Cruise: top 10

I really tried to narrow the pics. and choose only the high lights from our cruise to Cozumel, Costa Rica and Panama! I didn't even get the pics. off of Kent's camera. Here's my top 10 list, not necessarily in order.

#10 Relaxing, sleeping in, napping, re-energizing!

#9 The whole lido deck! This is where the pool and food are located and the big screen TV where we got to watch movies in the evenings, kind of like a drive in, but sitting in lounge chairs and eating ice cream, pizza and/or whatever you could find!



#8 Excursion in Panama: The panama canal. I have to say I was pretty impressed with this structure. I wasn't overly excited to go here, but Kent would have liked to spend the whole day here. We were lucky and actually got to see a ship pass through the locks in the canal. It was pretty amazing! I can't remember how many thousands of gallons of water goes through the locks ( I have to ask Kent, or read the pamphlet again) but it was crazy!

#7 The whole reason we took this particular cruise was because I have always wanted to go to Costa Rica and zip line through the rain forest. Well, we got to do other cool things besides that...

We went to a banana plantation and got to see all the steps in growing and shipping bananas. It was cooler than I expected it to be.

#6 Rain forest: We got to take a boat on the canal through the rain forest, which I almost missed because I let all of the old ladies go potty before me, then they didn't let the guide know I was still in the bathroom. I was irked! They had to bring the boat back and I had to jump from the dock! Kent was just hanging out on the dock waiting for me, not saying a word, not a single word. ?!?!


Anywho, this is our guide, he was great. He is a biologist and was very into teaching us about the rain forest. He was full of tons of info. We got to see monkeys, sloths, iguanas, birds and bats. There is a sloth in the pic. below, but I can't find it to tell you where.... if you see it, let me know. :)

#5 We got to go to an authentic Indian village up in the mountains. I uploaded these out of order, so bear with me. At the end of the visit the tribe danced for us.

This is our friend, Reuben, dancing, Kent denied the cute lady that asked him. I felt so sad for her, apparently she didn't understand the making no eye contact, bright red face = extremely shy!

Reuben wasn't afraid to shake it though. He was a professional basketball player in Puerto Rico, so it was funny to see him dancing at 6'4" with these little women.






When we got there they fed us lunch! After the 45 minute canoe ride I was hungry! They fried some yummy talapia and plantains served up in a leaf. It was surprisingly delicious!

#4

These are our friends, Reuben and Julie. They were at our table for dinner and they were the nicest peeps! They're from Oklahoma now, but Julie is originally from Aloha, Oregon, and Reuben is from Puerto Rico. We spent alot of time with them. They are expecting their first baby!



This is our canoe ride. In the description it said, "A canoe ride to a local Indian village." I imagined, along with everyone else, paddling across a lake to the village. Not so much. We pulled up in our air-conditioned tour bus and saw 5-6 motor powered canoes along the river. They looked a bit shabby, but functional, I guess. We walked down and they handed us the lovely orange life saving vests, that smelled like BO! Then we preceded to sit in the canoe for 20 minutes waiting for the other buses to show up. (This is the worst part about excursions). We took pics. watched lots of people, who thought they were going to get drenched and decided to wear itty-bitty-string bikinis (which wasn't the best choice for these particular peeps, but I am sparing you the pics.) and traipse around for everyone to see. It was quite amazing. I am going to have to insert a #3 right here: #3 People watching. I am pretty sure a cruise is the best place to watch people, it is surreal!

Digressing, back to the canoe. We finally got it loaded with 26 people and tried to take off. We didn't get too far before the head guy said, too much, too full, some over here. They literally pulled up beside us and made some of the people move over to the other canoe because we were sinking! Of course, I was laughing inappropriately and snapping tons of pics.! It was hilarious. After we off loaded some passengers we continued on our way for 40 minutes and the guys in the back had to bail water out because it was leaking~ quite the adventure!

