we have a walker!!

Just short of her 18 month mark, Anne began walking!  She took her first official steps at my parents' house on the day after Christmas.  She walked from Jamie to me and took about 8 steps.  She didn't do much else until New Years Eve when she walked a full 15 steps - which we captured on this video, (which is pretty adorable by the way):

sibling rivalry

I've been so busy congratulating myself on raising such congenial siblings that I didn't even notice when things started to go south around here.  Anne's favorite new word is "MINE!!!".  I swear that I have never heard Harrison use that word (and why would I because everything around here is his) but it is now the most spoken word in his vocabulary.  I have become so in tuned to Anne's shrieks and shrills that I can now successfully identify the cry that indicates that  Harrison has taken something from her.  Being the smart kid that he is, he has learned to immediately replace it with another object (usually whatever is in reach).  Our day goes pretty much like this:

Anne shrieks for the 1000th time and yells "mine!".
I yell from the kitchen "Harrison, give that back."
I walk in to find Harrison handing her a dirty sock, shoe, or some other useless object.
She starts screaming while he is clinging desperately to some object that he has shown absolutely no interest in for 2 years.

Don't get me wrong, my children absolutely adore each other.  Harrison has started saying that Mommy, Daddy, Baby Annie, and Cabo are all his best friends "because we are family."  and I truly believe him.  Harrison does not want to take a bath unless Anne is taking one with him, and Anne's favorite past time is to entertain Harrison.  He thinks that she is the funniest thing around.  But, this is another one of those stages that I haven't experienced before and am having to learn how to handle.  For now, lets just suffice it to say that I asked Santa for a pair of earplugs in my stocking.

PS - Speaking of siblings, I was asking Harrison the other day if he wanted any more brothers and sisters (JUST making conversation).  He said that he wanted another brother and another sister.  We then started talking about babies and how mommies grow the babies in their tummies and how I had baby Anne in my tummy.  Harrison said, "did you eat the baby?"  I thought that was actually pretty clever since how else would a baby get in my tummy?  Naturally I said yes (b/c I didn't want to get into it with a 3 year old.)

This is a picture from happier times:  sniff, sniff.

I'm the coolest!!

After reading the title of my blog you probably think that the "I" was referring to Harrison but, no, I'm talking about me.  I am the coolest.  I know this b/c Harrison just told me as I was putting him down for his nap.  Out of the blue he said, "I love you.  You are the coolest."  (for the record he also then said that Daddy was the coolest too but he'll have to write about that on his own blog.)

Thank you sweet boy but you are way cooler than I am!!

she scoots to her own beat

It finally happened!  Anne started crawling - at the ripe old age of 16 months!  She began moving around 9 months but, unlike most children, she moved by scooting instead of crawling.  I've tried unsuccessfully to post a video of her scooting b/c it is so unique but I've posted a few pics from the summer that demonstrate how it is done.

First, she flings both feet straight out in front of her:

Then she drags her bottom across the floor to meet her feet:

You can see the trail left by her bottom in this pic:

I had never seen this before but it is adorable.  It also wears out the bottom of all of her pants and turns them black.  The upside is that her hands don't get dirty even though her bottom does.  The doctor assured me that she would move on her own time but that I could take her to physical therapy to move things along (she only pushed herself up to a sitting position on her own about 5 weeks ago).  Of course, we've had amazing progress since then.  About 3 weeks ago she pulled up by herself to a standing position for the first time.  And last week she simultaneously started crawling and cruising at the same time.  Then, last night she began walking while pushing her shopping cart across the floor - which was met with a lot of cheering from Mom, Dad, and Harrison!  As eager as I am for her to start walking I am really going to miss her little scoot and I can only hope that she continues to scoot to her own beat throughout the rest of her life!

Fall in a nutshell

The month of October really snuck by me b/c we were so busy with fun activities. The first weekend of Oct. we went to Morehead for Jamie's inaugural visit to the NC Seafood Festival.  I have been talking up that festival to Jamie since we met over 10 years ago so I was eager to see what he thought of it.  He was not disappointed.  He LOVED it!  The key is to go on Friday night when it is mostly locals.  I swear I saw more people there than at my high school reunion.  We had a blast trying various local seafoods in between games and rides with Harrison.  I just LOVE small local festivals - especially when this is the view:

Next, we took the kids to the NC State Fair in mid-October.  We went on the canned food drive day (where you get in free with 4 cans of food), which is also one of the busiest days of the fair.  Harrison got to hold a baby turkey, which he loved, and more of the rides.

