The longest day of the trip!!!

Booooooo it is time to go home!!! Our flight was not until 1:50am so we had a whole day to kill.
The day was beautiful and the sky was blue. We packed up our luggage and checked out. Luckily our resort had a big hospitality room for us to use for the day.
We got changed and hit the beach. It was nice and hot....perfect for our last day. We stayed on the beach and in the pool getting our burn on... We would hate to come back without a good tan!

After a long day on the beach we got changed and headed to the Malecon. Mike's mom, Liz and his sister, Wendy and brother in law,Ken, came with us. None of them had headed into the city yet so we toured them around.

It was the first time we headed to the downtown area during the day. The atmosphere was much quieter.
I ended up finding the Lady of Guadeloupe Church. There was a mass going on but I still took a look around.

We ate on the Malecon for dinner. Wendy, Ken and Liz had not eaten off resort other than for tours so Wendy figured they needed to branch out. The food where we ate was great. I had the lobster which was scrumptious!

The smiley face moon was shining down on us as we finished our wonderful meal. (check out the moon... not Mike's face LOL)

Before heading back to the hotel we went to a downtown market to spend our last pesos. Mike and I found an awesome hand woven cotton hammock for 200 pesos. It will be perfect for camping this summer.
There was also some traditional dancing going on in the square in the market. The little kids dancing were so cute.

Sadly it was time for us to pack up and head to the airport. Our great trip was over...
Time to return to reality. :( And time to get serious about buying lottery tickets so we can do this again some time in our life!

After 15 years of marriage it was about time for Mike and I to take some time to reconnect.  I hope that it doesn't take another 15 years for us to get away together again.

I must thank my sister, Robyn, and my parents for watching my kids.  They also had my sister, Heather's, 3 boys and my sister Andrea's 2 dogs!  I am so very lucky to have such an awesome family that pulls together and helps each other out! I am sure when Robyn and her husband want to get away in the future I will be called upon to watch their kids... it would only be fair!

 

Arrrgh... Day Six!

The sun was HOT when we finally emerged from our room on Day Six. We headed directly to the beach bar for a drink and a sandwich.
We found a couple chairs and got our burn on!! I spent some time bartering for gifts for the girls back home.
Before we got to Mexico I was nervous about the vendors but although there were lots around they generally left us alone once you said no gracias enough times. Actually this vacation was a dream. I could lie on the beach, have a beverage and go shopping all at the same time... If that is not a perfect vacation I am not sure what is!!!

That evening 20 of us went on the Last Saskatchewan Pirate Adventure. It was a pirate ship full of Canadians ... What a party! We had a personal pirate that served us all nite!! The drinks were flowing. The supper below deck was great .. But the dancing on the main deck with the girls was the hi lite! Thank goodness Mike was there to make sure Dani (Nick's girl friend) and I didn't fall over board.
Here is a picture of the boat all lit up one night when we were on the Malecon.

The Ladies on the ship had to hoist the Main Sail!

Day Five: The Best day of the trip!!

We were very lucky that when Heather and Kent booked their trip they planned it around our 15th anniversary... I know, I was a mere child when I got married ;) So we had a big day planned!
We slept and almost missed breakfast again. Mike was very hung over. The day began slowly since we didn't sleep well due to the missing phone tragedy.
We grabbed some water and made for the beach. Mike had a nap in a beach chair while I read my book. He then decided to head to Kent and Wendy's room to get ahold of Sasktel to cancel my phone.
I was pretty bummed since I figured I had to stop shopping since I would have to buy a new phone when I returned home.... Bummer!
Mike came back and said I would have to call Sasktel directly...
We decided to move to the pool where Mike found a chair in the shade and had a few hour siesta.
I had booked a romantic excursion back to Las Caletas for The Rhythm of the Night dinner and show that evening so I headed up to the room after a couple hours. Mike was still snoozing curled in the fetal position on a lounger by the pool.
When I got to the room I decided I should try calling Sasktel to suspend my phone plan. As I was trying to figure out how to phone Canada when I looked down and sitting there by the phone was MY IPHONE and case. Thank you St.Jude (and the cleaning lady)!!! Crisis averted!!! I could shop!!!
Mike returned to the room saying that he felt much better! It was an anniversary miracle!!!! ;)
We got ready and headed on our sunset cruise to Las Caletas. I highly recommend the show and the supper. The food was fantastic... The best part though was truly the company... And hanging out in the hammock on the beach after supper.
During the ride back they turned the lights off on the boat for a awhile and we watched the lights of the city approaching under the bright Mexican stars. Mucho romantico ;)

All in all it was a Great Day!!!!

