Summer Vacation 2008

Every summer, we round up my side of the family - my folks, our family of three, and sometimes, if we're lucky, my brother - and go on a trip together. This time around, we went on a seven day cruise to the Mexican Riviera and I'm happy to report that it was absolutely wonderful (WAAAAAY better than the first cruise we took as a family two years ago to Hawaii, thank goodness!).

It helped enormously that we didn't have to fly anywhere. Plane rides with Rory are never fun - I start to dread them WEEKS in advance - so knowing that we didn't have to get on a plane made getting ready for this trip seem almost too easy. I didn't even start packing until the day before we left, which for me, Queen of the Obsessive Compulsive Suitcase Packers, is nothing short of amazing. Then, we literally just hopped in our car, drove less than an hour to the Port of Long Beach, and walked right onto the ship. It doesn't get much easier than that!

Now, honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Mexico - it's not the cleanest place on the planet and I hate being accosted by people who are trying to sell me chicklets and various other crap that is "almost free for you, Senorita!" - but I managed to ignore that stuff for the most part and concentrate on having fun with the fam.

The cruise ship was huge and had plenty of things to keep us all busy, including a camp for kids that we were able to check Rory into for a few hours a day, which he absolutely loved (THANK GOD!!). This enabled the adults to have some ADULT fun, which included a bit of gambling in the casino, playing ping pong (my brother actually brought his OWN ping pong paddles! Sorry Jer, I just couldn't pass up mentioning that!) and having a few drinks with little umbrellas in them. Okay, maybe more than a few...I can't ever turn down a Malibu and Pineapple.

Usually after dinner, we would pick Rory up from the evening session of camp and take him to see the shows, which he LOVED, not that we were suprised. Singing, dancing, music, and lights - Rory was in absolute heaven! And most nights, while we were sitting in the balcony seats and waiting for the show to start, Rory would be so excited that he would start dancing like crazy. I mean, my kid can REALLY shake his booty when he wants to! I don't know where he gets his moves from - certainly not his father (sorry, honey!)- but there is no doubt that he has them! I wish I had a good video if it, but I was laughing too hard to hold the camera steady. People were watching him from all over the theater, pointing to him up in the balcony, but he was totally oblivious and just boogied down until he wore himself out or the show started. And for the rest of the cruise, people would come up to him and say, "Hey, you're that little dancing kid! Thanks for the pre-show!" Maybe I should have been embarassed, but honestly, I was so proud of my little entertainer.



We went to several different ports in Mexico - Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerta Vallarta - and in two of them, we found resorts that had awesome pools to play in. Our favorite was El Cid in Mazatlan - it had slides, rocks to climb up, small pools on top of a waterfall, and even a cliff to jump off of into the pool. I had been worried that Rory had inherited my fear of heights, but after seeing him do this, I guess I don't have to worry anymore:



Rory, of course, wanted me to jump, too. And since my THREE YEAR OLD was able to do it (not to mention some little bugger who was even younger than him!), it was either jump or look like a total chicken shit in front of my kid who already has some serious respect issues - so after a couple of drinks and a tiny push from my brother, I jumped, too:



Thank God there is photographic evidence because I don't think it's likely I'll be throwing myself off a cliff, even a small one, anytime soon. (Unless, of course, these three year old tantrums don't end soon, in which case I might consider it. Ha ha.)

I'm sure that pictures will show a lot more than I can describe, so here's a sampling of some of the better ones:


Playing checkers with beer bottle caps in the pool - SO classy!


Rory and his Uncle Jer (who obviously doesn't have kids by the "I'm pretending to like this but really I'm SO ready to give you your kid back" expression on his face!)


The view from the pool at the Krystal Resort in Puerta Vallarta that kinda makes me forget why I don't like Mexico


Rory getting pummelled by waves in Cabo at Lover's Beach


Rory's favorite pool at the top of the waterfall at El Cid Resort in Mazatlan


We griped about packing our fancy clothes, but I have to say we actually clean up pretty darn good! This year's picture for our Christmas cards, perhaps?