Jamie and I also went to the UNC/Miami football game in Chapel Hill.  We had not been for a couple of years and decided to find a sitter and go at the last minute.  I think that Jamie is beginning to see why us tarheels are so crazy about and proud of our school!  It is awesome.

The final weekend of October we had 2 Halloween parties and Harrison's first princess birthday party for his pal Wesley.  One of the highlights of the birthday party was getting their nails painted.  Harrison chose green and black paint for Halloween.  On the way to the party we had talked about the importance of not touching anything until the nails were dry and it was hilarious to see him walk around the party with his fingers held up high so he didn't mess up his nails.

I've never seen him sit so still:

and, at the dryer:

Finally, we had Halloween which was wonderful as usual!  Anyone who knows me knows that this is one of my favorites holidays.  I just love how everyone gets dressed up and has the chance to be silly for a day!  It seems to be one of Harrison's favorites too!  We are lucky in that our neighborhood goes all out and several of the houses pitch tents and have spooky decorations.  All year long Harrison has referred to one especially decorated house as "the scary house."  In fact, he decided it was too scary for him to trick or treat there this year.  I let him pick his costume out of a catalogue and he chose to be a transformer.  He didn't know what that was but he thought the costume looked cool!  I chose Anne's costume, a pig, b/c it was ridiculously cute and she's our little chub (or used to be).  Harrison wore his costume to several parties and school festivals but on Halloween itself he wanted to dress in his costume from last year, a cow.  So, we had our farm!  Jamie and I also attended a neighbor's adult party and dressed up as Smurfette and Gargomel from the Smurfs.

decorating and carving pumpkins:

our little farm animals:

the smurfs:

Finally, this past weekend Harrison had another birthday party where he got to ride a pony for the first time - he LOVED it!  This is in sharp contrast to this same time last year where he wouldn't go within 50 feet of a pony b/c he was so scared of it.  He's come a long way!

glutton for punishment

A couple of weeks ago I woke up restless.  It had been raining for several days and we were eager to get out of the house.  So, after checking the weather forecast (which predicted 30% chance of light showers) I spontaneously decided to take the kids to the North Carolina Zoo!  I quickly got everyone dressed and loaded the double stroller.  We arrived in rainy Asheboro over an hour later.  Needless to say, this was NOT one of my brightest ideas!  Asheboro is halfway to the mountains from our house which  means that it is HILLY, and hilly with two kids in the double stroller equals quite a work out.  Add torrential downpours on top of that and you have a fun experience indeed.  Despite that, we ended up having a great time.  The highlights were watching an elephant splash and  swim around a huge pond and a gorilla who entertained the kids by throwing straw all over his head.

This should have read "UNlucky to be with you at the Zoo!"

Are we having fun yet?

what's your job?

In order to get Harrison to try new foods, we have resorted to bribery rewards.  So, after he finally tried asparagus, his reward was ice cream!  On the way to Goodberry's we had the following conversation, pretty much word for word:

Me:  Look at those geese on the side of the road, Harrison.  What are they doing?
Harrison:  They are eating grass and leaves.  That's their job.
Me:  (hmmm)  What's your job, Harrison?
Harrison:  My job is to play soccer.
Me:  What's Daddy's job?
Harrison:  to go to work.
Me:  What's Annie's job?
Harrison:  to feed Annie.  (and that is most definitely her main purpose in life)
Me.  What's my job?
Harrison:  (thinking for a few moments) . . . "to clean up."
me.  (no response, but even if I had a response it was drowned out by the sound of Jamie's laughter)

and there you have it.  my life in a nutshell.

first trip to the dentist!

Isn't it funny how you spend so much energy worrying about things that never come to fruition (like Harrison's transition to his big boy bed that I fretted over for months and it didn't even phase him) and it is the things you never worry about that catch you off guard (like how Harrison ran screaming out of his preschool class when the music teacher starting playing the guitar).  Such as it was with the dentist today.  I have been dreading the day when I had to take Harrison to the dentist.  I pictured me having to hold him down in the chair while he was screaming and then never talking to me again.  I had gone to the same dentist yesterday so I had warned them that it was his first visit.  They assured me that they would only do as much as he would let them so that they would probably only look at and maybe brush his teeth with fluoride.  Well, he did so great that he got the whole drill (no pun intended).
The dental assistant told me (as she probably tells every parent) that he was the best 3 year old she ever had.  He sat completely still while they scraped his teeth, polished them with the rotating brush thing, FLOSSED!, checked for cavities, and painted on fluoride at the end (this was the only thing he complained about b/c he said it tasted "yucky" and made him "feel sick.")

