One of These Things is not like the Other Things

We got back from the cruise to find a garden that was going crazy (thanks to Shawn and Krystal for watering it while we were gone). I was weeding around the strawberries when I noticed this:See that green-stemmed plant by the strawberries? Not a weed. It's a green bean sprout. Wondering how it got there? Here's your answer: Seth. I was planting the beans (NOT in the strawberries) and he wanted to help. I gave him a few seeds to play with. Next thing I know he has his little shovel out and is 'planting' them in the strawberries. I didn't really care since they were all on the surface and wouldn't grow. Apparently he got at least one buried well enough!

Now for some random updates:

The weekend after I got home from the cruise was our Stake Youth Conference (vacation is officially over--reality is back!). We were chaperons for three boys from the Chesapeake Ward, which was an interesting experience. No complaints, though. They were great. I got to spend Saturday afternoon with our girls, which was actually a lot of fun. They all had a good time.

The stake had rented out this blow-up obstacle course race for the kids. They had a great time for an hour or two, then had to go inside to get ready for the evening. Which left the course empty. Which meant it was Seth's turn for a go. I really thought he would hate it. I thought he would panic halfway through and Jon would have to carry him out. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The only panicking he did was when we made him leave.

Getting a little help from Daddy

One happy little boy going down the slide

Yesterday we had Debbie, Angelina and Olivia (a foster child they're temporarily taking care of) over to play. Of course, the first thing they headed for was the water table:

Needless to say, we spent the rest of the afternoon in our diapers. I love getting together with Debbie and her girls--the kids always play SO well together, which means Debbie and I get to sit and chat. It's awesome.

And I have Debbie to thank for this next picture, too:
That, my friends is my 'new' jogging stroller, passed along by Debbie. Her dad found it by a dumpster and brought it to her, but she never uses it. She offered it to me, and I definitely accepted. I actually have one that was given to me by another friend (I have AWESOME friends) but it's an older model of the same stroller. Neither of them are in great condition (the one in the picture has a duct-taped handlebar that's all sticky) but they work for running!

Which leads me to my final point (and by 'point' I mean complaint). I'm training for this 5K that I'm determined to place in. For the past month I've been slapping Seth into the jogging stroller at least 3 times a week and running 2-3 miles. And here's the thing that kills me--my time stinks. Absolutely stinks. I'm running more than a 10 minute mile (pathetic). The worst part? My time isn't getting better. It's the uphill that's killing me--pushing 50+ pounds of baby and stroller up a hill is going to slow you down. But seriously? 12 minute miles? I might as well be walking! I'm just praying the race is on level ground. Then I have a chance.

But I have 2 and a half more weeks. I'm pushing myself, trying to improve. Because I WANT TO WIN A PRIZE, DANG IT.

(There's not a competitive bone in my body, I swear.)

PS--See those MONSTER peas in the background of that picture? They have honestly grown at least a foot in the past week. So far, so good. Tomatoes are also looking good, and the beans. My spinach was a total disaster--the leaves turned yellow and it stopped growing. Darn. I'll try again in the fall.

For Old Time's Sake

Dear Ashlee and Rachelle,

Remember that freak blizzard that hit Logan just before I moved to Arizona (and Rachelle, didn't you move, too)?

Remember the huge snow pile that accumulated behind my house?

Remember how we turned it into a cave?

And remember this picture?

I just found it the other day and thought I'd post it for you. Sorry for the quality--it's definitely pre-digital camera era.

Man, being eleven was awesome. As long as I don't think too hard about what I wore or how I did (or, rather, DIDN'T do) my hair, that is...

I'm running a 5K. And so should you.

Remember this gem from last year?

Well, I'm doing it again. It's a fundraiser for the Inner Harbor Ward. The money goes to help their youth go to Girls' Camp and Scout Camp. There are prizes and raffle prizes donated by sponsors. Plus, you get a T-shirt!

The race is Saturday, June 12 at 9am. This time it's just in Forest Hill (only 30 minutes away) instead of the 90 or so minute drive last year. It's $20 to register. Go to www.active.com and enter the keyword 'junebug jitter'.

Here's the best part--this is a very, very low-key race. Last year there were only a few serious competitors. Mostly it's families with children doing a little running, some speed walking, and a lot of walking. So if you're not looking for a serious race, this is a good place to start. I ran it last year without any training, and I was in the first 1/3 of the racers to finish. So come run with me! It's a good cause!

Disclaimer: By 'come run with me' I mean come run silently next to me. I am not one of those cool people who can run 3 miles and still have breath left over for talking. Also, by 'run with me' I mean 'keep up with me.' I'm not waiting on you walkers--now that they have a separate category for 'women with strollers' I'm determined to place. How determined? I ran two miles this morning and tomorrow it will be three! So watch out, all the rest of you mommies with jogging strollers!

