Hannah's First Trip to the Dentist

With Hannah's third birthday came a medical milestone: her first dental check-up.  This girl is a total wild card, so I really had no idea how this was going to go.

One enthusiastic little dental patient.

100% cooperation!?!  I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!!

Her reward was a fun-filled lunch at McDonald's afterwards

Shockingly, she did EVERYTHING they asked with no hesitation whatsoever.  She actually tolerated a full cleaning on her very first visit!  She had a great check-up, and a fun lunch with Mom after her appointment.

Gardening Club

We usually plant our little garden on Memorial Day Weekend.  Sure enough, we found ourselves sticking to tradition this year, with the major difference being that I had two able-bodied helpers instead of one.  Being that the garden is not huge, I had to get creative to keep them both feeling useful.  (It's entirely possible the garden did not need to be raked and tilled quite to the extent that it was, but I had two happy helpers, and that's what counts)

Garden prep work.  We keep a small wire fence around the box to keep rabbits (and DEER!) out, so it's easiest for my assistants to work directly in the dirt.

Everyone knows it's the tenth time of raking that's the charm...

Purdy Gardening Club

Gardeners on break

Finally - the fun part:  watering!

Of course we had to water almost as much as we raked to keep things fair...

Color Me Rad - Megan's First 5K

I signed up to do the Color Me Rad 5K earlier in the year.  As it came closer to race day, and I felt less and less motivated to take the race seriously, I kept thinking how this might be a fun one to try with Megan (and kids run for free).  The allure of turning into a human rainbow convinced her to join me.

Race day - headed to the start.

She rapidly embraced the face tattoo

And we're off!  (Check out the snazzy rainbow running shoes)

Our first color station!  She was very excited to be sprayed green.  

All this run/walking is tiring!  Time for a water break.

She spent a little extra time in the purple color station...as shown below.

Her favorite part of the whole race was definitely the purple hair.

Human rainbow transformation is nearly complete!

With Mom at the finish line

Feeling Rad after a great race

Team Rainbow

The before and after shots

 In the end, she ran about half the race - including almost the entire first mile.  She was great!  She didn't complain about anything, and had a great time doing it.  And Mom definitely had way more fun, too, though her abrupt sprinting/unannounced walking routine wreaked havoc on my hamstrings...

Puerto Rico (Alternate Title: Not a Bad Way to Spend Mother's Day) - Part II

On Wednesday, we took a daylong tour of the island that included a trip to the rainforest, a stop at one of the famous beaches in Puerto Rico, and an evening kayak over Luminescent Bay.

Hola from the rainforest!

View of the rainforest

Note the clouds - they don't call it the rainforest for nothin'

Scenic outlook

Starting our hike to the waterfall

And it's raining - they weren't kidding about that part

We made it to the waterfall!

Johnny Tourist by the waterfall

We were there during the rainy season, which made for a much stronger current and conditions that weren't safe for swimming.  Our guide felt the need to tell us this several times, which seemed excessive based on the speed of the water...

I stuck my foot in just to say I did it, but if you think I was about to jump in that water and be swept to my death, you are sorely mistaken.

Photo opp at another waterfall in the rainforest - please ignore my crazy eyes

We took a break for a light lunch after the hike.  Note:  There is no such thing as a light meal in Puerto Rico

We hit a famous beach after lunch.  Unfortunately it was a cloudy day, and not the best beach weather.  We went for a walk and found a local bar (and I do mean local - I'm certain we were the only white folks they'd seen in the better part of a year), where the bartender was gracious enough to respond to my request for a drink in a coconut by whipping out a machete and sticking a straw in this one pictured below.  I had been hoping for some form of tropical mixed drink, but my request was taken literally, and as she was the one with the machete, I thanked her and simply walked away with my giant beverage.

Then it was on to Luminescent Bay...

Getting ready for our first kayaking adventure

Neither of us have every kayaked before, so why not make our first trip in the dark ocean waters?  Sounds like a solid plan to me! 

Entering the mangrove channel - those crazy branches formed a cave-like structure and made it very dark and creepy all the way to the bay.

Smiling because we're still alive.

