Back from Paradise! Part 3

We had lots of fun exploring the ship and exploring Cozumel. Well, exploring the city wasn't really fun. It was about 200 degrees and my sunburned skin was just cooking! But the snorkeling, ice skating, golfing and other onboard activities were a blast! Here are some of our favorite activity shots:

I finally got Scott to try ice skating! No falls for either of us!




I kicked his butt on the golf course several times. (Since he doesn't read this, I can say anything I want!!!)



Snorkeling off the coast of Cozumel was the coolest thing ever. Here's Scott just before we headed into the water to swim with the fish at Palancar Reef. While down there, we saw lots of fish, two sea turtles and a big starfish. If you ever get the chance...go!

(And again, because Scott doesn't read this blog, I can show anything I want!)





Most everything else we did included lots of reading by the pool, sleeping in the sun, and eating at the buffet. We were too busy to take any good pictures at those times...

Sam's iPhone Updated

I forgot all about this video of Sam taken on the same day as the other video about the iPhone. Its better than the other one. Oh how I wish I had let the camera go a little longer...

Back From Paradise! Part 2

A few notables about the ship and our room. First, we had paid for a stateroom with a window. The day before we left, our travel agent called and told us that we had been upgraded to a suite with a balcony. That kind of stuff NEVER happens to us! Our room was located in the center on the back of the ship. We had a 180 degree view and it was incredible! Here are some pictures of our suite and the view.







Here are some of our favorite scenery shots taken from various locations on the ship. BTW, the land you can barely see in the far distance is Cuba! THAT was cool!







We thought our ship was pretty big, but we didn't realize how big until a smaller, older Carnival Cruise ship docked beside us in Cozumel. Wow! Our ship, the Navigator of the Seas, was really, really big! We took lots of pictures because we just couldn't get over it.






Our ship carried 3600 passengers and 1200 crew. Royal Caribbean has a ship coming out next year (Project Genesis) that will carry 6600 passengers and 2400 crew. Can you believe that??? We're already looking at our calendars...

Back From Paradise! Part 1

We're home! Our four day cruise to Cozumel was wildly more fun than we could have ever imagined. Coming home was bittersweet as we missed Sam terribly but we weren't ready to return back to reality. We highly recommend any vacation that involves being pampered 24 hours a day! I won't bore you with all the details, but I will post a few messages over the next few days highlighting some of our favorite things about the cruise.

Today, I'll share a few of our favorite picture of the both of us.


That's us on the first day, still in the harbor at Ft. Lauderdale. The couple that offered to take our picture was on their honeymoon. We ran into them the next day and they so candidly let us know that they had not slept yet. (We'll just say they were "drunk on love!)

Here we are dressed up for dinner on Formal Night. We actually didn't get too formal, but you should have seen the fancy dresses! We felt like this was the prom we never had!


Here we are on the boat cruising down the coast of Cozumel towards Palancar Reef. Snorkeling was just about the coolest thing we've ever done!

Getting a sunset picture was not easy. There were lots of people around us all rushing to get a picture as the sun set very quickly!


More pictures coming tomorrow!

Blog Interrupted

I won't be writing for about a week. Here are a few of my favorite recent photos of that kid who hangs around here all the time.


Some of my friends will use this to blackmail me. Others won't believe that I actually let Sam eat a big plate of pancakes with strawberries AND whipped cream! Well, shockingly, I did and here's the proof!


Sam spent one Saturday morning watching all the robins in the front yard.




























This is just a sweet picture of Sam looking for airplanes. Scott says that Sam has the eyesight of a pilot. He can spot a plane flying so high that we don't even see it at first. Sam seems to always be looking up!














Well, that's all folks...until next week! Then I'll have some really fun photos to publish!

Sam Speaks Swedish

For lack of nothing more exciting to add today, I'm sharing one of our most favorite videos.

Back in October, our friend Anders visited us from Sweden to play a concert with Scott and his students. Sam had never met Anders before but within minutes they had bonded over some animal magnets. I was in the kitchen making supper (don't laugh) and I caught them having a very thoughtful conversation. It was really a magical moment. Scott and I stood motionless for a few minutes while we listened to them talk. You would swear that Sam not only understood every word Anders said, but spoke fluent Swedish right back! All this time, we thought Sam was speaking Wookie. Finally we have a translator!