#2 Zip lining through the rain forest! It was breathtaking! I would do it again in a heartbeat, it all went way too fast! I loved it!

#1 The best part of the trip was spending 9 days with my husband without distractions. I am so happy that I married my best friend, and so happy that he is STILL my best friend! It's so nice to reconnect and remember why we love each other!

Fun filled weekend!

My weekend started off with a fabulous date with my husband! He told me earlier in the week to get a baby-sitter so we could go out to celebrate by B-day. I was excited, thinking we would do dinner and a movie, which is great! While we were sitting in P.F. Chang's happy hour (which is the BEST!) I asked Kent what time the movie started. He let me know that we weren't going to a movie, we were going to do something else downtown. I was shocked and amazed. Granted, Kent is the best secret keeper that I know. (He didn't even tell his mom or best friends that he was going to propose to me.) BUT, he does not like surprises. After me playing a game of 20 questions I finally figured out he bought tickets to the Jason Naldean/ Brooks and Dunn concert! It was great! It was so nice to sit there and listen to the music and know every single song, and just be able to enjoy it! Thanks Kent, I love you! After some errands and a short nap on Sunday, we had a "party" at our house. It's always a party when the Phillips' fam gets together. Thank you to everyone, it was a great day!

Me and all of my helpers, Owen is watching with Kelly.

Another fabulous surprise! I am going to be RICH! Sandy and G & G Petrousek got me an espresso machine! Can you believe it? I am beyond ecstatic, I am going to save so much money and be soooo happy with all that caffeine at my disposal! Thank you, thank you!

(This uploaded out of order)

Sunday morning we got up (on my actual B-day) and headed to Bloomsday. This is a 7.4 mile race in Spokane that people come to from all over. It's a little bit crazy. It starts at 9am. and when we were finally able to cross the start line at 9:20, 16,000 people were already in front of us. This may surprise you, but we did not win the race. But as I told our kids, we won the race because we finished it! It was a beautiful day and we were able to jog/walk the whole way and just take in all the people around us. This is the place to people watch; kinda amazing, yet scary. The funniest thing I saw was a cute-petite girl's T-shirt that said on the back: 'I am regretting the Taco Bell that I ate last night.' I saw many things that just made me laugh out loud. (Besides just the normal Spokane peeps).

This is quite a lovely shot that my MIL took, (she stayed with the kids, Thanks Sandy)! I think I had been awake for approx. 10 minutes. Kent usually wakes me up when he is done showering, but for some reason that didn't happen and I slept in. Lookin' Good! Ready to run!

5 more days until we board the ship for our cruise! Megan, our fabulous baby-sitter gave me this idea. I went to the dollar store and got gifts for each of the kids for each night that we're gone. Most of it is arts and crafts and stuff they can do with my sister while we're gone. There will be little notes too, so they know we're thinking of them. I am excited to hear how it goes with this fun idea!

Ahh, tidbits

I have really missed my therapy sessions with you and my keyboard! I have a few random thoughts I want to put out there before my kids find me. (They are upstairs playing nicely for the time being. I told them if they can be nice they won't have to rest today. Think it will work?) First thing:

As we're pulling out of the bank today onto Sprague, Dani looks up and says, "Look Mom a picture of you." I am thinking, 'what are you talking about.' Then I look up to see the Union Gospel Mission billboard with a lady and her child. I didn't quite know what to think. Granted this girl is about ten years younger than me, BUT I like to think she has had a much harder life than me and it really shows on her face. (I know my life has been wonderful and I am very grateful, but does this mean maybe I should start wearing more make-up and put myself together a little better?) I didn't quite know what to think, I did laugh, because if I didn't I would have probably cried..... granted when we got home Dani went straight to time-out (for other reasons) and I went straight to the bathroom and got ready for the day. :) If you're wondering which billboard I'm talking about it's the one by Pines and Sprague, take a look, you'll know I should be feeling very sad and offended, oh well.

