A view from the sky
Another view
So gnarly
It was weird wearing flats everyday!
More shoes
Crocs!
Good Eats
The water was the shade of my nail polish!
Patio View
H2O
Just strolling down the street and spotted this couple
I hope everyone enjoys Spring Break. I’ll be in Cancun for a week soaking up the sun (it’s 28 degrees currently in Indy–brrrr!). I’ll chat with you all soon.
XOXO,
Me
Hi, everyone! I have been doing okay. I was just a lot exhausted and overwhelmed from the year 2008 that I just needed some “me” time. I’ve missed you all! I spent seven days in beautiful Maui.
I’ll be back to posting on as regular basis here soon!
Beachcomber
Watching the sun set
So last week was spring break for us. I so needed the vacation and wish we had two weeks off instead of one. Here are some of the things we did over break…
My family arrived from Seattle Saturday evening. We helped them get settled. Everyone was stunned to see how the renters left the house. The renters removed the french doors on the master bedroom. The ceiling fan was removed from the living room and placed in the kitchen. It looked like someone ran a car through the wall in the garage. You could tell part of the wall had been replaced (they didn’t finish the repairs). All the wall socket covers were missing. The walls in all the bedrooms had huge plaster repairs from holes. The shower door was missing from the master bath. The garage door openers were also missing. My brother made a list of things that he needed to get from the hardware store. So I offered to keep my nephews for a few days so they could work on the house.
Sunday my mom and I took all the kids to see Monters vs. Aliens. Since we were next to the mall we went shopping after the movie. That eveing we ordered in dinner and played with the kids before their bedtime.
Monday my mom, sister-in-law, Kierra, and myself went to Massage Envy to get massages. If any of you have one in your city I suggest you go. I plan to sign up for their membership. It’s $49 a month. You get a 50 minute massage. Each additonal massage for the month would cost you $39. If you miss a month your massage rolls over to the next month. Anyway, since Kierra is under age we were in the same room. She loved it!
Tuesday we all went shoping again. Can you tell shopping is one of my favorite things to do besides eating!? On the way home I stopped by my brother’s to pick up Rock Band. We ate dinner and played the Wii well into the night. I started off playing the drums then I moved on to the guitar. Finally I tried out the singing part. Let me tell you, I cannot carry a tune but I got 100% singing Roxanne!
Wednesday my mom left to go back to Seattle to finish out her contract. Husband and I took the kids to Jillian’s to cosmic bowl. We had lunch there and then played some games. The kids did not move from the air hockey table. I kept suggesting the Fast and the Furious driving game. Finally I left the the kids under Husband’s watch and Kierra played with me. By the time we left everyone was worn out. The kids fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Thursday I let Kierra babysit so I could go to my hair appointment. Then I went to work at the Salon for awhile. I needed to replace some of my dwindling “Spring Break” fund. When I returned home I watched Nim’s Island with Ian and Imani.
Friday I worked at the salon part of the day. After work I took the kids to Olive Garden for dinner.
Saturday I worked at the salon again most of the day. That eveing we had family game night. We played SingStar on the Playstation 3. The game comes with two microphones. Two people can battle or sing a duet. Then one person can sing solo. Of course we all decided to battle. The best part is the game allows you to play back what you just sang. That was so funny. The very first song was Hey Ya by Outkast. Two of my friends sang this song. They were up dancing around, performing for us not even paying attention the TV screen. It was hilarious. Then we moved on to Rock Band. Husband I and let Ian and Imani stay up well past their bedtime. It was 2:20 a.m. when the last person left out house.
Sunday was chill day. Husband and Ina went to the YMCA for a basketball camp. The girls and I stayed home. I was so exhausted form the weeks activities and not looking forward to returning back to work.
So there it is…my weeks activities. Now the countdown begins for summer vacation!
We spent the weekend visiting Evan. He was supposed to have a twenty-four hour pass but it was revoked at the last minute due to aggression. However, his therapist was very understanding of the distance we traveled and gave him a ten hour pass. When we arrived we took him out to dinner. He was pretty keyed up about seeing us and was wide awake. This was unusual because typically he goes to bed very early.
