Rock and Roll

We all spent the weekend Rockin' out.  Dave and I (pictured here with our neighbor/friend, Lauren) were invited to an 80's themed birthday party for another neighbor/friend.  So, we all got dressed up 80's and I put on my best Sandra Dee pose.

And Lacey spent all weekend performing in her school's Mini Rock and Roll Revival, the 8th year her school has done this show.  They have been practicing for months.  Here she is with her cast-mates getting ready to go out for her first number, In the Navy.

Lacey and one of her besties, Ava

Getting her hula on for her next number, The Tide is High.

Singing for Sailing

And her final number, aside from the Finale, Surfin' Safari.

Lacey and her buddy Keelie

Posing with her tote full of clothes and props

She had so much fun performing in this show and we had so much fun watching her perform!

Farming in the Rain

Ella's pre-school class had a field trip to Clark's Eliok Farm on Tuesday.  Of course, Murphy's Law that the one day of the whole week where it was cold and rainy all day was Tuesday!

We went on a hayride

And we got to hold a baby goat that was just born a few days ago.

And Ella got to feed the goats.

And pet an Emu (which I learned is the 2nd largest bird in the world; the first being the ostrich).

And a rabbit.

And then we got to wander around the farm exploring the Nursery-Rhyme-themed pasture.

Look at those for boding clouds..... despite them, we all had a great time with the animals and attractions with this group of cuties!  Can't believe my baby girl only has 3 weeks left of pre-school.  I will miss pre-school.  I'm a big fan.

CBS News Interview

We got back in town Tuesday, then I worked all day Wednesday and Thursday, so I was looking forward to my day off on Friday.  But that morning, I got a call from Medstar's (the company that owns my hospital as well as many other hospitals in the area) Public Relations person asking me if I could speak to the media about a new study that had just come out.  I literally had just finished reading about the study on CNN's website.  However, I  declined stating that I wasn't working that day.  She responded, "That's okay, I can send them to your house."  An hour and a half later, I was sitting at my kitchen table with a CBS news team.

Here is the link to the interview:

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/04/21/diet-soda-dementia/

And then later that night, Dave took Tanner and his friend Owen to the O's/Red Sox game.  Go O's!

While Dave and Tanner were at the O's game, Lacey and I had a Mother/Daughter Date night with her Activity Days Group.  It was a Hawaii-themed Pajama party.  Very fun!

The girls

And the girls with their awesome leaders, Jeanene Waite and Alicia Cahoon.

And then Saturday morning, Dave and Tanner left with T's Scout troop for their Spring Campout.  But alas, Dave's phone died, so pics from that.  They just got back this afternoon.  AND Riley also had her very first lacrosse game of her life.  But I forgot to take pics of that too!  It's been a busy, crazy, fun weekend!

Easter, Caribbean Style

I'm fairly certain this is our first Easter away from home.  The kids woke up and had an Easter Egg hunt in our place.

And then we went outside to participate in the resort-sponsored Easter Egg hunts.  Riley and Ella's age group was first.

Going through their spoils

Next was Lacey and Tanner's age group.  There were so many kids that neither of them found many eggs.

But they still had fun looking!

And finally, Dave and I had the Adult Egg Hunt.  And lucky me, I found a prize egg!

And we finished the evening enjoying a delicious Mexican dinner overlooking the Square.

A non-traditional Easter, for sure.  But we all had a great day enjoying family time and Easter festivities on our last full day in Aruba.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

I was hoping to be able to take advantage of my scuba cert again on this trip...

And, as luck would have it, my neighbor Dan who was also spending Spring Break in Aruba with his family is also certified and said he was up for a dive, so off we went!

We decided to dive the Antilla, which was my first wreck dive, since my other dives were just around coral reefs.  

Here is the Antilla, before it sank. It was a German ship that was sunk by its own crew during WWII to avoid enemy capture.

It is the largest shipwreck dive in the Caribbean.  It is 400 feet long and much of it is intact.  In addition to the ship, we also saw tons of fish.  It was very cool!  It also ended up being my first "real life" sharing air experience.  Dan ran out of air, so I had to share my tank with him and ascend as soon as it was safe to do so.  So, lots of new experiences!

In addition to the Antilla, we did a second dive, which was also a wreck, the Pedernales, which is the remains of a torpedoed oil tanker. Part of the tanker was taken and fitted onto another vessel and used during the Normandy invasion.  In addition to TONS of fish and lots of huge schools of fish, which was really cool, we also saw a sea turtle, which was fun.

I got back around lunch time, and then Dave and Lacey headed out with Dan and his girls on the Jolly Pirate, a boat that took them out to some snorkeling sights, including the Antilla.

And Bonus:  The boat had a rope swing!

Lacey and her two buddies, Keelie and Kelsey

And then that night, we got our families together and had dinner on the beach at a place called Passions.  It was AWESOME.  I was hesitant to come to a place like this with the kids because it's a nice restaurant, but it exceeded my expectations.

We took our shoes off, dug our feet in the sand and ate our dinner with views like this.

And this.

And decided to celebrate Dave's birthday a couple weeks early because, well, why not!

And then we said good-bye to our friends who were leaving the next day.

Yes, Aruba, we do indeed love you!