York Fair

So one of the things I look forward to in fall is the York Fair. I love the smell of funnel cakes and Italian sausage sandwiches, I love people watching...I even love looking at the fruits and veggies in the Horticulture Hall. There was only one downside to the fair this year...the new birthing center. While I don't want to get into the horror I witnessed by complete accident, I will simply say that the miracle of birth is best left to my imagination. No one needs to see that stuff up close and personal.

So...some pics of our 2nd trip to the fair this year with mom, Ron, and Grandma...

Owen and Dan were twinsies :)
Mom got off easy...at the Dover Carnival, she and Emily rode this slide easily 15 times.
The best part of the day...Grandma decides she's going to throw darts. Even though she has never done this before, she shows no fear...

And her first throw lands her this prize for her cat! LOVE how excited she was about winning!

Missing You

Today was the one year anniversary of my grandpa's passing. I still miss him a lot, and this weekend was especially difficult with memories. I'm reminded of him all the time, especially when I think about what a kick he'd get out of his great-grandkids. In the short time he knew them, he became a different person, and I know he's still watching over them and marveling at how they grow. Miss you and love you, Grandpa.

Back to School

It's that time of year again...back to school. This year I returned to the English classroom, which I've been dreading ever since my first day in the guidance office. I loved my job so much last year, and the year before, I'd had an awful time in the classroom, so saying I wasn't looking forward to returning to the classroom is an understatement.

It's been...interesting. In some ways, it's like I never left. I sort've fell right back into the routine, and that's been okay. In other ways, I feel like I've been gone forever. It's been just about 18 months since I've taught. Last year I was a guidance counselor, and the year before, I left in March to have Owen. So I feel super behind and overwhelmed in some aspects, especially the technology I'm now supposed to use. But...I'm thankful I work with such awesome people and friends; they've really helped me out.

My classes aren't terrible either. Two of the three are really fun to deal with...and the other is a bit more challenging, but nothing like what I had in fall 2008. So, while my ultimate goal is to get back to the guidance department, I now know I'll survive.

On a completely unrelated note, I got some new ink.

Since Em was born, and even more after I had Owen, I've considered getting their initials tattooed on me. It's been about 6 years since my brother last did anything on me, and I was more than a little nervous. But, after thinking about it long and hard for awhile, and after a push that came in the form of one of my good friends braving the tattoo needle, I decided to go for it. So...the kids are now permanently a part of my skin :) And the most surprising of all was how much this location DIDN'T hurt. Nothing like my lower back, at least!

Hitting the Playa

I'm a beach girl. Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows I love going down the shore. Back in my single, child-free days, I used to hit Ocean City to see Amber quite a few times during the year. Before that, I'd head to Avalon with my college roommate. However, in Mexico, we hung by the pool. The storms from a few years ago have made the beach unacceptable to me. Well, maybe not the beach as much as the ocean. The beach had beautiful beds and umbrellas and soft white sand. But the water...oh, the water. The sea grass that is in the water is plentiful, to put it mildly. The resort rakes the beach several times a day, and they do their best, but it's just floating there. If you aren't skeeved out by the sea grass wrapping around your ankles and hanging from your hair, there is the ocean bottom to trick you. For about 2 feet, it's sandy. Suddenly, your unsuspecting feet are torn to shreds by the rocks which continue on the bottom until you're way out. Still, Dan and I braved the ocean for the following pictures. Be grateful :)

This is looking in from the ocean. Notice those beautiful umbrellas! The big building in the background houses 2 open air restaurants: The Lobster House and The Grill.

This pier looks out into the ocean, and apparently there are weddings held on it. We didn't see one wedding the entire time we were there, which was a change from our times in Jamaica where we saw several every day.

You can see the sea grass that has washed up on the beach. This is very minimal. Trust me when I say that as we walked the beach and passed areas where resorts didn't rake (or where there were no resorts) this stuff was enough to build entire villages.

Hola Mexican Michael Jackson!

For anyone who's been at an all-inclusive before, you know that the evening entertainment is not usually as fun as one would hope. We've gone to two different resorts prior to this one, and both times, the nighttime entertainment left us a bit disappointed, or confused, or both. Before going to this resort, we heard the Michael Jackson tribute show was amazing and should not be missed. So...after a night of international dancing (which was pretty lame...sorry) and a night of watching Grease reenacted (which was better, if only b/c the guy playing the sidekick was giving 200%), we had higher hopes for MJ.

We watched a 15 minute video first detailing his life growing up through music. Then...suddenly...Mexican Michael Jackson! This impersonator was crazy good...I was blown away. He had the dance moves down, he "sang" the songs perfectly...it was just mesmerizing. So...some pictures:

He ended the show with "Thriller". Right afterwards, the annoying MC rattled off God knows what in Spanish, and at the very end, we heard that the cast would stick around for 5 minutes for pictures. My butt was out of the seat before Dan knew what was happening :) So...the picture I'm most proud of from the entire vacation (if only the little worker girl taking it would have zoomed...): our pic with Mexican Michael Jackson.
And I will add this...when I was little, I wanted to marry Michael Jackson (don't judge me). This moment, although I knew he was just an impersonator, put a smile on my face for hours afterwards.

Excellence Riviera Cancun

From August 6-13, Dan and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary a little early in Riviera Maya Cancun. We stayed at the Excellence Riviera Cancun resort, and it was completely amazing! All we did was relax...no worries...and it was the best week we've had in a long time. Of course there are tons of pictures, but I figured I'd try to post them in some sort of category to make looking at them easier.

This is a view from our balcony in the evening:

And the same view in the daytime:
We got an oceanview room, which was so wonderful...we looked over 2 of the 6 pools, and the ocean was behind that. Definitely happy we did the upgrade...it was so amazing to wake up each day to this!

This is on the other side of our room (the door side). Pools and lazy rivers wound through the property. We always laid at the main pool since we liked the music and activity there, but there were many other quieter pools throughout.

And this is where we relaxed every day...under our very own palapa. Not sure what we'd have done if someone got "our" spot before us, but luckily Dan's an early riser, even on vacation, so he'd make sure we had our area :)

Would we go here again? I think definitely. Although...the resort chain has 2 other properties (one in Mexico, one in Dominican Republic) and they're building one in Jamaica, so we may try one somewhere else. More to come!

Brookgreen Gardens Part 2

Some more pictures from Brookgreen Gardens...

While waiting for the shuttle, the kids (and dad) got a bit bored. Ignoring the crazy heat and humidity, dad decided it would be a good idea to take the kids on "rides" in a buggy type contraption that was sitting nearby.

Both kids and dad were all smiles, however, I think dad breathed a sigh of relief when that shuttle finally showed up :)

Emily decided to be an Alligator Hunter...