Bittersweet Ending to Summertime

I have a very sick little girl this morning so I may as well spend my time sitting here doing something useful and update my blog! Our last Kenny concert for this summer was on Saturday and it was fabulous and miserable all at the same time. We left our hotel around 10 AM, got something to eat and then stood in line until the doors opened at 2:30.

Then once we got inside we got to stand until 9 PM waiting for Kenny to come on.

The opening acts started at 4 and they were all pretty good but of course Kenny is the man I was there to see. He came on at about 9:15 looking as good as ever.

He played his normal set plus a couple others but when he got to "Better as a Memory" he started crying. Kenny recently announced that he won't be doing a big tour next year so this was the last time we'd hear 60,000 people singing back to him on stage for a long time. He couldn't finish the song but he just stood there and let us sing it to him as tears rolled down his face. Kenny fans don't just love Kenny because he sings our favorite songs. Touring with Kenny is a way of life for a lot of us. We're all just as lost without him as he is without us. There were less bras thrown on stage and more tears cried at this last show.

We hope you enjoy your break Kenny but we're certainly going to miss you next year! He's announced there will be 10-12 shows next year in small venues and you can bet we'll be there if at all possible.

*I know there are probably a million typos and incorrect use of language but I'm running on very little sleep so you'll have to ignore it.

Summer is Coming to an End

Well, summer is officially over now. M started dance at a local studio and she LOVES it!

She also got a new haircut for a brand new school year. She got a couple inches cut off and it makes a world of difference.

We went to the local air show and watched some airplanes. The kids always love going and the weather was amazing this year!

Then school started! This is the only somewhat descent picture I could find from the first day of school. All the good ones are on Matt's camera so I'll have to post them some other time. So far both kids really like school. I was a bit worried that M would have a hard time with a new teacher and everything but she has some friends in the same class so it hasn't been as bad as I thought it might be.

Yesterday we went to our local arcade/amusement park so the kids could enjoy a full day of all the rides they could stand. We ended up spending all day there with grandma. The kids got wristbands to ride all day and I think we got our money's worth from them. They rode for hours and not once did they fight or complain.

This was the first year they let both kids ride the Go Karts! J technically isn't old enough but they never questioned that he wasn't 4. He's a big boy for his age. He loved the "mower cars" and has talked about them non-stop.

I can't believe how fast this summer flew by! We haven't been able to swim for weeks because the weather has been too cool and today is a rainy day so it's a very appropriate start to a new season for us. I'm excited about this school year with the kids but I'm still sad to see summer come to an end. We do still have one more Kenny Chesney concert to attend in 2 weeks so after that summer will really and truly be over. Here's to a happy and healthy school year!

Is It Next Monday Yet?

This afternoon has pretty much gone like this:

J: Is it time to go back to school yet?

Me: Not yet. Next week.

J:Can I go back to school now?

Me: Nope. You have to wait until Monday.

J: Does Mrs. B miss me already?

Me: You just saw her this morning. I'm sure she's surviving just fine.

J: Can I go back to school now?

Me: Is it bedtime yet???

We had a meet the teachers thing this morning at school and since then all J can talk about is going back to school. This is his second year having Mrs. B for his teacher and he loves her. He's pretty sure that her life revolves around him and she MUST miss him at any second that he isn't around her. He probably thinks they keep her locked up there in her classroom all summer long and she's just begging for him to come back. I think not. M has had Mrs. B for the past 2 years and this is the first year that she will be in a different classroom for Pre-K. She was a complete pain in the butt and had to organize all the markers by color, then precisely color her little person to go on the bulletin board (she took it very literally when the teacher told her to color the whole thing) and eventually her teacher had the next people come in because M was taking so long. Luckily, they are friends of ours and know M is a bit weird. She doesn't handle change well. At all. I'm so not kidding when I say she took out every single marker and organized them by color. It made her feel better. She then placed them all back in the box in order and will probably expect them to still be that way when she returns on Monday.

This week is already looking busy! We have some more roofing companies come out, an insurance adjuster is coming, M starts ballet tomorrow, Matt has some job interviews in Topeka and Kansas City and not to mention the normal playdates plus dealing with J just recovering from the flu! He's fine today but yesterday his fever was between 103 and 104 all day long. This all makes for a very tired mommy come Friday. I'll be ready for the weekend again!

Back on the Wagon

Somehow I've managed to lose 10 pounds since July 27th and I'm not exactly sure how that has happened but I'm going with it. I've been kind of stuck and maintaining all summer and then gained about 5 lbs right before our trip (good timing right?). When we got home I was terrified to get on the scale since I had pretty much drank my weight in rum for the entire trip. My diet pretty much consisted of pineapple juice, coconut cream, orange juice, rum and nutmeg. Just your basic painkiller repeated multiple times a day. I didn't eat much and I was sweating pretty much from the time we got up until we went to bed so I guess somehow it evened out. I came home weighing 5 lbs less. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. So I figured since my body was cooperating so well I may as well go with it and try to lose my last little bit of weight and I've dropped another 5 lbs since coming home. Now I'm back to the same old routine of religiously watching what I eat, working out 5 mornings a week before the sun comes up and pretty much revolving my life around my meals. It's exhausting and I hate it. I really want to be done so I've set my goal of another 10 lbs gone by October 3rd. Some friends and I are going shopping that weekend and I am going to need basically a new wardrobe for fall and winter. I have 2 long sleeve shirts I bought at the end of last year and 1 pair of jeans. That's pretty much it. If I just lose 10 more pounds I would drop 1 size and have a little room to lose another 5-10 pounds after that without my pants falling off. At that point I will be DONE! I maintain weight pretty easily so I'm not worried about ever gaining it back. I will still work out daily and watch what I eat but losing these last few pounds is going to be hard. I want to be at my goal by Thanksgiving. Then I have to make it through Christmas parties without gaining any of it back. 

