And here is what Foster thinks about being left out of the rocking chair pictures:

Emma is so lucky to have such a ‘hands-on’ Daddy.  Yesterday I walked in her room to find Robin and Emma on the floor playing dress-up.  Robin was wearing her butterfly wings and boa.  She was wearing her Cinderella dress and protecting herself from the rain using her umbrella.  I was allowed to stay and take 2 quick pictures before being asked to leave by Emma.  She said, “Go away Mommy, me and Daddy are playing.”

The day after we returned home from our vacation, Emma and I got to go to a Mother Daughter Princess party with Aubrey and her mommy at The Oaks.  Emma had been looking forward to it for weeks and we had a ball.  Speaking of a “ball” here are a few pictures of Cinderella:

Emma and Aubrey

Cinderella eating ice cream:

This sweet girl swimming…

And this sweet boy crawling…

Seriously… when we left Emma had just completed swimming lessons and she was still very timid about putting her face in the water.  She still clung to me when we got in the pool.  I think she went swimming in Pops and Gigi’s pool every day that she was there and when we got home she was swimming by herself with a noodle ALL OVER THE POOL!  And she even jumped off the step and swam to Aunt Crystal without a floatie for a short distance.  We were so impressed!  So, thank you Pops, Gigi, Crystal, and Tommy for private swimming lessons. 

And then there’s Foster… before we left he was just learning to crawl.  He would take a few crawls in one direction and the rest.  When we got back he was a crawling machine.  He goes full force from room to room.  We also got a text message from Pops while we were in Cancun that Foster had pulled up in his crib and was standing up!  This was a first for him.  Now he pulls up on everything.

It’s amazing how much little ones change in just 5 days!

When we were reunited with the kids- Emma ran to us from far away and hugged both of our necks.  You could tell she was excited to see us.  Gigi said she asked her one day, “Are Mommy and Daddy coming back?”  (break my heart!!!)  We talked to the kids on skype using the webcam each night that we were away.  It was so good to see their faces.  Emma was kind of sad on the webcam- she got nervous and didn’t know what to say.  Foster just smiled and coo’d. 

We missed Emma and Foster like crazy and were so glad to see them when we got home.

We decided late this Spring that we wanted to take a vacation somewhere to celebrate the 10 awesome years we’ve shared so far.  We debated long and hard about if it would be ok to leave both kiddos, especially Foster since he’s still so young.  BUT, we knew that our kids would do great with Robin’s parents and they agreed without hesitation.  Emma was very excited to get to go to “Camp Gigi and Pops.”

We went to a resort called The Excellence Playa Mujeres which is just about 10 miles outside of Cancun in a newer area of Cancun.  It was so perfect.  It is a Couples-Only All-Inclusive resort.  The food was amazing.  The pools were amazing.  The time with my husband was priceless.

Here are some pictures from our 5 days of R & R!

This picture cracks me up- this is a self-portrait we took on the plane on the way TO Cancun.  Look at the bags under our eyes- we were so tired prior to Vacation!

This is just one of the many amazing pool areas- our room was up to the right on the 1st floor: 

Our room:

Ok, so the worst part of the trip was that I left my camera (my NICE, EXPENSIVE camera) on the shuttle on the way from the airport to the resort.  I realized it 5 minutes after the driver drove away.  I was sick- I thought we’d never see it again.  It was quite an ordeal to get it back, but after 4 phone calls using the hotel concierge as a translator an honest shuttle drive named “Abe” drove our camera to us on the 3rd day of our trip!!!  I hugged him and he thought I was crazy.  SO, for the first 2 full days of our trip, the only pictures we took were with our iphones and a disposable waterproof camera- not fabulous quality.  I am just SO thankful to have our real camera back.

Ok, so the one “activity” I wanted to do besides lay by the pool and sleep was parasail!  I had never done it before and it looked really fun to me.  We signed up for a ride on the first afternoon we were there.  Now, I’m not sure this is the typical form parasailing- were weren’t hanging/strapped in- we sat in a little boat underneath the parachute.  I was so glad we could ride together- especially since Robin was so scared (seriously- he’s scared of heights.)

