Just Another Day In Paradise

Thanks to my amazingly helpful and wonderful parents, Jamey and I were able to go to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Jamey planned the entire thing and thankfully I was just along for the ride.  I was so worried that I'd miss my children terribly and be ready to come home but that was about the furthest thing from the case.  We had an absolutely awesome time together and had definitely forgotten just how nice it is to have one on one time with each other without the constant interruption of little voices!  Don't get me wrong, we missed our babies and talked about them constantly but also were able to enjoy each other so much and I honestly think more than we thought.  Jamey told me about halfway through the week that he couldn't believe I wasn't bored with him by then and that we were still talking instead of reading!

We've never been the type to just sit on the beach and read for long so this beach was perfect for us.  You could boogie board, kayak, do the Hobie Cat, walk, drink, eat, ride horses, and the list goes on!  We mostly stuck with walking, doing the boogie boards, drinking, eating, and swimming in the pool but did venture out on the horses once and our rear ends are just now recovering from the adventure!  Jamey had quite the renegade horse named Pablo who liked to do his own thing while mine had a foot in the grave and barely made the trek without collapsing.  We met so many nice people, especially the waiters and bartenders.  They were all so kind and welcoming and really made us enjoy every second of our trip.

When the time came to come home, we were both sad to leave but I think happy to get back and see our kiddos.  I don't know why but it hit me like a ton of bricks on the plane coming home and I could not get to our babies fast enough!  We kissed them in their sleep once we got home and wouldn't trade anything in the world for the happy wake up call of Carter and Cooper jumping onto our bed to welcome us home.  While I enjoyed our 7 days in paradise, I wouldn't trade anything in the world for the everyday days in paradise right here at home!

Thank you so much Jamey for still loving me like you do after 3 babies and 10 years together.  Our relationship keeps getting better and better and I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will be like!  You are an amazing husband and daddy, my very best friend, and my soul mate and I love you more than you will ever know!  Thanks for letting me be your "lady"!

Our bell boy insisted on a kissy picture in front of our anniversary door!

I was a little weirded out by these beach beds but they were so comfortable and a nice change for your bottom after a rough horseback riding experience!

This was the beach restaurant where we ate lunch every day.  They had other options but this one you could wear your bathing suit and stay on the beach.

I had a hard time finding a drink I really loved until one bartender named Miguel came up with something for me.  He wouldn't tell us what was in it but would always just say, "special for the the lady!" It was indeed special and delicious!

The best beer there is Presidente Light in our opinion but when the bar ran out, this is what they served Jamey...it was called "The One".  It actually wasn't bad, we just loved the name.

Carolina was our favorite waitress inside and made sure to always take good care of us.

Oh Pablo and let's just call him Glue.

 This was Sandy, our favorite beach waiter.  He was always smiling and happy!

The bartenders were having a competition to keep me happy so it seemed!  This drink was another "special for the lady" from another bartender named Omar and he called this his "Omar special."  He would always bring me two each time, no matter what time of day it was and when I'd ask why he'd just shrug and say, "Happy Hour!"

 I enjoyed these as you can see!

 We woke up on our last day to watch the sunrise.  It was so pretty and a great way to start our last day in paradise!

 My last Omar special, sigh.

Omar!

 The specialty alcohol in the Dominican is called Mama Guana and I had yet to have a shot of it until our very last day!

 Bye Punta Cana, until next time!!!

Coolest Birthday Party Ever

We had Cooper's birthday party at a fire station this year and I was so worried that it would be boring and uneventful for the kids but thankfully I was quite wrong!  It was unbelievably awesome for the kids as well as the adults.  The firemen were so nice and great with the kids.  We had lunch and cake in the fire station and then the fun started! 

They talked to the kids about fire safety for a few minutes and then had Cooper demonstrate stop, drop and roll.

This part was definitely my favorite.  They had Fireman Nick come out and introduce himself and slowly get dressed in each piece of his uniform so the kids could see and understand what each part was for.

After he was fully dressed, they had all the kids come up and touch him and check him out so that they wouldn't be afraid of him.  It was so cool and I'd never really even thought about kids being scared of them!

Next they let them hear a smoke detector, hence the covered ears!

The kids really loved this part.  They took them out into the garage and let them climb all over the trucks and touch anything and everything around.

Carter accidentally set off the sirens and I happened to catch it on camera!  Who knew that the pedals in the passenger seat control the sound but now we all certainly do!

The last thing they did was take them into their bedroom and show them their cool night vision toy.  They were really sweet to let Cooper get a lot of attention and see and do things first.  It was actually pitch black when I took this picture but my flash obviously changes that!

We are dogsitting Ashley and Andrew's dog and Hudson thinks she's the perfect seat.  He's modeling one of Coop's new birthday toys, a cool fire backpack that hold water and a hose that really shoots it.

The party far exceeded my expectation and I wish we could thank the firemen a million times over for being so welcoming and patient with us and our children.  Cooper was spoiled rotten with awesome, thoughtful gifts from everyone and we came home to watch a fun Carolina win.  It was a pretty perfect day!