The Cruise

Joe and I just went on the trip of a lifetime!  Before "the boys" graduated Pharmacy school we all dreamily thought it would be fun to all go on a celebratory cruise together.  This was one of those times when a good idea like that worked out.  I've decided that we can't call it the graduation celebratory cruise since we were missing 2 very important players (Jon and Andy Nuckles...not to point you out or anything...)  Since we have our kiddos we flew to NC first so Joe's sister could watch them.  Cheers to Leah for taking care of that very important detail.

Rosy's cousin buddy Brooklyn is a cutie and only 2 months younger than her.  It would have been a vacation  all on it's own just to hang out with our NC family.

Rocky and Gavin have a love/hate relationship.  This is one of those love times.  Apparently towards the end of the week there were less of these.

We were a little sad we weren't going to be celebrating Halloween with our kids but we had the chance to do some pre-Halloween trunk or treating at the church the night before we left.  From left to right: Rachael, Baby Bumblebee Brooklyn, Little Ladybug Rosy, and me.

 Rocky was "Supa man."

Joe and I took a serious challenge to get ready for this cruise.  We did a lot of sweets depriving and took many trips to the gym.  This dining table saw many and overstuffed bellies :)

 Kade and Kaylee invited their dear friends from back home, Megan and Jake to go on the cruise. Although they are not members of the Pharmacy guild... they made every experience that much more fun.  And now they are our dear friends too!  I am indebted to them for bringing their expensive camera on almost every outing.  I can imagine how inconvenient bringing one of those around can be, but your pictures are beautiful!  Thanks for doing all the work so I can reap the benefits...

This was a 5lb mango. delicious.

Joe and I are in the rainforest in Puerto Rico.

We caught an Amazon woman on camera! 

I think it's cause my dad is a plant guy, but I always have to take pictures of unique and amazing plants.  Check out the roots on this tree.

I love this picture of us all under the waterfall.

Joe and I went under this waterfall, it was a little colder than you would expect for a tropical rainforest, but definitely a highlight for the whole trip for me.  Joe's checking to see if his contacts are still in.  For anyone who hasn't put their head under a waterfall, it's like having your head inside a thunder cloud.  Total Chaos. Pure joy! 

Also in Puerto Rico we were able to visit the ruins of a fortress called, Castillo San Felipe del Morro.  I could have spent allllllll day there.  Megan and I were the first ones in so we could use the lady's room.  Here were are standing in a window a hundred feet high.  I don't know why but I think I had an indestructible feeling in San Juan and figured the workers inside wouldn't care that I was posing for a picture on a precarious ledge.  FYI they are not afraid of censoring tourists for doing silly things like this.  I love how  nervous Megan's hand is in this picture.  She knew what was coming...

Why is the focal point of the picture this lovely green stair post?

Awesome.

Grand Turk

I had been looking forward to Grand Turk since we decided to go on this cruise!  I'm soaking in my moment.  Pictures can't do the colors of that water justice. 

We rented a van to explore the 7X4 mile island.  It took a while since the speed limit on the island is only 20mph.  Donkeys literally were at every turn on this island. 

Look at the size of this man's hands! Joe caught a little crab. 

This is what it is all about.

Kade makes it a point to show off his legs every Halloween.  He never disappoints.  Halloween on a cruise ship was a first for all of us.  Joe was a mad scientist with lots of crazy scars and a lab coat over board shorts.   I was his creepy creation, a scary looking doll.  Funny thing was Joe had a scar tattoo that went the length of his neck.  He scrubbed and scrubbed but couldn't get that thing off.  The next day on St Thomas we had a kayaking adventure (no pictures since we didn't want to get the camera wet.  bummer.) but at the end of the adventure in the taxi on the way back a woman got the courage up to ask him what had happened to his neck.  She was a nurse and had been curious all day.  His tattoos were so realistic it fooled a nurse!

 Last night of the cruise.  Goodbye friends. Goodbye delicious, ridiculous amount of food.  Goodbye karaoke.  Goodbye dancing and late nights.  Goodbye limbo.  Goodbye sun and warmth.  Goodbye room.  Goodbye moon.  Goodbye cow jumping over the moon. Goodbye light and the red balloon.  Goodbye bears.  Goodbye chairs.  Goodbye kittens.  And hello mittens.  Hello clocks and hello socks.  Hello little house.  And hello mouse.  Hello comb and hello brush.  Hello nobody.  Hello mush.  Hello to the old ladies not whispering hush (at the pharmacy).  Goodbye stars and open air.  Hello noises everywhere.

Some of my favorite things in the world are pumpkin patches.  Don't know why I love them so much but I do.  Wishing my AZ girls were with me to check this one out.