Here are the pictures to prove it!

flossing:

It was also super cute b/c every time they would tell Harrison to open wide, Anne would also do it but I didn't get a picture of that.

The final thing that impressed me was that I was showing Harrison my goody bag from the dentist and I pulled this out and said "see what I got?"

He said, "Colgate Total."  My first thought was "I have raised a genius child who can already read" but then a mili-second later I thought "he probably saw that on tv."  Sure enough, when I asked him who told him that was Colgate Total, he said the tv.  I can't think of a colgate commercial on tv that he is referring to but I'm impressed with their marketing campaign.

when I grow up I want to be . . .

I've been waiting for this moment.  Several friends have been posting lately about what their 3 year olds have said they want to be when they grow up so I have been eagerly awaiting Harrison's declaration.  This weekend it finally came.  Our shy, scared-of-noises, hates singing and music child wants to be . . .  wait for it, - - (and I can honestly say that I did not see this one coming) - - a PUPPETEER!
We went to see Paperhand Puppet Intervention at the N.C. Museum of Art on Friday night and he became a different child.  All week I had been telling Harrison that we were going to see a giant puppet show with music and he wanted no part of it.  He resolutely did not want to go.  However, since we had already bought the tickets, he did not have a choice.  P.P.I. is a puppet, theater company based in N.C. and I have been wanting to go see them for a while now.  They have giant puppets (a fifty foot long dragon was his favorite) that tell a story set to music.
Words cannot explain how excited I was to watch him there.  The museum has an open-air amphitheater with plenty of grass and space to run in, but he sat, spell-bound, without so much as a peep.  I cannot emphasize how uncharacteristic this is of him.  After the show he said he wanted to walk down to the stage.  As we were walking around it, he said "I'm going to come back here tomorrow and be on the stage but first, I need to get a black shirt (all the puppeteers were dressed in all black)."  I have never seen him so excited, involved, and animated.  I asked him if he wanted to be a performer and a puppeteer and he said "YES, I'M going to be puppeteer tomorrow!!"  Even though I will probably be a little creeped out if he actually does turn out to be a puppeteer, I couldn't be more proud.  I think I was just so excited to see how his imagination had been captured and it was fun to see how seriously he was taking his newfound profession.  I told him that I wanted to come to all of his shows and he said, "no, you can't be in the show, only me."  He said that he would be "very careful with [the puppets] and carry them on stage."  I also asked if I could get in for free and he also said "no."

A puppeteer with business savvy, a dangerous combination!

snug as a bug

Harrison is a champion sleeper.  This is not my favorite thing about him but it is close :)  He will be four in December and he still takes a nap every day.  And, knock on wood, he stays in his bed after we read him his goodnight stories until we go in and get him in the morning - every single night.  Of course, he still sleeps in a pull-up but there's plenty of time for transitioning to that later :)  But, my absolute favorite thing about his sleeping is how he sleeps with his entire body burrowed under the covers or pillows.  Each night I go in to turn off his bedside lamp after he falls asleep and I get the biggest kick out of seeing him.

Here is a pic of him the other night.  

And from another angle.

The day after daylight savings ended we decided not to make him take a nap so that he could get back on schedule with the time change.  We let him watch tv upstairs while we were making dinner.  I regret so much that I didn't take a picture of this but when I walked in all I could see were his legs laying sideways on the couch and his top half was laying behind the back cushions of the couch.   Then, last month we were staying in the upstairs bedroom at Mimi and Granddaddy's house and Harrison slept on the pull-out couch.

Here is what I saw when I walked in while he was napping.

so I walked around to the other side and here he was, snug as a bed bug.

little miss chatterbox

A couple of weeks ago, Anne started talking.  Or, at least, we think she did.  Her definite words include ma ma, da da, and uh oh.  But, she also calls her Aunt Tiffany and Aunt Keri Mama and points at Cabo when we say "da da", so really "uh oh" is probably her first word.

