Splish Splash

This year we decided to take the plunge and get a pool. As you can see it's just a quick set pool from Walmart, but the kiddie pool just wasn't cuttin' it for our family anymore. It has really proven to be much more hassle than we were expecting, but now that the hassle is over (Lord willing!!) we have found it to be well worth the hassle. We've really had a blast!

Meg has really gotten over her fear of the water. She is very willing to put her face in and is doing quite a bit of doggy paddling. Ali & Emma are all about swimming through people's legs and fetching diving sticks. They all love doing "the whirlpool" . . . it's the perfect size and shape to get spinning! Julie is just barely tall enough to stand with her face out of the water. Aaron & I love being able to jump in when we are dripping with sweat after working in the yard!



Pool time with the Alligood kids!

Meg's "Easy Button"

Meg is the 3rd of my girls to "figure this out." Julie has yet to try it . . . I have full confidence that her time will come.

Mommy: "Megan, you need to go clean your room"

(Which is quite a disaster!)

Megan: "Yes Mom"

3 minutes pass

Megan: "I'm all done!"

Mommy: (With full confidence that it is NOT done) "Ali, can you go check her room for me quick?"

Ali: "I checked it . . . it's done"

So, I make my way to Meg's room and am shocked at how clean it is. Then I opened the closet:

She was a sad little girl when she discovered that Mommy isn't an idiot.

A conversation that I overheard between Meg & Julie:

In reference to a new Littlest Petshop Toy:

Julie: What kind of animal is that?

Meg: It's a meerkat

Julie: What's a meerkat?

Meg: It's a cat that like mirrors.

Gotta love it!

Bummer!

I expected to be uploading and blogging pictures of Meg's 5th birthday party tonight.

That isn't going to happen.

We've been preparing all week, and last night 4 very excited little girls went to bed anticipating a Baby Doll Party the next day. At about 11:00 pm one very sad little girl woke up crying. Poor Meg! 104 degree fever!

No party for her today!

We are hoping to reschedule for one afternoon this week. We're watching the forecast to see which day looks most promising as this will be an outdoor party.

So, all that to say . . . no pics right now. I'll post the ones that I have of her actual birthday soon, and hopefull party pics by the end of the week!

Who needs a boy when you have Megan?

Yes, my little girl is pretending to be Captain Hook! Is she adorable or what? She came to me saying, "Mommy, is this my left?" (pointing to her hand). I said "yes" with a confused look on my face. She responded with "Captain Hook has his hook on his left hand." (Heaven forbid she not be perfectly authentic!) Then she smiled and said "I'm pretending that my left hand got cut off, okay?" Don't you love the mean pirate scowl?

Florida

While we were in Mexico, my parents took Ali, Emma & Austin (my nephew) to Orlando to do the Disney thing . . .

-

Saying "Good-bye" to St. Louis

-

In the van, ready to go to the airport
-

The airplane - this was Ali & Emma's first time on a plane and they were very excited about that!

-

Ali was especially fascinated and really wanted to know how planes can fly. I directed that question to Daddy!
-

The suite that they stayed in in Orlando had a separate kids room - shaped like an igloo! They thought that was awesome!
-

Posing on their bunk beds (and ready to go swimming!)
-

At Downtown Disney (the sea serpent is made of Legos)
-

The highlights of Ali's day at Disney World were #1) Splash mountain (she especially loved the 50 foot drop at the end) and #2) Meeting the Disney Fairies. Here she is with Fawn (an animal talent fairy)
-

Now time to meet Tink (Tinker talent fairy)
-

And finally, Silvermist (a water talent fairy - I have been informed that those talents are very important to know.) She also bought one of the Disney Fairy books and had Fairy Dust sprinkled on her head!
-

Unfortunately, Emma's day at Disney wasn't such a happy one. She came down with a fever, headache, light & sound sensitivity during Mickey's PhilharMagic Show. Some Motrin seemed to take the edge off, but it resurfaced once the meds wore off. More Motrin helped her to make it through the day, but the rest of her trip was sickly. Vomiting that night, sore throat and tummy pains later. Poor kid. With Tylenol she was able to do most activities, but let's just say that she wasn't a happy camper! Friday morning I took her to the doctor - strep throat! Even after 48 hours of antibiotics she is still completely exhausted and has no appetite. I think it's going to take a while to recover from this one!
-

Feeding the Gators at Congo River - this was definitely a favorite!!
-

They fed them hotdog slices on a string.
-

Boat ride at Congo River
-

This was another BIG highlight of their trip. This soon-to-be-Mama squirrel ate right out of their hands!
-

Emma's turn!
-

This was Ali & Emma's first intro to Mini-golf and they LOVED it. They went 2 different times. Grandpa, Austin & Emma all managed to get a hole-in-one.
-

At the end of the Mini-golf course.
-

No trip to FL is complete without a few gecko pics!
-

The kids would have had a perfectly happy trip if they had done nothing but eat, sleep and play in the pool. Grandma & Grandpa taught Ali some freestyle & backstroke. She is very proud of herself.
-

Action shot!
-

Ali's turn

-

Saying "good-bye" to Florida. They had a good time, but were ready to come home. I'm glad they're back!

Photo Op

Just a few seaside shots . . .

-

Snorkeling Adventure!

