Oh My it's Cold

I know many places in the US have been struck with crazy cold temperatures, and the state I live in is one of those. 

I saw a little blurb on Facebook yesterday that stated my state was currently colder than Mount Everest, Antartica and Siberia.  

Friends, it is cold here! 

My kids haven't had school yet this week  ~ 3 snow/too cold to go days so far and tomorrow is up in the air. Not that they are complaining!

And breaking news, I just got a phone alert that states we have now hit 57 degrees below zero wind chill. Brrrr......

Anyway, this past weekend my hubby's parents drove 4 1/2 hours to come visit and celebrate Jackson's 15th birthday (which was last week).  

While it wasn't quite as cold as today and yesterday have been, it was still quite cold, but we got out and had some fun anyway.

(chocolate cake on his actual birthday ~ his favorite since he was 7!)

(carrot cake to celebrate with Grandpa and Grandma)

They arrived Friday night and we spent some time catching up and playing cards.  I was completely unsuccessful in my quest to win and ended up being the biggest loser of the night.  Hopefully next time I will be able to turn my luck around!

Saturday morning after I made a yummy egg bake via this easy recipe I found on Pinterest, Hannah and I jumped in the car for a 40 minute drive to a softball photoshoot.  She was one of two players selected from her varsity softball team to be a "featured" player for a high school sports publication.

When we were finished with that we grabbed the rest of the family and headed to our local Top Golf facility to do a little golfing.  I'm not quite sure what the actual temperature was when we were there but since the high was only 10 degrees on Saturday, it was chilly. Sitting under the heat features did make it mostly comfortable.  

After that we warmed up at home, went to mass, out to dinner at Jackson's requested restaurant ~ Red Robin (that kid loves a good burger) then bowling.  I sat out of bowling as I tweaked my arch while working out and wasn't able to put a whole lot of pressure on it. It was fun watching a couple of good games of boys vs girls. Oh, and the girls won!

Sunday brought one more amazing breakfast bake via Pinterest. Biscuits and gravy casserole, another one of Jackson's favorites! Then off to watch Hannah play a couple of softball games in a sports dome. -9 degrees! So glad she was playing inside!

When those were over my in-laws headed for home and we had a nice, relaxing Sunday awaiting the snow and cold that was destine to come.

Hope you are staying warm and enjoying the one's you love!

~Wendy

Sophomore

The years go by so fast.....

I look at Sassy and I am sometimes taken aback at what I see.  

The little girl who use to cry as we were trying to get out the door in the mornings because her socks didn't feel right, 

has become this beautiful young woman.  

(teaching her sister how to pitch)

Hard to believe she is in 10th grade, working hard at school and sports, preparing for confirmation and 

getting ready to get her drivers license (she earned her drivers permit this past July).

 (Passed the written test ~ on the first try ~ and received her permit)

 (Drove part of the way to a softball tournament ~ 14 hours round trip)

(yep, she drove into and through the city ~ gotta learn sometime)

She helped to fill our summer calendar with her softball practices, games and tournaments 

(a week long one in Colorado created lots of memories!).  

It is fun to cheer her and her team on.  Win or lose they played hard and are a great group of girls!

Sassy works hard at everything she does.

This season for high school volleyball, she made the JV team and was a "swinger" for the Varsity team.  Meaning, she attended varsity events, practices and games and played when called upon.  Her JV team ended the season 22-4, with one first place tournament finish and her Varsity team ended 24-2 with two first place tournament finishes.  She received a high school letter for her hard work.  

She had a fun season and made new friendships along the way.

She thrives on being busy.  I am always amazed at how well she does balancing school, softball, and volleyball, 

yet finds time to sneak in some fun!

Her sports never seem to end ~ she had softball tryouts for next summer's club team in August.  

They played a few tournaments together this fall and have winter training starting up soon.  

Winter club volleyball tryouts are next weekend.

(everyone needs to eat a giant donut at least once in their life!)

Her smile is contagious and her caring personality melts my heart.

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......