Royal Wedding Party

So with all the hub-bub about the Royal Wedding approaching and the fact that my children's heritage is English I decided a perfect teaching moment was at hand. We had a Royal Wedding party at moms house on Easter weekend.
Grandpa got into the spirit of things by being the Royal sergeant of arms, calling the kids by their given nobility names and escorting them down the royal hallway then seating them at the dining table. Mom was the Queen herself using her antique tea sets from England for the first time to serve us. The "mum" had a beautiful spread put out, fit for a king!! It was complete with finger sandwiches, cheeses, hot cross buns and shortbread cookies, oh yea and the tea, in our case waapple juice.

During Tea Time we had a  little geography/history lesson by Brad and I talked about Royal Nobility meanings.

The best part was guessing some funny english sayings/words and what they meant.
Some of them were:

* a loirre - a semi truck
* spend a penny - use the potty
* in her majisty's pleasure - to be in prison
* out of the tree - you are crazy
* getting cheeky - talking back
* arse over elbow - head over heels

After Tea I had the kids try to pin a "Royal" face on the Monarchy Tree. They did pretty good.

We ended the party by watching the movie "The Queen".

The party was a lot of fun thanks to everyone that helped and I mean everyone (Stacie, Rick, Mom, Tom & Brad)
I have to give a special shout out to Brad who not only supports me in my crazy ideas but participates in them as well, making it fun and enjoyable for all!!



EASTER
The kids had a great time finding the 6 dozen eggs they had colored at moms house and then rolling them down the hill.

I decided to start a new tradition with our family. On holidays we would mix up our seating "order" at dinner. So to do this I made cute name tags as their dinner plate. The table looked awesome if I do say so my self. I am now wondering what sort of monster I have created with this new tradition!

Isaac turns 19!!

I had a few of Isaac's friends over to help celebrate his 19th Birthday. Of course they were happy to have some dinner and raz Isaac a little. I had them do our traditional "Heavy Heavy Hangover Thy Poor Head" They loved whacking him on the noggin.

It was great celebrating with you Isaac.

Spring Break

I can't decide if it was a good thing or bad thing that Brad and I went to separate places for spring break. Brad took his kids and went up to Teton Springs and Targhee for some playing in the snow!! I went to Texas to visit my friend Deborah for some playing in the sun!!! She and I took a day and did some touring around the area. It was fascinating to drive the motorcade route of President J F Kennedy where he was assassinated.

Even though it has been years since I have last seen Deborah it doesn't take away the fact that we are very similar and can still b great friends even if we don't live by each other. To prove this one morning we were both getting ready and as she walked in the room we both looked at each other and started to laugh. We were wearing, basically, the exact same outfit!! Yup 40+ yr old bobsey twins. Brad will need to tell about his spring break since I wasn't there!! BTW I'm pretty sure going somewhere sunny was a good thing because there was plenty of snow waiting for me when I got home.

Chicago

At the end of March Brad had some meetings in Chicago so I joined him. It was a quick trip but we were able to squeeze in lunch at the signature room on the 95th floor of the Hancock Center.

St. Patricks Day - T's Birthday

St. Patty would be green with envy at our dinner! We had green smoothies, green jello and green tortillas to wrap up our breakfast burritos. A "pot of gold" was at everyones dinner place! A mint chocolate Birthday cake was our dessert.

After dinner we had a little Birthday party. So much fun!!

Scarlet Pimpernel

 Danielle was in her High School musical The Scarlett Pimpernel. She played the part of a maid. She has such a natural talent for singing and acting it is fun to watch her perform. She had 4-5 costume changes and did 2 different hair styles. Way to go Danielle you were awesome!

Ecuador

Ecuador is a very beautiful South American country, which has the equator passing through it. It is very tiny, about equal in area to Nevada. There is such a range of activities to do here from the Amazon to Volcanoes to the Highlands to the Galapagos Islands. Our guide had his work cut out for him since we only had a few days to see this diverse land. We flew into the Capital, Quito, from Colombia. As we always do, we started off with a city tour. The first stop La Basilica Church. The building is one of the most important neo-Gothic architectures in Ecuador. It has 24 chapels inside. It is most known for having the tallest bell towers in the country. Outside the church an Amerindian couple were selling his painting's so we bought a couple for a treasure to take home.

