Key West

Last week Mike and I took a little getaway trip down to Key West with our good friends and neighbors, Brad and Molly. Zach, Drew, and the dogs stayed with Mike's mom and step-dad. We left very early Thursday morning and had a long day of travel. Thanks to the very casual atmosphere of Key West, we were all able to fit our clothes into carry-on suitcases, which was very convenient. After 3 flights (here to O'hare, O'hare to Miami, Miami to Key West) we finally arrived in beautiful and humid Key West. None of us had ever been there before, so we were all anxious to check the place out. We stayed at the Parrot Key Resort, which is an awesome resort. Instead of hotel rooms, this place is all townhouses. So the four of us stayed in a two bedroom townhouse, which actually had 3 levels and what I would call 3 bedrooms (the top floor was a room with a pull-out couch, bathroom, and closet). Each bedroom had it's own bathroom, plus another half-bath down on the main level. We neglected to get a picture of the front of our townhouse, but it was absolutely adorable. And the landscaping all around the resort was just gorgeous. Here are a few pictures of the inside, though these were taken the last day of the trip, after we had successfully dirtied the place up.

Living room looking towards kitchen and front door:

Living Room:

Kitchen:

View from our bedroom balcony (that's the Gulf of Mexico behind the palm trees):

So after checking out the place and getting our stuff set up, we decided to head out to one of the four swimming pools at the resort. But first we needed a refreshing drink. Here we are- Brad, Mike, Molly, and me.

After a few drinks and a couple of hours of swimming, we decided to get cleaned up and head downtown to Duval street to see what was going on. We had heard that the weekend we were there was both Womenfest, a lesbian celebration, and Couples Fest, a swingers gathering, so we knew we could be in for an interesting night (for a bunch of Iowans, anyway). We knew about Womenfest about a week before we went, but we hadn't heard about Couples Fest until we got there.

Anyway, here are Brad and Molly out back of our townhouse before we left to go downtown.

And here Mike and I are. I'm not sure what was so funny. And no, we didn't plan the green.

We ate dinner at a delicious (but pricey!) restaurant called A & B. We all had absolutely scrumptious seafood. Then we just walked around town a little bit and headed home.

We were up fairly early on Friday so we could catch our dolphin watching cruise. We weren't sure about the weather, as it looked as though it could storm at any time. We were all wanting two main things- to get some sun and to see some wild dolphins. For a while it was looking like we weren't going to get either, so we took some pictures, asked the captain some questions, etc.

Here Mike and I are waiting to see those elusive dolphins.

And Brad and Molly were waiting patiently, too.

I think we were all sort of starting to give up hope (well, everyone but me, as I kept telling myself that this was a four hour tour and it had only been one hour), when all of a sudden, somebody (Molly, I think) spotted something in the distance a little ways. We had stumbled upon a pod of 7-12 dolphins, though it was hard to tell just how many there were. There was definitely one young one that was smaller than the others.

You can see the dolphins between Brad and Molly's shoulders in this picture.

Here's a good shot of the dorsal fin of one dolphin.

And this dolphin came up for a facial shot.

The dolphins were so close to us- it was amazing. At one point one was right next to the boat, and it turned over and smacked its tail on the water, then it swam a few feet and smacked it again. It seemed like it was telling us to leave it alone. It was so cool.

After following the dolphins for awhile, we decided to do the second half of the tour, which was snorkeling. The sky, however, looked like this.

As we headed around towards the other side of the island, we ran smack into pouring rain. We thought we could snorkel through it, but then it started lightning and thundering, and astonishingly, the captain seemed like he would still have us go snorkel, but we were a little uncomfortable with snorkeling in the lightning, so we headed back to the dock. We were disappointed that our trip was cut short and that we didn't get to snorkel, but what can you do?

So we went back to our resort and had some lunch, and when the rain passed, we went back to the pool. Later that night we headed back down to Duval Street. We had dinner at the oldest restaurant in Key West. My blueberry margarita was pretty good, and my dinner was delicious, but I think I enjoyed the food more than the rest of the group. After dinner we went to check out some of the other places on Duval, which seems like an area that never shuts down.

Here Molly and I are enjoying a Hawaiian Sunset at a restaurant called Cheeseburgers. We chose this place to have a drink or two because we could sit at a little counter facing Duval Street and people-watch. That was very interesting, to say the least!

