Today was spent on Isla Roatan which is off the coast of Honduras. We decided to make this a beach day instead of taking a shore excursion. This was a man made beach and shopping area done by Carnival so there wasn't much to see, but it was a beautiful beach.
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We spent the day in Belize and went snorkeling at Goff's Caye. This was absolutely amazing. This is the biggest coral reef next to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We saw SO many things. We have been snorkeling lots of times, but this was probably the most picturesque. The water was so beautiful. This was a little island that we spent a few hours on out in the middle of nowhere.
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There were two formal nights on board where you had to dress very nicely for dinner. No we didn't want to do the tux and gown thing but we did wear our Sunday best.
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Camp Carnival had a Family Digital Scavenger Hunt while on board where you had to take pictures of everything on the list. We had to do the chicken dance in the pool, take a picture of every deck, do a conga line, and go down the water slide. Haylie got her face painted and our waiter made some cute napkin items.
These were some pictures taken around the ship on Saturday. Caught a beautiful sunset somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. We played cards A LOT. Learned a new game from my sister called Progressive Rummy. LOVED IT!
We all got off the boat Sunday morning. Most of the group was headed back to Salt Lake City with one family headed to Portland OR. We were on a later flight back home so we went to the Lowry Park Zoo. It is rated as the #1 zoo in the country and it was pretty neat. The girls were able to feed a giraffe and the birds. A freak rainstorm hit Tampa while we were waiting at the airport so we go a little bit of a late start but not too bad. We had an awesome time!
Finished up swimming lessons in July. Savannah has passed off all 6 levels. Haylie will be in Level 5 next year. Way to go girls!
Today is July 24 and no, we did not celebrate the pioneers arriving in Utah. Our family went to discover the heritage of our current area; Leavenworth, KS. Now if you know anything about the military; Leavenworth is where individuals in the military were sent to fulfill their debt to society. Leavenworth is only a 30 minute drive north of our home. It is the first city incorporated in the state of Kansas and Fort Leavenworth is known as the post that opened the West and is the oldest fort in continuous use west of the Mississippi. Melissa Ethridge was raised in this city. Lewis and Clark passed through in July 1804, Abraham Lincoln came in 1859 seeking the Republican nomination for President, John Wilkes Booth performed here in 1863, Susan B Anthony ran a newspaper. The Federal Penitentiary has held such criminals as George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Manuel Noreiga, and the Bird Man of Alcatraz: Robert Stroud served 28 years at Leavenworth before being transferred to Alcatraz. Buffalo Bill Cody is a native son, Wild Bill Hickok lived here for a time and met Calamity Jane while she was here. Fred Harvey of the Harvey House restaurants bought a mansion and lived there until his death. Generals Custer, Sherman, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Patton and Powell have walked these streets. The prison was the largest maximum security prison in the US until 2005. The walls are 40 feet high and 40 feet below ground. Fort Leavenworth is open to the public, but everyone over 16 must show a picture ID. They have a museum on site with relics from history (including the carriage Abraham Lincoln rode in). President Regan donated 3 pieces of the Berlin Wall to the Fort.
Schlitterbahn Vacation Village is awesome. They completed Phase 1 in 2009. Not sure when the entire area is to be complete. When it is, it will having shopping, dining, a riverwalk, the water park, and even "tree house" hotel rooms you can stay overnight in. But for now the waterpark was a lot of fun. The main lazy river actually has tidal waves coming every few seconds that send you around the whole river. That was a blast. There was about an hour wait to do the "roller coaster" slide but the other three were only about a 15 minute wait. Would like to go again during the middle of the week when it isn't so crowded. I think when it is all finished it is going to give Great Wolf Lodge (just across the freeway) a run for its money.
