The Muddy Adventures: January 2013

January 22, 2013

Picasso

K's first painting

He wasn't exactly thrilled with the paint on his hands. We might try again with some brushes.

January 11, 2013

We had a very relaxing and fun trip to Cancun. It was the perfect end to the craziness of the holidays. We selected this location because we wanted to try out the east coast of MX, they had a Marriott, and it was a very quick/easy flight. The JW Marriott was probably one of the best we have ever stayed at. The service and restaurants were fantastic. We LOVED the pools. There was a very organic pool with lots of little pockets and different options for seating. It also had a infinity pool area overlooking the beach. There was also an adult-only pool with an in-the-pool bar and really comfy chairs. Of course, my SPF 50 and I mostly sat in the shade :)

View from the room

After a couple of days of doing nothing, we went on a deep-sea fishing trip. We have done this before but had a great time. Caught a couple of barracudas, a rainbow tuna, mackerel, and a few other little ones.

This was the view of the first barracuda coming out of the water.

Pretty terrifying (sorry... out of focus).

Look at those teeth!

I reeled this one in all by myself

Joe's Catch

I always like to get a sunset picture while on trips like this. The hotels in Cancun all face the east but I captured this on the boat on the way back to the docks.

After an exciting day of fishing, it was time to relax for a few more days :)

I also want to note that we ate at some really fantastic restaurants while there. Most were not cheap but very good. This is more for my memory than anything:

Oh boy, was I excited to see Kam! My mom had him in the airport waiting for us when we got off the plane! He did much better than me for the 6 nights we were away :)

January 1, 2013

Confession

My confession: I used to be a vacation snob. I am incredibly blessed with a husband that works a ton and, in our situation, that equals a lot of flyer miles/hotel points. We have been a lot of exotic and adventurous places but our vacation "needs" have changed. Don't get me wrong, when our kid(s) are grown up and we have more time for ourselves, I fully intend to explore the world again. For now, we just want a place that is quick to get to and we don't have to plan or think about anything. We leave in a few days for Mexico and have planned nothing beyond our transport to the hotel. I used to think this sounded lame but now...Sounds PERFECT to me!

This will be my view for the upcoming days. Not a bad way to start the new year!

Happy New Year!

After Christmas

Since we have three families to rotate, one family always gets before/after the actual holiday of Christmas eve/day. This year, things were even more interesting because of a flight cancellation from San Francisco for Aunt S and (almost) Uncle J. Luckily, everyone was pretty flexible and we were able to shift things a few days.

Despite the many Christmas celebrations, this one was still very special. This was the first time Kamden really understood/appreciated opening gifts. I joked that he was going to be disappointed the next day when he didn't have any new toys after 4 days in a row of so many.

The Family...

We always love new books

Getting into the gift-opening experience

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was spent at my parent's "farm" (aka... their beautiful home in the country) We arrive in time for lunch and the kids took short naps so we opened gifts before dinner. It is so fun to celebrate Christmas with an older kiddo that completely understand the holidays but is still innocent enough to believe the really fun parts. On to the pictures...

So stinking adorable!

More cars!

My sister and I have similar aged kids and too many toys. We made the decision to buy one cool gift for the kids but exchange used toys from our homes to make things more fun. GENIUS!

My dad was raised in North Kansas City and they just happened to be celebrating their centennial this year. We got him a book telling the history of the community.