the one about our super amazing vacation

I am sitting at the LA airport bored to death waiting for our flight that is still 2 1/2 hours away. I was wondering what I should do to kill some time... hummmm.... what to do, what to do? OH! I could BLOG!!!! I just loaded up all of our vacation pictures so to help pass my boredom, you can hear all about our cruise!

Let me start you off with a pick from our pre-cruise planning party the Monday before we left.We left last Saturday, April 24th around noon so we could go watch my nephew Brennen's traveling soccer team play in SLC. Once we got there, we met up with my uncle and brother's family and had lunch. I had a little bit of pre-vacay shopping to do and then it was bed time. My super awesome amazingly cool uncle Kim let us stay at his house that night. (Thanks Kim and Jayme!!!!) Of course I couldn't sleep worth a dang because I was SO excited! We got up early on Sunday morning to make it to the airport for our 8:15 flight. Everything went very smoothly. We landed in LA and found the Carnival Cruise people right away and boarded the bus for the pier. It was a pretty quick drive and once we got there and got checked in, we could walk around the ship, the pier and there were lots of things to do there. We were so excited though, that we just kind of hung out by the ship. It was pretty cool. We were able to board the ship around 1:30. It was so beautiful! It was shocking to see how big the ship really was. It was incredible. Our ship left Long Beach around 5:30 that evening.
It was a beautiful sight!

Our first two days were sea days. We played on the ship and soaked up the sun for 2 days as we traveled to Puerto Vallarta.
Quayd took advantage of the kids programs on board and totally loved it!!! He got to do a build-a-bear, make a t-shirt and played lots of fun games.
On Wednesday morning, we arrived in Puerto Vallarta. It was Brett's 30th Birthday!!!! And the city, the ocean, the weather, EVERYTHING was beautiful!

We just kind of explored the city. We shopped, went to Senor' Frogs and just hung out.


We had a great time there. They were having a real live bull fight in the evening. Brett thought that sounded awesome, but nobody else would go with him. He went all alone, and hated it. He said it was totally different than what he had expected. He was thinking one on one, man vs. beast. But they actually give the bull a tranquilizer first, and there were about 5 people helping the matador. I thought it was gross and I didn't really pay attention to details, so if you are really that curious, you will have to ask him. Gross. Oh well, happy Birthday to him!

Thursday was Mazatlan. Beach Day.



Amazing.

By the time we made it to Cabo San Lucas on Friday, we were BEAT! We were only in Cabo for about 7 hours, so we just went into the city and looked around. We bought some treasures and enjoyed the beautiful city. I am a BIG shopper! Love it, love everything about it, however, I hate shopping in Mexico. I hate bartering, bargaining, and listening to all of the beggers. It drives me crazy. Brett and Quayd love it though!!! So needless to say, they did all of the shopping. I pointed and things I liked and they took care of the rest. I actually forgot my camera on the ship the day we were in Cabo, so the only picture I have is this one I took from my cell phone.

The last day was another sea day and the seas were so rough!! It was a hard day and night! It kind of threw us all over the ship. Crazy. It was windy and awful too. Yuck. Anyway, it was nice to have a day to relax and wind down after a week of non stop GO GO GO!

Here are a few more pictures of some highlights of the trip.








Ok, that is all I am going to add. I don't want to bore you anymore. Plus, its almost time to board our flight!!! YAY! We are finally making progress home!!!!

the one about my freaky rash

I'm not sure what this is all about, but I got the weirdest rash in the WORLD!

