A Few Things...

A few things that are making me smile today. 

Fresh Mamon Chinos (Lychees) with my morning coffee.

Some early morning brotherly love.

A house with all new hiding places.

The LM's new obsession... superhero legos.

 (These little babies got us through our 12 hour nighmare flight)

Homemade overnight oats, and some light reading... with a view. 

A long bike ride to the organic market.

Our haul. 

I'm pretty sure it doesn't get any beter than this. :)

P.S. Last night we watched the new Bob Marley documentary Marley, and it was awesome!!! I highly recommend it! We've been blasting Legend from my iPod all morning long!

Gray + Bike.

Since we've been down here, right around 4 pm, Gray gets super fussy. It's like clockwork. He gets this look on his face that says "if you try to put me in that giant bathtub (the pool) or that enormous sandbox (the beach) one more time, I am going to have to drop a serious meltdown on all y'all.*" Relying on the LM playbook, we remembered what his favorite pastime was when he was was about Gray's age, and we quickly found a bycycle built for two. Now, every night, we take off on a little tour of the jungle, looking for monkeys, crabs, lizzards, and birds. Gray not only loves our nightly little rides, but now he has begun to sing for most of the trip. I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon.

 

*Apparenltly Gray is now from the deep south ;)

Just Add Water.

 What do you have to do to make my boys happy? Just add water. 

It took the LM about one day to figure out that surfing is "just like skatebarding." I'm a little afraid of what is going to happen when this kid turns five!

Happy Sunday!!!!

New Day, New Country.

  Holy dissapearing act! Clearly, I underesimated how much time it would take for me to pack for a family of 5, for a month, for a place where very few things are easily accessable... with the LM home from school. At the last minute I was able to pull it all together, and Sunday we embarked on our 36 hour journey that led us to our home away from home; Nosara, Costa Rica. The trip down was not what you can call uneveventful (we were those people stuck on a tarmack with a not so happy baby for THREE HOURS, until I called the FAA from the plane and somehow got the kids and I permission to deplane to a holding cell for another two hours while our plane was repaired) but that was last week, we all survived, and for the past few days we have been living it up, going from pool, to beach, to pool, to beach, to nap, to beach, to pool... you get the idea.

Here are a few pictures from our journey thus far. Hope you all are staying cool (since when does it get 100 degrees in Boston????) and that you all are able to get in a little water time this weekend!!! 

Gone Fishing...

 

Be back this afternoon :)

The First, Last Day.

 Today was the LM's last day of his 3rd year of pre-school. It dawned on me last night, that this was actually his first, last day of school. Like clockwork, in the years prior, the kid would wake up really sick on the morning of his final day.I always felt so bad for him, thinking he was missing all kinds of activities, and goodbyes. Well, I learned to today, that we really weren't missing much; just a really sad day.

I know we are going back to the school next year (thereby delaying kindergarten another year) but today really felt like the end of an era. Most of his close friends will be going off to other schools next year, and for the first time I really connected with his teachers, as did the LM. I can only imagine that these type of goodbyes are going to get harder and harder as he continues to make more connections as he gets older, and I suppose I am going to have to find way to detach myself a little more successfully than I did today. 

On the way home, when I asked him if he was sad about leaving school, he said, "not really, I'm going to see my friends again, and next year I will see my teachers when I go to the bathroom, so it's okay. But really, Gray is my best friend and he's always home, so I don't have to say goodbye to him ever."

Damn straight kid. Damn straight. 

I'm thinking next year it would be nice to skip the last day, again. Clearly, I'm not very good at goodbyes. Lucky for me, my 4 year old seems to always say the right thing, at the right time.  

Somebody Hand Me The SPF 10,000!

 Have you all seen this story about the delivery truck driver who has severe sun damage on only ONE side of his face? Holy eyeopening! I would like to say that I am good about wearing sunscreen, but I am really only serious about it when I'm actually out in the sun at the pool, the beach, the park... etc. I knew you could get sun damage while riding in the car, but damn... I really had no idea you were actually absorbing that much sun. Can somebody please hand me the SPF 10,000?? 

In all seriousness, this is so incredibly scary, and it was actually on my birthday, this year, that I really committed to wearing sunscreen (almost) every day. I have acne prone skin, so I used to rely on the SPF included in my foundation or moisturizer, but earlier this year I read somewhere that, that isn't really enough. After some considerable research, I found this product which I now swear by. It's a 45 SPF, ridiculously lightweight, completely oil free, and it has a matte finish, with no noticeable smell. The 8oz size (which I would imagine will last at least a year) comes in convenient a pump, and I've found that just having OUT by my sink in the morning, that I am so much more likely to use it vs keeping it in my purse, makeup bag... etc. 

After seeing this picture, let me tell you, I will not be forgetting it any time soon. 

Of course, we can't forget those kiddies. I've recently started using this on baby gray and I love it. It contains zinc, and so far "fingers crossed" it has done the trick.

Lesson of the day: WEAR SUNSCREEN EVERY DAY, EVEN IF IT'S NOT SUNNY OUT. Oh, and call your mother. It's good karma. ;)

P.S. I've also recently read that sunscreen itself can be bad for you, and that we should all be switching to a mineral based product. Do any of you know what the deal is? My hubby said he would look into it after our upcoming trip, but when you are spending on a month on the equator, we aren't to keen to change too much. Surprisingly, the LM has yet to get a sunburn...

famous last words, I know. 

(Image via the Huffington Post)

Phone Home.

We are watching E.T. The Extra Terrestrial tonight, for the first time with the LM. I'm super excited, and a little nervous... I loved the movie as a kid, but I guess it scared my husband for weeks after! We're hoping that since the LM seems to take after his Mom, that he doesn't get too spooked. He told me that, "he's a boy, so he's brave, and doesn't get scared by anything." 

(Where do they come up with this stuff?) 

In anticipation of the big event I just had to post this picture, which reminds me of this famous scene. 

 

Gray + Watermelon.

Gray is getting his molars. 

I think this has been happening for the better half of May. 

This has been making him miserable. 

Which, of course, means we are all miserable. 

I would have thought that a kid who had 8 (8!!!!) teeth by 6 months would have been able to handle this a little better. 

I was wrong. 

Can a kid even have ibuprofen every day? 

The internet seems unclear.

I am at a loss...

The ONLY thing that makes this kid not scream at the top of his lungs is watermelon, and trips to the park. I think we are now on hour 30 of park time for the week, and we {he} just finished the last of a 10 lb watermelon. I kid you not. 

Now it's going to rain. 

For a week.  

We need more watermelon, and ibuprofen... and wine. Not necessarily in that order.

Teething is the official reason that I'm not having a third baby. 

(I needed to write this down so I remember this in 2 years when I'm looking back at pictures of THAT FACE!)

God help us all.