This is a picture I took of some other people parasailing so you can get an idea what it looked like:

very blurry picture taken by the boat driver before we took off:

in the air- love Robin’s face:

Our view from the ride- I love Robin’s death grip!:

Dinner on the 2nd night at “The Lobster House”:

Picture taken on our balcony:

  One our 2nd full day we went on a waverunner ride, it was SO fun!  We decided that it was much safer for Robin to drive.  

Robin being silly outside of “Agave”, our restaurant for dinner on the 3rd night:

Robin trying squid:

Robin enjoyed the free wi-fi in the resort a lot, here he is checking out his iphone:

It rained for about an hour on the last full day we were there- we took advantage of this time to be the ONLY people at the main pool!  Then we had the best spot poolside when the sun came out! 

Every day at noon, they hand out exactly 30 of these adorable monkey pineapple drinks.  We were too late on Wednesday- we were the 33rd and 34th people in line.  We were sure make it to the FRONT of the line on Thursday. 

Here is our much anticipated monkey pineapple.

Here is the man wheeling the monkey pineapples out- they put the cherries on for the eyes right before handing them out.  There was a “security” officer with the cart of pineapples- I’m not even kidding. :)

I did water aerobics in the pool one day- it was so much fun! (I’m on the far left)

Lunch at “The Grill”

  We went on a small catamaran ride  (like the red yellow blue boats pictured here) on our last full day there- it was so beautiful:

Jill on the boat: 

Robin on the boat- seeing the shipwreck- it’s been there for 7 years- it’s very scary looking, isn’t it?

Before dinner on our last night:

Our chef for dinner at the Hibachi steakhouse, “Spice” 

The entertainment on the last night was by far my favorite.  They had a Michael Jackson impersonator that really could have been him- he was SO talented.  The show was non-stop entertainment.  I wish we had gotten there earlier for better seats.  This is taken from pretty far away.

On our way out of the resort on the last day- we were so sad to leave this beautiful paradise but very excited to see our kids!

One of our favorite waiters, Oscar, asked us how long the plane ride was to get there.  We told him 2 and a half hours.  He said, “Ah, that’s no big deal- we’ll see you again next weekend!”  Man, I wish that could be true.

Thank you Robin for an amazing week.  I loved spending quality time with you, laughing with you, relaxing with you, and enjoying one another. 

Pops and Gigi, Tommy, and Crystal- thank you SO much for taking such good care of our kids. We can not thank you enough.

The day before Robin and I left for Cancun, we got to spend an afternoon with our good friends, The Kreys, who drove from Waco to hang out with us at Robin’s parents’ house in Arlington.

Oliver and Elliott turn 4 years old this week and they are more handsome than ever.  Emma loves seeing them- even if she doesn’t completely act like it when she’s with them!  She refused to take a posed picture with the two boys. 

Watching “Veggie Tales”:

I wish this picture wasn’t blurry but I had to include a picture of Foster and Conner:

Kathy and Oliver:

Fun game where the kids dove onto the ottoman then did an additional dive off of the ottoman onto the floor!

The boys showing Robin their muscles!!!

Emma saying goodbye to the boys:

Emma just completed 2 weeks of swim lessons at Miller Swim School.  She was kind of apprehensive on her first day but by the end of the 2nd week she was putting her head under water, jumping off of the diving board (while holding the teacher’s hand) and really progressing on her “reaches and pulls” and “motorboat kicks.”  There were 5 kids in her class and she really loved getting to know each of them.  She REALLY loved her teacher, Miss Samantha.  Robin and I loved sitting in the parent viewing room and watching her turn and smile at us every 30 seconds.  She loved knowing that we were right there watching her.  The funniest story from the week happened on the first night.  Robin and I saw the teacher ask each of the kids their name and we thought the teacher mouthed, “Katherine” when Emma said her name.  When one of the Miller staff members came to each class to confirm the roll she asked if Emma was there and Miss Samantha said, “No, we don’t have an Emma.”  After class we told Miss Samantha that Emma’s name was indeed Emma and she said, “She told me her name was Katherine.”  When we got in the car we asked Emma what she told the teacher her name was and she said “Katherine Curry” (Katherine is her middle name by the way.)  She said that’s the name she wanted to go by now.  However, by the next morning she had apparently forgotten about this.  She is a funny girl. 

