Spoiled Rotten!

Bet by the title you thought this was going to be a post about Max, didn't you? WRONG! It's about Chris and me and our vacation to the Bahamas... we were SPOILED!!!

Most of you know Chris won a contest at work (some sales contest for the two drugs he currently pushes, I'll spare you the details of the competitio

n) after 9 years in the biz. FINALLY! ha ha! Back in May he was announced the winner of his region which meant he and a guest (shew, he picked me!) were being flown to Atlantis in the Bahamas for a 4 day vacation. I'll never forget when he came home from work and told me he had won; his eyes were misty because Max had been eyeing commercials for the Atlantis on tv and had just asked Chris a few days prior if he would take him there one day... and now WE were going and he wasn't.

We got our passports, arranged a weekend with my parents for Max (thanks Mom and Dad), and jetted off...

Thursday we arrived and got a bag of goodies (beach towels, under water camera, sunscreen, golf shirts, etc) and that evening was a welcome reception. We had more food than we could ask for, yummy Caribbean drinks, and about 50 other people to socialize with from Chris's company (and their guests).

View from our balcony

Me, Chris, Kevin and Sheri

On Friday we were able to choose an activity to participate in... we originally decided on snorkeling but when we realized it was an all day adventure we changed our minds. We only had a few days to explore and enjoy Atlantis and wanted to take advantage of that. So instead we spent all day out at the pools, beaches and water park and then enjoyed a deep tissue massage at 4pm in the spa. Chris went down one of the steepest slides at the park, "The Challenger". I was pretty impressed cause he is usually not brave like that. I wouldn't dare go near it! He loved it though. I have pictures of it, but they are on the underwater camera. We also enjoyed time on the "not-so-lazy" river that had a lot of cool rapids and water falls, another slide that took us under the "city" through an aquarium, walks on the sandy beaches- and the sand was unlike any I'd seen before; it was very "chunky" and soft- and eating lunch out under an umbrella.

Friday night Chris's company let us choose a place to make a reservation. We had a $200 budget to TRY to stay under. We thought to ourselves "NO PROBLEM!" Seriously, how could we spend $200 on a dinner? Whoops!!! Our bill total was $200.39, no joke! We ate at the very fancy Bahamian Club, enjoyed 2 appetizers, a meal each, a side to share and a dessert to share... and it was that much! WHAT??? It was soooooo good though!

Chris and Me at The Bahamian Club for dinner

That night in the casino we waited and waited and waited for room to open up at a table. In the meantime I took a $20 from Chris's wallet and played a slot. It took me all of 15 minutes to get down to $2 then back to $20 then down to $10 then back to $20 then down to $13... and finally I hit it big and won $160!!!! WOOO HOOOO ME!!!! Chris can never say slots are lame again!

The winning slot machine!

On Saturday we had to get up EARLY! (so early that I got to see the sun rise) Our activity for that day that we chose was deep sea fishing. We got on a boat with another couple that we knew at 7:45am and headed out to the ocean. It was gorgeous! It was also very hot! I was the first one to catch anything; I got to sit up in the chair and reel it in. Oh. My. Gosh. It was difficult! My arms were so tired and you literally had to prop your feet up on these pedals to use your body weight to pull the fish in. My first catch: a mean sharp-toothed barracuda. Yikes. Chris's first catch was a wimpy mackerel. We all got a good laugh! All in all we caught 7 fish total. We were out there for 4 hours. During the last hour it started to pour rain. I was a little freaked out... (who me?) but the people we were with love to fish and seeing them so laid back helped me relax. I thought we'd get capsized or something! We all sang the Gilligan's Island song. Yea, that did NOT make me feel better.

Sunrise from our balcony

On the fishing boat, Atlantis in our background

Caught a fish!

Working hard (seriously) to reel it in

Chris's turn!

Storm clouds

My barracuda... scary!

Saturday afternoon we went to lunch, did some shopping, walked on the beach again and then got ready for the awards dinner. I finally got to wear the hot pink dress I bought for this very occasion! :) The dinner was amazing... 4 courses. The company was great too. We really had a great time!

Out on the pier

Awards dinner

Sunday morning we got to explore "The Dig" at the Atlantis before heading out of town. It's a huge aquarium that encircles much of the property. We learned that sharks are the only "fish" that do not get diseased and that their skin is made of tiny tiny teeth particles so it's rough. Weird? We got to see some HUGE stingrays and other creepy looking fish... it was cool.