PS I did not take my iPhone to take pictures... Too afraid I would drop it in the ocean! ;)

Day Four: What a beautiful day for a Wedding!

The day began bright and sunny. What a perfect day!!! Finally some heat.
After our regular sleep in we headed down to the beach. I had paid for wifi for the day so I spent some time connecting with the outside world. It was just after 10:30am when we had our first beverage on the beach... It's 5 o'clock somewhere right!

I got a message from my sister, Robyn, reminding me to try not to be the drunk annoying auntie at the wedding... So I tried to contain myself!
After about 5 hours on the beach it was time to get to the wedding... Right by the beach bar... Very convenient. ;)
The wedding was beautiful. The weather was awesome and the bride and groom were stunning!

Kent nervously awaiting his bride!

Oh there she is!!!

Her dress was Devine!!!

The couldn't keep their hands off each other!!! It was so cute.
It was a very personal ceremony. There was not a dry eye in the place.

Finally husband and wife!!!

After a very tasty supper, we danced on the beach. Actually, they played our wedding song so Mike and I had a private dance on the beach at sunset... Very romantic.

During the party we were finally able to connect with Mak and the girls via facetime!!! It great to see them and they got to see part of the wedding festivities!
After the party was slowing down I put my phone in the secret phone holder (you know, where every girl keeps her phone) and Mike and I went of a walk along the beach. Some of the waves caught us by surprise so we ended up pretty wet! But it was fun.
When we finally got back to the room and started undressing my phone was no where to be found!
We were pretty sure it was in the ocean :( In our drunken state we searched but the phone could not be found. I crappy end to a perfect day.
After we crawled into bed I prayed to St. Jude, the saint of hopeless cases. "Please St.Jude just put my phone somewhere that I can find it!"

Day three: Las Caletas

For some reason I did not feel very chipper this morning but we had to get up and moving since we had booked an excursion with Liz to Las Caletas. This is a private beach with many activities to do and a very yummy lunch.
The boat ride there was not so fun for me. It was quite long and rough... Or at least it seemed that way in my hungover condition. The sun was shining for the beginning of the ride but after that we did not see it for the rest of the day... Although the water and air was warm.

We saw a momma and baby humpback whale on the way to the beach! Man they are huge!!

After I had lunch (which was awesome) and my first cocktail of the day I was ready to play. Mike played with a monkey (not his monkey ;) and we went double kayaking and snorkeling.

I loved snorkeling... It is just so very peaceful.
Once we returned to our resort we had a quick shower and went down to one of the cafes at the resort. We are never organized enough to make reservations to the good restaurants on the resort. The meals I have eaten on resort have been ok but nothing amazing. After I looked at the menu I decided I didn't want to eat there.. So I made a big embarrassing fuss in front of the in laws ... Mike and I headed downtown to find "good" food!

The food at La Distillera on the Malecon was extraordinary! I had the Tequila Shrimp and Mike had Salt Crusted Beef Tenderloin Wrapped in bacon... They both were cooked in front of us. We even had live entertainment at the table!

After a walk along the Malecon we headed back to the resort where we had a drink or two then we headed to our nicely cleaned room for the evening.

Cute elephant left for us by the cleaning lady!

Tomorrow... The big wedding!!!

NOTE: all cards and what not worked perfectly today... Guess that means I can barter tomorrow!!

Mexico - Day Two... The blurrrr....

Day two didn't start out too great ... We walked from our resort to Walmart a few blocks away where there was a cultural festival and market going on.. Lots of nice stuff.
We decided to go into Walmart to get some allergy stuff which I forgot. When we went to pay neither our credit card nor our debit card worked... Luckily Mike's mom was with us and paid for us...
When we returned to the hotel we noticed that our room was not cleaned again... Eventhough the attached room (Liz and Amy's room) was cleaned... So we complained.
Liz and Amy were mad because they did not have ocean view so they wanted to moved... But if they moved we had to move... So we packed up our stuff and moved to a much smaller room with a less appealing view.

We checked the Internet and yes we had money to spend so we said "screw it... Let's get drunk" so we found the hot pool with the swim up
Bar at the adjoining resort and did just that... The rest of the day was a blur...

