Easter Eggstravaganza 2014!

Easter was super fun this year. We had to split it into 2 weeks, because Grandma and Grandpa Judson mistakenly booked a vacation over Easter. Oops! Oh well, double the fun! 

We started with an egg hunt and Easter dinner at Grandma's a week before Easter. Ham and cheesy potatoes, yum!! The egg hunt seems to get bigger every year... and the kids know it! The competition is getting fierce! We allow the little ones (only Taylee and Hunter now), to take a 1 minute head start on the big kids. Much to Kenzie's chagrin! Turns out they needed more than one minute head start. Kenzie more than tripled their egg totals! Taylee and Kenzie have the same spunky little personality. Uh oh!

Hunter, showing off the darling Skateboarding Bunny Shelly made from Peeps, Nutter Butters, Starburst, and Lifesavers. Cute, right?!

The BIG kids, waiting out their one minute sentence. We are just sooo mean!

Cody, on a mission!

Grandma's poor flower beds suffered some damage. Ooops! Sorry Grandma!

Taylee with one of her prizes!

 A week later came Easter weekend.  Two egg hunts, some Egg Decorating, and a visit from the big bunny were in store for us!

I worked the Friday night before Easter, so Kent took Taylee to an egg hunt that Saturday morning while I was sleeping. What a good dad! I can still remember him taking Skyler to the same community egg hunt when he was little. That afternoon Nana, Poppi, and I were able to join the party for another egg hunt. This one sponsored by Chick-Fil-A. I was really hoping for some coupons in those eggs, but no go. Bummer.

Madness!

Eggstravaganza!

We made a little pit-stop at Kneaders for an Easter Cookie while we had our tires rotated, then headed home to decorate Easter Eggs. 

Analyzing her prospects

Pink! Her favorite color!

Little Miss Sassy Pants! This mean face has become very near and not so dear to our hearts. Taylee has been a little ornery lately, and has been all about defiance. Oh boy, we could be in trouble with this girl!!

F is for Fun Field Trips!

During March and April, Taylee's preschool had a couple of fun (and not so educational) field trips. Although we love learning about new things, getting out and having fun with classmates is awesome too!

In March we went to the Aquatic Center for some swimming and water play. This is the same pool where Taylee takes swimming lessons, so she was pretty comfortable there. She had a blast playing with her best friend Abby, and Abby's sister Hannah.

Taylee and the darling little Abby

 April brought us to the Family Fun Center, where they have bowling, arcade games, and bouncy houses.  Again, great fun was had with Abby! My photos from the bowling activity turned out fine. The pictures in the bouncy house... well, not so much. :0)

Taylee and Abby

Taylee and her other Bestie Aliza

Lucky 14!

Kent and I celebrated 14 years of togetherness last week! Yay us! We snuck out for a movie on Saturday (we finally saw Gravity!), then enjoyed dinner at Sonora Grill with Taylee, Nana, and Poppi. Yum! We were excited to share the fun of chocolate fondue with Taylee that night. She was definitely a fan!!



Rockin' Ever After

Taylee got to experience her first Disney on Ice show last weekend! I'm glad we waited for this particular Disney on Ice, as it was "the one with all the princesses." Basically, they did a condensed version of Little Mermaid, Tangled, Brave, and Beauty and the Beast.  She loved it!!
We actually had to refer to it as IceCapades (as it was called when I was a child), because she kept getting mixed up and thinking we were going to Disneyland, which is not happening until June. I guess that is what happens in a four year old brain when we keep talking Disney this and Disney that. She wanted to pack a suitcase to fly to Disney on Ice. Ooops!
I anticipated that many of the children would be dressed like princesses for the show, so I told her she could dress like a princess. She still complains frequently that her clothes are "bothering" her, so while she wanted to wear a princess dress, she didn't want to wear her Cinderella or Anna dresses, which apparently are not comfortable. She thinks this dress is super fabulous, as it allows her to be both comfy and feel like a princess... Silly girl!

Pretty Princess!

Too busy telling us her stories to stop for a photo op!

Mexico 2014 Part Four

 Our last full day in Mexico was all about relaxation! We slept in, ate a leisurely breakfast, and headed for the pool. We spent the whole day entertained by the entertainment staff at the pool, and the poolside bar.

I was engrossed in a book that Amber lent me, so I spent a good portion of the day with my nose buried in my book. 

Mark Chillaxin'

 We ended our trip on a great note, with our best meal of the trip, at Zen, the resort's Hibachi Restaurant. Yummy!

Sun Toasted and Happy!