View from under the aquarium, looking up at the resort

Before going on the trip I was pretty anxious. Max never does well when we leave (which is SUPER rare in itself) and I was just sad thinking about him being sad. Once we were there though, I was so glad we had the opportunity. We had an awesome time!!! I have waited a while to make this post because I was going to get the underwater camera pics developed. But I'm lazy and haven't made it to the store to do that so I'll post anyway with the "above water" pictures I do have... :)

What We've Been Up To

Happy July-whatever! I don't even know what day it is anymore (which is kinda a good thing, I think). We've been celebrating the 4th for what seems like a week now; we've had swim meets and visitors and parties and fireworks and parades and on and on!

July 3rd, Chris's parents drove all the way from Texas to come stay with us for a few days. We had not seen them since October and Max was WAY overdue for some play time with them; he was SO excited for them to get here he couldn't sit still all day! As soon as they pulled in the driveway we hurried them into our car to head down to Lebanon for their fireworks show with our friends, the Bruce's. We had ice cream, put up our chairs and blankets on the side of the road, and ooh'd and ahh'd with the rest of the people out there.

Sunday, the ACTUAL 4th, Max wanted Grandma and Grandpa to see him swim at the pool. He got to dive for money (made $2.51, not too shabby), have a water balloon toss with his friend Fiona, and entered himself in the "biggest splash contest" with the other kids. That evening we all went to my parents for a cookout; Lee was craving corn on the cob and luckily that was on the menu! Shew!

Monday morning we headed off early to the parade in Centerville. Dang, it was HOT! Ask Max what his favorite part was and he'll tell you "getting a check for Silly Bandz". (some parade marcher was handing out coupons for $1 off Silly Bandz and Max couldn't wait to go pick some out-- he and Grandma shared three packs: "America", "Western", and "Pirate"). After the parade and some rest time, we hit up Adventure Golf. Max got a little addicted to mini-golf while we were in Hilton Head. It's all he dreams of! :) That night we went back to Centerville for more fireworks.

Tuesday was my favorite day... only because after swim practice and tennis lessons, Max had his last regular season swim meet, and Grandma and Grandpa got to see! He was in heat 2, lane 5 and swam his fastest time ever!!!! Chris got a great video of it that I giggle watching! You will too... watch below, he dives off the block for the first time ever and told me ahead of time that his strategy was to swim far UNDER the water and then come up for air cause he'd be faster. He starts out in 6th place but tries his very hardest (which is the best part of all) and passes most of the swimmers. According to the video he comes in 2nd but today he got his ribbon and it was for 3rd. Must have been REALLY close!!!! He is so thrilled... and I'm so tickled that we got it all on video again! I mean, watch this and tell me it doesn't make you cheer, laugh, cry...

Max was VERY sad for Grandma and Grandpa to leave. He tried negotiating with them. He didn't understand why if Grandpa had to be at work in 2 days they couldn't just leave tomorrow and drive allllllll day and night? Good thinkin', right? :)

Our Little Stinger

I know, I posted this video on Facebook... but it's so dang cute I had to share here, too. This is Max at his third swim meet. He is getting faster and faster and at this particular race, knocked a whole 5 seconds of his best time!! WHOA!!! He really loves it and has been practicing how to dive on the side, but can't make himself do it off the blocks... so for now we will stick with the big 'jump and plunge' into the pool. :) Hope you enjoy!!!! (sorry for all the obnoxious cheering in the background; we get excited around here!) GO STINGERS!

"I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June." -LM Montgomery

DREAMY!!!  Summer Vacation!  What a time it was!  We have been planning for this since January... take a trip with our friends the Bruce's and head to Hilton Head Island, SC to enjoy the sun and sand.  I cannot believe I'm already writing about the trip; I cannot believe it's over!  I took 300+ pictures, and no, I will not post them all here!  Enjoy a tiny bit of our family vacation as you read... I'll give you a play-by-play for the week, to keep things organized and my thoughts together.  :)

Friday, June 11- Max had swim team pictures (kinda nightmarish, I won't lie, cause he refused to get his individual pic taken... I don't get it!) at SCCC at 10am.  So at 11:30, we were off!  We decided to take a route across Ohio, through WVA, VA, NC and then to SC because it was only a half hour longer drive and I had read a lot about rock slides causing MAJOR delays on I-40 through NC.  Off we went!!!