Mexico - THE Holiday Day one

We arrived in Mexico early Friday morning. We safely made it through customs and out of the airport and onion the bus to our resort.. Luckily most of the "time share people were gone he for the night. The Golden Crown Paradise Resort was all quiet and at peace until we arrived ... What a rowdy crew!!
After we watched the young bunch frolic in the pool we headed to our room.
Luckily the morning brought fog and cloud sober didn't feel too guilty when we slept in! As the sky began to clear at 10 am or so we finally rolled out of bed.

The view from our room was beautiful. We went down to the lobby and was "oriented" by the information person... At least we got a map of the resort... Didn't need the sales pitch though.
Then for our meeting with Jorge who was our contact for Transat... Got us to thinking we should take a couple more tours!!
Mike and I felt adventurous so we head north down the beach. When we got to the end of the beach we followed a walk way and headed into the neighborhood. After we got to know the hood we decide to hit the beach...

We forgot to take our insulated cups so we were drinking our drinks quickly so they would stay cold! ;)
I ended up running up to the room to get our cups and the super awesome mini speaker dock for my iPhone that Dana P said we should take. She was sooo right.
After a day on the beach where we watched a bunch of the group parasail Mike and I started walking the beach south. We walked for about half an hour before we decided to go into a resort and hail a cab. We decide however to head to the Malacon (downtown board walk) and check it out.
We walked around. Ate at Senoir Frogs and went to a market where we both bought a pair of sandals. Mine are soo cute!
Now it is 9pm. Mike is sleeping on the couch and I am listening to the laughter at the bar downstairs... Yep we are party animals!! ;)
I am not sure what tomorrow holds since I have pretty much done everything I wanted to do all in the first day!!! I can't believe we just wandered around off resort so much... So much for being chicken tourists and just sticking around the resort the entire time!!!

Life is great!

Well 2012 started without a hitch. The girls and I are enjoying our last few days before school starts. Luckily the girls have dance practice these next couple days so we can get back into routine. We have slipped into the stay up until 2 am and sleep until noon sleep pattern! School will be a shock!

If only the Game of Life was reality!! I kick butt at that game!!!

The marking fairies haven't visited my house yet! :( I have some work ahead of me... Maybe I will still have some late nights!

Discovering the Playhouse!

A good friend of mine just opened a play center/coffee shop in town! It is a wonderful addition to our community!

The kids had a great time running off their energy and Auntie Robyn and I had a break!

Jorja and her friend Abby met up for a play!

Even Rhiannon got into the action! They also have this cool iClick game that shines an interactive game on the floor! So much fun!

Here is Shallen playing on the giant iClick piano!

So for a good time call Tammy and Martina at the Discovery Playhouse in Nipawin!!!

Kid fun and Mom sanity approved!!!

My Crazy Life

You may have noticed that I have not blogged in a while... I looked back and realized that my last entry was a week before I went back to work in the fall. That pretty much summarizes my life... When I am teaching full time and being a full time mom (while is really like working two full time jobs) I don't have much time for extras.
When I started this blog, just before I went back to work after Shallen was born, I wanted to have a place where I could relay my life as a full time working mom of four.
Everyone I spoke to told me that I would need to find a way to balance work and "life". I seem to be managing ok (some days) but this blog shows me that when I am working I can't seem to find time to blog... Which is something I enjoy and I hope u enjoy too!
I just got a new iPhone 4s that I just figured out how to blog from!!! So I hope that will help me to keep in touch more.
My New Years resolution is going to be to try to blog at least once per month... Hmmm I should look back on this blog to see what my resolution was last year!!! This sounds pretty familiar! ;)

Now back to the work life balance... I sit here at the Tisdale recplex blogging as I take a break from my marking.... While my girls are in a Dance workshop in the auditorium.... Mark or watch my girls dance.... Oh the dilemma!

My small pile of marking.... I have two more piles this size at home!

I know that this may seem like an easy decision but in reality when one is a teacher this is a decision that is made daily. If I choose not to mark (which I think I do too often, hence my marking piles up)it affects my students and I get momma guilt in I don't watch my kids... Because really in the big picture what is more important??

A "Wicked"ly Good Time... Defying Gravity!

The stage was dark. A hush fell over the crowd as a green light began to glow and grow...
Our trip to the Broadway Play "Wicked" was full of ups and a few downs.
It all started with a shopping trip to find the perfect pair of shoes. After too many shoe stores to count Andrea bought a pair of witchy black shoes perfectly adorned with a silver buckle, an excellent choice for our evening festivities. Robyn chose her shoes by fashion not comfort. They were sexy GaGa-inspired black glittery high heeled beasts! (but man they were cute)
After getting cleaned up from the shopping we headed to the restaurant Chianti's in Saskatoon where Andrea, Robyn and Charles, my cousin Randal and his crazy wife,Amanda, and their two girls and I went out for supper! The food was excellent as was the two bottles of wine Andrea and I finished!

