Adventures with MeMe and Grand Daddy

While Jeff and I were on vacation last month, Connor and Kaitlynn were lucky enough to stay with MeMe and Grand Daddy for the week. They decided to have a week full of "adventures" to keep them busy while we were away. Every day they did something new -- a train show, local carnival rides, a trip to the Discovery Science Museum in Tyler, several trips to the park, Dairy Queen treats, the Tyler zoo, and even playdates with cousin Preslee. It's no wonder the kids were rotten when they were returned to their "rightful owners!"

Here are pictures from playtime with Preslee:








Fun rides at the local carnival:







The local train show:



Playtime at the park:









Of all the adventures, Connor decided that he had the most fun at the Discovery Science Museum in Tyler. It sounded like a Children's Museum with lots of fun hands-on activities for kids. Connor loved learning all about dinosaurs (he came home with a new obsession for all-things-dinosaur) and his favorite part was working in the television production studio, producing a cooking show. (What else?)




My parents insist that the kids were pretty good during the week they were there. Thankfully they are both great sleepers so naptime and bedtime were "sanity checks" for MeMe! They played so long and hard most days that even Connor napped. One day at rest time he even fell asleep at the door, waiting patiently to be told rest time was over.



As far as Kaitlynn goes, my dad swears that I dropped off a "sweet little girl" and he was returning a "terrible 2-year-old!" I'm sure that being spoiled rotten for 8 days straight by grandparents had nothing to do with that, right??





(I love Kaitlynn's expression in that last picture on top of the bunk bed. She had climbed up there all by herself without permission, and when Grand Daddy spotted her and told her to come down she replied, "NO!")

I'll admit, after we returned Jeff and I were both very surprised at Kaitlynn's behavior. She seemed to be a completely different kid. She was more aggressive, busier, climbing on top of EVERYTHING, more defiant, and her appearance seemed different, too -- chubbier with much longer hair. It's amazing how much they can change even in 1 week!

Overall, it was an incredible week of adventures for the kids and we couldn't be more grateful for my parents' willingness to keep them during our getaway. Don't tell my mom because she's still recovering from this trip, but we're already planning our next one! :-)

Hide and Seek

Just in case Jeff was wondering why our entryway window blinds might be a little out of alignment...






It was just a little game of hide and seek!

Proof

Do you think when Connor is older, he'll believe me when I tell him how much he used to adore his little sister?






Good thing I have proof!

Vacation Bliss

Jeff and I just returned from our week-long trip to The Bahamas. It was our long overdue honeymoon and 5-year anniversary trip all in one. To say we had a great time is a gross understatement. It was the BEST vacation ever! People keep asking us what we did while we were there and our answer is always the same: NOTHING!! And that, folks, is what a vacation is all about. It was by far the most relaxing and enjoyable vacation I can ever remember!

We took a ton of pictures while we were there, and I couldn't decide which ones to post. So, I decided to post them all! This blog is our family scrapbook so I wanted to make sure and document all the fun we had. We probably won't be taking a vacation like this for another 5 years so we'll always have these pictures and memories to look back on. So here you go, our vacation bliss in photos and captions.

First picture of the trip: Me at the airport Pappasitos restaurant enjoying a breakfast taco and a large Coke. This was photo-worthy because it was my first official day of my diet "break" and I was in heaven eating carbs again. Notice the huge smile.



After we arrived at our resort, Jeff and I posed in front of some of the resort views.




This was our first of many pictures together at our resort. The grounds were beautifully landscaped with tropical plants and flowers.



The resort had a private island that you could only access by a 5-minute boat ride. We spent our first couple days at the island enjoying the restaurant, beach, pool, swim-up bar, and outdoor spa.







In this picture, Jeff is standing on the edge of the island with our main resort grounds off in the distance. It was really neat being at the island -- kind of like a secluded little getaway away from everything else.



On our first day at the island, Jeff noticed that the swim-up bar had a posted list of their speciality drinks. He decided he was going to drink the entire list in 1 day, which was 11 different drinks. Needless to say, he was done for the day.



Each morning before breakfast, Jeff and I went to the fitness center to work out in hopes of minimizing the damage on the scale. I am not someone who typically enjoys treadmills or gyms, but who wouldn't love this view??



Each night during our stay, we had reservations at a different restaurant at the resort. It was fun to try different foods, as well as dressing up a little after hanging out in our swimsuits all day. I always made Jeff take our picture so I could have one in all my different outfits. :-)







Before our trip, when I told people that we were going to The Bahamas they would immediately ask, "Oh, are you staying at the Atlantis?" I had never even heard of the Atlantis before, but it is this HUGE resort in The Bahamas on a private island with an enormous waterpark and tons of other amenities. Jeff and I decided to take a day trip to the Atlantis to see what all the fuss was about. It was really nice, but it was PACKED with families, teenagers, and kids. After being at our quiet couples-only resort, we weren't too fond of the crowds and kids. We enjoyed seeing the Atlantis and surrounding area, but we were happy to get back to our hotel!





Another day, Jeff and I took a city bus into the downtown market area. They had rows and rows of local merchants selling all kinds of homemade crafts.




Despite the daily exercise, I gained about 10 pounds during our week away. No joke. I was eating everything in sight, especially desserts. On most nights, I ate enough dessert for both of us. I was busting out of my clothes, but it was so yummy!!



On our last night, we took the boat back to the private island for a romantic dinner at the restaurant there. We walked the beach and just tried to savor our last evening with each other and the incredible views. It was such an amazing vacation, I think we pinched ourselves the entire time we were there to make sure we weren't dreaming!