We stopped in Beckley, WV to see my college roommate, Stacy, and meet her 3 kids!  Stayed for about an hour and a half.  It was sooooo nice to see her after all these years!  After hugs and pictures we got back on the road and made it to Charlotte, NC around 8:30, had dinner and spent the night.  

Max, Emma, Me, Stacy, Blake, Carter

Saturday:  woke up at 8am, took our time getting ready, loaded ourselves back in the car and made the additional 3.5 hour drive to Hilton Head.  The Bruce's took off really early that morning; their a/c in their car broke (it was HOT!) and they had to get it to a dealer on the island before noon.   As soon as we pulled into the driveway of the house we rented, Chris tossed Max into our pool fully clothed!  Vacation had officially begun!  Jenny and I headed to Publix for groceries then the guys grilled out while we swam.  We then took a quick trip to the beach, just to walk around and see what we could see!

Max, Austin, Tyler- first night at beach

Sunday:  Well first, I went for a run.  Ok, this is not news to anyone but I have to talk about it because I LITERALLY (not figuratively) have never sweat so much in my life!  I timed out a 4 mile loop that I ran every morning, early (earlier than I do at home in fact), but it was soooo hot and soooo humid that I came home drenched from head to toe each time.  Thankfully it was a flat terrain, who knows what would have happened had I had to run hills!!!  Anyway, after that it was time for the BEACH!  Pretty  much every morning we'd get up, the kids would play the Wii, have breakfast and we'd head to the beach.  We found an awesome public beach with really  nice showers, bathrooms and even a "carpet" that lead you out onto the sand so you wouldn't burn your toes off!  It was our fave place to sit by the ocean!  We stayed at the beach for a few hours and then headed home for lunch and to swim in the pool.  After getting cleaned up for the day, we went down to Harbour Town to walk around, eat at The Crazy Crab, and to see Gregg Russell sing under the famed oak tree (this was Max's favorite part of the trip, if you ask him).  We bought his children's CD and have been singing the songs for days!  Maybe next year Max will raise his hand and ask to sing WITH him?  Nah... probably not!  :)

Max, Austin and Tyler play in the sand

Tilting your head is cool!

On stage waiting for Gregg Russell

Parents sit in back!

Gregg Russell under the Oak Tree

Monday:  BEACH!  Then back to swim, per usual.  We went over to Shelter Cove for dinner at a Mexican joint called San Miguels.  YUM!  Afterward we sat out in the 110º heat to watch another performer, Shannon Tanner, sing and dance with the kids.  Max, Tyler and Austin bought one of his famous spinning beanie hats and had them signed.  The plan is for Shannon to sign something on each color of the hat every year!  It was a great show but Max was more intimidated here because kids actually stood to dance, and you know he wants NO attention on himself!  After the show it was back to the house for "naked swim night"... a favorite of the boys.  They BEGGED for a nightly nakey swim.  

Max carries his weight in beach gear

On our way to Shelter Cove

Max and Austin watch Shannon Tanner and the other kids 

Signing Max's hat

Silly boys

Naked swim (one of many)

Tuesday:  This was Tyler's 7th birthday!  We had reservations aboard the Schooner Welcome Pirate Ship for a 90 minute sail in the harbor.  This was the hottest day by far, record-breaking in fact, and we were feeling it!  The boys enjoyed the sail though!  They each got a bag filled with pirate booty including items to dress like a pirate, and each had a chance to steer the boat for a while.  It was fun, and a great way to celebrate with Tyler!  That evening we headed down to South Beach at Sea Pines to see what we could find.  The boys got their arms painted (rather than their faces), we did a little shopping and had a great dinner at the Wreck at the Salty Dog.  All three kids picked out one of their famous t-shirts to bring home.

Barnacle Breath Billy's the name!

Steering the boat

At the Salty Dog

Wednesday:  This is the morning we discovered the HUGE turtles in our backyard.  We were right on a lagoon so we took some bread out back and tossed it into the water to see what might bite... there they were!  LOTS of turtles!  Then we headed back to the beach with our cooler stocked for lunch, then back to swim and take a quick nap; the kids were up till at least 11 nightly and were still getting up before 7 so a few days we had to enforce naps.  That night we were invited to my good friend's, The Webb's, for a pork roast!  They moved down there after Mr. Webb retired and my bff from high school, Ashley, and her hubby and kids followed.  We stayed over there until about 10:30; they were incredible hosts!  It was so good to see them after all these years!!!   

