Gavin's 1st day of Kindergarten!

September 1, 2010

First day of school!

Portraits

Our cruise had a couple of portrait nights so we had these pictures taken of the kids.

The Last of the Cruise Photos

Our cruise was made possible thanks to these two lovely people.

Thank-you so much, mom and dad!

"Movies under the stars"

Every night on the ship they played a movie under the stars. They served popcorn and ice cream. In this photo we were watching "How to train Your Dragon" with my nieces.

The whole Pyne clan posing for a pic after eating a lovely dinner on Italian night (the 2 guys in stripes on either side of the family were our waiters every night).

Mom & Dad with all their grand kids

Our cruise was a wonderful vacation that I recommend everyone experience at least once in their life. It's a great way to sample different places. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the Bahamas, which we really liked. We were too busy playing around and teaching Gavin to snorkel to stop and take pictures. I would definitely like to return there someday. Arabella did great on the cruise, and Gavin had the time of his life, but I would recommend going on a cruise without kids or only if your kids are 3 or older so they can go to the kids club on the ship (which is free, unless they stay after 10pm). Because we had Bella we weren't really able to enjoy the nightlife or do any shore excursions (like swimming with the sting rays in the Caymans or snorkeling in the under water city in Cozumel), but that's ok because we still had a really great time.

Cozumel

We had a fabulous time in Cozumel, Mexico. We did some shopping and then discovered an awesome beach (I forget the name) that had pretty much everything you could need or want. The last 2 photos are of us holding some parrots that were trained to do some interesting things like lay in your arms like a baby and hang from your finger by their beak.

Jamaica

standing in front of the waterfall

helping Gavin climb the waterfall

didn't realize my mom was taking pictures of us


Tiffany & Tommy (& Arabella) in front of the waterfall. They were kind enough to help out with Bella while we ventured up the waterfall.


My mom & my brother David's 4 cute girls



Gavin & his cousins posing with a donkey
(left to right: Ashlee, Gavin, Caitlin, Christina, Kathryn)



Here we are in Ocho Rios, Jamaica! The main attraction here is to climb up the Dunns River Falls. Tony, Gavin and I climbed up most of it (the last portion of the climb was a little too hard for Gavin). We did some shopping and hit the beach for a short time. It was drizzling on and off so it wasn't a great day for hanging at the beach. I have to say, this was definitely our least favorite stop during our cruise. The main reason for that was that, as a tourist, you are constantly hounded by peddlers trying to sell you their wares. And they are extremely aggressive about it; putting things in Gavin's hands, asking him his name and immediately carving it onto whatever it is they want us to buy. It became infuriating. But we couldn't help but feel for them because they are so poor there. Needless to say, I don't think we'd go back to Jamaica.

Grand Cayman Island

This photo was taken on a boat from our ship to the island. It would have been the perfect photo if you could see the whole sign Gavin is sitting in front of, which says, "Welcome to the Cayman Islands" (with sharks, just like the swim trunks he's wearing).

Can you believe that water!

Arabella snoozing on a lounge chair in the shade of an umbrella. Every beach we visited we had to make a shady spot for the baby.

These photos were taken during our visit to the Grand Cayman Island. It was our favorite island because it was beautiful and comfortable. The sand and water were gorgeous (no reef/rocks to maneuver around while in the water like in the Bahamas). It's obviously a very wealthy island (unlike Jamaica), which I have to be honest is so much more appealing. We definitely want to go back soon! Loved it!

Our Caribbean Cruise!

The Emerald Princess!

Tony & Gavin playing in one of the 4 pools on the ship.

Grandpa Don, Caitlin & Ashley (my nieces) playing in the pool. Typical Dad fashion... giving the "hang loose" sign.

Tony & Arabella all dressed up for dinner on one of the dressy nights on the ship. Some people get very dressed up (tuxes & gowns). That's not our style.

Me & Tony sitting at our nightly spot in the dining room. They fed us very well. I'm now accustomed to having my own appetizer and desert with my meal every night. Now that I'm home I've gotta get back to eating healthy and light.

