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

Baseball

Alex ended his baseball season with a win! This was his first year in fast pitch and he was nervous going up a level from coach-pitch, but he loved it and had a successful season. He learned to watch the ball closely and follow-through on ever swing, he learned to how to pitch, and most importantly, he learned to move out of the way when a curve-ball is heading towards your head.

Good job Alex! Momma is proud!

New Chapter

Today is my last day with Gehl Company and I have a few weeks off before I start my new job.... and I'm petrified. Since I was sixteen, I've always had a job and earned a paycheck. After I gave birth to Alex, we stopped by the office to transfer my calls and email to my home so I could continue working and believe me, it was out of necessity rather than being a career-driven woman who didn’t want uninterrupted time with her infant. Once a week we’d make our way to the office in Chaska and if he was hungry, I'd lock my office door so I could nurse and I just did what I needed to do to continue providing for my family. A week didn't go by where I didn't work outside of the home earning a paycheck.

So here I am – looking at a nice long break from the workforce and I’m terrified. It has to be some sort of a mental illness to be worried about taking some time off from work. The idea of not earning a paycheck makes my stomach turn upside down - depending on someone else for shelter/food/etc makes me incredibly anxious. Despite my apprehension, I’m sure I will have a blast with Alex and we’ll spend our days at the pool and enjoying the last days of summer. Without the endless noise of everyday life, maybe God and I can have some much needed reconnection time and I’ll finally be able to give Alex a full day of my undivided attention

Deep breath….

Step forward….

Enjoy turning the pages to the next chapter in our lives……

Shower Time

Mom: Alex, get into the shower

Alex: But mom...it's summer time