¡Viva La…Mexico & Memories!

May was a great mix of active weekends and laid-back time spent with family and friends. Trent and I were able to have a one-on-one weekend with the kids as well as an awesome adults-only trip! Here’s the recap! Brayden got her braces off after wearing them for seven months (this is round one of braces…the next round will come when she gets her 12-year molars). We met up with some friends at Wooden Robot Brewery (where my absolute favorite beer is…Good Morning Vietnam…a nice coffee vanilla blonde ale…delish!) and then to Sycamore Brewery where we enjoyed some bluegrass music and more beer. That day was capped off with watching the Kentucky Derby from our back porch and taking it easy.

We celebrated Trent’s 43^rd birthday (I swear he gets better with each passing year…like a fine wine!) and a couple days later we ventured to Riviera Maya, Mexico for five days to celebrate Joe’s 40^th birthday with him and Leslie. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and they knew how to throw a party, that’s for sure! The dance club had a swimming pool and two hot tubs smack dab in the middle of the dance floor, which guests definitely enjoyed later into the evening . Every day, there were poolside activities like water aerobics, belly-flop, and twerking contests. We enjoyed a three-hour amazing spa treatment complete with a ritual bath (sauna, hot steam room, freezing cold room, hot plunge pool, freezing plunge pool) that awoken our senses. That was followed by a 30-minute outdoor hot tub experience with champagne and fruit and then a 90-minute massage and body scrub. I felt like a noodle after that…so relaxed! The next day, we went snorkeling in a the Yal-ku Lagoon, which was pretty neat. It was a brackish-water filled area where the fresh water from the cenotes (underwater caves) mixes with the salt water from the ocean. We saw lots of tropical fish, a barracuda, and this cool effect where you could see the separation of the salt and fresh water. That night, we enjoyed a wine tasting where I’m pretty sure the four of us were being a bit obnoxious among the rest of those in the group who were taking it more seriously. There was an awesome foam party one afternoon, which was an absolute blast…one group of guys even brought a “blow-up” doll (umm, yep). Enough said. We met a fabulous couple from England, had the best time with Joe and Leslie, and were so excited to celebrate such a milestone birthday with him. We can’t wait to take another trip together! Never a dull moment! Shout out to Mom for watching the kids (we took her out to dinner when we returned on Mother’s Day as a thank you)!

Trent’s parents visited us the next week and it was awesome having them in town to see Brayden swim at night during her swim team practice (this is her first year swimming for the Y), join Trent for his guys’ happy hour, and most importantly, spend quality time with all of us! Kendall and I had dinner, Mr. Myers got neutered/microchipped, and then Trent spent the following weekend with Brayden at Camp Harrison for her final Y Guides Longhouse. As usual, they did ropes courses, paintball, ziplines, archery, riflery, and rock climbing, among other activities. This was her last official Longhouse, but she can volunteer at them moving forward. While the two of them were being outdoorsy, Hanleigh and I ran her first 5k! Even though she fell about a mile into the race and skinned up her knee, she powered through and finished (all in the name of the free swag at the end). I asked her afterward if she would ever do one again and she said “no way” (sounded like me after my first half marathon). Somehow, you forget about the pain you experience during a race and then keep signing up for them (so there may be hope that she does another one)! We met up with GG & Dadaw for lunch afterward, got pedicures, and went to see Diary of Wimpy Kid. It’s nice to have that special “date” time with only one kid to get to know them better and “reconnect” so to speak.

I spent the next week in Ft. Worth, TX for CS Week (a work-related conference) and was able to hang out a bit with some of my awesome coworkers. Hanleigh had a field trip to the Sea Life Aquarium and Brayden continued her swim team practice. She had her first swim meet the last weekend of the month where she got first place in the freestyle relay! She also competed in backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Kids 10 and under only have to swim 25 yards, so next year, all of her meets will require her to swim 50 yards. We went hiking at the Anne Springs Greenway, spent the day at Carowinds with Kyle, Erin, and Cooper (it was his first time!), and had an awesome dinner with our friends, Rob & Heather. Hanleigh shared the same kindergarten class with one of their kids and we have really enjoyed getting to know them! The next day, we celebrated Memorial Day with Nina & Keith, Amy & Seth (and all of their kids) at their pool and had a blast! It was awesome catching up with them and officially kicking off the summer. There was a very cool homemade boat race and it was so fun to watch the creativity in action (the rules stipulated that the boats had to be made of cardboard and duct tape). The month concluded with another quick work trip to Atlanta to meet with new colleagues of a company we just acquired. I’ve taken on the major assignment of helping to migrate all of their marketing assets over to our brand…and they have A LOT of materials to convert! Needless to say, work has been overwhelming to say the least. Deep breaths!

Hanleigh-isms

During the Run Ballantyne race, she said, “I’m so tired my face is going to plop off.”
She and I were being silly one afternoon and she said, “Oh no! Did I just bump your noggin?” This was followed by laughter, which she then said, “Ha! Ha! I said noggin. I’m an old-timer.”

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