Barbados

Last week Kevin and I left Meghan here with her grandparents and went to Barbados. It was amazing. The locals were complaining about the hot and humid weather but for us it was a welcomed break from the Texas heat. It happened to be the off season in Barbados which worked out perfectly for us. We had such a quiet and relaxing week.


We arrived late at night, well after it was dark. When we woke up this is what we saw from our hotel room balcony...

The sea was an amazing turquiose color. It was warm enough to walk right it and float away the day. We went on a catamaran trip and got to snorkel in the coral reefs. I have to admit there weren't as many tropical fish as I had expected.

We also went a tour of the Mount Gay Rum distillery. It was really just the bottling plant and the museum. It was interesting to learn the rich history of rum.

This pot was used in the mid 1700's to distill the rum.

Some of the ingredients.

After the tour we headed downtown for lunch. These buldings are the parliment.

Barbados, Part II

No picture will do this scene justice. Around 11:30 one night the moon was nearly full and low on the horizon. It cast the most beautiful reflection off of the ocean. Unfortunately, there was too much light pollution from the pool to capture the image.

Perhaps one of the coolest things about our trip was our room number. This trip was for our anniversary but was also our honeymoon, albeit 4 years late. Our room number just happened to be our anniversary, June 23rd.

Many of the buildings in Barbados are bright and cheerful colors. I thought this one was particularly cool. It was the water bureau.

This is a picture of the marina in Bridgetown. It is where we sailed out of for our catamaran trip.

Kevin walking along the beach. Our hotel is on the point in the background.

Kevin and I on the beach at the hotel. I love this picture.

One of the beautiful sunsets.

This is just before leaving for the airport. We had a little drama at the end of our trip. Our flight had been cancelled. Thank goodness we had met another couple there who had a friend from the states notify them about the cancellation. The front desk ladies were great and acutally got us on a flight the same day we were originally scheduled to fly out. Had we not known until we got to the airport it would have been far more difficult to get a flight.

This was Kevin and I on our catamaran trip. We were just about to go swimming with the sea turtles. This vacation was absolutely wonderful. It was so nice to get away and spend some time with just the two of us.

It's Summer!

Yay! Summer is finally here. I will have two and a half months to spend with my sweet girl.

Last weekend we went to a wildlife refuge with friends. The girls had a blast looking at all the animals. Riding the train was their favorite part.

Petting the monkey was probably a close second.

Kevin had the awesome idea to put a pool at the end of our slide. Meghan couldn't get enough of it. Kevin and I even tried it. It was a great way to cool off in the heat.

Splash! We had to drag Meghan away from it to go eat dinner. She would have stayed out there till it was dark.

A Lazy Weekend

The weather this past weekend was fantastic. Mid 70s and no humidity is not common the later in spring we get. To enjoy the weather, we went to our friends' for a pool party. Our friends had found a turtle crossing their driveway earlier in the day and thought it would be neat to "cage" it for a little while and let the little kids look at it. Needless to say, Meghan was enamored with turtle. Kevin has already vetoed that pet idea.

Meghan is fearless. She has no problem jumping into the pool and splashing around. She will be taking swim lesson this summer and I am glad she is not scared of the water. Kevin got a good workout in the pool because Meghan liked being thrown into the air and splashing down into the pool.

Since Kevin works from home, he gets a lot of product samples and sales materials sent to the house. He keeps them in a corner of his office, but Meghan always likes to look through and get into the boxes. She likes to make a mess of her daddy's stuff.

Summer's Almost Here

Meghan is most definitely full of personality and creativity. The things she does amaze me. Her actions have become so deliberate and her intentions are so sweet and caring. When you cough she asks if you are okay. She uses her manners, always saying please, thank you, you're welcome, and excuse me. Her imagination comes out in the way she plays. She will make you play-doh food and then tell you not to eat it because it is just pretend. She will play with her baby doll in the most gentle way. Sometimes she is a dinosaur and sometimes a ballerina, occasionally she is the tooth fairy. I love this stage because Meghan is so playful and is now playing with instead of along side. When she wants to veg out and watch TV she likes to find creative ways to relax. Hence the above picture. She pulled out the laundry basket and sat in it but then decided she needed her blanket and pillow too.

Summer is here. Well not the season, but the Texas heat is here for sure. Meghan put on her swimsuit to play in the water table yesterday. She was so helpful and cleaned it out with me before we filled it with water. I don't want to jinx myself but it looks like she'll actually keep her hat and sunglasses on this summer.

I find this picture amusing because she was so serious about pouring the water. Meanwhile, it is all spilling out of the bottom.

No more baby swing. Meghan is now swinging on the big swing all by herself. She is growing up too fast!!

Makeup, Bubbles, and Easter Eggs

Our strawberries are finally growing. Meghan enjoyed the first one so much she ate all the others, even though they were green. Now when we go in the backyard I have to herd her away from the pots so she won't eat the un-ripe ones.

Here she is sitting on her stool in front of the mirror doing her make-up. She was quite proud of herself.

I used to think if my makeup was on the back of the counter it was safely out of Meghan's reach. I guess I need a better hiding spot.

Bubbles: Meghan's favorite outdoor activity. We were using the big wand to make giant bubbles that soared away in the wind. Chasing them gave Meghan quite a workout.

The Easter Bunny hid eggs in the backyard for Meghan to find. She opened every one of them before putting them in her basket.

Bluebonnets

It's Bluebonnet season in Texas. Normally they are rather tall. The weather has affected them this year and they are short. Last weekend we tried to get some pictures of Meghan in the fields.

Meghan dwarfs the flowers. It would have been better if they were about a foot taller, it wasn't windy, and if Meghan was in the right mood. Or maybe even just one of those three things.

I was able to get a kiss from her...

...and a really goofy smile.

I think we'll wait a little while and see if the flowers get any taller and then have a redo.