Thursday, February 24, 2011

Our First Real Vacation

After 12 years of marriage and 10 years of parenthood, we decided it was time to take a vacation.  Not just a weekend a couple hours away.... but a real, we-can't-come-back-quickly-if there's-an-emergency, leave all your troubles behind, lay on the beach, remember the good old days VACATION!  Scott's been wanting to return to Puerto Rico since he came home from his mission 17 years ago, and now he can finally say he's been back.


We had an amazing trip and owe my mom big-time for watching the kids.  {Thanks, Mom!}  It was so fun and refreshing and relaxing.  You can check out our photos here:

http://gallery.me.com/mmschlenk#100122&bgcolor=black&view=grid

The only question now is, "Where do we go next?!"

A Quick Birthday Recap...

We had the whole fam over to celebrate Mason and Scott's birthdays.  It's always a little crazy, but so fun!  


Here's a glimpse of how crowded the house gets when everyone's here.  It's hard to believe that nine people are missing from this picture!  The cousins have so much fun together and we feel so blessed to live near so many members of our family.  It's fun to watch all the kids grow up together.


We had another slightly less crowded celebration for Scott's actual birthday.  He's never been much of a cake fan, so I made him is favorite - chocolate chip pecan pie.  Yum!


He had plenty of help blowing out his candles!  The kids always get so excited when we have birthdays around here.

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

Brady's birthday was the most recent.  My baby boy is five!  He is so funny and has such a great sense of humor.  He's quick-witted and loves to make people laugh.  He's always seemed a little older than he is and constantly amazes us with the way he puts words together and uses them correctly.  He's a great brother and a great kid and we can't imagine life without him!

{He used to be so tiny!}



We went against all we believe in and took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's for Brady's big day.  I'm admittedly a germ-a-phobe, and that place just creeps me out.  It's amazing what we'll do for our kids, isn't it?  They all had a blast and I think I endured it pretty well.  We forgot the camera (of course), so we have no proof that we actually went there.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  =)


When I asked Brady what he wanted for his b-day cake, he said "CHEESECAKE!" without any hesitation.  He'd never had cheesecake before and I'd never made it, so I was a little worried.  I found an easy no-bake recipe that turned out delicious (in my opinion).  He didn't really care for it - not even with all the toppings (oreos, choc. chips, fruit, whipped cream, choc. syrup, etc.).  Oh, well.  Live and learn, right?


Claire was right there in the action.  Heaven forbid anyone blow out there own candles around here...  I call it team work!