17 days and counting...

We're heading to Hawaii, the island of Maui, for 9 glorious days in paradise! It's going to be a family vacation as 7 of us are going: Kevin, Brooklyn, my Mom, Dad, Grandma, Sister and I. All of us are very excited, and can't wait for the day to be here. It will be so nice to sink our toes in the sand. Here are some pictures of where we are staying...are you drooling, Mom??

This is the resort we'll be staying at.
The pool is the largest in Kihei.

Our condo is 60 steps from the beach...
and you can take a 5-mile walk once you get on the beach.

Oceanside tennis courts!
I have already challenged my Dad to a match.

Isn't the grass really green!?!

Oceanside BBQ grills...how fun!!

Wedding Photos

Remember back in May, when I said my cousin Sarah was getting married? Well, she tied the knot on July 14th. As we were exchanging emails yesterday, she emailed me the link to all of her wedding photos. They turned out beautifully! Didn't she make a beautiful bride!?! I can't wait to see the album her and her husband, Dave put together. Here's a sneak peek...

The Newlyweds

My dad's family...well, most of us.

Brooklyn and Erin (my youngest cousin, in the red) dancing, dancing!

A shot of our table
(from left to right: Kevin, me, Jenn, Jon,
my sister Samantha, Jenn's sister Allison)

My hubby getting his groove on!

The happy couple headed for their honeymoon...
aren't they such a cute couple!?!

Rejected Commercial

This video is of a rejected TV commercial. I can't stop laughing.

Ewww...worms!

Since last weekend came and went without us really getting to do anything fun, or getting to venture outdoors, we decided last night to head to the mall to walk around. Before the mall, we grabbed a bite to eat at Mimi's Cafe. The food was really good, the atmosphere was cozy and our waiter was amazing. Brooklyn enjoyed her meal of Pepperoni Pizzadillas, fresh fruit and veggies, along with all the extra goodies such as fresh, warm bread and part of Mommy's blueberry muffin. As per usual, the waiter cleared our plates and then asked if we were thinking of dessert. We declined, but he asked if it were alright if Brooklyn had her dessert. After finding out what the dessert was, I said that would be fine.

Now, you have to know that Brooklyn does not have a sweet tooth at all. In fact, she would much rather have green beans over chocolate any day. And, she completely despises fruit beyond blueberries and raspberries. I am okay with this, too.

When the waiter brought her dessert, chocolate pudding with gummi worms mixed in and topped with Oreo cookie crumbs, she gave me this weird look, like what am I do to with this!?! I grabbed a spoon and showed her that it was okay. She tasted the pudding, and seemed to like it. But, then, she stuck her fingers in the pudding, and grabbed ahold of a red, wide gummy worm. She pulled it out with a horrified look on her face. I encouraged her to try a bite. The minute that she did, she gave us a disgusted look. Daddy ate the red worm. She went back to eating at the chocolate pudding, and hit another worm, this time it was green. You could tell by the look on her face that she was absolutely confused, and a little disgusted. She handed the green worm to Daddy, and he ate it. She didn't really want to have anymore to do with this so-called dessert, but really didn't want anyone else touching it either.

I hope she doesn't think we were trying to get her to enjoy actual worms, because she has seen those in the garden, and is incredibly disgusted by them. The poor girl...

Three Peas in a Pod

The saying "three peas in a pod" describes our weekend. I couldn't fight off my impending illnesses with mind tricks, Kevin caught the ugly bug and poor lil' Miss Brooklyn, she was so hoarse on Saturday, she couldn't even cry or laugh.

We went through a couple boxes of tissues, watched several movies, sat in about a dozen steamy showers, took warm baths, read a lot of books, napped and cuddled.

Finally today, we are all seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Brooklyn's voice has returned along with her cries, her laughs are on the way soon. She is no longer filled with chest congestion, and is breathing much, much easier, and is really a ball of energy. Kevin and I finally shook our sinus headaches and sore throats, and are now just stuck with tissue in hand.

Some might say that being sick all weekend must have sucked, well, it did, kinda. But, to be honest, it was really nice to have a really low-key, at-home weekend with my husband and my daughter. Just the three of us, like three peas in a pod.

Under the Weather...

There's nothing that sucks more than getting sick just when the weather outside is so perfect...not too hot and not too cold...especially if you enjoy the outdoors as much as my family does. You don't want to be stuck inside feeling under the weather, you want to be outside enjoying the weather.

Brooklyn came down with a cold Wednesday. This morning she woke up at 5 a.m. with really bad chest congestion, a hoarse voice and just the sound of her breathing sounded like snoring. Awful, just awful! After complying with her request to "urse" we sat in the dark bathroom with the hot shower running filtering the air with warm, steamy, damp air. You get so warm and sweaty in there, but it does feel really good to breathe in that moisture in the air. It really helped to loosen the mucus that has decided to reside in her chest too. She finally got settled back down for another 30 minutes before she decided it was time for "bilk." I wasn't too crazy about the idea, simply because dairy creates more mucus, thus more chest congestion, but when you aren't feeling well, you should get a little of what you want. So, she drank some "bilk" and was quite content. Today, she is resting at home with daddy, reading books, cuddling and watching parts of a movie, and I am at work.

At lunch, I picked up a new filter for her humidifier and a get-better-soon-sweetie toy. She's really into fire trucks...very intrigued by the siren and by the flashing lights...so know she has a Little People Fire Truck to play with complete with a firefighter and a dalmatian. I can't wait to get home to show her and simply just scoop her up and give her tons of TLC tonight.

As a mom, it really makes you feel terrible when your child gets sick. I want to be able to take the cruddy feeling, the cough, runny nose, chest congestion, etc. away from her, but (un)lucky for me this time, I already have the sore throat. Yuck. I've been drinking a lot and taking some Tylenol as well as giving my body and mind the usual talk of "you feel fine, it's just a little scratchy throat." It seems to be working so far. I had a moment about an hour ago that I felt sick complete with burning eyes and achy body, but my pep-talk to myself seems to be working. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!?!

Now, my goal for the rest of the night and for this weekend is to get my little girl feeling better and get her back to --- strewing every toy around the house, emptying every shelf that contains books (like we do at the library! We checked out 33 library books last time we went), running around wearing any shoes she can find, spraying Mommy and Daddy with the hose in the backyard, chasing the dog around the houses with the threat of her dancing with him, dumping a cup of ice on the floor...anything for Brooklyn to be back to her usual spunky, independent self. I will admit, I love being all cuddly with her though when she doesn't feel well or is tired, but I would rather be chasing her around than having her feeling under the weather.

Incredible Photo

Isn't this photo just absolutely amazing? I just had to share it.