Bad Girl! Bad!

I did a very bad thing today.

I even talked Mark into doing it with me. (I feel you Eve, I do).


It started with a phone call from my best friend who I call my sister who is actually Mark's cousin, Dawn. She calls me sounding ecstatic and practically screams into the phone "I've done it! I've made Harley (her husband) see the light and we are here and I'm calling to see if you want anything!" Her destination you ask? What marvelous place could she possibly be at? Only one of my most favorite places - Costco.


I don't know why I love that store but I do. I walk in and flash my card showing that I belong (of course!) and as I stroll up and down the aisles collecting my free samples, I am always happy. Costco is a happy place for me. Sometimes too happy of a place. It has all kinds of stuff I didn't know I couldn't live without until I see it in Costco. I don't even know where I'll put all the food when I get home but by George I am saving tons of money by buying in bulk so I had better get it. This kind of reasoning is why I have not been in Costco for well over a year. Until today.

Please don't ask me to show you all the food stuffed into the cooler (that we bought at Costco). In my defense Mark wanted the cooler - not me. And I didn't pick out the potato chips or otter pops either - the boys did. Hey! Don't judge me! I was perfectly, wonderfully happy inside the store and I am still floating on a Costco high. And don't ask me how much we spent either. I'm only going to say this. Costco was very happy to see me walk back through the door.

Funny Monkeys

These two monkeys of mine. I can only shake my head sometimes and wipe the tears away. They are usually tears of laughter but Owen does have a gas problem so sometimes we all have tears. The two of them have created a new world order and changed life as we know it. Colors are no longer simply red, brown, green, and blue. They go by new names now. New names that will make you stronger (according to Caleb).
Yellow - Sunny
Orange - Pumpkin Face
Blue - Water
Purple - Grape
Black - Dark Cloud
Green - Grassy
Brown - Chocolate & Dusty
Red - Jelly

Just think - Christmas colors are now Jelly and Grassy. Halloween is full of Pumpkin Face and Dark Cloud with some Grape thrown in. I can already hear the phone ringing and Caleb's kindergarten teacher asking me what in the world have I taught my children.

Funny Monkeys 1: The other day we were all in the car heading up to the pool. I was teasing Mark about getting another job so that I can get a new camera. Caleb piped up from the back and said "Daddy does have two jobs! He's a police and he's SQUAT!"
I, of course, laughed and listened to Mark try to explain to him that it's called SWAT not SQUAT, when Owen throws his two-cents in there. "You're not a swatter Daddy, you're a spanker!".

Funny Monkeys 2: The boys and I were at Safeway using the self-check service. I was all done and Owen was standing in the cart while I placed the groceries around him. The self-checkout machine said something like "take your money from below the scanner". Owen looks at me and asks "Is this lady real?". I told him "Yes. Her name is Sasha and she works inside the machine during the day and fights crime at night."
Owen turns to the machine and says ever so sweetly while pointing "I'm Owen and this is my brother Caleb and this is my mommy Aunt Miriah."
(I later explained about Sasha - don't worry)

Funny Monkeys 3 (and then I'm done, I promise!): Mark had just finished working a graveyard shift and Owen and I were tucking him into bed and asking him about his night. (Caleb was off having an army battle of epic proportions that included war zones in the living room and kitchen). Owen started with "Daddy, how many bad guys did you get?" Mark countered with "Six". Owen said breathlessly "SIX! How did you get so many?" "I went to a party and people were doing things they weren't supposed to". Owen leaned in close to Mark's face, his eyes were huge and he whispered with both disbelief and awe "Did someone pop all the balloons?!"

Summer is...

picking blueberries.

swimming at the pool.

riding horses around the rodeo grounds.

having playdates.

watching movies at the park.

Summer is Caleb & Owen's most favorite thing! (for right now anyway)

Hotties and Booty Battles

Don't they look so sweet? So innocent, so loving towards each other. I remember how they smelled and how their little bodies curled and molded into mine when I held them. I loved those days.

