Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary

Conrad turned 2 in August and I still can't believe he is that old. Probably because he is still the runt of the family. He actually is up to 50th percentile in height, so we are exited about that, but his weight is still around 15th. All my boys have had to wear clothes a size up and Netta has always been true to size, but Conrad can still wear a size down. We still refer to him as "the baby" and I have a feeling we will be calling him that for awhile. The even funnier thing is that he is so tiny, but he talks non-stop and actually really well. I love it when he says "What the heck?" and "Guess what. Chicken butt." Those always catch people off guard. I mean what little 2 year old says that?
Conrad is absolutely obsessed with Team Umizoomi and asks to watch it all day every day. So, it was only natural that we have a Team Umizoomi party. Luckily, King was also Team Umi obsessed when he was 2, so I got to make a repeat "Bot" cake. Hopefully Conrad continues to follow in King's footsteps, so I can repeat the same designs.






Conrad was lucky enough to get to celebrate his birthday once at our house and once at my parents'. Our 10 year anniversary was the day after Conrad's birthday and my parents and sisters were kind enough to work together to watch our kids while John and I went on a cruise, but before we left we had time for Conrad's second celebration. I also have to give my family props for putting the cupcakes together for this one.




 So to celebrate our big 10 year anniversary, John and I went on a Carnival cruise out of Miami that went to Key West, FL, Cozumel, Mexico and Georgetown, Grand Cayman Islands. Holy crap the whole thing was amazing. We have only gotten to go away twice with no kids since EZ was born for quick weekend anniversary trips, but this one was 6 nights and we wish we could do it every year! It was so nice to spend time together and get dressed up and eat nice quiet peaceful meals with a waiter and everything. As an added bonus I called our travel agent when I noticed that the cruise had gone down $200 to get the difference in on board credit thanks to our rate guarantee. Well when I called and he pulled up the reservation he said "Wow this is a huge difference. I see $462. Is that what you see?" and I said "Yep!" He had to fight a little with Carnival, but he got them to give us all of it. I still get giddy just thinking about it ;)


 We both got to go on stage during the juggler's act. He was really funny and I managed to make a complete idiot out of myself, because I couldn't catch a tiny ball in a huge net. John laughed so hard he almost fell off the stage. I blame the bright lights ;)


In Key West we went paddle boarding in the mangroves, which was a bit exhausting and feet numbing, but totally worth it. In Mexico, I got to fulfill my lifelong dream of swimming with the dolphins. I loved every second of it, but unfortunately, I did not love any of the pictures they took or the price they wanted for them, so I will just have to hold on to the memories. In the end though, the best part of the whole trip was Grand Cayman. The beaches were absolutely beautiful and they had the clearest, bluest water. We are already planning how we can one day take our whole family there for a long vacation once everyone is a little older. 


Besides just he amazing beaches, Grand Cayman also had our favorite excursion, swimming with sting rays. There is this sand bar where boats used to always clean their fish and over time it attracted all these sting rays. They became so tame and used to being around people that they are now like puppies. You get in the waist deep water and hundreds of sting rays swim all around you. The best part is that they aren't penned in or caged or anything. They just come of their own free will and it is amazing!


One unfortunate lesson were learned in Grand Cayman was that our sunscreen was not as water-proof as advertised, so I got to sport a styling hat for the rest of the trip.


One other highlight was getting picked on by the comedian on board. We were leery of sitting up close and rightfully so. He really made fun of John for working with appliances, which doesn't sound that funny, but he was. Of course it was all in good fun and in the end he even bought some appliances using John's discount. 


It was hard to leave the ship and it was especially hard for John to give up 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 desserts at every dinner. I loved the food as well, but I am almost embarrassed to admit I will miss the Guy Fieri burgers the most. Holy crap I love a good burger. We know we won't be able to do these kind of trips every year, but hopefully we won't have to wait another 10.


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