Monday

Sunday, after a great Mother's Day meeting a Church, we brought the kids home, gave them a quick lunch, and got them down for naps. We quickly finished packing, loaded up the car, and was on the road! The silence was surprising during the car ride down! No kids to hand snacks to, no dirty diapers, no crying or yelling. Just peace and quiet, music and books, conversation and naps. And the ironic part is, we stopped more just us two than we do with the kids, but made it in quicker time! How does that work? I read, slept and had a great uninterrupted conversation with Ryan. I was feeling pretty guilty for having my mom and my sister travel all the way out to Oklahoma, spend a week watching my crazy kids! But Ryan assured me that all was great, and we needed this time for us, and I needed this time to relax. So I gave in, decided to be a little selfish, and take advantage of what has been given me.

We stayed with Ryan's cousins Sunday night. It was great fun, and YUMMY food! After a fun morning with Alona, we made our way to Galveston and got on the ship without any problems. And we are staying in the sae room as last year! M132. My first mission getting back on the ship:

Soft Serve Chocolate Icecream Cone!!!

We began the week long food gorge, and enjoyed the welcome show of cheesy music and dancing. We are so happy to have two other couples on board to party with us!

Honestly, I was so excited to head back to our room and just RELAX! And we had two towel seals waiting for us!

Is this bathrobe really, "One size fits all?" Although it swallowed me, I loved lounging in it. We read, fell asleep, and STAYED asleep untl 8:30am the next morning! We don't have any windows in our room, which was a HUGE blessing. The lack of sunlight allowed me to sleep until I was ready to wake up! And I couldn't believe it was at 8:30am. Cruise vacation off to a GREAT start!

Packing

The kids were definitely apart of every part of us going on the cruise. I put Brooklyn in the suitecase to keep her occupied and safe while I packed and organized for our cruise. Cannon soon joined, and they enjoyed playing together. Such good kids, and I did miss them on the cruise!

Let's try this again!

Last year we attempted a cruise to Cozumel and Progresso, Mexico. That darn swine flu prevented us from docking, which means we spent 5 days floating the Gulf! We still had a great time, which you can see HERE. Thankfully Carnival is giving us a second chance to get into Mexico! (Half price this time!) We are leaving our kids in the capable and loving hands of my mom and sister. I am very excited to sit on the beach, sleep, eat yummy food I didn't have to cook or do dishes for, enjoy friendly company, read some books, swim in the ocean, only to name a few!

Need a feel good cry?

We made a quick trip to Austin, Texas this past weekend. And it was PACKED full with fun stuff. Friday night, we arrived around 6:30, and were out the door by 7:30pm for dinner at our new favorite Mexican restaurant, Verde's. Too bad we have to travel 6+ hours to get there! Then, after dinner we watched Eric eat 1/2 a tub (24.8 oz to be exact) of frozen yogurt at one of those trendy spots where you build it and pay per ounce. Saturday, we woke up bright and early for Lauren's soccer game.

These two crazy boys kept us on our toes! When we showed up on their doorstep Friday night, and Cannon and Brandt saw each other, they just started laughing and jumping up and down, and took off into the house to play! It was so funny!

Then, we went to a ward party, came home for naps and a quick dinner. And on to the main reason we came to Austin. Our good friends from college have a daughter who is in remission from brain cancer, and SHE'S TWO! They had a 5K fundraiser for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, and we wanted to be there!

Eric and Ryan turned this meaningful fundraiser into the "fastest brother competition". It should be obvious who won!

Ryan, Wendy, Eric and Cecily all ran! Wendy killed everyone in the 1 mile race, and the boys did a great job in the 5K (Ryan beating the yogurt bloated brother, Eric!) and Cecily ran an impressive 5K also!

Here's Lila, the Survivor, running in the race with her grandpa!

Here she is crossing the finish line with her parents and big brother, who also ran!

Cecily making it across the finish line!

The old college gang. We look the same, right!?!

I couldn't explain to Cannon that the chocolate chip cookies, donuts, bagels, bananas and water, were for the runners! Well, it kept him happy!

Who looks more worn out?

After the race, it was BED TIME! Everyone was exhausted, and filthy! Especially our crazy boys.

It was a great trip! (Although we could have done without Brenna beginning her stomach bug until after we arrived home. Instead, we filled several Ziploc bags in the speedy 6 hour (should be 7) drive home! Yet, definitely glad we went!

There's no place like home!

We have had a GREAT weekend in Austin, with Ryan's brother and fam. I will post pictures later. But when your 9 month old decides to wake up around midnight, and stay awake for hours, home sounds so desirable! When you are trying to keep your fussy baby quiet so not only your hubby who has to drive home, but the 8 other people in the house don't wake up, it can wear on you! When you have run out of pajamas for you and the baby, because she has thrown up on all of them, home sounds appealing. I am hoping it is just a bad combination of her teeth coming in, being off schedule in an unfamiliar environment, and tired from a long day. Hoping it is not an oncoming sickness that will be passed around the family. Especially since we are leaving for our cruise in 7 days! Anyway, just thought I'd pass the time with blog surfing in between my attempts at getting her back to sleep. Good night, y'all! (I am in Texas!)

Monkey Man

I love this little man!

Using the term "a handful" in describing Cannon is an understatement! He is physically exhausting. Climbing. Running. Jumping. Spinning. Digging. Hiding. Did you notice I used verbs in describing Cannon? He is a VERB personified. That was this past weekend. Sunday evening, we are at our in-laws, and he had climbed up the hill and was just sitting up there. I climbed my way up there, listening to him singing "Twinkle, Twinkle". Once up there, he told me "I sing Twinkle to moon!" He then asked me to sing to the moon. So I laid down next to him, and sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to the moon. When I was done, he leaned down and kissed me, and whispered, "Nigh' Nigh" Then walked down the hill. It was so sweet! I just laid there basking in the cool air and Cannon's gentleness! When I finally made my way down the hill to meet him, he said "You woke up!" I love this little monkey man.