Mother's Day Spa

So it wasn't exactly a professional experience, but it was…an…experience. On Friday I got to go to Carson's school where the kindergardener's put on a Mother's Day Spa. They painted nails, gave massages, applied makeup and whipped up some creative hairdo's all in the name of love.

Carson got to be assisted by his cute little friend Jackson. They took turns putting makeup on me (which thankfully was all very neutral. Some of the other moms were not so lucky!)

Then they each painted my fingernails on one of my hands. They thought that was fun because it was kind of like painting pictures. I was also wise here, because I brought my own nail color. Nice and light. :)

Lastly, Carson styled my hair. I had to explain how to brush my long hair (not up!) and then he put a clip in it. He also used my brush to scratch my back (which is something his Grandma Brudnicki has taught my boys to do.)

It was fun to spend a little time with Carson and his friends. As for the rest of my mother's day, it was fine. Both Mason and Jensen were feeling under the weather, so Dustin stayed home from church with them. Carson got to give the scripture in Primary, and he read it all by himself, so he was really excited about that. Once he read his scripture we came home, since he wasn't feeling his best either. But my mother-in-law and I were treated to a lovely dinner and dessert by all the guys, so that was nice (and tasty). Hope all my mom friends got to enjoy a little something special for mother's day as well!

Disney Cruise

We got back yesterday from our Disney Cruise to the Bahamas. It was seriously one of the funnest vacations we've taken. We loved having Grandma and Grandpa Jensen come along with us. The boys loved hanging out with them (especially Mason) and we certainly loved having extra eyes and hands on our kids all week! We also loved having lots of friends aboard (several families from our ward all went on this cruise). If anyone is considering taking a Disney Cruise, we'd highly recommend it!

We have lots of pictures, and I realize that the quality on a lot of them is sub-par, but lets be honest. I was more concerned with making memories than capturing them. 

Let's start off with the food. Who doesn't love cruise food? It was awesome to have a kid good friendly meal option every night. Our serving staff rotated to the different restaurants every night with us, and our kids loved Henry and Michael. Henry made us all napkin hats the first night. Mason's was by far the funniest! Here he is in his "Goofy" napkin hat devouring a chocolate covered Mickey ice cream bar.

Carson got to be Peter Pan. This kid ate a hamburger every single day. And he always ordered the Mickey Bar. It was his favorite dessert.

Jensen got a Captain Jack Sparrow hat. He was our pickiest eater of the trip, but somehow even he managed to gain a couple of pounds! I made the smart decision on the first day to tell the boys they could have whatever they wanted to drink for lunch, but at dinner they had to drink water, and at breakfast they could have juice or milk. They were so good about following the rule. It made it easy to let them have fun without overdoing it.

We had the awesome opportunity to go to the Atlantis Resort during our day in the Bahamas. We played at the water park all day. The kids loved the fun kid friendly water slides and play areas. 

 Mason loved getting snacks from Grandma!

 After a morning of playing and eating, Mason quietly napped on a bench while the rest of us experienced a little more of Atlantis.

 Dustin particularly loved the lazy river. I think this was pretty much all he did that day! 

 My dad and I took on this slide. Dad loved it. I could have done without the wedgie of a century. Dad asked the lifeguard at this slide if anyone ever lost their top. He replied "All the time."

 After Mason woke up we took a tour of the resort's aquarium. The manta rays were bigger than some of my kids!!! As was this fish!

The only real downer of the day (and of the trip) was my mom's accident. Right before we got off the boat to head to Atlantis she slipped and fell on the deck and hurt her knee. This was what it looked like on the first day. I have no idea how she walked that day we went to Atlantis, but she did (and she never complained about it!)

On Wednesday our ship docked at Castaway Cay- Disney's privately owned island. Apparently, they had 2 weeks of straight rain prior to our cruise, and we were expecting stormy weather while we were there, but to our good fortune, we enjoyed beautiful weather the whole trip.

 At Castaway Cay, Dustin and I participated in a 5K while my parents took the boys down to the beach. When we were done we went out to join them. 

 Mason enjoyed sitting at the waters edge and throwing handfuls of sand into the ocean.

 Jensen loved seeing the tiny fish swimming in the water while they played. Is that water not beautiful?

 Carson got in some swimming practice.

They also had a water slide that went straight into the ocean. Jensen was less than thrilled about this experience. It didn't help that he fell on his bottom at the top of the slide (he has the bruise to prove it) but he didn't enjoy getting spit out into the water like this either. Carson, however, thoroughly enjoyed it.

 In conclusion to our night on Castaway Cay we had a pirate night. The boys got to dress up for dinner. I love this picture. Mason's face says it all!

 We stayed up late with the big boys to watch the fireworks. Disney is the only cruise line who has permission to shoot fireworks off the ship in the ocean. They also had a huge dessert buffet that night, which we plundered like real pirates. 

