Bahama Life

For Mother's Day and my birthday as they fall so close together, I received an AMAZING treat!  The kids stood up with their signs turned backwards and as I opened a present, one of the kids would also turn over their sign.  I got a new swimsuit, and swimsuit cover-up, flip-flops, and a massage.  But when Avery turned over the last sign and I saw that I was going to the Bahamas, I started crying.  My husband is so incredible!

 I've been to Canada and Mexico, but not since you needed a passport to go to these countries.  Randy was needing a passport for work and so I had gone with him to get mine as well, not realizing at the time that he was doing this for a reason.  This was my first real trip and I was on the edge of my seat.  My first time to see aqua water!  It was as amazing as I thought it would be!

 We got in around dinner time and as soon as we dropped our bags off in our room we headed straight down to get a close up look at the water.  I could have stayed there all night!

 We were both surprised that there weren't many people on the beach!  We were staying at Atlantis and I know there's so much to do but taking in this sunset was top on our list!

Jenny and Bubba have traveled a lot, especially Jenny, so she helped Randy find this amazing deal.  She has been to Atlantis before but it was such a great deal that they couldn't pass it up either!  Plus it was nice to have someone come along that knew what they were doing!

 They arrived a day after us.  The night they came in, we went to take in some of the sites of Atlantis.  This aquarium in one of their hotels was amazing!

The next day we decided to venture out into the Bahamas and go snorkeling.  They have snorkeling at the resort and we saw people snorkeling in that aquarium that we were looking at the day before, but this was just as cheap and it was in the ocean.  

We were taken out to three different sites to go snorkeling.  The first one was very cool with lots of neon fish.  This was my first time ever snorkeling and it took me a little while to feel comfortable and relax.  

But once I got a hang of it, I loved it!  The water was beautiful, and the coral was incredible.  It was just so neat to see a whole other part of this beautiful world we live in.

Our second stop took us by this incredible private island where Scooby-Doo was filmed, Spooky Island!  I can't remember if this was in the first or the second movie, but I remember it!  My kids love the Scooby-Doo movies!  When we stopped we got to look down also at the plane that was placed in the water for the Jaws film.  That was awesome too!

Our last stop was one that Randy and I chose to few from the boat!  Oh yes, this one was swimming with the sharks!  They put a box of bait down at the bottom of the ocean and a TON of sharks came to feed out of it.  We were allowed to go out holding onto a rope but couldn't make any sudden movements and had to stay really still.  NO WAY!!  I could see just fine from the boat!  I think Randy and I were the only two that didn't go!  Yes, Bubba and Jenny both went out with the rest of the boat!

We spent a lot of time on the beautiful Marina at Atlantis.  The food was cheaper out there and the weather was so nice most of the time.  The chance of rain each day was pretty high and it rained quite a few times but never stayed long.  It was actually nice to have the clouds around all the time!  Oh, and the yachts in the Marina were incredible to look at!

Another activity Randy and I did was swim with the dolphins.  It was actually more interacting with the dolphins.  To actually swim with them was more expensive.  Our trip came with one free pass and since Bubba and Jenny had already done it, they gave theirs to Randy and I.

This has always been a huge dream of mine and I'm so excited to have checked it off of my bucket list.  We stood on the edge of a step and watched the dolphins do their tricks.  They would swim up as close as the could so we could touch them.  They are such beautiful and incredible creatures!

After that we got to take pictures with the dolphins.  Here are Randy and I taking our picture.  They also did individual pictures where we kissed the dolphins nose and then he blew water all over us.  It was a blast and I was so excited that I finally got to do this!

Bubba and Jenny were sweet enough to go with us and take pictures.  It did take a while and I think they got a little bored and found some ways to entertain themselves!  hahaha!!

Oh yes, I still have these pictures and now they are part of my blog!!  You'll never live them down!!

