Holy Crap

So I was just looking at my pay schedule and matching that with what bills need to be paid this pay day verses next pay day...you know the ever present rob Peter to pay Paul dance we do every month.  And when I clicked on the pay check date after this next one, it pulled up effin' 2013!  Can you believe that it is almost (by one pay check) the year 2013!!!!!  Holy Crap.

We hosted our Friends Thanksgiving/Toy Drive for the Safe House on Sunday and I am very happy to announce that we took in a record number of toys this year.  The haul is truly amazing to look at and I am driving it down to the Safe House this afternoon to greet what I am sure will be some very happy case workers.   This year we made a turkey, ham and a 10 pound prime rib and STILL ran out of meat.  Not sure if that's because we have the meat eating-est people you've ever met as friends or if because without a doubt dinner is always served at least an hour late...no matter how much I try it always falls behind.  Although I realized this year that at least when the main course is late everyone eats all of the appetizers. :-)

Joe wanted to have a nice low key birthday (probably because we had hosted the party the day before) so we just hung out at home and he got to experience why I cook so much.  At about 5ish when Joe was uncontrollably yawning since it was dark out and the girls need either direction or discipline, I looked at him and laughed and said why do you think we do a craft and I cook elaborate dinners every night...it's either that or we all fight and fall asleep. 

Tadd just bought this awesome house that is much bigger than ours AND it was very cold on Sunday so everyone was locked inside all party long...that being said all both Joe and I could think about was the fact that we have outgrown this house.  I am hoping that feeling subsides because we both like our relatively small house payment but we will have to see if it does.

A picture of the toys we brought in, this is just the first row the whole underneath of the tree is covered in gifts.

Joe helping the girls build a gingerbread house on his birthday...I am sure the 21 year old Joe would be very proud of the 33 year old Joe's ability to "really let loose". LOL

When we bought the boat we had them order the wake board tower that we wanted and they just got done with the installation, here's our first glimpse at the beast that is going to rip our arms off next summer.

Things I could have only learned from being a parent.

On a daily basis my kids teach me about as much as I teach them.  They have taught me how I talk to other people which has been hard to take...I tend go from one extreme to other, one side bossy and just about rude and the other patronizingly sweet with the "you can do it sweeties".  Other than those type of obvious things they have also taught me that the wood they make dinner tables out of should be featured in the Smithsonian.  We paint, draw, scratch, etch and last but not least eat off of that poor piece of furniture.  Some nights I don't know how it is still standing, perhaps it is the chunks out of my daughters heads that it gets to rip off that allows for the table to get some joy out of life.  Also, I have learned that everything you sleep with or on besides the mattress can be washed in a home washing machine. The last two nights in a row Austin has gotten into a coughing spell that then turned into throwing up in her bed.  I promise you that I would not have known that you could wrap up bedding including pillows and stuffed animals and throw it in the wash.  In fact I am pretty sure if I had puked in my bed when I was single I just would have thrown it all away and started over.  On a side cute note, Austin calls it "pick-up" not puke, which I guess is her mixture between puke and throw up...so I can't help but smile when she comes out of her room and says "Mommy there's pickup in my bed.". :-)  Cracks me up every time.

My Mom and I have started calling Lil' Bit "Me Too", since everything that Austin gets Tyler says me too.  Our real challenge will be to keep Austin doing good and Tyler should just follow right along behind her.

Here's Me Too and her idol decorating Christmas Tree rice krispies.

Joe's Awards

For those without Facebook, below was Joe's Facebook status for the day.  He competed in the second annual "Best Buds Inter-dispensary Competition" and took home a ton of awards for Briargate Wellness Center.  I am super proud of him and the hard work it takes to get to this point.

So proud of my company right now! We cleaned up in the best meds II contest last night. Taking 6 of the 15 awards with Cataract Kush and Cheese Wreck. The awards were Grand Champion Indica, second place Hybrid, Most Potent, Longest Lasting, One Hit Wonder and Best Experience!!! If my high school teachers could see me now:-)

Budget

So I'm curious...what does a "normal" household spend on groceries every month.  I hate to play "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" but I am completely willing to give it a go for some answers.  My bank started this new thing where it will automatically track where you spend your money and I thought to myself, short of the tin-cap theories of we are one step away from them just putting ankle bracelets on us, what a great idea I can finally see where I spend my money. Only to be shaken to my core to realize on a regular basis our grocery bill is between $1,500 and $2,000 a month.  That seems high to me although I wouldn't really know without something else to compare it to.  The only thing that has kept me off the ledge of despair is that we try to eat as organic as possible without preservatives so I know we spend more because of that but WOW is that a chunk of change.  *** Also, in those numbers are laundry detergent and everything like that since it's not just food that I buy at King Soopers or Wal-Mart.

