Day 2, Whale Watching

Yesterday we took a great walk up the beach, while sipping our coffee and the kids let the surf chase them back up, completely relaxing and idyllic (and a great work-out for the calves). Jake left his water socks on the beach and the surf claimed them into the sea, just like that (which gave this mama nightmares about the ocean doing this to her children, but that's a whole other therapy session or five?). Then the kids did an introductory demonstration on snuba at the hotel pool. They are hooked; they and Jason are there now. I don't put my head all the way under water and I breath AIR, I'm a land creature...scuba or snuba not my thing...I will snorkel. If you haven't guessed, vacationing with a bunch of neurosis can really dampen the fun...thankfully, Jason has the boys. In the afternoon we went whale watching with Pacific Whale Foundation Eco Adventures

These are humpback whales. They got so close to the boat the captain had to turn off the engines. This isn't a great shot of the whales but with the people on the boat it gives you an idea how close they were.

The scene while boarding the dock, there is nothing that's not picturesque on this island.

The whale hitting the water with his tale.

Off in the distance this is a calf, breaching the water.

Lahaina Harbor.

So small world, the captain of the boat graduated from the same land-locked Colorado high school that I did (four years later so did not know him). His uncles went the the same high school Jason did.

I wish I could say I enjoyed this more, but I was crouched down in the back of the boat trying to (and was successful) not provide the fish with more bait. Sipping of ginger ale and nibbling on ginger was not that effective, nor was the Dramamine. The bride to be, Emily (Jason's cousin and the reason we are here) was right there with me, as was our oldest, Jake. I was able to open my eyes long enough to see the two huge humpbacks right there next to the boat, AMAZING. Then promptly closed my eyes and most likely moaned as another wave of nausea hit me. Jason, every so often would pat me on the shoulder as he passed by me while running around the boat trying to see whales. Later he said he was sorry he didn't get a good picture of Jake and I doubled over. Seriously? I say, thank goodness.

Afterwards we went to dinner at this great place right on the ocean with great views of the water and the sunset. We joined in with Jason's aunt, LJ and uncle Bob (seriously doesn't EVERYONE have an uncle Bob?) and their friends from Boston, Erika and Jim. Erika is officiating the wedding. Lovely company. Being on land and a coke helped the tummy issues so wonderful ending to a great (even though queasy) day.

Erika, LJ (mom of the bride), Mike (groom), Emily (bride) and Bob (dad of the bride)

Just some pretty flowers....the lushness of this island is gorgeous!

we made it!

Friday -- breakfast in Denver, lunch in Seattle (Ivar's -- clam chowder, yum!), dinner over the Pacific and bed in Hawaii. The flight....well let's just say the people around us were less then happy with the boys...but seriously, six hours from Seattle to Hawaii and one outburst of "stop hitting me" and an "I gotta pee wiggle dance" in the chair during a seat belts fastened sign
moment isn't that bad. I'm thinking these guys didn't have children, or their children were of the Stepford kind....mine, not so much (and I am soooo okay with that).

The boys LOVED snorkeling. It took a bit and the fish freaked them out at first but they quickly got the hang of it. Jason can not wait to take them scuba diving -- but not on this trip they're still too young.

When packing our snorkeling gear we realized it had been stored away since 1999....hmmmm, what HAVE we been doing these past eleven years? Now that they're old enough maybe we'll take more vacations like this.

I buried Isaac in the sand....I tried to give him boobies but he was wiggling too much.

The pool at the hotel.

View from the hotel room....you are so feeling sorry for me right now, aren't you.

An attempt at photographing the sunset...will have another chance tomorrow.


Dinner at Maui Taco...oh my gosh, best fish tacos I've ever had...Baja fish taco platter, the yummiest!

Besides taking pictures of the boys, what did I do....well....I finished:

Great book, can't wait to discuss it at book club! Loved that I read about the characters eating clam chowder at Ivar's after we ate clam chowder at Ivar's.

Then when I finished, I was able to download this:

at poolside at the hotel...I so love my Nook! Funny book, an aside here. A few years back ( BC - before children) we were playing Taboo with some friends. I got the word Dracula and I was so psyched when I realized that Bram Stoker was not on the 'do not say' list so I said it and no one freakin' got it. The same thing happened to the author of this book...it is delightful to know I am not the only person this has happened to.

Pretty much went from crying during the first book to laughing out loud in the second, at poolside, people were moving from their chairs and whispering to their children....just kidding, I was appropriately reserved.

Today Whale Watching....yay.

Merry Christmas from the Zimmers

I just mailed out 80 cards with little notes on them saying to catch our Christmas letter on our blog. Then realized, I did not actually write the Christmas letter (oh my). So here's a quick review of our year to let you know what we've been up to. Mostly in picture-form because I've been super busy -- full time work, school (okay, back in November I stopped for awhile to get my bearings, I plan on resuming my MSN program in February), the kids, their school, their sports, a remodel (yeah, yeah, I still haven't gotten around to pictures yet, I'm waiting for the window treatments, then I think I'll be done and I'll post pictures) and still trying to find time for that guy I married.

