It's been almost a month, but thanks for the birthday wishes.  My day was not perfect, but with two little children running things, one can hardly expect that.  I just bought my last birthday presents yesterday with my birthday money, so I guess it's not too late to post about turning 29.  I put together a list of my 29 favorite things, and I will intersperse it with pictures from my day.

I tried something new.  I'm usually not much for asymmetry, but my cooperative hair made me feel pretty all day.

1- crisp, cotton sheets
2- spontaneous hugs from children
3- packages

The Captain waited a good 5 minutes behind a chair to surprise me with this drawing after I got ready in the morning.  Johnny said it's the most patient he's ever seen The Captain.  The picture is our family and our house.

4- hearing a good song I'd forgotten about on the radio
5- listening to my children sing
6- hearing a random fact from The Captain

I let the kids play at the park by the fabric store, at which store I added to my stash.  It was my birthday present to me.

7- having intellectual conversations with Johnny
8- random phone calls from friends
9- finding new episodes of my favorite shows on Netflix

My first time getting free Slurpees!  The Captain DID NOT like them.  After his first two sips he informed me they were "spicy".

10- not waking up to an alarm
11- making someone feel loved and understood
12- comments on my social media postings

Joy got to enjoy all three free slurpees.

13- already knowing what I'm making for dinner
14- completing projects
15- spending quality time with my kids

Lunch, delicious chicken salad and melon fruit salad.  Made by me, but still yummy.

16- good hair days
17- reading a good book
18- trying something new and being successful the first time

After naptime was movie and popcorn.  Double points to anyone who can tell what movie we watched just from the title screen.  The kids actually were excited, it was our first time seeing this movie.

19- freshly shaved legs
20- taking advantage of a teaching moment
21- the kindness of strangers

I needed a reminder. 

22- small, acceptable PDAs from Johnny
23- being able to follow my schedule throughout the day
24- service from Past Tara

I made this cake myself, with help from The Captain.  We made it during Joy's nap.  Homemade angel food cake with homemade whipped cream and freezer jam between layers.  Yum.

25- new dresses
26- warm homemade bread
27- feeling useful and important

Presents are exciting

28- unexpectedly well behaved children

29- cold juice on a hot day

Don't my new clothes look good?

Parental Justice

You know how when some people have kids you're like, well that's pay back for what they put their parents through. I think I'm having one of those moments.  Don't get me wrong, I was a good kid.  And my kids are good kids, but I'm afraid I was a bit of a know-it-all in my youth.  So now I get things like

But Mom, don't you know that movies are not shows

or

Mom, I know everything about that.  Don't you know I know everything.  

sure, kid, you know it all.  I know, payback is a . . .

Vacationing on my own

So, while Johnny worked and played all around Asia, I took the kids and road tripped it to every family member I could find between Texas and Salt Lake.  I should have way more pictures than this, but since being alone with the kids is like keeping track of a cheetah and a snail, I didn't pull out the camera much.  It doesn't mean I don't love all of you who put me up and put up with me and the kiddos.  We had a blast, even if it did involve LOTS of driving.  

So, all these pictures come from one day, when my brave mother had a sleepover for the two potty-trained grandchildren in the area, and afterwards, we took them, plus Miss Joy to Cabelas and the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

Joy loves fish.  So she loved looking at all the fish in the aquarium.  

Showing Grandma something cool.

Not sure what he was looking at, but I love the blue eyes and mildly vacant face.

I think my mom was glad to have a snuggly girl around.  She's had boys boys boys for awhile now.

Not sure what my mom was explaining, but I'm pretty sure Joy is thinking, "high five, Grandma".

The boys were not happy to get a picture with the moose.

But they did have fun.

Stuck between the boys--what do I do, Mom?

Dinosaur tracks.  Sorry there are so many Joy pictures, but she is the slowest, and therefore, the easiest to capture.  I have plenty of blurry The Captain shots, but they aren't post worthy.  Sorry.

Playing in the sand.

Joy loved getting completely dirty.  

And a shout out to Grandma P, AD, Tea, Toni, and Grandma G for taking such good care of us.  We love you guys!

Cruise Pictures

It was awhile ago, but I'll give you the reader's digest version of our cruise anyway.  Because there's no way for you to stop me.  

Sunday: 

We played cards in the library that wasn't really as dark as the picture makes it look.

Ate lunch inches away from the ridiculously blue Caribbean Sea.

Johnny took a break from unpacking to contemplate Cuba, which we were passing.  Thanks for the window cabin, Mom & Dad!

All of us looking good for formal night about to watch some comedy.

