Like, Totally Awesome!

I have no clue who these people are, but my mom said I had to post the picture. She said something about an 80's party and that she's glad my dad doesn't really have a mullet (what's a mullet and why does the guy in this picture look like he's wearing an awkwardly cut mop on his head?!?)

I made my mom this awesome card for mother's day. I traced all of my cars and colored them, I knew she would love it - who doesn't like cars on mother's day!? 

We also got to hang with our fun friends, the Markey's, this week.

We watched Thomas play his soccer game and then headed back to our house for a BBQ. Even though Thomas, Brendan, and Daniella are bigger than me, they made me feel included in the wiffle ball and soccer games in our yard - they're awesome.

Yep, it was an awesome week.

Vermont!

We spent a few days last week in Vermont and got to see cousins, my aunt and uncle, and grandparents.

My cousin Bridget introduced us to cake balls - have you heard of them? Basically they are golf ball sized decadence. You make a cake, then once it's baked and cooled, you break it up and put it in a mixer with frosting and mix it together. You take the "batter" and roll it in to golf ball sized balls, put it on a tray, and stick them in the freezer. Wait a few hours then dip them into melted chocolate and roll in your favorite toppings (chocolate chips, sprinkles, peanut butter, cookie crumbs - the options are endless). Healthy, no. Delicious, yes. We took them as a class treat for lunch and I hung out with the class - here's me sharing my philosophy of Kierkegaard....

My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jimmy went to a neighborhood Kentucky Derby party while we were there. Everyone dressed up and wore funny hats. My mom and Nana "constructed" this garden hat for my Aunt. I'm not sure, but I think it weighed like 5lbs! A horse named Bodemeister was in the race and favored to win. This is a nickname of mine so my folks got into the action and placed a bet on Bodemeister - thanks to our cousins in Vegas. The bet made the race MUCH more exciting as everyone screamed at the TV, "Go Bodemeister!!!" It also made his 2nd place showing that much more disappointing. Oh well, there's always Preakness next week!

I have the best relatives in the world - thanks for a fun weekend!

Monkeys, Iguanas, and Sloths - OH MY!

"Rich coast," that sure is an accurate description of the country of Costa Rica. We spent the week exploring rainforests, hiking volcanoes, and seeing lots of creatures. It's definitely a beautiful place and we had a great trip. Here are some highlights....

We hiked down to a huge waterfall. The sign at the entrance said, "DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS HIKE if you have any health issues, especially heart problems." I ran right by it and hiked down 486 steps - yep, me an my mini legs just chugged right to the bottom. My hand turned white a few times because my mom was holding it so tightly - maybe she thought I'd fall off of the cliff. On the way up, I hitched a ride with my dad in the backpack. My dad - carrying me - passed every other hiker on the trail. He's a stud.

We hiked the rainforest in the nighttime. The sounds were really cool but not knowing if creepy things were crawling right by you was a little unnerving. We saw several two-toed sloths, agutis (raccoon-sized rat-looking mammals), a huge yellow tarantula, and white faced monkeys.

We hiked a cloud forest in the day and saw holler monkeys, toucans, bell birds, a million millipedes, and quatis (another type of mammal).

We took a sky tram to the very top of the rainforest and walked over suspension bridges. As I ran at full speed across the swaying bridges, 300-500 feet in length, suspended several hundred feet in the air, I heard my dad say something about me aging him that day. (Note - not many pictures from the bridges b/c they were chasing me). My dad did not find this fun.

We road horses through the rainforest (do you see a rainforest theme here). We saw more cool creatures Okay, so one of us might have fallen asleep on the horse - but sheesh, wouldn't you after all of the adventuring. My mom said this activity aged her - apparently holding dead weight while riding a horse on steep terrain isn't as easy as it looks. (Aren't vacations suppose to be relaxing!??! Relax mom and dad, we all made it home alive!)

Our lodging near the volcano had an outdoor bathtub on our patio so me and my duck got to bath in the jungle with a view of the volcano - not bad, huh!

And no trip would be complete with out a few jumpers...

 

 Our favorite family picture from the trip....

I Love Happy Birthdays

With so many family members, it seems like it's always someone's birthday. I sing "Happy Birthday" more than any other song, and April is no exception. It's a relatives birthday every day from April 15-April 20th. So we spent the evening celebrating my Aunt Karen's birthday and hanging out with my cousins while my Nana and PopPop were in town. Check it out...

Fun with Grandma & Grandpa

(oops, forgot to hit "post" on this last week so it's been sitting in the draft box - sorry!)

We scored a "bonus visit" from Grandma and Grandpa last week. We played hard and made sure we didn't miss a second of fun.

Grandma, mom, and me started the trip zipping around town taking pictures of all the monuments and memorials with my cousin Mallory's Flat Stanley (see Flat Stanley on FDR's knee) while dad and Grandpa went to work for the day (Grandpa had a business meeting).

Day two we headed to the zoo where I ran for almost 4 straight hours. Where are the animals? you ask, well, this is the Pizza Park at the zoo and it's one of my favorite things. It's a giant pizza that you can play on. You stack mushrooms and pepperonis and slide down giant cheese or climb on a tomato or crawl through an olive - it's awesome.

I exhausted everyone so we all took a nap in the beautiful weekend weather. Ahhh, relaxation. Then once they were up it was lots of good reading time.

Then we headed to Roosevelt Island for a 3 mile hike around the island. A 5 foot snake slithered in front of me and my dad on the trail. Based on his high pitched response, it was luckily I was there to protect him.

We took a bike ride to the park and enjoyed a picnic - well, they just stuck food out for me as I zoomed by heading to the slide. Like I said, this was a total bonus visit!