Practicing blowing bubbles:

Smiling at Mommy and Daddy… so proud:

Practicing kicks on the yellow duck:

With her friends Cookie (on left), and Lennon (on right):

Swimming with the noodle:

Floating on her back- straight as a board:

Swimming with eyes in the water:

Sitting on the mat after class:

Emma and Miss Samantha:

Miss Samantha giving Emma her Completion Card on the last night:

Emma smelling the roses from Aunt Judy- Aunt Judy gave these to her for completing her swim lessons (how sweet!)

I couldn’t resist posting these 2 pictures.  We were at some friends’ house a couple of weeks ago and we had an “incident” where Emma required a change of clothes.  We did not bring a change of clothes for Emma… but we DID have Foster’s pajamas in his diaper bag.  They were 6-12 month shorts and a 6-12 month shirt.  We decided to give them a try on Emma and they fit pretty well!  Don’t worry, we went straight home but at least now we know that Foster (our 7 month old) and Emma our (3 1/2 year old) can share clothes.  I think that Emma only outweighs Foster by about 7 or 8 pounds. :)

Whew, what a BUSY 4th of July holiday we had and I loved every minute of it!  In all, I think we had 3 celebrations.  

The weekend began on Saturday night with a very fun celebration with our good friends, the Webbs and Ha’s.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a single picture from the night because things were kind of wild.  (Ok, so I do have a picture taken with my iphone, see below.)  We went to The Oaks Country Club for an awesome dinner and fireworks display.  Only problem- RAIN!  It rained the entire night.  So a dinner that should have been outside (you know, where kids are free to run and play) was moved inside.  We had 5 little kids and 6 adults around a round dinner table (complete with white tablecloth) and let’s just say that we made some definite memories!  One thing I learned that night was that 3 year old little girls LOVE to go to the bathroom together… and talk to each other under the stalls… and give a play-by-play about their bathroom happenings. “Aubrey, I’m wiping now, are you?  Did you go just pee pee or poo poo too?’”  Nice.  At a COUNTRY CLUB! The night ended with a beautiful fireworks display.  Some of us watched it outside underneath umbrellas, some of our group stayed inside and watched out the window, some watched it from the tailgate of their car.  Emma buried her head on Robin’s chest- the noise from the fireworks really bothered her so she didn’t get to see many of the fireworks but on our drive home she asked when she would get to see more fireworks and we told her… tomorrow night!

On the actual 4th on Sunday evening we went to a Driller’s baseball game with my family.  Robin, Emma, Foster, Judy, Nana, Uncle Brandon, and myself all tried to cram onto one blanket on the outfield lawn.  Foster has been learning to crawl this week so he was very interested in crawling all over the blanket, onto the grass, etc. 

This is the 2nd time I’ve been to a Driller’s game at the new stadium and the 2nd time I have not watched a single minute of the game!  Emma was very spoiled by Aunt Judy.  They made many trips to the bathroom, got an ice cream sundae in a Driller’s baseball cap, and ate some cracker jacks.  Somewhere about the 4th inning it started to rain and it rained off and on for the remainder of the evening.  We were drenched, but again, making memories!  We endured the rain and got to see the fireworks display after the game.  Emma tried to watch more of the fireworks this time- she peeked underneath her hands but again buried her chest on her daddy for most of the show. 

See the rain clouds moving in??

Foster taking cover…

Emma and Uncle Brandon sharing the ice cream sundae from Aunt Judy.

Monday we went to our friends house for a picnic before mommy had to go to work at 3:00.

It was a wonderful weekend but next year I would prefer a DRY 4th of July weekend!