Simple Vacation Treasures

There are many things I've learned as a parent. One of the most important things I've learned is just how much time, effort and work my parents put in to everything they did to make things special for us as we were growing up. Last week we were on vacation at Myrtle Beach and I watched my precious, sweet boys discover the most simple of treasures! And I think of all the hard work it takes to get there (packing and preparation) and how it is all for them. Just like my parents prepared for Ashley and I all those years ago so we could find those simple treasures.
John's treasure was a starfish he found while digging in the sand. What a rare and perfect treasure to find. Just like he is my rare and perfect treasure from the Lord.













Alex's treasure was a tide pool on our second day on the beach. He had decided he didn't like the 'brown water' of the ocean but much preferred the 'blue water' of the pool. But, once he discovered this tide pool he told me 'actually, Mom this water is perfect for me.'















There were many treasures on the beach...many shells, waves that were ridden in on the Boogey board, castles built, airplanes flying low to see. So, many simple things to enjoy. And I as a parent enjoying it all, too. Treasuring every single minute, every single shell, shout of each new discovery and for this precious moment in time to capture their innocence and childhood as a treasure for me. I think this vacation will be one I will treasure forever.
Even 'blankie' is part of our family!

Six Flags!

Over Memorial Day Weekend we took the boys to Six Flags! It was a great time. We wanted to take Alex to check out the new Thomas town. He loved it - as you can tell in the pictures. He got to see 'Top em Hat' (Sir Top Him Hat) and he got to ride on Thomas the Train. The picture of them together is waiting in line for the Log Flumes which they closed just after the picture (we don't know why).
We had a fun day! They can't wait to go back... Mom and Dad will be happy to wait a year or two on that!

Sentimental Mommy Moment

The crib came down tonight. We bunked the boys back in December but kind of put off bringing down the crib... we're having house guest this weekend and will use that room for them. Not sure how long the bunking will last. The boys are just at different stages and John likes his private time, to play in his 'way'. I almost cried. My boys are growing up so fast and I just pray that I cherish each and every precious moment with them, each little foot step on the hard wood, each little laugh when they don't know I'm listening, every 'Mom, I like you!', the flowers they pick me, their sweet, sweet smell. I know, I know... I'm being all sentimental but time just passes so quickly and we reach these milestones so fast - I don't want to forget those midnight feedings or standing over that crib and watching them sleep..it's forever stamped on my heart and it's gone in a blink.

Acting Debut

John's class performed a play for parents last week called 'The Goat That Couldn't Sneeze'. It was a short, adorable little play. John was the bee who at the end told the goat all he he needed was a bee in his bonnet to make him sneeze and he did...ARCHEW....... =)
Alex, in this picture is awaiting his big brother's acting debut. He's at that stage where he (most of the time) idolizes John. If John says he likes something Alex likes it, too. If John is hot/cold, Alex is, too. You get the idea. So, Alex could hardly wait for John to come out and get started with the play.

Narnia!

We planned today for Narnia - John and I have both been excited to see the 2nd movie. It did live up to our expectations! It was great. I had not planned to take Alex, thinking it would be too scary for him. He thought differently. When we were leaving he begged and begged to go. I explained that there may be parts of the movie that would scare him and he was OK with that. He LOVED it. He kept wanting to see 'the Lion' (Aslan) and toward the end he kept asking if it was over...it does get long. But he did like it and he kept telling me he was going to be Edmund (I think that's his name - the younger brother of Peter). At any rate it was great. John was very much enjoying the entire thing. Ashley joined us for our Narnia event.

If you hadn't plan to see it - it is a must see!

Mother's Day

This is what John made me at school...

My mom likes the color red.
On time most of the time. (He knows me well!) =)
Teaches me things.
Has fun with me.
Easy going with me.
Rare.

He also wrote beside it...Dear Mom, Happy Mother's Day. I love you. Love, John

I think I will treasure this more than any gift he could ever buy me!

Ft. Lauderdale/Bon Jovi

I know it's taken me awhile to post about my trip. When I came back I came down with a horrible upper respiratory infection and have just now gotten over that. I also had a very full week that week...I had committed myself to several events and on top of being sick it was busy! I had the SWUPYS (every heard of the ESPY's well we have the SWUPY's) I'll blog on that later... and then we had the Jr/Sr banquet that week as well and as the Jr class sponsor I had several (many) responsibilities with that. So...anyway. NOW about our trip...