While on the topic I want to mention that I completely changed my workout right before our trip and I credit any weight loss simply to this fact. Weight lifting is way more important than cardio!! I was doing over an hour of cardio and 30 minutes of weights and now I do 30 minutes of good, hard cardio and 45 minutes of weights. I do arms, shoulders and back one day and then legs the next. I do abs every day. And when I lift weights I mean I really push myself. Someone I met a few months ago gave me some tips on weight lifting and how she lost 45 lbs doing it and I've followed her advice. I doubled what I was lifting on most machines and added 10 lbs to my free weight reps. She told me you should sweat as much lifting weights as you do when you do cardio. I've never actually done hard weight lifting. I always did a little toning but no real weight lifting. This week is the first week I'm not so sore I can barely move. I'm still a bit sore but not like the first month. Ouch! 

So there you have it. When you see me turning down cake, pizza, cookies and everything else that tastes good for the immediate future you'll know why. I MUST lose this last 20 so I can be done. I so badly just want to be done and wear my goal pants that are hanging in my closet!

It's Been a Bit Crazy Here!

I'm not sure where this week disappeared to! On Monday we went to the pool since summer is almost over already. Tuesday M had a doctor's appointment to finish up preschool forms and also because her ear was hurting. Not to worry though, she's just a bit dramatic. It was red but not infected at all. Wednesday we went back to the pool again. Thursday was my mom's birthday so we went to see Ice Age at the theater with some friends (where they ate popcorn and candy for lunch) and then we drove down to my parents' house for the day with Tinkerbell cupcakes for grandma's birthday. The kids love going down there and after playing outside I had to strip J down and shake out his clothes because he was so dirty. There was dirt everywhere. The car ride down was torture because of that popcorn and candy. They were insane and loud and I was not a very happy momma by the time we got there. We had a fun day though and came home to play outside before bedtime. Today we went to a friend's house to play outside and then we headed to the shoe store. J only has one pair of shoes that fit and he kind of needed shoes to wear to school so I sucked it up and we went and got shoes. I had to buy him size 12.5!! We can no longer get the cheaper toddler shoes. Now we're in big boy shoes and those are expensive! So now J has 2 pair of school shoes and M got a new pair of running shoes for school too. Hers were cheaper because she has normal sized feet. Oh the joys of having growing children. About the time I think we don't have to buy anything else someone outgrows something. It's never ending!

This weekend we have a birthday party and M goes to her new dance studio to meet her teacher and get fitted for shoes. She's really excited about taking dance with all of her friends. I can't believe how big she's getting. This will be the last year I have 2 preschoolers. Next year she'll be in kindergarten! I can't believe it! My little girl is getting all grown up!

We arrived in St. Thomas fairly late so we stayed there for the night and headed over to St. John early the next morning. First, I have to say that the 'ferry' ride was not so enjoyable. I ended up feeling sick for the rest of the day. I've never gotten sick on a boat and while I didn't throw up I did have an awful headache and my stomach just felt really uneasy. Not a good way to spend a day of vacation. We did our grocery shopping though and went back to the villa and all was well the next morning. We hit the beach every single day. The beaches are just gorgeous and the sand was like powder on most of them. The water was unbelievably clear and the fish would just swim right against you (which I did NOT enjoy...those little suckers are slimy!)

This is how I spent a lot of time at those beaches. I must admit the back of my legs probably hadn't seen that much sun ever so I got pretty burned right at the edge of my swimsuit. Not pleasant while riding on the plane home!

All of the beaches are just kind of separated by rocks. If you'd swim around the rocks you'd pretty much be at the next beach.

See how clear that water is? Beautiful!

Most of the island is National Park so it's just green and gorgeous. The roads, not so much. The houses are just kind of built on the sides of the hills. 
This was the view from our deck. It was really nice to just have dinner out there and look out over the water.
This was at Cinnamon Bay. It was probably our favorite and we spent a lot of time there.
I'm not sure which beach this was but it sure looks pretty. I miss the sun, sand and water already. Well, maybe not the sand. I think I brought some of that home with me. I'm not sure I'll ever get it out of my shoes and hair!

It didn't do a bit of good to put on makeup or fix my hair so I eventually gave up. See it wasn't all so glamourous to be at the beach!
This was how we did our laundry. Every night we'd hang it out on the deck and the rain would wash it and the trade winds would dry it. By the next morning it was somewhat clean and dry. Good enough to go back to head back to the beach.
We had a fabulous time and can't wait to go back. It was a much needed break from everyday life. There was no tv, no kids screaming at us and it was nice to just sit back and relax for once. We did absolutely nothing and had a great time. I missed Target a lot though and was there first thing yesterday morning. Today we got back to completely normal. I went to the gym early this morning and then we hung out with our friends for part of the day. I missed just hanging out with my friends and letting the kids play. It was nice to go away but it's nice to be home too!

We're Back!

Of course there are thousands of photos and I'll try to post some later today but to sum it up we had an amazing time. It's a beautiful place and I can't wait to write all about it but I'm still a bit on island time so I'm not in a huge hurry to do anything. I do have to get to the grocery store this morning. There is seriously no food in this house. J also has a doctor's appointment later this afternoon to recheck his eyes and we'll find out if he needs glasses. I also have a ton of laundry to do. I'll post pictures and a descent trip report this afternoon or evening!