My review is backwards, because I still can't quite figure out the whole picture thing on blogger.


Friday after Thanksgiving we go cut down our tree. We normally find a tree farm, but this year we got it together in October and sent in our request for a permit so we went to the forest and picked one out. It was a fun day for the family.

Beautiful fall foliage off of my in-law's deck (for those of you who don't know, my sister-in-law and her husband live down the block, my mother-in-law -- across the street from them -- it's Everybody Loves Raymondish around here -- Jason would be Raymond). I was trying to get a nice shot for the Christmas card, but who am I kidding, my kids just won't sit still long enough.

Halloween, I would love to show you pictures of how scary the boys were, but I forgot to take any.

Our trip to Glenwood Springs ended with a gruesome-uh-I-mean-awesome hike to Hanging Lake. Great view when you finally get to the top.

The caverns above Glenwood Springs. Over Labor Day Weekend we celebrated Jason's birthday with a family trip. We did a lot but didn't end up actually going to the Glenwood Pool. Next time.

First day of school, they look thrilled, don't they?

Neighborhood fourth of July party. It was supposed to be a pie eating contest...Jake and Isaac had their own twist of how that was supposed to go.

Isaac with his decorated bike during the bike-scooter-wagon parade.

Isaac was on the swim team for summer and fall. By the end of this last season, his dive started to look a bit more like a dive and less like a belly flop....he's getting there. This December he started Karate.

Jake's on his 6th year of doing baseball in the summers. He likes the infield positions but pitching is his favorite, no short stop, no pitching, wait maybe first base....he can't decide. He's taking a break from baseball and trying his hand at basketball this winter.

Early summer hiking in Castlewood Canyon. Great area just minutes from home.

Apres skiing-snowboarding in Breckenridge over Spring Break.

Spring Skiing-snowboarding. Yes, for most of you this doesn't quite look like Spring. Spring in the Rockies is a different animal then the rest of the U.S.

Father-son snowmobiling trip last winter.

Well these are the highlights of 2010. All in all a pretty good year for the Zimmers (knock on wood). We are so very thankful for the Blessings in our lives, particularly those blessings that come in the form of friends and family! Our hope for you is that this holiday season brings you much joy and the coming year is full of blessings of love and friendship.

The Zimmers

Merry Christmas

retro christmas card ornament - easy peasy

Every year I throw an ornament exchange party (totally stole the idea from someone awhile back....theft really is one of the best forms of flattery). She would make an ornament as a take home gift for all of her guests. I have fond memories when I put those hand made ornaments on my tree each year. Because I steal all her good ideas, I adopted the same practice. This is this year's ornament.

The first step is to look all over for something cute and more importantly, EASY. I found some adorable Seed Packet Ornaments off of a Martha Stewart (of course) ornament website. I wasn't too into the seed packet thing, or the fringey stuff on the side, so I adapted it and I did it my way (FYI, I'm singing that in my head right now).

If you choose to do this guy on your own (I did 40) you will need:
card stock
find (steal) a picture of the Internet or find a retro card somewhere and make copies
fabric glue
glitter (I used the Martha Stewart brand, because it's so fine)
spray glue
ribbon
hole punch
Rick a Rack
patterned scissors
paper cutter
regular scissors
Cut your card stock in fourths, glue Rick a Rack around the edges with fabric glue

Make color copies of your image, not sure of the size but smaller then 1/4 of the page....I'm very technical - can you tell? Cut them out with patterned scissors (have no idea what they're called, but if you scrapbook you have some).

Glue the retro card on with the spray glue, spray some more glue on the surface and sprinkle some of the glitter all over. Then hole punch two holes at the top.

Find some nice ribbon with wire and cut to size. Feed each end through each hole and knot in the back.

I put them all in a Christmassy basket to pass out as favors as people left the party.

Here's one on my tree.

Et viola...ze fineeshed product.

Life is full of embarrassments, this is just one of those moments

I'm going to share one of those really embarrassing stories. Mostly because I have nothing else to write about...that is unless you really want to know about everything I learned at the Nephrology Nursing workshop I attended yesterday....no? Okay, this really is more funny; it's one of those embarrassing moments that will pop in my head from time to time (even though it was ages and ages ago) that simultaneously make me laugh and blush at the same time.

About 100 years ago, Jason and I went out with our friends Will and John (Yes, we were friends with a gay couple, way before Will and Grace made it popular, we were such trend-setters). We went to an improv performance of a small independent theater company that performed in this tiny dark theater on 17th ave (oh my gosh we were so cool in our 20's). Before the actual performance began, some guy was 'warming' up the audience by asking us questions and then the audience would yell out our answers collectively.

Where do you live?

Everyone shouted: Denver

What high school did you go to?

(an aside here, why isn't high school a compound word? It really should be...highschool, so much easier)

Everyone shouted out the name of their high school

Who was the first person you slept with?

I shouted
not everyone
just me


SHOUTED

JASON!

Our high school prom picture (not saying this the THE night)....Jason and I are in the back with the 'rad' eighties gray tux and pink satin dress -- and yes, it actually WAS the 80's -- so we come by that awesome dorkiness honestly.

