Best Vacation EVER

We will start with Saturday morning, when the Easter Bunny came to visit early.  He hid 6 eggs for each kid, brought a TON of candy, and Kindle gift cards for the kids.  Excellent choice Bunny, since the movies and games the kids bought came in quite handy for the next week.

 This is the BEST picture.  Such a different expression from last year.  

This makes my heart melt to see my Annika back.

 We left our house at 2 am.  We were actually the very first people in line for the TSA!  Tanner loved his first flight!  He, in true Tanner fashion unfortunately, waved out the window and exclaimed, "So long suckers!" as we took off.  But we still had to laugh.  We had great flights and the kids took it all in stride.  An easy taxi ride to the resort and straight to the pool and ocean. 

 Oyster Bay has all sorts of entertainment each night.  Easter is the kick off of St. Maarten's Carnivale season so the first night was free drinks (virgin mixes for the kids) and dancers.

 And a silly how well do you know your wife competition!  

Jeff won!  Such a good husband!  He got a bottle of champagne for his efforts, and he really did deserve it.  

He nailed it on the head and had the whole crowd roaring.  

Tanner LOVED the pool.  Actually that is an understatement.  He never would have left it.  He was swimming underwater and doing cannonballs like a champ by the end of the week.  

The girls could practice all their new skills from swimming lessons.

Phoebe, true to her self, was my collector for the week.  This crab shell in perfect condition was her first find, but alas it was pretty fragile and did not survive the week.  

But she managed to find a bucket's worth of shells.  So she was quite happy.

 We also saw lots of lizards this year.  We would go looking every day for some. 

 See this big one on the square rock?

 Monday Phoebe got her hair braided.  Another party poolside, won two more bottles of champagne, 

and I got my dancing in for the year.  :)  And so did our ladies man.  

My awesome parents who make the whole thing possible.  I can never thank them enough. 

 And we had such a great time with them.   The kids made some really wonderful memories with them.

Tuesday we bought a boogie board.  Annika proved to be a champ at this! 

Tanner dug holes large enough for him to disappear in.  Not surprising.  He was not a fan of the ocean--it was pretty windy and rough and he forgets to close his mouth.  Apparently it was too salty. 

 Worn out, a little sunburned, so snuggling on the pull out couch and watching their Kindle movies over and over was actually welcome.

 Wednesday we hit the butterfly farm, it was loaded with mating butterflies that were very active so it was a lot of fun to see them flying and eating.  

Phoebe was a great photographer and captured some wonderful shots, here are a few. 

 They liked my sunscreen and kept sucking it off my legs.

After that we went to Galeon Beach for a picnic and playing in the ocean.  No waves there.

We enjoyed a cooking class with the resort restaurant chef at Infinity.  Annika paid very close attention.  

 Delicious food, fun to watch, French accent hard to understand. 

Jeff took the kids fishing four times I think.  They were all able to catch fish on their own.  And Jeff stayed down alone a few times and caught a lot, has some good stories, and relaxed even more.  This was another of Annika's favorite things too.  She really needed all that daddy time and soaked it up.

Apparently puffer fish  are common here and they eat shrimp. 

 Thursday morning we went to the sand bar to hunt shells, hike a little to the island across the bar, and visit Calvin to hold sea creatures. More pool, naps, and fishing.  

Friday morning we spent in the pool diving for quarters, Annika went boogie boarding again.  

 Then we went to Phillipsburg for some souvenir shopping and delicious ribs for lunch on the boardwalk. 

 Definitely a new favorite restaurant.  

 Saturday family photo shots before we must leave.

And lunch at Sunset bar.  It is right at the end of the runway (one of the ten shortest in the world), 

so you can see in the pictures how close we were.  It is pretty crazy cool. 

And then another afternoon in the pool. 

Beautiful weather, on a gorgeous colorful island.

 Smooth flights.  Well behaved children--they were at the perfect ages.  

Good food.  No one got sick.  

We couldn't have asked for a better, more fun, more relaxing, excellent family time trip. 

I Cannot Believe It

Time sure has flown by.  Five years ago Tanner joined as a ten pounder on a snowy day February 25th.  He is such a joy to have around (also a frustration at times) but most of the time he is very happy and loving.  I cannot imagine our life with out this guy.  

We celebrated with presents, brownie sundaes, and went to the dollar movie to see Wreck It Ralph.  

 The new fireman pack that shoots water from the girls, also a scuba diving set he decided today.

 Money, money, MONEY.  To use for the purchase of a Kindle.  And oh yeah, flashcards.

 A CRANE!!!!  This almost completes his work site.

