Well well well, we are now back to the longest shortest month of the year. February, you trickster you. I am not kidding, EVERY year since Ben's birth, this month gets longer and longer. Now that I think about it, Ben is probably the reason I feel that way.
This year is no exception! Right off the bat we FINALLY had the Pinewood Derby!! Of course the morning started off with a little flag football for Ben which is typical, we seem to enjoy layering our day with countless activities. Actually, Ben's den was supposed to race while Ben was still on the football field. We couldn't believe it! He couldn't miss the game and also couldn't miss the Pinewood Derby, what a dilemma... All that work soooo far in advance and he was going to miss the race. Well that was just NOT ACCEPTABLE! Jim told me to chill, Ben WOULD race his car. He was just as irritated as I was so I had no doubt it would happen. So they finished the football game early and raced to the Derby...while the girls and I stayed on the soccer field for ANOTHER victory! Personally I think I would have rather gone to the Derby. Then I started to get the texts from Jim about how painful the Derby was and I was suddenly extremely glad I was on a soccer field. Funny how that works. Back to Jim's pain. Since I was not present all the information I have is second hand. The good news is after several hours of racing, Ben came in second and, get this, the car that beat him was one of the ones we had cut out for our friend!!! I knew we should have kept that car!! HA HA HA
We did not have too long to sulk over Ben's loss. We were going on a CRUISE! Since we arrived in Miami we have talked about going on a cruise. The timing just never worked out and this one almost didn't either. Katrina, a good friend of mine here in Miami used to work for a cruise line so Jim was abusing our friendship by peppering her with questions ranging from rooms to excursions to dining plans. She may not be my friend for much longer if he keeps this up! At the last minute Jim was able to carve out a weekend cruise to Key West and Cozumel over President's Day weekend. Of course the kids ended up missing their Valentines day celebrations at school but they could still participate by sending in their valentines early, no biggie. Big Biggie apparently. Tears were shed. I reminded them that we were GOING ON A CRUISE and they would miss a day of school and the tears dried up pretty quickly.
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| At the port ready to board |
We were just in Key West at Christmas so this time we were able to pick and choose what we wanted to do instead of feeling pressure to do EVERYTHING!
First thing we did was NOT rush to get off the ship. We had a leisurely AWESOME breakfast and then departed the boat. We jumped on the Conch Train and learned quite a bit about the history of Key West before scooting over to sample some Key Lime Pie from our favorite restaurant, Blue Heaven.
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| What is a visit to Key West without Capt. Tony's |
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| Our ride, from Mallory Square |
After our afternoon in Key West, we quickly settled back into cruise mode. The kids went to "Kid's Club," Jim and I worked out. We had another incredible meal and then took in a movie on the deck in the hot tub!
The next morning it was a little bit harder to get the kids out of bed.
Good thing we were still at sea and had several hours before we made it to Cozumel. We had plenty of time to have breakfast, play some putt putt and even hit the Gym/Kids Club before we docked.
Jim had AGONIZED about what we were going to do while in Cozumel. We would only be there for a few hours and wanted to make the most of it. Ultimately he decided we would take a cab to a local beach called the Monkey Bar and go snorkeling. This is what greeted us .
What you can't see through all that surf are slimy steps carved into the bulkhead. My children INSISTED on wearing their flippers down into the water. Just for the record, I tried (multiple times) to get them to carry them down in their hands and put them on once we got into the water. So instead we got to experience a less then ideal introduction to snorkeling in Cozumel. Great. Lucy balked first and retreated to the shore pretty quickly with her daddy hot on her heels trying to convince her to get back in. Didn't happen. Hopefully she will have that resolve when she is a teenager. Have to admit we did see some beautiful fish and some really gorgeous coral.
After that we changed out of our suits and hopped back into another cab to head downtown to find some dinner and take in a local Carnival Parade since FatTuesday was coming up. The parade was really awesome, like a Mexican version of Mardi Gras, with beads and everything! The kids were scarfing up all the candy they were throwing from the floats. Jim and I were trying to get the candy away from them as fast as possible. I mean candy off a Mexican street can't be a good thing. We walked through a few markets and of course the kids were all over us to buy them a souvenir. Lilly picked up some earrings, Lucy a pan pipe (?) and Ben would not be happy unless we bought him a sombrero. Jim was totally against it, where as I, not so much. Who doesn't want a sombrero? Ben stomped and stomped and pouted and pouted. Then we bought him a sombrero and within seconds we witnessed this:
Shortly after that we saw this! Classic.
Once we got back across the Caribbean, it got a little chilly. But it didn't put a damper on our fun.
Our last night on ship, Lucy got to play in the piano bar!! We had gone upstairs after dinner to the piano bar to listen to some Billy Joel and after I departed with Ben and Lilly, Lucy was invited to play! Thankfully Jim got a few pictures and some video to share with the rest of us.
All good things must come to an end and such is true of our cruise. Jim is already plotting our next one!
We are finally in the short rows of the month which can only mean one thing - Ben's Birthday! Yep, the boy made it to seven (just barely).
We woke him up the traditional way - balloons in the bed. Jim was able to score a baseball signed by some of the Miami Marlins so we gave him that present early. The rest will have to wait for his party!
He INSISTED on wearing his Sombrero to school on Friday. I was going to bring in a cookie cake for his class so I figured the hat would just add to the festive mood! I was right! Everyone in the class wanted a sombrero by the end of the day! HA HA HA
Meanwhile, I was at home trying to figure how to make Skylander cupcakes. I came up with the idea while I was cruising Pinterest - what did we ever do without Pinterest? Then I remembered another idea and decided to give it a whirl. Cross your fingers!!
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| Lilly "helping" me figure out a work around |
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| Who knew it was so easy to make glass candy |
As if I didn't have enough going on, the girls had "World Thinking Day" on Ben's birthday. Ever the optimist, I decided this was perfect because it would give me a few hours of uninterrupted get-ready-for-Ben's-birthday-
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jim and Ben were grilling up some dinner. We had purchased a small grill to use for camping/tailgating and Ben has declared it his (it's a little Weber smoky Joe). So in honor of his 7th trip around the sun, the men bonded while the meat cooked. As is their tradition when the two of them grill, they each got a special beverage of their choice and sat around the grill talking.
The next day was the Big Birthday Party! Ben decided a LONG time ago he wanted to have his party at the local ice skating rink. Of course Jim was against this idea, but since he has spent the last two weeks in VA, he had very little say in the matter and was quickly out-voted. Sorry Daddy.
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| The Finished product |
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| Cupcakes for the goodie bags |
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| This is a sad picture. Clearly no thought was given for the decor. |
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| Everyone waiting to be turned loose on the ice |
We told him he could invite 10 people and he quickly rattled off some names. After a long discussion about who we would rather he invite, we narrowed it down to just our core group of friends. Thankfully, he didn't care. He just wanted to go ice skating!
Man, that rink is FREEZING!! I am not complaining though, because the only time I have been cold since moving to South Florida is the 3 times we have been ice skating.
Daddy takes off next month to Yuma for a few months while we wind down here. So even though the "man with all the plans" won't be here, the kids and I will have a busy time.
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