Florida Vacay: Random Condo Cuteness

There were too many random cute moments from our time in the condo, so I just kind of lumped them all together!

The condo was equipped with a lanai where we spent lots of time drinking morning coffee, playing cards and it served as a good place for the kids to play - and it was a great place to have Daddy read to you:
Most mornings the kids had some chill time either watching cartoons, playing Leapsters, or coloring:
Sean must have been the story-telling specialist (or maybe it's just because the ladies love him):
One night we played a friendly game of Euchre. I had to include this shot to show off my lovely color I picked up at the beach:
Cute kids and their pie:
There was a very nice pool at Sarah's grandparents' condo that we had all to ourselves!

Florida Vacay: The Beach

Our first full day in Florida was spent on the beach. It had been years since Sean and I had been to a beach and it was the kids' first time ever - a very special time.

The kids LOVED the beach! The water was still chilly, but we got at least ankle deep and the kids loved just running, jumping, and playing. It was strange - yet wonderful - to be sitting on a beach in February! Sean and I decided it might not be that bad of an idea to retire somewhere warm...

Pretty blue skies!
Ava and Laney burying Nick:
Momma and her cute little beach babies:
BFFs:
Ava practicing for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition cover shot:
The one thing that Aidan said he wanted to do on the beach was to make a sand castle. Daddy was happy to help make that happen:
Probably one of the best pics of the kids together ever taken:

Florida Vacay: The Flight There

Not only was this vacation a special one because we were taking the kids to the beach and Disney World for the first time, the kids also got to fly for the first time (much to Mommy's chagrin). Although I must admit, a 2 1/2 hour flight trumped the 20+ hour car ride it would have been.

Santa bought the kids these cool carry-on bags and boy did they get compliments on them! They were the perfect size and the kids looked like pros carting them through the airports. As far as going through security goes, I had heard all these horror stories about going through the line with kids, but ours went through it with flying colors! (on the way to Florida...another story for on the way back home - more to come)

We went to Florida with our good friends Nick, Sarah, and their girls Emma, Delaney, and Claire - a few of the kids BFFs. We were on he same flight going down so I snapped this cute pic of the buddies before the flight:

Do you think she looks excited? She was great on her first flight - especially if you forget about the fact that she threw up about halfway through. That was the result of gobbling up too many treats that Mommy and Daddy packed to keep them occupied along with downing her apple juice in about 30 seconds. God must have been looking out for us, because the lady on the other side of Ava was a preschool teacher...she wasn't grossed out or annoyed at all. In fact she felt bad and said she wished she could have done more. Huh? I didn't think this politeness still existed!!

And our other travel pro. This little man loved him the window seat and looking at all the cool stuff below. He also passed the time coloring with Mommy and playing with his Leapster. His only setback? Popping ears during landing. He handled it pretty well though - it was literally the only time he whined the entire flight. and who can blame him?

His tongue out means he is really concentrating...

Stinkers.

Sunday morning when Sean was doing his best to shovel the 5+ inches of snow paired with about an inch of ice, and Mommy was doing laundry and dishes, the kids decided to play hide and seek. I was "it" and in between my housework I was either counting or trying to find them.

During one round when I was looking for them, I heard some muffled giggling coming from Aidan's room but there were no kids in sight. I came to find out they were both hiding under Aidan's toddler bed!

Here's the progression unfolding:

Dang it. Sometimes they are so stinkin' cute and funny I can't even talk about it :)

Happy Birthday Uncle Drew

This past weekend we celebrated Uncle Drew turning the big 1-7 at Dave & Buster's. It was our first time there, but we had lots of fun playing silly games and winning tickets. So weird to know little Drew-Boo is getting ready to pick his college and what he wants to study. I still like to think of him as the cute little 2 1/2 year old he was when I met him (so, he's aged 14 1/2 years, but I of course have stayed the same age...)

Ava thought Daddy needed some accessorizin':

Daddy and Aidan fighting bad guys in the superhero game:

Ava admiring her youngest uncle's shooting skills:

Sean and this dang jump-roping game. He won this at an arcade a year or so ago and won over 600 tickets. The last two times he was one jump away from the big jackpot (he only walked away with 300 this time):

Double air-hockey action with Aunt Ashley and Uncle Ross:

One of my faves:

Uncle Ross and Aunt Ashley showing Ava how to play the coin-drop game:

The kids and their booty:

I was there too! One of the two pics in which I appeared:

Over It.

I'm over it. I'm done. I usually don't mind "some" snow, but this winter has gone way too far. We have more than received our share of freezing cold, ice, and snow, and it's time for it to GO AWAY. And if it won't, well then we will (and we will, in TWO WEEKS).

This was our deck after the latest round of snow. Just to give you an idea, the table top and picnic table top had zero snow on it Friday night when we went to bed (although they did have about 1/4 inch of ice):
It looks pretty...

...if I can sit inside my house and just look at it...

But, I'd rather dig my toes into this powdery white stuff and enjoy upper-70/low-80 degree temps. In exactly TWO WEEKS we're headin' south for the winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Votes Are In!

It was a pretty tight contest, but in the end, the majority has decided that it's OK for us to have the harness option for Aidan at Disney World. Again, please keep in mind we don't plan to walk him like a dog all over the place - only use it more as a threat should he decide to become difficult.

For those of you who voted "no", I noticed you didn't leave your thoughts as to why ;) Only kidding. But, if you do have a better suggestion, we'd love to hear it (and we need more than, "just don't have one").

And for those of you who didn't love the plush puppy backpack option, my friend "work Jenny" found this other option with a removable strap, that looks like a normal backpack. I think we plan to add this to our repertoire. We'll let you know how it goes!