My best friend, Jennifer and I had always planned to take a 30 year trip. We just got a little side tracked during our 30th year... I was expecting precious little Alex and she was planning a beautiful wedding. So..we delayed it a bit and this year seemed perfect as it coincided with the Bon Jovi 'Lost Highway' tour. We decided to go south as it was much cheaper to fly south rather than north and warmer, too. So to Ft. Lauderdale we went. It was great fun. We found a great deal on a hotel on the beach. Thursday we had no problems with our flight. We found a great place right on the beach to eat some seafood, had dinner and even made it back to the hotel in time to see Lost. Perfect! We slept in on Friday and then went out to Sawgrass Mills a huge outlet mall. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (our favorite!) and then we shopped and I do mean shopped! We mostly bought for our kids...man how things change. We both added 10lbs to our luggage home from what we bought. I did buy 2 pairs of shoes at the Clark outlet. We shopped until about 9:30 then went back to the Cheesecake Factory for some appetizers to finish off our night. Couldn't have been a more perfect day for us. Saturday we had spa pedicures and then laid by the pool which was ocean side - absolutely perfect. We then got ready and headed back down to the ocean drive section and had dinner at this Italian place we had seen, it was great. We were then on our way to the Bank Atlantic Center for the concert. It was about a 30 minute drive from there. Traffic became thicker as we headed out that way. The center was directly across from the outlets so we were going to park at the outlet mall and walk over to the center to save money (it was $20.00 to park). We kept seeing people walking away from the center and we thought that was strange. Finally we found a park and started walking across. There were people standing everywhere and at first I just thought they hadn't opened the doors although it was 7:30 and it was supposed to start at 7:30. Jennifer asked someone what was going on and they said "There's been a bomb threat." Seriously, a bomb threat at a Bon Jovi concert!! What the heck. So thus began our long, long night...we waited and we waited and we waited. Finally, at 9:00 they decided they would let us in. It took forever for 20,000 fans to enter. I finally got in my seat at 10:00. We missed Daughtry, although later I heard he only played 3 songs. Bon Jovi was awesome. He thanked all the local police and EMS workers for what they had done to secure the building and he thanked us for our courage. It's sad that some coward tried to wreck the evening. Thus the times we live in.


My favorite of John!




Bank Atlantic Center

Waiting with the rest of the 20,000 fans...



After Dinner before the concert.


Ocean Drive




This is our hotel.

Now we begin planning for our 40 year trip...I'm thinking the West Coast!

In Memory

I will always remember this day.

Windshield in your roof...

After spending Saturday with Grandma Elaine and riding in her car (which has a sunroof), Alex told me this morning on the way to daycare said, "Mommy you need a windshield in your roof. That would be really cool if you had a windshield in your roof."

I'm off to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow...here I come ocean...Daughtry and Bon Jovi!!!

Lack of supervision

This is what happens when you don't supervise your 3 year old son who has a fascination with finger nail polish!



I had painted them with clear polish Saturday night while I was painting mine. He told me then he wanted pink. "No one can see the clear polish, Mom." I without thinking I left the polish out in the living room and he got it Sunday afternoon and used the pink himself. He's soooo proud of his work, telling his Daddy how pretty it was. I guess I'll have to keep a closer eye on him, huh?!

First Grader's Perspective

After losing my 2nd game of Uno with John I was informed that 'Boys rule and girls drool.' Guess that pretty much says it all for a first grade little boy...

2 weeks from today I will be in Ft. Lauderdale watching Daughtry followed by Bon Jovi. YIPEE!

Look at this t-shirt...buddies

Look closely at Trey's t-shirt! Don't you love it?! I bought this for him in Savannah. I think it's adorable. Good thing it doesn't reference looking like me b/c he doesn't look anything like me. Ashley and I traded kids yesterday. It's Spring Break and John LOVES to spend time with Aunt Ashley - especially alone. So, Trey spent the night with Alex last night. I come to work later on Wed so it worked out perfectly. They are really starting to learn how to play together well.



In this one they were saying cheese for the camera.

Almost done!