Where in the heck did they go?

Now that Caleb is a "mature" adult at the age of 5 and Owen has graduated to 4 year-old status, the two of them are morphing before my eyes. Mark and I used to get such a tickle out of the things they would say. Wookie for cookie. "That person has raindrops on their cheeks" when someone was crying. They still come up with some really funny stuff but yesterday, I came to the realization that they are definitely hearing some outside influences.

The boys and I were driving out to Pilot Rock and Caleb informed me I was a hottie. He blamed it on my lip gloss. In fact, his exact words were "Mommy, that lip gloss makes you look like a hottie."

While I cleaned up the Dr. Pepper that I had snorted our my nose onto the crotch of my white shorts, I thought "Where did he hear that word hottie?"

"Caleb, where did you hear that word hottie?"

"I don't know."

"What do you think hottie means?"

"It's like when a girl looks nice mom. Like your lip gloss makes you look like your ready to say hi to someone."

I was speechless. I had to whip out my cell phone and make an emergency phone call while driving (don't tell Mark). "Mark, you won't believe what Caleb just said!". I told him the whole story and then he said "You aren't talking on the phone while driving are you?" "Who? Me? Gotta go babe, love ya."

Later that same evening, Owen and I were playing soccer outside. He loves playing soccer. I was starting to get tired but he was going strong. While I bent over to suck in some much needed air I felt his little body come up behind me and something hit my bottom. I looked between my legs and saw that Owen had backed his little bottom right up to mine and was proceeding to hit my bum with his. "Owen, what are doing?"

"We're having a booty battle Mom!"

I could only roll my eyes and proceed with the battle. Needless to say, I won. Outside influences ... what can I say?

Zip - Lining

Zip-Lining is one of those things that you have to try if you ever have the chance. I'm tempted to throw one up in my backyard just so you can see what's it like.
You would get to see lots of neat stuff in my backyard like the garden, the firepit, the kid's play structure, Kye's many contributions to the garden and possibly a squirrel or two. You might not see trees like this but hey, my zip line would be free.

I wouldn't make you wear awesome gear like this either. I couldn't decide what I liked better. It was a toss-up between the hair net and the cinches around my bosoms. Tough call.

Do we look like professionals or what?

Let the record show - I said "awesome" first.

St. Thomas and Dominca

I look through these pictures and it already seems like a long time ago. As soon as you step back into the United States, the Caribbean islands all seem to fade away and become dream-like in memory. The air I breathed was different, the people I stared at were different (I was discreet with the staring - I hope) the whole world just seems more bright and beautiful. I love vacations. Flipping through these pictures helps me remember it all. I didn't take a lot of pictures of the ship but I did take a lot of pictures. You were warned!

St. Thomas. Loved it. Could live there - happily.

We went to Magen's Bay for the day and it was everything I had heard it would be. We only have one picture from our stop there because about five seconds after this picture was taken, we had all stripped down to our birthday, oops I mean bathing suits and jumped in the water. It was amazing. Warm, clear and turquoise.

This is Dominica. It is crazy green and lush and gorgeous. It has the Peton mountains (and Peton beer which is surprisingly good. It is also very cheap for thirsty tourists - strictly FYI).

All the shopping, buildings, stores, hotels are all right here by the harbor to make it easy for the cruise ship people to access. As soon as you are ten minutes away from the pier it is crazy. I don't mean good crazy either. I mean close-your-eyes-and-don't-watch crazy. We had a tour van take us to our excursion in Dominica. River tubing was what we had signed up for but little did we know we had also paid for a drive that would take years off of our lives. My poor husband was practically leaning out the window so he wouldn't vomit and I was holding on for dear life and trying not to stare into the white's of the oncoming driver's eyes. Not only do they drive on the wrong side of the road - they just drive wrong. It would be like driving with a drunk 5-year old behind the wheel. Lots of speed, lots of honking and lots of swerving.

