Canada, Eh?

Shootfire*. I had such good intentions of bloggin' on the road. Between chasing kids and stalking out the necessary Canadian candy to stuff my suitcase with, I never quite got around to it. So here's some fun facts about our super-quick cross-country journey:

• 4 hour flights are not fun. Especially not with a 2 year old. Especially not on the way back. When you have to lug all of your luggage {and 2 car seats} through customs. Especially if your 2 year old chooses to spend that moment {and by moment, I mean hour} laying on the ground screaming. Watching Kung Fu Panda on the plane while your 2 year old sleeps serenely in your lap is fun, though.
• Western Alberta is absolutely beautiful. And the weather? Can't beat it in August!
• It's great to see your family. Even if it's just for 5 seconds, in passing {shout out to Sarah, Rachel, Adam & Tib and Elizabeth & family!}.
• I am grateful for my Grandparents. Married 60 years! What an example of what a marriage can be. I'm thankful to have that heritage.
• Even though we're all getting older, we're all pretty much the same. Except me, I hope, after the stories my Grandma told me about what a mess I was as a teenager! :)
• Eating at the top of a converted water tower isn't just exciting for kids! Moms like it, too!
• Even the "indoorsiest" of us can appreciate Waterton Lakes park. Man alive, what a beautiful town! {See below...}
• Canadian candy is way better than American candy. I've already snarfed most of my supply of Caramilk. Mmm, baby.
• Hotels with indoor waterparks are good for 2 things: amusing the kids endlessly and giving me an anxiety attack. I finally got smart the last day and just put both the kids in lifejackets, so I could breathe a little easier. But the kids? Loved. It. Would have stayed down there 24/7. We rode the waterslides a million times at least (the "pregnant-friendly" slide, anyway), the kids loooooved the wave pool and Mason was master of the shipwrecked playscape. Good times. Thanks to my Grandma & Grandpa for putting us up there!
• Treehouse is the coolest TV network ever! Why don't we have this in the US? 24/7 preschool friendly programming? Yes please!
• Traveling without a hubby is not ideal. I don't like it much at all, in fact. Shout out to my Mama for keeping me {somewhat} sane.
• I believe Mason's terrible 2's have begun at last. Good thing he's so cute.

As always, I believe the best part of any trip is coming home. It's good to be back. I have so much to catch up on, blogging-wise. Starting with full ice cream contest coverage, not to mention tons o' Savior of the World stuff. Coming soon, I hope! :)

{*I believe the credit for "shootfire" goes to Holly??? It's a part of my every day vocab now, don't know how I lived without it. If it wasn't Holly that brought that word to me, thank you to whoever it was.}

On The Road...

I hit the road at about 5am with my Mama + kiddies to fly up to Lethbridge, Alberta - my Mama's hometown! My grandparents are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary - which is rather impressive, no?

I hope to be bloggin' from the road - getting some of these Savior of the World memories down on paper while they're still fresh in my mind, if I can.

Either way - have a great week!

On The Hill...

My Grandparents have this hill in their backyard. My Daddy rolled down it when he was a kid. I rolled down it when I was a kid (so did my two brothers and my 16 cousins). And now my kids are rolling down it. And that makes me really, really happy...

These shots of Miss Maya were taken outside of the Denver temple. True story: I think that girl is darn cute.

Team Mason

Family reunion coverage continues...

A couple o' shots of Team Mason, representing at the Mason family reunion. My Dad has 2 sisters, so we were the only "real" Mason family! :) There's me, Maya, Chris, Tara, Ben, Chris, Mama, Mason, Daddy & Daniel. (We missed you, Matthew!)

There's no lying about our ages in these tees! It's all out there for the world to see...

And a family shot (minus Matthew). What do you think, can I pull off yellow? I decided to give it a whirl, but I'm still undecided...

We had an "A-Mason" (as Grandpa would say) time hanging out with the whole darn Mason clan...check out the sheer numbers! The most amazing part is that all those people come from just 3 siblings. Let me break it down for you:

Virginia + Gordon = 5 kids, 3 spouses & 2 grandkids

Cindy + Wayne = 11 kids, 8 spouses & 25 grandkids (+2 on the way)

Mark + Jan = 3 kids, 2 spouses & 4 grandkids (+1 on the way)

As you see, Aunt Cindy is really bringing it to the table...46 people...and everysingleone of them there. Impressive! I adore my cousins and always enjoy catching up with them. It's so fun to see us all progress...from silly teens, to newlyweds, and now a lot of them are awesome Mamas and Daddys...but still the same funny, wonderful people they always were.

