Grand Cayman President's Club Trip 2016

After an exciting birthday celebration for the kids Luke and I had an early morning flight to the Grand Cayman on Sunday morning! We were out of the house by 4:20am and on the beach in the afternoon. It was a cloudy, windy day, but the warm air felt great! This was an award trip I won through work--so we had some mandatory events. It was fun to see everyone and meet some new friends!

Sunday night was the Superbowl--we were encouraged to wear our team's jersey's.....so we did! It promoted a lot of conversations, which was fun!

 Monday brought some more clouds--we went for a walk on the beach and relaxed by the ocean! I can't complain about 80's at the Ritz Carlton in the Grand Cayman! :) Monday night we had a group dinner.

 Tuesday we signed up to go on a Kayak Adventure. I wasn't able to bring my phone......but we kayaked through the mangroves and were able to touch an "upside down jellyfish" and a big starfish. It was a neat excursion, although it got to be a little long.....and Luke and I were hoping for it to be a bit more "adventurous"!  Tuesday was "Fat Tuesday" and there was a Mardi Gras party going on in one of the towns. We went down to check it out--we met up with some other BD folks and had a blast!

Wednesday: Bishop's 6th Birthday! We face timed him in the morning.....and it made me sad that we couldn't be with him to celebrate on HIS day! We knew the kids were in good hands with my parents though! It was our last full day! We were signed up to "Swim with the Stingrays" and it was a really neat experience! We took a catamaran boat about an hour into the ocean.......where there was a sand bar. We all got out and stood in about waist high water. The sting rays would swim right up to you--Luke was able to even hold one for a little bit. It was a really neat experience! We were also supposed to go snorkling, but since the water was so choppy we weren't able to do that--so we went to StarFish Island instead and saw some neat Starfish!

A Stingray underwater

Stingray City!

Starfish Island

 The last night there was another group dinner. The entire BD group went to The Grand Old House for dinner. The food was delicious all week! We sat at a table on the porch. The waves were crashing up so high that they came over the retaining wall and got us and our table wet while we were eating! Luke took the brunt of it and the waiters even brought him a white shirt to wear while they dried his shirt! It was pretty hilarious and made for a good story!

Thursday: Nora's 4th Birthday! We were able to facetime her and wish her a happy birthday. She was excited we would be home in one more sleep! Our flight didn't get in until 9pm, so the kids would be asleep by the time we got home. Our shuttle didn't leave the hotel until early afternoon, so we had time to relax at breakfast and buy a few gifts before making the trek home!

Luke and I enjoyed our time together so much. I am so thankful for Luke-he was making friends all week.....and he introduced ME to a number of people! It was great! It was really hard to miss the kids' birthdays, but I am so thankful my parents were there for them! Thanks mom and dad-you're the best!!

Birthday Party Time!

The kids have been looking forward to their birthday party for weeks! Saturday finally arrived and they woke up excited! There's still a little confusion in regards to the difference between their party and their ACTUAL birthday. Luke went on a long ski in the morning and wasn't home when the kids got up. Bishop seemed disappointed--"where's dad.....and where's my donut?" The donut tradition is on the morning of the actual birthday! ;)

When Luke got home--we let the kids open our presents, since we won't be home on their actual birthdays. They were both very happy with what they got! Bishop really wanted a trumpet and a snowboard....and Nora wanted a tummy sled! They both got what they wanted and we even had time to try out the new toys before their party in the evening!

He loves his new trumpet!

Cinnamon gum, new slippers and a new bed for her baby!

Super excited to try it out!

She loves her tummy sled!

Warming up with Hot Chocolate!

After sledding and hot chocolate we went to George and the Dragon for lunch! Then it was back home for more celebrating with Madelyn, Jack, Auntie Shelly and Uncle Ryan!

Loving his new trumpet, frog goggles and PJ's!

We had another combined birthday party at the YMCA this year. 6 year old boys can be kind of wild, so I felt a little bad for Nora as the boys seemed to dominate the party. She ended up having a great time! It was a crazy/fun time and while there was one bloody nose, we were thankful that was the extent of the injuries!

Asa and Bishop!

Nora and Aisling! Her first year inviting friends! :)

Bishop, Cal and Henry Krueger! BUDS!

The best Auntie ever!!

In heaven with her cousin, Madelyn!

Most of the boys!

Most of the partiers! 

It was a whirlwind of a day/night! We got home after the party (around 7:30 or so) and opened presents. Nana and Papa were able to join us too.....because Luke and I had an early morning flight out on Sunday to the Grand Cayman! We are so thankful for wonderful friends and family! It's special to see such neat friendships developing for our kids! Thanks, friends, for making Bishop's 6th birthday and Nora's 4th birthday party so much fun!

February-I love to read month, a blizzard and the stomach flu!

The first few days of February brought I love to read month, a blizzard and the stomach flu! While we were all eagerly awaiting the kids' birthday party and lots of fun events in the month of February we all took a step back to get and stay healthy!

Sunday night into Monday Bishop was sick--it was a rough night and no one got much sleep, but thankfully it didn't last long. He experienced his first day of having to stay home from school on Monday. He was wiped out!

I was able to read to Nora's class one morning after breakfast, which is always a treat! However, it can sometimes be hard for the kids to share mom with her friends/class.

 Nora's friends took these 2 pictures of Nora and I! Not bad! :)

 And of course Nora had to take one too!

 Bishop's gym teacher set the gym up as a "Jungle Gym" and parents were welcome to come during their gym class to check it out. I was able to go on Tuesday and it was so fun to see! They had balance beams to cross (and not fall in the water with the snakes), ropes to climb, tunnels to crawl through and all sorts of fun things. The kids are also encouraged to bring in a stuffed animal, so they had fun with their animals too!

Cal, Bishop and Charlie--they're never far from each other

 We finally got some snow and a blizzard rolled in on Tuesday afternoon! Luke and I were able to get out for a ski over lunch together and Bishop's teacher sent a picture of their class during recess in the snow!

Bishop working on his Valentine's!

 The month of February is I love to Read Month and Lake Harriet schools kicked off with the theme "Reading is SNOW much fun!" Each student tracks the minutes they read and raises money for the school. So far Bishop is REALLY into it and his competitive side is helping him get a lot of reading minutes in! :) I'll take it! At this point we're still reading to him, but it doesn't matter--any reading is good reading!

On Thursday the author Nancy Carlson came to school in the evening to sell books, sign them and teach the kids some illustrating! Bishop had a book of hers already so he brought that to be signed along with a new one we bought. He also loved following her instructions on drawing! Nora wasn't feeling the best and asked to go home. Thankfully we drove separately so Luke took her home and when they got home she got sick all over! We were so thankful they made it home.....it was another long night for everyone and the poor girl was sick til 2:30 in the morning. However, I was just thankful we were home to take care of them while they were sick!

Reminds me of when I was a girl--sleeping on the bathroom floor