And sometimes you lose. Got the babysitter last night so we could enjoy another Royals Game. It was Buck Night which means that hot dogs, small drinks, peanuts, and twinkies are all just $1. It was also Fireworks Friday when they do an awesome fireworks show after the game. And it was 50/50 night. The KC Royals raise money for a particular charity and patrons can buy a raffle ticket for $1. They sell them up until the 5th inning. At the 8th inning they put the winning number up on the jumbo tron. The charity gets half the money collected and the winning individual gets the other half. They were raising money for the Kansa City School for the Deaf. Last night someone took home $4900. It is always fun to have a national team in our city even if we do lose the game.
You know I have never agreed with moms piercing their babies ears. I think that is cruel and unusual punishment. Granted, they will never even remember the trauma they went through, but all they know is that someone is causing them severe pain and mom is allowing it to happen. I on the other hand had to wait until I was 12 to do it. We changed the rules a bit in our home. Figured if at 8 they were old enough to be baptized then they were old enough to make that decision to get pierced ears or not. Savannah was absolutely thrilled when she got it done. As you can see though, Haylie was a totally different story. Oh there were tears!! I don't think it helped that we had to wait behind 3 other women and there was only one employee in the store at the time AND only one piercing gun was working so it took twice as long. By the time it was her turn she was just a basket case. However, after the initial trauma was over she was all smiles and she came home with 38 pairs of earrings (and NOT clip ons).
Savannah actually turned 11 in June but we were on a family trip to Mt Rushmore so her birthday party with friends was postponed until July. She invited several from school class and several from church. She originally wanted a "Twilight" theme to her party but I couldn't find anyone that had that kind of cake. So we just went with a girly pink.
Went to our annual Star Spangled Spectacular at Corporate Woods. We always love this. We go about 5p and stay until the fireworks are through. This year the weather was great up to a point. It was cloudy, not humid, a bit breezy. Didn't think it would rain. The fireworks were supposed to start about 9:30p and no joke, a downpour started about 9:15 and wouldn't let up. Needless to say we left and they officially cancelled with a rain date the next night. Unfortunately we didn't go back even though Mike was off again that Monday. Guess we'll have to wait until next year.
My mother and my sisters family came to visit for 5 days the end of June. Had a total blast. They flew in on my niece Jessica's 19th birthday so we celebrated with a bbq in our backyard. Monday they wanted to go around and see some church sites again. Went to the Liberty Jail Visitors Center and out to Richmond Mo where Oliver Cowdery is buried.
Last night was the long awaited Open House for Mission Trail Middle School. A lot of the rooms were open for parents and students to see and it was also an ice cream social. Savannah is SO excited. School starts in a mere 7 1/2 weeks on August 16. The big Commons Area is where they will set up lunch tables and the library is on the 2nd floor and overlooks it. Great place for boy watching. The cooking classroom was real nice and a whole bunch of KitchenAid mixers are ready to be pulled out of boxes. 6th Grade Pod was the largest out of the three grades and they had the main gymnasium and an "auxillary gym" whatever that is for. I never had that. Our little girl is turning into a young woman.
Great Fathers Day weekend to St Louis. Mike was off on Friday so we left that morning. Lunch at Fuddruckers in Columbia, Mo. Mike did a temple session while the girls and I checked in at the Marriott and spent some time at the pool. The Dutchers from our ward were also in town so we had a nice chat while all the girls swam. Dinner of course had to be at Old Spaghetti Factory. On a whim we decided to go see Toy Story 3 at the theatre by OSF. I thought it was real cute. I did a temple session Sat morning and Matt and Bonnie were there also. Headed over to Union Station for lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and then bum around and feed the fish. Had to buy some fudge from The Fudgery and watch their show. There wasn't enough time to drive all the way back to the hotel, but not enough stuff that we hadn't done alread downtown so we just drove for a bit before dinner. Ate at OSF down in Lacelades Landing by the Arch then headed over to The Fabulous Fox Theatre for Wicked. Awesome as always. Headed home today and the girls slept 3 of the 4 hour drive. Gotta love it.
