Back to School!!!

Today was Coopers first day back to school. We were a little nervous at how he was going to like it since he was able to spend the entire summer with me - but he did wonderful this morning and all day long! Cooper is now in the toddler class so he no longer has a bottle and takes only one nap a day - he takes his nap on a mat - not a crib!!! He also gets to play outside more often and do projects. His teachers said he did great...we are so proud of him. When I took him in his classroom this morning he held on pretty tight until he saw the pile of beach balls and quickly jumped out of my hands to play...then he ran over to Miss Maggie who was one of his infant class teachers. We are so lucky that our little boy loves school so much! Here are some pictures of Coopers 1st day of school photo shoot...he was quite the little ham this morning. (Cooper will be 15 months on Wednesday.)

 

 

 

 

Here are a few pictures of Coopers first day of his infant class - exactly one year ago - only 3 months old!

 

 

 

Presidents Club 2008 - BAHAMAS

OH MY GOODNESS!!! Let me start off by saying if you ever can, please go to Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Because Chad did so awesome in his job this year he made the Presidents Club and his work sent us and 600 other couples to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. We had heard that this place was going to be incredible...and it sure was!!! We kept describing it like an enormous cruise ship that doesn't move. There were so many different pools, tons of CRAZY waterslides (one of the slides takes you through a clear cylinder SHARK TANK - talk about scary!), a roaring rapids - where you just float along this river thing in a tube and sometimes there are rapids that push you pretty fast - so fun! They also had an amazing aquarium throughout the hotels and pools - filled with beautiful fish, sting rays and all kinds of scary sharks! Atlantis is right on the beach, so we got to enjoy the gorgeous BLUE, 84 degree water daily. Of course there is a casino - where we only donated $40...not bad. We saw Patrick Ewing at his own "private table" every night, donating an excessive amount of money. He wouldn't allow pics though - his bodyguard let Chad know as he quickly tried to snap a picture. We spent our days in bathing suits - laying out and swimming and our nights eating and hanging out at the casino hotspot and dancing to the DJ's jams.

One of the most exciting adventures we took at Atlantis was swimming with the dolphins! We did the deep water swim which included swimming all throughout the water with the dolphins, getting pushed through the water by the dolphins nose on your foot - SUCH A COOL FEELING! - and getting a sweet kiss from the adorable dolphins. I was a bit nervous before we began but am SO glad we did it...it was such a memorable experience!

If it was not for Cintas we definitely would not have had the opportunity to enjoy this amazing vacation. We had two Cintas events while at Atlantis - the Welcome Dinner - which was on this amazing patio and set up for 1200 people - and then we had the Awards Dinner. The awards dinner was my favorite because Chad was introduced to all of the people and had to walk down the red carpet...take a look...

After spending 6 days at Atlantis we made a goal that someday we will be able to take our own children to enjoy such an amazing vacation at Atlantis. We had a blast!!!!

2 Year Anniversary

Chad and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on Tuesday, August 5th. Last year we went away for the evening, leaving Cooper for the first time. This year we are using our trip to the Bahamas as an anniversary celebration. On the special day, Chad sent me beautiful roses and lilies (which are my favorite!) and then we went out to dinner - just the two of us. It was nice to spend some special time together. Happy 2 year anniversary Chad!!! Love you lots...

Rep of the Quarter and YEAR!!!

Congratulations to Chad...he was named the rep of the quarter and year for Document Management in the Pacific Coast Region. That means he is the BEST Document Management rep out of like 5 whole states!!! WOOHOO!!! The crazy thing about it is that Chad had not even worked for Cintas for a whole year before earning this award. Cooper and I are so proud of you Chad! Keep up the awesome work...
Check out what Chad's boss posted in the Cintas News...

Santa Cruz

I have been wanting to go to Santa Cruz for quite awhile. My family used to go every summer when we were younger for like a week at a time. My moms boss had a house there and I remember us having so much fun all the time...whether it was just hanging around the house, going on rides at the boardwalk, playing in the ocean or eating salt water taffy. Two vivid memories I have are 1)having my own cartwheel contests in the living room of the Santa Cruz house - my parents were the judges and all I wanted was a perfect 10 cartwheel! and 2)Singing and walking down the hill to the boardwalk with Mallory and Matt in the stroller and me being the "great" big sister :). Anyways - enough about me - Cooper and I went to the boardwalk with the Alamedas after our visit to the Mystery Spot. We all had so much fun. The Alameda kids enjoyed the big kid rides while Cooper and I enjoyed the little kiddie rides. This was Coop's first time on rides besides a carousel once in Arizona. After being awake from 9am to going to the Mystery Spot and then an afternoon at the Boardwalk - Cooper instantly fell asleep when he got in the car at 4:30 for the drive home. No nap in between and he was still such a good boy! It was great to do something fun with the little buddy and friends before I go back to work.
Chuggin along on the Pepsi Train...


Flying high on the dragons...looks like I had just as much fun as Coop with my big smile :)


Cooper turned the fishy bag upside down and after seeing them all the floor he began to pick each fish up - one by one - and put them in his stroller cup holder. He's so adorable!

Trying to get Coop to stand still for a cute pic of him and mommy...he wasn't havin any of it!

Now he's ready!

And one with the water in the background - next time we will test it out - maybe even go surfin...:)

The Mystery Spot

Last week Cooper and I went with the Alamedas to The Mystery Spot. It is such a crazy place - for some strange reason gravity is totally off in this one spot and you can lean really far without falling...and so many other crazy things. I totally recommend checking it out www.mysteryspot.com . It was nice to get out and so something different. It was a tour type thing so it was pretty interesting trying to keep the little Buddy under control while the tour guide gave his speeches...Cooper needs to be on the run at ALL TIMES! He was pretty good, though!
While waiting for our tour to begin Cooper found a puddle of water on the ground and LOVED splashing his hands in it. He was screaming and laughing so loud - it's such an amazing feeling to see your child be so happy. By the end of it he sat directly in the puddle and I had to change his dirty pants.



Here is a picture of the Mystery Spot house. My camera died right after this one though and the extra batteries were in the car.