chipmunk

These guys on their first ropes course challenge.  They call the course the Chipmunk Adventure Challenge.  Keaton joked as he crossed the first tricky balance beam floating bars, "I've never seen a chipmunk do this!"  They were pretty fearless zipping across the zip line and marching down the wobbly beams.

coaster

We stayed two nights in a new to us, really fun area around Deep Creek Lake in the farthest west reaches of Maryland. The biggest draw was the Wisp mountain coaster!  It sped and spun down the ski mountain.  We rode with the kids all three days we were there and it was fun every time.  The craziest ride was when it started raining on Keaton and I during the last ride of the day - I think my brakes were skidding ;). I was slower than dad's rides at first but I think I was booking it by the end.

snaps

So many photos to catch up on soon!  In the meantime, check out these funny guys!

tidbits

Check out this mosaic from Prisma of Keaton and his two headed dragon ;)

These pool rats at the pool helping daddy work out his arms ;)

The boys went to an adventure program on the farm where they were pioneers for the week.  They helped out on the farm, took wagon rides, explored the creek, milked goats, made their own snack everyday (fresh butter for their own cinnamon buns!), and created a craft (painted snakes, pillow cases, yarn dolls, etc)  They had fun making new friends and playing games.

We've been meeting up with our friends to go bowling when it is ridic hot and they occasionally catch pokemon on each other too.

Chocolate chip pancakes bigger than your head!

builda

These guys earned a trip to Build-a-bear with some good behavior.  Keaton finally got that two headed dragon which he'd been dreaming about.  Aiden added to his treat puppy set with Chocolate Chunk - he also has Peanut Butter Pup and Caramel Canine.  Choco has a pokemon hoodie and roller skates and a cell phone to play ;)

voice

Aiden started taking voice lessons (after I won free lessons at an auction for his old choral group) and he is having so much fun with it.  His teacher Anne has a summer fun show where everyone does solos or duets at the beginning, followed by dessert, and then the main show.  This year it was the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Trial by Jury.  His duet partner Jerry reminded me a of a grown up version of Aiden (both a little goofy, yet serious) and people were even asking if Jerry was Aiden's son ;) They coordinated this little schtick at the start of their singing where they lowered and lifted the stands, which made Aiden giggle.  During the main show it was funny to see Aiden peeking through the group of sopranos which were mostly older women.  He was the youngest by far but has really hit it off with his teacher who really encourages him.

We were talking about how our cameras do not pick up the best audio - which stinks for a vocal performance especially - but he hit that funny high note ;)

Flowers that bloom in the Spring from LB on Vimeo.

police

The local supervisor's office was hosting an event at the park complete with a meet and greet with the police.  The police were encouraging the kids to act out arresting each other dressed in full gear?!  These guys and their expressions ;)

buddies

We were lucky to have our friends visiting from WY again this summer and we met up at Burke Lake with all the kiddos.  There were giggly babies to cuddle!  Trains and carousels to ride!

grandeur

The last of the vacation highlights includes what has to be the most hokey video yet - highlighting the Grandeur of the Seas ;)
Grandeur from LB on Vimeo.

prisma

This Prisma app is fun!  All these random art styles to apply...

dockyard

The Royal Dockyard was the home to Dolphins, a Neptune statue, and this awesome playground with a giant wooden eel wrapped around a lighthouse slide.  Inside was fun kid's activities and a fun sailor mural with a tongue bench - you could practice tying sailing knots in his hair - ha!

national museum

The National Museum of Bermuda was tucked in across a moat near the dockyard. The Commander's House has a two story mural documenting all of Bermuda's history, rooms full of cannons and tools, and doll houses.  There were many tunnels, caves, and bunkers tucked into the hills.

in the triangle

We cruised around the entire fish hook shaped island and into the Bermuda Triangle in a glass bottom boat. We saw so many fish and even pieces of a shipwreck (the iron fosters amazing coral).  It was also a treat to spot so many sea turtles popping up.

bonfire

Is there anything better than sunset at the beach with s'mores!?  Add in fun games, dance party lights, and pirates?!  Can I go back now?

