For my T

Tanner loves sharks. He LOVES them! He knows all the different types (Great White, Hammerhead, Wobegong, you name it!) and adores all of his shark books. And that is why we had to do this outing. We live just 30 minutes from a fabulous aquarium in Baltimore. We have taken him before, but the last time we went was over two years ago, when Tanner was just 19 months old. There's a reason why we haven't been in two years. Although it's just 30 minutes away, it usually takes longer because the traffic is always terrible and it's in the heart of the city and a total PAIN to get to. And it's not in the heart of cool city. It's in the heart of, quite possibly, my least favorite city in the country. So, needless to say, we make it a point to go there as little as possible. Besides, between parking, admission, etc. it's also quite expensive. HOWEVER, I was feeling guilty that I hadn't taken my little shark-lover to see the sharks, so this past Friday evening, we hauled the family to the Aquarium. We got there and the line was insanely long. But we waited. Or rather, Dave waited while I tried to keep track of all three kids running around. He finally got to the front of the line at 6:15 and was told that they were issuing timed entry and that our tickets wouldn't be until 7:15. WHAT?? That was way too late for our crew, so we just got out of line. The girls were easy to appease. Not so with Tanner. I tried to explain why we couldn't go. But he just couldn't accept it. He was on the verge of a melt-down as I sat there on a bench holding him and telling him we would try to do it a different day. As I'm trying to reason with him, the realization sunk in, that when you build something up as much as I had, talking about it all day, getting him excited and knowing how much he loved sharks and couldn't wait to see REAL sharks..... well, what do you do? We got BACK in line, bought the tickets (now timed for 7:30) and waited. When we finally got inside, we bee-lined it to the sharks. Tanner was in heaven. He could have stayed there all night.

So, T, if you ever doubt how much your parents love you..... Read this post! I Baby Bjorne'd an almost 30# 16 month old that was a whiny, cranky, tired mess all around that shark tank, but I just tuned her out, looked at your happy face, and it was all worth it.

St. Patty's Day

We found this rainbow/pot o' gold idea on Pinterest and Dave and I made these for the kids (as well as Dave's high school students that he teaches at church)

Here are the kids with their treat bag. In addition to wearing green and eating our rainbows, we...

made hats....

and silly faces :) We had taco salad for dinner. I put the chips in a green bowl and then we had salad and guacamole as our toppings. I also made Crystal Light lemonade and dyed it green. And yes, my littlest leprechaun is missing from this post. She was napping during this photo shoot, and to be quite honest, it's just as well because she's not exactly in to sitting still and posing for the camera at the moment!

Heart Transplants, Music, Family and Friends

Pete and Kim with little Jake on the day of his transplant.

Pete and Kim are two of our very closest friends. I've mentioned them in several blogs (Ragnar, Egg nog challenge, etc). They are so inspiring to me. When they moved here nearly three years ago, Jake was just a baby. We rejoiced with them when they got a heart/lung transplant in August, 2010 and we cried with them when Jake passed away just 3 1/2 months later. It has now been over a year since Jake passed away and we talk about him frequently to keep his memory alive. So, to celebrate Jake, who would have turned three just a few weeks ago, we asked our friends to come to a concert with us. We took them to see Paul Cardall. He is an accomplished pianist and put on an AMAZING performance in Washington DC last weekend. He was also born with a heart defect and has had several surgeries starting from the time he was born. Just three years ago, on death's door, he received a heart transplant and is doing well. He tells his story through his music and it is so touching. He also happens to be my second cousin (his dad and my mom are cousins). So, it was wonderful to see Paul and a great experience to be there with Pete and Kim as we reflected on Jake and his short, but absolutely wonderful, inspiring, sweet life. We miss you, Jake.

R&R in Mexico

We just returned from 5 wonderful days in the Riviera Maya. We knew we wanted to relax on this trip, but there were also some sights in the area that we wanted to make sure we saw while we were there a well. And Chichen Itza was at the top of our list!

Here we are with my cousin Seth and his wife, Cari in front of the main temple, El Castillo. Seth and Cari are the reason we took this trip. We are all the same age, we both have three small children and are in the same stage of life. Dave and Seth are great friends and have a mutual love of tennis. So, we have been talking about taking a trip together for YEARS, but every time we talked about it, one of us was pregnant, having a baby, moving, didn't have the funds, didn't have the time off work, didn't have childcare.... you get the picture. BUT, the stars finally aligned and it all worked out to take a trip to Mexico together!

There are 7 ruins in the area and we were able to see three of them while we were there. In addition to Chichen Itza, we went to Ek Balam.

I'm so glad we visited Ek Balam. Unlike Chichen Itza, which is overrun by tourists and vendors selling things and where you can no longer climb on anything, Ek Balam was practically a ghost town, with few tourists, no vendors and plenty of impressive ruins that were open for you to climb (and yes, we climbed to the top of this one!) So, it was a great place to visit!

After spending the whole day seeing ruins, we decided to spend the next day relaxing at our resort. Here is the view from our room. Yes, that color blue in the background is the ocean. Gorgeous!

We had breakfast and walked to the beach, Playa del Secreto. It was a perfect beach day with great waves for body surfing.

After lunch, we spent the afternoon at the pool...

The next day we were ready for some more sight seeing, so we headed to Tulum, the only one of the ruins (at least in this area) that is located directly on the coastline overlooking the ocean.

After Tulum, we went to Akumal, a beach we had heard had great snorkeling. Dave and I both saw a sea turtle which was very cool.

This trip was the perfect balance between relaxation and seeing/doing. And it was very fun to do with friends/family. Thanks for a great 5 days, Seth and Cari! Now, back to reality.... :))