 

Mexico 2014 Part Three

Our third day of vacation in Mexico was a busy one. And expensive to boot! We all went to Mexico a little shorthanded in the cash department, so (to our chagrin), we were forced to use a Mexican ATM.  Eeeek! We learned an important lesson that day. When staying at an all inclusive resort, don't leave the resort! :0)

We all hopped in a taxi that morning and headed for the ancient Mayan Ruins of Tulum. We stopped just outside the EcoPark and grabbed some drinks at a little roadside bar, and made friends with "Charlie Brown." He was full of interesting tidbits and folklore. Eventually we made our way in to see the ruins. They were pretty darn cool. I had seen them once before, when I was 17, but it's amazing how different your perspective is as an adult. Kent and I hiked down to the beautiful beach at Tulum. Totally worth the walk. 

Once we had had enough of the heat and humidity, we hightailed it out of the park and back to Charlie's bar.  This time Charlie saw us coming and totally swindled us for our beers, pina colada, and nachos. Guess we forgot we were in Mexico and everything is negotiable! Another lesson learned. 

We left feeling a little jaded, and bartered the cost of our taxi waaay down. We were heading to swim in a cenote, similar to an underwater fresh water cave. Way cool! Our taxi drivers were kind enough to take us there, wait for us to finish our swimming outing, and drive us to our hotel. Very much appreciated considering the Cenote was waaay out in the middle of the jungle!

We got back to the hotel feeling hungry after only eating our overpriced nachos, so we enjoyed cocktails and appetizers before showering for dinner. Even so, we were all working on empty stomach's, so we may have gotten a little rowdy drinking our happy hour cocktails before dinner. But isn't that why you go to Mexico?!  We moved our party down to El Toro (the steakhouse), and enjoyed kamikaze's, and mediocre steaks... After dinner we danced the night away in the martini bar on the beach. So fun!

Charlie's Specialty- Corona!

Ladies of the Fedora!

Tulum!

The Beautiful Beach Overlook at Tulum

Denise fell in love with this darling monkey! And he felt the same!

Kent got sick of walking. Luckily we had a big guy like Daniel to carry him!

Mark's favorite activity

Classin' it up Mexico style!

Swimming in the Cenote!

Denise, double-fisting her water and a kamikaze!

Rocking El Toro!

Mexico 2014 Part Two

Ready to hit the town!

We went exploring on our second day in Mexico, and checked out downtown "Playa." Cute little town, that has grown tremendously since I was last there in 1997. Okay, so that was a looong time ago. It doesn't feel like that long though! We wandered the tourist district, stopped at a few different bars and shops, and had a yummy lunch at .... some place whose name I can't even remember! Bummer. But they did make us fresh guacamole tableside, and throw sombreros on our heads. Then try to talk us into buying their photos of ourselves wearing sombreros. Boo. We thought we found a cute little traditional Mexican restaurant. Guess it was just another tourist trap! 

This bar had yummy drinks, and Awesome swing chairs!

Margaritaville!

Touristas, right?! Glad we got our own free pix!

After our fab day out on the town, we headed back to the resort for some R & R. We found this amazing hot (er, warm) tub, way out on the perimeter of the resort, overlooking the ocean and lagoon. Way cool. We enjoyed some cocktails and conversation before dinner.

Caught this pretty lady in the lagoon!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Ipanema, the Brazilian/Rodizio style grill. Soo yummy! One of my favorite meals on the trip!

Mexico 2014 Part One

We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to return to Mexico in February for a little warm weather winter getaway. This year we headed south of Cancun, to Playa Del Carmen. Once again, we joined Mark and Amber for the trip, and we were joined this year by Daniel and Denise. What a fun group!

Our arrival was rather harried, with a major snafu at the Cancun Airport. We are still not sure what exactly happened, but it took us almost four hours from the time our flight landed to get through Customs and get our bags to head for our hotel. It was actually a bit frightening, with hundreds and hundreds of frustrated and angry people packed into a small space, and no way out! I felt like we were one step away from a riot! Anyhow, by the time we made it through the airport and took our hour trip to the resort, it was already 8 pm when we checked in.  We were a little worried about what we would find at the resort, as the reviews had been a little sketchy, with lots of construction issues. (The hotel is undergoing major renovations, transforming from the Adventura Spa Palace to the Hard Rock  Hotel). Fortunately, our rooms were beautiful and our worries were unfounded.

Our first full day in Mexico was sunny, warm, and beautiful. We spent the day exploring the resort, sitting by the pool, and enjoying the amenities provided by the resort. They had yummy food and even yummier drinks! We swam in the lagoon, played on the rocks, and ended the day with massages in their beautiful spa. Heaven!! We dined in the italian restaurant that evening. We gave it mixed reviews, although their spaghetti carbonara was to die for! It turned out to be an early evening due to the overindulgence of some members of our party (starting with mimosas at 9 am will do that!), but it was a great opportunity to relax.



I found this hunk at the pool!



Cutie Denise

I got a lunch date with the hunk!

Me and my Sis ;0)

One of the beautiful Lagoons...