Florida 2023

 Our trek to Florida has came and went. Whhhhyyyyyyyyyyyy does it always go So. Fast. Huh?????? Anyway, we started by meeting my parents half way and sending Tanner home with them. He may have liked Florida, but we liked it way better without him. Maybe next year, buddy! 

We drove through the night and the kids did great. A little melatonin never hurt anyone.😉 We couldn't get into our place until 4:00 in the afternoon so we had some time to kill. We decided to check out Disney Springs which was fine, but now crossed off our list. Maybe with a little more planning and a little more sleep it would be better. But it was fun to see the LEGO store at least.

Then we just got bored and really tired and it was time to go to our house anyway.

We've always gone to Ft. Myers Beach, but Hurricane Ivan brought that to a screeching halt. My SIL found a house in the Orlando area that could accommodate all of us and had some really cool stuff! So while we missed FMB, this was a really great backup plan!

Hours were spent in the ninja room...

...and in the arcade room! Including an epic battle between a few grown ups on the basketball arcade game:) I was not a serious competitor as my personal best was nowhere near the high score. I'm sure that comes as shocking news to you all.

There were three theme bedrooms in the house and our kids were thrilled to be able to sleep in the Mario themed room. There was also a pirate room and a Candy Land room.

We visited the world's largest McDonald's where we ordered pizza, pasta, and some yummy chocolate cake and cheesecake!

These birds were not afraid of humans and camped our right in front of the house!

And swimming. Lots and lots and lots of swimming.

Summer, especially, was a little fish. She would start right after breakfast and go until bedtime, taking breaks only for food if we would let her go that long.

Oh, and she also was introduced to the beautiful pastime of reading by the pool.

Last year at FMB I decided to buy a hat to help shade my face and to keep my scalp from getting burnt. It came with a t shirt that I had all the girls in the family pick a number to win. So this year on our non FMB vacation, we had to model our apparel:)

We spent one afternoon at Clearwater Beach. The water was cooooooold!

Aunt Cassie had the kids all help her make this super cool sand dolphin!

Popsicles at the clubhouse pool!

One night we made up a buddy system for the kids and all the adults went out for seafood. The older kids successfully got the kids fed and entertained with a movie while we enjoyed our time out.

So much good cousin time:)

Finally it was time to reunite with our bubby. I think he had a fine time with grandpa and grandma:)

It was a little rougher of a drive on the way back home. Not bad, but we had to stop and switch out drivers a lot more after a week of late nights and sunshine. We were pretty thankful to pull into our driveway late Saturday afternoon!

Until next time, Florida. Until next time.

The End Is Near!! (The End of Winter)

 Well we've all but made it through the winter season. Officially anyway. But we all know that sometimes here in the Midwest we still have snow days in April, which is just plain wrong. However, we fill up our days with some mundane and some extra stuff that's not mundane and here we are!

Summer took great delight in dressing up Tanner like a little old lady.  I mean, I didn't blame her:)

Guess who figured out the reverse camera on my phone?

Tucker in particular is quite fond of it.

A visit to the doctor in jammies while carrying a puke bowl. But the hope of medicine and a popsicle to soothe the strep made all the difference in the world:)

We've loved trading babysitting days with these friends!

Date night: round one. And after three weeks of no sweets because of our current health challenge we're on (which is aaaaaaallllllllllmost over!), Crumbl Cookie tasted pretty good!

Summer could play in the snow for hours.  She drags her brothers along, and one of them discovered that when mom actually gets the appropriate clothing and boots, it's not so bad!

A lot of times I'll sit on my bed during afternoon rest time while Tucker does his in the living room. Tanner does not believe in naps anymore and while I try to somewhat enforce a rest time for him, I usually end up with a little visitor a lot sooner than what I'm really ready for.

Date night: round two. We go in spurts and it's either feast or famine with date nights. But we do what we can when we can! And also we escaped. With the help of a lot of hints.

I guess just a quick 20 minute winter walk is the trick to get him to nap.

After watching the circus, Summer made her own circus. She loves to sculpt and wiki stix have fallen into the category of things she can sculpt and mold with.

The best way ever to fill up a winter weekend with no plans: the local hotel!

After asking to "do spowts" for a very long time, Sawyer's dream finally came true.  He loved playing basketball at the Y this winter and is ready and waiting for next year!

And speaking of "spowts", I was rooting for the Chiefs this year, simply because we have friends in Kansas who are big fans. Sawyer informed me he was rooting for the Eagles. Which he did the whole way through until the very end when it was clear that the Chiefs would win. Then he quickly switched loyalties. Learning how to lose well is a work in progress!

I helped with the class Valentine's party this year and took a couple extra buddies with me. 

At home for Valentine's day we had a jello slurping contest. Along with ravioli with red sauce and chocolate covered strawberries. And that was the extent of our celebration!

One day at the library I watched as Tanner put the turtle together with no help and about dropped my jaw. But after some experimentation I think it's the only puzzle he can do.

Sunday night family outing to walk around the mall.  Too bad we are out of touch and had no idea that it closed at 6:00 on Sunday nights. It was pretty short but sweet!

Another winter walk; this time along Lake Michigan on a girl's getaway weekend. The ab workout for the weekend came from laughing.

A quick pic on a gorgeous and unseasonably warm day with my girl:)

Crazy hair for Dr. Suess day!

I spy some cute little toes. It's a good thing winter is almost over because our wardrobe is just limping along. But I think we'll make it without having to buy anything until next year!

When you have to take gather all your dear children for a trip to get your haircut. They did great until the very end at which point the stylist was very willingly helping me gather both my things and my dear children:)

A quick trip to IL where Summer became an eager learner with a hammer and nails.  We now have a stack of nailed together 2x4s in our house that I'm just not sure what to do with.

Again with the wiki stix scenes.

And again with the reverse camera.

Not pictured is our 9th anniversary! We had plans to go out but we cancelled on one sitter when their mom got sick and then our back up sitter had to cancel because she got sick! It was nasty weather outside so I was more than content to just stay home. But we never did get an official anniversary picture. Oops!

We got hit with the stomach bug. Again. And are praying for the Lord's mercies that the second half of us go unscathed. And feeling a little anxious about it all. So....

Philippians 4:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."