A Long Overdue Trip

The day after Christmas Scott and I headed to Mexico and Carter stayed with Pa Joe and Grandma Bonnie.  Scott and I have not taken a vacation for just us (without having anything else to do) in about 15 years.  Aunt Ellen and Aunt Janet have family that have a place in Cabo Pulmo.  They arranged for us to be able to go and spend a week at their house.  It is a great little town of about 100 people or so and not a resort town at all.  A few pictures from this wonderful trip.

The view from the deck.



Walking on the beach every day was wonderful.

We were able to do some snorkeling while we were there.  This was a huge step for me because I am not a big ocean person, and I admittedly am a terrible snorkeler.  It was great to be able to do it with Scott though, and he was so patient with me.

Not a great picture, but we were able to see a mom and baby humpback whale.  The migration was just beginning, so we were excited to be able to see them.  After this we also saw a giant pod of dolphins go by our boat.

We also went over to seal island and swam with the seals.  Two side notes. First, after returning to shore and going to dinner that night, we learned that one of the seals had been attacked by a shark that day.  It is a REALLY good thing that I didn't know that before we left.  And, second, seals STINK!

Probably one of the big highlights, especially for Scott, was the day we drove up to La Paz and swam/snorkeled with whale sharks.  We went there thinking we would probably have to search for a place and get lucky if someone had availability, because we hadn't made any reservations.  We walked in to the first place hoping and they told us they had spots on the trip leaving in 15 minutes!  We didn't even have time to go back to the car and change clothes.  This was probably better because it didn't give us time to think about it.  The whale sharks were HUGE and a little intimidating, but we did it and I am so glad we did.  Scott would have stayed in the water all day.

There were a handful of great little restaurants.  For New Year's Eve, we hit one up and had a great dinner, listened to the band and got to do some dancing.  The evening was wonderful and ended at about 10:00pm (also known as Cabo Pulmo New Year's time).  :) 



It was a wonderful week, and one the two of us hope we can do again soon.

Christmas at Grandma Helen's

After finishing up at Pa Joe's and Grandma Bonnie's, we headed up to Grandma Helen's for lunch and of course dessert for Carter.  Always wonderful to be at the farm and spend time with Grandma Helen.

We had a wonderful lunch and Carter did lots of playing.  He worked on his lincoln logs with Scott, played on the tractor in the barn and had a fun time playing his new fish game with Aunt Tasha, Uncle Trevor and Grandma Helen.  I love when we get to spend time with family.

Christmas Day 2014

When Carter woke up Christmas morning, he checked all the things he had left out the night before. Carter found evidence that Santa had been there.

We did stockings and opened presents at Grandma Bonnie and Pa Joe's.

Carter asked Santa Claus for a Dusty Crophopper that shoots balls out to put out the fire.  He was thrilled that Santa Claus listened and brought him just that.

Christmas Eve

After arriving in Kansas City on Christmas Eve, we all headed to church and then came back to get ready for bed.  Carter was very excited for Christmas this year, so we tried to make sure we made it extra special for him.

Before bed, Carter received a special call from Santa Claus.  He couldn't believe it.  Santa Claus also sent him a personalized letter this year.  It was all pretty amazing to a three year old.

Also on the Christmas Eve check list was leaving some eggnog (that's what Santa wanted this year) and cookies out for Santa and some treats outside for his reindeer.  Carter made sure it was all taken care of before heading to bed.

Catch of the Day

Our second attempt to head out to Kansas City for Christmas was better.  We woke up early on Christmas Eve and made our trek across Kansas.  We knew it would be a long drive for Carter, so we prepped a few things ahead of time of things to do in the car.  His favorite car activity was definitely fishing.  I found a project on Pinterest and made a fishing pole with a magnet lure and attached some magnets to felt fish.  The fish went on the floor and he could sit in his seat and "fish" for them.  It definitely helped kill some of the time in the car. Carter is an excellent rider though and the road trip was not bad.  We made it in about 9 hours.  Flying is definitely better though. :)

Naughty or Nice

We were planning on going with everyone in Kansas City to see Santa Claus, but since our plans got delayed, a change was in order.  We figured since we were in town for the night and Carter was pretty bummed about it, we would find Santa Claus in town before we left.

