Bear Lake

After enjoying a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner at Steph's (along with Kris and family, Nick and his girlfriend, and Alex), Stephanie and Mickel were kind enough to invite me to spend Thanksgiving weekend with them at Mickel's dad's place in Bear Lake. Though of course it was snowy and cold, we had a great time! Here's the kids getting their boots on to go for a walk (ha ha):

... and some pictures that Teague took of Mom and Dad. He's a pretty good photographer!

Cancun, Part 2

Well, a month later and I'm finally getting around to posting the rest of my Cancun trip. It's been a bit strange for me lately - the day after my return from Cancun I had the unfortunate experience of being laid off from my job. I'm still processing some feelings about that, but on the whole I'm excited to be able to take a different road in life. My job at NSP was a great one, but as my mom said as her first response to the news, that job wasn't the sum total of who I am. What a wise woman. And now I can say in hindsight that there was a lot of stress - both the stress inherent in any event planning job, and also stress due to political reasons in that particular job, that I will be very happy to leave behind. I have the good fortune - due to a severance package and also my own financial decisions - to have the luxury of a bit of time to find the right job. And to spend some time with my darling grandkids. When I told Kaiya that I didn't have my job anymore, she just clapped her hands and shouted "Yay!" Kind of puts things into perspective. Mom's right - there's more to life than your job.

So, back to Cancun ...

One day, we had the option of going to the Xcarret Park, or to the Xplor Park. Since I had already been to Xcarret, I chose Xplor. What a fun place!! The main activities are 4-wheel drives, zip lines, and an underground pool system that you can swim in and/or paddle a raft in. Not knowing what to expect, it didn't seem that there would be enough to keep you busy for a whole day, but in the end we only had time to do about half of everything available!

This is the heart of the property - literally. It functions as a central meeting place. Not to worry if you can't see it ... you can hear the heart pulse sound.

I thought the zip line would be just that - a zip line. Instead it was a whole series of lines, and took more than an hour to go through. You would climb to the top of one tower, zip down to another tower, climb to the top of that one, zip down again, etc., etc. I think there were close to a dozen different towers.

Here's the 4-wheel drive experience, with my new friend and driver extraordinaire, Ed. Again, it wasn't a simple short drive, but a 3 to 4 mile route that went through water, over very dicey bridges (I was driving for that one - freaked me out a bit), into caves, etc.

We also did the rafts through the underground caves. Not gonna post my pictures here - not my most flattering shots. But here's a generic shot. It was beautiful, and very serene (except when I couldn't make my raft obey).

If you're ever in the area, I'd say a stop at Xplor is well worth it. They also provide a surprisingly good buffet lunch in the price, plus all the beverages you could want (nothing alcoholic though, for probably very good reasons!). Just be sure to give yourself a whole day for it. They also have this ingenious photo system. You have to wear the gorgeous orange helmet everywhere in the park, but in it is a sensor. There are numerous points throughout the park where you pass by cameras. At the end, they are able to pull up all the shots with you in it, which is totally cool. I don't usually go for the photo package thing, but we all went in together so it was pretty reasonable. Note to self: if you ever open a public amusement thing, be sure to put this system in it.

Cancun

I just returned from a "fam" trip to the Riviera Maya area near Cancun, Mexico. I often say that site visits are the best part of my job, but I lie. A fam (familiarization) trip is even better than that because I don't need to worry about meeting with a bunch of hotels and other vendors to set up an event. It is simply intended as a means of familiarizing meeting planners with various destinations. I have to be extremely careful about which of these I attend, so I go on them only rarely. An added bonus on this trip was that the sponsor also set up some roundtable discussions and presentations that were very helpful. And they would like to set up a direct sales meeting planners association, so it's exciting to be in on that from the beginning.


We stayed at the Grand Velas, a five-star all-inclusive resort. And when I say all-inclusive, it truly was just that. There was very little that you could want that wasn't included in the rate, with the notable exception of the spa. However, our hosts were kind enough to include a massage, which also came with a "hydrotherapy" session. This was an 80 minute circuit of several different therapies, including sauna, herbal steam, a clay room, an ice room, experience showers, and this huge pool with numerous areas including bubble beds and jacuzzis (as well as an ice plunge pool, though I didn't venture that far). Oh, and the massage was the best one I've ever had!


This is a not-great shot of the main hydrotherapy pool, before they told me I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the spa (I guess people aren't all that happy about strangers taking pictures of them in their suits, although as you can see, I didn't actually get one with anyone in it).

This is the balcony of my suite (all rooms are suites), which included its own little soaking pool.

The suite was a little over 1,100 square feet, which is more than the main floor of my house! Here's the bathroom portion, which could be closed off with sliding doors. The door on the right is a walk-in closet.

Also, the food was absolutely fantastic, each dish beautifully presented whether it was dinner, the buffet place or room service - all were a piece of art.