Out of all the things we did, nothing was as peaceful or desired as just sitting on the beach!  Anytime we had a minute, we would take that time to go sit on the beach. 

The water was amazing, the sand was so soft and it seemed like most people ventured more to the swimming pools and water parks that were at the resort.  But THIS was our favorite place.

Not to say we didn't spend a good amount of time at the pools or the water park!  We went down lots of slides, rides and lazy rivers.  One of the slides takes you through a tube where sharks are swimming all around you!  That was pretty cool!

We found a new favorite drink at Atlantis as well.  Half strawberry daiquiri half pina colada!  Virgin of course!  Oh man, it was incredible!

Randy and I went on lots of walks.  Just outside our hotel and on our path to the beach there is a pool of sea turtles.  Everyday we walked by these guys and thought of Avery as she has always loved sea turtles.  One of the most relaxing parts of the trip but also kind of sad was that we didn't get any phone service.  I was technology free for a whole week and it was the most amazing and freeing feeling!  We would walk a couple of blocks every morning to the local Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast and they had Wi-Fi there so Randy would take his work phone and we would talk to the kids and he would check in on emails but I chose to leave my phone turned off since I had no idea how much it would cost me.  I seriously felt like it was the first time for my brain to just relax! 

  

We also got to go have a round of golf!  One round of golf was included in our trip and it actually did cost for Jenny and I to ride along in the cart but it was well worth it!  The golf course was amazing!

Randy and Bubba played awesome.  Randy is used to me and my camera but Bubba was probably sick of me by the time we were done!  hahaha!

Every hole had such an amazing view it was hard to stop!

I love this picture of Jenny!

  

Along the beach there are people selling things and also a ton of guys wanting to rent out their jet skis.  Holy cow, once we acted interested they all came running and trying to give us their best deal!  I liken it to sea gulls when someone throws a crumb of bread!  They just attack!!  Bubba was a great negotiator and we felt like we got a great deal!  However, notice my sunglasses because it is the last time you will see them!

That's right, I'm now wearing Randy's sunglasses!  My competitor husband couldn't just enjoy a ride on the jet skis and the incredible views of mansions and picturesque water and the view of the resort.  No, he was always on a search for where Bubba was because the only thing he wanted to do was ride straight up to him and do a fast turn and spray him with water.  Well, he finally got his opportunity... but with the fast turn came me flying off the jet ski, salt water up my nose and my favorite Calloway sunglasses on the bottom of the ocean floor!  He did feel bad!  And luckily we didn't damage the jet ski.  See... we still have smiles on our face!

He felt so bad, that he treated me to a couples massage!  This was probably the most expensive thing we did the whole trip!  We had never done a couples massage before and boy did we pick a great place to do it!  This place was amazing!

Jenny and I went in the girls side where they had lemon water and a huge hot tub to get in to while waiting for our turn.  They came and got us and I met Randy in our room.  Great massage... it just went by too fast!  But it was a great way to spend one of our last days! 

 Here we are after our massage!  Don't we look so relaxed!  It would have been more relaxing if it didn't cost so much!  hahaha!  This might be our one and only couples massage... so I had to grab a picture!

 It was such an amazing vacation!  Most of our time was spent outside.  There was a game on one night so we hit the lobby bar where we discovered another new favorite drink!  A virgin mango daiquiri!!  Oh man... that was amazing!!

We went out for a walk on our last night.  It was hard to believe it was over. 

I'm one of those who likes to explore new places and see new things....

 But when you find such an amazing spot like Atlantis at the Bahamas, you just want to go back again and again!  For the most part we enjoyed this as a couples vacation but there were a few times especially when we were at the water park that we wished the kids were with us!  We will be bringing them back sometime we hope!

 We had a little bit of time our last morning to throw on our swimsuits and see the beach one last time.

 Randy really surprised me with this trip and I love him so much for planning this amazing vacation for us!

 It is definitely in the record books as my favorite vacation!  Bahamas '13... I will always love you!!