So, enjoy this blast from the past!

Happy Valentine's Day

Nothing special to report. We had a great day filled with lots of love. Oh, Sam had his first lollipop!

Sam and I headed back to school to see Cindy for a few minutes before she left. Cindy tried to give him a lollipop but he wouldn't have any part of it. He just didn't know what it was. As we were getting in the car, I finally got him to taste the lollipop. I wish you could have seen his face! It was as if he had found the Holy Grail! Needless to say, he licked the lollipop all the way to the airport! His sweet little lips were all red and sticky. It was so cute!

I'm not sure why I didn't take a picture--that's really not like me...

ABC's and 123's

My little smarty actually knows some letters! Being the reading teacher that I am, I have "tested" him with different letters (magnetic and in books) and he seems to know o, x, c, Q, z and p pretty well. (Although, b and d are also called p!...but I'm not worried, yet) It is lots of fun to hear him sing the Alphabet song.

His counting has also suddenly gotten better. He's now starting with one (most times) and can get to 6 and sometimes 10! He's been counting "1..2..3..go!" and running across the room to throw himself on the cushions a lot lately. We encourage the rough housing--it seems to be improving his counting skills!

I can't tell you how much fun it is watching Sam learn and figure things out. Oh, gotta go! Sam wants to show me how he alphabetized all his books! :)

Sam Takes the Steps

We had a great weekend. I won't go into it here, but I had a great professional day. A great opportunity may have presented itself to me on Saturday. Ask me if you want to know the details.

Scott played a beautiful recital at Mt. Tabor with Cliff. If you haven't heard Scott and Cliff playing together, you have missed quite a treat. The saxaphone and marimba sound beautiful together.

Also, Sam starting taking the steps today all by himself with no holding on. Check out the video. It drags a little, but he makes up for it at the very end. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Love you all!

First Haircut

Why do mothers have such a hard time getting their little boy's hair cut? Scott has been begging me for months to take Sam to see Joe. I absolutely did not want to have his little curls cut out. But, alas, today I finally gave in. And it turns out, it wasn't as bad as I expected. Poor Joe. I asked him if he could make it look like Sam had not gotten a haircut. (I'll forgive him for rolling his eyes at me.) I just didn't want Sam to walk out looking like a three year old! Thankfully, we have the greatest "hair guy" in the world. He did a great job! Sam really doesn't look that different. Yeah, Joe!!! Sam did a great job, too. No tears, no tantrums, just a little wiggly!

So, honey, I hope you're happy. Sam doesn't look like a little girl anymore!

(Best of all...the curls will come back!!!)

eyewoodoo

Today was the day! We've been waiting for such a long time to hear Sam say "I love you". We've practiced it lots and it's not like he hasn't heard it over 35,000 times in his lifetime. And finally he says it! Kinda. My heart is bursting with love for this child who simply says "eyewoodoo."

He was in a crazy, silly mood so it was hard to get a good video. Here's one that's pretty sweet and as soon as I edit a little craziness out of the best one, I'll share it, too.

p.s Sam, eyewoodoo, too!

For my Sissy

Hey sissy!

A few weeks ago, I taught a reading lesson in which I needed to get the kids attention so that we could focus and cover a lot in two days. I went all out designing this fun lesson based on the kids being secret agents. I let the kids come into my room without seeing me then I came in dressed in full secret agent attire and stayed in character for the whole lesson. The only problem was, a friend forget to bring his trench coat for me and I had to borrow someone else's jacket. (Not what I had pictured, as you'll see.) The lesson was LOTS of fun and it did the trick! I had someone else take a picture of me with two of my kids and I told them to try and look serious, like spies. Well, they did and I did and this is what we got:






I was talking to mom that afternoon and I told her about the picture and that I looked totally "gansta" She got all excited and said "Oh, you've got to send it to Jess! She is so into "The Godfather" right now." Um, Mom. NOT the same thing! So, Jess, you have to know how much I love you to share that picture with you in this way, where others may see it. Show anyone else and I'll kill you.

By the way, a few days later, I retook the picture with the right coat and I got a picture that may not be great, but certainly more resembles a spy or secret agent and not a "gansta"!!! (You gotta love mom!)

I love you, sissy!!!



P.S. I got a little haircut in between pictures!

P.S.S. Sam discovered my iPod this week. Now we have an iPhone!!