Mexico 2012

I am catching up on my blogging.  I have had several people ask if I intend to continue writing or if it was a one time thing.  My intent was to compile a journal of sorts and so far I am failing miserably.  So I am going to catch up on the last few months.  Starting with our trip to Mexico in May 2012, less Greyson!

Our first trip with just the two of us since our honeymoon.  It was long overdue! We had a blast in Mexico.  Neither of us had ever been there, so it was exciting to travel somewhere different.  Jun had never even been outside Canada or the states.  It took a while for me to find the perfect place for us to stay at, but after lots of good recommendations from friends, we decided on Bahia Principe Sian Ka'an.

I'll start out by saying I was worried about leaving Greyson.  I definitely shed a few tears saying goodbye to him in the wee hours of the morning as we left for the airport.  He was in good hands though with both sets of grandparents and cousins, so we didn't need to worry.  I doubt he even noticed we were gone.  Every time we tried to skype he seemed like he had better things to do than talk to us!

We were staying about an hour away from the airport, and instead of paying for transportation out there, we decided to rent a car.  It was barely more expensive, and I think it was worth it to be able to go wherever, whenever.  I was nervous about the crazy roads, but Jun is a pro at driving fast and crazy so he fit right in.

Our hotel was beautiful, and it was part of the larger Bahia Principe resort.  We were in a portion located on a pristine golf course.  It was a bit of a jaunt to the beach, but there were constantly trams ready to take us down there, so I didn't mind the distance at all.  Our resort was much smaller and quieter than the other areas.  The nice thing was we could use all the restaurants and amenities at all the different resorts, but our area was exclusive to Sian Ka'an guests.

The first day we spent the afternoon at the beach.  This is the last time I will go on a tropical vacation after a long cold Alberta winter without doing a little pre-tanning.  I was burnt to a crisp.  The strange thing about the sun in the Caribbean is that you can't tell AT ALL that you are burning.  I literally had no idea.  In Canada you can tell.  Your skin just starts to feel really hot and looks red!  I wore sunscreen all day and had no clue.  It was bad.  It pretty much took me out of sun commission for the next three days.  Luckily we had golf planned the next day, and because of my burn, the day after as well.  Jun was burned a little too, but definitely not as bad a me.  He is blessed with a much darker complexion.

Day four was Sunday and we enjoyed a relatively sun-free day at Church in Playa del Carmen, and walking around the ruins at Tulum.  It was cool to see a city built so many years ago, and so rich in history. The beach there was also gorgeous.  Turquoise waters and the softest white sand.  See pics below.

Day five was spent shopping in Playa del Carmen.  We bought mostly gifts for our families and Greyson.  Jun was determined to find an authentic Mexican embroidered shirt for Greyson for less than $20 American.  After offending one store owner, and bartering unsuccessfully with a few more.  I walked into a store and bought one for just under 20 dollars without any bartering.  Bartering is not really my strong suit.  Justin was a little disappointed he didn't score some amazing bartering deal, but it was fun nonetheless.

Day six was the highlight of the trip.  We went on our one and only excursion to Xel-Ha.  Such a cool place.  It is hard to explain, but the gist is that it is a big cove with many inlets off the main cove.  The cove is fresh water, that mixes withe the salt water from the ocean.  It is a great place to snorkel and there are so many cool things to see and do in all the different coves and during a long walk around the outside of the park.  Very cool.

Day seven was spent at the beach enjoying our last day in the sun.  The water there was a lovely shade of teal, and it was as warm as bathwater.  I would love to go back someday!

On day 8 we unfortunately had some bad luck in our return to the airport.  I hope we laugh about it one day, but we had someone steal money from us at a gas station, and some major problems with the rental car return (to make a long story short, they accused us of switching the spare tire from the trunk with a flat, non-compatible one…really?…does that seem like something we would do???)

All in all it was great to get out on a vacation with my husband!  We had a great time and would love to do it again soon.  We were definitely happy to get back to our little man though.  He was happy to see us, and he didn't forget us at all like I was afraid of.

Krista

 

Greyson Turns 1!!!

