All Things Disney

It might be safe to say that we’ve checked out every entity Disney has to offer.  Yep.  Pretty sure.  We just got back from our 7-night Disney Cruise to the Mexican Riviera.  The trip was originally set for my brother's family and their friends.  But Dave and I very quickly invited ourselves (we're nice like that).  Soon after, my little brother did the same.  And last, my parents signed up too.  So pretty much it turned into a Nelson Family Event.

I’m never sure where to start when blogging about vacations (there’s just too many details, making it a little too cumbersome to both write and read about).  But I’m thinking I’ll just tackle it in 4 parts: Disneyland, The Ship, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas.

Disneyland:
Before our adventure on the boat, we hit Disneyland. We stayed right across the street at the Carousel, enabling us to wake bright and early for a full day of Disneyland fun.  Most of my family was there, too, making the the trip especially enjoyable. 

A few highlights:
Kate was tall enough to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad for the very first time, which is now her favorite.

Kate also got herself the new Rapunzel dress, and a little face painting done.  She was sure she was the prettiest girl at the park.
***A funny note: after getting her face painted, a black guy came over to her and was saying how much he liked her face paint.  As soon as he walked away, Kate whispered, “Mom, that guy looks like Usher.”  Actually, he kind of did.

Cole:
I’m sorry, but look at him.  He has a perma-smile, even after a long day at Disneyland.  What a darling, darling baby.  I swear to you, he did not give us ANY trouble during our entire trip; he’s just that easy.We had dinner at Mim's, outside of the park. I had an appetizer trio as my entree, and it was an absolutely unforgettable memory of my trip---seriously, so good for just little old Mimi's.

Kid Swap

We've started a kid swap with Ryan and Dren; they get our kids one Friday night, we get their's the next. Not sure why we didn't think of this sooner because it's awesome. Truth be told, Dave and I have always done a lot of date nights and babysitters.  But ever since Cole came along, it's been hard for us to trust our little nieces with a baby.  Needless to say, this arrangement has resolved our issue. Here's our agenda from the past few weekends:

1st kids night (babysitting):
Dinner at Arby's and mini-golf at Trafalga.  Not the most fun night for the Mom and Dad, but the kids had a pee-in-your pants good time (literally...our kid, not theirs).

1st date night:
The movie, "Just Go With It."  We really liked it.  And it was super refreshing to finally see a movie made for grown-ups (and not for kids aged 3 and under). Being pressed for time, we had a quick bite at JCW's. Yuck. I hate that place.  Everything about it seriously makes me sick.  But a person's got to eat and when you're in Lehi, Utah there's not a lot of options.

2nd kids night:
Dinner at the Mayan, aka "The Indiana Jones Restaurant." We had THE BEST table in the joint.  Every time the divers jumped off I was sure they were going to land right on top of my greasy chimichanga* and fried icecream**.  I will say, the food is better; still not perfected, but better. The kids (and the Mom and Dad) truthfully enjoyed themselves.

*don't judge me
**I hear fried foods help with body sculpting?

2nd date night:
The Copper Onion Restaurant. Had never been there before, but it tickled our tastebuds.  We started with the antipasto platter because cheese, salami, and crusty bread always makes for a heavenly night.  For entrees, I ordered the cheeseburger and Dave got the beef stroganoff, and then we shared.  Oh, geez.  Would you all just go there and eat it for yourselves?  I am serious!  It was so beyond good.  And be sure to sit at the Communal Table (like we did). That's an experience. 

Sadly, we had to skip the dessert.  Dave was not happy about this, and would have preferred to skip our next activity.  But it was 7:00 darn it, and time for Samba dance lessons.  Yes, you read correctly, and, yes, I planned it, and, yes, it was freaking awesome.  We were the only couple in our class, along with some solo dude that frequents the place and (I'm pretty sure) had the hots for, Mandy, our teacher. 

Oddly, I was NOT good.  Ask Dave.  He wanted to "see my high school transcripts," claiming that there was no way I could have been a Cavette. RUDE. I, on the other hand, think YOUR moves were crazy sexy, Dave;) You can all vomit now. But it was dang fun! My apologies to the ballroomers in high school; turns out, they knew what was cool after all!

Can't wait to see what's in store for our next night on the town.  Suggestions on amazing restaurants or activities are appreciated.  It's Dave's turn to plan the next one:)

The Renaissance

It’s been over 10 years since I took AP Art History, so many things are foggy in my mind when it comes to art. That being said, I do remember the great Michelangelo’s sculpting process of "taking away” and “freeing” the figure from his mind from the confines of a marble block.

Well, for 6 whole weeks I, too, have been practicing this process of sculpting. I have this image in my mind of what actually lies within this thickened block of cream of mine. It’s beautiful. Trust me. I’ve got the “imagining” part down. The problem is the “freeing.” After many workouts and sore muscles, this is what we’re still left with, people:

How long must I do this before the captive Me can be released?

