Headed Home

These pics pretty much sum up how our plane ride home went...both kids napped for a bit and overall the flight was pretty uneventful besides a bit of turbulence and Carson having to make an emergency trip to the bathroom during the roughest part of our flight shortly before we landed. We had an awesome time in Florida and are so proud of the kids - they did GREAT the whole trip!! Thanks so much Jim & Julie for having us!!

That's all folks!

Florida: Day 7

Well we spent our last full day (3.31.09) in Florida the best way we could...at the beach. We had a little bit of a lazy morning but eventually got to the beach. The kids were lovin' it and so were we. Peyton was much more adventurous than she'd been the last time we were at the beach and actually let us take her out in the water. The other day she'd just let the water wash up over her feet and wasn't real thrilled about going much further in than that. I took her out after we ate lunch (great timing, I know...with a tummy full of hot dog & chips) and we did some "wave surfing"...basically that amounted to her yelling "JUMP!!!" every time a wave came, so we'd jump and she'd laugh like it was the funniest thing EVER. We spent a good 30-40 minutes out in the water and it sure was fun to have some time just her and I!

Meanwhile Carson and Daddy were busy playing in the sand. We came back to find Carson buried up to his waist in the sand. He thought he was pretty hot stuff! We spent a while walking up and down the beach finding shells both for ourselves and some for a few friends. Carson was my shell-hunting buddy. As we left the beach Carson said, "Bye beach, thanks for playing with us!".

After a full day at the beach Chad's mom insisted that we hit up Build-A-Bear on our way home. It was a bit of challenge because the kids were wiped, but we managed to get in and out of there pretty quickly. Carson picked a T-Rex and named his "Rex" - very original. And Peyton picked a pink teddy bear that had heart-shaped polka dots. She chose the name "Pink" for her bear. It was fun for the kids to be able to pick out a special stuffed animal to take home with them.

Once we got home from the beach and Build-A-Bear we grabbed some dinner at Bob Evans (Chad's very first time there - what a milestone!!) and then we headed back to pack up everything. We spent the rest of the evening packing and gathering up all our junk.

Florida: Day 6

Today (3.30.09) was an action-packed day!! We started out the day by going for a walk over the bridge to feed the ducks bread chunks that they love so much. Then we hopped in the car and headed to the Everglades Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs. What a COOL place!! We weren't sure what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised. They had so many cool animals to look at and fun things to do! The kids got to pet a baby gator, feed deer, watch an alligator feeding (where they just threw big chunks of raw meat into the water and the gators would fight over who got to gobble it up), and the best part according to Peyton was the little show that Molly the otter put on for us. She was a riot to watch!

Once we finished up at the Wonder Gardens we went to The Silver Spoon for lunch - they have YUMMY food!! This was when we celebrated Chad & Carson's birthdays, too, so they got a big fatty dessert to share. It was enormous and cleanup involved MANY wipes...and not just for Carson! :)

After lunch we headed to a really nice playground at one of the malls nearby, then it was back to Grandpa & Grandma's condo where we spent the afternoon in the pool. Seriously, I think our kids are part fish - they enjoy the water SO much. It was fun to see them getting more and more "daring" in the water as they became more comfortable with being there. We swam our little hearts out until it was dinner time, then headed inside for a quick bath. Everyone slept GREAT after our busy day!!

Florida: Day 5

Well, today (3.29.09) was our one and only day where there was some rain. It started out overnight continued on and off throughout the day up until about 1:15pm. Of course this happened to be the day Chad and I had tickets for the Twins game, but oh well. We spent the morning hanging around Chad's parents place playing with the kids, then headed down to the stadium with our umbrellas in hand. With it raining there were LOTS of people outside the stadium trying to get rid of tickets. Chad worked his bargaining magic and scored us seats in the 7th row right behind home plate - pretty sweet!! We sat in the rain for about two hours waiting for the game to start. Thankfully the people sitting around us were great to talk to, so at least we were in good company while we sat waiting. And it was actually pretty warm out, so the rain was just more annoying than anything. The first pitch was finally thrown out at 3pm. They played the Cardinals, so that was fun to watch! Obviously the Twins won because they're rock stars!!! We ended up getting home just in time to go to dinner with the rest of the fam and then headed back to the condo to put the kids down a little early.