It's also always a treat to see my Grandparents. My Grandpa told the story of how he and my Grandma came to be, and recited the poem Love by Roy Croft. Oooh, boy. I was already on the brink of bawling...then he asked us to sing "Families Can Be Together Forever". That's just mean! I didn't get one word of the song out; instead, I about gnawed off my entire pinky nail. I did manage to not end up in a puddle on the floor, which was a miracle. It's so nice to be reminded of my family heritage - I'm so, so grateful for it.

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for hosting a wonderful reunion. I can't wait to see everyone again in 2 more years!

Mason Family Reunion: Part I

The bulk (and by that, I mean 500+) of the photos from our trip are on Chris' computer, so I'll share some of the few I took with my li'l camera.

First, can I say how much I like Denver? Their freeways are so nice! And even in rush hour, the traffic at least moves. And the weather was amazing. If I didn't know from experience that it's freezing there half the year, and pretty darn hot for a lot of the summer, I'd be packing my bags. It's just the cutest city ever!

No trip to Denver is complete without a trip to Casa Bonita. Here we all are out front: Mama, big bro Chris, Ben, Daddy, sis-in-law Tara, Daniel, Maya, Me, Mason & Chris. Inside we pigged out on sopapillas with honey (mmm mmm mmm), fajitas and fried ice cream. (I also had cotton candy, naturally.) Maya & Daniel had an outlaw poster photo taken (I had one done when I was a kid...), which I'll be scanning in for your viewing pleasure! :)

Maya and Mason were bed buddies for one night. In the middle of the night, Maya yelled out "Mom, where's Mason?!". I ran over and caught him just as he was rolling off the bed. I was feeling pretty proud of myself until he landed on the ground with a thud a short time later. In typical Mason style, he just climbed back into bed without making a peep.

Maya's favorite "cousin" is Annie. (She's not really her cousin - she's my cousin's daughter.) Annie is 10 (I think?) and so very kind to Maya! Maya followed her around and (most likely) drove her nuts the entire time. Maya really should have been the youngest of kid in the family - she loves hanging out with "big kids".

Mason once again proved himself adaptable to any situation. He missed his naps and much of his night sleep, but just conked out wherever, whenever he needed to. Can I just say that boy is heavy normally - and twice as much when he's asleep! Holy cow. What an arm workout!

The kids loved their "Team Mason" shirts (a joint effort between my parents and I). We all had them, complete with our ages on the back. One of my (not much younger) cousins looked at mine and said "30!?" which much disgust. Hey now! If we're lucky, we all get to 30. And it's a pleasure to do so!

It was a great trip! I'll be posting more pics soon...

Their Bags Are Packed...

...and they are READY TO GO!!! They have been sitting clutching their backpacks all morning. "Eh-plane, Mommy, eh-plane? Eh go Mommy, eh go!".

We're just about ready to hit the road for our family reunion in Denver. This is my Dad's side of the family. He only has 2 sisters, but 1 has 11 kids and the other has 5. So it's a HUGE group, and always a blast.

This is 2 years ago at the last reunion. Chris & I are on the back row - I'm holding baby Masey, and my Daddy is right next to me. My Mom is the first one sitting down in a chair, holding a weepy Maya (she puked the entire trip last time - fun, fun!) and my brother Chris, his wife Tara & their 2 boys Daniel & Ben are the first ones sitting on the ground. (My younger brother didn't go...) This is only most of the family....there are at least 10-15 others not pictured. I don't even know how many great-grandkids there are in the family...quick calculation tells me there are at least 25. So my kids will LOVE it...all of the craziness, the running around, and especially, rolling down the hill at Grandma & Grandpa's...

I may be bloggin' from the road, so check back! Either way, have a great weekend. I'll be back next week.

Say Cheese!

Carnival has got my number! Because I LOVE a photo op. Never turn one down, in fact. And every night they'd have 5-7 cheesy photo stations set up. You mosey around, take whichever pictures you want (I made Chris take almost ALL of them) and in the morning, voila! They're developed and ready for you to purchase - at high dollar, mind you! They were not cheap. But still, we bought several. And this is only about 5 percent of all the photos we had done, seriously. Man, it was fun. I'm sure I would have bought more if I hadn't been suffering from crazy red eyes the entire trip. (The smoke? The sun exposure? Allergies at sea? I'm not sure, but it was UGLY and nothing helped...Visene, no eye make-up...nothing!) Anyway, our photos...

"Embarkation" photo

Faux beach setting

Formal night headshot. Chris loves this one.

Formal night. I got a little sad after I saw an 80 year old woman wearing the same dress I was. I vowed to burn the dress. But I changed my mind.