Just one more day and Wellness Week will be over....
Thank you, Shon for your willingness to help me at home during this week! Otherwise it wouldn't be a successful time for me. I really appreciate it.

Love you...

Highs and Lows

Last week - Savannah, GA... =) 80 degrees, sun, warmth!

This week - Wellness Week... =0 50 degrees, dark, cold and I'm still at work...

ENOUGH SAID.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from John and Alex!!

I've been tagged...

I've been tagged by the amazing Candice . Here are the rules:
•When tagged place the name of the person that tagged you and URL on your blog.
•Write 7 random facts about yourself.
•Name 7 bloggers that you are tagging

1. I just bought my first I-pod. Yes, I know I am so far behind. I got the shuffle with the $15.00 i-tunes gift card at Walmart. It's so awesome..I can hear Redeemer by Nicole C. Mullins and the very next minute Lay Your Hands On Me by Bon Jovi. No radio station is gonna do that for you.
2. I'm addicted to this season of One Tree Hill. It's so good.
3. I'm reading the book of Acts as a 40 day challenge from our new pastor. Saturday we start Romans. I don't think I've ever read Acts all the way through from beginning to end. WOW! Did Paul ever have some courage and faith. I want to be more like him.
4. I'm in awe of how fast time is going by as I watch my boys grow up.
5. I want to have another baby.
6. I'm ready for summer vacation.
7. My battery died in my watch today.

I'm tagging Ashley, Michael and Deborah. That's about all the people I know that read my blog and also blog. So there you go.

Have a Happy Easter!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

On the way home yesterday John was telling me about an author that came to visit their school yesterday. He said, 'You have to go to college for 8 years, 8 years to be an artist that draws the pictures for books.' I said, 'Is that what you want to do when you grow up?' He said, 'NO! I want to be in the Air Force. I'm gonna be an Army Man.' Alex says he wants to be a train conductor. I remember when I was little and I wanted to be a cheerleader and a cashier. I did achieve my dream of being a
cashier at Ingles for 4-5 years. Never accomplished that goal of cheerleader...not coordinated enough to do that. I did try - once. I wonder how many different things the boys will want to be. I look forward to seeing them dream big dreams and succeed.

Mommy, I made a butterfly!

While John and I were reading his story for homework yesterday Alex calls out to me from their area of the house and says 'Mommy, I made a butterfly!' We kept reading and he got more insistent. 'Mommy, I made a butterfly, come and see.' I asked him Alex what did you make a butterfly out of? He said, 'My poop.' Can't say I saw the art in that but you gotta love his thoughts on it.

John looked at him in the bottom bunk as he was climbing to get on top and said to me 'He's so cute...when he's asleep.'

Boy - they sure do keep me laughing!!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Moma!

I hope you had a wonderful day! I won't tell anyone how old you are... =) I don't have a picture of you, you're probably relieved. Thanks for all you are and all you do. You are a wonderful mother and now an amazing friend. I am so blessed to have you in my life.

On another note...Alex is just too funny...he was told to pick up his Hot Wheels tonight. He doesn't really like picking up his toys. He asked me to help him and I explained that he needed to do it himself. He told me he wanted to play 'when I am the Mommy and you are little Alex. You want to play that? I said sure, what would you do if you were the Mommy?' He said, 'I would help you pick up your cars.'

For American Idol fans...Did you hear the young kid sing the John Lennon song last night? He got rave reviews...Well, I heard Daughtry sing it at his concert in December and he sang it way, way better........

It's leap year tomorrow and I have the day off...wahoo.

SURPRISE!

I have the best husband ever! Yesterday for my birthday he got a babysitter and planned a date night. He took me to Bonefish for a delicious dinner - including strawberry shortcake for dessert - yummy! and he surprised me with a gift. He gave me this beautiful saphire butterfly ring. I had showed him this ring at BJs probably 6 months ago and told him I liked it. We haven't bought each other gifts in several years because we've been trying to pay off our van and cut down our debt. Well, he said that I deserved a present this year and surprised me with this. I think he's been saving his lunch money =). How sweet is that?! Not only that he bought me a gift but that he listened when I told him something I liked. He planned all this out about a month ago...he's just the best. So, thoughtful and caring, so good to me. I love you with all my heart and thank God everyday that he gave you to me.

