Hollywood Connection

If you haven't been, you should go. It was such a blast. Monday are family days and you can get everything for pretty cheap. It was also President's Day so they opened earlier than usual. I think the biggest hit was the bumper cars. All three boys went over a dozen times each. The younger two really liked the crawly gym thing and the older two went on the dragon coaster a ton. We even tried our hand at rollerskating. That was a bit of a joke. Desirae wanted to stay on the carpet, Andrew cried the whole time and only went around 1/2 a time then took the skates off, Benji and Spencer did alright but they really didn't have fun. I'm pretty sure it took us longer to get all their skates on and back off than they actually used them. Maybe we'll just try the older two again next year. So after that Desi needed a nap so we went to Auntie Kate's house and laid her down while Kat gave me a massage. I love having a massage therapist for a sister ;} I love her regardless but is sure is a nice perk. While we were gone Gary took the three boys miniature golfing. I think they went through the course twice. When Desi and I got back Aunt Tamie had gotten there with her brood and everyone was having a great time. Upstairs they have an arcade so the kids played games, won tickets and redeemed them for useless junk that I threw away the next day but they loved it so that's all the matters, right? We even got free hot dogs with our all-day passes so we had lunch at the diner. fun, fun, fun...

Valentine's Day

I'm glad Valentines was on a weekend this year. We got to go to Salt Lake and play for the weekend. Gary and I went out with My sisters Tamara & Kathryn and their husbands Shawn & Tom. It was really fun. First we headed to the Rodizio Grill for their awesome Brazilian buffet and then when we were all so stuffed we could hardly walk out we went to the Desert Star Playhouse and watched "Homeschool Musical". It was really funny and hit home a little more than it would have a few months ago. I hadn't been to a playhouse for years and I had forgotten how fun it really is. Gary even mentioned that we should look into getting season tickets for the whole family. They only have between 4 to 6 different shows a year so It isn't as bad as it sounds. After that Tamie & Shawn needed to get home and We went to look for a place to go dancing. That was a bust so we were home by midnight. It was great to visit with my sister's and their spouses. We never get together without the kids so we were actually able to talk. All-in-all a great night. Thanks guys for spending your evening with us!!!

The End of Cancun

The final post for our Cancun trip. It has only taken me a month, sheeez. We did have a couple days where we didn't have anything imparticular to do. We spent these days laying around the pool, walking down the beach, shopping, we even got up extra early one morning to catch the sunrise. So here are the bits and pieces to try and tie up all our loose ends.

Sunrise on the beach was really beautiful. It was a little cool, windy and cloudy the day we got to go see it but it was still worth getting up early for.

The resort we stayed at had some fantastic on-site restaraunts. And since it was all-inclusive we were able to eat at each of them. This pic is from the night we went to the Asian one. There were also an Italian, tex-mex, Caribbean, patio lounge, and a buffet. The food was divine. Each of the theme restaraunts were so elegant and the service was supurb. The food was excelent and the portions were perfect. Each plate was a work of art. Some I "almost" felt guilty eating.

Here we are at "Pina Colada's" for lunch on our beach day. It is open toward the beach and offered great views while we ate.

Hangin' out as the beach was great. The sun was out but it wasn't too hot. I can never sit still long enough to get much sun but it felt great just having the option.

Everywhere you looked there were fabulous views of the ocean. These swings are the seats for the beachside bar. On the otherside of the bar is a hot tub with "swim-up service". Pretty sweet digs if you drink. We still enjoyed the bars, we both drank virgin pina coladas, daquiris, and soda till we couldn't drink any more.Here's the back side of the bar. The "hot tub" was not hot at all. Just luke warm. Someone told us that because of the warm weather they just don't have real hot tubs down here.As we took a walk down the beach we came apon these guys hanging around this dock...As we got a little closer we realized why. The fishing boats bring their fish in and disassemble them right there. They were tossing the scraps to the pelicans.Further down the beach we came upon these dinner boats. You can go out for a dinner cruise on the ocean. These boats look really cool so we took pictures for the kids to see.
The resort was beautiful. Our room was on the ground level so we had a walk-out patio that went out to the grass.
Here's the view from our patio. You can barely see the ocean in the background.Finally, we went shopping. One shopping center was on the bay. It was all outdoors and you wouldn't know you weren't in the US due to how modern it was.The Hard Rock guitar.My big splurge was this purse. You can see the kid in the background making them. It is made out of old chip bags and candy wrappers. Anything with the metallic wrappers. The guy said it takes him about 5 days to make one the size I bought. I remember making the chains out of gum wrappers but I don't know how they make a solid sheet. I love it. We also got a bracelet with Desirae's name woven into it.

There is a world-famous dance/night club here. It has 2 dozen+ superstar impersonators. It was quite the show. We got to see everyone from Michael Jackson, Madonna, Mick Jagger, Elvis, you name it. It was so crowded and most everyone was drunk but it was great fun.

So that does it for our trip. We had a great time. 9 days was a little long being away from the kids and I know Grandma & Papa were totally whiped after watching them. However, It was a once in a lifetime trip and after 9 or so years we really desered some time alone. It was great for us to get to be alone together and rebuild our relationship.If you ever gett he chance to go to Cancun, do it. It was well worth the time to plan it and money to go.

To Sleepover or Not to Sleepover...

Just a random rambling about something I have been thinking about lately...Spencer has really been asking alot lately about participating in sleepovers. We haven't really had to deal with this until more recently. When we lived in Kanab there was a "late night" standard that most of our friends all agreed on. Our kids could get together and have a fun night but go home for bed. It worked great. However, as kids get older they think more and more that they need to have the same rules as "everyone" else. I found a great article from LDS Living that states just how we feel toward sleepovers. Just click on this post title if you'd like to read it. I would love any input y'all might have as to how you deal with this issue, no matter what side of the fence you are on. I don't want anyone to think that I don't trust them or their kids but I strongly feel like it is our responsibility to protect our kids and their innocence. It's just another one of those times when the few are making it harder for the many. I loved sleepovers. I grew up in a small town where sleepovers were the norm and we slept outside all summer long. We never had any issues. But the world is not the same place and I have heard so many horror stories. My inclination is to assume boys don't need as much "protection". But they do. I hate this side of parenting. The fear and apprehension. Feeling like I can't let my guard down for a second. I started having more specific stranger-danger conversations with Spencer two years ago and have reiterated them every six months or so since. Now it's coming up on Benji's turn. At least we have a couple more years before the big one...and that is all Gary's. Sorry I've been rambling and thanks for taking the time to try and decipher my blithering.