Six Flags for the Afternoon

Yesterday, I took the four boys to Six Flags. We left right from swim lessons. We grabbed lunch on the way, and were ready to go. It was great arriving after the morning rush. We walked right into the park with no lines.

Here's T&B enjoying the South African penguins

B was able to touch this stingray. He really enjoyed watching them and being able to feel them. He was quite mesmerized by them.



J&B biding their time as we waited for the Tony Hawk ride. We ended up waiting about 45 minutes for the ride. Since we all could go, and we wanted to go together, I had to pay for a temporary locker for my backpack. They no longer allow backpacks brought up to the rides and left to the side while we ride. I wasn't too happy about this.

B&J after getting soaked on the boat ride!

There's MY caboose in the caboose. He wanted to ride in there all by himself. B & I rode right in front of him. He wanted us on the train, but not right next to him.

B & Mom

Here's N getting ready to go on the KONG. We didn't get to ride together because of the new backpack rule. I went first and he held the backpack, then when I got back, he went. Lame, I know! I would have gotten the locker at this point, but I only had a 5 dollar bill and I didn't want 5 locker coins and NO ONE would give me change at any of the concession stands! N was able to ride the Kong a few times (once with J) and the Medusa, too. It was nice to be able to give him the cell phone so that he could ride some of the big rides and then call us to find us.

This is one of my boys' favorite rides. T is still to short to ride this one, so J and I took him over to the small kid swings just like this. He really enjoyed that, and I was grateful that J was so helpful. He rode a few small kiddie rides with T and was such a great big brother to him. We soon got our fill and headed home. We had a blast. The weather was perfect. The boys enjoyed the rides, and the lines weren't bad (except on the Tony Hawk ride). We hope to squeeze in one more trip before school starts in August. Hopefully, G will be able to come with us.

Bahamas -- Nassau

We docked at Nassau, Bahamas early in the morning. We didn't sign up for any of the excursions for this day. We wanted to explore the island ourselves, shop a bit, and hit the beach.

View of Nassau from our balcony at port

It's hard to see me in all of that .... I don't know what to call it. It was at the port and I wanted a picture of it.

We enjoyed our walk around parts of the island. We found many of the buildings fascinating. In the Bahamas, they drive on the left side of the road, which was a bit confusing. What I found odd was that some of the cars had the steering wheels on the left side of the cars and some had them on the right.

Lots of pirate themes. The movie Pirates of the Caribbean was actually filmed in the Bahamas.

On our walk, G noticed this mango tree wishing he could take it home with him.


You can see the massive hotel ATLANTIS behind us. It is gignormous!

We finally made it to the beach after walking a little more than 3 miles. The water was so beautiful and warm. It felt SO good!

We opted to take a cab back to the port. Well worth the 8 bucks. We were hashed and HOT. We cleaned up, napped, went to dinner, then back out to the island to walk around more. The ship left Nassau early in the morning.

The Bahamas -- Freeport

Here is another picture of us on our snorkeling adventure. The water was SO warm and comfortable (aside from the salt). It was a beautiful turquoise hue and clear. It was very peaceful.
Here we are on the boat for the snorkeling excursion in Freeport

After snorkeling, we went back to the ship, cleaned up, had lunch and then headed out to see the shops in Freeport. I loved these trees with the bright orange flowers in them. So beautiful.

Here's G shopping. He ended up buying the wood sculpture he's holding in this picture. They were carved on site and made of mahogany. It's a Bahama Papa. It's really cool!

Most of the buildings in the Bahamas are painted in pastel shades. I liked the look of these bungalow-type buildings on the island with all of the palm trees.

We really enjoyed our day in Freeport, but it was HOT and HUMID ... VERY humid. As we walked around a bit, we saw some Islanders playing soccer. Man, they were good! We had to be back on board by 3:30 to sail on to Nassau. We just relaxed and napped before dinner. We went to the shows on the ship each night. They were actually quite good! They had dancers, singers, comedians ... very entertaining.

