Vacation Over

Today is the first day of school and I was a little nervous for Brett to go to school. Don't know why, I thought I would be celebrating with lunch and errands. But, as I watched him walk to the neigbors for the carpool ride, I flashed back to my first day of second grade.

I remember wearing a dress, and I was in tears. I did not want to go. I was sick to my stomach and scared to death. I remember begging my Dad to let me stay home. I was sure that tears would work for my Dad and I would be able to never go to school again. I remember him talking to me trying to convince me to go. I think he must of made some sort of deal, because my next memory is of me saying "ok" and getting into his car to take me to school.

Brett was so willing to go to school today, to meet his friends from last year. He asked me if I could take off his necklace that he was wearing. I told him that it was okay if he wore it, but make sure that he did not play with it. He said, " Mom, I better find out what the classroom rules are before I wear it to school."

I am glad we didn't have drama this morning...we're lucky ;0

Brett 2nd Grade
(Okay, I only had one shot at this photo before he was running down the street to catch his ride)

Cancun

At our hotel, Avalon Grand ( Picture is a little foggy because of the Humidity!)
Wow, our first time in Cancun and it was a blast!! I was actually more worried about the airplane trip than the week stay in Mexico. Luckily, I had packed a bag of tricks that worked great on the first leg to Houston. Once we arrived at Houston, we had a 2 hour layover. Josh spent most of the two hours running up and back on the people movers in the airport. Mike and I took turns running after Josh, while the other kept an eye on the luggage. Finally, we hopped on our plane to Cancun and Josh was out like a light as soon as our flight had taken off and he stayed that way until we landed!



We met Grandpa Barney at the Cancun airport, he had flown in an hour ealier and they had lost his luggage. Turns out his luggage was not found until three days into the trip...yikes! Pretty soon, the whole gang (Mike's sister Lynda and her family came too) and we were off to the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel and walked in to the room, Josh exclaimed, " I want to go home now!!" Sorry kid, you are here for a week :)

Once we were all settled we staked out the hotel and did some exploring to get our bearings. If you haven't been to Cancun, it is basically the Las Vegas strip on a gorgeous white sand beach. It is very American, with no need to speak Spanish or change your Dollars to Pesos.. There are restaurants like Chilis, Ruth's Chris, Outback and Bubba Gumps and of course McDonalds and Starbucks. Most of the tourists take advantage of the all-inclusive style, so they can eat at the hotel for their meals. We did not have all inclusive, so we made the bus ride (65 cents) to Walmart about 15 to 20 minutes away in downtown Cancun to stock our kitchen.

The kids enjoyed the pool and the beach of course...that was their favorite thing. They basically swam in the morning, got out to have lunch, then back to the pool and the beach. They were in paradise!



This is our personal beach!! Nice...



Brett "wasting away"



(Infinity pool at the hotel. That is Mike and Josh raising their hand :)

We had an incredible time visiting the Pyramids. Brett and Josh tagged along to Tulum where the Pyramids are on the coast. They enjoyed seeing the big Lizards running around the pyramids...too cool.



Josh and the Lizard posing. Click on the picture so you can see the lizard up close!



Tulum



Pyramids on the beach!

Lynda and I went to "Chichin Itza" These are the big pyramids in the Yucatan. They won't let you climb the pyramid anymore, because they are campaigning to make it one of the 7 Wonders of the World. That was fine with me ;) Here are a couple of pics.



Chichin Itza



One thousand towers with Chock Mol on top of the pyramid. He was the messanger to the gods (you can see him as the "U" shaped figure in the middle on top of the structure.



This is the Sacred Sinote. This is were they would sacrifice the Virgins to the Gods. This is a fresh water hole that is so cool. You can actually jump off in to the water. You can see these fish that looked like mini sharks swimming around, so I decided not to jump.



Should I Jump???



These are a couple of random pics



Eating at Bubba Gumps



Eating in downtown Cancun - only 2 people got sick from eating the mystery taco sauce....



Ride on the Bus to Walmart...



Visiting the Mayan Resort on the Mayan Riviera...Beautiful



Cab Ride Home!!

Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Brett was showing the family that he had a tooth that was loose one Sunday night. His Uncle Jared who is a dentist wiggled it and said, "Do you want to loose that tooth right now?" Brett kind of looked at him funny, then Grandpa Barney pulled out a dollar and said, "Brett, I will give you a dollar if you let him pull it out right now..." That is all the prodding that Brett needed. He took that dollar and let Uncle Jared do what he needed to do and within a few seconds, Brett pulled out his tooth. Every one clapped and cheered. Uncle Jared told Brett that the tooth fairy gave $20 for the first tooth so Brett immediately put the tooth in a baggie, and went to bed the moment he got home. The tooth fairy came and brought $5. Maybe the tooth fairy only gives $20 if the child's Dad is a Dentist!!

What a Weekend

We had a crazy weekend which had pretty much drained me. Friday I attended a funeral of a little girl who died of an inoperable brain tumor. Little kids funerals are always the hardest. You feel sadness for the life that was cut way too short here on earth, and the empty space they have left behind. The funeral was a tribute to an amazing spirit that has left a huge impression on a lot of people. For everyone that knew her, you can never look at Spongebob without thinking fondly of Miss Mila. I added her link to my page for all of you to check out...