A very happy, healthy looking Poppi (taken by Rory!)

All in all, it was one amazing trip and we can't wait to see what next summer's adventure will be! Getting back to "reality" this week has been a hard adjustment for everyone, but whenever I start to feel stressed out, I just watch this, and everything gets better:



Thanks to Grandma Jo and Grandpa Al for an awesome vacation sponsored by everyone's favorite bank, NBD (National Bank of Dad).

We love you!

Making His Daddy Proud...

Rory has recently discovered his, ah, "equipment" shall we say (I guess the fascination starts at three and never ends, right guys?), but today he was being even more grabby than usual and I was getting a little exasperated. I finally asked him, "Rory, what is your deal? WHY do you have to keep grabbing your tutu?" And he looks at me with this very serious expression on his face and says, "I can't help it, Mama, it's just SOOOOO BIG!".

If Hoby had been there, I'm sure he would have been unbelievably proud.

The Monstrosity

For months, Rory had been getting up in the middle of the night and coming into bed with us. And while my darling husband rarely even noticed the middle of the night intrusions (once Hoby is out, he's O-U-T!), I would spend the rest of the night battling my boys for real estate on our queen sized bed. I would wake up in the morning, just barely still clinging to the edge of the mattress or curled up in fetal position at the foot of the bed, and needless to say, I would feel like I hadn't slept a wink. I was NOT a happy mama.

So in an effort to take my bed back, "we" decided it was time to get Rory out of his tiny toddler bed and into a bed of his very own. A bed that he could roll all over during the night and not fall out of. A bed that would entice him to stay in his own room ALL NIGHT LONG.

And so we are now the proud owners of this gigantic bunk bed (thanks to craigslist!) that takes up almost his entire room, which we have fondly started referring to as "The Monstrosity":



But you know what? It WORKED!!! And you are now looking at one happy, WELL RESTED mama...and it certainly doesn't hurt that the kid is pretty darn happy, too.

Newsletter 3.5

Dear Rory -
Well son, here I am, finally writing a newsletter that is waaaaay overdue. I know that I have skipped the last three or four months, but to be honest, it really feels as though we've ALL skipped the last few months. Seriously, where the heck does the time go? It seems like summer is just getting started, and yet, somehow it's already the first of August and I feel like I'm suffering from some sort of time-warp whip lash.

I don't even know where to start when it comes to you, Ro. Since spring, you have been growing like crazy, and I mean that both physically AND mentally. You're over 38 inches tall now (and yes, once again, NONE of your clothes fit!), almost a solid 40 pounds, and you're an unbelievably smart little dude. A little too smart, actually. You have an astounding vocabulary for a three year old, but the scary part is how you use it.

You have become the ultimate little negotiator and you've learned how to play your dad and I like an expert. For example, when you sense that I'm about to ask you to do something you don't want to do (ie. clean up your toys, brush your teeth, etc.), you look at me with those big beautiful eyes of yours and say as sweetly as possible, "Mommy, come here and snuggle with me. I want to give you big hugs!" And because you are still a TOTAL daddy's boy, and you rarely pay attention to me when your father is around, this makes me melt into a big pool of mommy jello. AND YOU KNOW IT, you little stinker. Or when you are doing something you're not supposed to do when your father isn't home (like try and grab knives out of the butcher block for example) and I tell you NO, you look at me very seriously and say, "Calm down Mom. Daddy let's me do this ALL the time."

Oh yes, you are a force to be reckoned with. There are times - plenty of them - when you've pushed my buttons beyond belief and it takes all of my will power not to put you in the first box I can find and FedEx you to Antartica. You are TRULY lucky, my friend, that you are so damn cute. But then there are times when you sit on my lap and laugh with me at Curious George over a shared bowl of Cheerios or when you jump into the pool and swim over to me with your chest puffed up with pride, and I think, how could I want anything other than this?

ALL OF IT.

Love,
Mama