Bailey's Vacation

When the kids were younger Mat and I discussed how fun it would be when the kids turned twelve to take them on a trip of their choice just them and us.  We thought it would be fun before we became too lame and before the teenage years set in.  Bailey is approaching her twelveth birthday and we kept asking where she wanted to go.  Bailey's pretty laid back and so she really didn't care.  She even liked the idea of heading up to Park City and shopping.  She did mention a few times the Bahamas.  One of the requirements we had made for the trip was that we needed to go somewhere that had an LDS temple. The Bahamas didn't qualify.  However, we had an opportunity to save some money and go on a cruise before her birthday and the cruise stopped in the Bahamas and so we snuck her out of school and took her a couple of months early so she wasn't old enough to do baptisms anyhow.

 After a red eye flight from Las Vegas to Fort Lauderdale and virtually no sleep we accidentally slept until 11:30 the first day that the ship was in port.  We went to Princess Cays in the Bahamas and by the time we made it over to the island we only had three hours to play.  Bailey saw people on the water bikes and that's the first thing she wanted to do.  We saw a stingray in the water and I'm afraid I scared Bailey from going near them the rest of the trip. :(  Mat and Bailey snorkeled for a bit.  Mat somehow didn't pack Bailey's mask with her gear so she didn't snorkel for very long. She did have goggles but she wasn't able to use the breathing tube so it was a tad difficult for her.  Of course I don't snorkel so I worked on my tan.

 Princess Cays was Bailey's favorite island.  It only had people from our ship on it and was a beautiful place.  Of course we did a little shopping before heading back on the boat and were one of the last people back.

 We had our first of two formal nights that evening and while we don't own full formal gowns and tuxes we still had fun dressing up a bit.

 The next day we visited St. Maarten.  Mat and Bailey were scheduled for a para sailing tour that ended up being canceled due to high winds on the coast it was held on. We hit the shopping and beach instead.

 It was surprisingly hot.  We've never been to the Caribbean before but figured the climate would be similar to Hawaii's.  It was quite a bit warmer.  Bailey spent most of her time in the water and impressed many onlookers with her beach tumbling skills.

 Of course, whenever we leave kids at home we are always seeing everything we know they would love if they were with us.  We knew Easton would dig seeing Mat hold an iguana and he wasn't about to pick one up so we tried to fake a picture.

 We spent the following day on St. Thomas.  We went on a kayaking/hiking/snorkeling excursion though a protected mangrove lagoon.  It was gorgeous.  The guides were concerned with Bailey being big enough to paddle so they asked her how many push ups she could do.  She said around thirty so they had no problems after that. :)  It was my favorite part about the trip.  We walked over to a hermit crab village of sorts.  Thousands of hermit crabs were everywhere!  We had never been kayaking before and while it was about as beginner as you get we still had a blast.

 We had two different days at sea within our week cruise so on the second day was the second formal night.

 Our last island we visited was Grand Turk.  It had GORGEOUS beaches.  The island was fairly small and only have about 5,000 residents so it was very laid back which was refreshing after the crowded Virgin Islands. 

The trip was such a fun way to spend time with our little girl who is growing up so blasted fast. As Peyton is learning to sing "I love to see the temple" I can't help think that we were JUST teaching Bailey the same song and buying the same pink barbies and dress ups.  People kept commenting on what a lucky girl Bailey was to get to go on the trip.  WE were the lucky mom and dad however, that got to take her and spend time with her and let her know how much we love her!

Easter 2011

I figured it was time I did a post about Easter since it was almost a month ago.  Usually for Easter we do the usual: Decorate eggs, the bunny comes, hit every egg hunt we can, and play for the rest of the day.  This East Saturday was a bit more laid back than previous years.  Sure we stayed up Friday night and decorated eggs, we just forgot to hide them with the goodies for the kiddos.

 We hid treats and such for the kids outback but we didn't make it to ANY of the other morning eggs hunts and let the kids (except Peyton) go out in their jammies rather than getting dressed and looking springy.

 Since we didn't make it to the morning egg hunts we took the kids to the aquatic center egg hunt.  The older kids didn't care for it too much but Peyton was in heaven.  She had her cast removed earlier on in the week and was still adjusting to walking with it.  The water helped balance and she was an animal going after the eggs.  Peyton had been outside the previous day and while it was warm we didn't think about her leg.  It hadn't been exposed to the sun for weeks so it burned pretty quick while the rest of her body didn't.  A concerned dad at the pool picked her up and took her to the lifeguard worried that she'd been hurt in the hunting process.  I said that she wasn't and explained why her leg was red and she WAS limping badly on it but it wasn't hurt.

After the pool hunt we went back home instead of heading over to Grandpa and Grandma's like we usually do because Bailey, Mat, and I had to pack and catch a plane to Fort Lauderdale.  We didn't get to see the kids in their new Easter clothes and didn't get pictures of them looking all fancy and such but we did at least get to spend SOME time with them over the weekend. 