Cooking

I have been cooking up a storm lately probably in part because it is getting colder and also because it gets dark so early rather than getting tired or restless I like to stay busy in the kitchen.  Although whenever I get knee deep in something I tend to take it a bit too seriously so when Joe's employees called in sick on Monday and prompted him to be an hour and a half late I found myself just about in tears as my from scratch homemade spinach ricotta ravioli with prosciutto white wine cream sauce, salad and bread sticks sat on the stove becoming less of a master piece and more of a "wow I bet this was really good a while back" kind of meal.  Or last night when I left the burner on while grabbing the chicken off the grill only to find my pad Thai noodles now soggy...again less of a mater piece.  Sigh.  I should learn to take it worth a grain of salt (complete pun intended) but that is not quite my personality.  The one thing that I have to say is my absolute favorite part about trying new recipes and food (last night I cooked with fish sauce, I mean com'on who has that kind of stuff in the fridge?) is that the girls eat everything we put in front of them even if spicy like last night.  Oh yeah and they both drink my Italian salad dressing after their salads are done. :-)

I just finished up my cooking list for this weekend's Friends Thanksgiving/Toy Drive, I've got some new ideas to try out that I am super excited about ***bracing for soggy disaster now***.  I think I will probably just start drinking earlier, after all a couple beers should make the new green bean casserole taste that much better.

Last but not least...

November 30 - Last but not least...I am thankful for Gingerbread.  I had a stressful Thursday that seeped into a very stressful Friday and sort of had "that look" on my face for two solid days.  I found a recipe for gingerbread cookies on line, turned on Christmas music and decorated cookies while taking deep breathes.  It didn't take long until I felt much better.  Of course just when I felt better Joe allowed the girls to play on the stairs which lead to numerous heart attacks as they accidental cart wheeled down them while horsing around...so then I felt much better when we put them to bed. :-)

In other news Tadd picked out a house and became an official home owner on Friday afternoon...yahoo!  So if you would like to see his new home here it is.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4745-Rustler-Ct-Colorado-Springs-CO-80918/13575100_zpid/

My Job

November 28 - I am thankful for my job, while there are the very obvious reasons to be thankful for a job like mine...flexible work schedule, ample vacation, work from home...the one that I am particularly thankful for on this Wednesday is the health insurance.  My Mom met with an adviser about health care and what it would cost for her family since both her and George are self employed and I have got to tell you the numbers are higher than a car payment a month.  Wow!

November 29 - I am thankful for naps.  Both girls are sleeping right now which is good because I don't think they would have made it too much longer breathing if they had not fallen asleep.  Austin likes to challenge me and I loathe spanking, primarily because I always feel terrible afterwards so I take the other side and do the timeouts and taking away of privileges (you know the list of stuff that is a COMPLETE joke to a 3 year old).  But I try...and try to take that approach, the other night I actually counted 30 timeouts before Joe got home. Today she was extra trying, maybe it was because she is getting over being sick or maybe it was because I had a home appraiser here today summing up the net worth of the largest purchase we have ever made in our lives to see if we qualify for the new mortgage rates we would like.  But whatever the reason I am glad she is sleeping now, perhaps the slate can be wiped clean when she wakes up.  And poor little Tyler is getting much faster at walking/running but doesn't look up much so just as her last bump on her forehead was about healed from the whack to the dinning room table she ran right smack into the corner of the wall.  Poor Crash...she is at least safe laying down.

I sent this picture to Tadd and he noticed that the funniest part about it was that it says Safety 1st behind what appears to be a feather weight boxer.  You can still see the scab healing under her bangs on the left hand side of her head.

Christmas is coming...

November 25 - I am thankful for our Christmas tree, first it is absolutely beautiful and second it always seems to bring people together and make them smile.  We put it up on Sunday with all the friends over which turned into complete hilarity watching Tadd and I fight over who's cooking what and how it's spiced, the girls un-decorated as fast as we could decorate the tree, the boys tore apart the garage to get out the tree stuff and then had to clean it to get everything back in...which made me smile.  Helen wrapped garland and then re wrapped garland when it wouldn't work, yep all in all a fantastic Sunday.