Arriving in Mexico

Ahh, Carnival. Thanks for the memories. And for taking all of my money. You were worth it.

The Social Experience

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What I didn't realize about taking a cruise is what a social experience it would be! Everywhere we went, happy + friendly (+ drunk, in most cases) people were there to chat with. We met so many really fun, cool people from all walks of life. We loved our dinner table crew. They were a hoot! First of all, the cowboy (Tim Cooper) and his lady Kristen were two of the funniest people I've ever met. {They will become legendary in the Cottam house, for sure.} Turns out, he's a talented "up and coming" country singer and the biggest self promoter I've come across in a long time! He schmoozed his way into a performance on the ship and wow'd us all with his voice! And he presented each of us with his CD. So if country music is your thing, do check him out here. Kristen is a children's speech therapist in Houston and really knows how to shake her bootie! Chris and Mary are the older couple - they are from the Austin area and are very experienced travelers. We loved hearing about all the places they've been. And Jodi and Adam are the other younger couple, from Houston and Michigan, and they were a hoot as well.

It was also funny how you kept running into the same people. We randomly had breakfast and lunch with one really fun Austin couple on our first "full day" on the ship. That night, we ran into them at the "Captain's Cocktail Party" and hung out with them that evening. Everywhere we went, we ran into them. We exchanged info before we left, and hopefully we can get together with them sometime...

Our cruise director "Goose" is another person bound to become legendary in our eyes. He was hilarious! And he was everywhere. And if he wasn't in front of your face, he was on the intercom making announcements, reminding us that "you're on vacation...". He was great, a lot of fun. Chris is sad we didn't get a picture with him, hee hee. {Guess that means we have to take another cruise...}

As for legends that we did get photos with, our food servers Ephram and Neil "Armsweak" were top o' the heap. Man, we loved those guys. They were hilarious and super-cool. Neil always made sure to bring my milk with my dessert. {And to bring Chris TWO desserts, naturally.} I really miss them about now. I'd love to have them bring me a shrimp cocktail. And a piece of chocolate cake. It's amazing how much you can grow to love people you've only known for 4 days. {Particularly when they're bringing you food...}

Two thumbs up on the cruise experience! I'm ready to go again. Who's with me?

Chris Went On The Cruise, Too!

My favorite shot is the middle on the bottom. It's a picture of one of the many, many pictures the cruise line photographers took of us and tried to sell us at outrageous prices. True story: we bought tons of them, and I'll be scanning them in shortly. However, we couldn't bring ourselves to pay actual money for a photo this bad, no matter how much it made us laugh. So we took a picture of the picture so we can always remember our lovely expressions when we stepped off the boat into Mexico.

From the top: at the pre-dinner show; having "Happy Anniversary" sung to us by the wait staff; at the pool. Middle: pool, pool, "formal night". Bottom (left & right): in Mexico, post-snorkle (Chris - he said it was amazing) and post-massage (me - and it was fabulous!) getting ready to partake of the best fajitas and refried beans of my entire life. After that? Shopping! What did we buy? Mexican dresses and shirts for the kids. Mexican blankets for the kids. Toy Mexican guitars for the kids. Kid-sized sombreros for the kids. Chris bought some sort of a Mexican calendar. I didn't find anything I had to have, and figured a cruise + a massage was plenty good...

Look at the handsome devil next to the Rolls! Nice wheels, Chris!

We played some miniature golf on top of the ship. Good times.

Check out the shiner Chris got when he sat up in the top bunk the first night. Just the hazards of bunk bed living!

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

I defy you to find someone who ate more than I did on our cruise. How'd I do it? I discovered a meal between breakfast and brunch. {That's a Homer Simpson quote.} Man alive, good food available 24/7? I like it. We ate well. Prime rib. Crab cakes. Shrimp cocktail every night. Melting chocolate cake. Lobster tail and shrimp. Salmon. It was ridiculous. Food, food and more food. We loved it.

This was the "Midnight Gala Buffet". Serious eye candy. In fact, they had an hour where you could just photograph it - not eat it. So we did that. And then conked out and missed the actual eating part! Lame.

We did eat some lovely tuxedo strawberries, though. Aren't they cute?

If This Boat's A Rockin'...

Does anyone else think it's hilarious that we accidentally ordered a bunk bed room for our 10th anniversary cruise??? My oh my, I had a good laugh about it. Chris didn't mind. He got more space on the top bunk than he usually does on his perch in our king-sized bed. Plus, he wasn't within kicking distance of me, so he could snore without getting booted. Although he still got yelled at.