For starters I would just like to say that I can't believe I have a one year old.  Time flies.  I'm also not sure how I feel about him being a 'toddler' instead of a 'baby'.  They seriously grow up too fast…
So the big day was fast approaching and I obviously wanted to throw him a bday party with all his buddies!  Birthday parties for one year olds are definitely more for the parents than the kids, but you can't help but do it.  It 100% causes more stress than a one year old's birthday party should cause, but there I was, caught up in it all.  Seems like these days you have to go all out too! Like people making their kids elaborate cakes and decorations and themes and what-not!  That is not really the kind of person I am, but I did, in an attempt to be crafty and creative, go to way too much trouble to make sports themed cupcakes.  The whole party was sports themed…if you could really call it a theme…it was pretty minor...we used duct tape a little more than I think you should at a kids birthday party, but I'm not a perfectionist so it got the job done.  
Unfortunately Greyson's two male buddies were unable to make it, so like usual he was surrounded by the ladies.  Blakely, Kinnley, and Cali all made it to the event, and they seriously brought their A-game!  The 'Baby Olympics' consisted of four events: Cheerio eating contest, 2.5 yard dash (aka crawling race), shot-put, and 'pin the medal on the athlete' (assisted by willing parents).  
Let me start out by saying, I grossly underestimated Blakely's ability to pound back Cheerios.  She may have been the feather-weight of the group, but she was the only baby who could pay enough attention to their own snack to actually finish it.  She won by a landslide!  So Blakely snags the first medal (and there were literally medals - we don't joke around about competitions in this house).  
The next event was the crawling contest. (Duct tape start and finish line…).  First I will point out that there were really only two serious competitors in this race, seeing as how neither Kinnley nor Blakely were crawling yet.  But there's a first time for everything, right?  So fair game!!!  The race started out a little shaky with most kids being completely confused why everyone was crowding around them and yelling, (I think Greyson even shed a few tears) but it picked up once Cali figured out what was going on and started to bee-line it for her mom who was luring her with a cell phone (a baby favorite).  Unfortunately Cali could have had the race completed in about 5 seconds but she decided to pull-up short about 2 inches from the finish line for a little break.  This is where Greyson made his move.  He sped as fast as his little legs could carry him all the way to the duct tape, where he too, got distracted just before the line.  In somewhat of an anti-climactic finish Cali put one hand over the finish line and it was all over.  She was crowned the champion.  
Shot-put.  We figured Greyson had this one in the bag.  He's got a good arm on him and we often refer to him as QB1 (those of you who have watched Friday Night Lights will understand).  I don't know what happened to our little QB1.  Maybe it was all the pressure, maybe it was something he ate, it is still a bit of a mystery to us, but he tanked.  Looked like he forgot how to throw a ball, if you could even call it throwing.  After three rounds Cali took home her second medal of the night.  (In the following pictures, you will notice we used duct tape again to mark where the balls landed).  
We knew Greyson only had one more shot at a medal.  He and Kinnley were the only ones empty-handed at this point.  He had to put it all on the line in 'pin the medal on the athlete'.  Once again he came up short.  He got beat by all the girls.  Kinnley walked away with this one, and all three girls had metals.  We told Greyson he won and gave him a medal anyways.  It hangs proudly in his room.  
Now that the olympic torch had been put out we decided it was time to let Greyson go to town on a cupcake.  He seemed a bit tentative at first, and it took him a good 15 minutes to get through it, but I think he enjoyed it.  A picture is worth a thousand words. See Below.  


Krista

The competitors and their numbered bibs.
I hate our camera by the way.  Every photo is blurry and it is currently away being fixed for the second time...

The race!!!

The First Year

What a wild ride!  Having a kid is crazy.  Nothing can prepare you for it.  But it is wonderful! (Maybe not everyday, but collectively haha).  So the first year consisted of a lot of breastfeeding, changing diapers, and napping.  We especially enjoyed our 6 week holiday from mid July to the end of August with Justin.  He gets 6 weeks off school in the summer, which seems too short to get a job, so we holiday the whole time! Can wait for this year's summer already!  Greyson went on his first plane ride to Arizona (which was the first of four plane trips to date), to Summerland (which will be a summertime staple, I'm sure), and he even climbed Crypt in Waterton.  He also flew to Ontario to visit his Great Great Grandma and to tour some church history sites.  It was an adventurous summer.
Greyson finally learned to crawl in the fall (he had been scooting around on the furniture for a while before he finally mastered this skill) and things got crazy from there.  Nothing was safe anymore.  Greyson and I also attempted a trip to Las Vegas in late October which only lasted about 6 hours because we found out the same day that my brother Aaron passed away.  Greyson and I will miss Uncle Aaron, it was a sad time for our family.  But a shout-out to all of the people that supported our  family during that time.  There were many.  We spend a few weeks on and off in Calgary for the next little while.  Everyone enjoyed having a sweet little spirit around to put a smile on your face when things were hard.
Greyson's first Christmas was a blast!  It was fun to have him around during the festivities!  I'm thinking next year might be a little more exciting when he will actually enjoy opening presents and get-it a little more, but none-the-less it was a blast!

Well that is my short sum-up of Greyson's first year.

Krista

p.s. Please see post from September 2011 for Greyson's first music video.  Starring Greyson and Kinnley McGale.

Hiking to Crypt Lake!

"Go Diamondbacks"!

Flying!

Summerland

The great lakes!

5 generation picture!

Niagara Falls

Kirtland Temple

Blogging...

Ok so this is my attempt at becoming a blogger. We'll see how long it lasts...  I figured I would jump on the bandwagon since it seems to be the thing to do these days.  It took a while for me to buy-in, but I can see the value in having a blog since I don't keep a journal of my day-to-day activities and I'm sure it will be good to look back on in the years to come and see what we were up to.  I apologize now to anyone who reads this who is sick of hearing about people's kids, because I can guarantee that 90% of this blog will be about Greyson.  I am going to attempt to recollect some highlights from the last 13 months or so, and then start at Greyson's 1st B-day.

Krista

Jump Jump - ft. Greyson Comfort & Kinnley McGale