Daddy Daughter Dance

Hayden finaly got to go to a ball.  She was beyond excited as she had visions of a Royal Ball, like on Cinderella. She was excited that Daddy would go with her and that she would get a new fancy dress, those are the important things of course!  

We took the opportunity to stay in the hotel and of course you've gotta bounce on the beds when you check-in! Abbie's getting to be pretty good at it. 

Hayden loved to get all dressed up.  She decided on curls in her hair and loved getting to wear some of mommy's makeup.  Isn't she just precious.?!

 Ethan even got her a corsage, her very first one! pink flowers with yellow ribbons - perfect match for her dress. 

Abbie and I got to hang out with Heather while Ethan and Hay danced the night away.  She actually fell asleep within 1.5hrs of being there but she still said it was the best!    The next morning we hopped in the hotel pool and got to spend more time with Heather and Talyn.

St Louis Vacation

The last weekend before school started, I convinced Ethan to take a road trip to St Louis with the girls.  It didn't take much convincing, just showing him what a piece of cake it would be.  Thankfully, it actually was,  the whole time!   We left Saturday morning, stayed in Westport area, spending lots of time in the hotel's outside pool.  The weather was perfect for it -- super hot!   The hotel had a lake with ducks, which intrigued Hayden.  After she swam we had to explore the whole land and ended up hanging with the ducks for quite some time. 

Then all day Sunday we went to the STL zoo and walked and walked and walked.  We love that zoo!  Hayden was very concerned that the animals wouldn't be in their cages and would get her and she REALLY wanted on the zoo train.  Abbie was just excited to see everything.  The girls really did great at the zoo. They got to see the sea lions, penguins, gorillas and monkeys.  

Afterwards I (again) convinced Ethan that we needed to see the arch.  I know the girls didn't understand the excitement behind it but it was a new adventure nonetheless.  Actually, just finding parking was goin to be an adventure we thought! We spent some time under the arch and trying to show the girls how amazing it is.  I know Hayden will at least remember it and when we go back she'll have some idea where we are.  Abbie just enjoyed FINALLY getting out of her car seat and stroller and being able to roam in the grass.   

These pictures are out of order but still capture our little vacation. 

Rufenacht Annual Camping Weekend

First off, we survived. Whew! There were some points where I second guessed our choice in going but we survived.

Lemme back up and start at the beginning. Back in 1999 (2000?) we started teh Rufenacht family reunion.  Being as there are just a few "Rufenachts" and we all lived within a few miles of each other, the term reunion was kind of a predictive term for what we hoped it would become.  And it has.  You see, on the Rufenacht side, it's my dad, Uncle Dean and Uncle Frank.  Grandma used to come visit but it's been years since she last made it out to the reunion.

We used to all meet up at the family homestead farm in Wheatland and do real camping...think middle of nowhere.  The old house was there but actually pretty creepy with it not having anyone living in it for several several years and had been broken into a time or two.  Trust me, it was creepy. As much as dad and the uncles would go down to mow and debug and clean  up, it was still creepy.  Usually we'd camp out on Fri and Sat night...roughing it with just the camp fire and a water hydrant that came straight from a stream fed well (think ice cold). Saturday we'd take the boats, jet skis and kids (actually I'm not sure there were kids for a while...) to Pomme de Terre lake and spend the day there...hanging out at the beach and riding the boats.  We'd often head in town and go to the races as well on Saturday nights.  So hot. So dusty and dirty. After a few years, we moved the site closer to the Mt Zion area, at a nearby campsite.  One year we were even under tornado warning while we were out camping. Talk about scary.  Another year we were back in the fields between Uncle Dean's and dad's farm.

Eventually we moved the camping site onto the back field at mom and dad's farm. Dad had built an 11 acre lake with several fishing docks and a beach.
 It has proven to be a great move!  The kids love the beach and the fishing. It's close enough to the house that we can run to the house if necessary (think: Abbie naps) and mom can hang out there when it's too hot or her allergies are acting up. There were a few years though where we used the house as the campsite because it was raining too much too.

This year was probably the best yet. We got to the farm on Friday afternoon and set up our tent.  Dad had really made it beautiful down there. Heather and I decorated with some festive 4th of July flags and banner while the guys did guy things, as usual. Eventually more people showed up: Uncle Frank came in his RV, Uncle Dean stopped by, mom and dad rode down to visit and the Naylors set up camp.  That first night was pretty mellow.

Saturday brought the people: Cheri and her crew, Mindy and her pack, Heather's friends the Hankins, and Uncle Dean set up his camper.  Even with our campsite population almost tripled from Fri night we still had lots of room.

