Jamaica - 2010

**Caution - picture overload!**

To get the full effect of this blog, turn on some reggae music, make yourself a mai tai and enjoy! Our trip to Jamaica was amazing. We stayed at a great resort, met some fantastic new friends and had plenty of time to relax and forget what day to was. The weather was great, not too hot (unlike our first stop in Texas!) and on two afternoons a cool thunderstorm came over the resort and dropped a little liquid sunshine (read: rain!). Since we were already in the pool when it was raining, we just kept on hanging out. What's the big deal if you get rained on when you're in the pool! Note to readers: we did get out once the lightening showed up!!

So, here it is....our vacation in pictures....

This is the beach side of the resort

This is the mountain side of the resort. This is where all of the cool thunder clouds would form each afternoon!

Dinner the first night. So happy to be at an all-inclusive resort and not have to pay a bill after each meal/drink. I kept saying everything was free but Brian would remind me it was included!! I made sure we ate and drank our monies worth!

Adrian cooking at the open grill.
That is our new friend Steve in the background.

One of the many towel animals they make for you each day and leave for you in the room. Super cute but one night the flowers had ants on them. Not so cute that night!

Ahhhh.....

Cloudy sunset

Look, we're at dinner again!

Brian trying out his skills at tossing an egg.

Eating again!

The view from our hotel room and our new friends!

Our new friends hanging out.
Back row: Brian, Steve, Marie and Stacey
Front Row: Me, Kasia and Melanie

Yes ladies, that's my husband! I'm so proud.
*As a side note: he was cut off soon after that "dance"!

I'm in Jamaica!!

So Happy!

We had some amazing sunsets.

Toga Night!
They told us not to take the sheets off our bed and that they would give us togas. What they gave us was no more than a strip of cloth that barely covered the "twins".

Cheers!

Hanging out at the pool bar. I'm trying to get Brian to install this feature in the hot tub. He doesn't think we can afford to have a bar tender on staff though! ;)

Yep, we're silly!

Brian, Me, Kasia and Steve

All of us at dinner on the last night.
Back Row: Joe, Cody, Steve, Kasia and Marie
Front Row: Melanie, Stacey, Brian and Me

On one of the days we took an off-site excursion. We rode in an open air jeep up to the top of the Jamaican mountains and through a bunch of little towns. We also stopped at one of the Blue Mountain coffee plantations. At the end of the tour we climbed up the Dunns River Falls.

*The following pictures were taken with an underwater camera. Note to self: underwater cameras don't take very good above water shots!

Up in the Jamaican Mountains

Dunns River Falls

Yah Mon! No problem!

The number one reason we chose to go to Jamaica was so we could go SCUBA diving. We managed to go 4 times and had a blast. We were having so much fun that Kasia and Steve decided to take the class and come with us on the last three dives.

Brian, Me, Kasia and Steve

Me and Brian

Thanks to my mom and dad who took care of Andrew while we were in Jamaica and to Jen and Zippy who watched Bella for us. We've managed to retrain Andrew and Bella back to the rules of the house again!

Stay tuned for our next trip...Tahiti 2012. Who's coming with us?!

Texas!

I know where all of the California heat is going this summer.....Texas! While we've been having an abnormally cool summer here, Texas is in the middle of a heat wave. And when did we decide to visit? During the heat wave, lucky us!

Brian and I spent a few days in Texas before we left Andrew with my mom and dad and headed off to Jamaica. He had an amazing time and lots of fun.

He spent every day in the pool. By the time we came back from Texas, he could swim with just his vest on by himself.

Of course we had to take a plane ride while we were there!

Gpa sharing his milkshake with Andrew!

As if flying in a real plane isn't enough, they had to play with remote control planes too!
(Look for a post later this week about this plane)

Spikey hair boy

Gpa and Gma took Andrew to the zoo one day while we were gone.

Riding the train with Gma.

Helping Gpa mow the front lawn

Thanks so much to my mom and dad for watching Andrew while we sat on the beach in Jamaica. Andrew had a lot of fun and keeps asking where you are and saying Yee Haw! He can't wait to come back to visit again soon!

Wordless Wednesday

All Clean!

Happy 100th Birthday Grandma Wing!

Brian's grandma turns 100 years old today! Wow, what a milestone. I can't even image how much the world has changed in 100 years. On Sunday, the Wing family through Gladys a huge birthday party. Brian's cousins came from all over the country and friends and family gathered to celebrate this very special occasion. It was so great to see everyone and get together.

Waiting for Grandma Wing to arrive

The birthday lady is here!

Happy party boy!

Andrew was done by this point and didn't want anything to do with taking a picture.

The Wing Family

Tahoe Weekend of Fun!

*note: this should have been posted on 7/26*

Wow! We just got back from a fun weekend in Tahoe. Andrew, Jen, Grevin and I went up to "relax" and see the Colato family. What Jen and I forgot was, without daddy's coming along to, the boys were our sole responsibility all weekend long! We're just lucky that Andrew and Grevin get along so well and they were able to entertain each other while the mommies relaxed!

We wasted no time once we got there and went straight to the pool. Andrew and Grevin loved that they could splash around and be independent.

Seriously, this kid has no fear of the water!

Mom, stop taking my picture and help me bounce on the pole!

On Saturday we headed out to King's Beach to let the boys play. They had a great time digging in the sand and watching everyone. Andrew and I put our toes in the water and my memory was correct...it was COLD!

Andrew managed to weasel his way into a badminton game. There were people playing next to us and Andrew was very curious about what they were doing. They were nice enough to give us two rackets and the ball thing.

After Kings Beach we took the drive over the mountain to see the Colato family. The boys had such a great time playing in the pool!

The mommies and the babies.

Make-A-Wish Auction Event

In May, the winery hosted their annual Make-A-Wish event. This is an amazing event where 800 people come together to raise money for children in Northern California. It is a very touching event knowing that every dollar raised goes towards making a very sick child's wish come true. Perhaps it hit home even more now that we are parents of a happy, healthy boy. In the spirit of the event, Brian bid on one of the live auction lots. Lesson to me: don't leave the table and Brian in charged of the bidding paddle. At least the money goes to a good cause, right?!

So, two weekends ago (I know, I'm behind on my blogging) we went up to Tom and Brenda Simoneau's house for our wine tasting event. Originally it was supposed to be a class on wine making but our guest list was already educated in wine making so we changed it up a little! We did a double blind tasting (meaning no one had any clue what wine was in each bag) and had a Napa vs. Sonoma tasting. In the end, I'm sad to say that Napa got first place but I would like to point out that I liked the Sonoma wine the best!!

There was serious tasting that needed to be done.

We managed to take on the task with no problem.

Our Tasting Crew
Brian, Me, Mick, Linda, Sharon, Bob, Brenda and Tom