Mexico!!!

Okay, I'm finally getting around to the recap of Mexico!  This is going to be a bit long so I don't plan on editing this post, I'll probably just type it up and hit publish.  We stayed at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya (which deceivingly is actually in Playa Del Carmen).  It was a great location!  Very close to Playa, right on the beach and close to the ferry that takes you to Cozumel!  The resort itself is an all inclusive which was great.  The food was hit or miss at the buffets for breakfast/lunch but the dinners were always superb in my opinion. 

The swim up bar is the best for obvious reasons.  You're in the water AND drinking!  :) 

The bartenders were always nice and prompt and would make you ANYTHING you asked for.  We drank countless amounts of pina coladas, miami vices, mudslides, margaritas, etc.  And they would whip up their own concoctions once you got bored of the above!  I think I lived the entire vacation in a constant haze of a buzz.  :)

We flew out there Sunday, March 18th, took a cab ride to the resort (about a 45 min drive from the Cancun airport) and immediately hit the beach.  Kyle lost his sunglasses 2 seconds after entering the ocean.  The waves were intense and I'm not sure we were prepared for that but we were drunk from our flight and van ride (the drivers will stop at the gas station and let you pick up beer if you ask and we totally asked) so we didn't care and jumped right in!

That night we had dinner at the resort's Japanese restaurant.  The sushi was just so-so but the shrimp tempura and chicken teriyaki I had was wonderful!  We ended up calling it an early night since it started raining and we were all a bit bushed from our flights in.

Monday was beach/pool day!  The bars don't open until 10:00 am (gasp!) so the ladies lounged around on the beach soaking up the scenery and reading as the boys waded in the ocean.  Once 10:00 came we hit the pool bar!  We were in there the ENTIRE day.  Water logged, drunk and pruney, we eventually got out to clean up for dinner.  We ate at the resort's Brazilian steakhouse that night.  The best way to explain this place is to compare it to Fogo De Chow.  Endless meats on sticks coming at you (that's what she said).  Again, very tasty!  We enjoyed some of the resort's night time entertainment (80's night!) and went to bed fairly early again that night.  We were exhausted since we'd been drinking since 10 am and, who are we kidding, we aren't kids anymore.  Day drinking is great but it rarely leads to all night drinking anymore!  :)

Tuesday Wade and I met up with our friends, Bob and Amy, who just happened to be staying at a resort down the beach from us at the same time.  We took the ferry over to Cozumel and rented mopeds for the day!  SO fun!  Bob and Amy are Cozumel veterans and knew all the good places to stop so we circled the island, which is fairly small, only 9 miles by 12 miles, and made several pit stops. 

Cozumel

Rasta bar

The best place by far was the Rasta Bar.  The view from there was unbelievable, the drinks the tastiest and the fish tacos were the best I'd had.  We stayed there for quite a while before heading off to a couple more stops. 

The scooter gang

By the end of our loop I was feeling pretty dang good (they do not hold back on the drinks they make on the island!) and I got off our moped only to stagger backwards and fall into Bob and Amy's.  Um, yeah, ow.  Mega burn from the pipe is now on the back of my right calf.  Hurts like hell.  But, I was in Mexico and wasn't feeling the pain at that point so oh well! 

We finally made it back to our resort but not in time to join the rest of our group for dinner so Wade and I just hit up the buffet.  I should mention the guacamole and pico here were un-freaking-believable!  I think I ate my weight in that alone.  Could be the reason I came back 2-3 pounds heavier.  Well, that combined w/ a massive amount of drinking.  Ha!

This evening we decided to take a walk down to one of the other Riu resorts in the area, since we had access to all of them with our wrist bands, and go to their disco-tech.  We watched a bit of their evening entertainment before entering the club and then wore out our dancing shoes!  So fun!  We finally made it back to our resort around 2:00 am so we proved we weren't always lame early nighters!

That's a lot of alcohol.

