My other love...

It's no secret that I love to scrapbook, but some of you may not know that I also love to crochet :-) I've been doing it since I was a little girl (I think I was 7 or 8 when my mom's friend taught me how), and i'm hooked (hehe). Having kids has given me an excuse to get back into it, and some of you may remember the sock monkey hat that I made for Lucas this past winter. I've always loved this photo of him, and I finally got around to scrapping it!



I can't believe we're already almost into August - ack! This summer is going TOO fast! The kids have dabbled in camp this summer, but from here on out, there are no more camps and vacations left, so it's up to moi to keep them busy. Today it was homemade finger paints I had found a recipe for on Pinterest. Wonder what next week will bring? ;-) Would love to hear any ideas you all have found for great summer activities!

All I ever needed to know I learned in Kindergarten...

I always thought that classic poem was true... I wonder if Noah will? :-) He had such a great Kindergarten year, and he loved his teacher. She is young and energetic and had good control of the class - she worked out really well for my little guy! (Btw, ignore the crazy coloring of the photo, my printer was being wonky, and I plan to swap that photo out!)

We can't wait to see what first grade brings - I hope Noah's love for school will continue!

Back to life, back to reality...

So, the reason I've been away from my blog (even longer than usual ;-) is because we just got back from a family cruise to the Bahamas. What a blast! The kids and Tony and I went with my parents, and we had so much fun :-) We left from Baltimore, so we didn't have to fly, and i'm really glad we did that, as I think flying with three young kids would have added a whole new level of stress lol. On our days at sea, the kids chose to go to the camp, and they had a blast! On our first port day, we hung at the beach while Tony took surfing lessons, and on our second port day, we went to Atlantis in Nassau - it was gorgeous! We didn't get off the ship in Freeport but decided to enjoy another day on the ship. Some of my favorite highlights of our week:

- Dinners in the dining room. The food was reaaaally good, and Carnival makes meals so much fun! Most of the nights, the waitstaff did interactive dances, songs, etc, that got us up and moving. There was even a magician that visited our table and did magic for us.
- Dates with my hubby. Thanks to my parents, we got to have some adult time to ourselves. One afternoon, we got to enjoy some time at the adults only pool and even snagged a relaxing hammock. One of the nights, we went back to the adults only pool and hot tub (see a theme here?) , and on another night, we hit the bars on the ship and went to the comedy club.
- A date with my dad. We went to the piano bar and also saw a comedy show - the guy was a riot!
- The excursions. I had so much fun playing in the ocean with the kiddos, and it was neat to see Lucas experience the beach for the first time. Atlantis was amazing! Totally gorgeous and the best beach ever! The aquarium was pretty awesome, too.
- The drinks. It was vacation, afterall! ;-)
- And, of course, the family time. The kids had a blast, and it was so great to make so many new memories with them. And, I feel blessed that we were able to go with my parents. Not only did they get quality time with the kids, too, but we got lots of hangage, too.

Now for some of my favorite pics from the week (in order that we experienced them) - it was hard to choose!





















I could definitely get used to the cruising lifestyle!! Something to aim for in retirement... ;-)