Thank you again for my birthday celebration - you are the BEST!

Party Pictures

Here are the party pictures. Sorry it took awhile...we've had camera issues that I won't go in to... Anyway...NO I didn't make their cakes. Chris Patrick from Easley always makes cakes for me. She's very affordable and does an AWESOME job. She can make anything you want and her cakes taste good. At any rate as you can see they both had a great time!! Enjoy...



This is Alex with his new quilt for his bottom bunk bed... of course he wants to take it off and put it anywhere he wants to lie down. My parents and Shon and I went in together for this to be his gift. He loves it!

Happy Birthday, Alex!!

Alex is 3 today. I know I say it over and over but time goes by really fast. It just seems like yesterday that he was born. Happy Birthday, baby. We're having his first 'friend' party this afternoon and he is soooo excited!!
Pictures from both boy's parties to come. I love you little angel.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, Shon!! You are the best Daddy, husband and friend I know! Thanks for all you do. I love you very much. Have a wondeful day.

Aways and forever...

Mommy, I like you!

After picking Alex up today he told me he had gotten in trouble for disagreeing with Sarah. That is pretty typical. A few minutes later he said "Mommy, I wike you." This is also one of his typical, favorite things to say. I said, "You seem to like me a lot when you get in trouble." He said, "When I get in big twouble I wike you a whoe wot, Mommy!" He kept telling me that all know with a completely straight face. Later he got very quiet while I was helping John with his homework. I called him and he said, "I not messing with your make-up, Mommy." He came in to the living room and proceeded to do a little dance, with black eye shadow all over his face while saying "I'm so petty, so, so petty!" He keeps me smiling, belly laughing is more like it!!

FEB 5th!

WOW, it's already Feb 5th!! Where does the time go? I know I have been slammed at work. The flu has hit SWU along with several other nasty little viruses. They are keeping me busy! I like to be busy but not so busy I can't think!!! So, what's up? Who saw LOST last week? I'm interested in everyone's theories? Who has stopped making theories? Does anyone think there is a biblical tie? Savior Locke? Redeemed Locke? Lot of tortured souls on there... All I can say is it is some creative writing!! Shon is just about sick of it though.

John's new favorite show is American Gladiators -- hmm -- he likes that. Tonight Biggest Loser. He likes reality TV. Any TV... =)

Hope you all are well and FLU FREE!

Happy Birthday, Doodle Bug!

It was fun to look back and choose a picture for your birthday post. I liked both of these and just couldn't decide so I used them both. I can't believe that you are 7 today. WOW! Time just flies -- it only seems like yesterday when you joined our family. What a treasure you are!! It is a joy to be your mom. I am in awe of you and all that you are. I look forward to all that is ahead and all that we will learn together. I'm sure there will be a day when you read this and say, Moma why did you have to call me 'Doodle Bug'! I hope you have a wonderful day my love -- you have forever changed my life.

SNOW DAY!!

Yep, we got snow. The weather forecast was right! We received about 4 inches here in Six Mile, maybe a little more. It's really beautiful -- I know b/c we don't see it much and deal with it daily I can say that. John and Alex have really enjoyed it. It's amazing the excitement it brings to kids (and adults! right Ashley?). I'm thankful for the day off to relax and play with the boys.

Enjoy your day!

Looking forward...saying goodbye

Time sure is flying! It's the middle of January. We've been busy. Last weekend was a little tough for John. We lost one of the kittens. The smallest, Tiger, John's favorite passed away. We aren't sure what happened. He was tiny and never really seemed to catch up with the others. John went out to play with Shon and Alex on Saturday morning and he found him. This would be his first experience with death really. He doesn't really remember when my Papa John died. He cried so hard. It was quite emotional for all of us. We had to bury him and then he made a little grave stone for him with his name and 2008. It was quite nice. Hard lesson for him to learn but one he will experience many times again.

We look forward to all the birthdays we celebrate in the new year. We celebrated with Griffin yesterday. He enjoyed it very much. I love watching a 1 year old with all the traditions we force on them. He took it all in stride and absolutely LOVED his cake taking it all in, slowly, savoring it.