Brett and I started going to the tanning bed 1 week ago to get ready for our vacation next month. (We are going on a Mexican Riviera Cruise April 25th - May 2nd!!!) I have not been able to tan for years because of the medicine I was on for my heart. Since I went off my medicine in January, I just assumed I would be able to tan like I did when I was a kid. I have started VERY slow! The first 2 times I went was only for 6 minutes. I did get the tanning bed itches that come standard with your first couple of visits to the bed. I only went every other day and by the third time, I upped it to 7 minutes. I got a little toasty and even more itchy so we took it back down to 6 when I went last evening. My back had really been bugging me so I left my shirt on and made sure my back, belly and boobs were totally covered, since they have been itching so bad. I even adopted a spatula that I carry around and I so affectionately call "Scratchula." As soon as I got out of the tanning bed, I knew something wasn't right. Brett and I got in the car and I was about to go crazy with itch. I took my bra off first thing and it was just getting worse and worse. We got home and I took my top off. I had Brett rub lotion on it and it would help for a second, but it just kept getting worse. It started breaking out in hives and wherever I would scratch, it was looking like it might bleed. By about 8:30 I was in tears because it was so bad. The hives/welts were huge and covering my whole back!!! I showered, Brett ran to the store for cortisone cream and I started popping benadryl. NOTHING. I tried EVERYTHING! By 11:30 I couldn't take it anymore, so I took myself to the ER. They got me into a room pretty quickly and started me on several pills. Steroids, something like a benadryl but much stronger and something else. They said it should start to improve within 20-30 minutes. By this time, the rash and hives were spreading to my legs. Well, they monitored me for about an hour and nothing was changing so they came in with some shots. I don't know what or how many but I told them I didn't care if it was battery acid and dog crap, if it would help, I would take it! After another hour, it was still really bad but I felt like it was getting a little better. They told me there was nothing else they could try and that they had given me the max dose on everything. They sent me home with a prescription for a week worth of steroids and 3 other things. Today was much better, but I am still very red and itchy. It is just making me feel like crap. I didn't want to broadcast my back fat on the Internet, so I just took a picture of my legs. This is looking about 100 times better. There is little to no swelling, just lots of red dots.


I think we finally decided that 7 1/2 years of heart medicine messed with my blood and skin and that it is probably not in my Best interest to tan. I guess it is either pasty white, or tan in a bottle for me. :( By the way, Brett has the nicest tan and he looks so good!!! I am going to be the ghost woman on our cruise ship. I am so white I am nearly translucent.

Just as I was leaving the hospital last night, the Doc started to say something about the dangers involved with tanning and sun exposure. I just looked at him and said, "Seriously, look at me.... I don't need a lecture about tanning beds!!!"

the one about my FREAKING AWESOME HUSBAND!!!

You can say what you want about my Bretty, but let me just tell you.... HE IS AWESOME! I am not going to get all sappy and tell you how much I love him, what a great dad he is, etc. etc. etc. Broken record. But I AM going to brag on him about his work stuff.

Brett works for Airgas. They sell any kind of gasses, welding supplies and safety supplies that you can ever dream of. He is an amazing salesman. Always has been. He is a charmer and can pretty much talk anybody into anything. He has really been rocking it at work lately and it has not gone unnoticed. Several little things have been happening lately that his bosses have noticed and I think it is probably paving the way for bigger and better things. Certain vendors will step in and start contests for Airgas employees to encourage them to sell their stuff. Besides his paycheck, he gets little bonuses every now and then for selling certain things. A few months ago, Lincoln Electric announced a contest for Airgas employees called "Drive to Indy." (I might get the details wrong here, sorry Brett!) The top 10 sellers (I think) of a particular product would win a trip to the Indy 500. Of all of the millions of Airgas employees... BRETT WON!!!

This is what he got: A trip for two to the 2009 Indianapolis 500 which includes:
*Round trip airfare
*Ground transportation while in the Indianapolis area
*All meals (including a winners banquet the night before the race)
*Hotel
*Police escort on race day to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
*Pit/Garage tours
*Race tickets with full access to the Lincoln Electric suite located just above pit lane on the front straightaway
*A driver "meet and greet" appearance at the suite on race morning

HOW COOL IS THAT! And, yes. He is taking me! We don't know much about Indy racing, but we don't care. We are gonna learn it and LOVE IT!! We know one very important thing though. It is NOT NASCAR. And I do know a couple of racers.. one of them is Helio Castroneves. He won Dancing with the Stars in 2007! The other one I know is cute little Danica Patrick. She is gorgeous and has been on lots of commercials and in many magazines. Both of them are scheduled to race. We are super excited. We are sad that we can't take Quayd, but Brett and I have not gone anywhere alone for over 4 years! It's our turn. Quayd will be fine.. I hope!

