Florence & wine tasting at a Tuscan castle

 Hey there! We recently decided to take off with some good friends and family (six of us) in June on a crazy 12 day trip through Britain and the Mediterian! We went through the medeterian on a Norweigan cruise where  we were in a ,new, crazy, exciting you better be ready to walk a million miles a day different stop everyyy day! Us girls were really looking forward to this day because we were stopping in Florence and then off to a castle for wine tasting...and it did not dissapoint! his excursion through the cruise line so we were not too sure how it would go since none of us had traveled on this cruise line before. BUT it was great would highly recommend.

 Florence

   We just couldnt get over those flowers! Well us girls...lol

                                                       walking through a gorgeous alleyway

                                  My husband....evidently Pinocchio comes from Florence...

 This is the Tuscan castle from the 1100's that we went too just gorgeous! Actually I should say the castle shed..check out that lavender tho! When I came home I planted a lot of lavender around the house..lol

Jumper is from Forever21

 View from the front of the Tuscan castle! We just could not quit staring..really?? WOW..so gorgeous it takes a few for your eyes to a just to all the beauty!

Front of castle

 I just love this pic! One of my favorites from the trip from inside the castle

 Trying to get a good picture

 I was not expecting so much food I was thinking just some wine but they really got into it 

and talked a lot about the wine they make and how it has evolved over the years which honestly for what we paid at $150 a person I am glad there was some food..

 This was the cellar of the castle where they still make wine all these years later..a family still owns and lives in the castle...can't even imagine!

 Florence

I wish that we would of had more time in Florence..only a couple hours. But that is how it goes when your on a cruise you only have so much time at each spot. But we had a awesome day and loved every minute of it! I will talk more about the cruise and what we thought of that too.

We were also in Spain, London, Paris, Rome, too so I'll show those too here soon for you guys! Chow!

Mahekal Beach Resort Mexico

Hi there! I wanted to share our Mexico trip that we took a few months ago in March. We thought it was high time for the two of us to just go and I'm so glad we went! This was really our first trip to Mexico in years..we went about 15 years ago to Puerto Vallarta and for some reason never really went back. It probably had something to do with being busy having three kids ;)
Anyways we headed out to beautiful Playa Del Carmen to this awesome little boutique hotel called Mahekal Beach Resort. We loved it and would definitely head back there again! we headed out beginning of March and the weather could of not been more perfect! If you are looking for a smaller resort that has a great beach then you want to definitely check this resort out!

 View from one of their three pools

Our every morning breakfast view

Everyone has their own patio so this is what you do all..day...long

Breakfast! ..fresh juices and the BEST waffles I have ever had made fresh!We had two meals a day included so we ate  here for breakfast and a different restaurant for  dinner every day. They have three restaurants ..we only ate at the two ..for some reason we just never got around to eating at the other one. The food was great! you could order your meal from the menu and also grab food from the buffet at every meal.  They changed it up everyday and the wait staff was wonderful!( Hellloo lady!) still cant figure out why my napkin isn't folded again when I return back to my dinner seat these days..lol

Our room and patio 

our room! We loved waking up to the sound of birds..you could also hear the waves slightly since we were closer to the ocean on this side. We where on the very end.

Beautiful entrance and lobby area included cool wet towels and bottled water when we arrived

We were pretty quiet on this trip, but we did manage to get to spend some time over at Tulum on a day tour that we took that also included snorkeling with turtles for the afternoon

These are what you call mexican chicken there..and they are everywhere in Tulum

yeah I guess we had fun snorkeling..lol It was a blast! I am so so glad we swam with the turtles and stingrays! I would totally do it again in a heartbeat!  Ohhh and  your welcome Jose and thanks for you swim shirt that you ripped off for me.."Oh nooo lady that's not going to work! says the snorkeling instructor...it was a good day for Jose I'll just leave it at that..LOL  

The two guys that picked us up at the hotel and drove us around for the day and then took us snorkeling could not of been nicer! We booked the day at the hotel not really knowing what to expect but it was a awesome day! 

Overall we loved it here and would even take back our kids sometime. We booked our trip through kayak and it was considerably less expensive than going to their website. We saw a lot of families there. The town was also right there so you didn't need to walk far to see downtown and shop. I also did go to the spa for a facial(forgot to take pics) which was beautiful and relaxing.it took about two hours with some time in the hot tub .but not sure that it was worth the  $175 for it... But overall we cant wait to return!

2015 long recap!

