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

Go Fish

Hello!

I'm doing some catching up on this blog thingy and wanted to kick off this update with a post about our super fun trip to Colorado in July!  Jason and I were both really overdue for a vacation and a 5 day trip to the mountains to meet up with my parents at the mountain house (aka Burnbrae) just about hit the spot. It would have been enough to just escape the sweltering heat back in KC but to visit such a gorgeous place and spend time in the mountains was absolutely perfect!

Before we embarked on the trip, Jason and I decided we would focus on fishing and getting the kids to a place where they understand the mechanics of fishing, how to cast, etc in order to be in control of their own rod and really start to have fun with it. I'd say our plan worked!

We had a few work meetings to attend for a development project in Colorado but other than that, we devoted all spare time to the craft of fishing.  We actually decided to stay an extra day because I was not ready to leave on Sunday and OLIVIA was the one who convinced everyone to go fishing for another day on that last day.

The first day this grand plan started out as a Fishing 101 class taught by Jason. But the reality and sometimes boredom of fishing set in and things seemed to devolve into an exercise resembling Torture by Fishing until things came back around to sessions such as Advanced Knot Untangling, Worm Wrestling for Beginners, and Chasing Down the Chipmunk Who Stole Your Lunch.  Eventually this all added up to a whole lot of family fun. 

I think grabbing a cooler, packing lunch, worms, patience, sunscreen and whatever else it takes (SERIOUSLY, I don't honestly know what all is needed.. I defer to Jason on this stuff) to get out there with a fishing pole and tangle with some fish... it's all good in my opinion.  

Fishing at 11 Mile Canyon

Learning to Fish with Daddy

Not her first catch ever, but the first after she learned to cast!

We threw all of the fish back! No fish were harmed by the making of this blog.

Fishing Not Catching. AKA It's OK to be bored sometimes says Mom.

Besides fishing, we did make time to visit 7 Falls which is always fun. On the way down, we ran into a guy who INSISTED on getting the perfect family shot of us. OK!

Summer 2018, 7 Falls

A few more pics on 7 Falls which involved far less effort.

The kids recently started back at St. Paul's in Kindergarten and First Grade. They were both super excited to return to school so I'm thinking they must be doing something right!

First Day of 1st Grade Self Portrait

All Polished Up for Picture Day!

Proud of the Yard Sign they gave us and Pic Day Ready!

We're all settled back into school now and enjoying getting back to the routine of it all. The kids are taking music lessons, Olivia is taking voice and piano and Quinn is taking ukulele/guitar.  We got a new couch for my birthday for the main family room! 

The sounds around our house these days include Quinn's whistling (he is a whistler!), Olivia practicing her spelling words, the kids talking to Alexa (google AI device!) and Vanna's panting, scratching, etc (however we did have to euthanize her on Oct 3rd and she is very much missed). Vanna lived a few days short of 13 years and was hardly ever sick a day in her life. 

R.I.P. Vanna!  It's hard to believe we are officially a dog-free zone.

  

Love always, Claire & Family

Silly Squirrels

Hello!
School is out and Summer officially started today. It's been packed with quite a bit of fun already :)

Olivia and Quinn are both doing swim team this year. Olivia is in 8 & Under competitive swim and Quinn is enjoying Pre-Compet and learning all of the strokes, quite literally! They are both doing tennis as well.

Carriage Club Swim Team Members who are also on the Hockey Team!

Olivia and Quinn with Maxwell

Olivia (left) w/ Friend at 1st Swim Meet!

Quinn Playing 'Little Stars' Tennis 

We've been active outdoors trying new sports too like lacrosse (Spring teams for both Q & O) and also basketball. We've had some fun family 2 on 2 games after dinner these days trying out the new basketball goal we got for the driveway!

Shooting hoops after dinner

We have also been doing some home improvement projects in the back yard and on the deck. We are growing cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapenos, habeneros and tomatoes. Father's Day weekend, the kids had fun with Daddy assembling the new cooler for the deck as well!

Nice Addition to the Deck :)

Believe it or not, one of the highlights of the Summer so far has been watching the critters in our yard and trying to outsmart them, kind of like our own version of "The Great Outdoors"!  I think the kids get some of this tendency from their Dad, and it really cracks me up. Just the other morning, Olivia tore into the kitchen and started rummaging through the cabinets. She then ran outside clutching a plastic tub and yelling "I'm going to catch that chipmunk, Mommy!". I'm not sure really what the plan was since she came up empty after stalking it around the yard for awhile.

The real story here is all about squirrels though... Actually birdfeeders but eventually we get to squirrels. So as part of the home improvement initiative, we decided to get a good bird feeder to attract more birds to our yard. For the past 12 years I've been in the house, we've had a cardinal that claims our yard as his territory. He fights off every other bird around to keep his home base intact. I think this is the year we're gonna change that.

We went to the store and bought a nice bird feeder, lots of seed and a "squirrel proof" dome for it. We installed this under a tree and quickly the squirrels converged on it, devouring all of the seed. FYI, we have what could be considered a squirrel infestation in our yard. Not kidding. In the morning, we routinely see what we call 'squirrel parties' in the yard which basically amount to 8+ squirrels all hanging out and squirreling around. There are massive squirrel nests in several of our trees.

So, since our squirrel proof feeder was immediately defeated, Quinn and Daddy decided to up the game. They went back to the store to get a pole and some wood to mount the bird feeder away from the squirrels. Then came the stake-out to see if the new plan was a success.

Quinn with the Newly Mounted Feeder

Well.... it was not exactly a success, but we're having fun with it! The squirrels figured out how to launch themselves from the fence to the feeder. Jason even caught this hilarious action shot!

Ready, Set, Go!

So Jason decided to move the feeder away from the fence.

This has to work, right??

Nope. At this point, I'm sorry to say that the score is Squirrels 3 - Cunninghams 0. And that's even AFTER Jason greased up the pole to hopefully keep them from climbing up it! See results of that experiment below...

Ninja squirrels showing off in our yard!

We do have a few more tricks up our sleeve such as putting a slinky on the pole and reinstalling the squirrel dome UNDER the bird feeder. We're not giving up easily and in the meantime, lots of critters like rabbits, birds and chipmunks are enjoying the seed on the ground around the feeder, so I guess in some ways its "mission accomplished"!

With the crazy heat wave we've had, we've been spending lots of time at the pool and just the other day Jason noticed in the tree behind us at the pool there was a squirrel hanging over the branch dead asleep! We'd never seen that before so we pointed it out to the kids and they all got a kick out of it. They woke the poor thing up and then it sauntered a few feet up the branch and passed out again in the crook of a branch all splayed out.

Here's a picture of my sleeping squirrels who love to bunk down each night together during the Summer. Don't even THINK of trying to separate them! They are best buds and the sweetest lovies to one another.

Sleep tight, My Loves! Quinn w/ a fresh drool spot + 3 layers of blankies.

We are enjoying the blessings of family and nature around here, and we wish our friends and family all the best. Hope you all enjoy these dog days of Summer!

Love Always,
Claire & Family