10 Year Anniversary Cruise

On July 7th, Matt and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary!!  10 years...I can hardly believe it!  We have enjoyed making so many memories together and since the kids have arrived, we haven't been able to spend much time just the two of us.  So we, along with Amos and Jess (also celebrating their 10 yrs.), decided to take a Caribbean Cruise together.  We went to Half Moon Cay, Bahamas; St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk (part of the Turk and Caicos islands) and had a wonderful time.  I did really well being away from the kids until about Thursday evening.  When we'd only been apart overnight, a 7 day cruise is a long time! :)  I loved the beaches, the food, and the sleeping in!!



Matt and I in the Bahamas



Since I got sunburned on Day 1 in the Bahamas, Jess "thoughtfully" bought these visors!



Grand Turk...the nice, touristy part of the island

 

Private island in the Bahamas!  Jess and I did Yoga on the beach (almost missed our boat!) while the guys went deep sea fishing.

 

Matt wanted to eat at an authentic restaurant.  We ate conch in Grand Turk.  It was chewy and not a whole lot of flavor.



Matt holding an upside down jellyfish.



Matt and I went kayaking in Grand Turk.

Touring an old fort in Puerto Rico



Snorkling in St. Thomas with Amos and Jess in Shipwreck Cove

Singing Karoke...



Hanging out in the piano bar

Matt and I on one of the formal nights





Our ship, the Carnival Liberty







The "Ugly" room on the cruise ship.  This is the Hot and Cold Night Club where body art was the theme!

Summertime

Not having a working USB port for my camera is killin' me!! :)  I have pictures from the beginning of summer that I haven't been able to share because I couldn't get them uploaded! AHHH!
So here is a random selection of fun things we've been up to! :)

When we went to see Cars 2 with Landon at the theater, Emmy had to have a "Nigh-Nee" shirt just like her big brother. 

We met the Davis crew at the park where Emmy played with Baby "Na".

Greyson was so helpful to push the kids

After a few tries, both kids went down by themselves.  They felt much better when Aunt Tina was at the bottom to catch them, though.

They got new bikes this summer and LOVE them!!

She sometimes wakes up from sweat at naptime and I can get her back to sleep by rocking.

Went to the Splash Pad when Uncle Nate was here to visit.

Went swimming at Matt's co-worker's pool and the kids loved it!  They even liked jumping off the diving board with floaties on!

We've made many wonderful memories this summer and hope to get a few more in before school starts! :)

Emmy's 2 yr photos and a few of the family too

Right when school got out, we had Em's pictures taken and also got some of Landon and the family.  Matt works with a very talented photographer (who also happens to be a teacher!) and she met us at the Old Bag Factory in Goshen to snap some photos of us.  She did an excellent job running around after the kids.  I couldn't believe she got that many of the kids being still!  Her blog is amazing as well at baberredbarnphoto.blogspot.com

My favorite of Emmy

My favorite of Landon

We will definitely use Heather again.  We are so happy with the pictures, and I don't think the kids even knew we were there just to take pictures.  They had so much fun running around outside!

Cars 2

We took Landon to his first movie in a movie theater, "Cars 2".  He LOVES "Cars" and is always driving his Lightning McQueen around, so we thought this would be a great choice for his first movie theater experience.  We spent a few days beforehand talking about the theater and what to expect when he got there. Gma watched Emmy because we knew she wouldn't sit still that long.  Landon was such a trooper.  He loved the big "scream" and the popcorn.  I think he ate almost the whole container by himself.  He really enjoyed the movie and we really enjoyed watching him.  The movie wasn't as "little kid-friendly" as the first one, but I still liked it.

Father's Day 2011

Our family is so blessed to have a wonderful Father.  Matt is so wonderful with the kids.  He adores them and I know they share the same feelings.  Ever since Father's Day, Landon has been saying out of the blue, "I wuv you, Daddy."  It is so precious.  One day he even said, "I wuv Daddy the best, not Mommy."  Gotta love him! :)  We had a great day celebrating all of our Fathers.  We took the Dads to BW3's for supper and then came back here for a special surprise that the kids and I made. 

 I saw the idea on Jessica's pinterest page and decided to try it out.  Here's the link http://www.bakerella.com/fast-food-fun/  With 2 2 yr olds helping, I decided to just go with the sugar cookie french fries!  They did a great job helping and it was pretty easy, once I got the hang of it.

I got a kick looking through all of the pictures with the kids and the dads.  I had a hard time finding one where all three of the subjects looked nice! :)  Happy Father's Day!

1st time at the library and camping

Last Thursday, the kids had all kinds of new adventures.  We went to the library (or "eye-bay" as Em calls it!) for toddler story time.   They did a great job listening to the story and picking out their new books.  They even got to use markers for the first time (thankfully they were washable!!).  Every Thursday morning during the summer the kids get to go and make a craft, sing, listen to a story, and interact with other 2/3 yr olds.  How fun!!
After library, we took the kids to Chain O' Lakes to go camping.  They were super excited to get to sleep in a tent and use their new princess and Lightning sleeping bags!  They did absolutely wonderful.  They loved to be outside and in the tent.  They did great with the bug spray (gotta love those mosquitoes!) and sunscreen.  They even did a great job sleeping together in the tent while Mommy and Daddy talked with the Fryes and had pudgie pies with cherries and chocolate! :)  The only down-side were some very obnoxious neighbors who decided to shout, curse, and play music until about 3 am making sleep very difficult for all of us parents.  The kids slept wonderfully, not so for us.  So all of the adults were exhausted, but the kids were up and ready to go at 7 am! :)

Playing in the tent on Thursday when it rained

Miss Curious got her hand stuck! :)

All of the kids loved to swing!

  We didn't figure it would be hot enough on Friday to swim...but it definitely was!  Check out Em's diaper!

Looks like the perfect end to a camping trip

Our first trip to the zoo

We also got to experience the zoo for the first time. Karen and Dave were babysitting Gunnar and asked if we wanted to get together to go to Potowatomi Zoo with mom and dad Even though rain was forcasted, we took a chance and went to see the animals. It turned out really nice because the zoo wasn't crowded and it didn't rain at all! The kids loved the peacocks and hated the lions. "Too loud" they kept saying. And I don't blame them, you could hear the lions roar all over the park. It was so nice to spend some time with cousin Gunnar (and the adults too!).

They make have liked the coin collector better than the animals!

Taking a ride on the train

Papa B., Landon,  Emerson, Daddy, Gunnar, and Grandpa Dave

Mema, Landon, Emerson, Mommy, Gunnar, and Grandma Karen

Sporting Steak 'N Shake hats at the restaurant