Aruba

On June 19, the kids and I left for Aruba. Mr. Cash did not join us since he was up in Ohio for our niece's high school graduation party and some work related visits. He also went to a Detroit Tigers baseball game with his dad for Father's Day. We went to Aruba with many members of my family including my mom, sister and brother-in-law, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Min and Joo with grandma and Aunt S
Joo with her cousin from Oregon

This was our first trip to Aruba and we were very excited. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort for the week so our food and drinks were included in the price.

Min's favorite part of the trip was eating and drinking. Every day he had a standing play date with a friend he met at the pizza bar. They would order a pizza and a strawberry daiquiri with no alcohol and would sit at the bar talking. By the end of the week, they knew the chefs and bartenders by name. He also had numerous ice cream cones and bags of popcorn. His other favorite activity was boogie boarding in the Caribbean Sea.

Joo's favorite things to do were swinging in the hammock and playing in the pool.

The kids also loved seeing the many iguanas at the resort. Some were tame enough to touch and feed.

Most of the days, we just stayed at the resort and played in the sand, sea and pool, but some days we did leave the resort. On Monday, my uncle took Min and I along with my cousin and her husband out in the jeep that he rented to explore the island. Aruba is a very interesting island, the side that we stayed on has beautiful beaches and calm water, but if you go to the other side, it's very rocky with rough seas. Most of the jeep ride was off road and it was very bumpy. Min loved it, but my cousin and I were jostled every which way. It was worth the bruises to see the sites though.

On Wednesday, we did some shopping for souvenirs. We bought Mr. Cash a hand painted picture of an Arubian Divi Tree and an Arubian Beer t-shirt. Min got a shirt and Joo got a dress while I bought a beach towel and sea glass earrings.
Two of the nights, our entire family ate dinner together. There were 20 of us total. One night was at a steak house and the other night was at the Italian restaurant, both were good. One of my favorite meals was the Asian restaurant that we went to with my cousin, who lives in Oregon, and her family.

It was a great trip, but I returned home very tired. It's hard work to take care of 2 kids by yourself!!! We also missed Mr. Cash very much and will make sure he goes on the next trip like this with us.

In the Last Two Months

It has been awhile since I have posted anything, not because I didn't have anything to post, just that I have been so busy I haven't had the time to do it. So I am going to post some things that we did in the last two months now.

DISNEY'S BEACH CLUB RESORT APRIL 2010
The family stayed at Disney's Beach Club Resort at the end of April for a weekend of relaxation. We enjoyed spending the day at the pool, which has a cool water slide, a very deep lazy river, an actual whirlpool that you get in and it pulls you in a circle, and sinking sand. The pool also has a sandy bottom and a sandy shore for the kids to play in, which is one of Joo's favorite things to do. We also went to EPCOT and played on the playgrounds, which were set up for the Flower and Garden Fest. I wish they would keep them up year round. We had some yummy food and rode Soarin'. It was a fun weekend!

HAMMOCK BEACH RESORT MAY, 2010

I celebrated a milestone birthday this year so to celebrate we went to the beach for the weekend. This was our first time visiting the Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Florida, but it won't be our last. We really enjoyed it. The kids liked playing in the lazy river and boogie boarding. I enjoyed relaxing and watching them play.

The weekend after that, Joo got her ears pierced. I would ask her quite often if she wanted them pierced and she would always say no. Finally, she said yes so we went and had them done. She cried a bit when they were doing it, but she is happy with the results. Only a few more weeks and she can put new earrings in.

JOO'S KINDERGARTEN SHOW

In the beginning of June, the kindergarteners at BME put on a musical show. Joo was a flower so she had to wear a pretty dress and a flower hat. They say several songs with motions and every student had a part in the show. The kindergarten show is one of my favorites that the school puts on.

