Trip to NH

It had been FOUR YEARS since we had been back to NH, the last time being after CP's grandmother died. I wasn't even pregnant with Wes yet. It was a long overdue trip, although it was a bit annoying for CP to figure out how to jump between his divorced parents while also seeing friends and getting out to do fun things.

We flew in Thursday into Boston, grabbed our rental car and headed up to NH. I tried to tell the kids about all of the cool things in NH, including the Old Man in the Mountain (RIP). The ENTIRE TRIP, despite both me and CP telling Wes over and over that the OMitM was not a real man, but what looked like the face of a man in the side of a mountain, Wes kept asking about "the man." He was very worried about the man. (*sigh*)

Friday we got to hang out with CP's childhood friends and although it had been a while since we have seen them, it was great to see how big some of their kids had gotten and to hang out with them. We told Izzy that we were going to Dennis' house and she said "Why are we going to Dr. Bob's house?" She thought that we were going to her dentist's house. Silly girl. That night we hung out with CP's aunt and uncle and Wes spiked a 102.5 fever while CP was with him at urgent care.

Wes knocked out on the couch with a fever

Amazingly enough, Wes rallied and despite getting a later start than we had planned for, we headed up with CP's mom to hike Franconia Notch State Park (Flume). We told Wes that if he was able to hike the entire two miles by himself without anyone carrying him he would get ice cream before lunch. Amazingly enough, he did it all by himself and enjoyed his ice cream.

Starting the hike

Celebrating the fact they both made it to the top by themselves!

We were super close to where we got married so after lunch, we stopped by the Inn and took some pictures since it is almost our 10 year anniversary! We were going for a nice picture of the four of us in front of the Inn's sign when the kids decided to drop on their knees and pretend they were tigers. We just had to laugh.

The next day we did a 10 mile canoe trip down a local river. CP and I had Wes in our canoe while Izzy was in a canoe with my MIL and her husband. 

They fought almost the entire time and I felt bad for Izzy because she seemed pretty bored. He was being pretty condescending towards my MIL and I wasn't too excited for Izzy to hear that and to think that was okay. We all survived but we were pretty happy to get out of those canoes. Afterwards we took Izzy on a tour of CP's childhood schools so that Wes could get a car nap.

I was supposed to leave that night for Chicago but thunderstorms cancelled my flights so I ended up staying in the hotel to work all day while CP and the kids went to the beach. I had a tremendously hard time getting out of NH the following night and barely made my connecting flight (which was also delayed due to bad weather/lightning) and didn't get home until after 2:30am. CP and the kids came home that night and Izzy had her first day of Kindergarten the next day.

After our trip I mentioned to CP that it can't be another four years before we go out to NH. His parents are getting older and it's a good chance to take a fun vacation and get out to the mountains.

Mexico 2019

This will mostly be a picture post of our week long trip to Cancun, Mexico. Over a week later Wes is still asking "Why aren't we in Mexico?" I hear you buddy- I wish we were back in the sun as well.

Izzy just lost her first tooth about a week before our trip- at breakfast before we got on the plane I noticed that her other bottom front tooth was precariously hanging on....

Kids were pretty good on the plane. At 5, Izzy was easy to entertain with the Captain Underpants Netflix show and a movie. Wes was pretty good but didn't last all 3.5 hours.

Sure enough, we are in our van from the airport to the hotel after landing in Mexico and Izzy lost her tooth during the ride!

Our view for the week from the Westin Lagunamar in Cancun

Our view at night

Izzy living her best life in the pool

Iguana in the ruins next to our hotel

Gotta love the ridiculously big fruity alcoholic drinks!

Wes enjoying some beans

Boat ride out out to Isla Mujeres (Wes' first boat ride!)

For Christmas this year my MIL got all of us a "swimming with dolphins" experience which was awesome. Izzy was totally on board with no fear what-so-ever.

Wes on the other hand was scared of the fish in the water with us and was willing to pet the dolphin and kiss it, but not much else.

Cielo was a cute dolphin

We all got pulled two dolphins- Izzy lost a grip on one of the dolphins so she just got pulled by one

Getting pushed by two dolphins on the bottom of her feet and loving it!

