The Day Before the Cruise

We went on our first cruise last month over Spring Break week. It was an awesome, unforgettable experience! I'll be doing a number of posts about it over the next few weeks. I'm a big fan of Disney Cruise Line now and I'm looking forward to sharing all of the reasons why! But first I'm going to start with the day before the cruise, which was Friday, March 15th. We flew to Orlando, Florida that morning even though the cruise didn't start until the next day. We wanted to play it safe in case of flight problems or lost luggage or anything like that. The less stress, the better!

Here are the boys at the airport in Milwaukee just before we got on the plane.

Sam did pretty well during the flight. Thank goodness for the iPad!

And this is at the airport in Orlando. We made it!

We had the perfect place to stay that day and night, at a Marriott resort that we stayed at three years ago when we went to the Disney parks. It's part of our timeshare network. (In the future when we return to Orlando to go to the Disney parks I don't think we'll stay there because we missed out on the benefits of staying at one of the Disney hotels, like early access to the parks. But this is a good place to stay for all of the other things in the Orlando area.) It was neat to be back there after three years. John was a 5-year-old preschooler and Sam was a 7-month-old baby when we were last there.

Here we were in April 2010 

Look at us now! 

The resort has great pools and waterpark-like features. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon!

The hot tub is always a popular place for us to hang out.

John got to hold a baby alligator!

The kids liked the little arcade, especially riding on the motorcycles. 

My favorite thing? Sam took a late-afternoon nap so Peter stayed with the boys in the room and ordered take-out for their dinner while I dined alfresco and had Hawaiian Chicken, one of my favorite meals. Then I went down to the dock area and read my book for a little while. So peaceful and nice to have some alone time! 

On Saturday morning we had some time before we had to leave for Port Canaveral to get on the ship, so we took a nice little walk around the resort for old times' sake. 

And my personal favorite...Sam the mischievous little leprechaun!

It was the perfect place to stay before we embarked on the real adventure. We were able to leave for the cruise relaxed and well-rested. The next time we go on a cruise I hope we'll start it this way again!

Next up: Setting sail aboard the Disney Fantasy!

Five Things for Friday

For this post I decided to write the best and worst things that happened to me each day this week, starting with Sunday and ending with Thursday (yesterday). Consider it to be some yin and some yang for your day. I think it's nice to reflect each day on what went well and what didn't. (Unless you've had a really crappy day. Then just go to bed and hope for better the next day!)

1. Sunday

The best things: Peter surprised me with a lovely Easter basket full of delicious gourmet chocolates that he picked out as well as two sweet cards. We also had the missionaries over for dinner and they bring such a nice spirit into our home.

Sea salt, caramel, and dark chocolate: yeah baby!

The worst: Sam woke me up at 4:30 a.m.!!! And I didn't really get back to sleep after that. It didn't help that I went to bed late the night before. So I felt really tired the whole day.

2. Monday

The best thing: Sam started swim lessons for the first time, and it went so much better than I thought it would. I was pretty sure that he was going to scream and cry and fight being in the pool, but he didn't. He hung on to his teacher for dear life, but he cooperated and by the end of his lesson he was letting her pull him along as he kicked his feet. I was amazed!

I took this picture from afar with my phone--that's Sam calmly being held by his teacher.  Yay!

The worst thing: I found out that a family who we are very good friends with is going to be moving this summer.

3. Tuesday 

(I'm flipping around the order for this one)

The worst thing: My father left to return to Utah. He'd been visiting for a few days, and once he was gone I missed his company and his help with the kids.

The best thing: My father left to return to Utah. Now I can eat and drink whatever I want in peace! Like the aforementioned Easter candy. And drinking milk every so often, and many other things that he considers poisonous to the body. (My family and those who know my dad know what I mean. He's a nutrition-and-health fanatic, and he's not shy about it!)

4. Wednesday

The best things: The kids played outside in the backyard after dinner for the first time in months! And I got these bright and cheerful Gerbera daisies at the Co-op to brighten up the kitchen windowsill.

The worst thing: This was a pretty good day so I'm trying to come up with the worst thing about today. You know it's a good day when you can't think of anything too bad to complain about. I guess the thing I would have changed was the weather. It was warmer (higher 50s) but still not warm enough for me (70s and 80s is my favorite temperature range).

5. Thursday

The best thing: I went to John's spring musical program at school in the morning. It was so nice. And it touched my heart that he stopped to give me a hug on his way up to the stage. I will cherish him doing things like that for as long as it lasts and beyond. :-)

The worst thing: Our landscaping company cut down a tree in the front yard that I liked. They talked about this tree earlier in the week with me and I thought they were just going to trim it and shape it, but apparently I misunderstood them because they cut the whole thing down. Tree murderers!