November 26 - I am thankful for Joe who picked up my favorite lunch from Mollica's and their lasagna to throw in the oven for dinner.  Surprisingly I didn't feel all that hot after drinking some beers and laughing until I almost passed out with everyone the day before.  Must have been something I ate. ;-)

November 27 - I am thankful for hot baths and baby Vapor rub.  Both girls don't feel so hot with runny noses and what not, of course I don't feel good either but Mom's aren't allowed to be sick.  So I have been keeping them going with the occasional cough drop and warm baths.  Not sure if it's like this in every one's house but cough drops are literally worth their weight in gold around here, you could get either girl to do back flips for them...perhaps it is because they are a cousin to candy.

Catching Up.

Holy Smokes I missed a few days.

November 20 - I am thankful for my love of animals.  I have been passing it down to the girls who love on animals every chance they get, Austin even walked Ty (our oldest 120 pound Akita) around the neighborhood the other day.  I always forget how big he is until you see him being escorted down a sidewalk by a three year old.

November 21 - I am thankful for the immense amount of information I can find using the Internet.  I managed to make a Turkey shaped veggie tray, a cheesecake, an apple pie, a cherry pie, a pumpkin pie and salted caramel turtles all through recipes that I found online.

November 22 - I am thankful for Thanksgiving, it is favorite holiday and we had such a blast sitting around laughing at one another and eating fantastic food at my Mom's house.

November 23 - I am thankful for Pay Day.  Even in the digital age where my check is deposited automatically and a plethora of bills are paid within seconds, there is still something magical about pay day and it will always make me excited.

November 24 - I am thankful for Small Business Saturday.  I could never imagine participating in Black Friday but Small Business Saturday I love.  The girls and I went to Manitou got a couple of new Christmas ornaments, ate at The Keg (one of my favorites), played at the penny arcade, got custard and topped it off with face painting.  I mean co'mon who doesn't love a day in the sun like that.

Groceries

November 17 - I am thankful for groceries.  I am thankful that at any point I can walk to our King Soopers and get fresh food to make for my family.

November 18 - I am thankful for Peyton Manning who has given Coloradans some real hope for a great season...Go Broncos!

November 19 - I am thankful for my new camera, I went to Joe's work today and took some pictures of his crew and some medicine and I have to say that camera takes some truly bad ass photos.

And my Mom came and grabbed the girls so I could take the pictures for Joe...look what they came back with!

Oh yeah and Joe took some videos of Tyler's swim lessons this morning.

Here she is practicing her "starfish" which is the ability to just float on your back.  I am singing the ABC's in her ear to distract her.

And here she is doing "eyes under" which means that I raise her up out of the water and then basically push her head and body under water and up through the hula hoop.

Pilgrims And Indians

Per Charles' request...Anne mentioned that he was concerned that Austin and Tyler did not have the Pilgrim and Indian dolls that he and his sisters made and that perhaps he could send them some of theirs.  Well instead Anne sent me the link to the dolls and we made them here.  The girls LOVED every bit of it and I made a version of Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish Grill with a peanut twist so everyone was happy. :-)

Mini-Crystal working away at her paintings.

Mini-Joe eating her apples (which happen to be her new favorite food, perhaps because she can want it, say it and then receive it...must be refreshing to her).

Joe helping show Tyler how to paint on the paper and not in her mouth.

Ol' Long Boob and her sidekick when she was done painting.

We painted for hours...Austin thought it was awesome.

And our finished troops.  Shortly after this picture was taken our living room looked like the battle at Wounded Knee with arms and headdresses everywhere.  At least they were cute for a moment. :-)

 

Shelley

November 16 - I am thankful for Shelley, she is my Spin instructor and is just about solely responsible for my workout this morning.  The great thing about Spinning with Shelley is that I know if I show up to the gym at 5:30 AM, crawl my half asleep butt up on the bike she takes over from there.  The room is dark the music is loud and she is hootin' and hollarin' like she's been up for hours.  Needless to say it is one of my favorite workouts and I have her to thank for it.

Laughter

November 15 - I am thankful for laughter.  Let me paint you a picture of what happened last night while I was cooking dinner.