We spent the morning slowly waking up and then mom made breakfast, scrambled eggs.  The whole day had everyone just kinda hanging around, swimming, fishing, eating, and then doing more of it all.  Saturday night we had a fireworks show. Hayden actually sat and watched the whole time - Abbie slept in the tent and wasn't bothered at all.  Wait - have I mentioned that this was Hay's first time camping, successfully?  No? Let me back up a bit.

This was Hayden's first successful camping trip.  Oh we'd taken her to the reunion camping trip twice before but this was her first REAL camping trip.  The first year, she was almost one and refused to sleep in the tent...she and I ended up at the house for naps and bedtimes.  The second year I remember her being terrified of fireworks so we watched from inside the car and then she went went Grandma to sleep up at the farm.  Last year we didn't go but she and Ethan had set up camp in the backyard one day.  All was fine and dandy until it was bedtime and she realized that I wasn't going to sleep out there with them (someone had to stay inside with newborn Abbie, I got the lucky straw).  So the tent sat outside for probably a week (yes it even rained) and no one slept in it.

Fast forward to this year.  Abbie napped in the tent and slept like a champ!  We did nap at the house once, that was just because it was too hot though.  And Hayden? Wow, she just had a blast at the lake and loved sleeping in the tent.  She stayed up late and slept hard, woke the next morning all excited to do it again. She caught 2 fish.  The second one she did it all by herself! She was super proud, as she should be. The first night I made a little pallet next to our mattress (we need to buy another mattress...2 is plenty on the queen blow-up) but the 2nd night she made her way onto our mattress and  was quite snuggly.

Overall it was a great weekend, the best camping yet. After this trip we decided that we ought to take Hayden on a camping trip, just the 3 of us.  Thinking she would love it. Love that we can make these memories with our little family and hopefully continue the tradition, down at Grands' Lake.

Cantrells in Cozumel

Ethan and I just returned from 6 days in Cozumel...ahhhh.  It was beautiful.  We celebrated our 10 year anniversary as well as my Masters graduation

We had been to a resort in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico last year with Heather and Chad and so our expectations were for it to be similar.   Although this time we were there almost twice as long, by ourselves, and I wasn't pregnant.

We had a forever delay on top of an already long layover from Kansas City to Dallas but finally got into Cozumel late afternoon on Saturday.   The resort was beautiful - Park Royal Cozumel.  It sat right along the ocean front, near a pier so we were able to see the cruise ships sail in and dock all day.  The staff was wonderful and pretty accommodating. The food on the resort was "okay", we found ourselves wanting something simply amazing that you would want to go back for more but it wasn't very flavorful either and not much variety.  But, we managed to be stuffed every time we left the restaurant.

Our First day...pre-burn...standing on the balcony

The Resort's Beach

The first full day we spent it mostly in the pools. There were 2 infinity pools and a beach but we didn't really get into the ocean water but once. We did snorkel for a bit there at the beach but apparently we were there at the wrong time and didn't see much.  We also forgot to put on sunscreen, and reapply frequently....which meant major sunburn.  

One evening we went out on the Jean Lafitte Pirate Dinner Cruise.  It was a lot of fun - not what we expected, probably better though. We would definitely do it again sometime.

Prates aboard the ship

The crew we ate dinner with on the pirate ship (Lobster & Steak for E, Chicken & Steak for me)

Another day we rented a Jeep to tour the whole island. This, too, was a great way to spend time in Cozumel.   The island itself is only 33 miles around and if you drove straight around it would take about an hour.  We left around noon and got back by dinner,  stopping frequently and checking out side spots.
    

At the far southern tip of the island is an ecological park which is protected so sea turtles can nest at night. We drove the Jeep back in the there and saw a crocodile and got to climb an up into an old lighthouse (150+ steep steps up, ugh).   Beautiful sight to see.

Standing alongside the ocean, near the lighthouse.

view from atop the lighthouse
150+ steep stairs high

Ethan with the "Last Mayan"
at a Mayan sacrifice ruin

Then we found a beach side restaurant and had guacamole and beef nachos (YUM).

The rest of the stay was definitely full of just relaxing. I managed to read TWO books (not sure when i last finished a one book, let alone two!) and get a good tan.  It was a great time to spend with Ethan and have a little getaway.

This was our last day, as we were leaving the resort. 

The girls on the other hand, spent the week at our house with Grandma Diddle.  According to Hayden they were silly a LOT (no surprises there). Sounds like it rained for most of the time we were gone but they still had fun.  I'm sure mom was exhausted, I know the girls were.

Hay was super excited to see us back and chatted non stop, also not getting very far away from me.  Abbie on the other hand...when she first saw us the next morning it took her a good 20 minutes to realize who I was (awe) and to come to me.  She remembered Ethan right away though! Once she got used to me again, it was like nothing had changed and she was content to check in and run off as usual.

Great trip...glad to be back.  Until next time, here's a few more random pics.

Balcony view of the ocean - 5 floors up