Bay Lake 2009

We've been home a week, and I just decided tonight that if I don't sit down and sum up our trip I'll probably never do it. So because I'm exhausted and ready for bed, I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking. I certainly have a ton of pictures so that shouldn't be too difficult.

We were blessed this year to be able to take these very dear friends with us for the first week.
I can't even begin to explain how much fun we had! The Holdhusens are such great friends - their friendship is a giant answer to prayer after moving to KC - and the PERFECT family to have with us at the lake. They're laid-back, FUN, love to laugh, don't mind sharing beds and tight spaces, don't require luxurious accomodations and are just easy to be with. They also have 4 adorable kids, and as you can tell, 3 of them are boys. This means that Brad and Kristin aren't surprised by "boy behavior". They don't get uncomfortable when one of our boys isn't acting perfectly, and they don't get embarrased when their kiddos are less that perfect. We both just "get it" and we can laugh about it together!
I can't forget to mention how much fun it was to have Princess Lauren with us. Surrounded by boys, this girl is such a joy.
And having 3 big brothers, she doesn't mind getting a little dirty.
Our boys had so much fun with the Holdhusen boys. I think all of the kids had a ton of fun. After all, Bay Lake really is a kid's paradise.

Here they are playing paddle tennis...And pretending to play paddle tennis...Watching fireworks...Playing on the beach and in the water...Lots of playing (and wrestling, of course) on the trampoline...Just hanging out...
And, of course, there was lots of boating and tubing...And I can't forget to mention the giant slip & slide because these pictures are just too funny...Yes, those are life jackets wrapped around them like a diaper to "soften the slide" a bit. It still looked quite painful if you ask me!

I wish I had some pictures of our nights AFTER the kids went to bed because that is when the real fun began! We played a ton of games, ate lots of ice cream and s'mores, laughed A LOT and had some great talks. We also killed a mouse and a bat during the week - well, I guess Mike and Brad did. Kristin and I can't take any credit for that, although I'm sure our screaming was supportive and made them feel very manly.

It really was the perfect week, but all good things must come to an end, right?! So the Holdhusens went home on Saturday, and we got to spend another week at the lake. While Michael worked a lot of the time, the boys got to spend time with Mimi & Papa and their aunts and uncles, as well as some older cousins.

Here are some family pics...
The entire Rothwell clan...With Mimi and Papa...

Each of the boys had a great time at the lake. Levi seemed so much older this year and enjoyed the lake more than ever before. He definitely became a fan of tubing.
Although I can't say the same for Ben. Maybe next year.
Levi spent the majority of his time on a boat. It was difficult to get many pictures of Levi because he was too busy, but I was able to get a few. OK, more than just a few...
Levi really loved hanging out with all of his older cousins, especially Stratton. I realized on this vacation that our little boy is growing up.
Ben was hilarious the entire 2 weeks. That kid definitely keeps me shaking my head, wondering what on earth he is doing. He especially enjoyed going potty outside in the bushes. And that has proven to not be such a good idea because it takes a lot longer to get to the potty at home than it does to get to the nearest bush. Let's just say that he hasn't been judging that time very accurately lately.

On land and in the water (where he was most of the time), Ben was quite the little poser this year.


I just love this picture...And this one is definitely one of my very favorites from the entire trip...
And Graham - well, he was Graham. He has turned out to be quite the stubborn little guy. He was all about Mommy on this trip, which is not unusual. It's sweet, but it's also incredibly annoying at times. I'm just being honest.

But how could we not love this little guy to pieces?! He fell in love with ice cream cones. Actually, not so much the cone itself, as he liked to put his entire face down into the cone to get out all of the ice cream without biting into the cone.
Almost every day we walked down the lake to the greatest little ice cream shop. Here we are even on a cold day...
They boys had a great time together, and I was reminded of how special it is that they have each other as constant companions and playmates.
Because after all, it's so much better to have a companion when you walk around with your hand down your pants. I think I'll end with that one.

A recap

We're on the home stretch of a long car ride from Minnesota to Kansas City and because I need something to occupy my time, I thought I'd let you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth (although I actually feel like I have!) We just spent 2 weeks at the lake, and I'm a bit overwhelmed thinking about all the real world things that are waiting for us at home. I was going through all the lake pictures when I realized that a lot has actually happened since my last post on Belize. The summer is flying by, and our days have been more than full. Here's a bit of what we've been up to.