Our Cruise to the Bahamas

G and I were able to enjoy a wonderful cruise to the Bahamas ... just the two of us. It's been a while since we've been able to take off. The last time was in 2000 when we went to Israel for 2 weeks. I haven't blogged about the cruise up to this point because I don't want to admit that it's over. Seriously. We had such an amazing time. A big thanks to my Mom, who took the boys for 6 days. She kept them busy and happy, and she took lots of pictures! So, there's more to blog about that later. Anyway, G & I headed to sunny Orlando Florida on Saturday the 11th, stayed overnight, went to Sacrament meeting the next morning, packed up again, and headed over to the airport to catch the shuttle to the port. We were so excited to finally be on our way to the ship.

Here we are in the plane on our way to Orlando, very excited about our adventure.


This is the view from our room. We LOVED having a balcony. Worth the upgrade. The bed was so comfortable and it was so NICE to have our room cleaned 2 times a day. In the evenings, our bed was turned down and some type of towel animal greeted us, usually with my sunglasses on it.

Here I am on our balcony when the ship was at port at Nassau, Bahamas

This is in Freeport, Bahamas. We went on a snorkeling excursion. We went on an 1 hour boat ride to a coral reef, snorkeled for an hour, then headed back. Saw a lot of coral, but not a lot of fish. Still, we enjoyed ourselves. Something we hadn't done before.

Who are those two hot people??!

The dress-up dinner night in the dining room. We clean up pretty good, eh?

We really, really, really enjoyed the cruise, and the time together. The crew was fantastic and we met some nice people aboard. Most of all, it was nice to be together, just the two of us. Oh, and when I did see rowdy kids or ones having a tantrum, I didn't care. I was just glad I wasn't the one having to deal with it. I was ON VACATION! I knew the boys were in good hands and doing their own thing. What an amazing adventure. I'm so glad we went, and I hope to do another cruise in the near future.

My 2nd 5K -- Sacramento

I ran my 2nd 5K this morning in Sacramento. The race started at the East Lawn Park. The weather was perfect. N came with me for moral support. He also took photos for me.

I liked these chip timers better than the ones from the last 5K. It was secured to my shoe with a couple of zip ties, and a volunteer snipped it off after the finish line. As for my shoes, I have LOVED these shoes, but I know it's past time to replace them. They are so comfortable!

Getting ready at the start line for the race. The race went through the fabulous 40's neighborhood and then back to the East Lawn Park. It had a few inclines and declines, but it was just beautiful! I really enjoyed the scenery.

Here I am in the front going up the final incline to the finish line. Despite all of the little inclines here and there, I made it. I ran the entire 3.1 miles. It was nice to see N waiting for me and cheering me on.

Here I am after the race. Right after I crossed the finish line, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson was right there and gave me a 'high-five'. Pretty cool!

Even though I didn't feel as strong today, I still did pretty well. My body is still a bit weak from fighting strep throat, but I pushed through. I'm so glad I did it and am already planning on the next one. I think I found one in Folsom in late August.

Yellowstone -- Part 1 -- Old Faithful

After a good night's sleep in our hotel, we headed to Yellowstone. Here is a picture of our hooptie driver. I think the mini-van was a nice touch to the image!

Here's another picture of a state welcome sign. This marks the first time the boys have been to Montana. Our hotel was actually in Montana.

After driving about 1 mile into Yellowstone, we entered into Wyoming, another new state for the boys. Not too long after that, we were able to see 2 Bald Eagles. Amazing.

Here are the boys waiting for "Old Faithful". Now, they can predict eruption within 10 minutes either way of a time. For example, they said it would erupt at 11:26. So that meant it could happen anytime from 11:16 to 11:36. And it did ... at about 11:30.



N takes our photos of us. He's doing a great job. Sometimes I have to tell him to not get too close to me because it makes my face look HUGE. I'm just glad he can handle my camera so that I can be in some pictures, too.

'nough said!

We arrived just in time to see Old Faithful. We hiked around the area for over an hour and came back to see it again. It erupts every 90 minutes. The hike around the geysers and springs was amazging. I'll post about that next.