Her first phrase or question seems to be "duh da" or "what's that?" as translated by her proud parents.  She points to everything and says "duh da" which means that we say "tree," "light" or "fan" about ten million times a day.  She also seemed to say "sssa", which we translated as "sand" since she was covered in sand and playing with it as she said it.  Here she is after just mastering "sssa."

She also called Cabo "Babo" today, twice, so I'm counting that too, and, she just started saying "buu" and points at a book.  She LOVES to read, like her mommy.  She will toss her bottle to the ground if she spots a book on her nightstand and lunge to grab the book.  She smiles and points at things when we are reading whereas Harrison would gnaw on the page or mostly just gaze off into space.  Of course, his dad gets that same glazed look in his eye when I'm talking so I'll just chalk that up to genetics :)  She seems to be learning almost a new word each day so I am very eager to hear what comes next!

Speaking of what comes next, Harrison copied a bad word today.  Well, it wasn't a bad word because I just said "shoot" when I dropped my sunglasses (I really and truly did!) but a few minutes after that I heard him say it too.  I keep thanking my lucky stars that shoot was all that popped out but it was a really great reminder for me to watch my Ps and Qs from now on!

lucky enough

My in-laws have a sign in their beach house that says "If you are lucky enough to live at the beach, then you are lucky enough!!"  Well, we are lucky indeed because both sets of grandparents live at the beach.  This means that we get to go to the beach a lot and we love every minute of it!  We just returned from a week stay at Ocean City, NJ where Harrison and Anne got to spend some time with their cousin Griffin, 15 mos, and Aunt Tiffany and Uncle John.  Of course, Nana and Grandpa Jack were there too.  Our schedule each day consisted of waking up and biking to breakfast (donuts!!) on the boardwalk, then go to the beach before the afternoon nap, then going to the rides on the boardwalk, and having dinner before bed.  Pretty sweet vacation!  Here are a few pics from the trip!

Getting caught by the rain while biking:  (I think that was one of Harrison's highlights)

Eating breakfast at Brown's each morning:

It was awesome to see how great Anne and Griffin got along.  It was a little bit of a love-fest actually:

So great to see Tiffany and John too!

Enjoying the rides at the boardwalk:

Jamie doing his best to disguise the fear in his eyes:

Harrison took Griffin on his first ride:

Our best attempt at a beach shot of the kids:

We have also had several visits to Mimi's and Granddaddy's house this summer.  Some of the highlights include playing with Jordan (8) and Kendall (6), going to the Dunes Club, going out in the boat, and our last visit with Brantley, Keri, and Charlie (18 mos).  Here are some pics from our trips to Morehead City this summer:

hammock time with Jordan and Kendall:

Going out in the boat is our very favorite!!

Harrison and Daddy even got to drive the boat some!

Anne and Charlie in the baby pool:

We had a wonderful dinner out, without kids, definitely a highlight!

enjoying the backyard swing Granddaddy built:

scooting around with Granddaddy:

Charlie loved giving Annie hugs!

Harrison in his camo, waiting to help Mommy attack Daddy with the water balloons!

snacks on the beach:

watching Fourth of July fireworks over the sound with Aunt Tracy, Ian, Jordan, and Kendall.

Jamie and I have a recurring debate about which beaches are nicer, North Carolina's or New Jersey's.  I think that we have both reluctantly agreed that they each have their strengths.  Ocean City is the most incredible beach to take young kids.  The boardwalk is awesome, especially if you see it through the eyes of your child.  It is filled with the most incredible rides, junk food, and tacky shops, along with my favorite book store anywhere.  We also love biking around the beautiful homes and manicured yards each morning and love taking outdoor showers.  The breezes are a bit cooler but that means that the water is cool COLD, which is hard for this southern girl to get used to.  North Carolina's beaches are a lot less crowded, the water is much warmer, and we LOVE going out in Granddaddy's boat but we sure do miss that boardwalk when we are there.  The good news is that we don't have to choose and that we can enjoy the strengths of both.  I would say that we are lucky enough indeed!

