from Strawberry Shortcake and Minnie Mouse
I'm so wiped out from trick-or-treating...I will post a Halloween recap/overload another time!
Here (finally!) are the pictures that Mike, Peggy, or Brooke took of their adventures with the girls while they kept them the first week in October. Aaron and I didn't worry about them at all on our cruise because we knew they were having a blast, and we were right! They did lots of fun things, including multiple trips to Chick-fil-a, a day at a pumpkin patch, and the children's museum. I was so thankful that they took pictures so I could get a glimpse of their week!
They love Grandma!
Vivian's highlight of the pumpkin patch day was meeting the pumpkin princess.
Thank you, again, for loving on our girls!
I mentioned in a previous post about Tough Mudder, but didn't get a chance to explain.
Does this picture explain enough? :)
Aaron went to Wintergreen (about 2 hours north, normally a ski resort) on Saturday with 5 friends from church: Jeremie, Jonathan, Toph, Darren, and Andrew.
They have been preparing for that day for about 4 months, meeting every Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m.
They ran in "probably the toughest event on the planet"...it's a 10 mile obstacle course. It's so difficult to shed light on exactly what it's about, so how about I just link to the website and include a video promo so you can see for yourself!?
He had an awesome day, and enjoyed the challenge, but said he will not do it again! We missed him but were very proud of his "toughness" :)
Thanks, Kristin, for catching Kate and I on camera at Tony's party :)
Yesterday while Aaron was at the Tough Mudder, we went to the circus with Papa.
It was too dark to get a picture of the girls sitting on Papa's lap, so I settled for a shot of the elephants. :)
It was impressive, and V and K were so excited about everything they saw! Thanks to Papa for treating us to a fun afternoon!
This morning right after I dropped Kate off at preschool, we joined Julia and Mason for a scarecrow craft at their house. Erin was so sweet to invite us, and she already had all the materials ready to go!
They glued on the eyes and nose, and then colored his shirt.
They also glued some leaves on his hat! Mason sat patiently in his chair and watched.
So proud of their work!
Erin had seen Vivian wear this shirt last week so when Julia found out that she had the same shirt, she asked her mommy if they could wear them today to match :) Julia is such a fun friend for Vivian!
A couple of months ago I found a computer mouse that is easy for kids to use, and Vivian has been very excited to have some computer time on some afternoons. She has stuck to sesamestreet.org and starfall, but I know there are so many websites out there for her to try...who am I kidding, I'm the one who's excited! :) It's so fun when they can do more things and seem so grown-up!
Aaron turned 30 on Thursday, Sept. 29th. The night before, I shared my present with him...I had booked a 4-night cruise for us to the western Caribbean! The best part about the cruise gift: we would be leaving in only a few days! He was so shocked. We were having dinner out that night, and he had ordered an entire entree. When I told him, he couldn't even eat his meal, not one bite, because he was so surprised. After an hour of sitting and talking, the waitress finally gave him a to-go box for the whole thing. It was an awesome night, talking about all the plans I had been making for the past 5 or 6 months. When we got home he immediately did all the research about the cruise ship and we stayed up late making more plans for the trip.
Every detail worked out so perfectly. Even though it was a busy time for him at work, my parents and all the employees worked to cover his responsibilities for the week. Aaron's parents kept the girls while we were gone and they had a blast...it was a great opportunity for Mike, Peggy, and Brooke to spend time with them, and vice versa. Aaron and I really enjoyed the time together and were refreshed when we returned. The timing in our family life couldn't have been better. We thank the Lord for such a gift.
I will post the cruise details in just 3 posts: Key West, Cozumel, and on board the ship. I didn't take an abundance of pictures, but I have enough to help us remember this week even when we're old and gray.
Thank you, Aaron, for going away with me! You are my favorite traveling companion :)
Our first port of call was Key West. The ship docked early Wednesday morning, and we took advantage of all of our time there (got off the ship early and came back at the last minute). The first thing we did was to rent a scooter so that we could drive around the island at our own pace and see the sights. 
Here is some proof that I rode with Aaron...can you believe I did that?! I said I wouldn't ride on his motorcycle here in Va, and then I get on the back of a scooter with him in a place we had never been. Oh well, I was glad I did it, and I learned to trust him after only a few seconds of riding. 
These pictures are out of order, but towards the end of our time in Key West, we stopped and tried some key lime pie (we figured out that they must be known for that down there, because we saw so many shops dedicated to just that one dessert...duh, Aaron and Lisa!). Aaron said it was probably the best he's ever tasted.
We spent most of the time just riding around and looking. It was fun for us!
This was our view from our lunch spot. We found a quiet outdoor cafe right beside the ocean...it was perfect. Beautiful scenery and great food. We saw an iguana just hanging out on the beach! Did you know that Aaron used to have a pet iguana in college?! haha
We enjoyed a quiet lunch together and asked the waiter lots of questions about the island.
We waited in a short line to take this picture...yes, we are the corny tourists!
Aaron was proud of his scooter skills :) Here we stopped to take a look at the beach, but realized that there wasn't much going on there, so we kept riding. The beaches are all man-made in Key West because it's just surrounded by coral and rocks. They bring in sand from Miami.
We had a relaxing morning there! We were only docked until about 1 p.m., but it was enough time to enjoy Key West.
On Thursday mid-morning of our cruise we docked in Cozumel and stayed until the evening. We didn't participate in any of the ship's excursions, we just got a taxi and asked him to take us to the best beach. We ended up at Playa Mia, where everyone else was going! The weather wasn't predictable, but here's a recap of the fun things we did on the beach that day.
We participated in a football throwing contest.
I won! But did you see that they let me throw from a closer line because I'm a woman? I hoped no one was mad...
This was taken at the end of the afternoon...everyone else had already gone back to the ship, but since we had gone on our own, we could stay later. It was nice to have it to ourselves for a little while. Before this, almost all of these beach chairs were occupied.
The water was pretty! There were some serious rain clouds, but during the 30 minutes that it rained, we both got a massage right there on the beach under a tent. Ahhh...perfect.
There were lots of activities going on. We played volleyball with a newlywed couple from Atlanta. We also just sat and watched people and read a book.
The area right around the ships was extremely touristy....lots of shops, people calling at you to come into their store, souvenirs everywhere, and of course, a mariachi band.
We thought our ship was huge until we parked right beside this Royal Caribbean ship in Cozumel! Ours is the smaller one...Celebrity Millennium. I think there were a little over 2,000 guests on board, as well as about 1,000 crew members. The Oasis of the Seas beside us had about 7,000 people total and is considered to be the largest cruise ship in the world. !!
Fernandez Family
About
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This blog is a way for us to journal about the fun events and milestones of our days as husband and wife and new parents. Enjoy catching up with what's going on in the Fernandez family!
Aaron and Lisa
Married December 18, 2004
Vivian Gray: born June 18, 2008
Kate Leigh: born August 5, 2009
Hank Michael: born August 8, 2012
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