We kept pretty busy with meetings for the first couple of days, but we did get an outing to the Xplor park. More on that - with pictures - later.

Lagoon

Yet another weekend in Utah with fabulous weather, and I'm happy to say that I didn't waste this one either. Since I had a couple of Lagoon tickets (I always seem to be traveling when we have our company party, but lucky for me they give me some tickets anyway), Steph and I decided a Lagoon Day would be fun. Kris and Sterling weren't able to join us ... but next time Atticus will be old enough to enjoy it a little more.

As Utahans know, they have "Frightmares" at Lagoon during the October weekends. There's something for every age, so you can get as scared as you want to be. For Kaiya and Teague, the trick or treating was pretty fun. You go through several rooms, each with a theme (Alice in Wonderland, Wicked Witch, etc.) and they all hand out a treat.


After the trick or treating, Kaiya decided that she wanted to go through the Tunnel of Terror (I think that's what it's called), so Mom and Dad and Kaiya and Teague did. We were a bit worried that it would be too scary, but they did just fine. :-)

We took turns with the kids in kiddie land, which I thoroughly enjoyed doing. It's so much fun to watch little ones have fun! Kaiya has apparently inherited her mom's bravery with rides, and is pretty much game for most. Teague is not as sure, but he is one heck of a trooper - even when it makes him nervous, he just soldiers his way through it. He had a death grip on my arm on the Jumping Dragon, but he never lost it. And he even agreed to go a second time on the Tilt-a-Whirl, 'cause Kaiya and I wanted to so much. Kaiya said "Again!" when it was through, but Teague thought he had compromised quite enough.

Teague's favorite was the cars ... but Kaiya thought they were boring and slow.


I. Love. These. Two!!!!

I mean seriously ... how could you not? Look at that face.

Today I am awaiting an overnight visit from my sister Karen and her family. They're in town for my neice's wedding (SO happy for Kara and Johnny!). It's always great to see them ... can't wait!

One More (?) Fun Weekend

Once again, we were blessed with great weather this weekend, and we tried to make the best of it. Kaiya and Teague came over to Grammie's house on Friday for a sleepover, while Mom and Dad finally made it on their long-overdue date to Takashi. As always, we had a lot of fun, but not as much sleep as we should get (sorry, Mom - I really am working on it!). In fact, in the middle of the night I ended up going into the other bedroom to get some sleep ... it's not that the kids weren't sleeping by then, but they're getting big enough to make it rather crowded!

The next morning Mickel took Teague to gymnastics, while Steph and I went to Kaiya's soccer game. She has really learned a lot since starting soccer, and now stays with the ball and knows what direction it's supposed to go. And she really gets after it! I think she takes after her mom. And her dad. But definitely not Grammie.

Gotta stay hydrated!

The little girl with the curly hair is one of Kaiya's friends from church. She's a really good player too.

The team. They haven't decided on a name yet, but so far Kaiya's favorite is the Speedy Turtles.

Then we met Kris, Sterling and Atticus at Willard Bay for some boating fun. Not sure how many more weekends will be boating weather, but it surely was this weekend!

Next year maybe Atticus can go out on the boat a little bit more ...

Our friendly boat driver ...

Teague waving to Dad and Kaiya

who were showing their daredevil sides

The Sharp family

Meanwhile, back on shore, Atticus was having his own fun. Isn't he such a handsome boy?

Boating with the Parkers

The last couple of weekends have brought beautiful weather to Utah, and I've had the good fortune to go boating with Kris and Sterling.

Unfortunately last weekend the boat died before anyone had a chance to have much fun on the water. But we had a great time on the shore, enjoying the perfect weather and good company.

Too bad Atticus doesn't get enough love, isn't it?

Tico and his Uncle Alex

I love this mother-and-child shot. What a great mama you are, Krissy Lou!

Yesterday, we tried again. Apparently the thing that was wrong with the boat was a pretty minor fix, so this time we actually did get out on the water.

I think there's more life jacket than baby here ...

Perhaps it was karma, but we came across these gentlemen whose boat was disabled. Sterling, never one to pass by someone in need, gave them a tow to the marina.

Sterling is a FANTASTIC wakeboarder! I think he only falls to signal that it's someone else's turn.

Here's Kris' cute friend and neighbor, Vicki, with her two charming children (and, of course, our Tico).

Me and my baby girl.

Packing it up for the day.

Thanks, Kris and Ster!

Barcelona

The culmination of my European odyssey was a visit to Barcelona. I love Barcelona, it has such a great personality. Most of my visit was spent traipsing to various hotels and restaurants that we are considering for an event in April next year. However, we did take some time for a visit to the beautiful town of Montserrat (literally, "serrated mountain"). In this gorgeous mountain setting you'll find a couple of monasteries and a convent ...

... and a view to die for. Beautiful!

Here's a shot from one restaurant overlooking Barcelona. That would make a nice view for our group!