The girls were painting their Indian and Pilgrim dolls (pictures when I get them all put together now that they are dry) and Joe was taking pictures of them doing said painting.  When he snapped one picture apparently of my chest and laughed and said well that one was just of Mom's boobs but the rest were of the girls doing their artwork.  At this point Austin asked "What are boobs?".  Keep in mind I am standing in the kitchen but allowing Joe and Adam to field the question themselves just to see where we go with this.  Joe fumbles around for a bit about the fact that women have them and men don't and then Adam throws in and they feed babies...so everyone talks about the fact that both girls were breastfed and this seems to suffice as an explanation for Austin.  Then she stops and asks...so Mom has boobs right?  Everyone says yes.  She cocks her head to one side and says yeah but why are they so long?  Laughter ensued.  Ahhh yes just the adjective that I would like my breasts to be called....long. :-)

The Garden of the Gods

November 14 - I am thankful for the Garden of the Gods, today the girls and I stopped by Jimmy Johns picked up a sandwich and went for a picnic and a hike through there.  It was nice to be outside and as long as the sun is shining I never really get cold here, so when a flabbergasted women stopped us and asked if I was cold (it was 50 degrees out today and I am in running pants and a short sleeved shirt) I laughed and said not only am a native but I'm carrying this - pointed to my backpack with Tyler in it.  Needless to say I was sweating my mascara off while everyone else was bundled up.  :-)

Schedule

November 13 - I am thankful for our schedule, not only that it is relaxed but that it is ever changing.  I like the variance everyday it keeps me on my toes. :-)

Thankful Weekend

November 10 - I am thankful that I enjoy cooking and I have quite a crew of people that will stop by for a hot meal.

November 11 - I am thankful for my brother who stopped by while the girls and I were hanging out and the boys were snowboarding.  We made homemade egg noodles for the chicken soup I made and laughed until we almost passed out.

November 12 - I am thankful for our veteran's who have sacrificed so my family can enjoy freedoms that in some countries are just a dream.


Oh and no one in our house can start working on a snowboard without Tyler and Austin being all over it.  Here is Tyler helping put a set of binding on Joe's new snowboard.

Friends

November 9 - I am thankful for friends.  Specifically in this case Adam, he moved back to Colorado from Indiana and has been hanging out with Joe most days.  It's been fun to watch Joe have a good friend back in town and be able to do things with just him rather than us girls.

Driving

November 8 - I am thankful that my girls are becoming/already are such great passengers in the car.  Today me and the girls drove to Woodland Park to have lunch with George for his birthday, they do so fantastic in the car now...listening to music or in Tyler's case dosing off, I just love it.

Papa the birthday boy with his fancy Mexican hat.

Austin of course had to try it on, I mean who wouldn't want to wear this bad dog around.

Tyler was convinced that the hat was attacking Papa and didn't like that one bit.

In other news look who is getting so much better already at swimming. :-D

The 70's

November 7 - I am thankful for a sunny 70 degree day that made my heart beam with pride when I asked Austin if she would like to go for a walk today and followed it up with would you rather ride in the stroller or walk on your own?  She responded with "walk on my own to get some exercise". :-)

Voting

November 6 - I am thankful for the right to vote and while our country, state and community may be divided on our representatives and our issues...I know how fortunate I am to live in a country that still wants my opinion.  On a side note I am also thankful that starting tonight we can get out of the political commercials.  Holy smokes, this year being a "deciding" state has made our airwaves a mess. Whew! Just about out of the woods.

Weekend of Thanks.

November 3 - I am thankful for teaching or perhaps allowing Austin to just become a good big sister, I am not sure if it is ideals that we are instilling in her or something that she would have been on her own but either way she is becoming a truly fantastic big sister.  Obviously I have always taken great pride in being a good big sister so this makes me extremely proud to watch her.  Take for instance when we were in the car wash and it was extremely loud inside the car and Austin was calming Tyler down who was crying due to noise.  I think one of the many things I want both of them to do on a daily basis is step out of what is "happening to them" and look at what is going on "around them".  It if far easier to walk through life if you don't believe that you are but a passenger on this great ride.

November 4 - I am thankful for the first trip up the mountain with Joe, reminding me how much we adore each other and share our passion for snowboarding.  And thankful for my parents who took a turn at Grandparents of the year and took 4 of the grand kids and one little boy that was just staying at Amanda's house to the zoo all by themselves.

The spider web at the zoo.

Papa and the kids checking out the lions.

The dinosaur egg that apparently Tyler would not get in.

Poor little Tyler couldn't keep up with the big kids but spent all day trying.