Wednesday we decided to walk into Playa to do some shopping and eat lunch.  Of course being the typical tourists we ate at Senor Frogs.  However, only because we got a coupon for buy 1 round of drinks, get your 2nd round free!  This would be the end of me!  We ordered our drinks and were surprised to see they ended up being yards!  I had ordered a sex on the beach so by the time we started in on the 2nd one I was toast.  We walked the beach back to our resort where I ended up taking a much needed siesta.  One could say I passed out, however I like to say I fell asleep for a bit. 

Dinner Wednesday night was at the resort's steakhouse and we all ordered their surf and turf.  The turf was wonderful however my surf was a bit chewy.  Although everyone else's seemed to be good.  We ordered champagne to toast our last night there and the wait staff was very nice to promptly bring it out.  We chugged that down and then hit the entertainment area for the night which just happened to be a compilation of Michael Jackson songs.  AWESOME.  :)  We danced and drank and drank and danced.  So. Much. Fun.

The whole gang

Ang, Kyle, Andrea and Matt left early the next morning.  Luckily Wade and I's flight was later in the afternoon so we got to sleep in a bit b/c for the first time of the whole trip I was hung over.  We had laughed earlier that we didn't think it was possible to be hung over in Mexico since we were all waking up fine, however I proved that wrong on the last day!  I think it just meant it was time to head home.  I missed my little peanut and was so anxious to see her!

Modeling her new Mexican shirt!

My parents were nice enough to come up to our house to watch her for our entire trip and my dad picked us up from the airport while my mom kept Charlie up so she could see us when we got home.  Her face when she first saw me was priceless!  I loved it!  A complete look of surprise/shock/happiness!  She squealed and ran over to me and then followed me around the rest of the night before she finally went to bed.  I missed that girl so freaking much!  Mexico was/is awesome but nothing compares to my little peanut!

But we did decide that an annual (or at least every other year) trip is needed.  It doesn't always need to be Mexico, but it does need to be somewhere warm where the drinks are readily available.  Those are my only 2 requirements.  I'm easy like that.

Sorry for the long winded recap!  I want to be able to look back on this trip and remember it since so much of it is hazy from constant alcohol consumption.   It was so much freaking fun.  I also decided we have some of the greatest friends ever.  I love you bitches.  :)  xoxo

Kel

Nothing but happiness!

I've been behind on blogging! Kara and Todd's wedding reception was 2 weeks ago. They got married in Puerto Rico in January and then had a reception back home in Des Moines April 30th.

Isn't this picture gorg? Perfection!

Anyway, the reception was absolutely perfect! The ballroom was gorgeous, the beer and wine were flowing, the food was delicious and there was all kinds of dancing and fun! One thing is for sure, we have some great friends and family and we definitely know how to have a good time!

Charlie was the flower girl even though she didn't make it to the actual wedding in Puerto Rico and didn't do anything w/ flowers or anything else other than go to the reception. But wasn't she an absolute doll!?!? She looked so perfect! And she made it until about 9:00 at the reception before having a small meltdown. It all got a little overwhelming for her when she got tired. She got to meet so many people though and was a big hit! :) Other than that I'll let the pictures show the rest. We had an absolute blast and wish Kara and Todd nothing but the best in their promising future together. They are perfect together and I love my new brother in law!!!

My dad knows how to party - it's in the genes. 4 of the 5 bridesmaids - We rock. Continuing the party back in our hotel rooms. Just cause the party ended doesn't mean we stop! :)
The happy couple
Great family!
Getting warmed up on the dance floor
The greatest girlfriends on earth!

A GREAT evening!

*****************

In other news, Charlie's first tooth broke through the surface on Thursday! Her lower right tooth is the first to show it's top (although it isn't showing much yet) and she's been a trooper through it all! She's definitely drooling more than normal and chewing on EVERYTHING and is a little more clingy than usual but other than that you wouldn't even know she was teething! Such a good girl! I can't wait for it to come out more and see that cute little tooth. When it does I'll be sure to post some cute toothy grin pictures! :)

2010 Year Review

Since basically the entire year of 2010 I was pregnant we were a bit on the slow side for happenings in our family. That is until August 6th came around and we found ourselves w/ one more family member. Like years past I’ll do a quick little 2010 review.

