Walking Gifts

We have walkers! It official. They don't crawl anymore. They walk. We have 2 walking 13 month olds. And it's true what they say- twins walk in opposite directions. We've enjoyed a few nice days this week with no snow on the ground and the temp in the 50's. Ethan rides his bike and Cal and Teagan walk around the block. Although, I've realized the smartest thing to do when taking these guys on a walk is to put one twin in the stroller and let one walk. Then let them switch.

A couple months ago we bought Cal and Teagan presents to give to them when they started walking. Today they got to open their gifts.

They loved walking around the house with their "animal backpacks" on. They walked around the house for an hour with the harnesses on and they loved it. Now that they're comfortable wearing the packs we'll head outside tomorrow. We'll see if we make it to the corner.

Let's get walkin'!

Paradise Island

You know, I thought we were out of our minds to take 3 kids, two of which would be forced to sit on our laps, on a 4 hour plane ride to another country. Plus, according to airline regulations, 2 lap babies can't be seated in the same row. Does that sound like torture or what?! We would have been split up. That's when we called in reinforcement. Auntie Shalene came to Cozumel with us! She was a lifesaver. We had a 1:1 ratio of adult to child on the flight and that made a huge difference.

Still, for weeks before we left I was second guessing our decision to go to Mexico and expecting the worst on the plane- crying, screaming, pacing the isle of the plane, and fearing nasty looks and comments by other travelers.

It turns out, if you expect the worst the outcome can only be as expected or possibly better. There was plenty of pacing, calming bored, tired and unhappy babies, and entertaining a tired Ethan with ear pain on the plane. Overall, it was slightly better than the worst we expected. We survived the day of travel and it was worth it!

We had perfect weather, 80 and sunny every day. We played at the beach, swam in the pools, snorkeled and swam in the ocean, ate the best food every day, and tipped back a few shots of tequila. Oh, and we enjoyed a little Wii during our down time, or drunk time. Bob managed to bowl upside down after he fell off the chair and somehow I twisted my ankel getting a strike. There are plenty more stories...for another time.

Teagan and Cal were walking all over the place. Teagan did laps around the pool. Cal was a fish! The boy loves the water.

Ethan loved swimming every day, playing soccer on the beach and feeding the ocean wildlife. And every morning at 7am asked us, "Do you want to play Wii Mini-Golf?"

Nick and I got to relax as Bob, DR and Shalene took over a lot of the childcare duties. And the kids had a great time with thier "Gamma & Bompa" who they hadn't seen since Christmas. We all had a wonderful vacation on paradise island.

Here are a few of the best of the 200 pictures I took:

30

happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear meee, I am now 30.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and the lovely singing. I've had a great birthday weekend already with friends and family and we're headed to Mexico on Friday for more celebrating.

Watch out Cozumel- Hurricane Walton is coming...