I think Dave has successfully liberated his sculpture. He looks great; all of his co-workers are wanting to know his secrets. NO ONE wants mine. I’m apparently no Michelangelo.

Now wait…that’s not true. I did create this darling boy without much effort:

Let’s talk about him for a minute. He’s huge. He’s four months old now and wears 12 month pants. His height matches his weight at the 97th percentile. So apparently we’ve got a football player in the works.

He continues to sprinkle his sunshine all around the home. I’ve said it before, but his easy-going, happy attitude makes me think I’m the best mom ever.

And here’s my other sweet baby. She released her ladybugs today. She didn’t seem to care much about the departure of her bugs, as she was much more concerned about collecting sticks.

I, on the other hand, was very concerned about her bugs. They were behaving very strangely at the time of departure.

So that’s it.

All Things Bright and Beautiful

We had caterpillars. They grew. They changed. We learned. We loved. We even named them (and by “We", I mean Kate).

(Named in order of rebirth): Fota, Pola, Tenna, Forda, and Soka

Today we had to say good-bye (especially since Fota was already in a “deep sleep”).

The Commencement Ceremony wasn’t quite as beautiful as I had imagined it. There wasn’t a whole lot of happy fluttering going on. Instead, they held onto that net as tightly as they could…what with the balmy, 38 degree weather and all.

I kind of felt like the mother bird nudging them out of the nest, and truthfully, I felt bad they weren’t headed for rainbows and sunshine (especially not Fota). But before you judge, please know that these butterflies had already outlived the average Painted Lady Butterfly lifespan of 2 weeks. And, unlike other butterflies, they created many smiles, gasps, and conversations for one little girl (and her parents), which most butterflies never get the chance to do. To summarize, we feel very privileged to have peeked in on all 5 of their short, miraculous lives.

Happy Balentimes!

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day (and, incidentally, today is mine and Dave’s 9th wedding anniversary)!  I know, we are just all about LOVE at the Blackhurst home!  Anyway, for the big day, we set up a heart hunt leading to Kate and Cole’s Valentine surprises.  

What?!!! The ‘Never Say Never’ JB CD, pretend makeup AND hair accessories?!! We might have a new favorite holiday around here, folks.

When leaving for preschool this morning (after an early morning Insanity workout with the Mom and Dad), Kate chirped, “I love Balentime’s Day!  Is it still Balentime’s Day today?”

Sadly, it’s not. But it certainly is nice to have a day (or two) each year to remind us of how lucky we are to have so much to love…

Something borrowed. Something blue.

Do you ever just go through your camera to recall what actually goes on? That’s what we’ve done today.

Kate’s big into the world of dress-ups. She got a new wedding bouquet and veil and we held a ceremony with the lucky groom, Justin Bieber Doll. “Just pretend like he’s Big Justin Beaver. Okay, Mom?” Got it, Kate.

After seeing a skit of the Bieb's on SNL this week, Kate told me, "He smiled at me, Mom." This girl is smitten.

Coleman is getting better at sitting upright, but still can’t quite figure out how to suck his thumb, though he tries all day long.

He is a cuddle bear. And he’s so proud of himself when he does big boy tasks like this:And the sweet sibling love continues…

Also, we got a new car this weekend. Of course, ours came without the sunset background.

Kate wanted pink. But after a few days, she’s now come around and thanks us for buying ‘her’ a car.

Car buying is the opposite of awesome. We shopped long and hard. It was exhausting. We’d never really tried negotiating prices until this car purchase. In doing so, I learned something new about myself: I can be a real ogress. I was so mean tough. My poor husband had no choice but to play good cop. In the end, we got some pretty substantial savings I think. And, what do you know, it’s kind of fun driving my mom car.

Kate got dance pics back from her last recital:

Kate and her best cousin:

In short, I think my kids are neato. I might need a bumper sticker to outwardly voice that. Or maybe just a blog post on the world wide web will suffice.

The Best Part of Waking Up...

My darling husband sometimes has sleepless nights. Whenever this occurs, QVC or some other fine infomercial establishment receives a phone call in the wee hours of the morning. Within days, an extra special delivery shows up at our door, and I'm always afraid. Very. The Insanity DVD's just so happens to be the latest doorstep find.

For 2 1/2 weeks now Dave and I have been waking up early and working out to this together. My body hurts...all the time. I'm getting tired of looking at the machine, Tanya. I hate doing "high knees." And if Shaun T. tells me to "dig deeper" anymore, I might puke. But we're sticking to it. Apparently 60 days is all it takes to transform this body of mine (we'll see about that).

But aside from all the pain, there's something more to be gained. Between work and kids, Dave and I don't get as much quality time together these days. But doing the workouts, we laugh till it hurts. Even the thought of the two of us jumping around in front of our bedroom T.V. makes me laugh. It's actually pretty fun having him as a workout buddy.

So watch out, friends, two new "insanely" firm bodies are on the way.