Really, we don't win stuff, so this is a pretty big deal to us. We leave on Saturday, May 23rd and come home Monday the 25th. Short and sweet. (Obviously, these are not my pictures. I got them from photobucket.com. Mine will be much better and instead of Julianne Hough standing with Helio, it will be me! And I am sure Brett hopes that instead of Secret deodorant in Danica's underarms, it will be him!!!)

Way to go BRETT!!!! Isn't he awesome? Love that guy! :D

the one about our Vacation Jars

Brett's parents always had this huge jar that they filled with change. Sometimes when they went on vacation, they would cash it all in. I am amazed at how much they really accumulated in their change jar. Quayd loves that change jar, by the way. Papa used to always give him quarters out of it and Quayd thought that was just the coolest thing. Anyway, over the last few months, we have been saving our change in a vacation jar and we cashed it in and took it to Lagoon. (Don't worry, the $60.00 we had in it went in the gas tank, as well as all of the other money we had saved!!!) So since we cashed all of that money in, it was time to start a new Vacation Jar. I actually made four smaller jars. One for my bedroom, one for the kitchen, one for Quayd's room and one by the washer and dryer. (I find lots of money there!) I have the jars sealed so we can't steal out of them. (Except when I REALLY need Wendy's money, right jme?) They all look alike, but I thought they turned out pretty cute. What do you think?
Quayd put the first money in! All of the change we had left over from our Lagoon trip, which was not very much!

the one about our Lagoon trip

A few years ago, Brett and I decided to take Quayd on a vacation. I know I have talked about this before, sorry, but we went to South Dakota. It was great and wonderful and we still talk about it today. After that vacation, we decided we would take a family vacation every year. No matter what. Brett's family always traveled when he was growing up and they still talk about all of the fun things they have done. My family didn't travel much, but when we did, it was awesome. Quayd is such a good traveler, and Brett and I both love to travel, so we have made it a priority. We went pretty extravagant last year when we cruised the Caribbean. This year, we knew we needed to tone it down a bit, but we still wanted a special vacation where we could make lots of memories. We decided to combine our love of camping and amusement parks and spend a week at Lagoon! They have a really nice campground right next to the park. It has full hook-ups so we had unlimited water and power. And with temperatures being in the high 90's the whole week, we loved the electricity hook-up! We ran the air conditioner at full blast all week! My sweet little nephew, Brayden, joined us as well as Gary and Tara's family, Grandma and Grandpa Galley, Braden and Mya, Gleneita and Talia and the Montgomery's. It was actually supposed to be a two day Galley family reunion, but not many people were able to make it. Gary and Tara and Brett and I decided to make our trips longer. Not everyone was there as long as us. Most of them came on Friday and Saturday. We went Tuesday to Sunday. Anyway, onto the fun stuff! We left Tuesday morning and we were SO excited to get there. Pulling the trailer made it a long drive. We were the first ones to arrive. We set up camp and went straight to the park. For most of the big rides, you have to be 46" tall to ride. With his shoes on, Quayd is about 45 1/2" tall. Seriously, he is that close. Some of the ride attendants would let him ride, some wouldn't. The first few days that we were there, they were much more relaxed about it, but on Friday and Saturday, it was tough. He was getting so upset. I know, I know. The rule is 46". But how do I explain to a 5 year old that sometimes he can ride and sometimes he can't. He did get to ride Wicked once though, and he was so excited about it! He also rode the Colossus, the white roller coaster, Spider, the Bat, Tidal Wave, as well as every other kiddie or family ride. He was hard core! It was awesome. Brett and I both love to ride ANYTHING! So we refused to have a wimpy child. We decided that one day when we strike it rich, we will buy a big fat motor home or a private jet (depending on HOW rich we get) and just travel the world riding roller coasters. Wouldn't that be cool? It was crazy though, we had been on the Colossus 4 times in a row, and the 5th time the lady questioned his height. Stupid. But Talia got in her face and told her that he was fine and he could ride. Same thing happened with the white roller coaster. He actually got so mad at that lady! He ran to his dad and called the lady a terrible name. It's not very blog-friendly, so I won't type it. ;) They never would let him back on Wicked, and he was MAD! I am proud of him for being so brave though. He was so cool. I loved watching his face! It was cute though, he would be on these hard core crazy rides, then he would turn around and go to the kiddie rides and have a blast. Brett and I had to keep reminding ourselves that he is only five. Brayden was pretty nervous to ride some of the big rides, but he finally rode most of them. He never would go on the Rocket. On Thursday, Grandpa Galley came with us to ride rides. He is so stinking funny! He is just as crazy as all of the kids. He didn't even flinch to get on these big crazy rides. The very first one we took him to was Wicked.

