Kreipl Family

I’m a lucky girl. I have a wonderful family. For most of the year it’s just my small family of four…surrounded by three sisters and their families plus my parents; all within a few miles. We get to have family dinners together, birthday parties with cake and present opening, picnics in the park, swimming on summer weekends, and holidays together. No more Easter's alone, no more shopping for the smallest turkey for Thanksgiving because you are only feeding three mouths, no more Happy Birthday singing phone calls, no more invitations from our adoptive family (thank you Reed and Kat!). Now it’s perfect. Now it’s fun. It’s something I hadn’t had with my side of the family my entire married life until we moved to Arizona. Not to mention we have three of Austin’s sisters and their families along with his parents down the street as well. That’s 32 immediate family members within a few minutes drive. I know we are lucky. Really really lucky.

Except that not EVERYONE in the family is close by. And it makes me miss those who don’t live here all the more. Especially when one is your sister that you shared your mother’s womb with and have practically the exact same DNA. Kinda extreme I know, but for a twin it's true! Oh, and guess what I just learned...this will freak you out! Genetically speaking, our children are half-siblings rather than cousins. Hmmm. That gets you to thinking, but we’ll just stick to calling them cousins! But at least this scientifically biology descriptive closeness (I just made that up) gives you kinda of an idea of how close I really am with my twin! And how much I hate that we don’t live next door to each other and share a white picketed fence. Something I’m sure our husbands don’t mind the slightest.

As sad as I am not having my sister and her family near by, and as much as I miss them those other 358 days out of the year, when they come and visit, it makes those reunions all the sweeter.

Last week Jamie and her beautiful family came to Arizona. We finally got to meet their new addition Henry! The lame picture I took doesn't do this cutie justice, so you'll just have to go visit Jamie's blog to see how handsome he really is. He’s perfect and adorable in every way and is such a cute addition to their family. I loved holding him, and I love that she gets to experience all that comes with a little prince charming in the family.

We spent a few days in Payson at a super fun cabin. Even though it rained on us, we still had a lot of fun!! How can you not with 25 people under one roof!! We fought over the one and only Soduko book, played games (I’ve discovered a new favorite, Ticket to Ride anyone??), ate some yummy meals, and the guys took the kids down to the creek and fish hatchery and played horseshoes. It was a really fun few days. Dax and Wyatt loved exploring and being outside in the mountains and it was nice to take a few days off of work and hang out as a family, with everyone!
Of course, when we returned home, we were welcomed again with the 100 degree weather and played at my sister’s pool all day Saturday celebrating my dad’s birthday. Good thing the guys are troopers and braved the 82 degree water with all the kids. I don’t get in until it as at least 87. I admit it. I’m a total cold water wimp.

Jamie took some great pictures of the four of us in Payson and I am so grateful she did. We had all of 5 minutes before the downpour! Looking at these pictures reminds me how much my family means to me. I wish everyone could know Austin and the boys as well as I do. I can't put into words the love I have for all three of them. They make my life so happy and complete and this family, my entire family, would be different without any one of them. I am so glad we have these chances to get together and enjoy each other as a family.

Because really, that's all that matters to me.

Dinnertime

What do you get when your 15 month old is adamant about eating with a spoon. By himself. Unassisted. Well,

Good thing it’s summer because he eats in the nude…in his diaper of course.

You get chili smeared over his protruding belly.

Applesauce all in his hair which makes him look like a rock star with the blond Mohawk it help creates.

Cheese behind his ear. This isn’t anything except disgusting.

Banana bread crumbs stuck all over his face creating a five o’clock shadow because it’s stuck to the apple sauce that didn’t quite make it into his mouth…or hair.

And hot dogs in the flap of his diaper.

Yes, this is about as fancy of a chef I get on hot summer days with a husband who works late. Chili cheese dogs with apple sauce and banana bread. Yum.

So, what do you get? One untidy child.

And so, instead of carrying him with my arms extended to the bathroom to perform the usual “after dinner spray down” and for fear that all the hot dogs caught in the flap of his diaper will leave a nasty trail across the living room, Wyatt got a bath in the kitchen sink.

Why have I never ever done this before? With either of my boys?

Oh right, because there is usually a pile of dishes.

Seriously moms, if you haven't bathed a toddler in the sink, you should. These pictures remind me of Jamie and I at Dinkey Creek, our annual vacation spot growing up, where my mom used to give us baths in a rusted deep dish sink in the campsite's laundry room. Talk about embarrassing! But we used to love it! We couldn't have been more than four and had pig tails down to our waist. The only thing that would have made this pictures even more memorable is if Dax would have been in the sink too. Uhh, not a chance!

Maybe I’ll need to make sure those dishes are done more often.

102

102. Really? Already?

5 buckets of water and two cute boys can really make this Arizona summer crap quite tolerable....

And who knew buckets could be used in so many different ways?
Yup, that's a rap.

Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman was our last and final stop. How I managed to escape such a beautiful place with the least amount of pictures is beyond me. It was a little windy again and the shore excursion to the Stingray City Sandbar was cancelled. We hadn’t quite made up our minds if we were going to brave swimming with stingrays, but with it being cancelled and our minds being made up for us we didn’t have to feel like the real whimps we were probably going to turn into be.

Instead we tendered to George Town, the main entrance to the island, and found ourselves a bus tour to show us around. We drove through the West Bay of Grand Cayman, and learned a lot about the island and its people. We laughed when the tour guide told us that the island is 22 miles long, 8 miles at its widest point and a maximum elevation a whooping 79 feet. In 2004 Hurricane Ivan hit and took its toll on the Island. For months people were not allowed to leave the island, and residents who were off the island at the time that it hit, were not allowed to come back. They were without power, water, or sewer services for several months later. This little pink house was one of the only homes left untouched after Ivan moved through and withstood 170mph winds. Apparently it has lived through a number of Hurricanes and the people on the island who knew its history sought shelter under its roof while they waited Ivan to pass. Look how cute it is?
Next we went to Hell. Really, we went to Hell. Hell, Grand Cayman that is. It was hot and ugly and black, just like I imagine Hell to be. These rock formations are nothing more than short, black limestone. The story goes that Hell received its name when a local official exclaimed, “This is what Hell must look like.” Yup, my thoughts exactly.
We spent the rest of our day at Seven Mile Beach and that’s exactly what it was. Seven miles of turquoise water and white white sand. Don’t think I didn’t fill a baggy up with some of it and bring it home. We snorkeled here too and saw even more amazing fish. I loved laying on beach and listening to the waves. Total paradise---except for the sunburned legs!We had such a fabulous time on this trip. We enjoyed everything about it; the ship, the ports, the no kids around, the sun, sand and sea, and most of all, the company. We had so much fun with my sister and her husband and my parents. How do you thank someone for treating you to a trip like this? It’s impossible. Thank you a million times. We love you! We are so lucky to have you in our lives. You’re the most generous, loving parents ever. Thank you for the bottom of our hearts!

Roatan

If you’ve never heard of Roatan, don’t feel bad. I never had either and being Mrs. Geography didn’t help…but we all know that doesn’t mean anything! Come to find out, Roatan is an island part of Honduras and it was our third port of call.

Our day in Roatan started bright and early. Well, let me rephrase that, it started dark and early.

On the cruise, we were traveling in and out of time zones. To make sure all the cruisers had synchronized watches and made sure to be back to the ship in time before it set sail, everyone was asked to be on “Ship Time”, which was Florida Time. Even if the country we were in was an hour behind, we still stayed on “ship time” as we adventured around. Sounds confusing? It was! If you don’t wear a watch and needed to know the time, if you asked a local, you would need to remember to add an hour or subtract an hour, sometimes two, to get the “ship time.” The cruise instructed us not to ask any locals what time it was for fear that passengers would think they still had an hour at the port when in reality the ship was ready to leave and passengers would be missing. This happened at our first port of call in Cozumel when fours boys were late and lucky for them, the captain was nice enough to wait...over an hour. We so didn't want to be those people.

Our arrival time in Roatan was 7am. Not too early. I can live with 7am. I work every day at 6 so that’s doable. Wrong. 7am was ship time. It was 5am in Roatan. It was pitch black when we left the ship. I still haven’t figured out why the cruise line would let us port in an unfamiliar country at 5 in the morning, but that’s ok. Luckily we had a nice man by the name of Lionel set up to meet us and give us a private tour of his island.

My mom had booked this tour for us before we left and we were all looking forward to it. Lionel drove us around the entire island and we got to tell him all that we wanted to do. On the agenda:

1. Sight-seeing:
With it being so early when we arrived, we did a lot sightseeing the first part of the morning. The island is beautiful and tourism is their major resource. Right now the island only has one port for cruise liners, with 3-4 ships a week. They are building a second port where they can have 3-4 ships a day. The people are really excited about that. Lionel said that everyone on the island has work if they want. If they aren’t working it’s because they are lazy. I was happy to hear that with all the economic struggles so many are facing. We saw some amazing shipwrecks, the governor's mansion and beautiful beaches as we drove around.

2. Visit an Orphanage & School
The day started to pick up a little before 7 because that is when schools start. Lionel says there are about 18 “neighborhoods” on the island and each one has a school, a lot like it is here in Arizona where we live. In addition to that there are private schools that you can send your children for $45/per month. Not bad. The private schools are where the children can learn English. Before we went to a school, we stopped at a grocery store and bought groceries for an orphanage. A man who runs one of the orphanages on the island met us and helped us shop for the things that they needed. It was fun to shop with him because he grabbed lots of mac n cheese, hot dogs, fruit, rice, and juice…all the same sorts of things that my kids eat. When we got to the orphanage, most the kids were in school but we got a tour of the house. Austin and I were really impressed because it was almost identical to the group home that he worked at in Utah for about three years. Menu boards in the kitchen, cleaning charts, big open rooms for the kids to play, a classroom, bedrooms, a huge table to eat at.

