Fall Break

 For Fall break we headed to Cancun, Mexico with our "framily" to an all-inclusive resort. 

After dinner the first night the kids explored the Kids Club and they had some really cool activities in there. They had food, an obstacle course, mini golf, bumper cars, etc. The hotel also had a "wired lounge" with video games, arcade games, air hockey, etc. The resort had plenty of activities for the kids including a small water park and plenty of pools.

At night we checked out the shows and they were ok. My favorite was the "glow" show and the circus. The group liked the magic show the best. 

One night Max slept through the Hispanic Heritage show and I honestly am not sure how. It was so loud in there due to the dancing and music, but like I have said many times before, this kid can sleep through anything. 

Another show was a fire show on the beach and this was fun to watch. Especially since it was the night before a full moon.

We went to the Coco Bar one day to get coconut drinks. They didn't taste very good, but it was still cool to drink out of the coconut.

We had one rainy day so we spent it bowling. We let the kids bowl while we played cards and had a couple drinks. 

We spent plenty of time at all of the pools and they had a flow rider that the kids got to use. Max only did the belly boarding and it was fun to see him try something new. 

One day we went mini golfing and this was a lot of fun, but it did get hot outside and so we only made it about 12 holes. I do have to say that I am the only one who got a hole in one. 

Every night after the show, the group wanted ice cream before bed. This became a nightly tradition that everyone looked forward to. Not only did everyone get ice cream but they also snacked on macaroons. Max ate so many macaroons that week that I'm surprised he didn't turn into a macaroon. 

The kids got their hair braided in the spa and Max was excited to get his done once they confirmed that his hair was long enough. 

The beach was terrible, but we knew that before we went. They are known to have a seaweed problem and the water was brown, so I was not interested in hanging out at the beach. Even though I knew this ahead of time I was still bummed, especially once I saw how soft and silky the sand was.

The last night we were there we did the turtle release. They have a turtle sanctuary there and when the eggs hatch you can be a part of the turtle release into the ocean. We each got a baby turtle placed in our shell they gave us. Then at the count of three, we all kneeled down and let our baby turtles go. We watched as they all scurried into the ocean.

Also, on the last night, we celebrated Brian's birthday at a Brazilian steak restaurant, with a bottle of champagne, some Mayan coffee and some drinks at the bar.

Another framily vacation is in the books and I can't wait until we book our next trip together.

Breakfast, Baseball, Volunteering and Birthday Party

 We had a busy couple of weekends right before we left for our Fall break trip. We started Friday morning off with breakfast with grand friends at Max's school. This is generally with grandparents since not every kid has a grandparent or at least one in town, so you can bring a grand friend or grand buddy. 

Friday night we went to a baseball game. Of course, Max ate his way through the ballpark. 

Saturday, Max and I volunteered our time at the Phoenix Toolbox. This was done through my work and I was excited to take Max to his first volunteer event. I thought for sure he would complain the whole time, but he never did. He never whined or complained at all so I thanked him after the event. He said he was looking forward to it and was happy to participate. He wanted to see what volunteering was all about. He enjoyed it and will do it again, but next time he wants something more physical to do. Those were his words.

Saturday night we went to see Stella's performance in Newsie's. She did another great job and Max loves to watch her in plays. He's wondering when the next one is.


On Sunday, we celebrated Mona turning 8 at a local roller skating rink. I honestly didn't even know they still had these skating rinks so it was pretty fun to introduce Max to one. He first tried rollerblading and hated it, so he gave rollerskating a try and hated that too. He's just such a cautious kid that he was so afraid of falling that he just couldn't get into it. He gave up the skates and hung around to sing happy birthday to Mona.

Camping

It's been two years since we went camping so it felt really good to finally get in the woods, relax and enjoy the cooler weather. We went with the Moulder family and Max was pretty excited to go fishing with Russell. He believes they will catch fish if Russell was there and he was definitely right. The first day they caught 10 fish. Max was really excited because he caught the first fish. We ended up having a fantastic fish fry that night.

Max was really interested in watching Russell clean the fish. He wanted a front row seat right away. 

Max and Mona play really well together. It was nice to hear their laughter as they played. Mona loved the ninja course that we brought with us and the hammock. So did Sammy though. She kept trying to get in the hammock with the kids.

Popping bottles in the woods. These kids will be ready for college.

It was Sammy's first time camping and I am not sure if she really enjoyed it, besides being with the kids. It was Zoe's second time camping and I don't think she's a fan. She kept growling all day every day and we weren't sure why. 

Camping is always a good time. It was nice to get out of the 100 degree temps and into the woods where it was only 70ish degrees. The worst part of camping is coming home, cleaning up and putting everything away. It was worth it though and I look forward to next year. 

Puppy, Fall, Pool time & Art Masterpiece

 Our friends recently got a new puppy so of course Max and I were dying to go meet her. She is a red lab (I believe that's her breed) and her name is Lucy. She is absolutely adorable and a large puppy. Her paws were huge and I believe she was about 10 weeks old when we saw her. I just adored her so much that I had puppy fever, but Andy so no more dogs.

Since September hit I have been itching for Fall weather. We don't have it yet, but I though baking some pumpkin spice cookies would help us get in the Fall mood. Max did most of the baking and I was just his assistant. 

We have had some pool time lately and went out for ice cream.

I volunteered again to help teach art masterpiece in Max's class and this year I am doing it with two of my mom friends who are the moms to Max's buddies. That makes it way more fun. This month the kids learned about Claude Monet and did their own painting masterpiece by using the techniques Monet used.

Goodbye to August

 And just like that, we are in September. It's time to say goodbye to August and move slowly (Arizona slowly) into some Fall weather. Technically it won't feel like Fall here for another month or two, but until then I will just hope for some cooler weather.

August went by fast. We were busy seeing movies, hanging out in the pool, having play dates, ninja warrior and dinners out.

My friends and I finally did a wine and sushi night out. We used to do these monthly back in the day (before kids) and decided that we need to do this again. Well, here's to the first (again) monthly sushi and wine night with my ladies.


I have been promising to take Max to the Angry Crab for his own boil. Well, we finally took him. he was so excited and couldn't wait to go. He ordered the Queen crab legs with mussels and corn on the cob with a one-level of spicy garlic sauce. He loved this place and can't wait until we can go back. He just kept thanking me for taking him. He's too cute!

Max had a ninja warrior competition last weekend to see if he could move up from the white level and he passed. We are both so proud of him. He did an awesome job. He gave it 100% and he had fun doing it too. We told him on the way there that the most important thing is to try, never give up and have fun. And he did all three things. I am very proud of him!

Sammy got a new toy because I got sucked into an ad online. It keeps her busy and she loves just pulling out each carrot from the foundation. I have even put treats in each hole. Every time I put the carrots back in she just takes them right back out. It's super funny to watch. I now have carrots all over my house. Zoe could care less with this toy. She's not into toys as much these days, but definitely not one that she has to work at.