Spring Break Mini Vacation

On Saturday morning we packed up and headed north to Duluth to enjoy some time away from home at the Edgewater Water Park in Duluth. We had a very memorable but great trip. Some of the highlights from our trip were witnessing a serious case of road rage on I35 north of the cities, Ava not having a poopy pants for well over 36 hours and the sleepless nights as a result, watching the first ship of the shipping season coming down icy Lake Superior into Duluth, and driving home in a nasty winter storm (thank goodness we left early this morning). Below are some fun pictures we took while we were away!



Ava in her little swimming suit with Daddy introducing her to the water. She didn't actually go swimming...we only dipped her little toes in the water. Sorry Ava...mommy thinks you're too little to be in the chlorine water.
So most of the time....this is what little Ava did while her brother and sister enjoyed the water slides and lazy river. Good thing mommy brought a good book.

This is the ship we watched make it's way down Lake Superior. We watched the cutter boat brake up the ice for it to make its way through. The kids thought it was pretty cool.

Here are the kids looking out over Duluth with the icy lake behind them. We have all decided, although the Duluth trip was fun.....we much prefer looking out across the warm ocean for spring break and not an icy lake.

2 months already!!!

Our Little Pumpkin is already 2 months old. I can't believe how big she is getting already. She's really starting to get fun. Most of the time she is full of smiles....and I have to say she has the prettiest little smile ever. She has also started to gnaw on her fist and fingers all of the time and drools while doing it. Since birth she has always drooled a ton. I have never seen a baby drool as much as she does. There is seriously a drool stain in her crib from where she drools while she sleeps. It is hilarious! So here are a couple pictures of Ava that I took today....and one of her pretty smile that I took last week. As you can see she is really getting big.

Kyle's Band Concert

Last night we had the pleasure of going to Kyle's first band concert. He plays the french horn. We were pleasantly surprised at what a great job they did. I wasn't sure what to expect since all I had to compare to it were middle school concerts I had seen in the past, along with remembering how I sounded when I was first learning how to play an instrument...you can only imagine how it may have sounded. After watching the videos, I am confident you will be amazed at how well Kyle and his classmates did last night. The group had only practiced together 2 times prior to this show. Previous to that, each of the individual instrument groups met on their own. I am extremely impressed at how well they did and I am sure you will be too. Way to go Kyle! BTW...sorry some of the videos are grainy. All we have is our camera to take videos. Looks like we will have to purchase a video camera sometime soon. Anyway, at least you can hear the band ok.



Kyle's Band Concert - The whole group from Theresa Freese on Vimeo.



Kyle's Concert - French Horns from Theresa Freese on Vimeo.

One Year Ago Today - Part 4

Well...I'm posting a little late on this one. Yesterday was a rough day with Ava. I started to write the post but never got around to finishing it until today because last night we were too busy celebrating. We had an amazing lobster and steak meal at home with the kids and Dave's parents. Anyway, here is the post I started yesterday and finished tonight.

One year ago today was another beautiful day in paradise. It was also the day Dave and I were married. We started our day by getting pampered at the spa. Both Dave and I had a massage and a body scrub. It was a perfect way to start our day. After our spa appt Dave went back to the resort and hung around with the wedding party, my friend Julie and her husband, along with the rest of our family and friends. While he was hanging out at the resort, Carolyn and I spent the rest of the time getting my hair, makeup, and nails done. After we were done we headed back to the resort and met the girls in our room to finish getting ready and put on my dress. It wasn't long before it was time for the wedding party to head to the wedding terrace. My Dad and I waited for the wedding coordinator to come and get us in our room. It felt like forever, but eventually she arrived along with the photographer and videographer. They took some pictures and videos of me walking to the wedding terrace. Once we arrived it was just a few minutes longer until the ceremony began. It was a beautiful ceremony out on a terrace overlooking the ocean. It was a windy day but the breeze felt nice. Before long we were saying our vows and I became Mrs. David John Freese. After the ceremony we had some champagne and took lots of pictures. Once we were done taking pictures we had a nice meal in the Italian restaurant at the resort. It was a great meal....we even shared our wedding cake with everyone in the restaurant. After dinner everyone hung out in the lounge where they had a band....It was perfect because were even able to do some dancing. Before we knew it the night was over and we were all headed off to bed. The next morning was going to come way to fast...unfortunately most of the group had to fly out to go home.

Our Wedding Dance from Theresa Freese on Vimeo.

One Year Ago Today - Part 3

One year ago today was a really great day. The entire group took a bus trip to a private beach area to enjoy some water sport activities. We started the day by going snorkeling. The kids were really unsure if they wanted to try it or not, but the decided to give it a try. When we finally arrived to the location where we were going to snorkel, we had all of our gear on and it was time to jump off the side of the boat into the ocean. The kids were extremely nervous, but they did it. I was so surprised because the boat was at least 10-12 feet above the water, so it was a big jump to get into the water. Dave and I jumped in first and then they jumped in to us. After they were in the water and we started swimming we realized the waves were quite high because it was an extremely windy day. The kids at this point were both in tears and not enjoying it at all. I had Kyle and Dave had Allicia....we were trying to calm them down and get them to at least look into the water. So finally I looked below and there were beautiful fish all around us. I told Kyle that he needs to look and see what was below us. So finally I got him to look and just as he put his head in the water, I put my head down as well to see his reaction. As he put his head down a really big fish swam up and looked him right in the eyes. Before I knew it he was freaking out....he did not like it at all and insisted that he wanted to go back to the boat. Dave wasn't having any more luck with Allicia so we took them back to the boat and they waited with the Grandma's while the rest of us enjoyed the rough waters.

