The Long Ones

Just down the road from our house we have a neighbor who has cattle. Recently he got 2 longhorns. The first time we saw them Rachel asked what they were. I told her they were longhorns, but apparently she heard "long one" and has called them the long ones ever since. Today we went on a walk to see the long ones. They were near the back today so they are hard to see in the top picture, but I zoomed in for this shot below. They are pretty impressive don't you think?

Aruba

I see this picture and I already miss it. Adam has been working on a research project with his professor and they were invited to present at the first worldwide Solution Focused conference held in Aruba last week. He talked me into going with him, and we brought Toby. I was really hesitant to leave Rachel, but we have some amazing friends who offered to help. So, we decided to do it. We bought our plane tickets before Toby was even born. Luckily he's truly the best baby , and it was a great trip.

Us

Here we are with sweet little Toby in Aruba. We really missed Rachel while we were gone. I couldn't help thinking how much fun she would have had there. I know that she had a good time while we were gone, and she has never seemed mad at us that we didn't take her, but she did make one comment that made me feel bad. We went to the park with Kim on Saturday and she told her "my mom didn't let me go to Aruba." Maybe someday we'll all go.

Our Hotel

These are a few of the pictures we took in and around our hotel. The lobby, the pool, the beach, and the view from our balcony.

While Adam was in meetings all day...

I really enjoyed the time that I got to spend with Toby while Adam was in his conference. He was so good the whole time and was perfectly content to do whatever I wanted to do. We walked a lot! There was this paved path that followed the beach for a mile or so. All of the resorts were on one side with the beach and the ocean on the other side. It was so beautiful. I can't even count how many times we walked that path. There were lots of little shops along the way and I had a great time going into a shop without worrying about what a 3 year old might do! Toby would sleep while we walked....

And sleep while I read on the beach.

Sunrise, Sunset

Watching the sunset was one of my favorite things to do in Aruba. I do enjoy a nice sunrise...but I can't say that I saw one in Aruba. In fact, I can't say when the last time was that I saw a sunrise. It's been awhile. Here are my top five favorite pictures of the sunset in no particular order.

Toby's first time...

On an airplane

At the beach

In the ocean

At the pool

The Windy Island

From the palm trees in this picture, you can tell that it's windy in Aruba. I’ve lived in a few windy places and I’ve always held to the idea that I hate wind. But then I went to Aruba and decided that it’s not the wind I hate. Aruba is definitely windy…well, maybe I would call it breezy. Breezy sounds more exotic! In a book I’m reading the author describes perfectly how I feel about the wind in Aruba: “She felt the wind blow the pounding sun off her shoulders.” It’s warm and humid here, and then you feel the wind blow the heat away. It’s quite pleasant.

Unfortunately, even Aruba didn't change Toby's feelings about the wind. He's never been a fan. I wonder if it's because it does such crazy things to his hair!

Trees

I like these pictures.

This is what Toby did in Aruba

A few more fun shots of the ocean

Around Town