South of the Border (and Beyond!)

Hello!

Jason and I wrapped up 2019 with a quick (kid-less) trip to Mexico City in November to see the Kansas City Chiefs take on the LA Chargers at Estadio Azteca. I was really surprised about how perfect the weather was there -- very cool and extremely comfortable. The experience at the stadium was really neat too!

We stayed in Polanco and I would definitely go back there to explore more of the restaurants, shops, night life, etc. The people were so friendly, it felt completely safe and it was so much more than taking in just a football game.

Claire w/ Mexican wrestling mask!

This year over Christmas and New Year's, we are going to the Cook Islands for 2 weeks which is an amazing place. Even so, it is hard for the kids to be away from home around Christmas for fear of missing Santa Claus.

Luckily, they wrote letters to Santa asking nicely if he could come 10 days early. Guess what? Santa happily complied! We celebrated family Christmas at my parents house on Sunday December 15th. Even Mother Nature cooperated and gave us a white Christmas with 4+" of snow!

Getting to the Cook Islands in the far South Pacific can be an adventure in itself, so this time we decided to give ourselves more time and do a stopover in LA to visit Disneyland. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel which was fabulous and a quick walk to the park entrance. Exploring Disney was the perfect way to prep for the long overnight flight. Everyone was pretty exhausted by the end of the day!

Splash Mountain! (Quinn doesn't like roller coasters FYI)

Fun fact: we were randomly selected at the entrance gate to help OPEN Disneyland for the day. We (along with another family) got to enter the park early, get pictures taken and lead the countdown to open up the park. It was a really fun experience!

Seasoned Travelers prepped for the long flight

Watch out: these kiddos have passports and know how to use them! More to follow on our adventures in Cook. 

Signing off for now.

xoxo ~claire

Happy Campers

Hello!

I'm playing catch up a bit from the end of 2019 here. Wanted to update the blog with some fun pictures from adventures of late Summer and Fall 2019.

We loaded up the Camper and made a trip to Arkansas over Labor Day weekend which was really nice. We stayed on the river and the fog coming off of it was so pretty in the morning.  I loved the early morning fishing trip and how ethereal the river looked. We saw lots of cool birds too.

Fun on the River in AR

Some of the best things about camping include hanging out with the family, cooking s'mores and exploring the campground on bikes. Quinn was particularly sad when the Summer was over because he had so much fun on these little weekend trips.

Speaking of Summer being over, the kids had a blast on swim team and hanging with their buddies at the pool (Mom and Dad had fun with our buddies too!). We love the Carriage Club where we all have lots of friends.

"Raiders of the Lost & Found" on left; Quinn ready to race on right

The first day of school was always stressful for me when I was growing up, but these kiddos were absolutely thrilled and more than ready to get back into the swing of things. Murphy, however, was not so happy to have them gone all day. When they loaded up in the car for the first day of school, he sat by the back door and cried!

Hanging Out before heading to school. 1st and 2nd Grades

Murphy getting snuggles before school

Before we knew it, October rolled around, and with it, Fall Break for the kids. We headed down to Disney World to check out Star Wars Land and other cool sights. It was a fantastic trip! We were in SWL early in the morning when Quinn spotted Rey walking by herself.  I got this neat picture of the kids with Rey.... I think it is a keeper!

Star Wars Land at Hollywood Studios, Orlando

With 2019 almost in the books, I can say that we enjoyed lots of family time in the 2nd half of 2019 for sure. Next year, Jason will be traveling a lot to Colorado Springs to oversee the car wash development there, so travel for fun may be limited (other than the occasional weekend ski trip of course!).

Signing off for now.
xoxo ~claire & family

Life's a Beach

Hello!

Next up on our Summer adventure tour of 2019: St. John's USVI!  Jason and I visited St. John's a few years ago for a brief time.  We felt like it was definitely worth coming back for a longer trip and bringing the kids.

St John's was impacted fairly recently by a hurricane, so some of the island is still rebounding. We were still able to find some incredible spots to snorkle and explore.  We stayed at the newly renovated Westin St. John's Resort and it was great.  The resort and the island in general is absolutely teeming with iguanas!

Quinn made a friend at the pool!

The fishing (all catch and release) around the islands was absolutely incredible. Here are the kids with barracudas that they caught.  We all caught so many fish and so many types of fish, we lost count!

My favorite spot on the island was Hansen's Bay where there is a private beach and a floating bar called Lime Out.  I had a massage on the beach that was quite possibly the best one I have ever had.  We had dinner at a really nice restaurant in town. The pace on the island was slow and it was a very relaxing trip.

A highlight of our trip was visiting BVI and The Baths - quite possibly the most striking beach scenery I have ever seen.

We wrapped up the trip with a visit to Jost Van Dyke and the famous Soggy Dollar Bar.