One thing we wanted do do before we left Mexico was some snorkeling. For the past 2 days the beach here has had the red flag out (no swimming), plus there is no reef here. So, we decided to do a snorkeling excursion . . . and we're glad we did!

Our excursion took us to 3 different places. The first was an ocean inlet:

It was very cool. I had an underwater camera (not digital, so I have no idea how my pictures will turn out) We saw lots of tropical fish and some beautiful underwater formations. Unfortunately, due to rough sea conditions, we didn't go near the open sea, but we loved what we saw.


Next we went to what is called a closed cenote. It's basically an underground cave that is part of an underground river system. The water was "refreshing" as our tour guide liked to call it . . . but it was a really neat experience. Not much to see as far as fish go, but amazing underwater formations. And now I can say that I've gone swimming in a cave!

At the end of the tour, they took our picture. I'm always a sucker for these things!

Lastly, was the open cenote (basic difference - this one has no roof). Here they had a zipline into the water, a platform to jump from, etc . . . We didn't do any of that, but enjoyed some more snorkeling.

Right next to the open cenote there is a cave you can climb down into to get an idea of how all of these cenotes are attached to each other. It was really cool.

Sunset

I had to post this one quick before breakfast. It's a actually a color picture, but looks black and white. I love it!

Smile!

This is what I am affectionately calling our "tourist trap, paid way too much for this" picture. Hokey, yes. But fun. And so far, the only picture I have of us together : )

A Post From Mexico

Buenas tardes!

-

I'm sitting in the gorgeous lobby of our resort, catching up on some correspondence, and I thought I'd do a little blogging.

-

Today is our second full day in Mexico. Our travels went off without any problems, and we are loving our resort. It's called the Catalonia Royal Tulum and its in the town of Xpu Ha (near Playa del Carmen.)

-

Here's what you see of our resort looking back from the beach.

-

The beach to the left of the resort
-

The beach to the right
-

The pool and "La Palapa" (Where they serve lunch)
-

The pathways here are surrounded by vegetation - It's gorgeous (and also very handy when the sun is beating down on you!)

-

One of many, many iguanas that inhabit the area. "Mexican Chicken" as our bus driver called it. Yum!

-

One of the "cenotes" (a natural sinkhole) at our resort.

-

We woke up early yesterday morning to watch the sunrise on the beach. Does life get any better than this?

-

Before we left, we paid for one excursion that we really wanted to take - to Chichen Itza. The old Mayan Ruins in the state of Yucatan. It's about 2 hours from our resort. When we arrived on Friday, we chatted with our Apple Agent here and found out that due to slow tourism (thank you swine flu) there were only 2 tours available during our stay - One was the day after we arrived, and the other - the day before we leave. We decided to go for the earlier date. Unfortunately, that made for 2 really long days in a row . . . but it was worth it!

-

The Temple of Kukulcan - one of the 7 wonders of the modern world. These people really knew something about acoustics (or were accidentally really lucky) If you stand at the base of the stairs on the North side, and then clap, it makes a vary interesting sound. Not an echo, like you might expect, but the sound of the native Quetzal bird. They believed that the sound was Kukulcan speaking to them.

-

The temple of the warriors - this is where they did their human sacrifices (Mostly children ages 10-14). On the top, between the 2 pillars you can barely make out a statue. This is Chac Mool. The intercessor. They would put their sacrifices in the bowl on his belly and they belived that he brought it to the gods.

-

A better picture of Chac Mool. I didn't take this one (I found it on the internet). Since acheiving the "7 Wonders of the Modern World" status a few years ago, no one is allowed to climb any of the ruins.

-

One set of stairs outside of the ball court. The steps are literally taller than they are deep.
-

A snake head, decorating the ball court.

-

The ball court. Yes, the Mayas had their own sport. Kind of a combination of soccer and basketball. But it wasn't played for recreation. Just once a year they would play (after training their entire life). The captain of the winning team was decapitated. Some incentive to win, huh? They considered it and honor and a sacrifice to the gods. They believed it would bring them a fruitful growing season.

-

This is one that you really need to click on to see well. (Again, not my picture) It's a carving that is carved into the side of the ball field. On top is a painting showing roughly what the carving shows. Two teams facing each other. One captain holding the head of the other. 7 snakes coming out of the neck of the decapitated captain, along with plants, flowers and fruit.

-

Chichen Itza is covered with carvings similar to this, though different in subject matter. These people had no metal tools. It was all done with stone.

-

After Chichen Itza, we were taken for a buffet lunch, and enjoyed some Mayan dancing.

-

Our last stop on our excursion was "El Cenote." Another natural sink hole. This one is HUGE! The water is 150 ft. deep. You have to walk down 90 steps to get to the water table, and then you can swim in it. We passed on the swimming - too tired!! This is the view from the top. Those are roots that you see hanging down.
-

They had a couple of stopping places on the way down, and this is the view from one of them. It was very cool!

-

Today has been spent in ultimate laziness! It's been wonderful. Sleeping in a bit, lounging by the pool with a good book. For lunch, we enjoyed a great buffet in "La Palapa" where we were seated with a beach view (See below). We enjoyed yummy food, a great view and a nice breeze. It was heavenly!

-

Next on the to-do list: snorkeling. Time to go get changed. More to come . . .