Halloween Story and my diet

This actually is not my story, but it was so funny, I had to share (with permission). My friend at work told me that the first year her kids were allowed to trick or treat by themselves they came home super excited.

"Mom, mom look at what we got" they yelled at her in unison.
And both (as if they choreographed this) pulled out cans of Coors Light from their Halloween bags.

OMG, can you imagine the look on that mom's face.....probably similar to the one on your face now, go look in the mirror.

I guess one of her neighbors was pretty sauced, told the kiddos that they were "so cute" and asked them to stay there as she slammed the door. They stayed (hmmm, what's it like to have children that listen? I wouldn't know). She came back with the two cans of beer and told the kiddos that their parents would love it....but then told the kids not to tell the parents (again, she was sauced and probably not thinking things all the way through).

To my friends out there, I promise not to send Coors Light home with your kiddos this Halloween....I can't promise that I won't be drinking one though.

Oh the diet, down 18 pounds (22 if we're going by my scale...I think we should do that, don't you)...whoo hoo. The Slimgenics counselor suggested drinking two tablespoons of undiluted apple cider vinegar every day. I remember my great-grandmother saying that her longevity and good health were a result of her doing this. I thought she was nuts, but the memory popped in my head when I heard this -- so what the heck, I tried some this morning....GAWD AWFUL...but I'll give it a week and see how it goes.

I promise not to send vinegar home with your kids either.

Have a great Spooktacular Halloween.

Isaac's birthday party, I may be a flake and my diet

Today we had Isaac's birthday party (TODAY -- and yes, I know his actually birthday was in September, I kind of suck at this). We had it at the local rec center/pool...As of this morning I wasn't sure who we had invited and not sure who rsvp'd because I lost the list. But I knew that it MIGHT be more then 12 so when the coordinator called yesterday from the rec center, while I was in my car so the phone was cutting in and out, I think I told him we needed an extra life guard.

This morning I realized I may not have ordered a cake big enough (and I really didn't).

I did call the coordinator back when I got better reception and left a message, only to find out that I left the message on a contractor's phone (getting an estimate on redoing the patio in back yard....last estimate to tear out patio and put in a deck 22 FREAKINTHOUSANDDOLLARS....so need to be calling around on that).

As of this morning I still did not have party favors...I was hoping I could find some swim goggles this time of year because seriously even though they're like 7 dollars it still comes out cheaper to do one for each kid with a ribbon then those stupid bags with all the little junk and candies in there....(but hey maybe I should have done the junk and candies, since there really wasn't a lot of cake). Turns out there were no goggles, but did score some card games for six dollars a piece. After swimming 6 of the little guys came back here for a sleepover.

Yesterday, while talking to coordinator on phone I was running to meet the management company for our rental, they called said they'd be 10 minutes late and I was early (as usual) so I decided I had time to pick up a table I had recently purchased...but then there was a problem (there was a scratch on the table and I had to discuss it with like three different people how to resolve the 'issue' and frankly I was fine because the scratch was pretty minuscule but they wanted to insure my happiness) so ended up being late and therefore frazzled for the management company guy AND took the wrong key so we couldn't even get into the house...I kept telling him, "I'm really not this much of a flake" but maybe I really am....

Last week we had time to 'boo' the neighborhood.

The kids LOVE doing this so we did more then our requisite two bags.


I am actually ahead of the game on getting together the kids' goodie bags for their school parties. All in all, I'm liking not going to school right now.

Which brings me to my diet...not so good, I've cheated every day this past week and have only lost another pound, I think that makes 16 total. It didn't help that I ordered pizza for the sleepover guests this evening, because ended up eating nasty Little Ceaser's pizza...you'd think if I were to cheat, I'd cheat with something REALLY yummy.

Creepy Crafts, School and my diet

So my find-ways-to-waste-time-on-the-Internet enabler turned me on to this cool blog where I found a link to this fun creepy craft. Yesterday we had fun doing this ourselves....super duper easy.

Jake, splashing paint (er, I mean blood splatter) on wax paper -- putting that pitching arm to good use

Isaac putting his bloody hand prints on the project, I wonder what CSI would say about only a right bloody hand print repeatedly spotted amongst the splatter but no left?

Finished product

This next craft I saw in the Halloween edition of Martha Stewart's Magazine (yeah, yeah, say what you want, but I really want to be her).


You take a grapevine wreath, some toy snakes, black spray paint and some glue. And because I'm not Martha Stewart (even though I not so secretly want to be her), I didn't use the glue and just intertwined the snakes to the wreath. Get everything positioned (and glued, should you wish) and then spray paint everything black. I actually don't remember the directions from the magazine, but this is how I did it.

And Voila ---

We even went shopping for pumpkins and roasted green chilies. I peeled and seeded a half bushel then Jason made green chili.

And I baked

Which brings me to the diet portion of this post.....did not go so well the past couple days (but the chili and the banana bread were soooo yummy!)
And how did I have the time to do this? AND blog twice this month? Well I'm taking a break from school. I'm a bit burned out and couldn't face another class right now. I'm giving myself the holidays and will be back to the hell that is my Master's program in February -- hopefully well rested.