March and Texas Tulips

We have tulip fields here in Pilot Point, Texas!!  Who knew??  Long story short, Pieter Koeman's family owned a tulip farm in The Netherlands and once his father passed, they decided to settle here in Texas and continue the business, getting to meet the people who buy their tulips.  It's only a short drive for us, so we took advantage of a nice day in March to go have a look.  I honestly wasn't expecting much, but read their story and saw a picture in a local magazine and decided we had to at least visit.  The pictures honestly don't do it justice...it was gorgeous with rows and rows of color!

I knew the boys would get rowdy the longer we were there, so first order of business was to get some pictures.  Easier said than done.  It was very crowded, the rows of dirt between the flowers were perfect for running, and this guy moves fast!

Between Jason's phone, my phone, and our nice camera, we were finally able to get some decent pictures. 

It was free for the boys to get in and only $3 apiece for adults, I think.  Thankfully Jason saw somewhere that the tulips are $2.50 per stem, if memory serves me correctly.  More than a few people were taken off guard and had picked huge bouquets!  We limited the boys to a small handful that we'd be able to enjoy at home.  They really do encourage you to pick, as you can see by the size of the basket.

There was even a picnic area set up with benches to eat, rest, or just view the beautiful flowers.  And Reid immediately noticed a little hay maze nearby.  The big kids were running on the top and jumping, making up some game involving hot lava if you fall off.  Carter just enjoyed wandering around and balancing on the hay bales.

 

What an amazing place...and so close by!  I have a feeling we will be there every spring.  I was honestly amazed the the boys had so much fun.  We pretty much had to drag them out, and Reid was so enamored by the flowers that he actually paid for two more tulips with his allowance.

February--All About Carter!

I am not sure where the time has gone...but my baby is TWO!!  Guess I need to quit calling him a baby.  This little guy is no longer so little and has quite a big personality.  Thankfully (for now!) we haven't seen too much of the terrible two's yet, but I know it's coming...

I am very thankful that Carter is my snuggly boy.  Reid never was.  But it also occurred to me that the snuggle days won't last forever, so I'd better take advantage!  It took some convincing that it wasn't playtime, but once Carter finally realized he was going to nap in my bed, it was blissful.  I actually had my phone within reach to capture it.  That sweet little face!

Two also meant we (finally!!!) got to turn his car seat around.  I'm not sure who was happier...Carter, Reid, or me!  He can now climb in solo and things are much easier when we're loading the car.  That seemed like a great time to end the daytime paci habit, too.  He still likes one at bedtime and naptime (but only at home), but we'll get there eventually.

Carter's still my healthy eater, which I sure hope will stick.  But he does love his sugary things, too.  And recently he decided he likes lemons.  He always sees them in our water at restaurants and went fishing for one.  I wasn't quick enough to get a video, but it was hilarious!  He spied a lime in the fridge one day and insisted it be part of his dinner.  The sour faces were very entertaining.

Both boys love being outdoors.  We went to get a Japanese maple to plant since we had to leave both of the boys' at our last house.  So the one we chose has two trunks--seemed nice and brotherly.  It took Jason the good part of an afternoon to dig in the hard North Dallas clay.  Naturally, the boys wanted to "help."  Reid actually did help pretty well and pushed all the clumps of clay and dirt out of the way.  Carter mainly just kept falling in the hole and hated having his hands dirty...yet wanted to lug around a little shovel and be a part of the action, no matter what I tried to get him to play with me somewhere else in the yard.

The big day finally arrived and Carter was two.  Seems not so long ago that I got to hear the beautiful BIG first cry he let out in the O.R.  I'm so thankful for this happy little boy.  He's full of smiles, laughs, hugs, and yet he's still all boy.  We are quite serious when it comes to sweets, though.  Especially when it's a mouthwateringly delicious cupcake from Holli!!

When that had been devoured, we had to convince him that you're not supposed to eat the candle, too.

The balloon distraction did the trick.  Both of our boys LOVE balloons.  I'm good with that--cheap, easy, can't break as much stuff as balls...

Pretty good selfie, I must say

The birthday boy also enjoyed opening his own cards and presents.  "Wan dis!  Wan dis!" (want this) has to be the #1 phrase for this guy.

Other favorites of Carter at two:
- adventurous eating--here's him devouring dim sum with chopsticks.  I sure hope that will continue!

 

- food: grapes, strawberries, squeezies, yogurt (if he can feed it to himself), or anything that Mommy is eating (including a spinach salad, which totally surprised me)
- dvd: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
- book: Pajama Time or Baseball 1-2-3
- activity: coloring or playing with the little fuzzy craft pom poms
- sweet: M&M's
- sleeping position: all squished up at the top of the bed, with his feet sticking through the crib slats, hands tucked under (and I'm ready for the sleep sack to go bye bye, but he rarely lets a blanket stay on him)

We are so thankful that God blessed us with this sweet boy.  Holli's cupcake box pretty much says it all (and it's too bad there's not a scratch-n-sniff spot for computers...because they smelled like heaven!).