That's MY kid!

One thing Mat and I have always teased Caleb about is his looks.  In a GOOD way!  He's such a handsome little guy and we definitely give him a hard time about it.  Caleb is super smart and has AMAZING patience.  He loves to draw or fold paper or spend time (lots of time) on any one thing to perfect it.  He has an amazing talent at the piano and is by far the most kind hearted out of our bunch.  Caleb LOVES sports.  He loves being outside and being with his buddies.  He is however, going to be "vertically challenged".  So while basketball may be his favorite sport right now we've been helping him explore other avenues as well.  He currently plays on a competitive soccer team and IS a valuable player but admittedly he lacks the aggression that soccer usually requires.  He's VERY skilled with any sport he just seems a bit too polite sometimes. :)

 Well, we think he's found his sport.  He is playing his first year of "kid-pitch" baseball in the minor leagues.  Mat is his coach and jokingly said Caleb would be the starting pitcher if HE was the coach.  Well, Caleb's first game Mat knew I would be a bit late to so he put Caleb in as pitch the second inning.  It didn't go as well as we both hoped.  He was clearly nervous and wasn't pitching his best.  Mat took him an hour early to his second game and worked on pitching and batting a bit before the game started.  Caleb said he felt MUCH more comfortable about pitching that day.  It SHOWED!  He only was able to play one inning but  he struck THREE boys out and didn't want anyone!  Seriously, my mommy hear has wanted to jump out of my chest with pride since Friday!  I am SOOO proud that he got back on that mound!  He stuck to it and showed everyone that he came to play and even though he was the coaches son that he deserved to be on that mound! 

I swear I've NEVER seen a cuter pitcher in my life!  With his long curly hair hanging out the sides of his hat and his oh so serious face! He has been beaned twice up to bat and walked the other times so we haven't had a chance to watch his batting skills but we have no doubt that he will do well in the sport of baseball.  We truly aren't as competitive with baseball as many of the folks in Santa Clara are so truthfully we may just keep him in minors for two years but he has, and always will, continue to amaze me!

One BIG busy day!

Friday night we started with the preparations for a very busy Saturday.  Peyton helped Mat and I prepare everything we possibly could for Easton's baptism knowing that we would have no time on Saturday to prepare anything.  We stayed up pretty late and woke up at 6:00 am to begin our day.

 We started off with another race for the kids.  The boys didn't get their March race in so they had to run two this month.  Caleb placed third and took home his first real medal.

 Easton was only a few minutes behind Caleb but was pretty discouraged that he didn't place at all.  It was his FIRST 5k and he did really well.

 Bailey took her first, first place in her division and while she didn't have her best time ever, we were just happy she was willing to run an extra race.  I can never seem to get a picture of her running without her feet being in the air.  She's just too fast!

 After the race we went and watched Caleb's soccer game.  The sun started to peek through the clouds a bit and it while it was a VERY frustrating game (the referee was terrible) we did enjoy that we weren't sitting in the April snow as we were that morning.

 We rushed home after the game and bathed everyone for the baptism.  We made it right on time.

 We are so happy for Easton's decision to be baptized and can't believe we have THREE kids that have "taken the plunge".  It will be another 5 plus years before we have a baptism take place at the Holt house.

 Peyton was extremely tired and as we arrived at the stake center she had indeed given in and fell asleep.  No pic with all the kids. :(

 I am grateful that Easton could be baptized by his father and confirmed by him as well.

 It was such an exciting day!  Easton was baptized along with 3 other kids from our ward. One of which was his very best buddy in the whole ward.  Because there were so many from our ward they divided of the baptisms but Easton still got to be there for his friends.

I love my little guy!  With all of the challenges he presents with his strong personality I KNOW he is destined for great things!

"Tri" ing their best!

Mat and I have made the kids a deal.  If they run a race every month this year they will be handsomely rewarded by the end of the year.  The race this month was a triathlon.  It was the boys first and Bailey's second.  We decided to just have Mat compete on his own and the boys were competing in the kids divisions, so it was every Holt for themselves.

 Caleb had a soccer game before the races began by the time we got to the aquatic center Mat had started his run and Bailey was finishing up on her bike.  With a tri you never know how well they are doing because everyone starts at different times.  I did know that Bailey's time wouldn't be as good as it should because as she was finishing up her bike she yelled that she had a broken chain while riding.  Well, she didn't have a broken chain she had one come loose.  A policeman helped her put the chain back on and it slowed her by about a minute.  What we didn't know is that her lap counter also didn't stop her swimming in time and she swam and extra lap.  Between the two mishaps she was about three minutes off.  Three minutes which would have placed her in the top three overall for women!  She ran the third fastest in women and it was such a good race day for her.  She ended up taking second in her division.  Her run being the fastest in her division with her bike and swimming being behind the other girls about three minutes!

