Christmas Tree Stories

Twas a night in December when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The kids were all tucked in their beds warm and tight and hubby and I crawled into bed ready to call it a night.

When all of a sudden we heard a loud crash, not a sound you ignore and hope it will pass.

It was so loud that we sprung out of bed.

We hustled down the stairs where I was filled with dread.

The sight in front of me was a lot to take in.

The ornaments that were once on the tree, had scattered about and I wanted to flee!

The tree had tipped over, the ornaments broken, 

we were both quiet, not many words were spoken.

Hubby and I set to work, we uprighted the tree; the ornaments were sorted into piles of three.

One group was broken.

The other was fine, 

The last group however, required more of my time.

A few days later and a bit of glue, one would never guess what we had been through!

Do tell, have you had a Christmas tree tip over?

Up next.... this years tree story!

Puerto Vallarta ~ Part 3 ~ The Final Chapter

Onto the final chapter.....

Thursday, the girls hung out with another family and did a little shopping while Hubby, 

Action and I went zip-lining.  Action was feeling MUCH better and was excited to have his turn.  

The three of us had a blast ~ it's a bit invigorating to find yourself flying through the trees and over a river on a beautiful, warm, sunshiny day.

Friday ~ kind of a sad day ~ our last full day in Puerto Vallarta.....

Since Hubby, Action and I missed out on walking around and shopping a bit, we decided to to that on Friday morning with the Sassy and Smiley.   It just so happened that Friday wasn't just any Friday, it was Good Friday.  We took a taxi to the Malecon.  The Malecon is basically a boardwalk with lots of little shops and interesting sculptures.  On this particular day, there were also lot sand sculptures.  

This was one of them:

very cool!

There were also stations of the cross set up along the walk as well.  

I was very impressed and know fully that this would offend people in the US and most likely would not be permitted.

We continued walking and enjoying the culture.

Personally, I loved the architechure.

We also were able to visit this beautiful church, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. 

There was a Good Friday service in progress, so we just stood in the back and admired the inside of the church.

Sassy and Smiley had also gone in the day before when they were shopping with friends, and just like then, 

Smiley felt the need to kneel down and pray.

When we were finished, we headed back to the resort to enjoy our last day in the warm sun.....

(lots of handstands were performed in the pool)

Saturday we headed home.  

After a flight cancellation and an unexpected overnight in a hotel in LA, this is how we spent Easter Morning ~ 5:30am at LAX.  It was an adventure to get home, but we eventually made it.

This vacation was a much needed break from the run-around of our everyday lives.  

The hustle and bustle of school, work, sports and daily life.  

We had such a great time and made some awesome memories with each other and with our friends.

Puerto Vallarta ~ Part 2

I will just continue where I left off yesterday......

Wednesday.

Wednesday we had scheduled a dolphin swim experience (through this company, which I would definitely recommend). Two other families in our group were scheduled for the same time.  We all set off to create some lasting memories.  As we waited for our opportunity to interact and swim with the dolphins, the kids were able to hold a monkey (Smiley wasn't so sure about it, so she opted out):

Finally, our wait was over. After some brief instructions as a large group, we were separated by families with our respective dolphin and trainer.  We got in the water with the dolphin  (ours was a male) where we were able to  learn about him, "pet" him, dance with him, get and give a kiss, get him to "sing", do a few tricks (act like a shark, wave, have a water fight, blow bubbles) and ultimately we were given a ride by this amazing creature.  For me, this was a highlight of our trip, something I have always wanted to do that I can now cross off the bucket list.

After our dolphin experience, we were able to pick and purchase some pictures and a short video of our time with the dolphin.  While we were waiting for those to print, the kids were once again able to hold another animal, this time a parrot.  

We headed back to the resort and the rest of the day was spent relaxing by the pool.

Come back tomorrow for the final chapter......

Puerto Vallarta ~ Part 1

The day of Sassy's birthday (March 28th) we landed in warm, sunny Puerto Vallarta.  Spring break was upon us.  We were all looking forward to a week of relaxing with each other as a family as well as the 6 other families who we were spending the week with ~ 14 adults and 16 kids in total!

We stayed at the Velas Vallarta in Puero Vallarta. It was a beautiful all inclusive resort (check out this link and see for yourself).

(the view from our balcony)

 (the view from the pool)

The first two days we spent at the pool and on the beach, and those two days just happened to be Sassy's 14th birthday (Saturday) and Hubby's Birthday (Sunday).  What a way to spend your birthday!  

(the ocean and the mountains ~ a beautiful combination)

(Hubby and Action ~ waiting for a wave)

Sunday night for dinner the resort put on a Mexican Fiesta complete with authentic 

Mexican foods, desserts and candies, as well as some dancing.  

During the Fiesta dinner, our friends had arranged to have a birthday "treat" delivered to Hubby. 

They brought out this yummy cake, complete with personalization!  

Smiley enjoyed a candied apple ~ although, she learned it was a little tough to eat with one tooth missing and another one very loose!

Monday we were scheduled to go zip-lining with 2 other families.  We got up and ate a yummy breakfast which included one of my favorites of the week ~ green juice (a recipe I have tried to recreate and I think I did a pretty good job ~ with the help of Google, of course!)  Once we were finished, we headed back to our room to get ready to go.  I took Action out to the balcony to apply sunscreen, standing there he got really dizzy and almost passed out.  He then felt nauseous, thankfully nothing came of that!  We decided he was probably suffering from a bit of sun poisoning ~ after spending the previous day in sun and not paying close attention to how much he was eating or drinking as well as I should have been ~ I think it was a combination of too much sun and not enough hydration.  Anyway, I decided that it would be best if he and I skipped the zip-line and spent the day in the shade, hydrating.  

We said our goodbyes to the girls and Hubby, told them to have fun and watched them go off on their adventure.  They had a BLAST!  After zip-lining the adults did a little tequila tasting, had some lunch and the kids did some swimming in the crystal clear river, complete with "waterslides".  If you go to Puerto Vallarta, I would definitely recommend the company we used ~ Los Veranos - Canopy Tours ~ they were great to work with.  While they wouldn't credit us for Action and I not attending, they did let us reschedule for later in the week (that will be in one of my next posts!) 

Tuesday was again spent at the pool and in the ocean ~ good drinks, good food, good friends, and lots of laughs.  

As well as time spent feeding the iguanas, which were found on the property.

a fabulous way to end a wonderful day ~ a walk on the beach as the sun was setting

To be continued......