Working on her duck face at lunch

Loving fresh coconut water

Wes in his early GQ photo shoot? LOL

That night the Westin had a Mexican-themed dinner with local food, dancing and a mariachi band. The kids LOVED it- both the show and the Mexican candy they got to eat afterwards.

Westin also had a pinata afterwards. Wes was the youngest kid to compete, Izzy was the second youngest.

Everyone discounted Izzy's strength because she was younger but she was hitting the pinata HARD. She got her own pinata "hat" from one of the "arms" of the pinata.

Izzy dancing in front of the colored fountain lights

This girl has no fear I tell you. She was super excited to pose with whoever this is supposed to be

Pretty sunset

Gelato!

Even Wes was willing to pose with the Transformers

One day we took a private van 2.5 hours out to Chichen Itza which was AMAZING. Our van driver was also our guide. The whole history is super fascinating.

Our lunch spot in Valladolid, a cute town on the way back to Cancun

Izzy was super excited to get her hair braided

First time playing mini golf. Wes lasted all of 3 holes and then just wanted to send his ball down a tunnel over and over again

One morning we had breakfast next to the aquarium and we had the best time watching the dolphins play beneath us while we ate! I might have enjoyed it more than the kids! :-)

The dolphins loved jumping on this raft and then sliding or rolling off and into the water

Enjoying the pool before the rain storm (of all of 5 minutes) came through. We hung out at the swim up pool bar. :-)

Wes loves the pool!

As we walked to dinner our final night we came across a sign about the alligators in the water below. We kept looking for alligators in the brush but instead found this huge alligator sunning itself in plain site! 

I could see us going back to Cancun in a couple of years when Wes would be old enough to handle swimming a cenote. If we tried to bring him into an underground cave to swim on this trip he would have left marks on our skin from gripping us too tight!

Catching up

I swear that I am not going to start every blog post with something similar to "I've been meaning to blog but..." Then again, it has been a month since I last posted so it's definitely time for a quick catch-up post!

1. Nine days ago on December 10th I turned 40. Basically the entire year leading up to the big 4-0 I was anxious and upset about it. Thankfully a few weeks before my birthday I simply said "F**k it" as it was coming either way! The first week in November CP and I had a great time to Key Largo, FL with some friends and NO KIDS to celebrate my upcoming birthday. 

Our beach view

Yes, that is a dolphin getting some serious air

I also rented a room in a nearby bar for a party on Saturday, December 8th so that I could celebrate with local friends. CP made a delicious dinner beforehand and my parents took the kids to Michigan for the night so that we could sleep off our hangover. :-) Now that I'm 40 I (of course) don't feel any different than when I was 39.

2. A few weeks ago on November 29th Izzy turned 5! She had a fun birthday party with her best friend (who also has a November birthday) at a local pottery painting place. It was a bit of a stressful party to make sure that 23 kids (including Wes) didn't break their pottery, but it all went well. We also had a family party for Izzy the weekend after Thanksgiving in Michigan.

Birthday balloons in MI

3. Thanksgiving went well this year. We had a small group as it was just my parents that joined us, so it was fairly low key. CP sous vide'd the turkey which turned out great.

4. We finally got the call that Wes had a spot to move over to Izzy's daycare so he started December 10th. It is SO NICE to finally do one drop off again and so far, he is doing great. I love that the kids see each other during the day and I think that it is super helpful for Wes that I drop both kids off in the same room in the morning. On his third day the school had a winter concert and he was one of the only kids that sang some words and he didn't freak out despite only knowing the teachers for 3 days!

5. The kids saw Santa last weekend and thankfully Wes didn't cry but he did give an amazing side eye and grab the side of the couch like he was ready to jump away at a moment's notice- lol. Progress!

6. Halloween went well this year. Izzy went as Wonder Woman, Wes went as Lightning McQueen.

7. Per usual, CP and I bought a tree that is too big. This year it is too wide and super duper heavy. It should be fun to try to get out the door in January....

Alright, that's enough for now. Here's hoping I can get another post in before January!