We loved the towel creations our room steward left us every night. I even bought the book, so I can learn to do it at home. For real, I really bought it. I really will buy anything...

Sailing Away...

I've had the Travis song "Sailing Away" in my head all day long. {Click here to see/hear a decent recording of that tune, one of my favorites, from their Austin show last year!} Yeah baby, tomorrow is the big day! We're hitting the high seas. I plan on pigging out and laying around. Anything else will just be a bonus.

Happy week/weekend to you all. I'll be back next week...

To Drink-Card or Not To Drink-Card

One of the "tough" questions I'm facing as I get ready for our cruise next week is whether or not to buy a "drink-card". It's not that I'm a crazy soda-guzzler, but it does sound convenient to have my drinks pre-paid. But I've never been on a cruise before. So to those that have, should I get the drink card or not? Are the single drinks affordable enough to just get a couple a day? Is water easily accessible?

And while we're at it, how about some packing tips, or just general cruising tips? Because this is my favorite topic of discussion at the moment. I'd love to get some input...

Budding Artist

Maya drew this picture to give to Minnie Mouse when we met her at Disneyland. Have I mentioned that I adore that girl?!

A 100 Percent Cottam Travelblog

I think it's pretty well-known that I have a lot to say. I can {and do} go on...and on...and on. And coverage of Disneyland can {and has} lasted for days...and days...and days. And I don't want to bore you. But I do want to record all of these precious {to me} memories.

So. I bring you 100 Percent Travel, my brand spankin' new travelblog, if you will. It even has its own button! Go ahead, click that bad boy up there and you'll be magically transported over to non-stop vacation coverage. {Don't worry, there's a return-click button over there on the other side, too. Roundtrip travel - no sweat!}

This is really more for posterity than for anyone's amusement {aside from my own}. But if you don't mind excruciating details, my opinion being stated as fact, and outrageous quantities of photos of my children, come on over!

{Because really, it doesn't sound much different than this blog, now does it?}

Quite A Character...{A Bunch of 'Em!}

We've returned from our trip to the Happiest Place on Earth...and, as usual, it truly was! We had an amazing time! Of course, the best part is always the characters, and they were everywhere! Here's a peek at who we were hugging on at Disneyland.

Mason was ecstatic to see Minnie. He about flipped his lid. Maya loved Chip & Dale best. The Princesses didn't thrill her as much this time around, which, considering the high price tag on the Princess Lunch, was sort of disappointing. But it did mean we didn't have to stand in that outrageous "Meet the Princess" line! :)

The Minnie Breakfast, though, was a HUGE hit! It was so much fun and the food was really excellent. I could go for a big ol' plate of that bacon right now. With a side of ham. Of course, I've never met a breakfast meat that I didn't like...

We saw Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey, Lunar New Year Minnie, Year of a Thousand Dreams Goofy, but Maya liked it best when it was the "real" Mickey, Minnie and Goofy! They were lots and lots of fun, that is for sure!

See You Real Soon!

Winner! Winner! Winner!

Lucky first commenter Harlene won the Mickey Ears giveaway, so says the Random Integer Generator! A pair of "Bubba" ears will be coming her way when I return from the Happiest Place on Earth!

Thank you to everyone who played along - and thanks especially for all of the great tips! Can't wait to put them to good use...

Have a great week, everyone!

{Harlene - e-mail me your address and I'll send you your ears as soon as I get back...}

Reminder * Don't Forget * Reminder

Don't forget to enter my Mickey Ears contest by commenting on that post before 10pm Sunday.

Seriously. I'll be brokenhearted if you don't.

The "Natalie Went to Disneyland and All I Got Was These Lousy Ears" Giveaway

We leave Monday for out Disneyland trip. Can I just tell you that I'm practically tap dancing with anticipation?! I can't wait!

So I figured this was the perfect opportunity for a 100 Percent Cottam giveaway. I'll take the trip. You get the souvenir! How this for a prize? Your own personalized Mickey Ears!

Just leave a comment on this post between now and Sunday night at 10pm and you're entered! Here's what I need to know. First - your Disneyland tips and must-dos, if you have any. {This is only our second trip, after all! Input is needed!} Second - what you'd like your hat to say. Sure, your name is a great choice. But how does "Domestic Goddess" sound? Or "Domestically Disabled", in my case. Or a favorite nickname, perhaps. HoJo. Big Daddy. Mr. Wonderful. Your hat - your choice! And third - let me know if you already have the standard Mickey ears or another set. Maybe I'll choose Princess Minnie ears for you {Maya's pick}. Or pirate ears {too cute}. But I don't want to duplicate what you already have...so let me know!

So that's it! Tell your friends and join in the fun!