On Saturday we found a great breakfast cafe right across the street from our resort. The guys were very happy to find that the Iowa/Iowa State game was being broadcast on a channel we got in our townhouse, so they then settled in for the afternoon while Molly and I headed back across the street for massages. We were both a little unsettled the second we walked into the salon where we were to receive our massages, as it was not at all busy on a Saturday (not a good sign for a salon), kind of weirdly decorated, and the masseuses weren't especially professionally dressed (which we later realized is just the Key West lifestyle- as I noted before, it's very casual). However, we both had outstanding massages- some of the best we've both received, which just goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover! After our massages and the big Iowa win, Molly and I headed downtown for some shopping, and the guys hung out by the pool again. Molly and I had our picture taken with a pirate (that picture is on Molly's camera), and when I told Zach that, he was so excited. "A real pirate?" he asked. When I told him yes, a real pirate, he said, "Was he alive?" It was cute. After Molly and I got home that evening, we ordered some pizza and just relaxed.

On Sunday morning we went out for a little kayaking trip. We saw lots of interesting wildlife and learned a lot about the mangrove trees, which basically formed the Keys. Our guide was really knowledgeable and fun to talk to. We didn't get any pictures of the kayaking because we didn't want to take our camera and have it get wet.

I know this will be hard to believe, but after the kayaking, we headed back to the resort and hung out by the pool. We really took advantage of having four pools to use on this trip.

We really saved the best for last on this trip. Sunday night we went on a sunset dinner cruise with Dream Chaser Charters. If you ever go to Key West, book a dinner cruise with these them. The company is just two people- Ken and Kathy- and they are so much fun. Somehow there was some sort of miscommunication, and we thought we were supposed to be there at 6:00, but really it was 5:00 or 5:30 (I'm still not sure which). Ken and Kathy were really awesome and never made us feel bad about being late, and assured us that the cruise would not be cut short at all, and the other couple on the cruise was great, too. They were an older (he was in his 60's and she was probably in her mid to late 40's, so they weren't old; just older than us) couple from Poland (him) and France (her). They were very fun and interesting to talk to.

Here are Brad, me, Molly, and Mike as the cruise set sail.

Molly and I laid on the ship's bow (the front of the boat- is that the bow?), enjoying the sun and some Pinot Grigio.

A little while into the cruise, we were lucky enough to spot a small pod of dolphins. This was even better than the dolphin watching cruise, because we could lay on the netting in the front of the boat and watch as we went right over the dolphins. It was so awesome.

Here you can see Brad lying on said netting, with the dolphins in the water beneath him. They're a little hard to see with the ship's reflection there, but if you enlarge the picture, I think you'll be able to tell where the dolphins are.

Here you can see how we're all totally engrossed in watching the dolphins. Arianna (the French lady) and I are in the background, with Kathy, the hostess, standing, and Brad and Molly are in the foreground.

Shortly after this our Captain Ken and Kathy came out with their silly dolphin hats on. They were so fun. It felt like we were sailing with old friends from the get-go, not strangers we had never met.

As the sun set, we made sure to get a few more pictures. Here are Brad and Molly in a picture Mike took. Is that Christmas card worthy or what?

And the four friends- we had such a fun time. I may need to print and frame this one!

And one of Mike and me. I don't know if it's Mike's shirt or what, but my normally gray-green eyes look very blue in this picture. Maybe my new Facebook profile picture?

Then Kathy talked us into leaning out over the edge of the boat, so here I am saying, "I'm the king of the world!" (If you haven't seen Titanic, see it, and you'll know what I'm talking about.)

After an really tasty dinner (shrimp cocktail and conch fritters for an appetizer, salad with mango poppyseed dressing, grilled shrimp and lobster, carrots, and delicious bread) prepared by Ken and Kathy, we headed back outside to enjoy the evening. Then Kathy brought us some homemade key lime pie (a signature dessert in Key West), which was the best I've ever had. Even Mike liked it, and he's not a key lime fan.

On the trip back to shore we saw this cool ship and had to take a picture for Zach since it looked like a real pirate ship. It was impossible to get a clear picture because of our speed, but I still thought this looked pretty cool, like a ghost pirate ship or something.

We left Ken, Kathy, Arianna, and Richard (the Polish man) with big tips (for Ken and Kathy), hugs, and well-wishes and headed back to our townhouse. The four of us have a running joke about "wife-beaters" (the white tank-style undershirts), and so Brad and Mike broke out their black "wife-beaters" and we took this silly picture. They're holding a fish sculpture, pretending they caught it.

We all stayed up way too late, and as a result, this is how we felt the next day at the Key West (and Miami, and Chicago) airport.

The trip was awesome. It went quickly but was so fun. It was just the right amount of activity and inactivity for me, with lots of time to read (especially on all those plane rides), relax, and see new things. Thanks, Brad and Molly, for going with us. And thanks, Curt and Linda, for keeping our kids and dogs safe and happy while we were gone. If you are thinking about a trip somewhere fun and in the U.S.- Key West is a great place!