So those were the best and worst things about my week. Overall I'd say it was a pretty good one! I'm really looking forward to watching all four sessions of General Conference this weekend. It truly is one of my favorite weekends of the year. I hope you have a good weekend full of good things!

Tulip Time!

Springtime equals tulips. Indoor tulips because it's still cold outside. So here they are! Aren't they pretty? 

Tulips are a nice and simple way to perk things up, from the room they're in to how they can affect one's mood. 

I love how they interact with sunlight, leaning toward it and basking in its glow. 

They illuminate this part of the room when the sun isn't streaming in, having retained and internalized the sunlight, which helps them to grow strong and be vibrant and beautiful. It's a good reminder that the sun is still there even when it doesn't seem to be. There's a good analogy to life in there somewhere, isn't there? 

I hope you enjoy their meaningful beauty as much as I do!

It's April!

Wow. What an original and creative blog post title that was. I'm pretty tired as I'm writing this, so please forgive the somewhat banal tone of this post. I'm so glad that it's April! March was a busy and very unusual month for us. It was full of wonderful things--John's birthday and baptism, our parents visiting, our first cruise, Easter--but I'm ready to get back to normal life now, so thank you April for (hopefully) bringing that back in the coming weeks. Here's what else I'm looking forward to this month: General Conference, the arrival of spring (for real this month. Come on, spring!) with its warmer temperatures and blooming buds, spring-cleaning the house, and getting some home improvement projects done. I'm looking forward to it all, even the spring-cleaning. What's wrong with me anyway?! It must be my overtired mind and my inner yearning for life to get back to normal.

I wanted to write something for an April Fool's Joke for anyone reading this today but I haven't been able to come up with anything good or clever enough, which is further evidence of my brain drain. Sometimes when I write these blog posts the words come flowing out and I have no problem coming up with what I want to say, and other times, like right now, I have serious writer's block and no creativity. Plus I watched Les Miserables over the weekend and I can't get the songs and music out of my head, and that makes it hard for my thoughts to, uh, congeal properly or whatever. (See?) So I guess this is where I'll end this post, except to say...{insert almost-believable "joke" here, whichever you'd like: We're moving back to the Northeast!; I'm pregnant--with twins!; I'm getting my hair cut into a super-short pixie cut!...Sorry, that's all I've got!}.

The Boston Temple

Last summer I went to the Boston Temple. It's a very special place to me because that's where I got married, and in the years before that happened, I was there for the announcement that it was going to be built, for its construction, and for the open house. It's always a wonderful place to return to, and the grounds are so pretty and peaceful, as is the interior. I try to go at least once a year when I'm back East.

If only it had been this sunny and nice out on my wedding day! 

 

(Click here if you're interested in some frequently asked questions about Mormon temples.)

It's always so nice to be back there again. In a way, it feels like coming home. 

Fourth of July Fun

My mom and my sons in Old Navy's iconic Fourth of July t-shirts. Cute! 

I posted last week about the beautiful sunset that I witnessed last year on the Fourth of July in Rhode Island when we were at my sister Elizabeth's house. Here's the rest of my documentation of that fun day. Elizabeth's family is so lucky to live just a short walk to the beach!

Check out the fireworks barge, gearing up for action for that night!

The beautiful historic town of Newport is just up the coast from here. 

Boys exploring...

  John found a random flip-flop in the water and felt pretty triumphant about that. 

Me, my sisters, and my mother.

It was a great place to spend the holiday! I wonder where we'll be spending the Fourth this year? (Hint, hint Elizabeth. I know you're reading this!)

Five Things for Friday: Five Photos from February

1. Sam is doing really well with potty-training. Here he is with one of the rewards he got by earning five stars for staying dry for five days.

Now we just need to get him to go #2 in the potty. I think it's time to up the ante and make going #2 in the potty a required part of earning a star each day. Time to conquer the poop! (I didn't want to write #2 again. Oops, I just did!)

2. I spend entirely too much time trying to keep this room clean and organized--and that's with only cleaning it once a week. It only looks like this for a few hours after I clean it while the kids are both at school. I have developed a love-hate relationship with the playroom, but it's been a little stronger on the "hate" side lately!

Last week I'd had enough of the mess and I put all of the play-kitchen food and dishes into a box and hid it away, along with a few other things that I'm tired of seeing scattered all over the floor. Yesterday I boxed up more toys that I don't think the kids will even notice are gone. I see a big playroom clean-out and re-organization looming in my future. Yay! (said only with a slight dose of sarcasm)

3. Remember how I said I was going to get a new camera because my Canon DSLR just wasn't cutting it anymore? Well, I did get a new one, and I like it a lot, but I don't really know how to fully use it yet. I wish they'd make excellent-quality compact DSLR cameras for dummies that were as easy to use as an old-fashioned point-and-shoot camera. That would be perfect for me! In any case, this is the first picture I took with my new camera. I was sitting on the family room couch looking through the manual and trying to figure it out.

