Colton is 9!

His last year in single digits! 

The birthday celebrations started out with a special day at LegoLand with Betsy and Theo, and Nina came along too. They play together a lot and call themselves the "CBT Club". We ate at the Rainforest Cafe after Legoland. Betsy and Theo hadn't been to Rainforest Cafe and Colton loved showing them the "rainstorm" and looking at all the animals.

We decorated the house with streamers on the day of his birthday, per tradition. He got what he says is his best gift ever for his birthday - a 3D printer! He has been printing nonstop and loves making little toys and gadgets and has given a lot of things to his classmates.

He invited his whole class to his birthday party at SPARK Dallas. No one from his class had been there before and he was excited so many of his friends ventured downtown to celebrate with him. He had a Tails (from Sonic) theme and Nina magically worked with Tom Thumb to make an awesome Tails cake, even though they originally said they couldn't do it. She found a way! We served hot dogs and lots of snacks and it seemed like the kids had a great time. 

Colton is still a little kid who enjoys baths in our bathroom, sleeping with us in bed when we allow him to, back scratches and cuddles at night, playing with his toys, playing dress-up, hanging out with Mom and Dad, running errands, and making new friends. He is overall cool and has an ease around him that draws others to his funny and laid-back vibe. He is starting to develop a few strong opinions. Things like his longer hair and NOT wanting to try out new sports. He is funny and loving and I couldn't be more proud to be his momma.

Back to School

We rolled into Dallas just in time for meet the teacher activities and prep for school to begin on Wed., Aug. 17th. I like that they start school mid-week which makes acclimating back to the school schedule a bit easier. 

Grant was quarantined at the farm, but we made it through and the kids did great. The Monday before school, I took the 3 kids, Maci and Hudson to Pinstack for a final summer night out. I think we have done that a few years now and the kids like having one last hurrah. Since most schools had already started, it wasn't busy at all which was nice.

Colton has Miss Poole and tons of kids in his class that he is friends with already. Jack Ranger is in house Dunbar and Mark Spradling is his Advisory teacher. He was excited that Nathan Brown is also in his Advisory. Cadie is in house McQueen and Mr. David Mires is her Advisory teacher. She has multiple friends in her classes and she feels good about her schedule. I can't believe this is her last year at the middle school!

Cozumel

We have two new open water certified divers and one certified rescue diver! We had an exciting and eventful trip and both Cadie and Ranger are now divers and Grant is a certified rescue diver. Colton even got to do a "bubble maker" scuba dive in the shallows off the beach of our hotel.

What made the trip exciting? Well...

1. FIRE! The original hotel we planned to stay at, Allegro Cozumel, texted Grant about a week before our trip that they had an extensive fire and the hotel was closed! What the heck? Grant scrambled and booked us at the Melia Cozumel which was another all-inclusive with the same dive shop operating that Grant had booked with at the Allegro.
2. DIVE SHOP MIXUP - When we got to the Melia, the Dive shop did not actually operate the certification classes there. The dive shop made an exception and sent an instructor, Rudy Picour (he was so nice!) to the Melia for the kids and Grant went the next day down the street to the Westin for his course.
3. LAME HOTEL - Melia was not very nice. It wasn't horrible, but wasn't great either. The rooms were humid, far away from the beach, and we only had one bathroom. The water at the beach was super murky. And the hotel didn't feel all that clean. We were paying quite a lot (I think about $700/night) and we weren't impressed. After his first day doing his rescue certification at the Westin, Grant came back to the Melia and said, Let's move!
4. SWITCHAROO! Grant convinced the Melia to charge us only the late check-out fee for the day (plus the night we stayed), we quickly packed up all our stuff and headed to the Westin. We were able to use points to pay for the whole stay! It was not all-inclusive, but it turned out to be a much better deal for us because of the points. The Westin was SOOOOO nice. We had two connected rooms with a balcony looking out over the ocean. The rooms were so comfortable, the beach was lovely, the water was incredibly clear, and it was so convenient for Grant and the kids to finish their courses right at the hotel. I would definitely stay there again.
5. STORMS - We were at dinner one night in town and a CRAZY horrible lighting and rain storm hit. Even the locals were looking really nervous. Water was flooding through the streets and lighting was hitting so close to us. After a bit of time waiting, Grant was looking at the radar and it didn't look like it was going to get better anytime soon. So we ran for it! Grant made it fun by telling the kids it was a Parkour adventure. The boys loved it, but I was nervous running through the flooding. We made it safely back to the car and were glad to get back and settle in at the hotel.
6. ATTEMPTED MURDER - For their second day of the kids check-out dives, Grant wasn't feeling great so I went with the kids. The day before we had taken some laundry into town (so cheap!) and Grant and Colton were going to hang out for the day, have lunch, go pickup the laundry, etc. When we got back to the dock, Grant said the minivan was trapped in an attempted murder investigation! What? At the restaurant the minivan was parked in front of, one bad guy shot another bad guy (who didn't end up dying) and they had the whole area locked down for the investigation. Our clean laundry was in the car and they wouldn't let Grant get to it! Grant and Colton had to take a cab back to the hotel. Later that night, we ate dinner towards downtown and then decided to walk (in the rain) back to the minivan to see if we could get it. Thankfully, we were able to quietly slip onto the street and drive the minivan away. A picture of the minivan was even in the local newspaper the next day with a story about the incident!
7. COVID - Grant was feeling crummy for a reason. They day we got home he tested +. Ugh. He spent two nights at my parents and then headed to the farm to make sure the kids and I weren't exposed any further. I am so grateful because the kids and I never got it! Grant felt bad on and off for two weeks though.

Even with all the excitement, we had such a wonderful family vacation. The Westin was right across the street from the Lobster House and we ate once there as a family and then one night we got the kids pizza and Grant and I went there just the two of us. The beach was beautiful with snorkeling right off the shore at the hotel. The kids saw fish, eels, and sting rays and they had the best time swimming around and jumping off the dock. The big kids were amazing divers and I loved getting to dive with them. Cadie was a graceful, and slightly cautious diver and she 100% accomplished neutral buoyancy. Jack Ranger was a crazy man, looking at everything, trying to make bubble rings, swimming upside down and backwards. We ate so many churros and so much ice cream at the town square which was only a few mins from the Westin. And we all rested really well. Grant and I had a room with a king bed and the other room had two queens plus they brought a roll-away bed for us so each kid had their own bed. 

I really enjoy Cozumel. It is so nice to know your way around. It was also nice to be there for a week so we didn't feel rushed. We loved showing the kids places we remember all the way back to our honeymoon. We spent one day going to Punta Sur and another day on a new adventure at a local chocolate factory where we made our own chocolate! Grant also went with the boys on the morning of our last day on a zip line course at a bed club right next to our hotel.

Big thanks to Grant for yet another exciting and wonderful vacation full of memories. We got home on Saturday, Aug. 13th and school started on the 17th so we had just enough time to recover and get ready for back to school.