Why, yes. We are spoiled rotten.

As we were walking along the beach, I told Jon how spoiled I think we are. In less than five years, we've been on two cruises PLUS a two week vacation in Hawaii. Don't think we take it for granted--we know how blessed we are to have been able to do all this. But still--we're spoiled.

And so, for those who care, here's a recap of our adventure:

Wednesday April 28th

Seth and I survived a 5 hour flight from Baltimore to Phoenix. It was nothing short of a miracle--our flight was entirely full, with the exception of two seats. And guess who got one of those empty seats? Seth! Between having his own seat and and all my frantic prayers from the month previous, this was easily the best flight I've ever had with Seth. Absolute miracle.

Thursday April 29th--Sunday May 2nd

Seth and I loved spending some time in Tucson with my family. He loves all the toys Grandma spoils him with and all the animals to pester (two dogs, two cats). He's even picked up some new words: cactus, Bruce (one of the dogs), Mojo (cat), Bubba (Aunt Bethany) and lawnmower (Grandpa). Actually, 'lawnmower' isn't a new word, but that is now Grandpa's official name. That's what he gets for mowing the lawn the first day Seth saw him.

Monday May 3rd

My flight left Phoenix at 7:30 am, which meant Mom & I had to be up at 3:30am (flights into/out of Phoenix are much cheaper than Tucson, unfortunately). It was hard to leave Seth. I wasn't worried about him, but I felt guilty for leaving him without a mom and a dad. But I have to confess--flights without children are actually pretty relaxing.

My friend Joe was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and take me to the port. I showed up exactly the same time Jon did. Once we got settled, we headed off to explore the ship.

We've been on one other cruise (honeymoon, with Royal Caribbean). This time, because of cheaper prices and advice from the former cruise ship worker, Warnick, we were going with Celebrity. Warnick told us Celebrity was usually much quieter, with more places to be by yourself. Since Jon and I are anti-social, we liked that idea a lot. On Royal Caribbean there were ALWAYS hoards of people, wherever we went.
Our ship was the Celebrity Century, which is Celebrity's oldest (and smallest) ship. We didn't mind the older ship, and we loved the smaller size. What we didn't love was that we somehow ended up on a geriatric cruise. Okay, not really, but 60-70% of the other cruisers were over 60. And the ship catered to that. Meaning that breakfast started at 7 and that the pools (including the hot tubs) closed at 8pm. Our dinner seating was at 6pm, which meant by the time we got done, we were never able to get in the hot tub. That really ticked me off. Also, the basketballs in the court were totally flat and the ping pong table was broken. Which left shuffleboard, crossword puzzles and Sudoku. I think I read 5 books on this cruise, for lack of anything else to do. But I also realize that had we cruised on a ship with all the amenties (indoor pool, rock climbing wall, etc) we would have been packed in like sardines. So it was probably worth it. Except the hot tubs.

Tuesday May 4th

We were at sea this day, so we entertained ourselves by playing in the ship's gym (I'd never used an elliptical before), trying out the pool, and enjoying the first 'formal night.' I was excited to wear my new dress, and I'm sad we didn't get a good picture of the two of us. We had a woman from our table take some pictures, but she didn't get the full length.
And, my hairspray completely emptied itself all over Jon's luggage, so my hair is less than perfect. Meh.

Wednesday May 5th

First stop: Grand Cayman. Thanks to some insider advice from Warnick, we skipped the ridiculously expensive excursions and headed out on our own. And, thanks to Joe & Amber, we didn't have to pay for snorkeling gear. We have awesome friends.

Like our goggle marks?

Unfortunately, Hanauma Bay has apparently ruined snorkeling for us. After something as incredible as that, average snorkeling just doesn't cut it. But we had a good time just floating around. And I got to see some squid, which was cool (Jon missed them).We also bought Jon some sweet, sweet sunglasses. He forgot his at home. I just borrowed some from a sister (not sure which) since one of my Beehives stole mine.

Thursday May 6th

Second stop: Cozumel, Mexico. Instead of Playa Mia, which Warnick suggested, we went to Paradise Beach. It was cheaper and not as crowded, but for all I know we made a huge mistake and missed out on Playa Mia. I'm sure Warnick will let me know...Regardless, we had a really good time. We paid $12 each for wristbands that gave us unlimited access to kayaks, snorkeling gear, paddle boards, and all these water toys:
Unfortunately the trampolines were in desperate need of replacement, so that was lame. But we had lots of fun on the slides and the climbing wall thing. Oh, and trying to run across the strip between those two trampolines on the left. Very entertaining to watch.

I didn't get any pictures of us on the paddle boards, but here's what it would have looked like:I'm proud to say I never fell off! Jon, on the other hand... But I can't gloat too much--my board was wider and shorter than his, so it was much easier to stay up. This was probably my favorite thing we did that day, even though we were both really sore the next morning.

