Back to where it all began

We met Craig's parents in Puerto Vallarta for a vacation and a trip down memory lane. Craig and were married there a little over 4 years ago.

We stayed at the Westin at the Marina, which was nice. They have a great pool, a great kids club and a trampoline as well. The only bummer was that it rained about two and a half days, which really put a damper (pun intended) on our vacation. Not much to do in PV when it is pouring outside.

All in all, I still love Mexico and Puerto Vallarta especially. I definitely want to go back there every few years if we can.

Chloe making sure her wristband is on securely before going to swim with the dolphins. Well, we didn't actually swim, but we did get to pet, kiss and dance with a dolphin. And I got a very very sloppy kiss from a sea lion.


The woman who cleaned our room would leave these very cute towel animals.


Vacationing Craig style. Warm hot tub, cold beer!


Chloe actually took this shot of John & Ghislaine. She took about 50 pictures of them and I promised my mother in law I would delete them all. Oh well :-)


The portable DVD player, aka the babysitter. A godsend during the rainy days.


And 5 new Fancy Nancy books were quite a hit as well. Although Chloe would tell my French Canadian mother in law that she was mispronouncing the French words.


Kids club activity - Painting Pottery. This turned out to be a super cute pig and it actually made it home safely in the suitcase.


Kids club activity - Treasure Hunt. Chloe loved Tanya, the girl who ran the kids club.


One of our last nights we returned to the Vista Grill where we were married. The evening did not go exactly as planned. . next time Craig and I will go alone :-)


Poor Chloe. They had nothing that she wanted to eat at all. She had some bread, but never even got dessert.


Kids club activity - Pinata Party!


Chloe's turn!


Jumping on the trampoline with Ivy, a little girl we met at the pool.


I really wanted some new sunglasses but Mexican prices ain't what they used to be. I could not bargain this guy down low enough.


Chloe got tired of going downtown to dinner with Craig and I every night and opted to stay home this night. We had a great dinner at a place that they made fresh salsa tableside. Yum!


Cheers! This was our last night in Puerto Vallarta.


One last dip in the pool before heading to the airport . .


Posing with Daddy


Chloe absolutely fell more in love with her crazy Poppa on this trip. They loved being goofballs together.


and Poppa was forced to share his yellow hat with Chloe.


We bought Chloe this giraffe for the pool, but she did not want it to get wet so it spent the entire vacation here.


Dinner at the Mexican restaurant at the Marina. . this was the place to be at the Marina. If you love tequila, you would love this restaurant. They served shots with the margaritas, and then brought us baileys for dessert.


Chloe posing with the animals at the Westin

Bend it like ..

Chloe has been taking soccer lessons for a couple of months. I think she will probably soon be a soccer drop out (too many boys in the class I'm guessing, Chloe only likes "gurls".)

Anyway, here's a video of happier soccer times! Enjoy!

Another first

Today was Chloe's first visit to the dentist. Craig found a pediatric dentistry practice close to our house and let Chloe pick her own dentist from the pictures on the website. Of course she choose the dentist with the yellow hair and blue eyes, Noelle.

Chloe did really well. . their goal was just to get her comfortable with being there. They have a lot of fun things such as animals they can sit on, clocks with animals brushing their teeth, flavored colored gloves and of course, Chloe got a goody bag with a toothbrush and her own flosser.

All in all, a good visit. No issue with her teeth from her thumb sucking, so that is good to know. We go back in 6 months and then they will try to do a bit more. They were able to do a little brushing..Chloe was super brave!

Sitting in the dentist chair for the first time. I loved the stuffed animals everywhere. . they even have ones you can sit on top of!


A yewyow toothbrush. . yipee!


The dental hygienist showing Chloe what it will feel like to have her teeth cleaned


Chloe was brave enough to let her actually clean a few teeth.


Finally meeting with Noelle, her dentist.

A very sad day . .

Even though we had un-decorated her on Friday, today she was brought to the curb. Little Ms. Chloe shed a few tears, so we decided to go outside and take one last picture with her. This tree was good to us. . she barely shed any needles during her 2+ weeks with us.

I think only Zack was happy to see her go. . as she occupied the space usually occupied by his bed.

Playing Hide & Go Seek with Chloe

is quite funny! Tonight after I hid and she made Craig help her find me, she announced, "Now it is my turn to hide. I'm going to hide in the bedroom under the covers." And so we played.

Of course, and I'm not biased, she is also quite smart. Chloe has really been pushing our buttons at bedtime, anything to delay her being left alone in her room. The latest excuse she has come up with was that all the kisses I gave her wore off. Fortunately, Craig, the master story teller, found a good solution to that one. Last night he told her that the kisses float up to the ceiling and then come back down and kiss her all night long. Chloe really liked that answer. . we'll see what she comes up with next!

New Year's Eve

I don't know many people who actually stay up until midnight anymore on New Year's Eve. The friends I thought might actually left a party before midnight so they could be home before all the drunk drivers got on the road.

No worries for us, we were home well before 9 PM! We celebrated New Years with the Broadfeet and the Springgates.

The girls had fun playing together . .


but this guy had the best time. Callum sat in his high chair and ate for 2 hours straight. Applesauce, peaches, cheerios and Cooks Illustrated Lasagna. You go Callum!

Let it snow, let it snow,

let it snow!

Portland was surprised this afternoon with a whole bunch of snow . . so of course, we bundled up to take advantage of it. Good clean family fun!