My John will soon be 7, yes I did say 7 and we will celebrate in a couple of weeks with a party. It will be a Clemson theme. He is excited and hopes to play football with all his buddies. He has grown a lot from 6-7 not just physically but emotionally. I specifically pray for his salvation now and coming to know the Lord personally in God's time of course. He amazes me. He is enjoying his new X-Box very much and plays it every chance he gets, negotiating each day to play one game before doing homework. He loves any kind of computer game and is often on the computer. He also is reading more and more and love his Magic Tree House series.

Alex was sick last week with a stomach virus. I of course hate this type of illness the most. Not much you can do for them. He's almost back to normal now. He's soon to be 3 in almost exactly a month. We will have a Thomas the Train party for him. His first with friends invited. He loves 'choo choo' trains as he says. We look forward to celebrating with him and letting him enjoy a 'real' party where he is the center of attention. He's usually a little more shy and withdrawn than John but I have a feeling this year he will come out of his shell and enjoy this very much. He loved Polar Express over Christmas, we still usually watch it daily or at least every other day. He now wears a watch and tells us it is 5 or 2 minutes to midnight. His new saying is 'hoie moie'(holy moly) for just about anything new or exciting. I don't know where he picked this up but it is very funny when he says it!! Disciplining has become quite the challenge, too! Standing in the corner is the best punishment for him, last night I told him that his nose would fit perfect in the corner and he proceeded to pretend to take his nose off and hand it to me. Very smart kid! I couldn't help but laugh!

I'm terribly disappointed that my Cowboys lost yesterday. Just wasn't their year I supposed -- now I'm pulling for Green Bay to go all the way.

Pray for the new semester. Students are back now and I'm just not sure I'm ready for them.

Happy Birthday, Griffin!

Griffin turned 1 on Saturday! Happy Birthday little guy. Times sure does fly! We didn't get to go to his party as planned because the Hay family had a stomach virus...boo hoo! Hope you are feeling much better now. Hope you had a great day Griffin and look forward to celebrating with you ASAP! You are a joy to us, we love you!

GO TIGERS!

That's the CLEMSON TIGERS!! Just chillin' out watchin the Chick Fil A bowl and cheering for the Tigers... They are not winning right now. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We did. We are very blessed. We had an amazing trip to the beach with Shon's family. It was fun and relaxing, the weather was nice and hard to believe it was December! We didn't want to come home. Tomorrow we will consume our share of greens and black eyed peas to hopefully increase our wealth for the year and then one more day off and it's back to reality.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

I think this must be John's best yet! We bought him an X-Box 360 (used) and he just was overwhelmed. He burst in to thank yous and gave us both hugs and then shed tears!!! It was just incredible...I had told him he couldn't have a video game and therefore he was very surprised. Just a really incredible moment with him, to see the real gratitude and joy. Amazing...we were all 3 crying. How blessed we are to be able to provide such amazing gifts to our children.

We head to the beach tomorrow with Shon's mom and step dad. His brother Clay and his wife, Elise will be joining us for some R&R! Looking forward to that after a busy Christmas season.

Blessings to all.

Daughtry

What more can I say. It was awesome. Sorry no pictures...I was honest and followed the rules and DID NOT take my camera in (Shon that's for you). Although over 1/2 the people there did have their camera. He really puts on a great show. He plays a lot of instruments, has an incredible drummer - who wore a kilt with no shirt, and he was so energetic. AND there is much to be said about a concert on a Sunday night at a Baptist College...NO ALCOHOL! YAHOO...considering the last concert I went I had beer spilled all over the back of me. It was GREAT. Thanks honey for this wonderful idea.

By the way...my Cowboys lost, =(

Early Christmas Present!

Finally the weekend is almost here! After a week of high 70's a cold rain is supposed to be on it's way. And for December graduation tomorrow...oh well, no complaints b/c we need the rain so badly. I am excited about the weekend especially b/c my wonderful husband is giving me one of my Christmas presents early this weekend. We're going to see Daughtry at Timmon's Arena on the Campus of Furman University. I love Daughtry. He was my favorite American Idol contestant and I have been a fan ever since. I can't wait! I'll try to sneak a picture for the blog. Thanks, honey this is an awesome gift!!

Have a great weekend!

Can you fix it...WHY?