splashin

We found the beach in this little cove off the Royal Dockyard...

playin

Our first jaunt around Bermuda and we ran into cool cannons and playgrounds...

arrival

When you approach Bernuda the ship zig zags back and forth following the shipping route that protects all the coral reefs. It makes for pretty cool views over breakfast.  The boys were pumped to find some slushies while we got the lay of the land, which included English telephone booths and many giant anchors scattered around.

more on ship

Aiden was our family rep on the winning Family Feud team, the Zikachus which in a Pokemon with zika and made a funny buzz in noise.  They would have won for team spirit too!  The big winners got a RC highlighter which Aiden proudly wore on his lanyard ;) The next big win was when I won trivia (12/22 was a win so it was tough!) and gave my highlighter to Keaton ;). Here's my trivia winning face - ha!

The cruise at sea days were filled with at least one visit to Adventure Ocean kid's club for these giddy guys.  They had different themes and crafts each day.  Keaton was proud of his crown and Aiden was happy to make a popsicle stick frame.

The boys on check in inadvertently were all wearing their cruising stripes ;)

This big guy sure loved all the salmon and shrimp.  He stuffed himself with as much of the gourmet chocolate milk too.  The littler guy loved all the fruit and especially the vanilla ice cream.

We were the only family that found the cards to play a little in between activities.

underwater

Underwater cruising from LB on Vimeo.

bermuda trailers

I can't get enough of these kitschy trailers from iMovie ;)  Here are some snippets from Bermuda recorded mostly on the new generic go pro camera I got before the trip:


Bermuda Trailer Kitsch from LB on Vimeo.

More Bermuda Kitsch from LB on Vimeo.

interview with KC

One word to describe you would be: 

Bam Bam

Why do you like being a kid? 

Because it's fun because then you can play with your brother because you like your brother

If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why? 

A cat because they are cute but I'm allergic to them

Tell about a funny time in your life. 

When Aiden was walking around a corner to get something and we were at target and then he saw a gigantic gorilla and he said ahhh!

What is your favorite thing to do? Why? 

Play with little figure toys

What do you love most about your brother? 

That he's nice

What was the nicest thing you did for someone? 

Hugged them

What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now? 

What teenagers do, playing video games and changing my hair color, but I won't be that sort of teenager

What is the grossest thing you can think of? 

Something gooey

What is your happiest memory?

When Aiden shares with me

formal night

Look at these fancy guys ready for business ;)

on ship

Royal Carribean knows how to keep you entertained. I've been saying that our kids were the perfect age for a cruise, young enough to love the kid's club, but old enough to go to the shows. We saw a kid-friendly comedian, an acapella group, an aerial show in the nine story atrium, a Broadway review, and a orchestra rock show (hard to describe but they played a version of uptown funk that got everyone out of their seats dancing - Aiden was obsessed!)

Our servers at dinner worked so hard but found the time to charm the boys with so many table tricks. They'd come over with a challenge like can you transfer this empty can from one mug to the other (answer blow next to it and it will jump out of one mug and flip into the next, if you're lucky), or pick up this glass with this straw (answer: bend the straw and it will grab the side of the glass - see below) or balance the forks on the S&P shakers using toothpicks or watch as these toothpicks expand into a star with a drop of water.

The boys of course liked the towel animals.  The lobster after eating at lobster night was a nice touch ;)

The officer vs guest pool volleyball was fun to watch.  The officers dominated beating every team in a row and then even beating all eight teams on the opposing side at the same time!

The Adventure Ocean kid's club kept the kids happy with gagaball games, crafts, and even a big stash of imaginext (which makes these boys feel right at home).  At the end of the week the kids were invited to "slime their favorite teacher" which they thought was hilarious.

The lobby had a daily trivia puzzle sheet that was a nice time filler. The boys joined into the dancing during the Sail Away party straight from the pool. Once we saw the aerialists practicing randomly as we walked by the Centrum on the seventh floor.  We took advantage of the all day, every day soft serve machine on the pool deck pretty often.

hey bermuda

We're off jumping around in Bermuda!  More after we cruise on home ;)