our little ham

No, this isn't another fat baby post.  I'm talking about Anne's personality.  Our girl is so full of personality that I will be very surprised if she isn't a class clown.  It may just be her age, or those squeezable rolls, or her bright red curls, but I can't take her in a store without having several people gush over her.  Especially the grandmas.  Those old ladies seriously love them a red haired baby.  I even had one lady in New Jersey tell us, in a serious hushed voice, "She is going to be Miss America."  (of course, I was thinking PLEASE NO).  In fact, she has gotten so used to all the attention that she now expects it.  If someone walks by and does not comment, she will lean towards them, wave frantically, and flash her biggest smile.  And, don't get me started on our recent airplane trip.  That girl thought she was Naomi Campbell when we were walking towards our seat, smiling and waving at everyone on either side of the isle.  The smile she does when she thinks she is being cute is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.  It is definitely not her natural smile but I can tell that she thinks it is her most charming one.  She scrunches up her nose and squints her eyes really tight and tilts her head up, and smiles.  I've tried to capture it on camera but I think I'll have to break out the camera in the grocery store to really catch her in action.  This is my best attempt but it really isn't close to portraying her ridiculousness.

Gosh, I love that girl.

chunky

Anne is known for her chunky thighs.  Seriously, I have never heard so many comments about a girl's size before.  We took the kids to the Farmers Market a few weeks ago and I am guessing that we probably had about 11 people say something to us about her chubbiness.  Most of the people said something to us directly but I did overhear one woman point to Anne and say (in a nice way), "look how FAT that baby is."  One guy told me "my daughter was, ummm, healthy, at that age too," and a receptionist at a doctor's office once asked me if she could pinch her rolls (and she did too).
The other day I sitting with Anne and Harrison and I said "look at her thighs Harrison, they are called chunky thighs" and I squeezed Anne's thigh as I said it.  Harrison said "chunky thighs" and squeezed her too.  Then, without skipping a beat he squeezed my leg and said, "look Mom, you have chunky thighs too!"  I sure did learn my lesson on that one!

just like Cabo!

We were driving back from the beach today when all of a sudden Harrison screamed "I need a pull-up" which is Harrison-speak for "I'm about to go pee/poo in my pants!!"  Of course, we were on a deserted stretch of highway so I had to pull over for an emergency pit stop.  After he peed on the grass on the side of the road he said "I pee-peed in the grass, just like Cabo!  That was SO funny!"

uh oh, I have a feeling that won't be the last time Harrison pees in the grass.

impromptu beach trip

We were sitting around on this past lazy Sunday morning when Jamie said that he just got notice of a 7:45 am meeting in Wilmington the next day.  I said, why don't we come and stay with you?  I got online and found a great deal at an oceanfront hotel in Wrightsville and we started packing.  We dropped Cabo off at the Doggy Daycare and were at the beach about 2 hours later.  Just one of the many perks of living in North Carolina!  

Here is a picture of Jamie and Anne enjoying happy hour!

While Jamie spent the day in meetings, the kids and I went for a long walk on the beach, went to a park, and enjoyed our impromptu trip!  This is definitely the upside of being a stay at home mom!  Oh, and when we got home tonight Harrison gave me a big hug and said, "I love you Mom."  All is forgiven :)

he cut me like a knife

wow.  Harrison just rocked my world, and not in a good way.  I was busy picking up the bowling pins after I had played bowling with him on our kitchen floor and he looked up at me and said, "I don't like you Mommy.   I don't love you."  Seriously, out of nowhere.  I wasn't even scolding him or anything!  I sat down with him and asked him why he had said that and he said, "I don't want to be your friend.  I just want Daddy."  I actually got a tear in my eye.  Now, I know I said hateful things to my parents, SEVERAL times, and if I have not apologized enough before now then I am so sorry.  I know he didn't mean it (I think??) but it hurt all the same.  I guess the days of him being a mama's boy are officially over! Oh well, at least my skin will be tough by the time those teenage years roll around.

Here's hoping for a better parenting day tomorrow!!

Groundhog Hour

This is something that we've been dealing with for a while, but it is REALLY starting to get to us!  I feel like we have the same 20 conversations over and over with Harrison, and nothing ever changes.  I'm starting to feel like its a toddler version of groundhog day but instead of waking up to the same day each morning, the conversation repeats itself each hour.  Here is an example:

Harrison:  Can I watch tv when we get home?
Me:  No, but you can watch some after nap time if you take a good nap.
Harrison:  Can I watch tv please?
Me:  Harrison, what did I just say to you?
Harrison:  Can I watch tv please?
Me:  The answer is No, don't ask me again.
Harrison:  (Now in a VERY whiny voice) Can I watch tv???I just want to watch tv??Only for 5 minutes??I WANT TO WATCH TV!!!
Me:  You may eat your strawberries first and then it is straight to nap time.
Harrison:  Can I watch tv while I eat strawberries?
Me:  No, get it through your head that you may only watch tv after your nap time, IF you take a good nap.
Harrison:  BUT, I WANT TO WATCH TV BEFORE (crying hysterically by now)
Me:  (silence - because I'm counting in my head how long until it is 5 o'clock and I can have a glass of wine.)
Harrison:  (I've tuned him out by this point but it involves lots of whining and crying and the word tv.)
Me:  ok, I've had enough.  you need to learn that No, means No!  and he went kicking and screaming to bed.