 And just for laughs, we passed this sign a couple times and so our last trip back to the airport I was on a look out for it!  Seriously!?!  This sign cracked us up!!!  Protect Ya Tings!!  hahaha

We love our sports!!

 We are such a sports family!  I've been bad about taking my camera with me to the sporting events because if I take my camera then I'm always afraid of missing the perfect shot so I keep my camera up at my face the whole game and then I can't really get in to the game because I'm too focused!  So here are a couple pictures I took this season.  This particular day with Addie and Ashton was a weekend when it was just me and the little girls.  The night before we did sponge rollers and nail polish... so they both wanted to wear their hair down for their games.  Believe me, we don't usually curl their hair for their soccer games!  Addie was a natural and we were so excited that this was her last time on the really small fields so she could actually get out there and play some soccer.  Ashton is more about the fun of it... and sometimes she wasn't so excited to play.  In fact, she is wanting to take a season off so we probably won't play in the fall.

 Avery is loving her team and especially her coach.  He's just fresh out of college and played soccer himself and has a lot of enthusiasm for the sport.  She's learned so much from him and we hope he stays her coach for a long time.  He's from Liverpool, so he has a fun accent.

 I love that Austin loves baseball, because I'm such a baseball fan!  He also had a great season and with Randy as his coach they got to pick their own team... Atlanta Braves of course!!!

After the regular season, Austin was chosen to be on the All-Star team and Randy was chosen to be an All-Star coach for the Nationals.  They won!!  Such a great experience and a great way to start off summer!

School Events

So, as I mentioned, I got behind on my blog and am still playing catch up!  Each of the events on this post should get their own page but because I'm really not sure what order it all goes in and with still being so far behind, I decided to make one big post about the rest of the school year and a few of the events that went on during that time.  Avery is loving being over at Madison Middle School and doing the choir.  She had a lot of great performances this year... but the last one was the most fun.  The theme for this concert was songs from the movies and after weeks and weeks of stressing and practicing, Avery tried out for a solo part.  They picked two people from each grade to perform a solo... and Avery was chosen for the 6th grade girl!  We were so proud of her!  Randy and I took her out to dinner before the big event.

 Here she is with some of the other kids in the choir... they are still lining up but I tried to hurry and grab a picture before I couldn't see her anymore on that back row!  When she sang her solo (which was A Thousand Years by Christina Perri from the movie Twilight), she was up on stage by herself.  I didn't get a picture of that because I was video taping.  I still don't know my camera well enough to get good pictures in a darker room far away... hopefully someday!  I love Avery's voice and Randy and I were so proud of her to be able to get up and sing to all the parents and students that came that night.  She was amazing.

Senior night at the high school soccer game brought out the best of the best!  Which, of course, were the little soccer players who got to escort the varsity players out on to the field.  Lucky for us we have a great friend, Garrett Hartzfeld, who plays varsity and the girls were able to escort him!  They had so much fun being out on the field with the big soccer players!

 Ashton had a "Student of the Day" day at school.  Her day includes a parent coming to school and reading to the class and getting to eat lunch with them.  Guess who the lucky parent was?  ME!!!  I was so happy that she was so happy to have me there!  She's such a sweetheart!

 This was Austin's year to be in the Oklahoma Land Run Reenactment!  The kids are grouped into families, and Austin was a son.  They weren't one of the "Sooner" families but they still got some good land and had a great time!

 Addie and the rest of the first graders performed in front of the school at one of the assemblies.  They sang songs about music and instruments.  She did a great job!

 At one of the assemblies, Austin was awarded with the Citizenship Award!  We were so proud of him!

 Ranch Height Elementary had a movie night at school.  The kids got to bring blankets, pillows and/or sleeping bags and watch a movie in the gymnasium and get popcorn, drinks and prizes.  The movie this year was Hotel Transylvania.  I hadn't seen it before and it was actually really cute!  I can't remember why but this was a night that it was just me with the little girls. 