It was only 44' and windy... I'm not sure Rocky has ever really felt what that feels like.  And he wasn't a fan.

Rosy on the other hand was un-phased.

 The best part was this HUGE sunflower maze! I bet it was beautiful when they were all in bloom. Rocky had a great time navigating through the maze he led us right out of it too!

Rosy is wondering where her brother went, and why is this pumpkin sitting next to her?

 On Joe's long weekend we drove out to Ontario to visit Grandma and Grandpa Weatherspoon.  We always have such a great visit with them, and this time Rocky became particularly attached to his Grandma.  Grandma help me eat, Grandma help me pee, Only Grandma can sit by me in the car, Grandma read me stories, tuck me in, walk with me, hold my hand... It was great!  Rosy and Grandpa were also best buddies :)

We have a picture of Rocky doing the same thing when he was about Rosy's age. 

We also drove down all together to Utah for about 24 hours to attend Margaret's family reunion.  Rosy kept busy in the hotel room.

A fun perk of visiting Utah impromptu was being able to call Lizzy up the day before and ask her to meet us in Salt Lake before the reunion dinner.  It only ended up being a half hour, but Rocky and Pearly picked up where they left off.

 This was my view from the back seat.  Both of my kids have only gotten one front tooth at a time. I love it! It's been around Halloween both times too, I always regretted not getting a picture of Rocky, so it made me happy to see Rosy do it too!  I call them my Jack-O-lantern babies.

Also a fantastic view.

This is one of those fun moments as a mom you are so happy to see your kids together.  Siblings are the best!

 We found a park that is nearby that just happens to have a long wooden train to play on! How awesome is that?

 Joe even kind of fit inside

There actually was no water that ever came out of this ancient water pump.  Rocky and I tried though.

Pearl's House

 A couple weeks ago I did a very brave thing. I packed the kids and the dog in the mazda (too bad the Land Rover isn't reliable enough to take on road trips, it has more than enough room for Bear dog and the kids...the compact 5 seat was well, compact. To paint a picture for you, Bear took the front seat and I had to barricade the space between his seat and the middle console or his head has been known to knock the gear shifter into neutral. no good. back to the story...) and we drove to Provo, UT to visit Pearl and Mona by way of Ontario, OR where Joe's parent's live. Bear was spending the week with his old buddy Rosco at Warren and Margaret's so Joe could join us for the following weekend in Provo by plane, and Bear wouldn't be left to fend for himself. Our overnight pop in at Warren and Margaret's was not long enough. Especially since I felt congested the night before, so I took some dayquil right before I went to bed... insomnia allllll night long. Regardless, I was determined to make it to Utah to celebrate my sister's brother in-law's wedding. We literally drove up 45min before the reception started in her in-law's backyard. Enough time to try and not look like we had not been traveling in the car for 2 days. The most amazing part of the trip was my kids were AWESOME car travelers. I was concerned about 8 and 9 hour days in the car with only the one-handed-backwards-reach to help with whatever they needed but they really did so well. Rosy didn't make a peep. Honestly.  If we thought it was cramped on the way there...Joe joined us on the weekend and we filled our 5 seater to capacity!

All the kids had a blast at the park.

 Rocky is 2months older than Ramona.

 Pearl is 4, and such a doll.

 This cute girl is always smiling.

 I thought these were the cutest pictures in their matchy matchy shirts until my mom said they looked like conjoined twins, now that is all I see when I look at it...

 Rocky's turn for a Grandpa's hat picture.

 I don't know if this is one of those things only parents think are so cute, just cause it's their kids. But Joe and I get a kick out of Rosy, every morning, and numerous times throughout the day she picks the blue chair and sits sideways just like this. I posted a while ago that she could occupy herself with these chairs going back and forth. Well the other day, she spend 45min still playing with these chairs. That just cracks me up. If it was Rocky at that age I would have been surprised if he spent 5 minutes on the chairs.

 Rosy in her new shoes looking cute!

Today an interesting series of events took place as I made dinner. Somehow, after going potty Rocky's pants didn't make it back on, and he let himself outside...

 Next time I went out there he had turned the water on and filled his rain boots...

 Then he put his feet in the boots, full of water, and tromped around...

 Lastly, he filled his rainboots with muck and mud and still tried to put them on... and his underwear ended up off and in the dirt. He is an interesting kid.

 Playing at the park today, Rosy was killin me with cuteness.

This is a terrible picture but it makes me laugh. We haven't gotten completely organized with our closet situation here, so Joe's unders are hanging out in a suitcase still. Rosy is magnetized to this suitcase and loves to get stuck in it. I couldn't get her to stay still long enough to get a good picture, but she was having the time of her life!