Gym Fusion Fun

Yesterday we celebrated my little Bug turning 6! Seriously, 6?!?! I don't know how that happened and I don't want to talk about it. Anyway, we had her party at Gym Fusion in Decatur. She invited a lot of little friends from school and Robert and Bella from the neighborhood. And of course her sisters were there too.

She was so excited. And of course, when the gymnastics instructor was ready to get them started Kiersten got to be the leader. She lead them through the warm-ups and then they got to do different activities on the balance bar and on two different kinds of trampolines. We got to play in the gym for an hour and then we got to use the party room for 30 minutes. We had snacks for the kids, of course cupcakes and juice boxes and then she got to open presents. All in all, it was a fun day. She loved it, she had a great time and that made my heart happy!

Viva La Mexico

Oh Playa, It had been far too long!!! Well, 5 years to be exact. The last time that Mitch and I had taken a vacation together was right before we were preparing to move to Illinois. Kiersten was almost 1 and this time she was almost 6. We were definitely due.

We went to Brian, Lisa, Lori and Todd and had 5 wonderful nights at the Catalonia Royale Tulum. This was our first time at this resort. It was much smaller than we were used to. It was quiet and we certainly felt like we were on the young side. It had the traditional buffets. But then also had 6 additional restaurants. The food was fantastic. We had our choice of Seafood, Asian, Steakhouse, Tapas, Italian and Mexican Cuisine. The Tapas was by far my favorite. And the morning buffets certainly did not disappoint for breakfast. Veggie omelet?? Yes, Please!!!

Mitch and I went paddle boating a few times. It always made me a little anxious at first but I loved it and wish we would have done it a few times more. We took walks on the beach. I even did water aerobics in the ocean. Mitch loved the snorkeling. He went pretty far off to the drop off (think Finding Nemo, Lol) and actually saw a Manta Ray.

Gigi stayed back home with the girls. Five nights was just enough, and I was ready to get home. But then a day or two later I was ready to go again. Funny how that works. Someday we will take the girls on trips like these...until then they will have to settle for the Dells.

P.S. My Plexus Pink Drink taste even better when poolside in Paradise :)

Early Birthday for Bug

This girl is LOVED!!! While we were in Mexico she got to go to Gigi's house and have an early birthday party with her cousins. She made cupcakes with the kids, she let them decorate them and she got to open a few gifts a little early. Bug FINALLY got her iPad. Mom had it shipped to our house about a week before so that Mitch and I could set it up with a few apps/games/books so that she could boot it up and get to playing. I have a feeling she was on very excited little girl! She also got an Orbeez spa from Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Matt and her cousins. This will be interesting to see Bug and her sisters play nice with a little foot spa!!!

Later that night she got to go to Aunt Cynthia's for a sleepover. Cynthia sent me the pictures of her reading to Colby and then she told me all about how excited she was to sleep on the top bunk. It is pictures like this that make me realize we made the right call moving back to Illinois from New Jersey. My kids have such a special relationship with my parents and family in general. We are blessed indeed. Happy early birthday, Bug!

Girl's Day!

The winter months are hard. Not only do we not see Papa and Gigi because they are in Arizona, but since we aren't traveling to Charleston very often we don't get to see Uncle Matt, Aunt Cynthia and the kids either. Cynthia and I saw that the Virgina Theater over in Champaign was doing the Broadway Production of the Little Mermaid. So we got tickets and went! First we met at Biaggi's for lunch. The girls loved that they have paper on the table cloths for budding artist. And of course they all LOVE Italian Food!

After a wonderful lunch we headed to the theater. It was general admission with no seat assignments and sure enough by 1:30 we ended up in the top section of the theater. But we didn't mind. The girls loved the show. Ariel is one of their favorites. And the show had acrobats...for real! It was amazing. I love that we get to do these things with our family! Thanks to Cynthia and Macy for joining us!

Big Girl

My heart is hurting a little bit these days. I'm realizing more and more that my little baby, isn't really a baby anymore. Her mannerism's are changing, her vocabulary is changing...soon enough she will be going off to school and my days will be spent wishing I'd had more time with all 3 of my girls. She is so very social...and doesn't know a stranger.

I picked her up from school today and we went out to run errands. She was having the "worst day ever" because she was "sooo hungry" So I went ahead and stopped and got her some lunch. We sat down at Culvers and in her new grown up way, she started to carry on a conversation with the older gentleman seated next to us. She said "my name is Hattie cakes, what's your name?" He told her his name was Fred. She said "Very nice to meet you, Fred." Then she asked him if he liked her earrings, she asked him if he knew her friends Kheagan and Brexton, She asked him if he liked fries? She was a regular chatterbox. And I smiled a lot...I think she made Fred's day. She sure made mine!

Lunch with Papa!

Typically Papa and Gigi spend all of January, February, March and April in Arizona, but Papa had work to do so he came home for a week. We decided that since he was passing through Mt. Zion/Decatur area anyway we should get together. The girls love Mexican, and Papa loves Mexican so lunch at Corona's was a no brainer!

There was a lot of Chips and Salsa consumed. There was a lot of teasing that took place and even quite a few snuggles! While Illinois isn't the dream location to raise up my kids, the fact that they get to have such a good relationship with their Grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins makes it totally perfect!