Florida: Day 4

Today we decided to check out a new water park that just opened a few miles away in Cape Coral. It was SO much fun!!! There were a lot of things for younger kids to do, and then Mr. No Fear Carson decided the kiddie areas were too boring for him and wanted to go on some of the biggest slides there - The Electric Slide & Power Surge. So I made the trek up to the top of this humongous platform carrying a double tube and helping Carson up all the stairs. As we left the top platform Carson giggle his little head off the WHOLE way down. The second our tube came shooting out at the bottom he was yelling "LET'S GO AGAIN!!!". So not only will I have a tan when I get home, I'll have calves of STEEL from climbing up 5,000 stairs about 10 times today.

We ended up not staying super long at the water park because Peyton broke out in a weird rash - not sure if it was from the heat or if her skin didn't respond well to the sunscreen, but we figured we better get her home and into the bath to soak before she got worse. But we got in a little over 3 hours of waterpark fun!! Both kids zonked out in the car on the way home - perfect! Then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing at Grandma & Papa's place. We went to a fun 50s Diner for dinner and headed home to get the kids in bed at a decent hour.

Tomorrow there's a chance of rain in the morning, then Chad and I are headed to the Twins game - hopefully the rain is done by then!!

Florida: Day 3

So much to do, so little time!! Today (3.27.09) we started out the day by going out to feed the ducks by the pond outside of Grandpa & Grandma's Florida house. Carson kept chasing all the various birds, yelling "STOP! I've got food for you!!!". He didn't quite understand that they were scared of him. Next we headed down to Hammond Stadium to watch the Twins warm up before the game. They've got an amazing play area there out in the middle of the practice fields - it's covered with a canopy and everything! While we were playing, Carson saw some firetrucks pull up into the parking lot. He kept asking if we could go look at them, so I finally gave in. As he and I walked over to the trucks, one of the firemen yelled "Wanna sit in the truck little buddy?". So we walked right up to the trucks and one of the firemen hopped out of the passenger side and stuck Carson up in the truck. He had the BIGGEST grin on his face!! Then the driver told me to hop up in there with him and they'd give us a ride. So we got a ride in a REAL firetruck around the stadium at Spring Training - talk about a dream come true for Carson!! I didn't mind it myself, either. :)

While Carson and I were riding around in our firetruck, Peyton and Grandma Julie were still busy playing at the playground while Daddy and Papa Jim were off getting autographs. Once we finished up at the stadium we grabbed a bite to eat and headed home for naps. The kids both took much needed naps and then we had a scrumptious ham dinner that Grandma Julie made us. After dinner we headed to the Shell Factory where the kids got to pick out a few special shells to take home with them. Then we headed outside to feed the ducks and once it got dark we got to see the Waltzing Waters light show. We weren't sure what to expect, but it was actually really cool! I'm not sure what the kids enjoyed more - the light show or putting on a show dancing to the music down in front of the bleachers for everyone. Another action-packed day!!

Florida: Day 2

Today (3.26.09) we headed to the beach. The kids loved it - big surprise, I know. Carson thought "surfing the waves" (i.e. Chad holding him while the big waves crashed into them out in the "deep" water) was great, and Peyton was happy just getting her feet wet and digging in the sand. We had two tired babies after spending a good chunk of the day there. Then on our way home we hit the best ice cream place on earth - The Royal Scoop. Yummy!!

Viva Las Vegas!!!!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted...we've had a busy past few weeks. Chad and I took our first trip away without the kids. We went to Vegas to celebrate our 7th anniversary and we had a BLAST! It's amazing how much easier it is to sightsee and relax when you don't have little munchkins at your side. We flew out early on June 25th and returned late June 28th. Chad's parents stayed at our house with the kids and they claim everything went fine, although a little birdie told us that Carson pulled his usual insomniac routine for Grandma and had a couple days where he decided it was time to get up and start the day at 4:30am. Ouch!

While we were in Vegas we stayed at Treasure Island. The first two days we pretty much ran non-stop up and down the strip just wandering and checking out everything there was to see. On Wednesday night we went to the Cirque De Soleil show "O" at the Bellagio. It was amazing! (as it should be with the price of the tickets!!!) We met some great people on our trip and had a wonderful time reconnecting, which we really needed! Thanks Grandpa & Grandma for taking care of the kids while we were gone...we owe you! : )

Here are some random pictures from our trip. There is one of our hotel, one of the Bellagio light/fountain show from the top of the Eifel Tower at sunset, one of Chad's friend he ran into in the lobby of one of the hotels, one of Aimee sitting on the lap of her new Vegas boyfriend, and one of Chad and I in front of one of the enormous statues that were part of the fountains all over the inside of the malls there. Enjoy!