Adventures in Myrtle Beach

London trip

It's been almost 2 weeks since we were fortunate enough to visit London for my friend Vickie's wedding. It was such a wonderful experience and even though we only visited for 4 days, these memories will last us forever. We want to thank my mom for flying out to watch the kids, to Vickie for allowing me to be part of her special day, to Jo for hosting us with a comfy bed, and to our bank for having the point reward system which purchased our airline tickets. We couldn't have done it without any of you! The flight there wasn't terrible. We left in the evening and got there around 6 am. The worst was getting out of Heathrow. It took us 3 hours to get to London. After a short nap, we were ready for the day. I went off to do fun stuff with the girls and Rueben went sightseeing. The next day, we did have a few hours to ourselves, so we walked around, had lunch on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral, walked across the Millennium Bridge and The River Thames, went inside a prison and learned many a things about torturing, walked past the Globe Theater and on across the Tower Bridge and past the Tower of London. We got a good share of double decker bus rides and the Tube. Awesome transportation methods! Saturday was the wedding and Sunday in the am we came home. It was fast and furious, but so much fun. We look forward to visiting again and taking time to sight see some more. And of course, spend more time with our friends. Maybe you will join us! The Tower Bridge. It is often mistakenly called the London Bridge. Rumor has it that American Robert McCulloch bought the London Bridge thinking he was purchasing the bridge in the picture. He had it moved and the London Bridge (not as magnificent) is currently located in Lake Havasu City in AZ. Robert denied the rumor and stated that he knew which one he had purchased. The English are still laughing about it.
Walking across the Tower Bridge and taking advantage of the awesome backdrop.

The Tower of London. We didn't have time to venture inside, but the outside is just amazing. The Crown Jewels reside inside. It was built in 1078 by William the Conqueror. It has been a fortress, a royal palace and a prison. We can't wait to see the inside!

The Tube. Underground transportation. Faster than walking or taking the buses but it still takes a while to get from point A to point B. Our favorite saying, "Mind the gap".

Another shot of the Tower of London and the Gherkin building.

The Millennium Bridge. It crosses over the River Thames.

St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.

The Globe Theater. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company. It was destroyed by fire in 1613 and later rebuilt a year later.

Looking across the River Thames.

The following are some pictures of the wedding.

The bridesmaids. Lindsey, me, Heather, and Jo. Fantastic and wonderful people.

The happy couple.


I absolutely love these pictures of Rueben and I. They are brilliant. He is so good looking and I love him with all my heart, body, and soul. We make an awesome couple, eh?

Bustin' a sweat

7 weeks ago, we decided it was time to get into shape. After spending some hours watching the infomercials and seeing drastic changes in what they say were untouched pictures of befores and afters, and knowing someone who has actually tried it (thanks Dee), I was sold on P90X. These are extreme workouts people! It consists of 12 tear and sweat inducing workouts. It includes a diet, that honestly I cannot follow. But we are trying to eat healthy and less processed foods. The program brags, that if done correctly, you can go from regular to ripped in just 90 days. It uses "muscle confusion" to target all muscle groups and preventing them from hitting a plateau. The only confusion I felt the first few weeks was in my head, asking myself "what have I gotten ourselves into?" This program is designed for people who have reached their optimal goal and want to increase muscle weight, increase strength, and flexibility. We were not in optimal shape or condition to begin this program, but we did anyway. The fit test consisted of being able to do a certain number of push-ups, pull ups, and doing jumping jacks for 2 minutes straight. I shamefully could not do one single pull up or 2 minutes of jumping jacks and could maybe do 2 push ups on my knees. After the first week, we couldn't even move. Every muscle hurt. It was miserable, but we plugged along. Now in the 7Th week, I can say that I feel stronger. I might not looked "ripped" yet and I might still weigh the same, but I see some definition in my arms and legs and I can actually do 6 push ups off my knees. Rueben, of course, is starting to look buff, but that's because he naturally has less body fat to begin with. These workouts last about an hour. The hour is full of grunting, sweating, swearing, laughing, farting and then more laughing, awkward movements, balancing and falling down, and just good old fun. We try to do it together, cause it's more fun when you do it with a workout buddy. We encourage each other and do what Tony Horton (the instructor) says...we bring it and do our best and forget the rest. We hate it, but we love it!!! Hahaha! And to any of you who are thinking about doing it (Charlie), get going! Just the fact that you are doing something to improve your health is awesome enough. We will spare you our before pictures, but hopefully at the end of our 90 days, we will post our new and improved new bodies. Maybe.

Sam can yell really loud.

School's cool!!

These last few weeks have been kinda busy for us. Rueben started school last Thursday. So far it hasn't been as bad as last year, but then again, we might just be used to it by now. Labor day weekend was very low key. We didn't do very much...a staycation if you may. Oh, we did kinda clean out the garage, more like rearranging the crap that we have. We seriously need to hold a yard sale and just get rid of many a things. We figure if it's been sitting in the garage for a year, why bother having it. But we are "pack-rat" people, we hoard in hopes that one day, if the need arises, it will be in the garage under 10 ft of dust and spiderwebs.
The kids started preschool on Tuesday. Sam is in a Kinder Readiness program and will be attending 5 days a week from 9-12 am. I was having anxiety over him being gone, of not being there with him, of being home by myself, but his excitement makes it more bearable. He was so thrilled that the night before, he had picked and set out his clothes, hurried and brushed his teeth and went straight to bed. Not once did he get out of bed. In the morning when I woke him up, he was up like a flash, dressed and ready for breakfast. He picked out a Star Wars backpack, put it on and was ready to go. He had a great day and was excited about meeting his new friends. By this morning, the novelty had worn off and when I went to get him up, he promptly in a sleepy voice says "I don't wanna go to schoooool". HAHA!! This will be great at getting him ready for next year when he'll be gone full days. I can't believe that we are here already!! My little boy is growing up so fast!
Isa is also going to a class for 2 yr olds. She will go for the same hours, but only 3 days. She's mostly going for the socialization. We'll see how it goes. If she doesn't like it, I will just keep her home for the next 20 years! She picked out a Dora The Explorer backpack with wheels and she likes to wheel it all around the house.

Going to school!

So Sam has been talking about doing karate. As we were driving back home from school, he saw a sign for Tae Kwan Do. I figured why not. We got him a few lessons. We went back in the evening and he did awesome. He was really focused and eager to show them that he could kick really high. They talk and teach about respect, focus, self control, self esteem and listening. I think this might just work out for him. We'll see what happens. I'll post some video.