Sippy and a Pup

I noticed Calvin walking around like this today and thought how much he's looking like the two year old he is about to be! He is so content to have a sippy of milk and his puppy with him at all times. I just love his sweet personality and the time we get to spend together in the afternoons when Ethan is at school. It's just Calvin and Mommy, it's pretty neat to have one-on-one time with the second child. I can't say Calvin the toddler is all hugs and kisses and cute moments, he likes to say no and yell "Mama" when he really wants things like cookies. He also does not like Ethan within a 1 foot radius of him in the bath so he pushes on Ethan the entire time, it's kinda funny.

I can't believe it was almost two years ago that I was sitting in the hospital on Christmas Eve wondering why I ever thought this would be a good time of year to have a baby!

Cruise

Travis and I went on a cruise for our 5 year anniversary that was on June 20th of this year. The cruise was in August and we were able to enjoy an entire week of just the two of us with no kids (thanks to Aunt Darcy) We had the best time and loved every minute of the trip. It was so nice to spend that kind of time together which we hadn't done since our honeymoon. Travis is my best friend and there is no one I would rather spend time with. I love him and all that he does for me.
The ship was the Adventure of the Seas on Royal Caribbean. The itinerary was perfect, we left out of San Juan, Puerto Rico and spent the first day at sea then went to Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. On a tip from my brother Jeff we took a ferry from St. Thomas to St. John and spent the day there. We are dying to get back there some day, it was amazing. If I would have blogged about this right after the trip I would have had a lot more to say about the trip but in an effort to do some quick updates here's a few pics.


Lovin' our first beach on Barbados

One of the best decisions we made was to get a cabin with a balcony, we spent a lot of time out there. It was nice to know when we were at port, and it was awesome at night to sit out there and watch the stars.

Here's a view of the Pytons on St. Lucia, it reminded us a lot of Hawaii. We took an amazing tour that wasn't booked through the cruise. Travis found it online and we got an all day tour from some local guy named Cosal, it was my favorite excursion. We got to see the entire island and they fed us local cuisine for lunch that I'm pretty sure his girlfriend made for all of us, I still crave the coconut cake.

Eating a fresh banana at a plantation in St. Lucia, yum.

This was overlooking a fishing village on the tour.

Trav in front of an active volcano on St. Lucia, it smelled like sulfur so bad I could taste rotten eggs in my mouth, not my favorite stop but cool to see a volcano so close.

This was a beach we stopped at in Antigua, all the beaches were amazing. On this island we took a 4x4 tour in the morning then rested on the boat, it was probably our least favorite island but looking at this picture right now I wouldn't complain if I was back there!

I took this picture on Antigua to put on my fridge so I could look at it when I'm stressed and try to remember sitting that chair with that view, it relaxes me just looking at it.

On to Orient beach on St. Maarten, or I guess St. Martin since this beach was on the French side but we docked on the Dutch side. I had to put this picture in for my sun fearing hubby. We always got an umbrella for Travis to park himself under so he wouldn't get sunburned, but I would usually pull my chair out for optimal sun. If Trav wasn't under the umbrella he had his rash guard on and was snorkeling. He did get a really funny tan about 2 inches thick where his rash guard didn't quite meet up with his swim suit. At least he won't have skin cancer later in in life, but next time we'll budget out more cash for umbrella rentals.

We had to take a shot in front of the Del Sol to honor Carrie, Tyler and Brittany. Carrie did you work on this one in St. Maarten?


And of course a shot of the "Hey Mon"shirt purchased for Travis years ago by his grandparents when they were serving a mission on St. Maarten, he still has it and brought it to wear on the island. If you're a Rhodes you understand the significance of the shirt, we spent a long time looking for an equivalent for the boys but only came up with a Hey Mon we be jammin' shirt with two drunk looking fish on it.

On the dock at St. Maarten

On to our last port which was St. Thomas. We hopped on a ferry to St. John which is a U.S. Virgin Island and 2/3 of it is a national park so it is completely pristine and undeveloped. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been, well besides the Swiss Alps but you can't really compare them to each other. We spent the day at Trunk Bay which has an awesome underwater trail that you can snorkel on with signs along the way to explain about the fish and corral. It was some great snorkeling, Travis could do it for hours but I get a little freaked out when the fish come so close.