4. This has been the view out of our kitchen window this winter. It's pretty and it reminds me of New England because of the trees. But it's time for the snow to melt and turn into mud and for the budding greens of spring to show themselves! The boys and I have cabin fever!

5. Today is this boy's 8th birthday.

And tomorrow is his baptism. It's hard for me to believe that John is eight now. My feelings on the matter and about John are very deep and I'm not even going to attempt a blog post about it, so I'll just say that we love him so much, that having him as our son has been and will continue to be a huge learning and growing experience, and we're so thankful that he's the very special part of our family that he is!

Fourth of July Sunset

Last week I did a post about a winter sunset; today I'm doing one about a fantastic sunset I captured last year on the Fourth of July. We were in Rhode Island at my sister's house, which is right near the ocean shore on one side and a big boat dock on the other. I was so impressed by the beauty of the sunset over the water that evening. 

  

 

I think this sunset was even more beautiful than the fireworks that filled up the sky a few hours later!

Things I'm Looking Forward to in March

In keeping with the fun, happy/hoppy nature of March and springtime, these bullet points are littered with exclamation marks. (I mean, " ! ")

• John turns eight on the eighth! My parents and Peter's parents are coming out to visit for the weekend to see him get baptized. It should be a very special and fun weekend!

• The start of spring, with warmer temperatures (hopefully!), buds beginning to appear, and the cheerful tweeting of birds--one of my favorite sounds! 

• St. Patrick's Day, on which lots of people wear my favorite color...green! (Kind of funny that it's highlighted in blue!)

• Spring Break! We'll be going on our first cruise! We're going to spend a week in the Caribbean aboard the Disney Fantasy with stops in the Cayman Islands, Mexico, and Castaway Cay in the Bahamas. We can't wait! I live for tropical vacations and we haven't taken one in almost four years!

• Easter! 

• Reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer and then going to see the movie, which comes out on March 29th. One of my favorite things to do is to read a book and then see the movie. Books are usually a lot better than their movies, but it's fun to see how others have interpreted the story, and to see it on the screen and not just in my mind.

• Seeing the movie Admission, which comes out on March 22nd. I read the book a few years ago and I really liked the story, partly because one of my dream jobs is to be an admissions officer--at an Ivy League university no less!

• The new season of one of my favorite new TV shows, Revolution. It starts again on March 25th!

So March should be a busy, fun month, ranging from the very special (John's birthday and baptism, and Easter) to the very fun (the cruise) to the very everyday (books, TV, movies, and nature). It should be a great month! (!!!)

Five Things for Friday

1. Last weekend was awesome! I flew to Massachusetts to go to my good friend from high-school's wedding. It was a nice break, and it was a treat to be able to sleep in with no one to take care of but myself. I got to see both of my brothers and both of my sisters (a rare feat for a single weekend!), both of my adorable nephews, and my mom.

I love my nephews! Shane, on the right, wouldn't let anyone other than Elizabeth (his mom; my sister) hold him and he screeched in protest whenever I tried. But I will win him over this summer, so watch out, Shane!

I was very well-fed that weekend with all kinds of good food, from lobster tail, beef tenderloin, and clam chowder at the wedding to my favorite home-cooked beef enchiladas made by my mom to fluffy pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. (Insert fun food picture here, which I didn't take.)

Amy's wedding was one of the nicest that I've ever attended. Plus she looked absolutely stunning. It was so nice to see her again and also to see my good friend Stacey, who was a bridesmaid. It was a fabulous wedding and a fabulous weekend! 

Amy looks glamorous and beautiful, and Stacey does too. In contrast to them, I look like the lady's maid. Ha ha!

2. That fabulous weekend was followed by a particularly horrible Monday. There was no school that day and the kids were cagey from being home for days and Sam was incredibly temperamental (still mad at me for leaving?) and I was in a bad mood and was really tired because I got home late on Sunday night and didn't sleep well. It was such a bad day. Peter took pity on me and brought me home these beautiful striped red roses that evening, which improved my mood a bit (that, and the fact that the kids were going to bed). I didn't deserve roses that day, but it was nice to get them!

3. Speaking of gifts from Peter, he got me these absolutely delicious gourmet dark-chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day. I ate them all in less than a day. I probably could have eaten them all in an hour, but I restrained myself. I almost bought some more this week because I was craving them, but the $15 shipping charge turned me off. Maybe for Mother's Day. Or Easter; that comes way sooner this year!

4. And speaking of Valentine's Day, my kids finally had cute, crafty valentines to give out with treats in them (thank you Pinterest!). John was very happy about this! I was too. Those gummy bears were good!

5. I took Sam to the library this week. I love this little house made out of books. So does he!

 

I hope you have a great weekend!