You could not imagine the amount of people we saw from Nipawin at the restaurant and at the show. Andrea got to know one even better when she tripped on a crack in the bathroom and fell into one of their arms! She was not able to defy gravity.... Even with the new witch shoes!
Finally we were off to the play! It was awesome! The costumes were amazing. The singing and dancing were choreographed creatively. And although the storyline was somewhat changed from the book the play still had great ability to capture the imagination of the audience. I wish they would have spent some more time developing Elphaba's background and childhood. Andrea was in tears at the break for intermission! The injustice that the witch had to go through was just too much!

Once the show was done and the shirts were bought we had to get back to the van for the drive to Amanda's house. This was a great adventure. Robyn's GaGa-inspired shoes wanted to see if she could defy gravity and she fell on her face when she tripped on the sidewalk. Guess she couldn't defy gravity either!!! LOL

I sure am glad I didn't buy new shoes today!!!!

Andrea and I have decided it is time to start taking our daughters to the theater! I am sure our husbands will think it is just another reason to shop! (although I think we will skip the shoe section!)

Bumps, bruises, beauty & bikes!

I love alliteration! There is nothing more engaging than a blog title using alliteration! LOL ;)
This week we said farewell to Kelsey (Or Chelsea as we like to call her), James, Cale and Reese Hayes. We had a great time while they were here. Our liver and bellies are still recovering from the daily escapades! We hope they come back to visit us again another summer!

Look at the sad face. The poor girl was stepped on by her little sister which gave her the mark under her eye. Then she fell off her bike and her face had a run in with the ground! I am afraid to take her to town in fear that she is removed from my care!

We are enjoying this time with Auntie Robyn. We are spoiled since she is spending all this time with us this summer since she is on maternity leave!
We had a spa day up at the campsite. She did pedicures, haircuts and dye jobs! We are so lucky!!! Makenna got her hair cut and dyed with black and pink streaks while Rhiannon and Jorja now sport pink streaks. Shallen got a pink streak thanks to a crayola marker! I am totally ok with my kids getting things done to their hair. It can always be redyed, or cut and it always grows back!

Shallen has been watching her big sisters ride their bikes this summer. We have an extra little bike kicking around so Mike put the training wheels on it and Shallen suckered her sisters into pushing her around.

She doesn't pedal yet but I am sure she will catch on soon. You might remember that Jorja just took those training wheels off this summer... Doesn't take those little sisters long to follow behind their older siblings!
Today I am off to Saskatoon with Andrea and Robyn to see the play "Wicked". It will be my 3rd night away from the trailer this summer! I am sure the twisted sisters will haves great time in the big city! (but that is a whole new blog!)

F is for Family...

We were raised with the belief that family is important and that the more people you share your time with makes it even a better time.

We were lucky to be raised with this philosophy. Holidays were always filled with family and friends. We never knew who would be around for Christmas dinner since mom and dad would invite whomever they heard were alone for Christmas.

This welcoming feeling did not end with the Christmas season however. During the summer there was always a steady stream of aunts, uncles and cousins heading to the cabin or camping in the driveway. This has not changed much, although a couple of the aunts and uncles now own cabins here too!

Mom and dad are in their glory when the cabin is at full capacity. It has taken a while since they added on to the cabin and moved to the lake but they have now reassembled the decks and are back entertaining at full tilt.

The Hayes' invasion is in full swing with Kerry and her two kids (Dayen and Jaden), James and Kelsey and their two kids (Cale and Reese) hanging out in the campground. It is fun for the kids to have built in friends to hang out with all day. Jim and Sandra have also been here with their trailer and boat. We just wish that wind would go away so we could get out in the lake more. Wendy is also here which is nice since she helps out with all the kids.

Our campsite is always full of kids. Sometimes we don't even know who they belong to!
Of course we have lots of toys and good snacks so we seems to attract them!

We are all very thankful for Cory who bought Andrea a Margarita maker for her birthday. Our kids are now used to doing ice runs to the store.

And auntie Robyn is here so we are being pampered! We love when she comes to town!

We love all our family, in laws and out laws! Later this week my cousin Eden is coming here from New York. We don't get to see her very often so it is a treat when she comes to visit.

So for all the above reasons I know I am lucky to have such a wonderful family. As weird and dysfunctional we all are we love each other and THAT is what is important!