This is shot when we first got to the beach, it was empty and pretty much stayed that way the whole day. The facilities were very nice because it was a national park and no one was walking up to you every five minutes asking you buy things. It was one of the most perfect days I have ever had.

Before heading to the airport we took a tour of San Juan and stopped at an old Spanish Fort, it was pretty cool to walk around the fortress and go down into the tunnels.

A view of one the forts in Old San Juan.

After this we headed to airport for a long flight home, it was so nice to see the boys again but they had a great time with Aunt Darcy. She kept them busy with trips to the zoo and aquarium and constant entertainment from her pet bunny Winchester. I hope we get to go on a vacation like this again some day. We head to Hawaii in a month but this time the boys will come along and I can't wait for some more beach and sun, but I have a feeling the Hawaii trip won't be quite as relaxing!

Space Cowboys

Happy Halloween! Here's some highlights from the Halloween season with our astronaut and cowboy. I haven't blogged in months but I hope to get back into it. Ethan and Calvin both loved getting dressed up and getting a load of candy, Calvin was really good about putting the candy in people's buckets at trunk or treat. It was a fun time and I can't wait to see what these little goblins will be like next year. (our camera is doing a lot of red eye lately, sorry)


Ethan the astronaut, we added the snow boots last minute and I think they made the outfit.

Hot dogs were the weapon of choice for this cowboy, oh Calvin.

Our annual trip to pumpkin patch this year.

Ethan preferred the wheelbarrow to walking.

Bowling

For a long time I have been wanting to go bowling on Saturday morning with the fam. My parents were watching my brother's kids for a night so we picked up the girls and headed to Acme Bowl. The facility was built after WA state banned smoking in places like bowling alleys so it's nice and clean and doesn't stink! We had a great time and Ethan really enjoyed the bowling until about the 7th frame when he declared he was all done and proceeded to take off his bowling shoes. Sophie was all too happy to take over his half of their shared bowling turn. Alyssa beat me and came in close second to Travis. Emily and I tied, seriously I have lost my bowling skills. Calvin was a maniac and wanted to cruise down the bowling lanes, I think most of the bowling balls weighed more then him. We had a great time and I am glad we got to go with the cousins. I think it's so great that my boys have cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles nearby to grow-up with, they even have a cousin doggy! The time will pass quickly that all of the kids are happy with the same activity we have to take advantage of this time while we can.

America, America, This is You!

When it starts to approach dusk on Sunday evenings you can here one thing in our house, a three year old yelling AFV!! Ethan loves, loves, loves America's Funniest Home Videos. It is the perfect combo of babies, dogs, cats, and people falling down. Travis and I like a little AFV as well, it brings back fond memories of our own Sunday nights as children. Remember Bob Saget and the little clip when they told you to "send it to Saget" c'mon who doesn't love AFV? "You're the red white and blue, the funny things you do, America, America, this is you!" Yeah, you're welcome, I hope you have that theme song in your head all day. And America this is you, drunk people dancing at weddings and children hitting their fathers in the groin with baseball bats, oh America you're so funny.

Ethan loves to watch AFV with Daddy and have a big bowl of air popped popcorn. The Rhodes family obsession with popcorn is a little crazy, if Carrie or Brittany are reading this you know what I mean. Seriously my children have been imbedded with the same popcorn desiring DNA of their forefathers. When Calvin who is just 17 months old heard the air popper come on tonight it was all he could do to get his tiny body down the stairs and to the source of the corn. Don't get me wrong I like popcorn as well but maybe there's just a little more Odom in me then Rhodes.

Who Knew?

I took Calvin to get a haircut yesterday, this is something I have been putting off for a long time. He screams the whole time and I have to sit him on my lap and put him in various body holds in order for the very patient and agile stylist to get the job done.

Who knew under his mop of hair he was turning blonde, and who knew he looked so much like Ethan? I love this kid, he's growing up too fast!

Memorial Day

Ethan got his first t-ball set and loves it!

Aunt Darcy came for a visit, can you find her in the picture?

He has since mastered using two hands to swing

Calvin helped with the planting

He likes dirt

So does Daddy

We ended the weekend with a bbq at friends and decided to make a last minute stop at the family bbq afterwards. Ethan went on a wagon ride with cousins and this was the end result, a face plant on the driveway. We were a little worried about a concussion but he seems fine today, it's so sad to see him all banged up. Happy Memorial Day!