In the heart of the old city is Independence Square. It's main feature is the monument to the independence heroes who battled with the Spaniards for freedom. Surrounding the square there is the  Presidential Palace, Archbishop's Palace, the Cathedral and the Plaza Grand Hotel.

The following are pictures of various streets in Quito with all their happenings.

This is a cocoa bean, the source of all delicious chocolate!!

On the hill of El Panecillo, stands La Virgen de Quito, the statue of the Virgin Mary. The statue has got wings like an angel and a crown of stars above the head. She is standing on a dragon on top of a globe. There are great views of Quito and the surrounding mountains from the observation deck.

Quito is said to have the most pleasant temperature in the world and has been given the name of the "Land of Eternal Spring".

So what is known as the "Panama Hat" was originally made in Ecuador by the incas. Their hand-weaving techniques have been passed down from generation to generation. The hats made their way to Panama by way of exporting and workers began wearing them while working on the canal. Soon the name stuck although they weren't made there.

The highlight of the trip for me was a visit to an interactive museum at the center of the earth. Inside the museum it displayed elements of indigenous Ecuadorian cultures such as clothing, descriptions of the various ethnic groups and examples of their activities.

One of these activities was head shrinking!! Only important people in a tribe were lucky enough to get their heads shrunk!! The picture below is an actual shrunken head of a 12 yr old son of a chief. I took pictures of the process in case you want to try this!! When finished you "make up" the head with jewelry and feathers.

I brought one home for Derek to enjoy!!

Another fun thing was performing all the various demonstrations which proved the center of the earth exists at that location. Some were; Balancing an egg on a nail, walking a straight line and water flowing both counter-clockwise and clockwise down a drain when moved just a few feet off the center line, on the center line it flows straight down.

Guinea pig is considered to be a delicacy in Ecuador so our guide tried taking us to a cafe to "enjoy" this, luckily they were closed!! I was never so thankful.

Roses, roses, roses everywhere and man are they beautiful, and cheap. You could get a single long stemmed rose for 25¢ The roses they grow in Ecuador are known for their long stems and vibrant color. Ecuador is the largest exporter of roses in the world!! I snagged a couple of dozen at the airport on the way home to enjoy. They seemed to last a lot longer than the ones I buy here and were unique in color..

We most definitely will go back to Ecuador, to see the Galapagos Islands since we didn't have time this trip. I really enjoyed our time here the people were friendly and the food was delicious.

Colombia

Colombia was Maverik's other trip this year. Derek got to tag a along on this one. We landed in Barranquilla, Brad & Doug went on to Medillin while Derek and I drove to Cartagena about an hour away. Cartagena's development dates back to 400 B.C. The city is surrounded by colonial walls and a fortress that still stand today. We stayed in The Sofitel, once a convent for nuns. It's more of a boutique Hotel where parts of it were right next to the old colonial wall, oh and the pool was beautiful.

A guide took us on a city tour the next day. We visited the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas a fortress. It was one of the greatest fortresses ever built by Spaniards. It was attacked several times but they were never successful. An extensive system of tunnels is connected underground to distribute provisions and facilitate evacuation. The tunnels were constructed in such a way that it was possible to hear footsteps of an approaching enemy. Next stop cathedral de San Pedro Claver. A man outside had a pet sloth that we couldn't resist holding a Emeralds are mined in Colombia so we visited a museum detailing the excavation process.

Derek couldn't wait to find somewhere to skateboard so he headed off to look for spots. A few days before we left Derek got H1N1 so to be in this warm climate was really helping him. On with the trip. We headed, by boat, to to the island of Sport Baru. This was an interesting place with not much to do. We did get motorcycle rides into the town. When you see the living conditions it's hard to understand their happiness but they know nothing else and appear to be happy. While out here we were able to do a dive. Derek got a crash course and went down 30 ft. It was a great experience with lots of fish and sea life to see.