Feeding turtles

Max, Me, Ashley, Abbie, Emily and Jim 

Thursday:  Chris and Rob were up at 6 to go to Dafuskie Island to play a round of golf.  They were taken over via boat as no cars are allowed on the island and they had a great time!  Jenny and I took the boys to The Sandbox Interactive Children's Museum for a few hours.  They got to play, pretend, climb rock walls, dress like pirates and craft.  Afterward it was home for more swimming and to wait for the dads so we could go out for dinner... our choice, the Kingfisher.  O. M. G.  BAD CHOICE!!!  I need to spend a little time on this one, so forgive me for this hugely long post... we arrive at the Kingfisher at 6pm, PRIME dinner time, right?  We, a party of 7, are seated immediately.  I looked at Rob and said "uh, is this a bad sign that they can get a large party in right away?"  That was clue #1!  Ok, they put us at a table right by the window over looking the harbor... and a living roach the size of my thumb, if not bigger... no lie.  Jenny wonders if we should leave.  I say "just make sure everything you order is cooked, no salads, shrimp cocktail, etc."  haha.  That was clue #2!  We ordered a sampler appetizer to share... it came out in a Long John Silver's type plastic basket.  It was all deep-fried.  It was pretty much ONLY batter.  No one touched it.  Our waitress could tell something was up.  Clue #3!  Time to order.  Jenny tries to make a substitution for the veggies with her fish, sorry, they can't do any subs at all cause they are so busy.  Literally 10 empty tables around us!!!  Ok, same for Chris, no substitutions.  Finally I get smart with the waitress and ask her "so what, are the meals already pre-portioned on plates back there under a heat lamp waiting to be served?" which is how it seemed without allowing for subs!!!  She did not like me and probably spit in my food.  Whatever.  The no sub policy was clue #4 that this place was awful. Food came, Chris's Coke tasted like stale diet faygo or something (they claim it was actual Coke though!), the food was mediocre at best (and I'm not  picky about things like that) and for the rest of our lives we will forever call any bad situation a "kingfisher".  For example, being stuck in a traffic jam on the way home on Saturday for 3 hours was such a kingfisher!  Get me?  You know what though, we thank the Kingfisher for giving us HUGE laughs and great memories!  Might have been one of our highlights due to the kingfishery of it all!  ;)

After that glorious dinner we headed back to  Harbour Town to climb all 114 steps to the top of the famed lighthouse.  It was HOT in there, but lovely at the top!  They had a webcam too so we called my parents, told them how to log on, and there we were on their computer screen waving!  Fun!

Rock wall at the Sandbox

Bunch of Kingfishers!

The lighthouse at Harbour Town

Max and Chris from the top

Friday:  This morning we were back at the beach, only this time another family joined us... the Dykes from Atlanta.  Jimmy (who played ball with Chris at Vanderbilt), Jessica and their two kids were in town for the weekend and hung with us at the beach all day.  So good to see them!  After the beach it was again time for the pool, then we went to a wings joint for our last dinner before taking the boys to the highly anticipated Legendary Golf for a round of putt-putt.  

Max and me at Wild Wings

Summer Vacation Must Do:  mini golf!

Saturday:  We packed up, cleaned up, took a group picture, stopped at Panera and headed out, sadly.  :(  We could have easily stayed another week!  It was a wonderful vacation and I highly recommend everyone visit Hilton Head!  We wanna buy a house there!!!!  No joke!  Need to win the lottery first though, crap!  On this drive we decided to go straight through since it was just 11 hours.  Only I have to say "I told you so" to Chris, Jenny and Rob who all wanted to go the 30 min shorter way through NC and TN and KY... THROUGH the rock slide area I warned them about.  Listen folks, you know I research the heck out of things, next time listen to me when I say that is a bad idea.  ;)  (I still love you all though)  The 11 hour drive ended up being 14.5 hours.  Straight.  Through.  Wow.  Max didn't close his eyes once.  Whoa.  He was an angel too!!!!!  

Me, Chris, Max, Tyler, Rob, Jenny and Austin

Gangsta style!

Thanks to the Bruce family for planning this week with us!  We had a wonderful time and have lots of pictures and memories to carry with us!  We are going to make this a yearly tradition for our families and I'm so happy about that!!!  Carry on, summer!!!!

Worn out already?