We headed over to Flatirons mall.  We didn't think there would be too many people there since we were late to the game, but we were wrong.  It wasn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't short.  Scott stood in line while Carter and I headed up to the play area to wait it out. Just as a side note, there were a lot of crazy kids there whose parents were letting them run wild and do whatever they wanted, including knocking other kids out of the way.  Pure craziness.

Carter and I rejoined Scott in line and made it the rest of the way through.

They had a naughty or nice meter and, thankfully for Carter, he made the nice list.

Carter was so excited to tell Santa he wanted a Dusty Crophopper plane that shoots "water" balls at the fire.  Don't mind Carter's outfit consisting of comfy pants and a transformers shirt.  Having a cute Christmas outfit for the Santa visit didn't make it in the last minute plan this year.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

Christmas was in Kansas City this year.  I worked a half day on Tuesday the 23rd.  Scott and Carter picked me up from work, and we were supposed to start driving to KC.  Mother Nature had other plans.  There were blizzard conditions on I-70 and a portion of it was closed.  We decided it was better not to chance driving east, and then it not opening and us getting stuck with everyone else on the highway.

Carter thought it was a horrible plan and had a mental break down in the back seat.  It was sad and cute all at the same time.  He wanted to get to Kansas City that day.  I love that he loves it so much.  :)

In the end, it was the right choice because the highway didn't open until the next morning.

Gingerbread Man

Sunday dinners at Aunt Gayla's and Uncle Dan's are wonderful.  It is always great spending time with family.  Living up north allows us to see everyone more often.  Aunt Gayla always has activities ready for the kids.  This day was gingerbread men.  They all had fun making their own personal version.

Carter liked eating the candy off of his.

Cooking up Christmas

More advent calendar activites.  It seems to be the theme of December.  Obviously it worked as it was intended. :)

This activity was to make Christmas cookies.  Carter, of course, wanted to make chocolate ones.  We got some cookie cutters and went to work.  He had a good time making them and an even better time eating them.

The Polar Express

Another item on Carter's advent calendar was for the three of us to go see a movie at the theater.  He had never been to an actual movie before.  We had taken him to short films at the museum, but never a full movie.  We weren't sure how it would go.

The Wildlife Experience, south of the city, was showing The Polar Express in 3D.  They had activities before the move started.  It was all geered towards kids and everyone was encouraged to come in their pajamas.    Carter thought that was the greatest thing ever.  Scott and I opted out of wearing our pajamas.  Other adults at the event didn't...they should have.

Only one picture and the flash was a little bright for the two of them in their 3D glasses.  Carter did great though and sat through the whole thing.  He told Scott and I after it was over what his favorite part was and wanted to know what ours was too.  Mine was definitely seeing how much he enjoyed it.

Gingerbread House

More calendar activities.  This one was to build a gingerbread house.  It was actually a house with good candy on it (runts, sweetarts, etc.).  I am pretty sure a fair amount of candy was consumed while building the house.

 

 

 

Aunt Sarah got to help as well.  Just as a side note, the mass amount of Broncos stuff in the house is a little concerning... :)

 

 

 

GUILTY!

 

 

 

 

 



Celebrate the Season

One of Carter's items on his advent calendar was to go see Christmas lights as a family.  We headed down to Hudson Gardens and checked out their light display.  It was a great night.  A little chilly, but not bad when bundled up.  The plan was to see Santa Claus while we were there, but the line was not moving AT ALL.  That had to be saved for another time.

Carter loved it.  Can't wait to go to another display next year as a family.

Of course, we had to get a light stick and then it was in every picture after that.