Gus, Misti, and Natalie came over to watch the Bronco game. The girls were so, so, so excited to finally get to spend some time with Baby Bennett. They have met him before but today they got the opportunity to hold him. Oh my, Annabelle is baby crazy for Baby Bennett!!

Annabelle joined a new Girl Scout troop this year. Two of the girls from her old troop moved alog with her and the rest of the girls go to her school also. They hosted the bridging ceremony from Daisy’s to Brownie’s and Annabelle was a bit nervous on our drive over.

 

Once she arrived she was over the moon. It was all her great buddies from school and she was thrilled! She is so happy about her new troop, about being a Brownie, and I think this is going to be a great, great fit for her.

 

She’s a Brownie!

 

We joined the Conley’s for a fabulous backyard BBQ that evening. Their backyard is perfect for hanging out and the girls brought their American Girl dolls to play with Bella.

 

 

Grammy Lori gave Bella and Brayden a tee-pee and this just tickles me. It’s a  pretty fabulous tee pee!

Each year the school posts the class assignments on the windows at 4 pm. Today was the big day and the girls were so eager to find out who their teachers would be for the coming year. It took all my energy to keep them distracted until 4 pm.

 

We went to the science museum:

We went to the library and the book store:

We had lunch at Steuben’s which is delicious and I may have convinced the girls that is the best in town.

We made it! Annabelle was annoyed to get her picture taken, but both girls got the teacher’s they wanted and they are ready for school to start!!

 

The girls had to finish up their thank you notes from their birthdays. There were lots of them but we made a craft of it and they enjoyed it.

We went for back to school haircuts. Annabelle told the stylist exactly what she wanted and it was short. I wanted her to go a little longer but I have learned that this girl has a mind of her own and I have to pick my battles. She always looks adorable and she got exactly what she wanted.

Gwyneth got a few inches cut off and a fancy braid and an Anna barrette.

We took the girls to Dave and Busters and they got hooked on this fruit ninja game. They got so many flippin’ tickets. \

Even B took a turn, but Annabelle is the best.

Time to head home. It was a wonderful vacation and I’m so grateful for the time with my family. Stacy and Carl planned a great adventure for us and despite a bug stuck in the belly button and a few stomach aches, it was truly spectacular! I feel relaxed, spoiled and so, so happy!

 

The view from the other side of our hotel room. This is the only pic I took from our hotel that didn’t include the beach. It was so beautiful.

 

Time to go. We had some sad girls who were not ready to leave their cousins. Luckily with the Paz’s we always have another trip in the works!

Our last full day in Mexico was an exciting one. We took a catamaran cruise, snorkeled, kayaked, visited a water fall, and Gwyneth got a leech in her belly button. What’s that you say, leech in her belly button? Why yes, yes indeed. It was CRAZY! She screamed like crazy and trying to convince us it was just fine living in her belly button. I told her we weren’t not declaring any foreign animals at customs, freaked out, and we got that sucker out! It was grody!!

 

Gwyneth was such a good sport and didn’t let it ruin the rest of her day.

 

Snorkel time.

 

 

We ended our night with a big family dinner and dance party.

 

We had family pictures taken on the beach. I got some fun snapshots of Becky’s family and my girls, but none of Stacy’s family. 😦 We had such a fun trip and luckily they hired a photographer to get pictures of everyone.

This is my absolute favorite picture from the trip. I love all these little ladies. Miss Gabriela cracks me up and she makes this picture perfection!

Stacy’s girls:

B spent the day on the beach with Annabelle and Maeva. I took Gwyneth, YaYa, and Eliana to swim with the sea lions. I was freaked out but Gwyneth was in heaven! She loved it and was so, so brave.

She was so brave she let the sea lion jump over her all by herself!!

Have you seen a cuter little girl? Weally??? 😉

 

 Back to the resort and back to the pool.

 

We swam for a bit at the pool…

And then headed back to the beach. I hate to break it to these ladies but this is not reality….but why, ruin a fun time!

Enjoying some lime sorbet.

Cute little Annabelle toes in our cabana. Life ain’t bad.