After we finished snorkeling we went back to the beach to either participate in another activities or just relax on the beach. Allicia couldn't decide what she wanted to do, so we ended up just relaxing on the beach with her, but Kyle and Grandpa Pete rented wave runners and a small 2 passenger boat to tool around in out in the ocean. They had a great time...and by the time they were done Kyle had decided that he wished he would have stayed in the ocean when we were snorkeling. I told him the next time we go on vacation he can try it again.

After the long day at the beach and our fun activities we headed back to our resort and enjoyed a nice meal at the Japanese restaurant in our resort. From there we all went to the lounge to enjoy some tasty cocktails and shots. As you can see we even got Grandma and Nancy to do shots with us. :) It was another great day in paradise. As you can see from the picture below....we were all extremely tired. Kyle couldn't even stay up long enough to eat the BLT he had ordered into the room. This is how Grandpa Pete found him we he went to his room at the end of the night.

One Year Ago - Part 2

One year ago today we started our day with a nice walk on the beach followed by playing some water volleyball and water aerobics.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the sun at our resort, playing poker by the pool, and sitting next to the swim up bar sipping on drinks and taking many shots.

As you can see by the picture of Grandma.....we spent lots of time in the sun!

In the evening we had a nice meal at our resort and headed into town to a club. Our Dad's didn't enjoy the club as much as we did....so we headed back to our resort to enjoy the rest of the night there.

Kyle enjoying the whirlpool tub

While looking through our hundreds of pictures of our vacation I ran across one I should have posted yesterday. Below is a picture of Kyle enjoying his whirlpool tub on the first night.

One Year Ago!

Well for the next couple days I'm going to post some amazing pictures from one year ago. It is the count down to our 1st anniversary and to bring back the great memories from our time in Mexico! We all wish we were celebrating back in Mexico....It was sure an amazing trip. Maybe we can return next year......don't get your hopes up Kyle and Allicia! :)

One year ago today the entire family joined Dave and I in Playa del Carmen Mexico! It was a beautiful day. We enjoyed the day by the pool soaking up the sun and enjoying drinks at the swim up bar. Kyle and Allicia were introduced to the kids drinks and shots. Kyle loved these and just couldn't get enough. Today also marked the start of Kyle's nightly routine of going back to the room after a long day enjoying the sun . He would order in room service....a BLT (the T in Kyle's sandwich stands for Toast) and relaxing in his whirlpool tub.

Here we are on the terrace outside our room. It was SO amazing. We were so close to the ocean we could actually feel the mist from the waves as they crashed below us. Oh how I miss sleeping with our doors open each night feeling the warm ocean breeze and listening to the waves. It was paradise.

That night we took a walk into the town and then came back to our resort to enjoy some Salsa dancing. It was the perfect end to a perfect day! :) If you don't already know.....Salsa dancing is my ultimate favorite!!!!!!

Dave and I salsa dancing in Mexico from Theresa Freese on Vimeo.

Random items!

I noticed this morning that I haven't posted in a while. Again, life at our house has been busy. Dave has been busy at work. We just found out he will be getting a small raise! Yippy! We are vary thankful given the state of the economy...there are so many people out there struggling to just find a job. How nice it is to not only have a job in today's world, but have one and also get a raise is such a blessing.

I'm still home on maternity leave. It is about half way over. :( I'm really enjoying being home...I hope the next 6 weeks go by slowly. I had my 6 week checkup today. It is a few days early, Ava is actually 6 weeks old on Monday, but this was the only appt they had available. My checkup went well and I can finally start lifting more than just Ava and I was also given the ok to start exercising again. :)

Kyle has been busy with school and wrestling. He's getting a little burnt out with wrestling...it is such a long season, but only a few weeks left...I think he can handle it. He's also working on completing a pre-algebra packet for his math class at school. For most of the year he has been doing independent study for Math. He was doing so well at the regular math class his teacher suggested that he work independently so he could move through at a faster pace than the rest of the class. He has done really well working on his own throughout the year, hopefully he will qualify for a higher end math class next year. This pre-algebra packet will determine what math class he will be put into next year.

Allicia has been busy with dance and school as well. We decided not to sign her up for spring soccer because there is just to much going on during the school year between 2 nights of dance and homework, but she will be signing up for summer soccer instead. She can't wait for soccer again this year!

Ava is doing well too. She is starting to get so big. She's starting to coo and smile once in awhile. She even rolled from her stomach to her back during tummy time the other night. She is definitely a strong little baby.

Well, that's a quick update on everyone in our home. Everyone is happy and healthy...so we have a lot to be thankful for.