First Day of Preschool and More Singing

Zach started preschool yesterday. This year he is in the 4 year-old Pre-K class, so he goes 4 days a week for two and a half hours. Since Zach is a June baby, we're still a little on the fence about whether or not he'll start kindergarten next year or if we'll wait another year. I think right now we lean towards sending him to kindergarten next year, but we're definitely not 100% sure about it. Hopefully by May the answer will be obvious to us!

Here's a picture of Zach before we left home on his first day, which went really well. He had a blast and couldn't wait to go back today.

Also, here's a video clip of the boys from earlier today. They were just messing around and climbed into the rocking chair in Drew's room, so I thought I'd see if they'd sing for me. I'm not sure that most people would call what's on this video singing, but it's an attempt at it, anyway. Drew also does some of his animal noises and poses for the camera- he must have been waiting for the flash to go off.

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Anders' Birthday Party and Drew Singing

As usual, it's taken me a while to get a new post up. So I have pictures I wanted to post, but I can't necessarily remember what I wanted to write about them.

Here's Drew loving on Foudy last week. You can see she's not completely comfortable with him leaning on her, but she handled it and was such a good girl. Drew sure does love those dogs. Lately he sees them and just starts laughing. That, or he goes over and gives them as big of hugs as they'll allow.

Last Monday was Mike's sister Katherine's last day home before returning to St. Olaf for her sophomore year, so we decided to have Grandpa Kevin, Grandma Cynthia, and Aunt Katherine over for dinner and dessert. I decided to try something new, and I found a recipe for a chocolate raspberry ganache online, and it sounded easy enough, but the picture is what totally sold me. So after I got Drew down for his nap, Zach helped me get the ganache going. He was a great help, and we had a lot of fun. Probably the most fun was licking the beaters and the bowl after mixing it all together. And there were no eggs or anything, so I didn't even have to feel bad about my kid possibly getting salmonella or something else. Here you can see that we both got a little ganache on our faces.

Here was the finished product. And yes, it tasted as good as it looked! I'd like to make some more right now!!!

As soon as Grandpa Kevin, Grandma Cynthia, and Aunt Katherine got there, Drew wanted to go to Grandpa. He just snuggled right up and got comfortable. It was very sweet.

We had a lovely dinner and dessert, and enjoyed spending the evening with Kevin, Cynthia, and Katherine. Zach had Aunt Katherine put him to bed, which I think they both enjoyed. Now Aunt Katherine is having fun up at college, and all set to start classes tomorrow. Have a good year, Katherine! We'll miss you!

This is a picture from Grandma Linda's camera of the boys hanging out there one day last week. I don't know for sure, but I imagine in this picture that they're watching the really old cartoon version of The Three Little Pigs. Zach loves that video and wants to watch it every time he goes to Grandma Linda and Grandpa Curt's, and he's constantly singing, "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, big bad wolf, big bad wolf?" Tonight after baths Zach started singing it, and Drew joined in with, "Ba ba, ba ba, ba ba!" It was cute and made me feel less annoyed by the fact that I knew that song would be in my head all night long.

Here's a great one of Drew's silly face.

On Friday we all headed out east to Mike's grandpa's house. We stayed with him Friday night, and on Saturday Mike and Zach headed out early to go to Iowa City to meet up with my sister Sandy, my brother-in-law Will, his brother Rob, and Rob's wife Carrie, so that they could all go to the first Hawkeye game of the season. Grandpa Curt, Grandma Linda, Drew, and Pa went into town for coffee, and I went out for a 5 and a half mile run. I had mapped out my run beforehand since I'm not real familiar with the tiny town of North English, but I got confused about 2 blocks into it, so I made up my own route. Originally I had planned to do my long run for the weekend in North English, but I am glad I abandoned that idea. It was hard enough to squeeze 5 miles out in such a small town without going way out on the country roads, let alone getting 9 miles in. Anyway, it was a great run, and while I was gone, Drew apparently was very good at coffee entertaining all of his great-grandpa's friends. Later on we watched the very stressful Hawkeye game, which they barely won. For any of you who didn't watch it- it ended with the Hawkeyes blocking 2 field goal attempts right in a row in the final seconds. I was shocked when they blocked the first one, but I was completely dumbfounded when they blocked the second. What a win!

Right after the game ended I woke Drew up from his nap and he and I headed into Iowa City to meet up with everybody to celebrate my nephew Anders' first birthday. The party was at City Park, which was a great location. I forgot to take my camera on this little weekend trip, so a huge thanks to Linda for letting me borrow hers!

Here's Rob pitching to Zach. I'm sure Zach would say he hit a home run off this one, but I'm guessing it was one of many foul balls.

