Having some fun...

Me: Jack let's go ride the swings.
Jack: NO
Me: Come on it will be fun.
Jack: NO!

Happy Birthday

Since Sean and I have been married I have attempted several times to throw him big parties, some were supposed to be surprises, others were not, some were successful others were ok. When it came down to planning this years birthday Sarah H. and I had many ideas. We try to do joint parties since our husbands are best friends and their birthday's are two days apart, well that is when Sean has an official birthday (his birthday is leap day for those of you who don't know). In the end we decided it would be more fun just to go out the four of us and celebrate and do some of their favorite things. We took them to Tucano's Brazilian Grill to fill up on all the meat you can eat. Everything was yummy and most of it was wrapped in bacon.

After dinner we took them to ride Go-Kart's. They had some awesome lap times, as long as I didn't get in the way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Round and round it goes...

I had just finished putting in a load of laundry when I found Jack in the office, with his truck propped up against the mirror. I couldn't figure out what he was doing until I stood and watched him for a few minutes. He was mesmerized by the spinning parts on his truck. He stood in front of the mirror for at least fifteen minutes just spinning and spinning then staring and staring. It was pretty funny that such a simple thing could catch his attention for so long.

Movie Review

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

I love Kevin James, didn’t love this movie. It had a couple bits of humor but not enough to continue to write.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Cate Blanchett really brings this time piece movie to life. Benjamin Button (played by Brad Pitt) is a story of a person who physically ages backwards. The romantic aspect of this drama can be daunting and tends to play tricks on your mind when you try and remember how old Benjamin Button mentally is. I liked this movie and will watch it again.

The Tale of Despereaux

What happened to fun kids movies with lots of action that will keep even the most active 2 year old at bay? Despereaux is horribly boring. If you go to it thinking you will see tons of adventure from a cute little mouse…you thought wrong. It’s about a rat who accidentally brought on a great depression over a town. Maybe the book is better.

Taken

Liam Neeson (Batman Begins) is retired from his government job as a spy which has destroyed his family life. His only daughter wants to tour Europe with a friend for the summer. Being a protective father and with his knowledge of the creeps out there he tells her daughter no. Later he is talked into signing the documents and the fun begins. The action starts very quickly. Taken is a lot more deep than some guy hunting down a kidnapper. There are many adult situations and content. Overall I enjoyed this movie and came out of it with the skills necessary to find my non-existent daughter if she were ever taken.

President's Day

Every President's Day my family hits the slopes. Sadly this year we were missing half of our family due to colds. So early Monday morning those who were well enough climbed into the cars and headed up to Wolf Creek (Nordic Vally) in Eden.

My mom and I had the task of entertaining the little boys and lets just say there isn't much to do in Eden in the winter. So we went to the Valley Market and stuck the boys in this cart/car. They loved it!! When it was time to get out they were not very happy with us.

When the skiers came down for lunch we bundled up the little boys for a little snow time and sledding. We won't point fingers but somehow the sleds didn't make it into the cars but that didn't stop us, we used snowboards instead.

The kind benefactors.

Jack loved going by himself.

Matt, Melissa and Gabe

"Uh, isn't this supposed to be moving?"

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's my family got together for a turkey dinner, and LOTS of yummy treats.

Melissa and I cooking away in the kitchen.

The boys all went for a walk while the ladies prepared the food.

Ava, Jack and Gabe were subjected to a little photo shoot after dinner. Jack needed a little bribery to keep still but it ended up entertaining the other two as well.

Day Three

With the sun shining we finally felt like we were somewhere tropical.

First thing on our agenda that day was to go to church. It was a fun experience and I learned a lot. The people were extremely kind and I think I shook every ones hand in the whole branch.

After church we walked around and looked at the shops. We couldn't decide on anything to buy so we came home with all the money we left with!

I know, I know. Why would I post a picture of myself in a swimsuit. 1- because it is a cute suit (thanks Melissa). 2- to prove I actually put it on. I laid out for about twenty minutes before the sun retreating behind some clouds, so I retreated to more comfortable clothes.

Packing up to head home. So sad.

Day Two

The second day of the cruise was supposed to be spent on the beaches of Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean's private island. But due to really windy weather and choppy water they couldn't safely get us on land. So we shipped out for Nassau, which meant another day on the boat. We played games and got in a heated match of dodgeball. That night was the fancy dinner so we got to get all dressed up!!

Justin eating escargot. Ugh.

Chase and McKay

All of us (minus Rick who was the cameraman).

Justin and Megan

When the boat finally made it to Nassau that evening we jumped off to do a little shopping, and to just walk around. Sadly we found out that everything closed up around 6, so unless we were looking for a club we were out of luck. It was a nice change of scenery though.

Bahama's... here we come!!

The BIG Martin Family vacation this year was a cruise to the Bahama's!! Rick loves cruises and it didn't take much to convince the rest of us to come along.

Sean's excitement at finally making through all of the "fun filters" and actually being able to get on the boat!!

The oh so fun required muster.

While waiting for the ship to leave me, Sean, Chase, and McKay started a game of speed. As you can tell from the photo all the little kids wanted to join in.

Since we aren't big gamblers we spent a lot of time playing speed Scrabble and a card game called Beans.

Cousins

Jack and Gabe riding the "Sit and Spin" together.

Jack and Raiyah (second cousins) had been sharing everything all night, pretzels, raisins, chairs, so when it was time to go to bed he just couldn't part with her.

One afternoon Jack and I were watching Andrew, who was really tired but didn't want to go to sleep. Jack tried everything to help him, even climbing in the play pen to show him how to lay down. As you can see from Andrew's tears it didn't work.