January
I came out of the baby closet and shared my news with the interwebs that we were expecting little nugget late July.
Kara and Todd got engaged! Yippee!

February
We worked on getting the house ready for a baby. Painting, building and installing. Fun and exciting stuff!

March
Went wedding dress shopping with Kara and she found the perfect dress!
Found out nugget was a GIRL!
April
Finished up our garden in the back.
Celebrated E’s 30th birthday at Stellas.

My grandpa passed away. Miss you Paps. :(

May
Participated in the Des Moines MS Walk.

Family came up to celebrate Wade and his MBA graduation.

We remodeled our shower.
I got pregnant fat face and turned 31! Ahhh!!!
We went to our first Twins game at Target Field.
June
Drove to Indy to celebrate Shannon and Derik’s wedding where I raised the roof.July
Wade broke his wrist racing his motorcycles and had to have surgery to repair it. Todd broke his dancing at a wedding reception (numerous drinks were involved so we'll let it slide... I guess.)

We finally finished the nursery just in time!
Remodeled the rest of our bathroom (halleluiah!)
My due date came and went and no baby!

August
Nugget (aka Charlie) is here after 16+ hours of labor that would not progress and ended in a c-section!!!

The rest of August is a blur. :)

September
Road trips to Des Moines and Galesburg so that Charlie could meet more family and friends.

October
Charlie attended her first ISU game!

Kara had 2 bridal showers that Charlie and I went to.
My maternity leave ended and I went back to work part time.
Charlie’s first Halloween and she dressed as a cute bee.
November
Charlie started daycare.
Kara had her bachelorette party and I had a 2 day hangover.

Wade and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary.

December
We said goodbye to our wonderful neighbors, the Bormann’s, who moved back to Iowa (we miss you guys!)
Charlie learned how to roll over front to back like a champ and is SUPER close to going back to front.
We got 17.1 inches of snow in one day which was the 5th largest on record! We were stranded in!
We celebrated our 1st Christmas as a family of 3 (+ Kobe). (Now if only I had a picture of all of us together...)

All in all not a super eventful year unless you count the birth! But you can’t do much when you’re pregnant! And through the ups and downs of the year we realize we are very blessed. What a life we have!

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2011 to you all!

Cheers!

Quick Weekend Recap

Friday night, after an extremely long work week, Wade and I had a quiet night in since we had to wake up early and drive 4 1/2 hours down to Iowa City for our friend, Jim's wedding. We rented Zombieland which we both enjoyed. There is just something I love about Woody Harrelson. He's hilarious!


The wedding was a lot of fun (even though I was the only sober person in the joint). I shook my ass on the dance floor and even stayed up until 2 am (which w/ daylight savings was really 3 am)! So this pregnant lady can still hang! Although the next day I was exhausted and had a headache so I actually felt hung over even when I wasn't. WTF? But it was really great to get to see everyone and hang out again! I wish we could see our friends all the time they are so fun.


I also realized that my innie belly button is quickly turning into an outie so I finally succumbed to taking out my belly ring since it was making it look even worse. When I laugh my currently flat across belly button pops out which Wade finds absolutely hilarious. This makes him do anything and everything in his power to make me laugh just so he can point and laugh at my belly button turn into an outie. Real hot, I know.


Another awesome thing about the weekend... the weather we returned home to was absolutely gorgeous! It definitely felt like spring. It was in the mid 60's which felt like 80 after our long winter. Wade and I took Kobe on a walk and I even wore flip flops. Totally rad! :) Spring fever has officially consumed my mind!

I didn't take all too many pictures but here are the few I do have.

Wade shaking his thang to 'Beat It'

DU Boys - Wade, Tai, Kyle and Harbs

Hotties - Andrea, Me & Ang

Great friends - Tai, Alyssa, Andrea, Angie, Harbs & Wade

The happy couple - Jim & Rachel (Congrats!)

Kyle, Tai, Alyssa & a red whale :)

All in all a GREAT weekend! It was great to be social and I even had a few sips of wine. OMG soooooooo good! :)

Happy Monday luvahs!