Alex starts school

Alex started his first day at Roncolli with excitement and apprehension. He apparently thought the uniform policy was ....optional? I really haven't figured it out, but the morning of the first day was a bit difficult after he realized he not only had a very specific required uniform, but the policy was also to have everything tucked in and....brace yourselves....it has to be clean. As scooby would say - Rut row

He wasn't even going to pose for pictures



Chewy waited patiently to hear how Alex's first day went - given the poor attitude he left the house with this morning



Guess what - after he arrived at the school and realized everyone, not just boys named Alex, had to wear the same uniform, he had a great day!!!



The first thing he said when asked how school went was "it was awesome mom - we saw cheerleaders!"

Hmmm, moving on...

What were the cheerleaders doing at the elementary school?

Alex went on to say "the cheerleaders were there for a press conference"

"Press conference" I asked. "Do you mean pep rally?"

He thought for a second before responding with "yeah, that to"

And even more from Mexico

This will probably be the last I write about Mexico - but when I look back years from now, what I will remember is the bonding experience Alex and I were able to share with each other and Bruce and the kids. I use to say I would never date a man with kids, but now I can't imagine our lives without them.

A few last pictures

More from Mexico

After our day of shopping and senior frogs, we enjoyed a night a night of sushi! I'm a pretty lone ranger when it comes to the love of seafood in my family, so when Ash and Jordan also said they were fans, I was thrilled.





The next day - snorkeling. We stayed out a bit too late at the entertainment the night before so we were a tired bunch the next day. This was Alex's first time snorkeling in the ocean so he was jazzed and ready to go before anyone else






Ashley, Jordan and Amber also went para sailing and they loved it! As for me, I was fine watching them from the comforts of my seat on the boat. I know....I know...what a chicken. Here's a little secret though - I can't swim and when you go up on those crafts, you can't wear a life jacket. So, I wouldn't let Alex try it which disappointed him, but he's still in one piece. Maybe after a few more years of swimming lessons he'll give it a whirl

Vacation - Day 3

I was a little nervous going into this vacation. It was the first time Bruce's kids have spent a significant amount of time together and I didn't know how everyone would handle this precious family time. We've all gotten along great up until this point, but a week together - who knows what could happen.



Alex attached himself to Jordan's (Bruce's oldest son) hip and thankfully, Jordan and his girlfriend Amber were okay with their little tag-along! After our first day on the beach, the kids realized the beach was a topless one when a European woman, slightly overweight, walked by with a cigar hanging from her mouth and her boobs hanging somewhere by her thighs. Amber made an "oh my" sort of noise when Alex looked at her and said "what are you grossed out by, that's one of your own kind.



We ventured into Playa del Carmen for some shopping and a trip to Senior Frogs - Bruce's favorite spot!





This mannequin on display looked familiar, but maybe it was our imagination



Pics from Senior Frogs









We stayed in Playa for most of the day and then headed pack to the resort for dinner reservations at a seafood joint. Alex, Jordan and Amber beat us back as they wanted to swim and hang out at the beach - well, Jordan and Amber wanted to hang at the beach, Alex wanted to chill at the ice cream bar for the afternoon. Anytime we lost track of Alex, we would look for him at the ice cream bar with Carlos - chatting it up and taking in every flavor of ice cream ever made

We've Reached our Destination

And look at the animals who called the resort their permenant residence

Day Two of our Vacation

Wake-up calls at 4:00am stinks - even if it is a wake-up call to leave for Mexico. I've learned another thing about my new family - they're morning people! All the kids and Bruce we're up and at em' at 4:10 while I searched for the nearest coffee pot. Rather then fighting to wake Alex up, I just picked him up, propped him on the luggage cart and rolled him to the shuttle. We're not morning people

We made our flight just fine and we were in the air for about 10 minutes before everyone was asleep. Well - everyone except the woman who sat next to Alex. No, I did not sit next to him on the plane, but I did sit in the row in front of him and I could hear he conversed with the woman on the plane for the entire 3 hour flight to Dallas. What would Alex find to talk about to a total stranger you ask? Well, that's easy. He told her about his dogs - kiki and chewy, he told her about his baseball team, about his grandpa, about his book, sir fartsalot, he told her about his new home in Aberdeen and about the Twins game.

We had a brief lay-over in Dallas so I decided to use the restroom - big mistake. As I was waiting in line with the woman who sat next to me in the airport, she turned to me and asked my permission to ask a question. I agreed, reluctantly, and she turned and asked "are you pregnant?"

I was shocked. I am not pregnant, but apparently appeared to be to this woman at the Dallas airport. I didn't want to sit with the awkwardness that would have followed if I had said no, I'm just fluffy, so I just said "yes". It just sort of fell out of my mouth. She began patting and rubbing my tummy and asked when my due date was set. Okay, now I just want to get out of this bathroom. Unable to think and glancing at my red face in the mirror, I said the first month that game to my mind - October.

We exchanged smiles and finally a stall opened up. I smiled and quickly waddled into the available stall and sat there stunned for a few minutes.

Seven-months pregnant? Seriously?? Bruce and I actually had a good laugh about it (well we laughed about it after he reassured me that I do not look pregnant and he thought I was beautiful about a million times) but just to leave the inquisitive Dallas woman speechless, I ordered a beer and pounded it quickly with her watching in complete horror - mwahahaha

Vacation Time!!!!

We started our first family vacation with a trip to Mexico!

Since we flew out of MSP at 7:00am Saturday morning, we decided to take in a Twins game Friday night. The girls, Ashley and Haley, stayed back at the hotel as they'd rather watch the paint dry than watch a baseball game - I have so much to teach these girls. Alex and I ran to the bookstore before leaving and his vacation book choice was Sir Fartsalot so I was relieved he rode with Bruce on the way to MSP. He indeed read a few lines and then enlighten everyone in the truck to the Sir Fartslot saga. Haley and Ash rode with me so we were able to chat about what's going on in their lives. I don't think there was amount of silence in our car

Group picture after the game



This was the Bruce and Jordan's first visit to Target Field so we toured the plaza and grabbed some of the awesome grub at the game - Ala walleye on a stick at the target field dog

Twins brough in a win that evening and since Jordan and Amber had never been downtown, we walked around for awhile before taking the light rail back to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel around 1:30am and prepared for our 4:00am wake-up call