves to mop with my Shark Steam Mop. I like that I can let him use it because it is chemical free.

This one I forgot about. He loves to dust the table as well. It works out well since he can fit under the table without bumping his head.

I know that he probably won't always be like this so I felt it was important to document it for proof. He already doesn't like to put his clothes away. He just shoves them all in the same drawer! Oh well, at least they are put away. I'm just grateful for the help that I am getting right now. :)

ABQ Zoo

Because Chet had to work late on Tuesday, he took a half day on Wednesday and we decided to head to the zoo. We love the zoo here, it is so fun! Once again, we were not disappointed by the animals. The first animals we went to see were the polar bears. They have an amazing enclosure that they live in. There are waterfalls and a water slide and giant balls that they get to play with. When we got there they were playing with the balls. It was so cute to watch them carry the ball around. (There were two balls but they both only wanted the yellow one.) After they played with the balls they started climbing to the top of the rocks and diving into the water! It was amazing! (Unfortunately we didn't get video of the diving just them playing with the ball.) The kids were in heaven and didn't want to leave. The bear in the video had just taken the ball from the other bear. After he took it he went and hid in the back of the enclosure with it. The other bear would hear the ball and then stand up looking for it. So fun. :)

There were also a ton of baby animals! There was a baby elephant, giraffe, zebra, a takin (its in the yak family), and several monkeys.

For some reason we only took a picture of the baby zebra. Isn't he cute though?!

Another thing I love about this zoo is how close you get to be to all the animals. That cougar was only an arms length away. Not that we would dare to stick our arm out to prove that. It's just a "guesstimate". :)

Yep only that little tiny rope to keep us from getting into the pond with the flamingos.

It was a fabulous day!