Additional benefits: AMAZING beef burrito and free Internet. Oh, and here's Jon in his new suit:
Friday May 7th

Third port: Playa del Carmen, Mexico. This was literally just a few miles from Cozumel (Cozumel is an island, Playa del Carmen is on the mainland). Absolutely the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. They were long, shallow, warm, and the water was gorgeous:

Our ship from the beach

And here's us, all ready to take a swim:

Yep. After spending all day in the sun at Cozumel, our sunburned skin (despite repeat applications) needed a break. But you'd better believe I regretted that decision as soon as I saw the beach. Next time (wishful thinking) I will save my skin for Playa del Carmen.

Instead, we used this day to shop.
Blech. That's how we both felt about it. Neither of us are big shoppers, so the constant hounding from EVERY store we passed was really irritating. So was the feeling that we got really ripped off, despite getting a price that was 1/6 the "original" price. But I was excited to find a little carved elephant for Seth. My parents got me one when they took me and my sister to Tijuana as babies (an experience that still gives my mother the jibblies).

Basically, it was hot, humid and we spent more money than I wanted to. And we didn't get in the water. Not my favorite day of the cruise.

Saturday May 8th

Sea day! More Sudoku and crossword puzzles. And, of course, formal night #2. Which also meant Baked Alaska and roses for all the women (for Mother's Day):

Same black dress, different sweater...

Jon's really into this Latin thing. You should have seen the accompanying dance.

Another self-portrait

By this point we realized we're pretty rotten vacationers. We were tired of just relaxing and having nothing to do. I knew I would regret feeling that way as soon as I got back to reality, but still. If you don't drink or gamble, there's not that much to do on a cruise ship while it's at sea...

Sunday May 9th

Thanks to Warnick (again!) we had directions to the Branch on Key West. After a week on a cruise ship (Jon called it a "floating great and spacious building") we were dying for something spiritual. There ended up being two other LDS couples there from our ship, both from Utah of course. ;) We even stayed for all three hours, but only because we all wanted to share a van back to the ship. Had it been up to me we would have left after sacrament meeting, but I'm glad it wasn't up to me. I needed to be at church much more than I needed to be at the beach.

And that's exactly what happened. After church, the ride back to the ship, and lunch, we were running short on time. We grabbed our stuff and headed for the beach, only to find out that we had to pay to get in. We had no cash on us and there wasn't time to go back to get it. So no Key West beach for us.

A good summation of my feelings about missing the beach.

We went to the ship's pool instead, but it was a poor substitute. I was disappointed that we missed the beach on our last day of cruising.

Monday May 10th

After a final breakfast onboard, we got off the ship in Miami. We were supposed to meet up with Joe & Amber for lunch as a thank-you for all their chauffeuring, but Amber had some serious studying to do and couldn't make it (I'm still sad about that). Instead, Joe dropped us off at Miami Beach. We got to spend several hours there before our flights left. I was thrilled! Jon said it was my blessing for going to church the day before. It was a lovely beach day. We just relaxed in the water and walked around. Besides the part where I almost lost my wedding ring, it was perfect.

Jon on Miami Beach. And he really was excited to be there, I swear!

Of course, it wasn't until I got on the airplane that I realized I was roasted. Being a red-head is awesome sometimes.

Aunt Kay was sweet enough to pick me up from the Phoenix airport and entertain me until my mom could get there. Kay and her husband, Wes, are the Mesa Temple directors. It was good to see them--I don't think I've seen them since our wedding in 2005.

Seth was pretty shocked to see me the next morning. When I went in to get him he just stared at me. But then he spent the rest of the day being clingy and whiny. Poor kid. He finally gets used to the idea of his parents ditching him and then we come back! I was so happy to see him again. I missed my Monster Man!

I only had one full day in Tucson before we had to leave. My poor mom made so many trips to the Phoenix airport--I hope we were worth it, Mom! I paid her off in new blinds for her kitchen and bathroom, but that definitely wasn't enough. Thank you for being such a good Grandma! We'll spend lots of time on Skype so Seth won't forget you!

The flight home was decent. He didn't have his own seat or sleep at ALL (he had one 20 minute nap the entire day) but he was remarkably good. All the same, I was glad to get off that plane. Seth was more excited than I was--about 5 minutes before the plane landed he starting saying, "Daddy? Go. Daddy." He was so excited to see Jon.
And so we're back to real life now. It was the perfect vacation, and I'm glad we had the chance to do it.

PS--Should you see me in the hallway on Sunday and notice a slight pooch in my belly, let me assure you that it is NOT a baby. It is, in fact, the creme brulee and lobster bisque that I had EVERY NIGHT for dinner while on the cruise. You'd better believe I ate everything I wanted to--it's not like we'll be eating like that again!