We ended up leaving that island sooner than we had planned, there was more for Derek to do back in Cartagena. He found the local "skate park" which consisted of a few kids bringing out some rails and boxes on the sidewalks by the water front. He made some new friends and occasionally chats with them. We enjoyed walking around the streets and seeing all kinds of people,  one I will never forget was a plump guy dressed in women's clothing carrying a boom box. He would play the "Welcome to Africa" by Shakira while dancing up a storm. We saw him a few times.

Brad and Doug hooked back up with us. On these trips a member of the executive team takes a group out to dinner. A sort of get to know you and Thank you. I ended up getting some sort of stomach flu that next morning and threw up for about 5 hours. I finally felt better that afternoon. Derek went home with some of the Mav group while Brad, Doug, Holly and I all stayed a few extra days. We all headed out to the Rosario Islands where we took a little bike tour around it. We stayed a night at the Coco Liso resort. Holly and I layed on the beach while Brad and Doug went over to see some of the Mav people at Punto Faro. Our boat ride back was a little drenching!! Holly and I huddled together and covered our heads and body with a tarp.. We were soaked by the time we got back to Cartagena. This was our last night before heading home so we had a nice dinner.

This didn't mean home for us. We didn't have the kids for the weekend so we decided to jump on over to Ecuador for a few days!!

Disney Cruise - Mexican Riviera


Areeba, areeba.... Hannah, Sadie and Jessica all got the privledge of enjoying a Disney Cruise down the Mexican Riviera. They were all packed and ready to go as Brad and I flew in from Miami,  we swapped our luggage out and picked up the kiddies for the flight to California.
ALL ABOARD the funnest cruise ship on the ocean The Disney Wonder!

Day 1- Set sail and Super Bowl party on the pool deck!!

Day 2- Day at sea.. The girls bounced back and forth from the "Teen Scene" to the out door decks. Every night was a fun show to see in the theatre and dinner in a different themed dining room. Tonights show, 101 Dalmations and dinner at Animators Palette, with all the food you could eat. I wanted nothing for dessert and that's what I got!!

Day 3- Day at sea.. By now we had traveled further South so it was warm enough to go swimming in the pools. All us girls got to enjoy a little pampering at the salon. I had a shampoo and style and the girls enjoyed manicures. Before the Disney show the girls put on a show themselves by doing a little karaoke. Dinner was at Parrot Cay.

Day 4- Arrived at Puerto Vallarta so after breakfast we got off the ship for our excursion. We took a speed boat to Playa Beach. There was a quick stop along the way to do a little snorkeling. Once on the island we did a short little hike to a waterfall. Sadie brought some hair bows she and Maddy had made before the trip. She would pin them in the little girls hair. It was cute to see their smiling faces. I put on my brave face and held a huge iguana!! So much fun was had playing on the beach and in the water. Back on the ship it was Pirate themed night.

Day 5- A day at port in Cabo San Lucas. We took a glass bottom taxi to Lovers Beach. More playing on the beach and soaking up the warm sun. (Back home it's in the frigid 30's) We got in a little shopping back at the Cabo port.. Our entertainment on the boat tonight was Toy Story AND Brad and Doug doing karaoke.

Day 6- Another day in Cabo. The itinerary had us moving on to Mazatlan but because of some danger they had us stay here another day. We didn't mind because we were able to go zip lining!! A final show "The Golden Mickey's" and dinner at Triton's.

Day 7- Back to where it all began, Long Beach. We did have some time to visit the  Aquarium on the Pacific before our flight back home. They had a really cool exhibit, a leafy sea dragon which can only be found in the waters off Australia. Brad and Doug broadcasted the Travel Show while we got a personal tour of the place.

This truly was a magical vacation!!

Miami

Eden Roc Resort

We slept in our bed one night then had a quick trip to Miami. Once again I played while Brad worked. I did join him in a round of golf at the Miami Country Club. We had dinner at the Fountaine Blue, the famous night club of the Rat Pack.

