Three

Exactly three years ago I heard my baby boy's cries for the very first time! It's hard to believe it's been three years! I know we all say that, but it's still so hard to believe! I don't think even then I knew exactly how strong the mother-child bond could be and I am amazed that I can love him so much that sometime I feel my heart could burst!

 Happy birthday baby boy! I know you don't like me calling you my baby as you are always quick to correct me by telling me "I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy!", but you will ALWAYS be my baby and I'll ALWAYS do anything to ensure you have the best life possible. 

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So since his birthday fell on a Monday, we had his birthday party yesterday. To say he's been excited for this day would be a little bit of an understatement, since we've been talking about his birthday for over a month!

He requested to have a Spiderman themed birthday party and so that's what we did. It seems everything he wants these days is related to Spiderman or another superhero.

I had seen some cakes on Pinterest that Bryce had liked. After checking out the Spiderman designs available at Wal-Mart and Reasors, and I didn't really find anything I was crazy about. After we left Wal-Mart,  I was looking at Facebook and saw one of my friends comment on a Spiderman Cake make by Cakes by Mandy.  I immediately texted the lady that made the cake and soon enough I was able to mark that off my to-do list. 

We picked the cake up the night before the party and were completely pleased with it! She did a phenomenal job!  Not only was the cake beautiful, but it was probably one of the best tasting cakes I have ever had. Most importantly Bryce LOVED it! 

Bryce also loved his balloons! He went with me this morning to pick them up from Party City, and as they were blowing them up he did a little happy dance! 

We had lunch, the kids played a little, and soon after he was blowing out the candles. 

Then of course time for presents! He opened them so fast, there was no way I could keep track of who bought what for him. 

Then the grand finale! His very own tractor!

Bryce had a fabulous time, so much so that he passed out on the floor around 6:15pm. Of course he was too busy to fit in a nap!

A week in America's Caribbean

Last Saturday night we returned from a wonderful week long stay in a private villa on St Thomas; and when I say we, that does not include Bryce. That's right... I left my baby boy for a whole week and we both survived. Though, he was a little mad at us when we picked him up!

In the Spring I began planning this vacation to celebrate my college graduation and our 10 year wedding anniversary (which will be in January). Since Nic and I prefer to travel with others, this trip from the get go was going to be an adults only trip with my two best friends (which one is also my sister) and their husbands. 

I began the planning by choosing a few destinations and ranking them by the cost of the airfare to each destination, since ultimately that would be a bulk of the entire trip cost. Some of the destinations we considered were Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel, Dominican Republic, St Thomas, Aruba, Jamaica and Cabo San Lucas. We felt Mexico has been overdone on our part and found that for not much more we could fly to St Thomas instead. Plus from St Thomas we could easily visit other islands.

After looking at other lodging options we decided to book a private villa we found on www.vrbo.com. The villa had 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and a private pool over looking St John and the British Virgin Islands. It wasn't on the beach but it was just a short drive to the beach. Overall, it was pretty amazing!

We didn't do everything we had hoped we could, including a trip to the British Virgin Islands, but we still managed to take in several sights and visit St John. Below I'll just list the highlights. 

ST THOMAS

Linquist Beach/Smith Bay Park

This is the beach we can see from the villa. There is a $2 per person entry fee, and it is not very popular. So because there weren't too many other people there, we loved it!

Paradise Point
I have wanted to visit Paradise Point since our first cruise stop in St Thomas in November 2008. Just outside of Havensight Mall, where there is a cruise ship dock, and they have a ski lift that will take you 700' up to Paradise Point. When the caretaker of the villa picked us up from the airport she told us we should go on Wednesday nights, because that was local night and they had live music. So we loaded up in our rental car on Wednesday afternoon and planned to watch the sunset from Paradise Point. We arrived to the parking lot for the "Ride to Paradise Point" and it was closed. So we decided to just drive up to Paradise Point...and found it was closed. Apparently it was sold and that was the first night it was closed. JUST OUR LUCK! At least we were able to take in the amazing views!

Mountain Top 
 Mountain Top claims to have world famous banana daquiri's and an amazing view of Magen's Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

ST JOHN

Cruz Bay
This is the view as you come off the passenger ferry upon arrival in St John. 

Hawsknest Bay
As for the beach, I'll let the photos do the story telling!

Cinnamon Bay 

Trunk Bay

 

Maho Bay

 We snorkeled at most of the beaches and but found that the best view of the sea critters at Maho Bay was from the beach where we saw...

A sting ray

A tarpon

And a lemon shark!

Barefoot Cowboy Lounge

Woody's

We had an amazing trip and I can't wait until I can go back, but next time we'll take Bryce with us!

Batman, Spiderman, and....

Minnie Mouse?!?

 

As our yearly tradition has become, we all headed over to my Mom's so that the kids could go trick-or-treating in her neighborhood.

Bryce has been so excited to be Spiderman and was extremely enthusiastic about showing off his muscles!
 

Then he was even more excited to encounter a partner in crime, Batman!

 

 They were repeatedly told how happy everyone was that they were protecting the neighborhood. Minnie Mouse was just along for the ride.

 

 

 I think this is one of the few Halloween pictures ever taken of all three of us!

Then of course I had to make sure to get a picture of the Spiderman Build-A-Bear I got suckered into buying!

 

  

Even though Halloween is over, Bryce still apparently believes he's Spiderman. Yesterday he met a new little friend at our neighbor's house; when she asked him what his name was, he told her he was Spiderman!  


Of course, since another Halloween has gone by, another birthday has passed for me. I think it's about time to stop counting and just stay at 31!

Pumpkin Picasso

Ever since Bryce started seeing the seasonal Pumpkin Patches open up, he's been anxious to carve some pumpkins. So when we visited the Pumpkin Patch a couple of weeks ago, we picked out three pumpkins that we would carve. 

Of course he was still a little small to be the one doing the carving, but he was a great helper.

But he was able to poke the little pieces out. 

And get the seeds out. 

Always willing to show off the completed work of art.  

He was really excited when we were able to find a few votive candles and make them come "alive"!