 And then this morning we took four friends to the open jump at Pump It Up and then to McDonald's for lunch.  It was an excellent way to ensure a happy five year old, and a nap.  :)

 Here is his work site.  He has been digging beans all day!  And lifting flashcard boxes.  His Bulls jersey was a gift from family and has Joaquim Noah on the back, who is his favorite player, and we just learned who shares the same birthday.  He is happy, happy, happy.

Caught the Big One

The kids watched a fishing show.  Then they played fishing all weekend.  Really, all weekend.  Hours spent sitting on the edge of the couch and the arms.  Over and over.  Go figure.

 Phoebe and Annika created the fish Tanner wanted.  Sharks, whales, eels, angel fish, swordfish, anglers, etc.  

 Annika built a pole from Knex with a reel and a magnet hook to get the paper clips.

Why do I buy them toys again?

Basketball Instincts

Annika has an innate instinct for this game.  She watches the Bulls play on television and already tries to emulate what they are doing.  She loves defense and her favorite thank to do is steal the ball, but she does a pretty good job shooting, too.  We were very proud of the way that her skills improved, and that she was a good team player and helped some of the kids not as quick to go after the ball as she was.  It was a very good season and we will look forward to next year.

 Kind of hard to capture photos of her stealing, but this was one of many.  She got at least two a game.

 They were required to stay inside the key for this league.  Notice where her toes are.  :)

 There she got it again and there she goes.  Sometimes she would use her left hand to dribble.  When asked why she would say, "Just to make it interesting."  Hmm.

 She was on a pretty scrappy team.  They loved to get that ball and hold on for dear life.  There were several kids very good at shooting.  I was amazed at how well they played.  Better than junior high teams I have seen.

Swish!  I don't remember if this one actually made it, but this was the best photo.  She kept track of how many times she shot vs. the ones she made.  She was going for 75% she told us.

Many parents would ask if I was working with her.  I just laughed.  And I would explain that I was that kid who understood why no one wanted me on their team in gym class.  She got a lot from her daddy, and she just has that competetive, aggressive, and natural instinct for athletics.

Chinese New Year

We have spent time learning about ancient China this month.  

 The girls looked up "what" they are on the horoscope.  They wrote the characters for the numbers 1-10 and then some other ones we could find on the internet with a bamboo brush and ink. 

 Seriously, they did these, not me.  

 They built the Great Wall of China throughout our house with every block we could find.  We pretended to climb Mt. Everest (I know actually Nepal, but it is on the border and we are not studying Nepal, and I at least wanted to touch on it.)  Talked about dynasties, emperors, the Silk Road, and inventions.  Read lots of traditional stories.  This week we are going to dive more into culture.They held a parade for Chinese New Year.  We watched the San Francisco parade on the internet and then they recreated some of the things they saw.  Complete with a dragon they made.

 Fans and dancing.

 Drummers and a band.

 And Annika created "fireworks" from tin foil.  When you threw them in the air little bits of confetti came out.

Madness I say

I have a new quote that I really like.  Last night I realized just how well it fits our family.  "There is not great genius without some touch of madness." Seneca--not sure who that is (should google that) but s/he is smart.    I realized this is why my home looks the ways it does.  This is why my kids excel at creativity.  Because I let them go mad.  Does it drive me crazy with the mess of it?  YES  The loudness give me headaches? YES.  Does this quote show that it is worth it in the end?  YES YES YES

Here are this month's examples:

Phoebe opened a hospital.  She treated dolls, stuffed animals, and her siblings.  Here you see Angel with a splint of q-tips and ribbon.

 Poor Kanani had to be on a heart monitor.  Phoebe did not get a picture of the "screen" with lines she made.

 Poor Molly was on an IV.  Notice the cup, ribbon, and it is all taped to her nose.  :)

 After an assortment of animals were bandaged and splinted she turned to her siblings.  I was impressed with her compassion and skill level with helping these unfortunate souls.  :)

 Tanner got a gold mine for Christmas.  He was mining his fool's gold and Annika used a the toothbrush to clean it.  Unfortunately I thought they had the old toothbrush, but no it was the new version.

 We put together this cool clock kit that Annika got for her birthday.  The acid of the lemon actually produces enough power in reaction to the copper and the other metal to run that little clock.

 And then we got crazy with the soap.  It has to be Ivory because it is air whipped.

 When you heat it for two minutes in the microwave the air expands and this is what happens.

Pretty cool.  We wet it down and reformed it into little snowball looking soap to reuse.

 Jeff even is a part of the madness.  He was gung ho that he could recreate the potstickers we ate at Coopershawk.  And by golly, he did it!  They were delicious!  And not nearly as hard as I thought.  We had them for the Superbowl and enjoyed them with friends.