Right after returning home from Belize we headed to Nebraska to celebrate the high school graduation of our sweet nephew.
His youngest sister was sick in bed at home so this family picture isn't complete. I can hardly believe he's off to college in the fall. I still remember sitting in my 8th grade class and getting a message that he was born. People are always telling me that these years with my boys will go by quickly, and events like this remind me of the short time I have with my little guys in our home.

We got back from Nebraska and immediately jumped into VBS week. I have talked before about how much I love this event each year. I got to be a kindergarten teacher this year and had so much fun, although I think the switch from Belize one week to VBS the next was a bit extreme.
Of course, the summer wouldn't be complete without spending lots of time at the pool and in the backyard with water toys.
And goggles are always a necessity.
We spent most of our Saturdays at Levi's baseball games. Go Mustangs! Levi fell in love with the sport and had so much fun. He's already talking about next year.
Of course, the snacks were always the best part.
I celebrated my 32nd birthday and although this cake looks like we had the entire neighborhood over for the festivities, it was actually just our little family and my mom. Gotta love my sweet hubby (and Costco)! I had a fabulous day!
We're almost home and as soon as I come up from the mounds of laundry I'm about to tackle, I'll be back with a recap from the lake.

You better Belize it

I was going to buy some lovely little shorts with that saying across the behind, but Michael talked me out of it. Seriously, every store in Belize had all kinds of apparel with this saying. I think it's what made Belize famous. Oh wait, it's not so famous. In fact, most people's reaction when we said we were going to Belize for our 10th anniversary was, "Where's that? Is that a country or a city?"

It's been 10 days since we returned home from Belize, and I finally found a few minutes to document our trip. This won't be very long because we really did a whole lot of nothing, and it was AWESOME. I'm sad to admit that Michael and I have not been on a vacation just the 2 of us in a very long time. Too long. So this week was much needed for both of us. I apologize if you get bored with the pictures of Michael by the beach, Sarah on the beach, Michael by the pool, Sarah eating dinner, etc.

We slept in every morning, although our "sleeping in" was nothing like it was 10 years ago. Waking up and realizing it was 8:00am was such a luxury! We then went and sat outside and ordered an AMAZING breakfast. We gazed out over the ocean as we drank our coffee and prepared for a strenuous day of laying by the pool and ocean.

We would then make our way to the pool where this was our view...
Or maybe we chose to lay on the beach where this was our view...
We read, talked, laughed and completely forgot about what the boys were doing at home.
We then made our way to the beach bar where we ate things like shrimp tacos & grilled snapper sandwiches. Mmmmm...so yummy! It was a bit difficult to adjust to peanut butter and jelly when I returned home.

And then it was back to more of the same in the afternoon, but we'd always try to swith up the locale. Decisions, decisions.
After our difficult day, we would head to our room to relax and and get ready for dinner. Our room was perfect. Our resort was perfect. A small, quaint resort with about 60 casitas, villas and suites. This was the view from our little deck.
And dinner was always AMAZING. We stayed at our resort most nights but went to a couple of other places in the town and at other resorts.
To be fair, we did actually do some other things besides just laying around. For example, this was the most amazing massage I have ever had. The therapist's name was Sara, and I tried really hard to get her to move to Kansas and be my personal massage therapist, but I guess my offer wasn't good enough.

We got a golf cart one day and explored the town of San Pedro. It was such a fun little adventure. Most people there drive golf carts instead of cars, and San Pedro makes for some great people watching.
We also went on a private sunset sail that was absolutely beautiful and very romantic.
Although I don't have any pictures to prove it, we also went snorkeling. Belize sits on the world's 2nd largest barrier reef so the snorkeling is incredible. We first went to a marine reserve where we saw all kinds of marine life such as many different types of schools of fish, a sea turtle and a baracuda. Our next location was an area where sharks and stingrays are known to hang out. The stingrays were everywhere, and I will admit that I was a bit nervous about being surrounded by them. But I was REALLY scared when a large shark swam right next to Michael and I, only about 2 feet away. Michael loves to tell the story about how I was screaming under water. I'm such a whimp.

And after a week it was time to say goodbye to this beautiful little island...
We decided that we had more fun together on our 10th anniversary trip than we did on our honeymoon. Maybe we're more comfortable together or maybe we just appreciate the time away more, but whatever it is I know that we are blessed to have each other, and we do not take our marriage for granted.
And this trip wouldn't have been such a treat if we didn't have such a full life to return home to. Our 3 sweet boys were so excited to see us and reminded us how much we are loved and how blessed we really are.