The kids were especially excited to see him. Being Evan, he had gifts in hand for each of the boys. On the first night he gave them a toy motorcycle. He had also colored a picture for me.
On the ride from dinner Evan had fallen asleep in the car. While walking up the path to the center he sleepily inquired “Momma, do you see our shadows?” I smiled and acknowledged that I did see them looming ahead.
Climbing the mountain
We picked Evan up early the next morning. This time he presented each of his brothers with a coloring book. We stopped by Target to grab snacks for the cooler. Then we ate an early lunch and headed for the beaches located at the Dunes. Ethan and Evan were in awe of the sand mountains and couldn’t wait to climb them. Nicholas, an old pro, gave them pointers as they raced up Mount Baldy.
Almost at the top
It was a beautiful day for beaching. It was not too hot, the sun was shining, and the air was breezy. The water was full of waves, too. Evan was busy collecting rocks (which gave me an idea for a Christmas gift) while I buried Nicholas in the sand turning him into a merman. Ethan pretended to be a surf board while my husband sat back enjoying the scenary. Jazmine spent the weekend with my brother.
Beautiful Day
After enjoying the water for a couple hours we headed to the LightHouse Premimum Outlet Mall for a little shopping. Then we went to another beach to see the lighthouse upclose. Usually we like to walk on the big jagged rocks that border the lighthouse walk, however, due to the choppy water and high level of bacteria at this beach, we used the catwalk that is suspended above. When we reached the lighthouse I was able to take some great pictures.
Nicholas getting wiped out!
We spent the rest of our time eating elephant ears, feeding the ducks, walking the gardens, and watching the boats in the harbor. Our final stop was for dinner at Red Robin’s.
It was sad saying goodbye to Evan. To prolong the visit he talked nonstop as I signed him back into the center. I can only hope that this extended time with us gave him some motivation to hurry up and come home!
I’m back!!! We had a great time in Seattle. I have been there three times already and I have yet to see everything on my list. I was joined by my husband and Kierra, too. My mom (she is currently working in Seattle), my brother and sister-in-law were all on vacation as well. This time I was able to see more of the city than before.
Let me just say that I love to eat, therefore food was at the top of my list. I would not eat at any restaurants that we had at home. On the first night there we had Thai. My husband and Kierra liked the taste. The sweet and sour chicken I had was too spicy for my taste buds. One morning we all went to Endolyne Joe’s for brunch. I had biscuits and gravy. After eating there, I will never have biscuit’s and gravy anywhere else! For lunch one day we went to Ivar’s. I had fish and chips. The fish melted in my mouth! The seafood is so fresh in Seattle. My mom cooked a Thanksgiving meal for us one night. Our last meal out was at the Rain Forest Cafe’. If you have small children, take them. The whole restaurant looks like a jungle with interactive animals and all.
The next thing on my list was to go shopping. Seattle’s South Center Mall is so huge.Then we went downtown to Seattle Center and Pike’s Place Market . Pike’s Place is famous for the fish market. The guys sing and throw fish. It’s really fun to see in person. The very first Starbuck’s is located there as well.
Further down the street is The Seattle Center. We walked there. Did I mention that Seattle is extremely hilly? My feet hurt so bad. Anyway…at The Seattle Center there is an outdoor amusement park and the Space Needle. My husband had out his camera, clicking away when he said something that made me laugh. He said, “Hey look at the Space Noodle!” Everyone turned to look at him and we all said at once, “It’s Space Needle.” He replied, “That’s what I said.” He continued to say Space Noodle for the rest of the day. Two days later we went to the beach and there was a clear view of the Space Needle from where we were standing. My husband had his camera out, again clicking away. He took a picture of it and walked over to me and said in a proud tone”I got a good shot of the Space Noodle. (pause) Hey I finally said it right this time!” We all looked at each other and burst into laughter. He looked at us and said, “What, I did say it right!” More laughter from everyone. Needless to say that was the joke of the week…The Space Noodle!