Summer vacation is hard, ya'll.  :)  It's barely June and all we have done is run, run, run.  Every morning Max has swim team practice at 10am.  Some days are more like "swim lessons" for his age group, but others are more serious.  Like today for example they have "time trials".  Really.  He's 5!!  Whatever, he loves it!  He loves his speedos, he loves his friends, he loves his coaches.  Here  he is with Myles, striking a pose:

After swim practice we have about a half hour to have a quick snack and change his clothes before we have to head over to tennis lessons.  Tennis is his absolute favorite.  This is the first sport that Max actually comes home from and wants to practice more!  He goes every Tues. and Thurs. from 11:15 to noon for 8 weeks.  Almost the entire summer!  It's a big commitment but he's so happy to be there!  This is also the first sport/event where he hasn't had a mini-tantrum before the first day.  You know what I'm talking about, when he gets to the practice, game, camp, school, etc. and then starts fighting us about going in, saying he wants to go home, that he "hates" whatever he's about to do-- this in itself shows you he's excited about it, right?  The only problem we've had so far is figuring out whether he plays tennis right or left handed.  HA!  We look so silly out there when the coach asks, "who is left handed?" and Max raises his hand but then half way through lessons switches to being a righty.  I asked the coach if people play tennis ambidextrously (I have no idea!) and he said "no, he needs to figure it out eventually."  So we tried it at home; I had him hit forehand righty then lefty... I think he's a righty in tennis.  Go figure.  He throws lefty, eats lefty, writes lefty, but swings a bat, golf club and apparently tennis racket righty.  Is his brain weird?  (nah, he gets it from me, I do some things lefty and so does my brother)

Here is the future tennis star on his first day:

And here he is, last night, falling asleep on the couch.  He's soooooo tired at night.  No matter what time he goes to bed he keeps waking up before 7am!!!  I wish I knew a trick to make him sleep later, especially since he has pm kindergarten this fall.  Sleep kid!!!!  SLEEP!  This was at 8:45pm after he begged and begged to stay up to watch the CMAs.  I was busy packing, doing laundry, talking on the phone (of course) and when I came back into the great room to get him, this is how I found him... breathing very heavily.  Awww... night-night, Max...

School's Out, Summer's Begun

I really don't have much to blog about this week.  Last week was the "big week" where I had so much to say... this week, not so much.  But since some people have complained that I haven't updated my blog (ahem, Kim and Tina) I will post!

Let's talk about Memorial Day weekend.  Our first weekend of summer.  On Saturday, the pool opened and we were there!  Max invited Kaylee to join us.  They swam, had ice cream, played... even Chris went with us (say what??? - I hear you!)  It was HOT.  And fun.

Saturday night we were invited to a cookout at the Bruce's.  We ate, drank, played "Just Dance" on the Wii (ok, really it was the kids, Susan, Jenny and me and it was a blast!  You guys should see me dance to "Cotton-Eyed Joe now... yee haw!) and lit sparklers.  Rob was in charge.  It was his house after all.  It was also his idea that during the second round of handing all the kids sparklers he would brilliantly grab a handful and light them all at the same time and then pass them out.  Here he is lighting them while all the adults watch and laugh.

And here he is being attacked by all the kids when he couldn't get them handed out fast enough and they all fizzled.  Luckily they had enough to go around for a THIRD try!  :)

On Memorial day we did the pool thing again.  We spent all our time from 11am to 3pm there, came home to shower, then headed back to the clubhouse and pool for more swimming and a barbecue.  We had a great dinner there out on the patio with our old friends the Rathweg's and new friends the Carpenter's.  The kids-  Max, Caitlyn, Nora and Bobby- had dinner at their own table complete with chocolate milk and three desserts (my kind of dinner!) and then went back over to the pool for more swimming until 8pm.  Needless to say we were WIPED OUT!  We adults sat and watched and used Chris's phone to play "Marissa Tomei trivia games".  Yes, we made them up cause we were that lame.  :)

To round out the weekend Daisy, the hunter, caught her second chipmunk and brought it in the garage.  Poor Alvin (or Simon or Theodore).  She is very brave now and has no problem hanging out in the woods and creek behind our house.  Let's hope she never runs into the HUGE raccoon I saw back there a few days ago.  Egad!  Anyway, I'm glad she's found her footing here and seems to be enjoying life as an outdoor cat.

ps-  Breaking news!!  THIS JUST IN!!!!!!  Max has a semi-loose tooth.  I mean, it's loose but it's newly loose.  He is SO thrilled!  (he knows the tooth fairy brings money, he's no dummy!)