Our Growing Family: Feliz Cumpleanos!

I love this part of Summer when I get to be happy in my Birthday Bliss. I'm a Leo, I can't help it, I love my Birthday. This year was HUGE because Matt and I went to Mexico "in honor" of it all!

But first...some more fun times before our getaway.

Crazy Hair Cam

More (daily) Tantrums

Then we went to Ice Cream Night at the ZOO!! It was really fun. We went there in the evening and the kids ate up the ice cream and all kinds of toppings. These two are very into ice cream...

She's VERY into Ice Cream. She doesn't mess around.

Watching elephants...

...and my personal favorite, the Giraffes... (raffs! raffs!) The giraffes, like most all of the animals, were winding down for the day. They were eating their dinner or inside their different homes "getting ready for night night". We're still talking to this day about how we saw the 'raffs in the "'Raffs House".

They love that this elephant's name is Mimi!

Another Sunday, another picnic. And another super happy day for Mario!

We loved watching the Olympics here! Somehow, Cole kind of knew what to do when the National Anthem was playing for the Olympics basketball game.

Hmmmm. Kind of out of order picture here, but Cole loves riding with Daddy on his bike. Here he is really ready to ride!

Finally...Our trip to Mexico came! But first we had to get Cole and Camryn to my parents in Houston. Flying United from here we had a layover in Houston, so we worked it that we would get in late Wednesday night, leave the kids at my Mom's, then hop back on a plane early Thursday morning to Cancun. It was total excitement that among many other great new toys, Mimi had Elmo's Dorothy's for both of them!!! We were all crossing our fingers the goldfish would make it the two days they were there. We were just sure they'd have to go back to Petco and fork over the 25 cents for more fish. I'm happy to report that as of today, both Elmo's Dorothy's are still alive and doing "swimmingly" well! Figures, right?!

And we're off! So excited that terminal E is all that in the Houston airport. It was a no-brainer that I would start my extended birthday celebration with one of my ultimate favorites: Einstein's! I appreciated every moment of my kid-free flight to Cancun. I read a couple magazines of the People Magazine genre, zoned out to explicit lyric-ed music on my iPod, and not only did I take advantage of drinking something on a plane flight (because no one would spill it on me)--I had an adult beverage! It was so nice to come off the plane looking all make-up'ed and refreshed--not worn out, haggard, with half my hair falling out of a ponytail.

We couldn't believe our eyes when we arrived (via a nice private car) to our resort--Excellence Playa Mujeres. It was jaw-dropping amahzing! I wish I had thought to take more pictures out and around the whole, huge, beautiful resort. I'll be sure to do that next time--because there will DEFINITELY be a next time for us at this place!

Imagine my giddiness when we walked into our festive room. They know how to celebrate occasions here and birthdays are no exception. I made sure to keep the balloons up our entire stay, of course.

We headed out right away for lunch. This meal was at The Lobster House. It overlooks the Caribbean and also sits over one of the many pools. It actually hangs over part of the pool...right next to its swim up bar. There were so many restaurants to choose from for breakfast, lunch, dinner, in-between meals/snacks/drinks, I think we barely experienced just over half of them. Even more to discover and enjoy next time we're there...

Our suite was on the bottom floor (my choice), so easy to literally just walk out to one of the pools there that we shared with maybe only 8-10 other people or so. We also had a nice-sized patio with a large, round bed, a nice-sized table to eat outside at (did I mention they have 24 HOUR ROOM SERVICE-alcohol included in that), and our own private lounge chairs that were mere steps away from and right next to the pool. Our own waitress was there right outside off our patio every day too. The second we would step out there she was ready to set our towels to their plushiest on the lounge chairs and take our orders. When she was done for the day and it was evening time, before dinner time, it was still all good. We had a full bar inside our room. It included endless snacks ,(m&m's, snickers, chips, peanuts, etc.) waters, drinks, beer, cokes, juices, AND full-size bottles of quality liquor. Absolut Vodka? Yes, please. Jack Daniels? Yep. Tanqueray? (sp.?) Oh yeah. Something that Matt kept referring to as Black Label (can't remember)...It was insane. And it was restocked twice a day. Also what seemed to come with the room--this adorable iguana. I loved this little guy. He hung out with us right off our patio on this rock everyday with us.

Meanwhile, I would get texts from my parents and Robby that would make me smile. Here's one of my favorites...I actually love and adore the tears in this picture, I know the situation all to well. For starters, they're being made to "pose" for a picture. They really dislike that. But most of all, it is SO DRAMATIC to have to stop playing!! I heard they, of course, had the most wonderful time with everyone, everywhere while we were gone--and they loved playing at this fantastic restaurant in The Woodlands. They're still fondly talking about "Baby Zoey" to this day!

Our first night there we had a yummy dinner to start soaking up all the drinks we'd had and would continue to have the whole time there. After that we liked hanging out at one of the outside bars where a band played every night. From there we ventured over to the resort's "theater" where they had a Michael Jackson show. Seriously. At first we were like hmmmm, okay, whatever this will be about. But it was actually so awesome--in a cheesy Michael Jackson impersonation way. This MJ guy was awesome, I think the whole resort was there, it was beyond Standing Room Only!

Not a bad view during the days...

Throughout the days the resort had different activities going on constantly. There was Texas Hold 'Em tournaments, drink/food making classes, dancing lessons, yoga,...and Beach Volleyball. Matt was all about the Beach Volleyball. At one point he told me he was channeling his inner Misty May/Keri Walsh. Then after his first game he played in he told me to just call him Misty May-Treanor. Umm, ok. Everyday they had beach volleyball scrimmages at 11:00 and 3:00. Matt was at every single one of those and had a blast!

Another pic from home...Seems as though "Uncle" is likely tied with Fisher as far as favorite family members go with Cole and Cam!

Another favorite dinner at The Grill. This one was right on the beach, amazing atmosphere there and all around!

Matt making friends with some of the resort locals...Lots of statues around there had topless women as their subjects...??!

One of my most favorite spots in the resort--The Martini Bar. It was open from 11am-1am. Seriously. My two favorite drinks there: Chocolate-Espresso Martini and of course, the Appletini.

Back in Texas, Cole and Camryn were having a great time at their first (of probably several) 2nd birthday party! All they need is some cake...and LOTS of ice cream to make them even happier.

Great days at the beach...and some more birthday fun (out of order pics again)

And back to our relaxing, no-kids, martini-flled fun nights in Mexico!....

Cam and Cole got to have pool time most everyday too in Texas! They played in their own kiddie pool at Mimi's then had lots of fun pool time with Tiger at Grandpa and Grandma's...

More vacation pics...

Back in Texas, it was time to meet up with everyone. Due to a storm in the gulf waters, our plane was delayed--then the duration was an hour longer than normal. Thankfully my parents got Cole and Cam checked in, through security and riding the train (see thrilling train excitement below) at the airport all while we were on a long plane flight, then going through annoying customs. With about 20 minutes to spare before our flight home to Colorado, we met up with them and got back into parents/reality mode!

Flying with these two monkey...Lordy.

I guess the blog wanted to jump back to Mexico instead here...

Our first full day back at home, I didn't really feel like preparing any kind of food myself. (Too used to being spoiled at the resort, of course!) That also would've meant going to the grocery store--which just didn't happen right away. So instead we went to our favorite place On The Border. All I really wanted was a swirl. It hit the spot.

...And now back to reality and our crazy day-to-days...

Cole is obsessed with brushing his teeth. And baby's teeth. And blankie's teeth.

...And finally, his actual teeth. We actually go through almost a whole tube of toothpaste a day. One of these days it'll turn into a not-fun chore, I'm sure.