Marshmallow Madness

On Monday, we returned from a 6 day camping trip to Whidbey Island. I was ready to come home on Sunday, but it was great!

I have a bunch of pictures that I still need to download from the camera... I should probably get those taken care of before I run out of space!

After 3 days of crabbing and fishing, we had 5 crabs and 1 fish... I know, we suck, right? We made a huge seafood boil with churizo, kielbasa, potatoes, corn on the cob, shrimp and crab... It rocks! The fish ended up having worms of some sort in it, so needless to say, we didn't eat it... ick!

We made s'mores every night, Gjerness style... marshmallows, kit-kats / peanut butter cups, and graham crackers. And each night, Josh made his marshmallows get as large as possible... it's unbelievable how big they actually get!

One day, I was trying to occupy Maddi with a badminton racket and birdie. I was afraid the birdie would hurt her, so I swapped it for a marshmallow. Do you realize how far a marshmallow will go? LOL When everyone returned from crabbing, I showed them my new "invention". There were marshmallows all over the entire RV park... we did clean them up. Although, I'm sure we didn't get them all!

Maddi found her shadow... at first she ran away from it, or at least, tried to. Then she was trying to grab it... LOL... very Peter Pan!

"Vacation on a budget", seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it?

In 2005, Dale and I brought the kids to Disneyland for a week... for our honeymoon, actually. I know, sounds crazy, but it was fun... AND Disneyland is the happiest place on earth! I digress... this vacation cost us approximately $6000. We have not been on a vacation like that since! Having a family with four kids (at the time) makes for costly travel. Now we have five!

Now, with Dale out of work, we can't even contemplate a family vacation like that. Our current financial situation got me thinking about ways to work our way out of it. Once Dale's working again, with careful planning, we CAN vacation like that again!

After reading the Vacation Budgeting guide by a credit counseling company, I found that if you get creative, you CAN have a spectacular vacation! We have an appointment on Friday with a credit counselor to help us work through the logistics of spending money appropriately and saving money... I know, I know, that is such a strange concept... to actually save money!

Their Website offers reports showing how you spend your money and a debt to income ratio... might I say, I did not like what I saw! But then again, it was based off of Dale's unemployment income, which is about 1/4 of what he normally makes.

the FUN part of dysFUNctional

So, our vacation wasn't all bad... we had a lot of fun too! Maddi made sure we had plenty of laughs during our roller coaster of a vacation.

The gorgeous palm trees by the pool.

The pool... the building is the one we stayed in.

The view from our room...

Maddi LOVED the pool!

Maddi had so much fun flirting with every passerby...

Maddi and her "ba-ba"...

I'm quite proud to say that I took this pic...

Maddi having more fun in the kiddy pool...

This was so funny... this grasshopper hitched a ride on Maddi's hat, taking 4 laps with her...

Friday morning, Maddi got her very first pedicure! It was so funny to watch her walking around looking at her toes... we would just comment on her "pretty toes" and she'd get so gitty.

I'm ready mommy...

Pretty toes...

Look mommy!

Maddi enjoyed her very first Oreo Cookies... mmm, mmm, Mommy's favorite! It was definitely not a clean experience, but it was tons of fun to watch!

Maddi is finally at a fun age, when you can enjoy watching her experience new things. While we were gone, she got to have many firsts... I'm glad I got to capture them on camera! Looking forward to taking her to Disneyland some day... she's such a ham!

Can I get a Do-Over?

Dale, Maddi and I returned from Las Vegas yesterday afternoon. It started out well... nice and relaxing. We arrived last Wednesday evening, but late Saturday night, we got a million phone calls regarding my step-daughter, Hannah. Including calls from her, herself.

Hannah's mother reported her missing at 12:30am Cayman time... and only after not talking to her for a matter of hours. I believe this is in response to Hannah wanting to return home to live with her dad and me. Since finding out that Hannah wants to do this, she has treated Hannah horribly... she has dealt with mental abuse for years, but it has recently escalated. So, Saturday, Hannah decided not to return home for any further abuse. The police got involved that night and finally helped her get her things on Monday night.

After many International calls from our cell phones (OMG, it's going to cost an arm and a leg!), several emails, and many sleepless nights... we've finally gotten Hannah home! Today has been a recovery day... we are all so emotionally and physically exhausted.

I feel just awful for Hannah... besides the fact that her mother has treated her so horribly, Hannah has found many of her belongings missing. Can you believe her mother actually stole personal items from her? I will never understand her thinking regarding this situation... and I'm actually glad I can't understand... meaning, I'm not crazy!

Dale and I didn't get a chance to work on his resume or search for a job, as Hannah became a higher priority. So, we will be working on that tomorrow. Before leaving, I was trying to list 100 things I'm grateful for... I got to #52. I need to get back to it this weekend! I wanted to get all of this off my chest tonight, so tomorrow, I'll tell you all about how much fun we DID have on vacation!

I'm ready for Vegas!

The countdown is beginning for our Vegas trip... only 2 weeks to go! I just want to sit by the pool or in the lazy river all day long (with sunblock on, of course), with beverage in hand. My hubby and I don't really gamble, which is fine, because our resort doesn't have a casino on site. It's really meant for family vacationing, more than the "woot, woot, party types" <- Not that there is anything wrong with that! Ah, a full week of just chillin'... just imagining it makes me smile!

Upon our return, I'm going back to work 3 days a week... short days. I will be doing the enrichment program for a preschool, working with preschool kids, one-on-one... phonics, math, reading, and spanish. This is perfect, because I am currently studying to get my AS degree in Early Childhood Education... although, it's going to take me longer than your typical 2 years, but that's okay! Thank goodness for online programs!

You Can Do It!

On Saturday I had an appointment with a physical trainer at LA Fitness. Chantal totally kicked my A**… by the end, I thought my legs were going to fall off and I was sweating like mad. Turns out, I’d only been exercising for 25 minutes! I am so unfit, it’s sad. Very, very sad! Afterwards, we sat down to discuss my fitness level… I’m pretty sure she wanted to tell me that I’m some sort of negative level, but she was nice enough not to. Basically, she told me that my arms are noodles and my legs don’t have much muscle at all. Might as well call me Squishy!

Tomorrow, I’m going back for more torture! This time I’ll have a trainer assigned to me for the long haul. I’m nervous because I really want to do this, but I’m so undisciplined. I’m hoping that with a trainer, I’ll feel more obligated to be there and see results. I can do this!

I bought a bikini that I want to be able to wear for our Las Vegas trip on May 27 (for my Birthday) … it’s my teeny-weenie-polka-dot-bikini that’s hung up in my closet for me to see every day. I should be able to lose about 10 pounds by then… I am determined to do this!