From there we went to a school. When I went to Africa my senior year in high school the kids loved getting school supplies because they couldn’t afford them. Who knew that a ballpoint pen would make a child’s day? It was one of my highlights from my Africa trip, and it was one of our highlights on this trip. Before we left we bought pens, markers, glue sticks, and scissors and Lionel took us to the school where he went as a kid. There were two classrooms and all the kids were in their cute blue and white uniforms. They were so excited to see us and have visitors. I got choked up seeing their smiling faces. They had racecar backpacks and cute braids in their hair. They were playing duck duck goose in the grass. They gave us hugs and asked to take pictures. Oh, I loved them. I could have stayed with them all day. And get this; their school was in a building literally on the sand about 20 feet from the ocean. They said on Friday’s they get to play in the water at recess. So cool!
3. Snorkeling:
Finally, our first chance to go snorkeling. We had all bought some snorkel gear before we left and had been aching to use it. Lionel dropped us off at a little scheduled beach with a little pier and a reef. We ate an awesome shrimp and lobster lunch over looking the water (seriously the best view imaginable) then dove right into the water afterwards. We swam and swam and saw amazing fish and sea life. The colors were beautiful. Turquoise, blue, purple, green, yellow, you name it. I’d only been snorkeling once and I thought I might be a little nervous, but I wasn’t in the slightest. It was incredible. What a day! Our favorite by a mile. It was so amazing to witness the everyday life of another country, associate with the people (who by the way are so humble, friendly and kind), and see another beautiful place. No dancing to post about tonight, just fun with the family. Tomorrow's adventure, the Grand Cayman.

Belize

When we woke up in Belize it was raining! Bummer! This was our first of two ports that we would be “tendering” to land. Basically our ship throws their anchor out in the middle of the ocean and then we board a fairy and take it to land. Belize is known for their great snorkeling with one of the longest barrier reefs and also their ruins, similar to those we saw in Tulum. The plan was to take a boat to a private beach and go snorkeling, but because of the rain and the wind, our excursion for the day was cancelled. Austin and I tried to hurry and get with the group going zip-lining, but they were booked. (I love this pic of my mom on the fairy).

So, we stayed on the ship and played some games and after lunch the rain had let up so we decided to head into Belize City. Belize sits between Mexico and Guatemala in Central America. I wish we would have had the chance to explore it a little more. I loved the bright colors of buildings and little shacks all along the coastline. We didn’t venture too far into the city but enjoyed the shops and atmosphere of Belize. There were ladies braiding hair, live music, ice cream shops and lots of little beautiful jewelry stores. That night on ship we had a lot of fun.

After dinner we headed to the lounge where they provided all the entertainment. I’m not sure how the “entertainment” compares on other ships, but for us, it was hilarious. There were always great shows, funny funny comedians and a chance for the cruisers to take part in activities. Tonight, Austin provided the entertainment.

When we all got to the lounge they were playing a Battle of the Sexes type game. Apparently the ladies had won the competition for the past five weeks of the ship. The men were taking it very seriously! Lawrence, one of the cruise directors, pulled a male and a female from the audience and chose Austin. When they got on stage Lawrence informed them that they were having a dance off and which ever one did the best they would get a hundred points for their team.

The women went first. When the music started she went nuts. She rocked it. She had some major moves and all the ladies were going crazy. Now Austin was going to have to try to out dance her. Even though I’m all for the females, I was rooting on my man! When the music started he put his best grove on, doing as many Beyonce-esque moves he could muster. He didn’t win the points for his team, but he got some major whoops and hollers from the crowd. I recorded it! Austin will love this! It's shakey becuase I was screaming and laughing so hard all at the same time. He was a good sport and got high-fives all the way back to his seat. He won a 24-carat gold plastic Ship on a Stick medal. Woo-hoo!

Between the Battle of the Sexes game and the comedian we were waiting to see was a Bingo game. My sister’s husband is hugely opposed to playing Bingo, but all the girls wanted to play so the guys got in line to buy the cards. It was three cards for twenty bucks. The game was to make a “T” shape across the top of your card and down the middle. When you only had one spot left you were supposed to stand up. Our cards were so far from being good, but Jenn and Dwain, huge NON-Bingo fans, were doing awesome. They got down to one call and Dwain stood up. No one else was standing. As far as we could see, no one else was even close. The caller called a few more numbers and Dwain was getting uncomfortable standing…the man is 6’4”. But lo and behold, the next call was the number they needed.
Yup, $600 dollars would make me a fan of Bingo too!