smileface

108 deezgreez

it's a heat wave, people, a heat wave. apparently this is going down in the books as the hottest it's ever been in rose city. EVER.

what an extraordinary test of wills it's become to accomplish anything.

frozen grapes. blueberries. my fingers travel to my lips in a long, languid orbit. i chew thoughtfully, slowly. my eyes closed to the world. that's about all the energy i can muster reclined. and kdramas, but of course. this one in particular. got a lot of catching up to do.

mama mia, it's hot. we'll see you later. until then, RADIO SILENCE, over.

sunset photo shoot

the color coordination going on in this photograph was no mistake, my friends.

activities-planner saesim made sure to get our group together for a sunset photoshoot.

the kids were more interested in the sand, though.

it was coming down quick! we had to mobilize.

family 1.

family 2.

family 3.

family 4.

family 5? heehee. just kidding, tommy!

cute!!!

of course, the requisite beach-jumping photos.

notice how utterly ridiculous the guys look, though. why?

sunset-in-hawaii prom 2009.

the parade

(doesn't that look like rihanna circa 2005?)

poolside outtakes

we sure did a lot of swimming.

that is his father's child.

and that lil' one hamming it up is definitely mine.

swimming lessons paying off.

christine, you're so right about getting these hats wet! one time use only, too bad.

our one character sighting on the grounds. what a moment.

here's ry gettin' fresh.

here's danny wrangling all the big kids while the rest of us enjoy brunch onshore. thanks, danny!

lots of fruity beverage was had.

that's some good stuff.

this may have been the day i was suffering from a horrendous case of heatrash and was forced to stay indoors in air conditioning reading back to back issues of us weekly and ok! magazine. (i am not complaining, fyi). 

heehee.

life is good.

baking w/cookie monster

the kiddies got to bake cookies with monseiur cookie monster himself!

i was elsewhere getting my 90 minute tropical bliss massage, ahem, but their dad was good enough to take time off from his busy chest-exposing schedule to make a visit to the cookie monster bakery.

i missed all the fun.

not that i regret spending 90 minutes in tropical bliss.

not at all.

the only negative side to my being gone, i'd have to say, was leaving all the photographing of the children of mine loins to their father.

i mean, really, is it that hard?

sigh.

more beach

i believe this was the day before our departure date. pretty, isn't it?

trying to savor the last hours of clear sky and crystal waters before heading back home...

this reminds me that i need to have the boy's underwater camera photos developed. that should be interesting.

boy, did she get dark!

the fam.

my loves.

my baby daddy.

the grounds

hey, see that? this is the sesame street resort! it says so right there!

too bad this sign is a lie. it is outright lying to you. it is saying, "you think this is the sesame street resort, but you are wrong, because i am lying." just sayin'.

they have giant chess though. that's pretty cool, i guess.

if it wasn't 95 degrees with 100% humidity, i would'a been able to show kev wassup.

'cause all i did in high school was smoke cloves, drink buckets of black coffee, and play chess.

'cause i was cool like that.

i could'a shown kev that chess is my thang. that i rule at chess.

but it was just too dang hot. oh well.

the pirates island waterpark

the waterpark was a kiddie favorite, that's for certain.

just the right size for our tots, and the lazy river was a welcome change of pace for the grown-ups too.

here's kev assuming the position. someone please remind this man that we are at a family resort.

here's the lil' one.

there's my big boy.

here's a very rare glimpse of paul's skin actually coming in contact with water.

group shot.

how lucky is our little casey to have all these handsome gents around to protect her from harm?

what a lucky gal.

though she likes to remind me that she can take care of herself, thank you very much.

it sure is nice though. just in case.

sesame street breakfast

scheduling an activity at 8 a.m. while on vacation probably isn't the brightest idea i've ever had... (as you can see, we rushed out of our room so quickly the boy was shoeless. nice.)

even at merely 8 a.m. it was hot as blazes. think these poor guys in their giant character suits are well-compensated? i certainly hope so!

bert was just insanely tall. this picture does absolutely no justice. i completely understand brendan's reaction here.

and the lil' girl's reaction here.

abby-cadabby. never heard of her.

grover must've been overwhelmed by all the tiny asian people. he kept raising his hands like, "what do i do? what do i do?" his handlers kept trying to get this one adopted chinese girl to join our group in the photos. it was so chaotic and confusing. "SHE'S NOT WITH US WE SAID!!!!!!!!" poor family.

elmo was definitely the superstar of the group. "ELMO!!ELMO!!ELLLLMOOOOO!!!!!" mass hysteria.

zoe. never heard of her. what happened to big bird? must've had the day off... (if you're wondering why kev's chest is exposed so provocatively at a children's breakfast, you're not alone.)

nobody ate any breakfast as i recall. and it was all over in 20 minutes, but the kids had a memorable time, and that's always enough. good times.

adults only

we did actually manage a couple nights of grown-up time, believe it or not.

since the children's club was universally declared by our group as inadequate for animals, let alone our precious children, we opted for private childcare in our rooms.

and because the squeaky wheel always gets the grease, all nanny fees were eventually comped. remember this lesson, boys and girls.

here is activities-coordinator saesim showing us how he has mapped out our pubcrawl to maximize efficiency and fluidity of movement.

who's that?

mamacitas.

anybody who can get kev to button his shirt has got my mad props.

after which i lose track and give up documentation.

we walked into club liquid only to realize that everyone was literally a third our age and officially repulsed by our presence. good times.

mas manana...

more tomorrow...

the beach: day 1

a little overzealous with the sunblock SPF 100 on the first day.

sang-mi looking like she enjoys sand.

she does not.

the watermelon is wholly acceptable, however.

and gomo is a close second.

all-inclusive water sports.

fo & i went paddle-boating. we look relaxed, but we were seriously huffing and puffing. ha!

paul showing off his newly-acquired physique. thank you for skipping the weigh-in, boys, i owe you one!

the first day was slightly overcast and cool, which we would come to realize was hugely taken for granted.

he's going to kill me, but oh well! so sekshi.

the digs

the italian village @ beaches turks. why the villages are named for random countries, we will never know.

our cabana, second from the left. the very same that mr. boozer and family occupied our day of departure. just missed him! and apparently shaq was there the week before us. poor timing.

room, middle archways on top. not bad.

ocean view?

a little better on the entry-side. hmph.

master.

living.

kids.

pool cabana.

i believe this is supposed to be a person.

well, thank you.

beach cabana.

how may i assist you, mr. and mrs. amh? and that concludes this portion of turks 2009: the digs.

PDX - ATL - PLS

10:35 pm/ on time for delayed departure on delta red-eye to atlanta. the boy is made honorary TSA agent. response unfavorable as kev repeatedly refers to him as agent shim in loud, obnoxious voice while people in terminals attempt sleep.

11:00 pm/ getting ready to board. little one in la-la land. that is her father's nose, for the record. i remain blameless.

6:45 am/ arrival ATL. breakfast and terminal time.

9:00 am/ look who's here?!

1:25 pm/ arrival PLS, providenciales, turks & caicos. the humidity is suffocating, can you see it?

1:50 pm/ shuttle to resort. hallelujah, we made it in one piece!

carlos boozer

teaser

i swear i'm coming back soon!