Sunday, July 28, 2013

Perfect Strangers do Mexico...

Last week four of my friends and I boarded a plane to Mexico. No big deal.
Actually it was a plane to Houston for a 5 hour layover and then we boarded a plane to Mexico.
And of course we started vacation off right: mimosas at the airport. Those 5 hours flew by with all of us catching up, telling stories, and plotting our trip's theme song. Somehow it ended with us toasting to Meghan, Meggie & Dana PRing Chicago...and Kristi and I agreeing to "fun run" the Monumental FULL if the girls achieved this goal. Let's just say we were on our fifth mimosa...not sure that bet is legit.
After customs, checking into our incredible (all-inclusive) resort we grabbed some food and explored the grounds. There were 5 restaurants, a sushi bar, a spa and over 5 bars. Mmmkay, that'll do.

Senioritas
We spent the evening on the pool deck unwinding from our long travel day and out of the blue some man came right up to us to inform us they were releasing baby sea turtles at the shore. We left our drinks and ran as fast as our flip flops would allow and stood in line to wait for our instructions. Each one of us were handed a baby turtle and allowed to name them and set them free. Mine was Yertle. And he crawled his little fins off into the ocean. Picture is pretty dark because flash wasn't allowed. Released them at night so as to give them the best opportunity to make it without being eaten by seagulls. Meggie and I were all in tears as it was so moving. And a few were not in tears because their baby turtles were not moving :(
The first morning we all woke very early (which progressively got later as the week went on). Dana, Meghan & Meggie went for a run while I did a little traveling wod in the gym (while all the treadmillers looked at me like I had three heads...have they never seen one arm dumbell snatches?...weird). We all met on the beach for a wod (Cindy shortened to 10 mins) and made sure to get in beach handstand photos. I'm in love with this pic...
This became our daily routine: wake up for a workout, change into swim suits, grab brunch, then hit the pool. Spend the entire day at the pool. Head back to our rooms, rest, clean up, dinner, then party. It was all very organic, our routine. Not once did we have to discuss what to do and when. Everything just fell into place. And it felt so good.

Day 1 at the pool. Perfect weather.

We slid our lounge chairs into the pool (below) and quickly learned that it was waaaaayyyyy too hot to lay out. I'd say 90% of the time we were in the water.
One of my fave pics. The fist of three full days in this pool.
And ish got cray. Real fast.
Night one we spent having dinner at the resort. Casual. Spent some time at the bar and then at the beach at night. Four of us stayed up until 3am or so in our room playing games and being silly...while one of us tuckered out early (not naming names).
Day two started with a very long chipper wod that included beach relays & ocean sprints among other typical CF moves. Was a tough one but also so surreal to be wod'ing in Cancun.
Again we had spectacular weather. Couldn't have asked for better, in fact.
Pool time every day was my favorite as it started off with hysterical laughter and always made its way into very deep topics. We literally laughed and cried in that pool so much and those are hours and days I won't soon forget. We bonded something fierce.


Resort was Aqua Live: all-inclusive, adult only, 8 pools and unlimited fun. Wasn't too bad to look at, either.
Bellied up poolside
It is important (for my parents and husband) to know that we did break for lunch and sunscreen application. No one got "December 30th'd". No bad burns (until the last day, more on that later). I was more trusted to apply SPF to backs than others...I'm a mom, so I get the little details. Ha!
This evening we ventured off the resort grounds and into downtown Cancun. Our van taxi was equipped with a light and sounds show that knocked our socks off. It was very random but that was the theme of the night as we'd soon learn.
We sat VIP (read: bottle service and security) at a large, open-air dance club. People-watched the strip while local mariachi band members danced with us. Had a stalker. I could go on with the randomness. We danced the night away until we were all drenched. It was amazing.
#likeaboss
Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot! Yeah, I learned that song...can't believe I'd never heard it before. I also did not take this shot. Mama knows her limits.
Day 3 at the pool started a little later than normal as we all slept in quite late. We skipped our workouts and opted for some hair-of-the-dog to start the day. Let it be known that we spent 9 full hours in the pool. No breaks for lunch (Alejandra delivered it to us with our drinks). Little SPF reapplication (I still have the recovering sunburned lips to prove it). Loads of fun. Meggie gave everyone their eulogy (sometimes more than once). There was more laughs and many more tears.
We ventured into the infinity pool that was typically the destination of all the honeymooners. When we showed up the mood changed from make-out mode to Perfect-Stranger-Invasion complete with photo sessions.

And here is where the handstands started. In the water. Complete with lessons. I always wanted to be a synchronized swimmer and this was the closest I'll ever get.

That evening was a little fuzzy, as the 9 hours in the pool took their toll. No pictures were taken and I'm pretty sure I was in bed early. We went out with a bang, that's for sure.