 
 

Cancun

We had an amazing opportunity to travel to Cancun via Jason's business.  Yes, please!  We paid Holli to watch the boys and looked forward to a rare extended kid-free weekend.  Packing was an ordeal and getting ready to be gone from work two days added to it.  But once we were on the plane, it was totally worth it!

We stayed at the Le Blanc Spa Resort.  Let me just say this, by far, is THE nicest place I have ever stayed in my life!  It was open air, smelled exquisite, airy, bright, and you basically have your own butler on call.  You can order room service basically anytime, eat practically anytime (grill, Italian, French, Mexican, etc.), drink just about anytime (our new favorite is the caparinas), enjoy turn down service, have your bath drawn, bag unpacked...  I could go on and on.  There were so many options that they even had a pillow menu and aromatherapy menu, and all of this was available to book on their free app or by phone call to your butler.  And the room was so fancy that there was even a tv in the mirror.  Yes, you read that correctly.

Our room had a huge jacuzzi tub--even Jason enjoyed it and it was long enough for him to fit in it.  I had them draw a bath every night just because we could.  You could even choose the time, so the evening we went to the on-site karaoke club, I set the time for 11:30 and by the time we got back to our room, it was the perfect temperature.  Although we were on the first floor, the view from our room wasn't half bad, either.

Our first day there was very cool and windy, but thankfully it didn't stay like that the entire trip.  The color of the water just amazed me.  We unpacked, relaxed a bit, then met back up in the lobby for drinks and planned to head to dinner.  Unfortunately, our reservations got mixed up and they couldn't seat such a "large" group (c'mon...it's eight people!) so we ended up going off of the resort to La Distilleria. 

Even though pretty much anything there is kind of touristy, this was a little more of the Mexican flair we wanted to enjoy.  There was a mariachi band, delicious food, and great company.

We called it an early night because we had an 80 foot yacht calling our name early the next morning.  It was just the four couples, el Capitan, and two deck hands at our beck and call. AHmazing!!

We snorkeled, swam, and cruised around Isla de Mujeres.  There were several rooms on the yacht and plenty of places to relax or take a nap, watch from the upper or lower deck, or hang out and munch at the dining table.  Mid-afternoon, we enjoyed a delicious gourmet lunch.  I could get used to this!

Back at the hotel, everyone cleaned up, napped/relaxed, and got ready for dinner.  It had been such a long day that most folks fell asleep for the evening, so Jason and I enjoyed sushi at the Asian restaurant.   Each evening, we'd pick out what we wanted from the expansive room service menu and they would wheel it right into the room at whatever time you picked.  Talk about service!

And every morning, someone would grate the sand and leave a cheerful "Buenas Dias" in the sand.  Ahhh!

The boys played golf one morning, so we girls set up a spa day.  Since it didn't begin until 11ish, we walked on the beautiful beach and combed it for little shells.

Our view from the cabanas (with a hand-delivered, cold, beachy drink) was pretty amazing and we hated to leave the beach, but the spa was soooo worth it.  Relaxing, refreshing, and soothing.

Meanwhile, the boys encountered some wildlife along the way on their golf trip.  This little rodent thingee was kind of like a monkey-squirrel.

Iguanas dotted the course...

But the real excitement began when they found crocodiles just steps from the greens!  Yikes!  Thankfully, everyone returned with all their toes and fingers.

Meeting up at the swim up bar for a grilled snack was nice, and the view from the infinity pool was breathtaking.  But the entertainment from a wedding party (whose "Ca-CA"s in the atrium at 2am the first night were somehow blamed on us and nearly got our group kicked out) was priceless.  Pretty sure some of them didn't quite make it to the ceremony. 

The boys

As if we didn't have enough options on the all-inclusive goodies, you had your own private mini bar in your room.  I had never seen anything like this, so had to take a picture.

One of our delicious appetizers at the Italian restaurant our last evening:

The last night's bath, after fun at the karaoke club, even had bubbles and rose petals with the aromatherapy. 

Our view the last morning as we hung out by the pool for some sun was beautiful.  So glad we were able to experience this and have such a fun group that all got along well without drama. 

We showered, packed up, took our luggage to the concierge, then walked into town to enjoy some of the local flavor.  We did a bit of shopping and sight seeing at the market.  Some of the vendors were hilarious and we heard one who was brutally honest quip, "Come buy my crap!"

We headed to the commercial part of the strip and walked around some of the famous clubs like Coco Bongo, then settled in at Carlos 'n Charlie's. 

Didn't expect our margaritas to arrive like this!  I'm sure this place gets crazy the later on in the day you go.  At one point, I must've looked like the gullible one of the group because the waiters came and did my hair...complete with straws and napkins sticking out.  Then they got out a lighter (didn't really light it, but I couldn't see behind me and after all it WAS Mexico, so I was a bit nervous!!) and then shot me with a fire extinguisher instead, for a good laugh.  Pretty sure there might've been a small scream in there.

Back to the hotel, bus to the airport, then we had plenty of time to kill before our flight.  After shopping, what better way than Jimmy Buffett's airport bar??

Back to reality.  Hope to see you again someday, Cancun!