Thanks, St. John's, for showing us a great time! We will be back someday for sure.

xoxo ~claire and family  

The Great Outdoors

Hello!

This Summer, after swim season wrapped up in late June, we loaded up the camper, turned westward and hit the road for an adventure in the National Parks!  After a long drive, our first stop was Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone was incredible!  We were blown away by all there was to see and explore in the park.  I had never been to Yellowstone before and I must say the pictures don't begin to do it justice.  Between the thermals, wildlife, landscapes, lake views and trails, it was unbelievable. We saw many animals including bears, wolves, a mountain sheep, lots of elk and buffalo and more.

 After 3 days at Yellowstone, we made the one day drive up to Glacier National Park. Glacier had some good bike trails that we could explore and everyone really enjoyed that.  We saw LOTS of bears, both black bears and grizzlies. We drove the Going to the Sun Road which provided some incredible views.

Our 5 month old puppy, Murphy, made the trip with us too!  We had some excellent family time together in the camper.  At the end of it, I think we were all a little sorry to go back home (the kids were especially). We all really enjoyed our time on the road, exploring new places and having new adventures. 

“THE REAL VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY CONSISTS NOT IN SEEKING NEW LANDSCAPES, BUT HAVING NEW EYES.” ~ MARCEL PROUST

Until next time! 

~ claire & family

Vegas Baby!

Hello!

To beat the cold weather in KC, we took the kids to Las Vegas for part of Spring Break week! I was going for an Oracle conference and Jason and the kids decided to tag along. They explored the city during the day and in the evenings, we all met up for some fun dinners and shows.  It was just barely warm enough for them to swim in the Mandalay Bay pool too.

Got M&M's?

Skyline Tour

Mandalay Bay Aquarium

A big theme for the trip was magic. We caught the David Copperfield show at MGM Grand and everyone was amazed! We went to a wonderful magic store at the Stratosphere Hotel and the owner taught the kids how to do several tricks! They took home this magic kit as a souvenir for the trip.

We also caught the Cirque de Soleil show "Le Reve" one night which featured swimmers, fire dancers and huge feats of diving and acrobatics. Quite impressive! We all ate a great sushi dinner and had a fancy dinner at the Top of the World restaurant.

We played a little surprise on the kids right after we returned home from Las Vegas. Jason and I sent the kids to his parents house for the night and then hopped in the car and drove to southern Illinois to  pick up a new puppy! The kids were so surprised and we've all had fun adjusting to life with our new chocolate Lab puppy, Murphy.

Murphy on the drive home

Murphy playing with Quinn on when we got back to the house 

Jason took a quick trip to South Korea to check out some car wash equipment in early April. He took pictures from the airplane of the North Pole and everyone SWORE they saw Santa's Workshop. You might need to zoom in to see it though! 

Santa's Workshop?

Quinn and Jason worked hard over the Winter to build a little hobby race car. Olivia easily passes the time with her creative art projects and sweet silly personality.

Quite an elaborate paint job!

Miss Goofy

We've all been really busy working various fronts so I do get behind with these blog updates. But I'm well past apologizing for it! Of course, I maintain this blog to record our family memories and pictures so that we can look back on it. 

A wise person once said, "The days go slow but the years go fast." I would argue that the days sometimes go fast too. I can't believe that Jason and I are approaching our 10th year together and 9th year of marriage. You never know how much time you have and there is just not any time to waste. 

Carpe Diem!

Love, Claire & Family (including Murphy!) 

Snow Family

Hello!

I'll dive right in here with this blog mostly about Winter to describe our trip to Maui in October! This trip was an absolute blast with hiking, sunrises, sunsets, swimming in waterfalls, photos, snorkeling, boat rides and more. It was a GREAT way to gear up for the long Winter that was sure to come.

 

 

This year we had lots of cold weather to help us get in the mindset for a fun season of 8 & Under Hockey! Our Carriage Club Blue team turned out in record numbers this year. The kids grew their skating skills a ton and really enjoyed the camaraderie of the weekly games throughout the season.

This season, we invested in Ikon Ski passes and made it out to the slopes a few times this year. Big Sky, MT was a blast in December with the Howa family. We also caught a few days at Steamboat after New Years and some incredible snow at Deer Valley in late February. This year, Olivia officially outgrew the ski suit she inherited from her cousin Natasha Thomas. See her new threads below!

Big Sky on Left & Olivia's New Ski Suit on Right!

Speaking of cousins, we always enjoy getting the kids together with extended family for lots of reasons but especially for the musical inspiration that follows. Olivia took voice and piano lessons this year. Quinn started to play with the ukulele.     

Singing with Maya & Natasha

The kids were THRILLED to finally get some good snow in KC for making a snow man. So much so, that they made an entire snow family!

Everyone wanted to pose with their snow person!

At this point, we are looking forward to warmer weather and some more fun in the sun at the pool! Signing off for now.

Love always, Claire & Family