Cayman Islands

This face says it all..

We had a blast.

We pretty much spent our time going between eating, beach, and pool.

The beach was perfect.

Joshua is happy here and he would be happy for a bit in the water, but for the most part he was not too happy with the water temp or the bright sun. :)

We got to watch the sunset almost every night.

Grandma Miggy was able to join us for this trip!  Hooray!  We sure loved our breakfasts at the hotel.

We went on one excursion while we were there.  We sailed on a large catamaran.

to Stingray City.  It is a large sandbar in the ocean that is home to more than two dozen "tame" Atlantic Southern Stingray's that enjoy the company of humans. The Stingray's swim freely with humans in only three feet of water at the shallow Sandbar area.

  We got to get in the water with them and touch them.  The boys both did it it, but Eli got nervous after about 5 minutes.  It was a little freaky for me too.  Doesn't the water look like pool water?  Crazy.

ON the same excursion they took us to another stop to snorkel.  Gavin was a little nervous about doing it, because it was deep water, but he was very brave and decided to try.  He loved it and he had snorkel and flippers on pretty much for then on out, even in the pool.  The underwater life there was spectacular.   At the beach we were staying at there was pretty incredible snorkeling.  There was a reef not too far of the beach that you could swim to.  Boyd and Eli took a kayak and Gavin and I attempted to swim out there.  It was a bit much for Gavin, so luckily Boyd picked him up in the kayak.  We were swarmed by a large school of fish while we were out there.  It was pretty cool, but again, made me feel a little vulnerable. 

WE at a place called The Warf and it was delicious.

Every night after sunset we would have this beautiful view of the moon and 2 planets.  (Jupiter and Venus?) 
Of course, one of the best parts was catching up on our sleep.  We would go to bed shortly after the boys every night.

Here's gavin in his full Snorkel gear. 

This was our last night there and it was the memorable.  We stayed at the beach until it was almost dark.  The sunset was spectacular.  The water was perfect.  We just couldn't get enough. 

Welcome to Tampico

My mom and dad are serving a mission for the church and we are so proud of them. We were grateful that we were able to go see them as missionaries in Mexico and see the joy they are bringing to the people there. It was also so great to just be with them. I think the best part of the trip was seeing them with the boys and the great bond that they have. It is amazing to me that they only see them a couple times a year, but they are so close.

I have to see we were a bit disapointed by the weather when we first got there. It was in the low 50's and it rained quite a bit. They were having one of the coldest February's on record there. A couple of weeks earlier they had been in the low 40's! I know this was better than NYC, but we were in Mexico!But, we still enjoyed ourselves.

My parent's neighbor have a doug, Toby and Grandpa and boys spent a lot of time with that dog, Toby. Eli loved Toby. He still asks about him.

We spent a lot of time playing games and doing puzzles. Uno was the new game of choice! Grandma and her puzzles were a big hit!

We also went to a Lagoon where you can take a boat ride and see crocodiles. Apparently, they used to have a zoo in that area. It closed, but they decided to leave the two crocodiles there in that lagoon. There are now 30 of them. The best part of the ride was the iguanas! there were tons of them. They were close to 3 feet long. Some were bigger and some were smaller. But, they just hung out in the trees!

We also got to go to dinner that night while the boys stayed with some friends of my parents.

The next day, we went to my parent's institute. We met all the the people they work with. Mom, Boyd and I went to an outdoor market. That night we did a presentation in their English class on "living in New York." I don't know how much they understood. It was so fun to meet my parent's students. They are warm, loving group of people. I can tell my parents are loved and that they love them.
The institute building
I wish we got more pictures of their class, but we were too worried about our presentation!
I have more pics coming!

Paris holds one of the keys to my heart...

Ten years ago I had what I would put on my top 5 list of life changing experiences. It was my Junior year in college I decided to follow in the footsteps my mom had taken several years earlier and study abroad in Paris. It was a 3 1/2 month program. I didn't know anyone in the program prior to the program. I barely spoke french and it was my first time traveling to another country (besides a small trip to Mexico). It was an experience of a lifetime. I came away from that program an enlightened 20 year old. I also came away with some lifelong friends who have impacted the person that I am today.

Last week I had the opportunity to return to Paris with those dear friends and with a close friend of ours who we would never have met if not for Paris..

I have a pretty amazing husband who supported my trip and some pretty amazing parents who watched the kids while I was gone for 6 days..

Here are some things I want to remember from the trip:

Our bike ride that took us from Notre Dame, along the Seine, to the Louvre, through the Tuileries Garden, and under the Eiffel Tower.

Strolling around the neighborhood (near the Pompidou Center) we knew so well because our classes were held there..

Returning to the Sacre Coeur and to the artist spot behind it..


I saw something new this time and it was the Pantheon and we even got to ride the bikes again..



Driving to Honfleur (in Normandy) and finding the perfect french town (even though they were mean and all the restaurants closed just as we arrived)



Versailles and reliving our "perfect day" by riding our bikes through the gardens..





Noticing all the places I would want to kiss Boyd



Noticing all the places the kids would like



Getting to places just after closing..Eating as much crepes/pastries/chocolate food as possible the last day for fear that we wouldn't get them again..



Spending a week with Monica, Jules, and Gina..

I missed my family and I was excited to see them when I got back. I do think it was good for all of us, though. Eli, however didn't want anything to do with me when I got back. He wouldn't come to me at first and he only wanted Boyd for the first 3 days. I was interesting to see Boyd at the top of the pecking order. Gavin was just excited and all smiles. He kept asking me "if I went to Paris with my friends." I brought a toy train back with me and he kept talking about his "train from Paris." I had a hard time adjusting to reality when I got back. Luckily my parents stayed for 5 more days! Thank you Mom and Dad!

Hopefully, I can return again soon...