Two more cruise pics

Formal night was "Cosmo Girl" night for our group of 21 women. Such fun! I'm top row, far right; My Mom is bottom, center (in gold).

Our mother/daughter pic.

Cosmo Girls - final day

On our third and final night at sea, we once again met for cocktails with the Cosmo Girls. That last day in Coco Cay was my idea of a vacation! We went ashore around 9:00 and quickly found chaise lounges in the shade of some palm trees. We sat reading for two hours, with only the sound of the crashing waves and the rustling of the palm trees as our soundtrack. A picture of THAT setting would have involved swimsuits, so we passed on documenting the moment. After a final dinner with the Cosmo Girls, we retired to our cabin to pack, and were up early to disembark the following morning. Back to normal life! Oh....and we've had nothing but rain for four straight days since I returned home--ugh!

Cosmo Girls cruise - Day 2

Day 2 of our cruise found us in Nassau, Bahamas. We went ashore in groups for a photo scavenger hunt and had more fun than should be legally possible. After our hunt, we relaxed on a rooftop terrace with a cold local beer while we watched a crazy afternoon parade for what may have been the "Miss Bahamas" pageant.

All dressed up for our formal theme night--Cosmo Girls. It was intended to be a nod to the flapper era, but this was my feeble attempt. I thought if I piled on the bling it would look ostentatious enough to qualify as the 20th century version of a Cosmo Girl. I just love that I found a NON-BLACK dress for fifty bucks! I hope to wear it to Chris's class reunion this August to justify the cost.

Truly, the best part of the cruise was having four uninterrupted days with my Mother. I do have a group picture from formal night, but still need to scan it in before we can post it, so stay tuned for that.

Cosmo Girls cruise - Day 1

Mom and I were invited to tag along on a cruise my Aunt Karen organized. There were 21 fabulous women who gathered for four days of fun. How lucky am I that my husband was so willing to take the kids for four straight days so I could have some time off? This picture was on departure day.

Life boat drill--I'm having WAY too much fun already.

We met for cocktails in the Crown Viking Lounge each night. On the first night, it somehow turned into an opportunity for everyone to tell semi-dirty jokes. Here, Susan gives her best effort at a penguin joke that is not appropriate for this "familiy friendly" site. =)

Final Spring Disney trip

Lindy and Linda on Dumbo--this was Lindy's first time at Magic Kingdom and she was so much fun to watch as she experienced Disney Magic for the first time.

Lindy playing in the "spitting tikis".

Ben got drenched and stayed that way most of the rest of the day, which was really a moot point when the skies opened up on us around 5:30 (as we were leaving, no less) and we got drenched running to our car. Still, a great time was had by all.

Our Disney passes hit the next "black out" period the first week in June, so we took a Tuesday off to escape down to Orlando to enjoy the park one more time this spring. This is the only semi-decent pic I got of Katie on the trip. She really WAS having fun, but it was a warm day and this was just after the afternoon parade. She was barely tolerating the fact that I was trying to get a picture of her. She and Suri Cruise would have a lot to talk about regarding paparazzi.

Three generations of Skaare women

On Mother's Day, Grans and Pops came out to spend the afternoon with us--the men watched golf while the ladies sat out on the back porch enjoying the breeze, the beautiful weather, and watching the kids splash in the pool. Tyler worked all day (we saved him leftover pizza and rum cake!) and Ben refused to cooperate for a photo, but I think this pic of the three generations of Skaare women is a nice way to remember a wonderful day.

Mother's Day 2009

Krista & Kate

Kate and Grans

Papa, Kate and Jackson clowning around

Green thumbs

We thought it would be fun to try out hand at growing some veggies, so Chris made some rolling planter boxes and we planted tomato plants, peppers, and jalapeno's. Here's the first shot of the fruits of our labors (pun intended!)

Ben's First Bike!

There was a huge yard sale in conjunction with the carnival, and Chris found this great little (red, scratched) bike that he thought would be great for Ben. The next morning, they went together to Home Depot to pick out paint (Orange--Ben's fave color and the only one he can identify 100% of the time!) and spent the weekend refinishing the bike. The top photo is the "before".

Fun @ the Fair

The first weekend in May graced us with beautiful weather and the St. Paul's annual carnival. Kate was at Gran's for the night, so we took Ben and Tyler (who took off with his own friends) to check out the fun. Aside from an insanely fast strawberry ride, Ben LOVED it, and was especially delighted with cotton candy. His first taste did not go over well (MAN, I wish I had THAT on video!) and sent him into fits of shaking, but then he realized that the cotton "melts" and is actually quite yummy.