B and Gwyneth back from the water.

We split up this morning and Gwyneth and I had breakfast on the roof just the two of us. She brought her dolphins along too. This girl loves breakfast! I had a wonderful time enjoying the view and my sweet baby girl. B and Annabelle had breakfast downstairs and then we all met at the pool.

 

Annabelle and I snuck away for some one on one time at the spa. She grabbed a kids strawberry daiquiri and picked bright silver polish for our mani’s and Pedi’s. She requested we match and who am I to refuse. We had a nice relaxing time at the spa and she was really shy while the technician was working on her nails.

She gave all the girls hand massages after her treatment.

Gwyneth got some fabulous face paint at kids club.

Playing rummy at the kids’ table at dinner.

Annabelle giving pedicures. I don’t think that’s hygienic at dinner…

After dinner I told the girls we were going to go sit by the pool and enjoy a kids strawberry daiquiri. I lied! Stacy and I pushed Annabelle, Gwyneth and Maeva in the pool in their clothes. They were shocked and mad at first and then they thought it was hilarious! We had a great night swim and we are fun moms….if only for a day….

 

We all hopped in a tour van for a tour of Puerto Vallarta. It was fun to get off the resort for a bit and see the sites. First stop the port:

Have I mentioned Eliana and Gwyneth are bestest cousins and absolutely adore each other?

The big sisters heading to Senior Frogs:

The only church in the city. Very pretty.

Famous beach were Night of the Iguana was filmed:

We had lunch at this little restaurant by the river. We liked our food, but I think the rest of our crew was starting to get hired and tired.

We ended our tour with a tequila tasting. Fun stuff!

Sweet Lily

Um…..I’m going to leave this one alone, Madison!

Letting Annabelle have a smell:

She doesn’t look impressed and that makes me a very happy momma.

Lily and her coconut that fell from the tree nearby

Back at the resort, we were all beat. We  decided to have a super quiet night and just order room service on our patio. Gwyneth ordered a little bit of everything.

Miss Annabelle was not feeling great. She was really hot all day and didn’t drink enough water. I think she had a bit of heat exhaustion. She drank a little bit of 7-Up but wouldn’t eat anything and then threw up up. Boo! 😦

It was time for some relaxing and we needed our girl to feel better for more fun times tomorrow.

Day three of our vacation was very busy, but was probably my favorite. I’m pretty sure it was BJ’s least favorite.

 

We started the day with an excursion to Dolphin Adventure and got to swim with the dolphins. This was Gwyneth’s dream and she nearly cried from excitement. I was quite freaked out along with B, and Annabelle, but Gwyneth got up there and gave the dolphin a kiss and danced with her. She was so, so happy.

 

Afterwards we hung out at the water park. Gwyneth and I did the lazy river over and over while Stacy and B took Annabelle, Maeva, and Eliana down the water slides. There was lots of screaming and I wish I could say it was from the little girls. B said it was the fastest water slide he had ever been on….but that may just because he was screaming so loud.

 

We headed back to our resort for a wonderful afternoon swimming and ordering drinks in the infinity pool. The girls went to kid camp which I could see perfectly while resting lazily in the infinity pool. Let me tell ya, life is not bad.

 

As we were getting ready to head back B tripped up the wet, slippery, stairs and slammed his toe which quickly turned a horrible, nasty purple. He doesn’t think he broke it, but it wasn’t pretty and he was in a lot of pain. He spent the rest of the night in bed.

 

We celebrated Gabriela’s 3rd birthday with dinner, Sofia the 1st decorations, and a decadent chocolate cake. Happy, happy birthday Gabriela!

 

ready to go see some dolphins

faster water slide E.V.E.R.

I think B and Eliana caught a little air.

Back at the infinity pool.

Kid Strawberry Daiquiry….a girl can really get use to this…

Lazily watching the kids at Kids Club.

Happy Birthday to Miss Gabriela!

The girls with the plan. They are always up to something, these two!

Have I mentioned these girls kind of like each other?

Maeva = Stacy, Gabriela = me.

 I wish I had a picture of us as kids, but I swear it’s like going back in time here!