nassau, bahamas

We didn't want to pay money to do an official beach excursion, so we asked around on the ship and were told it was only a 10 minute walk to the beach. With two little ones in tow that turns into at least 15 and then add about 10 more for the walk home. We made it there and the kids enjoyed the water. Morgan and more of her fabulous poses.

After the girls had naps we took a cab over to the Atlantis Resort to check out the aquarium. The girls thought they were big stuff in the cab.

The aquarium is pretty amazing. There were sharks and fish bigger than Morgan.

The manta ray was our favorite. It was probably bigger than me.

Just us with the fishes.

One last picture before getting back on the ship. This is definitely one of my favorites. My dad doesn't like to be in pictures, but it was nice to have him there to take a couple of family shots for us.

formal dinner

We don't get dolled up much, so I was excited to put on a dress and heels for the formal dinner. Of course we had to get a family photo. Morgan's doing some kind of weird pose again, but it's cute.

The girls ate about 4 pounds of butter and 20 pounds of ice cream on this vacation.

Dressing up put them in a good mood for pictures.

I love these girls more than anything.

Each night in the dining room they would sing Happy Birthday or Happy whatever to someone. Addison asked me what was going on and then started joking that it was her birthday. Our waiter Oscar overheard our conversation and five minutes later he came out with cake, a candle and a group of people singing Happy Birthday to her. Addison was so embarrassed, but it was the sweetest thing. After that Oscar spent 10 minutes at our table constructing a jumping paper frog out of the kids menu. He was super sweet and always referred to the girls as 'princesses'. There are some special people in the world.

The towel creation that night. I have no clue what this is so if anyone can tell me they might get a prize. Not really, but it would be nice to know.

freeport, bahamas

We woke up Monday morning and had breakfast outside. It was fun to watched everything as we were pulling into the dock at Freeport.

While most people were disembarking and off on the island, we decided to stay back for awhile and enjoy the pool. There was no crowd and so the kids could actually swim. For some reason they wanted to play with ice. I had to refill often, but since it was readily available I let them play until their hearts were content.

The ship also had some water slides. Morgan was about 2 inches too short to go down them and they wouldn't budge on the height requirement. We would take turns sneaking away with Addison. This was the first time she's ever rode big slides like this and she had a blast.

After a quick lunch we went to the island for some shopping. The girls got these little totes and the ladies were nice enough to put there names on the back of them.

It was cheaper to buy soda and alcohol on the island so, we did. Coke for the girls, pina coladas for us.

Then we all took naps before the formal dinner. They were much needed.

cruisin'

Preschool closes down the week before the new school year. Therefore, Michael and I have to take that week off of work. Since we had to take time off we decided to go on a family cruise. I did a lot of research on the internet and through word of mouth and everyone who took young kids on a cruise recommended it. We booked a four day cruise out of Port Caneveral. Boarding the ship is a little chaotic and since I was in charge of all documentation that you have to show eight times, it was a little stressful. Once on the ship, the kids went straight for the ice cream.

This was the one bunk bed in the room. Between this and the ice cream they were as happy as clams.

During the safety demonstration Addison took pictures of herself. Then they were ready to hit the hot tub.

That night we went to the dining room for dinner. The girls weren't on their best dining room behavior, but it was a long day with no naps and they were tired. My dad went on the cruise with us. It was nice to have the extra set of hands and help since I was a little worried about having the kids on a ship. He also got to spend a lot of quality time with the girls. My dad HATES pictures, but he quickly realized that I wasn't giving up. This one actually came out pretty decent.

After dinner we explored the ship. It was raining a little so there wasn't many people out. The girls had a blast running all over the miniature golf course.

This seemed like the perfect picture opportunity, except Addison isn't looking and Morgan is into these weird poses. Michael looks good.

I was trying to hide all of the crap I was carrying.

The nightly towel creation. This one is a seal. The girls didn't realize that when you pick it up it destroys the animal. It didn't last long.

The night was a little rough because of two very tired little girls, but we all woke up ready for fun the next day.

happy birthday

To the sweetest niece and cousin we could have. You're so special to us. We love you so much M!

Happy 2nd Birthday! We can't wait to celebrate tomorrow.

m.o.r.g.a.n.

Morgan has been working on writing the letters in her name for awhile now. It seems like they are always in a random order on the page and some of them I can't even make out. Recently we went on a cruise. One day at lunch I asked her to write her name. This was the first time I've seen her write it and it look recognizable.

She needed a little help. I told her the 'a' was a circle with the hook on it. Her hook is on the top. Close enough for now.

first day of school

I knew today was going to be hard. I knew I would be an emotional mess. I knew I would cry. I'm not going to lie. It's been pretty rough.

The girls were all ready for this morning. They had their clothes laid out and backpacks ready to go. And much to my delight, they were excited about pictures. 

Morgan had no problem. She walked into school like she owned the place. Same school, new classroom and teachers. She took it like a champ.

She graduated to the big kid playground and her class has the first play slot of the day. She was so excited about the new adventures. So much so that she wanted to be done with pictures and go play with her friends.

Addison was as excited as she could be while we were still at home. I still can't get over the poses she pulled out for these pictures.

Traffic at school was a mess so we parked a block away and walked. Addison held my hand and still talked about how excited she was.

We walked her into the cafeteria and then it started. The tears. I tried so hard to hold them back while we were still with her, but I couldn't help it. Then I found out they wouldn't let us into the classroom with her. I had about 30 seconds to say goodbye. We were both a mess.

Addison lined up with her class and then walked away crying. I caught one more peak of her in the hallway. I'm so thankful for this lady who held her hand as she walked. One day I'll find out her role at the school and thank her. Then I was one of those mom's lurking in the hallway. It only made it worse for me. Addison started crying again as she opened her backpack. I wanted so badly to burst in that room to make sure she was okay.

I spent most of the morning crying at my desk, hoping Starbucks would make me feel better.

I'm doing better. Not great, but better. I'm really glad I left the teacher's email addresses at home. I'm pretty sure if I had them that I would have emailed a thousand times already. I can't wait to see her and hear all about it. After all the tears, I'm sure she had a fantastic day.