Right after the funeral, I took Brett and a couple of his friends to "Chuck E. Cheese" for a birthday celebration. He turned 7 on Friday. Talk about a change of gears!! The boys had fun running around, playing games, eating pizza and of course Cake! Josh kept licking the side of the cake and when it was time to cut the cake, Brett's friends insisted they get the middle piece because they were sure Josh's tounge had not been there....

We came home from Chuck E Cheese and packed the car to head to Snowflake to join Mike's family for a funeral for his Grandmother. On the way up, of course Josh had a liitle too much frosting and threw up the leftovers all over the seat. Luckily, I was driving and Mike had to do the catching...

We finally reached our Destination and spent most of the evening reaquainting ourselves with relatives we have not seen for a very long time.

The next morning, we arrived at the church for the funeral. Of course we had to be there an hour before the service and that is too much down time for a bunch of cousins to be still and quiet. By the time the actual service began my boys and all other boys under the age of 8 were trying to keep themselves busy by playing cars and poking eachother. By the time we had assigned each child to an adult, it was Mike's turn on the program to give a few words about his Grandma. Right about now is the cue for Josh to say, "I go potty, I go potty now" UUHHHGG! So I stood up with him in the back of the church and tried to listen to Mike's comments while I distracted Josh long enough to hold off potty until Daddy was done.

After the service at the church, we headed for the cemetary. As we made our way to the gravesite, my kids sat down on the grass with the rest of the kids. Pretty soon, they were finding rocks to throw rocks down the hole of the gravesite so I had to move them to the back of the crowd. After a short time at the cemetary, we headed back to the church for the luncheon. The kids were all happy to run around together and enjoy eachother, then Josh spilled water all over the table and himself. Most kids would be fine, but Josh needed to change all his clothes...So luckily I had a change of clothes. As I carried him to the car, I stumbled and fell ( most people are not surprised by this) I saved Josh, but my knees got pretty banged up....

After the luncheon, the photographer came to take pictures of all the families, this is when I start panicking. So here we are taking a picture of our family and Grandpa and Brett makes faces and bunny ears at Grandpa.....Why is it my kid???? So of course, we resorted to cash to make sure that we got at least one good picture with Grandpa.

The rest of the weekend we spent with family, playing games, eating and catching up with those we haven't seen in a long time and probably won't see again for a while. We got home around 11:00 pm Monday evening, and had to wake up bright and early to laundry, swimming lessons, a little work and begin my week again.

Josh is 3

Happy B-Day Josh! I can't believe you are 3! You are becomming such a big boy, no longer a baby which is sad for me, but great for you! We celebrated Josh's birthday with the Barney clan, that included 4 other Barney birthdays that happen in June. We got together at Uncle Jared's apartment complex and grilled hamburgers and swam. Josh was the first in the pool and the last one out. Here are some pics...


Brett, Josh, Case, Luke, Shay and Robby (honorary Barney boy) all June B-day's



Josh and Maiya

On Josh's B-day, we went to Chevy's. Josh did not like them singing to him, but he did like the ice-cream.


After Chevy's we came home to have a cake. When I asked Josh what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he replied....CHOCOLATE! Well, I got a Chocolate Power Ranger cake, I think he was happy.

King of the World

The other day, we went to Home Depot. Brett automatically runs towards the tractors and Josh just runs in any direction. After we regrouped, Brett asked if he could sit by the patio equipment. Sure! Well, after 15 minutes of walking around the store, I remembered that Brett was at the patio equipment and I haven't checked on him! So I walked over there and could not see him, so I called out his name. "Mom, I am over here..." He was laying down on a chaise lounge underneath a canopy. As I approached, I received an evil eye from the sales lady that seemed to say, "Where have you been while your child is trying out the patio sofa..."

I sat down calmly next to him and asked him what he was doing. He put down the brochure about the patio collection that he was reading and said.

"Mom, if the world cost $1 I would buy it."
"I think if the world cost $1 a lot of people would want to buy it." I said.
"Well, I would be the first in line. When I buy it, I would be King."
Then he paused and you could see his wheels turn.
"Then all the people in the world would be my servants, except Josh, you and Dad. You guys can be my bodyguards."
"I am pretty sure you would need us" I said.

Well, we got up and left Home Depot with our purchase of work gloves and Brett had left with his plan to rule the world.

Road Trip

This is our first official road trip of the summer. We headed for Carlsbad Ca. to Legoland and the beach. The boys slept pretty much half way there so that was great news for Mom and Dad. When they woke up, it was pretty much DVD's the rest of the way. We watched "Cars" and "Madagascar" and they boys mostly fought about who's pillow was touching who's. For the most part, smoothe sailing....When we reached California, of course we head for the beach, because that is what you do!! After 6 hours in the car, a nice day at the beach is worth it! Josh mostly stuck to building sand castles, while Brett wandered up and down finding sea shells. That is the difference between my two. Josh is content at just playing wherever he is planted and Brett has to have a purpose and mission for everything he does. Mike and I took turns laying on the beach and playing with Josh and trying to keep an eye on Brett, making sure he didn't wander to far out of sight.

After the afternoon at the beach the first drama happened, but it didn't involve the boys it was all Daddy. Can you imagine after a few hours at the beach trying to get back in the car without a lick of sand on anything? Mike was determined to inspect every article of clothing and play equipment before it touched his car. He even got a bucket of fresh water to dip feet and hands in to wash off, the tricky part was after you washed off, you couldn't touch the ground or anything sandy. So we learned that we needed to shut up and do what we were told so no one got hurt....