The Bay was very cool.  Algae in the water (or some other type of weird science thing that I will never quite understand) creates a glow-in-the-dark effect of the water in the bay at sunset.  We would stick our oars in the water and the ripples would appear to glow.  At times we could see the little glow-in-the-dark life forms swimming under the water, but the most dramatic was watching the waves that the kayak or oars created.  On the way back through the mangrove channel, when the only light we had to guide our way was from a glowstick attached to the kayak ahead of us (not kidding), we kept hearing loud splashes in the water.  I kept trying to convince Kyle that it was some kind of vicious cat species (think puma) out to attack us, but then I remembered that I was also rather defenseless in the dark, unfamiliar body of water and it quickly became not funny.  When we hit the shore, our guide told us that the noises we were hearing were iguanas jumping from the trees into the water (they apparently do this when they are scared - as we were the ones paddling blindly in the dark creepy mangrove forest, I am not quite so sure what THEY were so frightened about).  GROSS!  My career as a kayaker began and ended on the same trip after hearing this news.


Thursday was beach day.  Due to proximity to the equator, it was very important to stay hydrated.

My three amigos

Ummm, Kyle??

Friday was pool day - I mean really, we couldn't spend ALL out time at the beach now, could we?

We started seeing these guys EVERYWHERE around the resort.  At first we thought he was a statue, but then he moved just enough to freak us out.

He had a friend with him too!  This one actually crawled into the swim-up bar.  The bartender kicked him out like he was a stray cat instead of a disgusting reptile.

I got brave enough to swim for a close-up.  Yuck!

We found this one on the path to the beach.  That tail looked disturbingly like a stick and made us question how many times we were fooled by what we thought were harmless sticks earlier in the week.  That place is overrun with these guys!

Enjoying one last Puerto Rican sunset before it was time to head back to our babies.

Puerto Rico (Alternate Title: Not a Bad Way to Spend Mother's Day) - Part I

51 weeks a year, we spend every waking moment trying to give our girls the perfect childhood.  1 out of every 52, we take one back (and refuel for the next 51).  This year we chose Puerto Rico for our destination.  Though I swear it is not a goal of mine to leave the country on Mother's Day, it just so happens that it worked out that way again for the second year in a row (last year we were in the Dominican Republic over the same time frame).  

We flew in to San Juan on Sunday - to this view.  Happy Mother's Day to ME!

Rest assured, it was still there on Monday morning.

Monday was declared "beach day" in accordance with our whatever-it-takes-to-make-Mommy-happy vacation-planning agenda.

Even in Puerto Rico I am a 100% dedicated employee (of course that is the real story and it has nothing to do with the convenience of the container for holding what is obviously water)

After an exhausting morning of lounging at the beach, we required a change of scenery

And finally, some time to relax in the hammock.

We may look happy and relaxed here, but trust me, this full day of lounging around stuff is hard work.

Tuesday was dedicated to exploration of Old San Juan in the morning, followed by the afternoon at the beach.  In the evening, we went to dinner at Texas de Brazil (a Brazilian steakhouse) to celebrate Kyle's great new job with Choice One Bank.  (Nothing makes Kyle feel appreciated quite like half a cow on a skewer).

"Lost" is such a harsh word.  Let's just say we went a little more in-depth with our exploration of the Old City than we meant to.

I have no immediate plans for death, but if I were to be stuck in a cemetery with a view like this, I would be okay with that.

One of two forts in San Juan.  I forget the name in Spanish, but in English I am sure it translates to "The Hottest Place on Earth"

Exploring the stone oven that was this fort

So THIS is what being baked alive feels like...

The fort had its own cemetery, certainly for tourists who succumbed to heat exhaustion while on the premises

Walking down to sea level

Any cooler on the inside?  No.  No, it wasn't.

Heading back to fresh air

No cannons were fired in the taking of this picture

Half dead at this point of our tour, but the view was still pretty spectacular

"No seriously, can we be done now?"

Literally jumped into the fountain after exploring the fort - it was a matter or survival

We found Pigeon Park, which does not appear to be a misnomer - whatsoever

What's left of a gorgeous old church in Old San Juan

Finally, let there be dinner! - and by dinner I mean dozens of different kinds of meat