Shae and Grandpa waiting in line for Wicked

We also took him to the Rocket. Brett rode with him the first time on the "Launch" side of the ride.

Tara and Grandpa on the Re-Entry

Brett, Braden S., Eli and Shae

We also went to the Lady Bug Bop and Dinosaur Drop. It was so funny! One time, Garrison was taking Mya on the Lady Bug Bop. Quayd decided to go at the last second. Mya was excited for Quayd to go, so they decided to ride together. Garrison didn't really know what to do, so he just sat down. They buckled him in and off they went. It was so funny to see Garrison riding this little kid ride all alone!

Speaking of big people on little rides... I have to tell you this story. Unfortunately, though, I don't have a picture. We had a camera tragedy right before this. Anyway, on Saturday night, Quayd was upset that they wouldn't let him on the big rides. So some of us were trying to be nice to him and offered to go on Puff the Little Fire Dragon. (It's just a mini-coaster.) The riders were Brett, Talia, Brayden and Shae. The ride attendant was making the seating assignments and it was just weird. Quayd and Brayden were going to go in the back, but he said Quayd needed an adult with him to sit in the back. So they were assuming that Shae was his mom I guess because the guy told Shae to sit with her kid in the back. Then they put Brayden alone. And here is where it gets really weird... they put Brett and Talia in a car together. They were crammed in this little tiny car! It was so funny! Well I was sitting on a bench with Gleneita, Gary, Tara and Amelia. When we noticed how they were seated, we were cracking up. Then Brett starts yelling, "Mommy!!! Look at us! We are on Puff!!!" Then he started cheering and screaming at everyone. "Look at me Aunt Tara! I'm riding Puff!" It was so funny. And strange. Lagoon has a new ride this year. The OdySea. It is a fun family type ride. The kids loved it. I rode it a few times with Quayd. But when he knew Grandpa was going, Quayd couldn't wait to ride with him.

(I am so glad I got this picture! Isn't it cute? I felt so bad that I didn't get a picture of these two on Father's Day. I got Quayd with his other Great-Grandpa's, but not Grandpa Galley.) We did a lot of waiting in line. I mean... ALOT! And holy cow... was it ever HOT!!

Brett, Brayden and Quayd waiting to get on the Bat.

Braden S., Shae, Garrison, Brayden, Amelia, Me and Grandpa waiting to get on the Spider

Waiting for the train to start

We went to Lagoon-A-Beach on Friday. Quayd was thinking he was Mr. Brave so he did the lazy river alone with out a life jacket. He was actually mad because they wouldn't let him sit in the hot tub. So he decided he was gonna show everyone and he hopped in the river. Thank goodness Garrison was there! He jumped in right behind Quayd and went with him a few times around. Thanks Garrison! You rock!

We rode a ton of other rides, practically every ride in the park. We did go carts and Brett, Talia and Gleneita did a drag racing thing. You have to pay extra for it and the three of them were super excited to do it. They have 3 drag racing cars, so they were able to race each other. They got three runs. It was actually pretty cool. Brett won once, and Talia won twice. I know this entry is getting really long, but I have to share just a few more pictures. We went to Pioneer Village and had pictures taken. We were able to buy the CD and have the copyright, so I will post a few poses. We ended up buying the one of Brett and Quayd, and the funny one of the family. The funny one was just so... US! We love it. Look at Brayden's funny hat. It has a face and evrything. I saw it and begged him to wear it because it was so funny. He is so awesome!

And here are the last few pictures.

It's always fun to go, but it sure is nice to be back home.