Viva La Mexico!

It was oh so nice to have a beer in my hand with my feet in the sand last week in Playa del Carmen. While I won't bore you with all of the details of the trip, I will just say that if you have a Facebook page you may already know more than you ever wanted to know. Blame it on the tequila. And the beer. And the champagne. And I think there was also rum involved.


Anyway, enough about the alcohol consumption. Obviously a vacation minus the kids (and one that includes my best friend from high school) is going to be a crazy good time. Some of the highlights included:
-Being overcharged almost $400 for beer at the Mega our first day there. Yea. That is why you don't go grocery shopping drunk. Fortunately for us we figured it out the next morning and sent the guys down there to straighten it out while Jen and I consumed morning mimosas. Through an interpreter they were able to explain that there was no way to actually put 96 6-packs of beer into a shopping cart and we got our refund. Mission accomplished!

-Then there was the deep sea fishing excursion. I should have known that it was not going to be exactly smooth sailing when we woke up to black skies and torrential downpour. But when we called we were assured by our fishing guide "Walter" that it would be "no problem!" Uh huh. I should have listened to my internal fishing guide that said don't do it. Not one to be the party pooper, I popped my Dramamine and hopped my happy ass on the boat. Top five worst mistakes that I have ever made. Between the near capsizing of the boat, the freezing weather, and the smell of fuel fumes pumping in my face I finally succumbed to the nasty, plastic fishing vessel Gods of the Caribbean seas. No bueno.

Oh yea, and on top of it all we got a fish on the line and they give the freakin pole to the sicky just trying not to barf all over the boat. That was the topper. I finally gave up and handed Tony the pole, only to watch a 3ft fish jump out of the water and snap the line. Nice ending to the day.
-Tony being called "Rambo" by all the Mexican peddlers, and Jen and Justin being referred to as "Basketball Players." I am jealous! I wasn't given a nickname the entire week we were there. That is probably because no one could see me walking with all of the giants. I was the only one in our group under 6ft!
-Justin asked Jen to marry him! We were enjoying a beautiful walk on the beach when all of the sudden Justin drops to a knee and proposes in Spanish. Jen didn't have a clue what he was saying or why he was in the water, but after he slipped the ring on her finger she finally figured it out. Congrats you two little lovebirds!




So those were some of the highlights of the trip. Tony and I had a great time and only missed the kids a little bit. OK, a lot. But that is why we drank so much...to get them off our minds!








Thank you to Marilou and Gary for flying out to Albuquerque to watch the kids while we spent the week acting like kids. It was such a great time!

A Mother's Week

What a great Mother's Day week! I didn't think that it was going to be so great, with Cienna and I not seeing eye to eye on much at the beginning of the week. But Tony came through BIG TIME by taking her to Las Vegas with him and his business partner to pick up a dump trailer that they had purchased. A couple of days without her gave me the space that I needed to realize how much I love and miss the little nugget. T sent me little photos of their trip to keep me in the loop, showing me that she had an absolute blast. And I am sure that it helped that they stayed at Circus Circus....


Dad Carrying Their Overnight Bag


Riding The Rides


Did I Mention That These Were Taken At Like Midnight??

Tony said that Cienna actually told him that she was tired and wanted to go to bed. That just shows you how late it really was. But with McDonald's for lunch, In-n-Out for dinner and Krispy Kremes for breakfast, I am sure that it was a dream trip for her!

While they were gone, AJ and I got to bond. I think that he liked having the one on one time with his mama and I am looking forward to Cienna starting pre-school in August so that he and I can do Gymboree together. He is crawling everywhere and I even caught him pulling himself up on Cienna's baby gate. I immediately grabbed my phone, took a picture and sent it to Tony so that he could share in the momentus occasion. All I got was a reply that Tony had seen him do it the day before (and may I mention he did not feel the need to tell me about it!) I told him that his viewing didn't count and that the day that I saw it would be the day that went in the baby book. So there...




My first Mother's Day gift arrived on Thursday...a new dishwasher! Most people probably don't get excited over this type of stuff but I was overjoyed. Mostly because it has a cool "half load" or "top rack only" feature which allows me to wash just the baby bottles and cups that Cienna and AJ plow through on a daily basis. Moms will understand. My little brother probably won't get it.

My actual Mother's Day was fab. We started with breakfast at our usual Sunday spot, followed by an Isotopes baseball game in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day and the best part came when Cienna's face appeared on the jumbo-tron. It was so cute, and you can bet how thrilled she was to see herself on the big screen! We then came home for naps and Tony continued work on our bathroom, which I can finally say is almost complete! It has been one hell of a project. Then I was treated to dinner at Buca di Beppo and given my "real" gift.



It was such an adorable idea. One side has the kids names and the other has their birthdays (both sides have their birthstones.) And he followed it up with a classic Mother's Day card, complete with at least one misspelled word and totally from the heart!

One more week until Mexico without the kids. This week is gonna be sloooooooooooooow.
Hope that everyone had a great Mother's Day!

More Colorado Footage

OK, so I apologize for the double post about our last couple of weekends in CO, but I completely forgot that I took pictures! So here are a few of my favorite shots (and some new pics from this week too!) Boring week here in ABQ. It went something like this:

Monday - (Tony) Hauling Jobs (Me) Catering to my children's every desire
Tuesday - (Tony) Hauling Jobs (Me) Mani / Pedi in the morning. Then catering to my children's every desire
Wednesday - (Tony) Fire station (Me) Catering to my children's every desire
Thursday - (Tony) Fire station (Me) Catering to my children's every desire
Friday - (Tony) Hauling Jobs (Me) Catering to my children's every desire
Saturday - (Tony) Fire station (Me) Catering to my children's every desire

See what I mean? Boring week. Anyhoo, here are some pics.


AJ's 1st "Cabin" Beer


I Think He Liked It....


Cienna Expressing Herself Again


I Think She Gets It From Her Friend Skylar


I Don't Know What It Is About Tony, But He Can Get AJ To Fall Asleep Anywhere!
(Ok, I do know what it is. When I get AJ to fall asleep I am doing dishes, laundry, making beds, doing yard work, catering to Cienna's every desire, etc. When Tony gets him to fall asleep he sleeps too!)




Just Had To Throw In A Couple Of Pics Of AJ Without The Luller In His Mouth


And One Of Me Since I Am Rarely Not The Picture Taker. Notice Cienna's Pose. Even The Random Lady Who Took Our Picture Had A Good Laugh At That!

That's it. Back to catering to my children's every desire!