 After the movie we continued our "date night" at Cherry Berrry.  All smiles here!!! 

 Ashton and the rest of the PreK kids were asked to perform some songs at one of the PTO meetings.  Randy was in charge of baseball and soccer so I took Addie and we watched Ashton perform. She is so great at memorizing songs and it was so cute to see her singing and doing all the actions to the songs.  Afterwards, I took the kids over for some well-deserved shaved ice.

 Towards the end of the year the kids always have theme days, and this day was wear your favorite team shirt.  Luckily for the girls... Austin has a lot of favorite teams and let them borrow shirts!  I promise, he's not mad that they were wearing his shirts!  Austin NEVER has a bad morning.  He wakes up, puts on whatever I have laying out for him with no complaints and finishes with everything else he has to do.  He is a morning kid.... EXCEPT for this day!!!   

 Fourth and Fifth graders compete against the other elementary schools in a track and field day.  This was Austin's first year to compete and he was so nervous!!!  In fact, he was so nervous that he signed up for team walk and softball throw!!!  I know, I know... it was hard to swallow being a sports-family.  But we went and supported.  He said next year he'll try some races!

Last day of school!!  It actually cooled down enough for the girls to need a jacket!  But they didn't care... it was the last day of school!

 They had an assembly on the last day of school so Randy and I went up and got to see Addie get the Citizenship Award for her class!  We were so proud of her!

Our school has an amazing faculty, and since the kids earned enough money in a fundraiser they were treated with a rock concert.  The rock stars consisted of their principle, gym teacher, music teacher and one of their 2nd grade teachers!  It was hilarious and the kids loved it!  Such a fun year!  The most special part for me always is that Randy takes the time to come to almost all of these events with me.  I stay at home so for me its easy to attend the kids events.  For Randy, he has to schedule around meetings and deadlines but he always makes it a priority.  I always feel so much better having him by my side but more importantly, the kids love looking out into the crowd and seeing both their parents there supporting them.  Thank you, Randy, for always making us your priority!

Happy Easter Birthday!

 This is one of those rare years that Avery's birthday somehow fell on Easter!  There were mixed emotions about it, but there just wasn't much we could do- so we made the best out of it!  Easter has become a very fun holiday for our family.  The kids absolutely love to dye Easter eggs with Nana. We could feel the absence of my grandma, but we know she was with us in spirit.  My grandma left the house to my mom and though she was hesitant at first, she has moved in and is doing a great job of making it her home.  So we spent the morning dying eggs and making a fun dessert with Nana.

 That afternoon we went over to Randy's parents house for their annual Easter Egg Hunt.  This is another fun opportunity to get together with their cousins from the John side and have a good time.

 Shirley puts so much work and effort into her Easter Egg Hunt and the grandchildren really appreciate it and look forward to it!

 The kids all sleep upstairs the night before the Easter Bunny comes just like they do for Christmas.  Who knows what time they actually go to sleep!  But whatever time it was, the Easter Bunny still managed to sneak in and leave their baskets full of goodies!

 And a little extra gift for all the kids to share!

 They all enjoyed looking through their baskets.

 As I mentioned, it was Avery's birthday- so she requested strawberry pancakes for breakfast.  I must say, they turned out soooooo delicious!  Avery was also able to open presents up throughout the day and enjoyed all the things she got... which included a gap gift card, itunes gift card, Oakley sunglasses and a new blanket.

After breakfast we all got dressed in our Easter Sunday clothes and headed to church.  Avery turned 12 this year which is a big year in our church.  She is now out of the children's primary program and has moved into the Young Women program.  Avery continues to become such a beautiful young lady inside and out.  She wants so much to choose the right and we think she is just the best example for her younger siblings.  We're so grateful for the person she is and who she wants to be and we feel very lucky to have her in our family!