For the next week my dear friend Rhonda and her family will be enjoying the sights of Seattle, Washington. You can look forward to reading a new post about their adventures and other ommy matters when she returns.
Our trip was a blast! I am so glad that we had the opportunity to go. The weather was awesome. It took us 8 hours to get there, but the kids handled it well. They passed the time eating, sleeping, studying the landscape, listening to their ipods, and playing ISpy with me. My husband even joined in to help us find as many different license plates as we could. We ended up spotting 24 states and 1 country.
Much to Nicholas’ dismay, once we arrived in Wisconsin, we began our trip by shopping at the the Tanger Outlet Mall. We found some real bargains. It wasn’t like a typical mall because of the open air design. Next we spent some time walking around the downtown area and got the kids a bite to eat at Houlihan’s. I wanted more local fare, so my husband and I ate at Moosejaw’s. I had a delicious cheese, beer-n-brat soup as well as an elk burger. While we ate dinner, the kids enjoyed dessert. We ended the night by taking the kids swimming at the resort pool which was full of bells and whistles.
We spent the next day at the “World’s Largest Waterpark,” Noah’s Ark. It was the ideal time to go, because we did not have to wait in any lines since school was still in session. If you can believe it, I even rode more rides than Ethan! We rode water rides with names like “Dark Voyage,” “Black Anaconda,” “Flash Flood,” “Point of No Return,” and “Bahamas Falls.” I rode about 12 rides that day. It was like nothing I’ve ever done before–but wait, I haven’t! Usually I am too prissy for those kind of things, but I was determined to have a great time and really let my hair down. Most of the time I was scared to death–but I loved it! The remainder of the day we spentsightseeing and ate dinner at “Famous Dave’s.” For dessert, the kids made their own candy at a candy shoppe. We also took a nature walk along the Wisconsin River trail. As if they did not spend enough time in the water earlier, when we returned to the resort, they wanted to go swimming again! While my husband monitored them , I sat in the hot tub and read. It was so relaxing!
Saturday morning we ate breakfast and then got ready to take a tour on the “Ducks.” We spent an hour touring the Dells via land and water. We had two “splashdowns” in Lake Delton and the Wisconsin River. The kids loved it! Ethan was especially spellbound. I think this was his “real” first vacation. After the Ducks, we had lunch at a McDonald’s that looked like a log cabin. It was really neat and fascinated Ethan. Our final bang was going to another waterpark, “The Wilderness.” It featured a large variety of wild rides. My husband and I opted to sit and watch while enjoying cool drinks in the comfort of the shade. We left just as Wisconsin was issued a tornado watch.
Our trip home took two hours longer, thanks to the traffic in Chicago. But again, the kids were real troopers. We stopped for dinner in a little town of all places called “Morocco!” I see the signs often when we drive to Michigan, but this was our first time stopping in “my’ town! Once we finally arrived home, I had my husband stop at Taco Bell so that we could try the new “Fruitista” and cool down a bit. The weather was really muggy and sticky.
The only thing missing was Evan. I really wished he would have been able to go. However, if he earns and keeps a weekend pass before summer is out, we plan to take a mini-trip to the Dunes. But this time was well spent in my efforts to bond with Ethan. I took over 150 pictures and made sure to take some with just him and I. Also when certain rides required two people, I often paired up with him. His excitement was really heartwarming and he seemed so much more relaxed than normal. When I mentioned that I couldn’t wait to get the pictures developed so that I could begin a scrapbook, he agreed. He told us that he has looked through our family vacation photo albums many times , but that this time, he would be in the pictures as well. Wow! That statement spoke volumes and caused me to think about some things.
It was a real blessing that we were able to go, have fun, and arrive home safely. Thank God!
I am so elated–school’s out which means that I don’t have to work! I need a break because I am mentally and physically exhausted. I am also in the process of getting a new laptop, which is why I have not been around lately.
On the home front, Evan finally earned a pass and we went down to visit him. We had such fun! I really miss the little one. I will be posting about our visit with him, our vacation to the Wisconsin Dells which begins tomorrow, and other happenings here shortly. Stay tuned…
Morocco's Bazaar 