After the show, it was time for end of the school year parties. Joo's was a pirate theme and Min's was a picnic. Finally, the school year ended and it was time for camp. Min went to Wilmot Sports Camp at BME. The kids learn and play a different sport every day and on Friday, it's water day. This is his third year going and he really enjoys it. Joo went to Sea World Camp and had a blast. Each day they learned about different sea animals. They watched the shows, touched and fed the animals, and made crafts. She even got to touch a shark! Joo loved it! I never saw her so excited about something. I would pick her up and she would talk non-stop about her day.

Once camps were over, it was time for our trip to Aruba.

Disney Cruise

Our family decided to start spring break a day early with a 3 night cruise to the Bahamas on the Disney Wonder. Both kids had friends on the ship, which made for a very enjoyable trip for all, and the weather also cooperated (finally!). The first couple of days we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the various activities they had going on. Min spent most of the trip in the kids' club. We could not get him to leave! Joo liked swimming and playing with her friend P. My favorite part of the Disney cruise is Castaway Cay and this trip was no different. The weather was absolutely perfect for spending the day at the beach and Disney opened new slides on the island that the kids liked. The best part of all was when we returned home, we still had our entire spring break left, which I spent working around the house and updating this blog with our busy March.

Here we are at the sail away party with our friends.

Joo on the slide on the ship.

Joo getting her hair wrapped.

Enjoying the pool and ice cream.

Min at the kids' club after a pirate expedition. The only way we would see Min is go to the club and talk to him.

Joo and Min coming down the new slides at Castaway Cay. You have to swim out to them and then you land in the ocean. There are 2, one open and one closed. Min tried out both of them. He said the closed one was fast.

Joo playing in the water at Castaway Cay. Hard to believe that's the ocean, it's so clear.

Heading back to the ship after the day at Castaway Cay. The ships in the background are the Flying Dutchman from the Pirates of Caribbean movies and the Disney Wonder.

Standing on our balcony overlooking Castaway Cay getting ready to go to dinner and the kids' club.

We can't wait to go back next year on the new Disney cruise ship the Disney Dream!

Field Trip to Green Meadows Farm

Every year, the kindergarten classes at BME go to Green Meadows Farm. Since Joo is in kindergarten this year, she got to go and I was a chaperone. When I first arrived in the classroom to help out, I thought what have I gotten myself into and I can't believe I used to teach this grade, but once we were at the farm, I had a great time. The kids rode ponies, a train, and went on a hayride. They also were able to hold and pet many farm animals including chickens, ducks, goats, pigs and even milked a cow. It was a great day down on the farm!
Joo was a bit tired on the bus ride home, I guess the farm wore her out.

EPCOT's Flower and Garden Fest

One of my favorite Disney's events is the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival that is held every spring. This year Grandma was visiting so we decided to take her to the park since she loves gardening. Joo had a great time playing on the various playgrounds that they build for the fest, but Min said he was too old for playgrounds now so he sat with the grown ups and watched. We will be heading back from the fest ends in a couple of months.

Happy 9th Birthday Min!

March 11 was Min's 9th birthday. If you recall from an earlier post, Mr. Cash and I gave the kids a choice for their birthday this year. They could choose a party, a special event or a big gift. Min chose to get the big gift, but we also did a special event with the family. On his actual birthday, Min chose to have Olive Garden for dinner and received his gift from us, which was an ipod nano.

He also received lots of money and gift cards from other family members. He chose to have a lemon cake for his birthday. It was yummy! That weekend we took Min and Joo camping at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. We set up the tent first, then rented a golf cart to drive around.

The kids went swimming, then we headed over to the Trail's End restaurant for dinner, which had a delicious American buffet. I ate way too much!!! Min received a huge bowl of strawberry shortcake in honor of his birthday.

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After dinner, I returned home while Mr. Cash took the kids to watch the movie under the stars. We had planned on having smores that night, but we were too full from dinner so we had them for breakfast the next morning. You can do things like that when you are on vacation!!! Min had

a great birthday!!!!