We repeat this style of conversation several times a day.  It isn't always about tv.  Just this afternoon, we were trying to get into the car to go to the pool and he refused to climb in his car seat through his car door and instead wanted to climb in through the trunk door.  I provided a very reasonable explanation that the double stroller and pool toys were blocking the way and that he needed to climb in the car the normal way.  And, thus started the above cited style of conversation with me saying lots of Nos, and him whining, screaming, and pleading.

I'm at my wits end with this behavior!!  Is there an age where kids will miraculously started saying "ok, I see your point."  Or, even, "darn it mom, I really wanted to see that show but I won't throw a fit about it."  I think I may actually faint if I ever hear those words come out of his mouth.  I refuse to give in just to avoid a scene.  We did that enough when he was much younger but now he's at the age where he should be learning that his actions have consequences and that we won't change our mind if he asks us something 122 times in a row.

whew, any advice on how to handle this stage??

bless his little happy halloween heart

This will be the fourth Halloween that Harrison will have participated in, and the child is just as clueless about the whole process this year as he when he was ten months old and learning to crawl in that adorable bear costume.  Somehow during story time tonight, the conversation turned into what he should dress up as for Halloween this year.  I reminded him earlier that he had been a cow last year and Annie had been a ladybug.  So, he naturally said that was what he would be again.  Then, I had to explain how he could choose to dress as anything that he wanted, within reason.  As an example, I said he could be a different animal than he was last year or he could be a character off a show or movie.  He seemed confused by this, so I gave the Fresh Beat Band as an example that he could dress up as one of the band members and this idea took off like a rocket ship.  He loved it!!  The problem I foresee with this costume is that (a) unless you are a preschooler or a parent of a preschool who watches too much tv, you won't know who he is, and (b) you have to find 3 other bandmates, which would likely be mommy, daddy, and annie.  So, I then tried to get he and Annie to be the minions for Jamie, as Gru, and me, and Vector, from Despicable me, but now he's stuck on Fresh Beat.  That poor child takes after me in the sense that he lacks any creative bone in his body.  Anyway, for those of you lucky enough to be unfamiliar with this cast of characters, the Fresh Beat Band is a show about four high school band members; one wears yellow, one pink, one blue, and one orange.  Harrison immediately knew that he wanted to be Shout, one of the male members, and that he wanted me one of the girl members (not Marina, who would naturally be played by Annie with her red hair).  So, I asked him which male member would daddy be.  He didn't know the other name so I asked him whether Daddy would be the black one or white one?   He thought for a second and then said, I don't think the shirts are white or black but maybe yellow and blue.  I can't articulate why I loved his answer but it really struck a chord with me in that it seems that race has not yet really entered into his consciousness yet.  Maybe he had never heard anyone being described by their race before, but he really seemed to have been thoroughly confused by the idea of one guy being black and one white.  Anyway, I'm probably reading more into than what was there but it was a nice realization that at least for these first several years, he more identifies people by the color of their shirt then by the color of their skin.  What a wonderful thought!

five year anniversary trip

It has been a long time since I posted anything, due in part to the constant demands of my new bosses (see prior post) but mostly due to fun, summer travels!!  Since I had already requested vacation leave prior to my new job, Jamie and I were able to travel to Costa Rica in early June for our five year anniversary!  What a wonderful vacation that was!  I had planned to sleep and read a lot, but we didn't end up doing much of either.  We were too busy!  I used to wonder why vacation resorts had gyms, but that was before we had kids.  Now I know!  We took advantage of our free time to take a yoga class and go on several hikes,

go on a vigorous kayaking adventure and go snorkeling, and try out zip lining, which was awesome.

Of course, we also made time to go to the spa, takes lots of walks on the beach, and watch gorgeous sunsets.

We capped off our vacation with a private dinner on the beach on our actual anniversary, June 10.

All in all, it was a perfect vacation and we loved every single second of it!