Two little swimmers!

I know that the idea of spending most of their summer Saturdays at swim meets sounds miserable to most people, but I LOVE it!  This year, both of the kids are on the team!  The first swim meet this weekend and it was a long day, but lots of fun.  When I was 5 and participating at my first swim meet, I stood on the block and would not jump in the water when the gun went off......a story that has been told MANY times over the years by my parents.  Well, Mia followed in my footsteps.  She was SO excited and then we walked up with all of the swimmers....the girl behind her started crying and she looked up at me and said "Mommy, I don't wanna do it!!!".   Once she got started crying, there was no convincing her.  The good news, is that she did swim the other 2 races with a smile (and a little bit of bribery).  True to form, Jake had a meltdown during warmups (as he did the first meet of the last season), but got it out of his system and had a GREAT day.  I was the parent coordinator for the 7/8 boys and had a minor (Brian would say major) freak out when one of my relay swimmers could not be located.  But all in all, it really was a great day and I'm hoarse from cheering on my two Fast Dolphins!  One other bonus this year is that cousin Grady is on our team too.....fun stuff!!  Oh and I can't forget one of my favorite moments of the day.....Jake was swimming a relay and it was just his relay group vs. one other relay group from the other team.  Jake hopped out of the water and with the biggest smile, said "Mommy, we got SECOND!!!"......loved this SO much that his view was not that he lost or got last place, but that he was thrilled to get second place!!

I can't get the video to load on Blogger, so here is a link to Mia's first race.....I can't stand the sound of my own voice on video, so please excuse my screaming!
http://youtu.be/zV8dzpEH-hs

Jake's first race of the season!
http://youtu.be/LxKPf9aqjhw

 Love the bed head....

 Thank goodness for these sweet teenage girls who assist with the coaching!  Mia ADORES them and they gladly tote her around on their hips....here she is with Zoe.

 Little Miss Personality

Mia is 5!

Every year I say it (we all do) and every year I mean it with all of my heart.....it's going by TOO fast!!  Mia, my BABY, turned 5.  She is fun, sassy, and FULL of personality!  She is obsessed with animals of all types.....dogs and cats have always been (and still are) some of her favorite creatures but she's currently hot on horses....specifically unicorns.  Of course, that was the party theme she chose...rainbow unicorns to be exact.  Jake recently got a magic set for his birthday and Mia looked up at me with the biggest eyes and said "Mommy, he can turn me into a UNICORN!!".  It was awesome.  She was SO excited and for a brief moment (until I had to break the news that it wasn't THAT kind of magic set), all of her unicorn dreams were going to come true!  On her actual birthday, she had a day FULL of fun (and yes, spoiling).  Donuts, movies, lunch, Build A Bear, swim practice, a trip to the craft store, and then dinner.  I for one, was exhausted.  Especially since she'd been up at midnight the night before.....it was like she sensed that the day had officially shifted to her birthday and she couldn't handle it!  Dreary eyed at midnight, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I feel bigger".  It's those little moments with her that make me smile SO big.  Here are some pics of her party that she asked me to post (for Auntie Staci).  She was in her element.....all attention was on her and she loved every minute of it!

 Unicorn stuff was hard to come by but a RAINBOW unicorn party, that's one I can get behind.

So fun!

 These cookies were almost the end of me.  I knew when I bought the cookie cutter that they were going to cause me some frustration.....broken unicorn horns, broken legs, etc.....but I was in for a REAL treat.  If Ellie starts f-bombing, it will not be a surprise.  

 I. Love. This. Face.

 Can't have a unicorn party without a unicorn piñata!

 Who doesn't love a water balloon fight?  Though, I have to say it was a MUCH different scene than when Jake and his friends had the chance to pelt each other with water balloons!  The girls were gently lobbing them at each other, and giggling when they got the teeniest bit wet :)

 My little lion blowing out her birthday candle!

It didn't taste very good (7 layers of frosting is too much even for me), but it was cool!

Puerto Vallarta 2013

It's been a LONG time since I've made a blog post but there were so many things that I wanted to remember from this trip that I thought it was as good a time as any to start back up (or at least do a single post!).  We spent a week in Puerto Vallarta with the kids and had a great time!  Mia was in heaven with all of the animals.....she got to hold an alligator, snake, hermit crab, parrot, owl, baby turtle, and even sit on a horse!  Jake discovered a little drink called a shirley temple and drank about 50 of them over the course of the trip.  I think his favorite thing was going to the swim up bar and ordering a "shirley" all on his own.  The resort had a fun kids camp, so Jake and Mia did some fun activities there and spent the bulk of the days in the pool, sliding down the water slide, and making friends.  We only met one other family from the United States.....EVERYONE was from Canada!  We made some Canadian friends and a super nice family from Minnesota....the kids were all fast friends, which made the trip even more fun.

Just a little light reading on the flight....he must have looked at it for 20 minutes.  If anyone needs any info on an evacuation plan, Jake's your guy.

 Happily on their way to vacation....

It's times like this that I am SO thankful for technology.  

 Jungle Jake with the alligator

 Mia holding him just like a "baby".....yeah, because he's so snuggly, right?!

The kids were WAY more brave than I am!~

 Not gonna lie.....this owl freaked me out.  Really pretty, but crazy eyes.

 LOVE every single thing about this picture!!

 This was before he was introduced to the shirley temples.....back when he thought the strawberry smoothies were the best thing ever.  When we would come down to the pool in the morning, the waiter would look at us and say "it's smoothie time".  Yes, pretty sure they thought we were crazy to be drinking them without the booze.  Though, we did discover a few "real" drinks that were worth having :)

 This climbing inflatable slide was fun way out in the ocean....but harder than it looks!

 My boys

 What would a fiesta be without a mechanical bull?!

Baby turtle release on the beach....they really are about the cutest things ever.

 Yup, those are the kids about 20 feet in the air on the bungee trampoline.

 Thank goodness the Tooth Fairy services Mexico.....cuz THIS guy lost his FIRST tooth!!  BIG news.

 Cool kids at the swim up bar.  I think the wait staff was only slightly annoyed with them by the end of the trip :)

 Mia the sand mermaid

 The hermit crab that decided he liked Mia a little too much....he grabbed on and wouldn't let go....lifeguard eventually pried him off, but she thought it was fun when I told her he "kissed" her....

 One of my favorite things from the whole trip....waverunners with the kids!

 Mia, just lounging' by the pool with her snacks and drink....catching some rays.

 The only family picture from our trip....