Lenexa is named finalist for 2010 All-America City Award Lenexa has been named a finalist for the 2010 All-America City Award in recognition of its outstanding civic accomplishments and community involvement. Given annually by the National Civic League, the All-America City Award is the oldest and most prestigious civic recognition award in the country. Criteria for the award include innovation, inclusiveness, civic engagement, and cross sector collaboration to address pressing local challenges. Lenexa was one of 27 communities from across the country chosen as finalists. “We are honored to be included on such an impressive list of finalists for the 2010 All-America City Award,” said Mayor Mike Boehm. “Through our many festivals and community events Lenexa has maintained the atmosphere of a small town while having access to the amenities associated with being a suburban community in a major metropolitan area. We are very fortunate to have an engaged and supportive citizenry, an active business community, and strong civic and religious organizations all working together to address daily challenges without losing our focus on the future.” To become a finalist, each community completed an application describing three projects that address community challenges. Each of the finalists will send a delegation to the national conference in Kansas City in June to present their stories of positive community change to a jury of civic experts. From this group of finalists, 10 communities will be chosen as the winners of the 2010 All-America City Award, which will be announced on June 18. “These are some of the most innovative communities in the country,” notes National Civic League President Gloria Rubio-Cortes. “They give us hope and inspiration and teach us important lessons about leveraging the civic energy of ordinary people to address difficult challenges during some very tough economic times.” In addition to Lenexa, other finalists are as follows: Chandler, AZ; Bentonville, AR; Dublin, CA; Lynwood, CA; Rancho Cordova, CA; Vernon Central (neighborhood) CA; Miami Lakes, FL; North Miami. FL; Acworth, GA; Belleville, IL; Canton, IL; Noblesville, IN; Des Moines, IA; Scott County, KS; Bowling Green, KY; Salisbury, MD; Ferguson, MO; Riverside, MO; Lynbrook, NY; Gastonia, NC; West Chester, OH; Wyoming, OH; Mount Pleasant, SC; El Paso, TX; Abingdon, VA; Middleton, Wisconsin. The National Civic League is a 116-year-old nonpartisan nonprofit organization that strengthens democracy by increasing the capacity of the nation’s people to fully participate in and build healthy and prosperous communities across America.
Everyone got together for breakfast before we went our separate ways. We stopped in Wall, SD to see the famous Wall Drug that has been around since 1931. It started by offering weary travelers free ice water (and still does to this day). Drove only as far as Omaha because we wanted to hit the zoo. We have always loved this zoo and now they have a new Sky Ride to take across the zoo. The last three weeks has been loads of fun but I'm ready to slow things down just a bit and enjoy the lazy days of summer at home so we are done for awhile.
And two days later we left for a road trip up to Mt Rushmore in South Dakota. We left on a Thursday because there were some things our family wanted to do before meeting up with extended family. First stop was the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD. Every summer they redo the design with corn. It is used as a basketball court, a stage and theatre. I had never even heard of it.
So the day after we get home from New York we head down south to Gardner, KS for the annual Kansas City Balloonfest. Unfortunately Mike was on beeper call that day and lo and behold they called him in literally the minute we had our chairs set up and ready to sit down. So the girls and I were the only ones to see it. We have never seen the one in Albuquerque and I am quite certain that this doesn't even come close, but it was still pretty amazing.
Because we liked Madagascar so much we wanted to go see what the Central Park Zoo was all about. The only animals from the movie that they have are the lemurs and penguins. However, the polar bear was pretty amazing. VERY small zoo. It was SO hot that day. We decided to walk back to our condo since it was only 6 blocks and had lunch at a little deli call Delissimo. I decided on a huge fruit bowl....nice and cold. Saw the new Shrek 3 movie at the theatre also across the street from condo. Pretty unusual going UP five flights of escalators to the theatre. Hit the local Jamba Juice and Johnny Rockets.
