First Pool Party

Clay will be 10 months old tomorrow! We can't believe how time flies.
I bought a 'Paradise Lagoon' (inflatable pool) at WalMart on Monday and today Jer and I inflated it and partially filled it with water. We actually filled it with hose water initially, but I stepped in it and seriously could not feel my feet after 30 seconds in the water. I didn't think Clay would like that at all, so we came up with an awesomely ghetto way to fill the pool with warm water. First, we emptied out all the icy hose water. Next, we put the pool under the kitchen window and popped out the screen. Then we used the screen to hold up the kitchen sink faucet as it sent hot water into the pool. Nice. Here's some swimming video and pictures. Notice the ghetto set-up in the last two pics.

Video!

SYTYCD: 16 Dancers

Kherington and Twitch: Hip Hop
I totally enjoyed this routine - I liked the whole 'prison break' concept - cute! I also liked that they lip-synched some of the words of the song. It was way fun.

Courtney and Gev: Rumba
What's with the half-dresses? Last week Kherington had half a dress on, too. Weird. I guess the dancing was good. Meh.

Comfort and Chris: Jazz
Ummm... all right? I hated the song.

Jessica and Will: Disco
Disco is such a hit and miss genre... I'm not sure if I liked this one or not. It seemed like they forgot some choreography at one point. I don't think I like Jessica very much. Will is a cutie, but Jessica seems like a dope. She should get the boot and he should get a better partner.

Kourtni and Matt: Contemporary
Okay... how freaky was that choreographer?? I did think the routine was fun, though. They danced well.

Chelsea and Thayne: Quickstep
I forgot about this variety of dance. I think it's my least favorite style. Yep. I guess it was okay?
P.S. I loved the song they danced to last week - "Untouched" by The Veronicas - I ended up buying it on iTunes.

Chelsie and Mark: Hip Hop
I got goosebumps during this routine. I think they're my favorites.

Katee and Joshua: Samba
What?! Another friggin' half dress?? Her hair looked really awesome. Pretty good routine. I liked it. I like them as a partnership. Even though Katee's still not my favorite person.

Bottom three prediction for this week: Chelsea and Thayne, Jessica and Will, Comfort and Chris. Who I think should actually go home: Jessica and Thayne or Chris (they are very similar to me, either one could go).

Thursday:
Shoot. Kourtni and Matt instead of Jessica and Will... Now I have no idea who the judges will cut. I'll have to see their solos first to guess.
Thayne picks good songs for his solos. Comfort is good - they'll keep her. I think Thayne's dancing was better than Chris'. Kourtni was better than Chelsea. Matt's was way cool.
Okay, I'd say that Chelsea and Chris should go. And the judges pick...
Chelsea and Chris!!! I rule! Good choices. They had the poorest solos, for sure.

Clayton Milestones and The Host

So, while Jer and I were in Cancun and in the few days we've been back, Clay has hit a few more milestones in his little life.
Firstly, the day we came home (June 21st) is actually the day he started to crawl! Since then he has been perfecting the motion. He gets up on his toes instead of his knees half the time. Now I really have to keep an eye on him! Today, in the living room, he crawled over to the bookcase and pulled all the video cassettes off the bottom shelf. He had a blast doing it, too! I'll be sure to get it all on video soon and post it.
Also, he can now go from lying down position to sitting up position all by himself! That's quite a talent and gives him a lot more freedom when he's playing on the floor.
Thirdly, Clayton is now completely proficient at picking up Cheerios, Kix, etc and shoving them into his awaiting mouth. However many are put in front of him that's how many he'll fit into his mouth! I'll add updated Clay videos by the end of the week.

So, while on vacation in Cancun I had plenty of time to read Stephenie Meyer's new book, 'The Host'. It came out May 6th, but I saved it to read while on vacation and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Instead of vampires this time Meyer has written about aliens who take over human bodies like parasites. Cool. This story has the same easy flow as the 'Twilight' series, so if you liked those books, you'll definitely like 'The Host'. Read it!

Cancun in Videos

Creepy crawly in the forest of Coba.

Sea Lions

Petting Dolphins

Dolphins Talking

Dolphins Splashing

Foot Push

Dolphin Spinning

Dolphins Jumping

Amber and Melanie dancing before a show.

Our hotel room.

SYTYCD: Top 18

Is it just me or is Mary getting oranger every week?

Chelsea and Thayne: Jazz
I hated Chelsea's outfit. I didn't think there was much to this routine. Boring. I agreed with the judges - no chemistry. Ha - Nigel just said he hated their clothes, too.

Chelsie and Mark: Argentine Tango
Ow! How did her toe pop out? She has a tiny pinky toe. I enjoyed the routine, overall.

Jessica and Will: Hip Hop
They weren't together all the time. I liked the choreography. They were all right for me. I agreed that Jessica is a weaker than Will.

Kourtni and Matt: Foxtrot
I liked that a lot - I totally believed they lived in the time of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, etc. The lifts were cool. And that one fall she did - that takes trust!
P.S. Jamie- your hair would look cool like that!

Courtney and Gev: Contemporary
That was really good. I thought they had a lot of chemistry.

Katee and Joshua: Broadway
I don't like Broadway very much, but they had tons of energy and really killed it. I don't like Katee very much, but she's been dancing really well.

Susie and Marquis: Salsa
She was very stiff. There wasn't enough fluidity in the routine for me. The turns and spins looked like they were overthinking them. Not good.

Kherington and Twitch: Viennese Waltz
I hate Celine Dion. One side of Kherington was naked - that dress was weird. I thought the dancing was nice. It looked more contemporary than waltzy to me.
Jamie - your hair would look cute like hers, too.

Comfort and Chris: Krump
Half the song was bleeped out. I didn't see any real krumping - looked like normal hip-hop to me, but what do I know? She was obviously better than him in this style, but he pulled it off. All in all it felt way too soft for krumping.

Okay, my guesses for the bottom three are: Susie and Marquis, Chelsea and Thayne, Comfort and Chris. And now I'll watch the kick-off show and see if I'm right!

I'm right! I swear I didn't peek - I'm just a really good guesser. :-)
I wouldn't mind seeing Susie and Marquis both going - I'm about to find out.
Yup, right about Susie. See ya.
And also right about Marquis. Hmm.. they kicked off couples two weeks in a row. Interesting.

I'm excited for tomorrow's show!!

Cancun in Pictures (In no particular order)

Jenny broke her pinkie toe on Tuesday - it didn't slow her down, though!


Pictures of the resort: Barceló Maya

Dolphin Discovery: The sidewalk had fake brain coral - cool!

See the crabs?

Sea Lions!

Swimming in the Cenote (underground freshwater spring):

Coba - Ancient Ruins:

Bug!

Lizard on the Resort:

Flower

Bananas - Yum!

So, that was it - my camera battery died in Tulum, but I'm getting pics from everyone else's cameras soon and then I'll post some more pictures. We had a great time!

I'll post my videos soon.