Birthday Boy!

So I know I'm way behind, but there are a whole bunch of things that I need to get recorded, for posterity's sake.  First and foremost, back in May, Colson had a birthday.  He was born on one of the coolest days of the year.  National Star Wars Day!  May the fourth be with you!  

No birthday is complete without pancakes.  Especially teddy bear pancakes.

Opening presents.  Spoiled rotten boy!

The Friday before his birthday, Jilly, Preston and I took Colson some lunch at school since his birthday landed on a Saturday this year.  Saturday birthdays are the best!  He of course chose Good Times for lunch.  His absolute favorite.  (He still hasn't gotten over it that there are no Good Times in Atlanta.)  Friday night Trent and I took him and his friends Ryan and Jared to see Iron Man 3.  They loved it!

The night of his birthday we had everyone over for birthday dinner.  Colson chose sloppy joe's this year, and as always for his cake and ice cream, chocolate with chocolate frosting and chocolate.  Ever since he was old enough to choose his cake flavor himself, he has always chosen chocolate with chocolate frosting.  

Birthday snuggles.

A rare picture of Dustin.  While he isn't looking directly at the camera, at least his face isn't covered.  And he's smiling to boot!

Jilly and grandma.  These two are best buds.  I'm pretty sure Jilly thinks grandma Guercio was placed on this earth just for her.  When grandma is around, she doesn't want much to do with anyone else.

Jilly and Montserrat getting ready for the balloon launch.

Make a wish birthday boy!

This was the first time Jilly said "balloon".  Except it sounded more like "doon".  I like doon better.

We always like to stay and watch the balloons until we can't see them any more.

Cute siblings.

He's not excited at all!  Can you tell?

I love this boy so much and am so grateful for the day he was born!  (If I had a dollar for every photo I have with Trenton photo bombing, I'd be rich!)

Grand Cayman: Day 5

Our final full day in Grand Cayman.  It was another very relaxing day.  We lounged around in the cabana and in the ocean all day.  I read two books while we were gone.  (Usually it takes me at least a month to get through one lately.  So two books in five days isn't too bad!)  We did walk down the beach a little ways to do some more snorkeling.

Another shot from our hotel room.  That would be a lovely view to wake up to every day!

The end of the day.  In all of the trips Trent and I have taken, this was the first one where I wasn't ready to come back home.  I could have easily stayed another few days.  Maybe with all of the craziness of getting ready to move, I didn't want to come back and have to face reality. ;)

Sunset from our balcony.

The rest of the pictures are by Jim the photographer.

 I forgot to put this one in earlier.  The pool at the property where we were staying.  Amazing!

 That night, they had a goodbye dinner for all of us.  There was live music, extremely delicious food, and fire pits on the beach.  We got to roast marshmallows and have s'mores for dessert.

We had the best time with everyone!  As I said before, Trent works with some of the most fun, amazing people!

And this is what Jilly and I did for the next few days after Trent and I got home.  Snuggle, snuggle, snuggle!  She didn't want me to put her down.  I guess she missed me!  And I was happy to let the rest of life go for a bit to get some snuggling in with my baby girl.

Grand Cayman: Day 4

On day four, the whole crew took a catamaran trip out to Sting Ray City.  One of the coolest things I've ever done!

The water was so beautiful!  I couldn't believe how clear and turquoise it was.

Miss Heather.

The gang.

Oh boy do I love this man.  He's the best!

The next ten photos courtesy of Jim the photographer.

Enjoying the sunshine and the wind in our hair!







Everyone from left to right: Scott, Heather, Mary, Teresa, Ken, Shri, Dipali, Brian, Jonelle, Jim, Nancy,  the Captain, Mary, Kristie, Macy, Shana, Rose, Trent, Heather, me, Chris.

 When I first jumped in the water and swam over to where the sting rays were, I have to admit, I was a tiny bit scared.  They were swimming all around us.  But then I told myself to "Get it together.  When are you ever going to be able to do this again?"  So I let go of my fear, and swam with the sting rays, and fed them, and tried my darndest to hold one.  I came close several times, but they mostly just swam across my arms.  Still very cool.  They are super soft to the touch.  They look like angels gliding under the water.

We also went and did a little snorkeling off the reef.  We tried to find the eel that lives over there, but no luck.  We did see lots of other cool fish though.  One of the crew members on the boat told me that there are a lot of parrot fish around Grand Cayman.  He said the parrot fish eat the coral, and they have these things in there throat that grind it all up, then they poop it out as sand.  They eat constantly and make a pound of sand a day, according to this guy.  But when all you eat is coral, I guess that's bound to happen.

 We also went over to Star Fish point to see the star fish.  There were only six there, but they were HUGE!

 The whole gang again, tired after a full day of swimming, snorkeling, and fun.  Or maybe it was just me that was tired.

Every stop we made, Trent and Chris had to jump off of the top of the boat.  There were no cliffs to jump off of in Grand Cayman since the whole island is flat, so they felt they needed to improvise.  It's a tradition of Trent and Chris's whenever they're on a trip together.

All smiles!

They got Kristie and the others to join in this time too.

It was another glorious day!

Grand Cayman: Day 3

Day three was ultra relaxing.  We spent the morning at the spa, late morning/early afternoon at brunch and the rest of the day at the beach.  We did a whole lot of nothing except relax and be lazy.

 At brunch, we somehow got on the subject of Trent's wilder hair days.  He had some humdinger haircuts as a teenager.  Here is Trent describing some of those hair cuts.

 All I gotta say is his mom was very nice to let him express his creativity through his hair.  ;)

 Trent and the girls. Starting from the left going clockwise around the table: Jonelle, Mary, me, Trent, Heather, Kristie, and Shana.

 Cheers!

All brunch pictures courtesy of Jim the photographer.

The food was delicious, but the desserts were my favorite part.

  

After brunch, we all met back up and spent the day floating in the ocean.  We spent so much time floating in the ocean while we were there that when I would lay down to go to bed at night, I still felt like I was being gently rocked by the waves.

 Chris needed a little snooze after his golf game.

 Trent and I had quite a few Pina Coladas.  Of the virgin variety of course.  :)

 Brian and Jonelle.

 I love palm trees.  I have always felt like nothing could beat the mountains and the smell of pine trees, but something changed in me this trip.  I could definitely live somewhere tropical and be okay with it.

 Wow.  Pina Colada in one hand and a Diet Coke in the other.  What am I going to do with this guy? ;)

 A floating bed in the ocean.  What could be more relaxing than that?!  Here is some of the crew, from the left: Trent, Heather, Macy, Shana, Kristie, and Mary.

 I love these girls!  They are so much fun!

 Brian and Jonelle.  We learned on this trip that Jonelle and her son built their own long board.  Amazing!  I don't think there isn't anything Jonelle can't do.

 We were having way to much fun.  I had walked back up to our cabana for a minute to get my camera, and I could hear Heather and Trent both cackling like crazy from all the way up there!  Heather's husband, Chris, and I got quite a chuckle out of it.  Trent and Heather both have very distinct, and very loud laughs.  You can't hear it and not laugh out loud yourself.  It's the best!  Especially when they both get going together.  :)

Macy and Mary.

I love the people that Trent works with.  They seem more like family than co-workers.  He is so lucky to work in such a wonderful environment around so many positive people.  I will be forever grateful for the day he started working for Molnlycke.