I just couldn't resist posting these pictures! We had a small leak under the sink last night when the pipe came loose. Shon was 'fixing' it and of course the boys had to help Daddy! They are growing up so fast and it just seems that time keeps flying by. John is reading really well now and reads or tries to read just about anything he sees. He ordered a set of Magic Treehouse books from Scholastic's at school and those came in yesterday so we started one last night about the Titanic, it's really fun to read with him before bed. He's playing Shon's guitar now, too. Maybe lessons in the future who knows. He really seems to be enjoying it. Alex is potty training and when he has an accident he tells me "I want to put on a diaper, I not like wetting my panties!" He's doing really well though and accidents are occurring less and less frequently. He's started asking us "WHY?" to everything!!! It's exhausting. I've been thinking though to the parallel between him asking us why and us asking our heavenly father why. How often do we ask him why and expect an answer? Do we ask just to be asking? Do we ask to learn, really learn or just because we are nosy and want to know? Do we trust that he has our best interest in mind when he tells us to do something? I really try to answer Alex and not just say 'because I told you so'. Doesn't God do that as well if we really listen to him? It's not easy not to ask why, especially when bad things happen to good people. Just some thoughts...

How 'Bout them Cowboys!

My Cowboys took care of the Packers last night 37-27 and now are 11-1 and in the Playoffs! Way to go!

Run Yourself Ragged

I hope this is not how any of you feel after the long holiday weekend! Do any of you remember this game? While John helped Shon bring down all the Christmas decorations he saw once again Shon's games from his childhood. (My husband is a pack rat!!!) He just had to have this game brought down so he could try it. He's actually asked before, when we moved he saw all of Shon's games and wanted to play with it then. Shon probably wasn't ready to pass them down then....he's pretty, shall we say protective of his things. Anyway, John proceeded to play with this game for a solid hour. It was so interesting to watch him and his little mind work. Shon said he was exactly the same way, he'd play with it for hours when he was a kid. Like father like son...

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. We took Alex to see his first movie. The Bee Movie. He LOVED it, they both did. When we sat down and he looked at the screen he said 'That's a really big movie, Moma!" It was so adorable. He just sat and stared amazed the entire time. Great times!!!

Happy Birthday, Trey!

My precious nephew is 2 today. If you don't beleive in miracles just look at this beautiful little boy and there you will see our little miracle. I just can't beleive that it's been 2 years since he was born and had his heart surgery. He had a blast at his birthday party yesterday. He's not feeilng so well today though... say a little prayer that he feels better very soon.

I love you, little buddy. You are a joy to me and my family. I thank God for you and how he has already worked in your little life. Happy Birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHON

Happy Birthday, to my sweetie! You are such a kind, sensitive, loving husband, father, son, brother and friend. Do you realize we have now celebrated more birthdays together than we have apart? I hope you have a wonderful day!! I'm so blessed to have you in my life and thank God for you every day!

LOCK DOWN

On the way to school one morning last week John told me a story that really made me sad. It almost made me cry. He said, "I guess you remember how to do a lock down practice?" I said no I don't think we did those when I was in school. He said, "It's when they close all the blinds in our room, turn off the lights, lock our door and we all get on the floor and cover our heads. In case there is a bad man, like someone who would rob a bank or shoot people comes to our school." My heart just dropped. I said, "oh, have you practiced this yet or are you going to?" He said, "We've already practiced it. I sure hope that never happens." I said, "Yeah, me too." It's hard to believe that we've come to a place in the world where we have to practice these kind of drills in Six Mile. Don't get me wrong I'm sure glad they do practice them but it still makes me sad...and it makes me feel for the parents who have lost their kids in school shootings.

Costumes

Here are the boys in their costumes. John is Peter from Chronicles of Narnia and Alex is a pirate. We took them to the Fall Festival at First Baptist Church in Pickens. They had a blast!

Happy Halloween

Showing off their works of art!














The boys working on Alex's 'punkin'.













Alex carving his first pumpkin or as he says 'punkin'.












By the way... Bon Jovi has announced the Lost Highway world tour. Jennifer and I have been wanting to plan a trip since our 30th birthdays. So...in conjunction the tour and planning our trip...we booked our plane tickets to Ft. Lauderdale today! We will be spending the weekend there soaking up some sun on the beach and seeing Bon Jovi while we're there! Yipee! Now that was worth waiting 3 years to plan the trip for.