All I want for christmas is...

Friday, after we went to Bryce's 3 year check-up, we went to Bass Pro to catch a picture with Santa and to allow Bryce to  tell him what he wants for Christmas. 

Pretty much the only thing Bryce could recall at the time was the Batman House AKA Batman Batcave. I know this because about 3 weeks ago we were at Target and Bryce had an EPIC meltdown because he wanted this toy so badly. Thankfully he still does, and hopefully he will by the time Christmas rolls around.

However, here are the other things that he has mentioned from time to time that he wants for Christmas:

Star Wars Toy

Batman Legos

Spiderman Legos

Spiderman Bed 

Spiderman Shoes (with  lights)

Helicopter 

and....

A BABY BROTHER (or sister, depending on the day)!?!?!!

I believe Santa can handle all but the last item...we'll see about that for next year. 

AND in NO WAY is this intended to be a hint or announcement of any sort. I believe he's seeing many of his friends now have baby siblings and I guess he's feeling left out.

Since it's December already...

I thought maybe I should do my Thanksgiving post! Nic has been gone hunting all week so I don't feel I've had much time to spare, since I feel like I've been a single Mom this week.

As usual, we headed south to spend Thanksgiving with my Mom's side of the family. The weather was pretty great for being Thanksgiving! I think the temperatures were in the 70's, definitely unlike the typical Thanksgiving weather but you never know what you'll get with this crazy Oklahoma weather!

Food was amazing! Bryce ate a good variety that included turkey, ham, stuffing, green beans, and rolls. After lunch we went outside to enjoy the nice weather.

Cousin Love!!

Just sitting around visiting.

Playing rough with the boy cousins!

 

 We made it a one day trip, while also making a stop at my Grandparents' house where we were able to visit briefly with my Dad's side of the family. Unfortunately we spent every bit of 6 hours in the car on Thanksgiving, but it was worth it to see as much family as we did.

I, unlike many others, DID NOT go shopping Thursday night or get up early for Black Friday. I don't think for the items I'm typically shopping for would have it would have served much in savings. Instead Bryce and I put up the Christmas tree. 

It was very excited about getting the tree out of the box...but that was pretty much it! This year he showed very little interest in helping decorate it...which considering I'm a bit of a control freak, I was just find with that!

I even managed to wrap a few presents and get them under the tree! I think the tree is the prettiest when there's presents under it.

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!