Papa and his grand kids hanging out on the dolphin.

The kids measuring their wing span.

We stopped to look at the sunset on the way home from snowboarding and had someone snap this picture.  OMG do I love Colorado.

November 5 - I am thankful for a dentist that has quick hands and smiles a lot.  Austin had her first cavity much to my disappointment...so we went in to get it filled today.  They were going to use Nitrous Oxide to calm her down but the tank was empty so instead Joe plopped her down on his lap and told the dentist just show her each thing, and explain what they do while you use them and she should be fine.  And she completely was, got it drilled out and filled while sitting on Joe's lap.  I was super proud of her.

30 Days of Thanks

So all across my Facebook are status' of things that people are thankful for in the month of November.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - I suppose it could help that we are normally on a Mexican beach for the holiday but even without that I LOVE spending time with family and Thanksgiving allows for that.  So I have decided to take the 30 Days of Thanks and put it on my blog.

November 1 - I am thankful for a competent family.  My Mom is a real estate broker and is currently helping my brother shop for houses.  I cannot imagine shopping for something that is such a big deal and not being able to utilize someone that I trust with my life.

November 2 - I am thankful for late mornings.  Joe left for work late this morning which allowed the whole house to get a slower than normal start.  He recently hired several new people and moved around some schedules to allow him to take off Sundays, Mondays, Fridays and most Saturdays.  He still goes in most days and works some but he definitely has a much more relaxed schedule now.  Pretty much this is the light at the end of the tunnel that I was hoping for when we opened this business. :-)

Collateral Damage

I was raised poor, and at no point in my adult life have I hidden that fact.  While I assure you that it was the first thing that I would hide when I was a child...I am quite proud that we had nothing growing up and that I have built this life.  There is still some damage from being poor, like the fact that I can't buy generic items at the grocery store.  But by far the most "damage" that I deal with is being raised Jehovah's Witnesses.  Sometime I don't even realize the things that I still carry with me, like when Adam asked me if we were taking the kids trick or treating this year and before I could stop myself I blurted out "Ummm no, we don't need to go house to house begging for candy just to have it tested at some independent lab for safety."  Oooopps.  At this point Adam is looking at me much the way that Joe looks at me for the Santa debate.  But it's hard for me to encourage things that I have never experienced.  Luckily I don't think Joe wants any part of trick or treating either so we have compromised by allowing Austin to dress up and help hand out candy.  :-)   Cheers...here's to my long therapy list!

We hosted a pumpkin carving party on Sunday but I spent the time making shrimp Po' Boys and barbacoa beef for lunch for everyone so I didn't have the chance to carve, but I managed to sit down and knock a princess one out two nights ago.  Although it looks horrible now so I am hoping to have time today to carve out a couple more for the front porch for the trick or treaters.



 Last Christmas Laura sent us these amazing aprons and Austin loves to just wear hers around the house.  So of course because everything has to be "even Steven's" (as we call it), Tyler wants to wear an apron too.  So I managed to fold mine up into this configuration so she can wear it around.  It obviously makes her very happy. :-)



My Little Monsters!

When asked for the last month what Austin wanted to be for Halloween she always stated a monster.  Anyone that knows this little girl of mine knows that she was not referring to a scary monster but rather a giant fluffy fun monster (because she hates scary things).  It was quite a task to find a monster that would work especially since the movie Monsters Inc. is pretty old (which would have made perfect monsters).

Austin was busy "Rawring" the camera!

 

Tyler was not too keen on her hat piece of the costume, so there were some tears involved.

A Whole Bunch of Pictures!

We played hooky from work again and hit the lake during the week on Friday.  Look at that little DiFabio face.

 

And then of course the classic Crystal face.

Joe and Tyler were feeding the ducks some leftover bread from lunch.  Currently they are sitting in arguably the best seat in the boat it's the front starboard side and when you take off it feels as though you are flying.  This is the seat that Tyler and I normally sit in while Austin sits in the seat next to Joe and Co-Captains the boat.  Joe pointed out that he had never sat in that seat before (and it dawned on me that since he drives all the time why would he have).  So I took over the wheel for sometime and let him and the girls fly.  While I can assure you that I am naturally a nervous person so my stomach does back flips while I am commanding the ship, I am getting better at it. 

 

We had a birthday party for one of Joe's friends kids at the Little Gym, the girls had an absolute blast.  Here's Daddy and his girls.

