Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Flying Bat

Jena's kindergarten class decided to call themselves the "Flying Bats." Each child gets a chance to take home their class mascot. Jena has been so excited and after months of waiting, she finally was able to bring the little guy home. She wanted to do everything with it. Plus we had to take pictures and write a little story/poem from the bat's perspective of the time he had at our house. Here was our adventure...

Dear Kindergarteners,

Today I decided to try something new,

I’d write my journal entry with a rhyme or two.

Jena took me home at the end of the day,

It’s been really exciting because she really likes to play.

We went to the park. I liked the slides and swings,

They’re almost as magnificent as having your own wings.

We played with her siblings and some other friends from school,

Exploring we did go, until it got a little cool.

We went to her home, bundled up and watched a movie,

Then her dad turned some music on and we got a little groovy.

Dinner was delectable, then to the bath the kids did go,

After my shower at Delaney’s, I decided to say no.

They were bathed and dressed. Good nights were said,

But instead of going to sleep we stayed up talking in her bed.

The next day was busy with all the family plans,

We drove around a lot, but luckily she has a van.

After a plethora of activities, we had a little rest

We had some snacks and chocolate. Yes, the chocolate was the best.

Then we drew some pictures of animals, plants and such

Jena’s been happy to have me here and says she’ll miss me so much.

Because soon it will be dark and another day will be done

And our time will be up, but we sure have had some fun.

I love visiting my friends and meeting new ones too.

Who will I stay with next… maybe it will be YOU!!!

Thanks Jena for a glorious time!

Love,

The Flying Bat

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Spoiled in Paradise...too!

Now I know you are probably thinking that we lucked out on our vacation and our kids were left behind, but our three little children enjoyed their time in Paradise too.

They were completely spoiled... they played at parks...

We love this picture of Cody!

Went to the beach...

Ate cookies and played with a doggie at Aunt Julie's house...

Went shopping or dressing up...

went to the zoo...

played and ate with cousins...

Fed ducks, slept over at Parker's (I mean Bart and Heather's house)... and a million things and pictures more. Sue said Jena was a little sad the first few days and mentioned that she missed us, but she bawled the last day because she wouldn't be seeing Parker ever day like she had this week :) Amazingly the week went very smoothly and the kids loved their special time with their Grandparents! They are very VERY lucky kids!!! and so are we!!!
WE LOVE YOU, ROD AND SUE!!!

Spoiled In Paradise

Ryan's employer met a huge milestone last year and decided to take the whole company to Hawaii for their kick off meeting and awards ceremony. Rod and Sue graciously said they would take the kids, so Ryan and I could spend our first vacation without them... and it was absolutely wonderful! Especially since it was also our eighth year anniversary.

We stayed at the Grand Wailea on Maui and were beyond pampered. The Grand Wailea is one of the most amazing hotels we have ever stayed in. Seriously, google it, but luckily the company paid for our stay because it definitely wouldn't be in our budget.

We spent our time laying on the beach, reading books, eating, shopping... I guess that is what I did because Ryan still had to work a few days that we were there. We did go scuba diving together and saw these amazing turtles hanging out on the coral. They didn't even seem to mind that we were a few feet away from them. We also did a cliff dive which was very crazy since we were down about sixty feet and we couldn't even see the bottom. Another day we took a canoe ride and saw a manta ray after jumping in the water with our snorkel gear. We even got in some whale watching as we traveled to our snorkel and scuba locations. We love the water!

The company had a Hawaiian Luau and a great dinner and rewards ceremony. I'm so proud of Ryan and all he does for our family!

We had a few non working days at the end of our trip and headed out on the road to Hana and to the pools of Oheo. It was truly beautiful, but the curvy roads almost got the better of me. On the way there we stopped at many waterfalls and went on a few hikes. The hike up to this waterfall had an amazing bamboo forest. Maui is absolutely beautiful, but next time I think I should take a boat or helicopter to enjoy certain areas :)

We had the most amazing time in Maui! Thank you so much, Rod and Sue!!!
Happy Anniversary Baby!