Then Drew got in on the action when the bigger boys moved on to throwing the football.

Here's the birthday boy with his dad, enjoying one of his balloons. Drew and I were the first ones at the park, and shortly after we got there, Mike called me to tell me he lost the balloons out the sunroof of the van. Oops! When I quit laughing, I told him not to worry about it, as he didn't know where to go to get more balloons anyway. Thankfully Anders' Grammie Jean came through and got some other balloons for Anders to enjoy.

Anders isn't quite walking around yet, but he does this funny crawl sometimes where he's up on his hands and feet rather than being on his knees.

Isn't he cute?!

Anders had two cakes to choose from, and this angel food cake was closest, so he decided to just go for it. He ran his finger across the frosting, but then wasn't sure what to do with it.

Finally his dad showed him that he should put the frosting in his mouth.

I think this is a sweet picture of Anders and his mom enjoying his first birthday.

Finally Anders got a piece of cake on his tray, and then he got a better taste.

And then he got some of the chocolate cake, too, which he obviously enjoyed.

After the cake-eating, we went and rode some of the rides in the park. It was really difficult to take a picture of Mike and the boys on the carousel with Linda's camera. It is a great camera and I appreciated having it, but it really made me realize how much quicker our new camera is at getting those action shots. So aside from Mike's head being cut off, I think this is a great photo.

For some reason towards the end of the very long carousel ride, Mike decided to put Drew on Zach's horse. Looks like the were having fun!

It seems to be a tradition now to get a family photo taken when we're all in our Hawkeye gear, so I had Will take one for us with his camera. None of them turned out great- mostly thanks to Drew and me. I'm not sure what I'm laughing at here; I don't remember anything particularly funny about all this. Maybe we'll have to try for another family photo next time we're all Hawkeye'd out. Seems like that will happen about every Saturday during football season, so it shouldn't be too hard.

We headed home after the party and got back to our house pretty late. Sunday morning we all decided to work off our cake and ice cream, so Mike and the boys went for a bike ride, and I went for that 9 mile run I'd been planning on. Mike and the boys rode their bikes up to Mike's parents' house, which is 2 miles away. I was a little worried about Zach making it all the way there, especially because there are a couple of decent hills, but he did it. Then they rested there for a bit before riding the 2 miles home.

On Monday Zach and I helped Mike get ready for a class he's going to teach to the PT students at DMU in a couple of weeks. Zach was the model and I was the photographer, and we took a bunch of pictures showing the techniques Mike will be teaching the students about. Here's Drew checking out the work.

Finally, I wanted to post this video a while ago, but never got around to it. Drew is becoming a little singer. He sings the ABC song with me while we wash his hands, and he often (though not as often now as he used to) sings the Amen Song with us when we're getting him ready for bed. Here is a video of Drew singing that with me a few weeks ago. It's really more of just an audio thing, because it recorded in his room with the lights off, because it was bedtime. I tried to get a recording one night when Mike was getting Drew in bed, but Drew didn't sing that night, so you're stuck with listening to my off-key voice, which is even worse than normal because I was trying to sing very quietly so as not to be picked up by the microphone of the camera as well. That obviously didn't work. Don't worry- I don't sing in public if I can avoid it. This video is typical of Drew's singing- just a bunch of "ahhh ahhh" sounds. I think it's sweet, though.

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Shock and Awe

So for a few weeks now, Drew has been coming to me after he poops and saying something like, "Eccchhh," and sort of grabbing at the back of his diaper. I would then say, "Did you poop?" And Drew would nod his head yes, and I'd say, "Let's change your diaper," and Drew would lay down on the floor on his back. This all surprised me, because I've never dreamed it would be so easy to get a toddler out of a poopy diaper.

About fifteen minutes ago, Drew grabbed at his diaper and said, "Poop." I felt his diaper and said, "You didn't poop!" Then he did it again a few minutes later, and again, I felt it and said he didn't poop. He kind of made a funny face, and I said, "Do you need to poop?" He nodded his head yes, and then pooped right there in front of me! So I waited a few minutes and said, "Are you done? Let's change your diaper!" and Drew went to an empty space on the floor (there seems to be toys everywhere this morning), and laid down on his back while I went and got wipes and a clean diaper. He did the same thing last week (where he grabbed his diaper and said yuck or poop or something, and I felt it and felt nothing, and then he pooped), but I thought maybe I was imagining it or making it out to be more than it was. But it was very clear this morning that he told me he had to poop and then he did it. I am totally surprised by this, since he technically isn't even 18 months old yet (not until Saturday, anyway). Maybe I should get the potty seat out? Just watch- he probably won't be potty trained until he's 4! : )