 Mat had caught my cold and didn't realize how bad it was until he started the tri.  He was frustrated with his time knowing he can do better but still ended up taking third in his division.  He was one minute away from taking first overall.

 Easton struggled with swimming and wanted to give up after the first length.  That's when Mat and I walked away and he no longer had anyone to complain to.  He rocked the biking and swimming and ended up sixth in his division!

 Caleb was slower in swimming as well but his bike and run were pretty good.  He was the fastest kid in his division on the run and the third fastest for that race.  He ended up fourth in his division.

 Bailey joined Caleb for his run but backed out at the end while he kicked it into gear and sprinted to the finish.

 It was such a fun day and Mat and I were so proud of how well each kid did.  They are amazing!

 By noon, Peyton was tired of being outside and badly needed a nap!

Oh this time of year!

 Springtime is upon us!  Caleb and Easton are both well into their spring soccer seasons, baseball is starting next week, along with all of the year end recitals and programs, tryouts, etc.  Easton was the first to start of the spring programs along with the second graders at Arrowhead.  Why is it that every time I go and take pics of my kids at these things I always manage to capture some sweet looks from the surrounding kids?  Easton did a great air guitar for his part and of course he was so excited to show off all of their songs they learned all year.  We loved it.

 Caleb's school did their track meet a little different this year.  They only allowed the kids that qualified during P.E. for the finals to attend the track meet.  We took Caleb out the night before and apparently ran him a bit too hard.  He was visibly tired as he ran.  We were still thrilled he was in the top eight for both of his races and was able to run them.  He took 4th in the 200 meter and 6 in the 400 meter.

 As part of Bailey's 3rd semester grade she had to enter the science fair.  After weeks of asking her to start it we indeed ended up doing it the night before.  She did a great job!  She didn't win but her project looked so nice and we were proud of all of the work she did end up putting into it.

 We attended Bailey's cheer team review last night.  She's had such an amazing year.  It is sad to know that the team is no longer.  There were about ten girls that left to tryout for high school cheer and after tryouts next week who knows what next year will bring. We love watching how easy she makes it all look.  We love her and all of the kids!



An actual "break" for spring.

 We signed Mat and Bailey up a week before the Spectrum 10K and we were pretty excited.  After Bailey's "stomach aches" for the 9K she has just run/walked in the freezing cold, the weather looked great and Bailey's weekly runs went well.  After the first mile (in 7:15) she told Mat that she quit and wasn't running anymore.  They argued and fought.  An old lady passed and said "C'mon, you're NOT going to let an old lady pass you are you?" Well, they did. As I waited at the finish line I became more and more frustrated as the minutes went on.  SLOW people were crossing and still no Mat and Bailey.  When they finally did cross the finish line they looked so strong!  Apparently once Bailey decided she would run she did. She has amazing abilities and I know that sometimes I need to remember how little she really is.  It was frustrating however.  The mental aspect won this time. Ugh!

 After the race was over, Mat and I left the kids and went to buy some spring flowers to plant in the yard.  Mat forgot a coupon while we were at the nursery so he ran home to get it while I chose the flowers.  When he came back he said little Peyton was asleep.  I chuckled knowing how early she had been up for the race and knew she was tired.  Mat said she had hurt herself on the trampoline and cried then fell asleep.  My heart felt bad that I wasn't there to console her but I was relieved to know she was getting a nap. Well, she napped, and napped, and when she finally woke up I tried to get her to go to the bathroom.  She said no.  She just wanted to lay in bed.  I figured she must not be feeling well.  She mentioned her leg hurt and I kissed it better and went out to plant.  After a while I wasn't feeling all too hot so I went to lay down by her.  Bailey and I were both cuddling with the little sweetheart when Mat came in to check on us.  He expressed concern that Peyton was still laying in bed and thought we ought to get her owie checked out.  I thought he was being silly and I didn't want to pay unnecessary medical bills so I asked him to call our neighbor to have her looked at.  He wasn't home so Mat convinced me to take her to have her leg looked at.  Yep, Mat was right. (This time.) Peyton had broken her leg.  She WAS in pain and once she got a soft cast on her leg she was so much happier.  Our neighbor came by the following day and said he would put a hard cast on her and that we could expect it to be on for 6-8 weeks!  My heart ached for my baby girl.  The one who LOVES dancing and would have to be taken out her class.  The one who LOVES pretending she's a cheerleader and playing with friends.  After checking the x-rays a few days later we were told she would be out for 4-6 weeks which was better but still disheartening.  She quickly became adjusted to the cast and is hobbling around, going up and down stairs, and doing things much more independently which is fabulous! She loves all of the attention she gets from everyone and thinks every day is her birthday with people bringing gifts constantly.  My poor little princess. :(