 

I just love the determination on her face here.

 

Little goofball trying to get on the balance beam.

For the first time since Joe and I have been together we went on a hike with Jeremy and Adam and Jeremy's son.  The first part of the hike had me cussing pretty good under my breath especially since Joe and I each carried one of the girls in a backpack but sure is pretty up at the top.  The kids are attempting to pick out just the M&M's from the trail mix. 

 

Here's the view from the valley at the end, this area is called "The Garden of Eden".  And we were enjoying a true Blue Bird day in Colorado.

Wish you were here....

The general status-quo for the boat is Tyler spends the whole time making this odd sound that is reminiscent of a cry-scream to let us know that she is uncomfortable with the current speed and wind.  And Austin laughs and hollers like the boat ride should be illegal.  At one point Joe powered out of a cove and we took off across glass like water only to have Tyler whimper and Austin shout "Go Captain, Go!".  It made me laugh pretty hard.

I took these pictures at lake and while it may have taken approximately 200 to get these few I thought they were good enough to post.

Birthday Present

Joe guessed amazingly well for my birthday and got me a completely bad ass camera. I have always had to borrow a friend and their camera to take pictures for Christmas and such so I am extremely excited to learn how to use my very own Nikon. Here are some shots while I was playing around in the yard with the girls.

The girls hanging out on the grass.  Austin with her unruly hair...as always.

 

 

We have this really great bush in the backyard that I planted this year that has these gorgeous yellow flowers on it most of the year.

 

 

This picture is just a general shout out to my grass...look at that, no brown or dead spots left. :-)

 

 

Ol' Mickey Blue Eyes.

 

Another amazing weekend on the lake.

Anyone who has kids understands that simply eating a sandwich with them around has additional stresses...so does the boat.  But they get better each trip as they learn what is expected of them.  Of course I tried not to laugh this weekend when Joe nearly stroked out as Tyler dumped out her Captain Crunch in the boat and then did a tango move across the tailing's that would have won her the So You Think You Can Dance finale.  As with anything in life it would be immensely easier if it were just us, but less rewarding.


Look at how beautiful that water was in the morning, a little chilly at 54 degrees but bundled up the girls still had fun.

 

 

 

Look at the Beta Fish that Joe and Austin picked up on their trip to Wal-Mart.  Austin named him George...and we have kept him alive for over a week.  Which in a house with two little kids and two cats is harder than it sounds.

 

 

Take 2!

Austin did much better at swimming lessons last night, although there were still some tears and she did tell the instructor that she hurt her feelings at one point.  That's Austin's new thing...to tell people that they hurt her feelings whenever she is sad or mad generally associated with getting in trouble.

Rough week with a wonderful finale.

We had kind of a rough week around here, the shop was broken into twice two different nights by the same guys and we lost a ton of money in inventory.  Since then not only have we beefed up the security but we have hired some additional employees that just sit in the parking lot over night.  Apparently in this business you must spend a ton of money to keep from having criminals steal it.  **Sigh** was the general mood around the house.  Then on Saturday we took Austin to her first swimming lessons, I can assure you that I could not have been more excited and then it ended up in a near epic fail as she cried and screamed most of the time.  They are private lessons so the instructor walked up to me as I am holding a hot mess of a 3 year old and just grabbed her out of my hands and walked into the pool with her.  It was embarrassing on all levels but after class the teacher came up to us and said please keep coming it will get easier I promise.  So we have another class this week, although Joe will be at softball so at least I will be embarrassed by myself if things go badly again.  Sunday was much better since we decided to go to the lake and go fishing.  It was a blast and one of the families that Joe plays softball with came down with us and tied their boat up to ours in the cove so we could all hang out.  I guess the one true tell to the fact that we had a long week...it's my job to pack lunch for everyone and when we got down there I was unpacking the cooler to make sandwiches and looked up at Nate and said whelp looks like I forgot plates, silverware and napkins.  We both kind of chuckled.  Then I looked up laughing and said and apparently the lunch meat and cheese.  Nate lost it at this point.  So we all ate potato salad sandwiches...not so bad trust me.


Austin with her instructor Kara during one of the moments that she was not screaming.

The two peas in a pod eating their morning cereal at the captains seat.

Joe flexing it out at the front of the boat.

Nate and I were fishing off the back of the boat.

Little Miss Tyler Mae walking around, which is much harder than it sounds in one of those life vests.