We had an amazing time on the Pyne family reunion 2010! The whole family set sail on board the Emerald Princess to the western Caribbean for 7 days. We visited the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel. Pictures from each island are coming...

Dinotrax

This is one more cool thing to do while in St. George. These are actual dinosaur tracks and bones that were discovered at this location. I believe the 2ND pic is a T-Rex print and the 3rd is an allosaurus scull. It was very interesting.

Animal Party

Sonya the cockatoo

Big Red, the Boa Constrictor

Sting, the scorpion

Nanuk, the ferret

Bitty, the Sugar Glider

Grandma & Arabella

Gavin picked a "How to Train Your Dragon" cake.

To celebrate Gavin's 5th birthday we had an animal party at the park. We hired a local company to bring some exotic animals (Gavin got to choose which animals he wanted). They taught the kids about each animal and let them touch/handle them. It was very cool.

Gavin is 5 today!

My darling Gavin is 5 today! It's a little hard to believe. We had a great birthday party for him yesterday. I'll be posting pictures of that soon.

Spring Sing

Gavin's daycare/preschool has a "Spring Sing" every year in the spring (hence, the name). All the children sing really cute songs that involve lots of movements and expression and the older kids get to recite poems and stuff. This was the 3rd year he has participated. However, this year was special because he is in the 4 year old preschool, which means he had a speaking part; quite a large speaking part at that. His poem was entitled "There Was An Old Lady Who Lived In A Zoo". Warning- This video footage is extremely raw. It may make you a little queasy. Please bare in mind that I was holding a very wiggly baby on my lap while I was videotaping with my little digital camera. But it is worth it because it's darn CUTE. I know the grandmas (& grandpas) will appreciate it.

My Mom

Happy Mother's day, Mom. I'm so happy that we get to celebrate this mother's day together. You have always been such an incredible mother. Because of you (& dad) my childhood was completely blissful. You were, and are, an excellent example of what a mother should be... very loving, involved and supportive. I think I'm a pretty great mom too, mostly because I learned from you. You are so beautiful, stylish and fun to be around. You give excellent advice on pretty much everything. You are a wonderful grandma too. If only we lived closer:( I love you.

Arabella's 1st Birthday!

I love this picture of my little birthday girl! I just wish the picture wasn't so grainy.

Posing for a pic in front of the lilac bush in our backyard.

Arabella loves getting pushed in the swing by her big bro.

Here is Arabella with 3 of her 4 Pyne cousins.

Here she is eating her vanilla cupcake with pink buttercream frosting that I made. She loved the frosting! We were so mean because we scraped the frosting off after she had a little taste because we didn't think she needed all that sugar.

She got some really fun gifts (incl. a dollhouse that we gave her)!

HAUTELOOK

There are a lot of members only discount internet shopping sites out there. I subscribe to a few of them... Gilt group, shopittome, btrendie, but the best by far is HAUTELOOK. This is the only one that I've made multiple purchases on and I've gotten incredible deals on designer clothes and shoes for me and both of my kids. I highly recommend it to all you stylish gals out there. You have to be invited, so click here for your official invitation from me. Happy shopping:)

The Kindle

I've been wanting a Kindle since it came out a couple of years ago. I finally got one for my birthday last month (thanks mom & dad) and I love it! Basically a Kindle is a little computer where you can download books in seconds at reduced prices (usu. under $10 or FREE). You can also download newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc. It doesn't need to be plugged in and there's no need for wi-fi. You can read your books on the Kindle screen. It reads like paper without a glare (even in bright sunlight). You can highlight and look up the meaning of a word instantly, have the Kindle read your book to you and all kinds of other amazing things that I'm still figuring out. It's about as thin as a magazine and it holds up to 1500 books! I am very excited that I won't be clogging up shelf space with all the books I buy and no more carrying around a big heavy hardback. It's so ideal for traveling. I love it!