Where's My Whiskey?

Not the question you want yelled to you from your pre-schooler as she is getting out of the car in the carpool line.

Without thinking, I yell back, "In your bag!"

I'm sure the school director might have been puzzled as I handed her back the clipboard, but I didn't even think twice about it until I pulled away from school. The fact of the matter is...I put Whiskey in Courtney's bag every day for school. It's nothing new. She says she has to have Whiskey for naptime. So, Whiskey goes to school with her each day and I'm sure her teacher is really glad that she has something to calm her.

Why she decided to shorten her little stuffed kitty's name to Whiskey instead of Whiskers is beyond me, but we all know there is no changing a 4 year old's mind when she has it set. Whiskey every day in the school bag it is.

Now, if I could just pull off having whiskey in my school bag every day when I go back to teaching.... ;)

5 more days...

I feel very selfish saying that I'm not ready to leave. We have been so blessed to be able to do something like this. The kids have played so well together and there has rarely been a time that I've been overwhelmed from not having a break from them....something I was worried about. It all has been amazing. Other than missing family and friends, the trip has been perfect. Justin gets here Friday and we are sooooo ready to see him. The weather is supposed to be perfect while he is here!

All is right in the world

We had a little mishap at the beach yesterday evening right as we were about to head in.

Courtney wanted to ride the waves, so I headed out into the surf with Garrett in my arms. Courtney quickly realized that she didn't need to be wearing her hat for fear she would lose it in the waves, so she handed it to me. Then, she decided that she wanted to body surf instead of using her Dora board, so again I get another thing to hold in addition to her little brother and her hat.

The waves were pretty strong and I was doing good to hold onto Garrett, much less all her stuff. We got back to shore and got ready to pack up, but we were missing her favorite beach hat that Nana had gotten her. Without a doubt, I knew that I had lost it in the waves. We searched. And searched. The ocean had taken it and she was beyond upset. She was doing "the" cry. I felt horrible. I tried to console her by telling her that we would come out first thing in the morning and search for it. This seemed to give her a little peace even though she cried the whole way back to the condo and during her entire bath.

I knew the odds were slim to none that we would find the hat, but when we woke up this morning we headed out to the beach because she was ready to search...and I was quickly trying to formulate my back-up plan for not finding it.

We headed out the way that the tide would have taken it. The waves were so strong yesterday that I was sure it was buried in the ocean. I looked down the shore and my blind self saw something that was whitish, but not a bird because it was still. I sent her running off to check it out. I felt sure that it was some type of trash that had washed up from hurricane Ike. She is way off in the distance, but I see her pick it up. I see her run back with excitement!!!!!! I really gave us a 1% chance of finding it...and there it was in her little grip! It survived the tide change and all passersby. Somebody had set it up on a coconut (a first...I've never seen a coconut on the beach here) that had washed up so it was ready and waiting for her this morning.

This little hat survived nature and humanity to get back to her owner. This little girl was one happy little girl! I am beyond shocked that #1 - the ocean didn't eat it and #2 - that nobody picked the cute little hat up and took it home with them. It was out there for over 14 hours and this has been the busiest weekend since we've been here due to the Colombus Day holiday. My faith in humanity has been restored for the time being. Just another reason to love this place.

The kite was a hit!

They have a really neat kite store here on the island that we visited one day. There were so many choices of kites but this one was the only one that Courtney even considered. Garrett had a blast flying it and was even able to hold it all by himself. He also loved to let the string out all by himself. Like, alot of string.

Note to self: don't buy the big roll of string next time. It takes a trillion years to roll it all back up.

The santa hat went on a dolphin watch

Garrett's santa hat is the luckiest santa hat in the whole world. I mean, how many santa hats do you know that get to go on a boat ride on the bay and to see the dolphins? The boy was not parting with the hat today for some reason, so it got to go on a neat ride!

We had a great time seeing the sights and the dolphins today....thanks Mike!!!!

A neat treat!!

We had planned to go to our favorite breakfast burrito place in Port Isabel today. They are always closed on Monday, so we waited until today to head over there. We haven't been there the entire time we've been here so it was time! We eat 90% of our meals here at the condo because, well, let's face it...taking an almost 2 year old out to eat isn't really my idea of fun even when Justin is here, much less on my own.

SO....getting back on the subject...our favorite place, Manuel's is now not only closed on Mondays, but Tuesdays as well. Again, just our luck. I have a knack for showing up at places on their randomly closed days.

What to do? I'd already promised the kids out to eat for breakfast, then to Wally world to get a few groceries.

Back in June when we were here we ate a little cafe on the way out of town. This is not any little cafe, it's the only place that I know of where I've ever seen a teddy bear pancake. They aren't really on the menu, but when we were there the owner's granddaughter was there getting a special treat. After seeing this pancake in June, it's all Justin and I heard about for two weeks from Courtney. We were so tired of hearing about the teddy bear pancake and how she wanted one next time that we were going crazy. Then, of course, like most things...she forgot about it after about two weeks. That was until we pulled up at the cafe this morning. You should have seen her face! She very quickly remembered that this was the home of the teddy bear pancake. Now I only hoped they would be kind enough to make this special treat for my kiddos. As you can see, they were more than kind to make them for us and the kids LOVED them! Garrett thought his was a sea turtle pancake....he LOVES the sea turtles.





SO, if you are ever in Port Isabel and want a teddy bear/sea turtle pancake, you can find them at Isabel's Cafe. :)

Pictures you won't be seeing on your Christmas card

My mom wants to know why I never show Garrett's face in pictures. The truth of the matter is that the pictures of him looking out to the beach are way better than the scowl that he gives the camera. He is nearly impossible to photograph. One tough little cookie. Don't let him fool you though. He does laugh, play, and smile....just not for the camera.

A few shots

I'm trying out a new program. I haven't figured out how to really get these on here, so for now just double click to get to to see them big enough. Garrett was NOT cooperating so none of him right now.

We are doing normal stuff too

Even though we are hangin' at the beach for a while, we are actually doing normal everyday stuff, too...sometimes. Like today. I took the kids for haircuts in Port Isabel. They both really needed a good trim. Courtney cried the whole way there because she has a huge fear of getting a haircut. So, I made Garrett go first and he did great! Then, Courtney wasn't quite as scared. She got a few inches cut off. Her hair looks really good now. I'm so glad I endured the fit she threw to get it done!

A good question

Courtney asks, "Do mosquitos ever sleep?"

The answer has to be NO.

Super Fun with Friends