Pinkalicious

This lady can quote the whole Pinkalicious book. And she is in a hilarious stage right now. Some in the family don't find it as hilarious when she demands certain clothing or no clothing at all. Also she screams a lot lately.

But look how squishy.

She's sitting in her doll highchair in a dance outfit from a neighbor. Millie is not in any form of dance, yet. Incidentally, when does that start? She is 2 years 7 months old right now and not potty-trained, but they make tiny dance outfits.

The "some people in the family who don't find it hilarious" include Millie's morning sidekick, daddy. He tries to get her dressed every day, and she tries to tear it all off, every day. But any time she sees a prince on a Disney movie, she says "Daddy!"

I think he sends me pictures of her to prove he got her dressed. Here they are going on an errand.

Then I came home from work one morning, and she ran to show me she had found her baby nightgown...and she wanted to wear it RIGHT NOW! The side view of the form-fitting vision was so so funny. Think Khardasians.

Most of her costume changes involve the bag of princess dresses from another neighbor. And lately, she likes to wear the princess dress that corresponds with a movie she wants to watch. Like when she asked for "No White" below.

This is the same blue number from the beginning of the post. She calls it her "Elsa dress" and wants to wear it while watching Frozen.

She also calls this one an Elsa dress, but it is a Cinderella dress, and works when watching that movie. And when the Elsa dress is in the wash because yogurt spilled all down the front. 

She insists on the Elsa shoes almost every day, which I think now pinch her feet. Maybe she wants to feel like Cinderella's stepsisters.

She also insisted on that bow to watch the movie, which was pretty tight but I loved the whole ensemble so much I took several pictures.

It's like I have my own living doll to dress, except the doll squawks for an outfit change multiple times a day and has an opinion on what to wear. 

Cruise 2

I think JB and I have found our new favorite stop. It used to be St John, US Virgin Islands. Now it's Harvest Caye, Belize. 

The small island was CLEAN and organized and well-planned and bright and beautiful. Apparently Norweigan Cruise Lines owns it all, and partnered with the government of Belize. All the restaurants and shops are owned by locals, but only the cruise ship stops there one at a time. I believe they planted each palm tree exactly the same distance apart.

This was our view under a big umbrella -- a zip line going down over the water.

We kept talking about how our kids would love the huge pool system and splash pad. We stayed and read and napped and walked, then finally wandered back to the ship so we could eat some more.

After another day at sea, our final stop was Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. This was a great beach as well. 

JB's view looking up.

We randomly sat by an older retired couple from the ship and became fast friends when we bonded over family size, political views, and ideas about the world. Since then I have been writing her, and writing another woman I met at trivia.

Here we are tendering back to the ship, and JB thought he saw a couple across the tender boat that he knew on his mission but we never got to check. By the way, there were a lot of Brazilians on board, and he talked to several in Portuguese and I think they were quite surprised.

That was Thursday, and overnight the Jade sailed back to Miami. We had one last amazing breakfast, then had to disembark and head to the airport. It was a long day of flying before we finally got home that night to our kids again.

Max and Ben were at a scout campout, so we didn't see them til the next day. They stayed some of the time at Nona and Papa's, and other times she slept over at our house so going to and from school would be easier.  John took the boys to their basketball games. We owe them so many thanks for their help. I think it may have tired them out plenty!

Cruise

The last week of January was the BEST. JB and I got away for a Southern Caribbean cruise. It was like months/years worth of dates and relaxation we hadn't been able to have together.  

We sailed out of Miami on a Friday-Friday itinerary on the Norweigan Jade. Part of the deal JB found included three upgraded meals on the ship's premium restaurants. The first night, pictured above, we had a reservation at Moderno, which was Brazilian-style and oh-so-good.

We had an inside cabin, which was perfect for sleeping and sleeping...but I still set an iphone alarm so my brain knew what time it was in the dark. They had new movies constantly going on the TV channels, and I caught up on a lot that I'd wanted to see.

The staff left towel animals....par for the course on a cruise but still appreciated...

And every chance I could I participated in the cruise staff activites so I could get a signature on my card and earn points for prizes at the end. I brought back NCL keychains and frisbees and decks of cards for the boys from my endeavors. 

My favorite activities were the morning and evening trivia challenges. My strategy was to cozy up to a couple or group and join their team, then watch their surprise when I knew several answers.  More than a pretty face, this one.  Also, it was a chance to get to know other people and maybe share a little bit about the Church, because they always asked about it after I said I was from Salt Lake City. 

Our first stop was Costa Maya, Mexico. JB and I stopped here on our honeymoon cruise, but I read that they have had a hurricane and big rebuild since then. On that cruise, we took a taxi to the beach. This time, we took a tour of Chocchoben Mayan ruins.

Hugo, our guide. VERY smart. He mentioned to JB that some of his family members joined the church, but he is Catholic.

I was fascinated by these trees. One type of tree takes over another and eats it alive.

Hugo taught us the joy of eating a chili powder mixture on honey pineapple.

Then that night we learned the joy of Tepanyaki style cooking in another one of our restaurant reservations onboard. The chef was hilarious and talented, and the chicken and shrimp and scallops and filet were heavenly.

Ok long enough post, more stops in the next one!

Unbraced

In early July 2016, before Millie was born, Max got braces. Here's a picture of that day.

And here's a picture from this week, right before his 2 hour appointment.

And here's the picture with the new teeth with the braces off.

His jaw line changed, his face has changed as he's gotten older, but we all love his new smile. Now he has to get used to wearing his new retainer.

We don't know yet which boy will need braces next, but Max can give them lots of advice.