School Portraits are in!

And I think they turned out great!

Whirlwind Week!

It has been a very busy week for the Guthries! Grandma Peggy, Grandpa Paul and Aunt Jilly came in to town to celebrate the boys' birthdays, starting with a very fun birthday party at Scooter's Jungle in Aliso Viejo Saturday afternoon. 19 kids and 21 adults were on hand for the festivities and I am not sure who had more fun! At Scooter's, adults are not only encouraged to play, but REQUIRED to play! Whether it was the giant inflatable slide, the obstacle course or ping pong, all the adults in our family PLAYED! Oh, and the kids did too!

Sunday, it was an unusually warm day, at 90 degrees, so we headed to Cresebt Bay Beach in Laguna Beach. It was very crowded, it took us about 15 minutes to find a place to park! But we all had fun and each of us got a bit too much sun!

Xan turns 2, starts potty training and moves to a big boy bed!

What a week it has already been for Xan! Potty training began on his birthday, which was Monday, so he is spending the week at Miss Robin's house (where Will used to go to daycare) instead of Miss Lori's. Robin seems to have the magic touch when it comes to potty training, and Xan is doing very well! He's had a few accidents, but has had more potty episodes than accidents. He even managed to stay dry while we ate his birthday dinner at Claim Jumper. One gentleman we met while waiting for a seat chatted it up with Rodney and Xan and then left with his to go food. The hostess then let us know that he had paid for a giant slice of 6-layer chocolate cake for Xan to enjoy after his supper. Xan was thrilled with it and managed to blow out his own candles (in two breaths, but who's counting?). Afterwards, it was home to open some gifts. Grandpa Mark came over to help Rodney move a desk, so he stayed for the festivities, as well. Xan got a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle dress up set, two T-shirts, a pair or iguana sunglasses and three pairs of size 8 shoes, including a pair of black cowboy boots like Daddy's. Xan seemed quite pleased with the gifts, but likes his boots, light-up shoes and TMNT sword the best.

Sunday night was the first night Xan slept in the big boy bed below Will's bunk. Since he is potty training, we wanted to make sure he could get out of bed to potty if he had to. He still wears a diaper at night, but there may be some miracle night where he gets up to go (after all, that;s what his mommy did - and freaked her parents out!). Plus, Grandma Nancy made him an "I Spy" quilt like Will's, only red instead of blue. Xan had fun pointing the pictures out with her Sunday night.

Saturday is the boys' big party at Scooter's Jungle. We are looking forward to Grandpa Paul, Grandma Peggy and Aunt Jill coming out for it!

While the parents are away, the kids will play ...

... cowboys and Indians. Well, I guess it is more soldiers and Indians, which I am sure was instigated by Grandpa Mark. While Mom and Dad were away on their cruise, Will and Xan stayed with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Mark. This closely-accurate rendition of Ft. Apache seems to be holding the boys' attention amnd maybe they'll learn a little history, too.

The gang is moving ...

Well, it's official: The USMC seems to think Rodney will make a great air traffic control instructor, so we are scheduled to move to the Naval base in Pensacola, FL, in July. Rodney and I will be going to look for a house the second week of May. We will then hae the house packed up around the 24th of June, before we head out to Illinois with my family for our annual summer visit. The boys will stay there until school starts. Meanwhile, Rodney and I will fly back to California so he can check out of Pendleton and then drive across country with the dogs, turtles and anything else that the movers can't or shouldn't take. Rodney has to report by July 31, so we hope to be settled into our house by then. The rest of the year, I will be flying back and forth between Orange County and Pensacola, to fulfill the scrappy committments I have already made for my business. We'll keep everyone posted as we got more info!

Xan's first movie

The four of us went to the movies last night and saw "Horton Hears a Who" at Will's request. We decided to brave Xan's reaction to the "big TV" and we were pleasantly surpised to find that he enjoyed the "eflant" and chattered about the different things that he saw. Luckily, there were only four other people in the theater, so the chattering wasn't much of a problem, even when Will chimed in. The movie was very cute and had some good humor in it. Gotta love Dr. Seuss!

The boys and their gifts

Will got a Spiderman hat and woven bracelet with his name on it from Ensenada, as well as a pirate lookout set (compass, binoculars, etc.) from the cruise ship. Xan got maracas from Cabo, a toy cruise ship from the boat and a woven bracelet with his name on it. Will said we did a great job of surprising him.

The Cruise

Yes, we had a good time, but it wasn't quite what we expected. First off, it was Spring Break for lots of schools, from elementary to college. Of the 2,500 people aboard the Carnival Elation, 900 were children 17 and younger. And then there were probably another 200 or so college students having the time of their lives. So, it was not wuite the relaxing, quiet, rejuvinating or romantic trip we had hoped for. But, we did still manage to have fun. Thursday were were in San Diego and aboard the ship by 3 p.m. A brief itinerary: Friday - Day at Sea, Saturday - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Sunday - Day at Sea, Monday - Ensenada, Mexico, Tueaday - San Diego, we were driving home by 10:30 a.m.

Friday night was the formal dress dinner. We were seated with four other couples for each dinner: An older couple from Vancouver; a late-30's couple from Oceanside; Juan and Cynthia from Temecula and Chris and Candice from the LA area. Juan and Cynthia are poker players, as well, so we spent a number of hours with them at the casino, watching shows and playing bingo.

In Cabo, we did an excursion that did not take us far from the boat, just about 200 yards from the pier where the tender boats dropped us off. We swam with dolphins, mostly the one assigned to us, Ende. She is 5 years old, about 400 pounds and can swim as fast as 45 mph. She also very much had a mimd of her own. While well-trained, she took a mischievious liking to Rodney, first avoiding him, then teasing him and then finally taking a few opportunities to smack him with her tail. Now, no one else in our group of 10 got smacked by Ende's tail, but Rodney is sporting a bruise on his knee thanks to her. And the snot also did the tricks she wanted to do when she wanted to do them. The trainer told her to race across the pool so that we could see how fast she could swim and instead, she switched directions and jumped over a pole with another dolpin int he pool. Then, when it was time for her to pull me around on her belly, instead of staying wthin our group, Ende decided to give me a tour of two other dolphin groups before coming back to ours and accurately dumping me in Rodney's lap. I think I would laughed a lot if I had had the chance to get to know Ende and her antics a little better.

As for the rest of Cabo, we did got to Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo, but since it was still day time, there was not much going on. Imstead, we had lunch a a local hole-in-the-wall, with a a couple we had met earlier in the cruise, Elizabeth and Mark from San Pedro. The carne asada was excellent! Overall, we were not overly impressed with Cabo, but, since we only had a few hours ashore, we really did not have a chance to get very far from the touristy port. We did get Xan some maracas because he just doesn't make enough noise on his own.

In Ensenada, we, along with Juan, Cynthia, Candice and Chris, took a local taxi (cheaper and faster than a tour bus) to the Bufadora, or blowhole. Not really sure what it is, but when the water comes in to the cliff, the blowhole spurts a spray of water. Oh, and it is the biggest natural one in the world. We spent about five minutes of our two hours there, and the rest of the time perusing the wares in the flea marjet. I got a fabulous green fake Prada purse and we found Will a cool Spiderman hat with red spiderman eyes sewed into it.

We got a lot of pictures, which, of course, had to be purchased separately, and I fell in love with the ship's mango margaritas. Each night, our room steward left us the itinerary for the next day (a sheet called the Carnival Capers), two chocolates and a different towel animal each night. These cute creations inspired me to take the call the ship offered on how to make then and I purchased the book. Don't be surprised to find a towel animal on your bed the next time you visit!