Rolling, rolling, rolling

Benjamin has learned to roll over.  So he rolls and rolls and rolls over again and again.

Thanksgiving program

For Grace's Thanksgiving program.

All the first graders dressed like Indians in their dyed tshirts and headdresses.

They even made macaroni necklaces.  Adorable!

They sang several adorable songs.

Like the Turkey Tom and the Turkey Mom!

The Turkey on the Farm.

And even and Indian song. 

Then we headed back to the classroom for snacks.

And each child took turns telling everyone else what they are thankful for.  What an awesome program.

Dance like nobody's watching

Sometimes I envy my kids.  I envy their freedom of expression, their complete lack of inhibition, and their ability to find utter delight in the simplest of things.  Take our recent trip to Best Buy for example.  Grace was wearing clothes that she picked out with her rain boots on the wrong feet.  Yeah, that's how we roll around here.  And Grace was totally and completely confident in her wardrobe choice - leggings because they're "soft pants" and a shirt with her name on it "so everybody will know my name's Grace."  Then, Grace discovered some headphones she wanted to sample.  And she rocked out to the tunes only she could hear.  And you know what?  Grace couldn't care less if anybody was watching or what they thought.  She just felt the urge to dance and she went with it.  Just imagine how much happier we could be if we would only follow our children's examples.

So, today take a lesson from Grace.  Wear clothes that are comfy and be confident in your choice.  Put your shoes on the wrong feet because that's what the cool kids do.  Get loose and groove to your own personal rhythm.  Rock to the music in your head. And dance like nobody's watching. 

Then, post it on youtube so I can laugh myself silly. 

Faith plays with her spin toy

Grace sings a song about 5 little monkeys teasing Mr. Alligator

Grace walks in her first fashion show

Our local Belks was having a children's fashion show this weekend and Grace participated.

She got to select whatever she wanted to wear from their fall line. 

 Of course, she picked a dress with pink in it!

 Grace liked posing in the dressing room.

And making silly faces, too.  She's such a character!  After she was dressed, we went to the practice room to practice walking.  Grace didn't want to practice.  She suddenly turned shy and buried her head in my leg and whispered, "I don't want to."  So I told her she didn't have to and we could go home.  But first she had to take her dress off.  She didn't want to do that either.  Then it was time to line up!  So I put her in line and walked away.  Of course, I sneaked back through the clothes trying to hide from her to see how she was doing.  I was fully prepared to pull her out of the fashion show at the first sign of tears or fright.

 To my surprise, she was having a great time chatting up all the other girls around her.

 And then she called me silly!  So I finally left feeling a little less nervous for her.

Until I saw the crowd ready to watch the show.  There were so many people that I couldn't find room to sit or stand at the end of the makeshift runway.  So I stood by the models instead.  Can you find David?  He's peeking out from the crowd.  He managed to find a seat so he could record Grace.

 Before we knew it, Grace was up!

 She looked a little nervous nibbling on her fingernails.

 But then Grace marched right out there like she owned that runway!

 And she stopped on the flower just like she was supposed to.

She posed there for a bit until everyone clapped and then she walked off her runway like it was no big deal.  I would have never believed she was nervous and shy and didn't even practice.  She was so sweet and confident.  Just like her Daddy.  I would have been a nervous wreck in her shoes.  But then again, I'm an introvert.   

Here's the video of Grace's first fashion show!

She enjoyed it so much that she said she wanted to do it again. 

Grace says a blessing

Watch as Faith dances "bit by bit"

Watch how Grace gets in her bed

Watch as Faith takes some of her first steps!

It's peanut butter jelly time!

First, we feed Faith pieces of a "peanut butter sandwich and jelly."

 Faith inspects it carefully.

 Then smooshes it into her mouth.

 Licks it all off her fingers.

 Then she throws her hands in the air or rubs her head.

And smiles so sweetly.  And sometimes, if she feels like it, she will even dance for us.

Grace's secret picnic

Cruise Day 3: Calica, Mexico

Today we arrived in Calica, Mexico and David and I went on our first excursion on this cruise.

It was called ATV, Cavern, and Snorkel.  It was incredible! 

It started by taking a short bus ride to a small haciendia.

There we were provided with an ATV, bandana, helmet, and goggles. 

This was a serious expedition!

And we were off down the trails.  It was immediately apparent what purpose the bandanas served.

That ride was rough!  I jiggled and jostled in places I didn't know could jiggle or jostle.  I almost fell off a couple of times.  And there was once that I thought I was going to flip.  It's doubly hard driving an ATV on those rocky paths and video taping at the same time. 

David looks really tough doesn't he?  Almost like a bandit!

Soon we arrived at some caverns.

And we went exploring.

There were some really tight spots in those caves.

And bats!  But they were just fruit bats.

I'm glad we had our helmets on.  I knocked my noggin more than once on the ceiling.

This was our exit.

Then we hiked back to our ATVs and continued on.

Our next stop was this cenote (see-NO-tay).

It was quite stunning.

And oh so refreshing.  Yes, we hopped right in without a second thought.  It was hot outside!

In this part of Mexico, all the rivers are underground.  This is where the stream entered the pool.

You'd never guess that 10 feet below there was a little cave with fresh water rushing in.  We asked our guide if you could swim up it and he said no.  He tried it before and almost drowned because there are no air pockets to be found.

The cenote was quite large and so serene. 

Like a little piece of hidden paradise.

It was one of my favorite parts of the excursion.

After a while, we dried off and headed back to our ATVs.

Then we rode to a sparkling beach.

See the bubbling water?  That's another underground river feeding into the ocean.  We snorkeled the whole cove area.  All around the water is salty but around the bubbles was pure fresh water.  It was the neatest thing.  David and I forced our heads down to see what it looked like and it was like a deep, dark tunnel.  I've never seen anything like it.

The whole beach area was gorgeous.

Like a picture from a postcard.  We snorkeled for a really long time.  And swam the entire cove.  It was exhausting, but exhilirating as well.  We saw some amazing fish.  A sting ray as big as David.  Angel fish in abundance.  A baracuda.  A box fish - I only know it was a box fish because, well, it looked like a box.  And my friend Cas used to have one in his aquarium.  We saw so many other amazingly colorful and interesting fish that I'm sorry I don't know what to call them.  It was one of the best snorkeling adventures we've been on.

Afterwards, we were pretty tired. 

But we hopped back onto the ATVs to head back to the hacienda.  And our bus.  Along the way we saw this coconut tree.

It's a pretty famous tree.  Do you recognize it?

It's been used in two different Corona commercials.  It looks just like a postcard.  Or a commercial.

Then we headed back to the cruise port.

There were vendors and shops all along the port.

But we didn't buy anything.

We headed back to the ship and ate some sushi.

And watched the sun set.   We had an awesome day.  Our excursion was intense, exhilirating, and unlike anything we'd ever done before.  And I would do it again in an instant.  I loved every moment of it.