Monday:

We went stand up paddleboarding.  It was surprisingly challenging. Once I got up, I somehow managed to stay up, I think I was the only one besides our instructors to do this the first leg of our journey.  Am I instinctively gifted at paddleboarding?  I doubt it.  I think my legs knew they wouldn't make it up if I had to try again.  And I certainly didn't want to look like a wimp in front of Johnny.   

However, on our way back, we had to wait and relax on the beach for awhile (sad life, I know) because the government was conducting military drills right in the middle of our journey back to the resort.  They finally gave us the go ahead, if we went outside the buoys.  Then they changed their minds, and we had to paddle as fast as we could back to the rocks by the shore.  Not really a problem, except they made this decision right after I fell off my board, the one and only time.  Ah, Mexico.

This is my new happy place.  

 Tuesday:

Mayan ruins.  I conquered those things.

Johnny and I ate at the chef's table.  This was just one of our seven courses that were all amazing both to look at and to eat.  

Wednesday:

Scuba diving.  What?  I don't look very happy?  That's because I was a little terrified, nervous, and all together unsure.  I can't say it was the most pleasant experience, mostly because my Eustachian tubes, that drain your ears, did NOT like the underwater pressure.  But I surprised myself by not freaking out and swallowing a lethal dose of sea water.  So that was good.

Thursday:

Horse back riding on the beach at Grand Cayman.  Johnny doesn't look as happy as me because this was his sacrificial excursion of the trip.

He was much happier when the sisters and their hubbies went together to swim with sting rays.  They were cool, and not a little creepy.  Feeding one was definitely an adventure.  

Friday:

While at sea, my brother got hit on by Madonna.  Nice work, Buddy!

Father's Day

I'm not sure what Father's Day looked like at your house, but at ours, it looked like this:

Happy Father's Day.

The Captain is 4

Sorry, for the poor posting.  Last year I was so good. In fact, I posted more last year than I did any other year, possibly combined.  

But, repentance is true, so here's a look at The Captain's birthday, starting with the party that we had in February before all the moving stuff got started in full force.  

He wanted to have a pillow fight party, and I wanted to take a trip to a three-story fabric store, so I made pillowcases as party favors my excuse.  The Captain picked out the fabric himself.  Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately, depending on how you feel about hoarding pillowcases) only one friend came for his party, so we got to keep most of these pillowcases.  

Johnny built a killer blanket fort in pretty much the entire basement.

Our friend was a little nervous and unhappy when he arrived, so we started with snacks.  We had homemade hummus with baked garlic pita triangles, and veggies with ranch dressing.  P.S. The kids were all supposed to be in their jammies. Don't judge me.

The snacks worked . . . maybe a little too well . . . 

Exploring the fort

My version of Where's Waldo--Find Joy

Then came the pillow fight, of course.  The little ones were mostly safe while the older two lobbed pillows at each other across the fort.

We bought a mini trampoline to "jump on the bed" because, well, it's fun, and we knew we'd use it for rainy days and such, if not for our own exercise.  Everyone loved that.

We ended with a bed cake. The Captain picked green for the blanket, since green is his favorite color.

I just squished marshmallows for the pillows, in case you were curious.

The Captain's birthday festivities in Texas included a trip to a toy store a few days before his actual birthday, where he got to pick out whatever he wanted and I learned the joy of no commercials.  (I heard a lot of, "I already have this" and "I don't need that".  From a 4 year old?  Seriously?)  In the end he got a tool set.  And while he was distracted I got him this tent.  Because he needed a secret hideout.

I had an epic fail with his birthday cake.  He picked chocolate cake because he is me and Johnny's son.  I brought my cake decorating book with us to our apartment because I was planning on making him a cool cake.  He picked a race car.  I made the cake the day before.  It was delicious.

But the next day it cracked and fell apart and fell on the floor and ended up a goopy mess when I tried to put it together.  It was sad.  We salvaged it as cake balls, but the poor guy didn't get a cake for his birthday.  No candles this year.  

He did play at the park.  He is trying to get Joy to sit down in this picture.  She was hesitant to go down the slide with him . . . 

But luckily she did because this might be the sweetest moment I've ever captured.

We discovered The Captain can climb.  Here he is contemplating the new power he has over the world.

We got some great playground hair.

At home The Captain finally got to open his present from Grandma that was sent with the Christmas stuff.  It had been tempting him for months and months.  

Then that weekend, we went with Daddy to the Science Museum.  

Mostly they played in the Children's Museum in the basement.

 But we did eventually drag them up to see the dinosaurs.  And the bird exhibit is in the same area.  The Captain has the wingspan of a condor, in case you were wondering. 

Then, a few weeks later, Grandma and Grandpa came to stay with the kids while Johnny and I went cruising and they brought birthday presents with them, so The Captain had a bit of a never-ending birthday this year. I think that makes up for no candles, don't you?