We felt like there was never enough time to do everything we wanted! We got to see the new Disney movie "Chimpanzee" (which the boys LOVED) as well as 3 Broadway style Disney shows. Dustin and I got to play Bingo, Mason got to play in the nursery, and the big boys enjoyed the Oceaneer Club and Lab where they got to do fun things like make cars out of bars of soap and race them. They also did a cute little program called "FriendSHIP Rocks" where they got to go on stage with Mickey and Minnie and dance. Carson actually danced, but Jensen was a statue. But as soon as he saw us, he was all smiles! They even got to keep their t-shirts. Can we say "Free Souvenir?" :)

 Then there were all the characters to meet. The boys each had a small autograph book and we bought them a pen to use just for signing. Dustin hated standing in line with them for this, but I didn't mind so much. They loved getting the autographs and taking pictures with them. (And thank goodness we didn't have to stand in line for any of the princesses!)

 We were really sad to leave. No more cute towel animals on our bed every night. No more chocolates on our pillows. No more bunk beds (the boys loved their disappearing beds!) No more people cleaning our room and bringing us food. :( But fortunately, we got to spend our last couple of hours with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen on the plane. We were on the same flight. We got off in Austin, and they continued on to Vegas. It was a long day of waiting in the airport, but we made it through. 

 My mom's knee certainly took a beating during the trip. Her whole leg was blue and swollen by the time we left to go home. I'm sure she's mortified by these pictures, but I had to take them for documentation purposes. Besides, no one in the rest of the family would believe how truly nasty it was without these pictures! 

 All in all, a wonderful family trip. We're ready to start planning our next Disney Cruise. Anyone want to come with us?

Late Enchanted Rock Post

So, I know our fun aunt and uncles left over a week ago, but I didn't get a chance to post our last little adventure together. Grandma Brudnicki, Jason, Jen & Adam, and the little boys and I drove out to the Enchanted Rock State Park, to hike to the summit and have a picnic. I'm so glad I cancelled the other things I could have done that day, because this was such a fun experience with the boys and a great bonding memory to have with their aunt and uncles.

 Here was everyone getting started. The "Rock" is a huge pink granite mound rising up from the ground. There are two, and we climbed the summit of the taller one the morning that we went. They also have plenty of scenic trails that go around the rocks.

It was a good hike, but not very difficult. After all, we took children and a grandma to the top!  

 Adam and Jensen raced to the top, ahead of all the rest of us. Carson and Jason were up next, then it took a little longer for Susan, Jennifer, Mason and I to catch up. It was a very windy day, and on the top, there was nothing stopping that wind! Adam and Jensen enjoyed leaning into the wind.

 Mason, however, was not a big fan of all that wind. He just clung to me the whole time we were at the summit.

 Thanks to my wonderful in-law family, who spent their morning with me and my boys and took such good care of us. The boys loved having their hiking buddies, and sharing this fun experience with you!

3 Piggy Opera

Carson got to perform in the 3 Piggy Opera put on by all the Kindergardeners at his school. It was kind of a mad house, with so many parents, friends and family members there for all the kids. Grandma Brudnicki and Aunt Jennifer got to go with us, which was nice for me, since that meant I had extra hands to help me with Jensen and Mason during the show.

Carson was cracking us up with his little pig hat pulled down so far that you could barely see his face. He sang in the chorus, but several of his friends played larger parts in the program.

It was very cute. And fortunately for us, it was also very short! :) 

Two things that I notice in this picture. #1- Those freckles! I love them! And #2- Why does my little Carson look like such a big kid? They just won't stop growing!!!!!

Play Ball!

So Carson started playing baseball last week. His practices and games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is also when I teach piano lessons, so I thought I wouldn't ever be able to come and watch my little ball player. But I've been lucky enough to have a couple of cancelations, so I've been able to enjoy this experience a little with him. Is he not the cutest little baseball player?

We've had fun playing catch and practicing his hitting in the backyard after school, too.  I love getting out and being able to actually play with him.

We've also been enjoying some time with Dustin's siblings this week. Grandma Brudnicki, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Adam got to come and watch him last night. Carson had quite the cheering section! Mason likes to stand at the fence and yell, "Yeah, Carson!" randomly throughout the game. I love it.

Happy Easter

This weekend we went camping with our ward. It would have been nice had we gotten there a little earlier, or been able to play longer, but we take our camping opportunities as they come. I don't think we could ever go camping by ourselves. Having friends to help watch Mason, or play with the boys while we set up and took down our tent was invaluable. We also had the advantage of having a giant egg hunt with everyone the next morning. Here are the boys pre-hunt:

And then they took off! Mason was rather picky about his hunting. I took him over to an egg on the ground and said, "Mason, get this one!" He bent down, touched it and then yelled, "NO!" and went to look for another one.

 Jensen made out like a bandit! He was a very aggressive hunter, as you can see by his bucket full.

The big kids got to search for eggs in the playground that they had at the campsite. (It was a nice place to go camping- clean site, bathrooms, a pond, and a playground to boot!)

Three happy hunters. After packing everything up, we headed home to clean up and take much needed naps (even me!) and then we spent the evening playing with Uncle Jason, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Adam who came into town the day before.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter remembering the real reason for this most important holiday.