Finally we made it to our destination. I must admit I was a little anxious about the river tubing. I am not fond of snakes and I had a feeling there might be some living in the rain forest and wanting to swim in the river while I was in there. I was worried about my hiney being in the water. I should have known they would make sure wimpy people like me had nothing to worry about. The bottom of the tube had a plastic piece so that your hiney wouldn't scrape (too hard) against the rocks. That being said, I did hear some people complain about rock wedgies.

Warning: Mark had the camera so there are a lot of pictures of ... me.

The helmet look is making a come-back. Or so I've been told.

We tubed down the river for miles and it was hands-down my most favorite excursion. We did a vote at the end of the trip and all four of us loved it the best. It had awesome rapids, great guides and I didn't see even a baby snake. During the slow parts of the river I would just lean my head back and look at the forest canopy that would spread above me and it was like I was in Jurassic park. Everything that grows there is huge. Huge leaves, huge vines, huge plants and huge bushes. It was unforgettable.

Tomorrow I will be posting pictures of sea turtles, sunken ships, and (drum roll please) some ziplining videos!

Castles and Bones

Puerto Rico - The Rich Port - we didn't know where to start looking. We decided to hop onto the free transit system and see where it took us. One of the first stops was Castillo San Cristobal. Puerto Rico was a prized location in the 1500's because it controlled access and commerce in and out of the New World. This castle was built to protect the city from land-based attacks.

I don't want to bore you with too many pictures of the forts but man they were cool. I'm not a huge history buff but when you see it in person and feel the rocks beneath your feet that people hundreds of years ago stood on as well... history does come alive. Below is a picture of the capitol building and then some more of just different places inside the fort.

The fortress extended to include Old San Juan the city and stretched for over 3 miles. It had fortifications on top of fortifications and I can see why no one was able to take it over.

El Morro was the first fortress built. It started in 1539 as a simple tower and then grew from there. It is massive and it took over 250 years to complete. The Spanish Officers had the ground leveled in front of the fort so that it would make it easier to spot and kill anyone coming close. Thousands of men died on that green grass in front of the fort.

This cannon looks like it is aimed at the little island across from it but there were cannons on that little island as well. Between the two places ships could not access the harbor without some serious poundage from the cannons. The island wasn't just used for the cannons, it was also a place where those with leprosy were sent to die. I had always heard of places like that but had never actually seen one. Again, history coming alive.

No fort is complete without a dungeon and this fort didn't disappoint. It was a small room at the bottom of one part of the fort and it was depressing and dreary - exactly what you need for a good dungeon. You could feel the weight of the fortress pressing down on you and if you weren't claustrophobic before, you would be after staying there for a short time.

On the wall of the dungeon were some pictures. I sense someone was longing for the sea.

He even signed his name. What a neat thing.

Next to El Morro we could see something that looked interesting off to the side of it. So we walked closer to see exactly what it was.

It was a cemetery. We had to go and explore.

(Side Note: Puerto Rico has graffiti everywhere!! I have never seen the likes of it. Either they are very artistic or very bored...)

The cemetery was not nicely arranged and evenly spaced. It was very tightly packed and it didn't have paths. The grass was very squooshy to walk on and it creaped me out to no end. You seemed to sink into it about four inches and it seemed like you might fall through at any moment.

What it did have was some of the most beautiful grave markers I have ever seen.

My grandma would be proud - I even found a long-lost relative. (Padilla is my mom's family name.)

Things were going great and we were doing much oohing and aahing over different sites when we stumbled across something that made us all pause. Actually Christy, Steve and I all blithely stepped right over this dug up area so that we could see the other side and Mark casually called out to me "Did you see the bones in there?"

Come again? Bones? I of course shrieked and called over Christy and Steve so we could investigate together (and so if anything started trying to come alive they would be eaten first). Yup folks, they were human bones and I got thee worst case of the eebie jeebies. We left shortly after that.

After such a hot and sweaty (and scary) day we retreated down to Senor Frog's for dinner and drinks and called it an evening. After all, we had a cruise ship to catch the next day.