Guatemala

Guatemala

Every other year Maverik takes their employees and spouses on an adventurous vacation. Such places have included Rio, Costa Rica and Mexico to name a few. Brad plans and scouts out these trips in advance with the help of our friend Doug Wren. This year they had the option to choose between Guatemala or Colombia. We went down a few days early to make sure everything was set up and ready for the 300 peeps that would arrive. The guide took us on a quick tour of Guatemala city which included a topiograph of the area. It was great to see the country depicted this way.

                                     Guatemala City

On our tour we drove past the LDS Temple so we asked the tour guide to make a quick stop.

We then traveled north to Tikal, a World Heritage Site. Tikal is one of the sites of  huge ancient Mayan civilization, inhabited from 6th century B.C. to the 10 century A.D.  Archeologists are still working to uncover these ruins today.

Signs on the drive into the entrance to Tikal

Towering above the jungle canopy, the Mayan temples are among the tallest examples reaching 230 feet. The ceremonial centre contains temples, palaces and public squares both magical and spiritual. Remains of dwellings are scattered throughout, some of which are still not uncovered.

The Tree of Life

This tall stately tree is Guatemala's national tree. It's downy fibers are used to this day to stuff pillows and cushions. It's most important role was to shade the main plaza with it's leafy, long-reaching branches. The tree is an ecosystem itself, it's branches are populated with orchids, ferns and cacti.

At night we could hear the howler monkeys making mating calls. They were so loud and scary. It sounded like they were going to jump on us at any moment.


Moving to the southern part of Guatemala is another World Heritage Site, the ancient capital of Guatemala, Antigua. The city was destroyed several times by earthquakes and Volcanos. We stayed at the incredibly charming Casa Santa Domingo a former monastery. Each night they light over 1,000 candles.

They had this cute display out to greet the Maverik crew when they arrived.

Saint Joseph Cathedral

In the villages women dress in their traditional outfit. Each village is depicted in a different way on the blouses they make. When they make tortillas, a few times each day, it sounds like they are clapping because they are so fast at patting the dough out. I gave it a whirl and was not so good!!


These colonial towns are all laid out pretty much the same. The houses are right on the street with a courtyard in the center. They are so charming inside some have elaborate gardens and fountains.

We did a few activities while in Antigua. I went on a zip line through the mountains of coffee groves while Brad biked around a volcano.

At the end of the trip they had a farewell dinner with a roasted pig. A group of orphan children came to sing. They were so cute and loving I couldn't help but hug them all!! We lit lanterns and sent them sailing into the sky as the dinner concluded.

Nicaragua

Because we had gone down a few days early and in true Brad style we jumped on over to Nicaragua. This is such a poor country with living conditions that are hard to see. We did a 4 day tour in 2. Some of the highlights included stopping by churches, villages, an active volcano, swimming in a crater lake and visiting by boat the exotic islands of lake Nicaragua. We stayed in the old colonial town of Granada.

Granada

A little history about the colonial town of Granada. It was once the first European city in America. It was registered in the kingdom of Spain. The city has been victim to many battles with invasions from English, French and Dutch pirates trying to take control of Nicaragua. But one of the most devastating was when an American man, William Walker, attempted to take control as a ruling monarch. One of Walker's generals set the city ablaze before escaping, destroying much of the ancient city. So what remains today are burned buildings that have not been torn down or rebuilt. This was once the Hospital.

This church was so different from the usual old churches. It was bright and white with the paintings inside in more of a shaker style than the renaissance style.

We moved on to a few other towns in the area. One of them was Diria. This little witch town has a crazy tradition every year. On a specific day the towns people are allowed to beat each other up with a type of sword made out of wood. A monument at the entrance of the city depicts this fun little tradition!!

Next town was Oriente. We stopped by one of the locals home where they made and sold pottery. We got a demonstration of the process from beginning to end. We bought a few pieces and had them shipped but only one made it.

We stopped at a Lagoon, Apoyo, created by a Volcano that had erupted twenty thousand years ago!! Brad couldn't resist jumping in after our lunch. Next stop was an active Volcano Masya.

We finished Nicaragua off with a boat tour on Lake Nicaragua. There is a little community out on the lake with little "islands" where houses are built. It's very serene and beautiful. We had a surprise visitor jump into our boat when we pulled up to one of the islets!! This was such a fun side trip from our Guatemala trip.