 Hello! Just thought I would say hello..lol.. Anyways I wanted to do a recap of the year since it was a big year for us with some unexpected big things! First of all how about Star Wars!! We thought it was awesome! I grew up on Star Wars so it was a big deal for me so I had to show up in my cool buns, but clearly you ssee I was not the only one thinking this.. We were introduced to the Cinnabon Layla buns...

In the beginning of the year I decided this was the year to go on a big trip. Something like a crazy and true adventure. And since Jeremy and I had not been on a vacation just the two of us in over ten years ..IT WAS TIME my friends and we were going big well big for us. So one night I started looking at planning a trip to Europe and settled on Scotland (hello Outlander!) Jeremy was totally on board because he is sweet like that and I BOOKED IT!! I couldn't believe it....finally we were going and I was living like Claire ha! 

 Willaim Wallaces sord which is huge... taller than me!

 Willaim Wallace monument that you can see from castle Sterling where Mary Queen of Scots grew up. This castle is Amazing with people dressed in costumes of the time. It was one of my favorite things we did! Just beautiful!!

 Castle Sterling

 This was a castle we saw off the road when we went to the pub. So we thought we would stop and check it out. Really creepy acually but very cool.

                   Sheep Heid Inn from the 1300's one of the oldest pubs in Europe. A must go!

         Baked brie with apricot sauce. I have never been so snacky before... I wanted to try and eat every thing

 Grant castle on lake Lochness

You wouldnt believe how big this lake is..that's why they cant find nessy;) It was rainy and cold so while we were on the boat we stayed inside instead of touring it. And to my surprise a girlfriend of mine later told me that her father is scottish and his family at one time lived in this castle!..would make sense since they are the Grants. How stinkin cool is that??

 The highlands... so much awesome history

 Well those are just peoples homes...

So glad we went it was beautiful! The people were great and I cant wait to go back someday!

I did an erlier post on the other places in Scotland we went too. To see it just go over to my travel tab.

 In July we sold our house! We had been looking casually for a few years, but had decided to stay in our home mostly because the realestate market in Colorado is really crazy right now. You pretty much have to sell your house before you can even think about buying another one. We didnt want to take that kind of risk and not have nowhere to go and wonder even if we would find something in our price range and something that we loved. It just didnt seem like it was going to work...everytime we looked at a ahome we liked we were going to have to put alot of money into it and well we are tired of big home redos and especially after having to pay what you have to pay in Colorado right now and then put all this money into updating a home just did not apeal to us. I would LOVE to be in a older home in a older neighborhood that would of been ideal, but that comes at a really high price around here these days.

So one day we decided to go check out these new homes in another town close by that we had heard through the grape vine were going up. Jeremy's brother and cousin actually live in this town so we thought it was worth checking it out one afternoon not really thinking at all it would be something we would consider doing. 

Sure enough we drove out there took a look at the homes and all the gorgeous lakes and golf courses and decided that week to go for it! For some odd reason this area is beautiful and the prices on the homes are a lot less expensive than where we were currently living. Its weird when its such a beautiful area. We could get so much more of a house here and get a lot across the street from the lake!  We couldn't believe it! we were able to get a lot in a cultasac across from the lake so that our kids in the summer can walk right over there and we can see them from the house!We kept looking at each other wondering why we didn't know this sooner...The only down side was having to sell our house right away and wait for it to be built which would be 6-8 months. But it will be the way we want it and good property not on top of our neighbors which is one thing I really wanted if we were going to go through the trouble of building a new home. It had to be a good lot with more of a yard and not too close to neighbors. So right away We sold our lil casa (in two days) and moved into a apartment. It felt so right and everything went so smoothly. We feel like it will be sooo worth it! we are so so excited! I will definitely be filling you in later when we move in! It has been six months now. hopefully they will be done the end of February to the beginning of march. Its a little under 3,000 sq feet with a 3 car tiered garage. To be continued.....

Our pile of dirt..

In August we celebrated our 17th anniversary!

Our yearly family pictures with cousins!

and then all this happened..

 Fishing for craw fish at Wash park

                                                Someone started preschool in August too!

 Cave of the winds with all my babes!

 I decided to be a little gutsy with my hair and go rose gold pink in August!

 One of Tessa drawings! 

 At the nuggets game!

Ben also started basketball!

It was a great year with great surprises! Never did I think we would go to Europe and buy a new home! Here's to the new adventures of 2016! Until next time have a great week!