Thought two:

All this billboard converation took place after we left the gym this morning. I am feeling pretty good because for the first time I actually did all THREE sections of my triathlon in one day. I was in no hurry to pick up the kids from day care. :) I figured today should be the day that I do it. I ran 3 miles, biked 11 and swam 1/2 a mile. It took under two hours, with transitions and talking and visiting with friends. I am thrilled to know that my body can even do that, even if I do look like a Union Gospel Mission mom. :)

Hhmm, there were some other thoughts, but that's all that is coming to me right now. I am hearing loud thuds from upstairs.....soon I will figure out my new scanner/printer and get some pics. on here! :)

Have a good weekend! Kent and I are doing Bloomsday, wish us luck!

I am back!

Really quick I wanted to update and let you know that I am still here! My computer caught a very bad virus and got destroyed. My computer is 7 years old and the guy at Best Buy literally laughed at me when I took it in to get it fixed. :( His first question was, "When are you planning on replacing this?" Apparently sooner than I planned. That being said, I am now typing on my very own lap top! My first ever. It's amazing what can happen when you just hand over that little plastic card! GREAT things come your way FAST!

I feel like I have missed out on so much in the last week or so. I did not take notes on my darling children, although I really should have. A few things are popping into my mind, but I will have to post those later. It is almost 6, I just finished work, and we haven't eaten dinner yet! Can you hear the children screaming??....

Is it Really getting easier?

As I sit here trying to type out a quick post I am second guessing myself. You would think my kids haven't eaten in four days. It is 4:45 and they have each asked me 5 times when dinner will be ready, they are hovering, waiting and waiting. Meanwhile Dani has taken off and is shoving toilet paper down the toilet and flushing and flushing, it will go down if you just keep shaking the handle right? ....Please hold.....Can I just type something real quick?? We shall see....

I initially wanted to write about how my life is getting easier (ha ha). My darling children are now getting up in the mornings, around 7 and playing nicely and/or watching TV!!! This TV watching is a new thing because we have not had a remote for years, therefore, Brayden couldn't reach to turn on the TV. My TV, circa 1995, finally went out and we were able to splurge and buy a flat screen WITH a remote! B is quite proud that he can work it all by himself! I know, what a thing for a mom to brag about, but it gives me almost 30-40 minutes of extra sleep time in the mornings! Oh sure, I can hear them laughing, screaming and yelling, but I get to stay in bed a while longer before the day begins. Not being a morning person AT ALL, it is a little piece of heaven.

As I staggered out to the living room yesterday morning I bent down to get a kiss from Ellie and she said, "EEWW, your mouth smells like poop!" Yes, I'm sure it does, thank you for letting me know, I will go brush my teeth right now.

Easier and easier right? Dinner MUST be served NOW!

Egg hunt fun! (?) AND 200th post!

We attended an egg hunt at a church down the road. They had a bunch of games and activities set up inside before the big hunt. All was well until this guy showed up: He totally FREAKED out my kids (and me for that matter). He's a little scary, don't you think? He also had a carrot with him, which was cute. BUT he also had a huge guy dressed up as a parrot (am I missing something?).

Creepy bunny trying to get some love from our kids. No such luck!

Kent in deep conversation with Ellie and Ally, perhaps strategizing?

Dani

Owen

Brayden

Ally

Ellie Keegan

Ally and Dani ready to race!

Our friends, Stephanie and Keith and Kent.

Owen freezing, waiting to race! I am used to rain during egg hunts (being from the 'couve and all), but the huge wind storm and 40 degree weather was a bit much. I guess it beats the snow we've had the last couple of years.

Dani still screaming because the Easter bunny was 500 feet away. It would have been much more fun if that dang bunny wasn't wandering around. All in all it was kind of successful. Brayden got about 8 eggs, Ellie got 3-4 and Dani got 0!

* This is my 200th post*

I wish I had something wise to say, or something cool to giveaway, (like all of my crafty friends) but it's just the same old stuff. I hope you had a good weekend! :)