Leaving was bitter sweet, as I wanted to get back home to my lovies (with whom I face-timed every day...love technology!) yet I didn't want this amazing experience to end. It was so cathartic for me. Lots of processing things I've been going through. And this group of girls truly wanted to dig deeper and get to the bottom of every one of our issues. Engaging and supportive. Safe. I left Mexico with weight lifted off my shoulders and fresh perspective. And some amazing friendships were forged even deeper.

Cancun, thank you for one of the best vacations of my life!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Milwaukee & More...

This year for the 4th of July we planned something different. Instead of the lake we were going to visit cousins Steve & Amanda. They come down every year (sometimes twice!) to visit us but it was time: Milwaukee was calling our name.

And did I mention we wouldn't be taking the girls? Oh yeah, that. So we dropped the monkeys off at their grandparents for a few days.
Where they made pizzas, went to the movies, boated at the lake and had fun cousin time themselves. Let's just say the girls love it there so much that they kept asking Mike and I when we were going to leave. Sheesh!
Mike and I first visited his Grandma Betty for several hours. I'm sorry I didn't snap any pics but I was too busy laughing my butt off at Grandma Great. She may not physically be in the best shape but her personality is still full in tact. Limericks and all.

A trip to Janesville wouldn't be complete without a stop at Farm & Fleet and then Woodman's grocery store. They have a liquor section the size of most grocery stores and let me just tell you...Mike was grinning from ear to ear the entire time. The motherload. Check out his grin (and his shopping cart!).
We then drove a few hours to Milwaukee where we learned some amazing news: Steve is an official Doctor of Chiropractics (DC). He finished school a few years ago in Illinois and was licensed there. However, when Steve & Amanda moved to Wisconsin the laws in that state were pretty tight. Long story short, Steve (along with many other graduates and lawyers) fought a battle with their state legislature to change the law. Few years later and he has won the battle. So we had to celebrate, obviously.

Spotted Cow on TAP
The Doctor is in the house!
Fourth of July morning the boys played in a golf tournament, Amanda worked in her studio (she designs and makes bridal gowns) so I had the morning to myself. Steve & Amanda live 3 blocks from Lake Michigan so I knew exactly how I'd spend my morning. I ran a few miles along the lake, did a traveling wod then took a nap in the sun. Perfection.

You can see the Milwaukee city skyline in the background

That evening was spent at Summerfest. It's basically a month long music festival right on the lake.
Shuttle from the bar to the music

We hopped from stage to stage, dancing and singing, eating and drinking, until the main show started: Barenaked Ladies. They were one of my favorite bands in the 90's and I had seen them in concert in 2000 so I knew they put on an incredible show. We danced and laughed until our sides ached. Then we did leaps. Or maybe that was just me. Regardless, it was so much fun. BNL did not disappoint.
The next morning he needed some hair of the dog so we dined rooftop downtown for brunch. And this:
We made our way to the Miller Brewery tour (what's a trip to Milwaukee without this?!).
Sent postcards whilst enjoying post-tour beverages
And simply enjoyed another beautiful day
That evening we joined up with Steve's cousin (on his other side) for a Brewers game. Tailgated for a few hours...who knew you could tailgate at professional sporting events? Not this girl. Only ever done it for collegiate games. I was pumped. Was so fun to catch up with Laura...missed her!

We headed out early Saturday to return to good old Indiana. Laura's son had a big party on his farm and so the girls got to see lots of animals (chickens, llamas, barn cats, etc).
Was good to get home on Sunday and back to our family routine. Missed the girls so much. Got some great pool time in and I can't tell you how funny it is to see this every time we're at the pool:
Izzy just loves her books and magazines (mazahzeens) and takes them everywhere. Parents will come up and tell me how wonderful it is that Izzy is reading at the pool. I just love it. Girl after her mommy's heart.
They finished the rest of our street last week and the girls are getting some good bike riding (and lawn mowing) in.
We ventured to an outdoor concert on Friday night with friends. Hot. Crowded. But it was full of sun, beer and the kids laughing (and wrestling) all through the night.

Three peas in a pod
And a few days ago there was a local CF competition that I spectated at (needed a break and was originally supposed to be out of town). I think watching is just as fun as participating, especially when I had so many friends competing! Jaime crushed the wods, per her usual bad-assery.
Early morning breakfast-ers watching wod-ers
We had some special visitors for brunch on Sunday....the Moosbruggers! Hadn't seen them in a blue moon and was thrilled to spend the entire morning/afternoon with them. There were belly laughs and there were sincere tears...just miss them so much.
Couldn't get these boys out of the pool
I know I have a hundred pictures just like this one, but I just adore these three and love watching them play and swim together. They really are daddy's girls.
And these two are getting more and more brave with each visit to the pool. I believe that the best swim lessons we've given them is simply watching other kids at the pool. Positive peer pressure. Both are swimming under water without floaties (but with us VERY nearby).
And Sunday evening Izzy finally got it; she swam 6 feet to the lane line and back to the edge of the pool. All by herself. And I was beaming with pride (so was she!). This little fish is doing a lot of growing up this summer!