St. Augustine afternoon

Whenever we go down to Night of Lights, in St. Augustine each November, we ALWAYS say "Let's come back and see the Christmas lights again when it isn't so crowded!"  We love the tradition, and the kick-off of the holiday festivities, but we don't reallly get to SEEE the lights - because there are so many people, and we're focused on trying not to lose our children!

So this year, we finally went back down to see the lights before they came down at the end of January. First stop was Project SWING.  This is a playground that Eric and I helped BUILD, way back when (ha ha) in college.  The kiddos had a TON of fun - it's a really great playground!  It was absolutely FREEZING the day we went, and windy, and cloudy.  But it was worth it!

After that, we had dinner at a little British pub that we had NEVER been to, we walked around downtown, and enjoyed the Christmas lights one last time for the season.  

These two . . .

 (Please note the fabulous smears of peanut butter across Tanner's cheeks.)

 (I love how Tanner is looking to see what the heck Bryce is doing!)

It's tough to be this strong, and this AWESOME!

oh look, there went january!

 because I'm neurotic, I'll be post dating these lovely much-delayed updates to the blog, so that the dates will be right, when we go back and look at them 5 years from now :)

On the last day of Winter Break, and Eric's first day away on his trip, Bryce went with Gigi and Doobie, and Lizzie, to the Gator Bowl.  It was one of the few pretty chilly days we've had, so he went PREPARED for a blustery game! 

And Tanner stayed behind with me, and rode his brother's scooter. . . .because after all, he thinks he's seven years old, and not two.

Christmas 1 and Christmas 2 and Christmas 3!

Last week we spent a few days in Fort Myers, just me and the boys (poor Eric had to stay and work). We celebrated Christmas with my parents and Annie Grannie, complete with the Tomaino traditional Christmas dinner (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, veggies, and sweet potatoes . . .and of COURSE my dad's apple pie, and my mom's pumpkin pie!)

 (Um, just HOW dirty could Tanner's face be!? Yikes!)

 Bryce has wanted this Lego set, The Battle of Endor, for SOOOO long.  He was completely thrilled to get it from Annie Grannie!

 Big hugs followed, after THAT gift!

 What fun would a giant box be if you didn't fill it with paper and climb in!? 

 And what fun would that giant box be if you didn't dump it out all over the floor and swim in the paper?

 We had lunch at Bass Pro Shop, and visited with Santa there.  Then the boys (all THREE of them) had to climb on all the 4 wheelers and boats out front, because well. . .boys WILL be BOYS.

We also went to see Frosty The Snowman, on stage at the Broadway Palm dinner theater, which was lots of fun! The boys really liked it! :)  We had a great time in Fort Myers.  Tanner's highlight of the trip, was that it was garbage day while we were there, so he had the privilege of helping Poppy take 6 cans of yard waste out to the corner.  He was THRILLED beyond explanation.  (I just don't get that kid!?) :) 

After a long car ride home, we finished getting ready for Christmas. . . 

 On Christmas Eve, on our way out to church! Eric preached at the 5:30 children's service, and he was dressed like a shepherd! I should have taken my camera!!! :)

 2nd Christmas. . .the actual Christmas morning, at our house.  Santa was ever-faithful and brought goodies for everyone!  Bryce got Pokemon cards (against Santa's better judgement!) Nerf guns (against Santa's better judgement) and a new Wii game.  Tanner got a keyboard that looks like a kitty, a puzzle, and a new Wii game (which is technically for EVERYONE!) ;)  Bryce's big gift from us is a fish tank.  Tomorrow we are going to go to the pet store and Bryce can pick out some Glo Fish, which he has wanted for like TWO years.  (The whole idea sort of disgusts me, but I've made it clear I am NOT cleaning the fish tank, or scooping out dead fish, or doing much of anything to deal with it!) But it has a cool black light in the tank, to make the fish "glow" and it makes a terrific night light in Bryce's room.  Tanner's "big" gift from us is a garbage truck from Toy Story.  He loves it!

 So after we celebrated at our house, the REAL chaos began. . .at Nana's house.  The explosion of gifts of every shape and size, and more goodies than you can count!  I hardly took any pictures, because I was in the thick of it :)  But much fun was had, and many treats were consumed.  Tanner ate enough M&M's over the course of the day to sink a ship.

 Here's Tanner with a cool jeep he got, long after the craziness had calmed and been cleaned up!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

xoxo

bryce's birthday shindigs!

Some pictures from Bryce's actual birthday, plus pictures from our celebration with eric's family out at the condo. . .

Opening presents - and yes, Tanner DOES have tears all over his face.  He was having a little "But why isn't it MY birthday?!" tantrum.  Bryce was very sweet and let Tanner help open some gifts :)

 One of the favorite gifts. . .whatever it is.  Some sort of Star Wars vehicle. . .tie-fighter maybe? I don't know.  I leave the Star Wars stuff to the boys.  (giggle giggle!)

 Another popular gift. . . two boxes of miscellaneous Bionicle pieces, to go with his Bionicles and Hero Factory guys.  It was a great consignment sale find, a few months ago. . .I knew he would go nuts when he saw it! (and he did!)

 His birthday meal request: subs from Subway, and a double doozie cookie from Publix.

 Delicious!

 Last night we celebrated with Eric's family, and Bryce's dessert request was a giant cupcake-cake with blue frosting. (I hate blue frosting, but his wish is my command!)

 Bryce and Whit,  . . ..giggling about sweets and treats?

 Lots of new Legos, and games to add to our collection! And some great new clothes, a cozy pair of fuzzy Crocs, (and some underwear! Giggle giggle!)

Thanks to SO many of you, who made Bryce's 7th birthday super special!!!! And now, we can FINALLY move on to CHRISTMAS!!! ;)

Day 4 LegoLand

This is probably what you've REALLY been waiting for. . .something all new and different! LEGOLAND! 

We have been waiting and waiting and WAITING to go to the brand new LegoLand.  It's about 45 minutes from Disney, but it wasn't too bad of a drive.  The boys LOVED it! It's much more laid back than the Disney Parks, and  there is a lot of interactive and PLAY activities to do.

Bryce got his "drivers license" there. . .but Tanner was content to drive a non-moving car!

 We also drove boats, and a Lego firetruck.  

 There were lots of crazy contraptions, like these flying machines, that you had to pedal. . .

 And wild boats that went round and round.  (We had fun on the shore, blasting Eric and Bryce with water canons!)

 My classy boys trying to pick Einstein's nose.  Awesome.

 Going up up up, and down down down, with Poppy! They had to pull themselves up with the ropes! (Poppy got a good workout in!)

 In the Lego Miniland, they had Las Vegas, New York City, Cape Canaveral. . .AND St. Augustine! It was fun seeing our home away from home made out of Legos.  No Flagler College, but the big building in the center of this photo is the Lightner Museum, right across the street from Flagler.

 Bryce went jousting on a Lego horse, and then played on the gigantic playground in the background of this picture.  (Thankfully this was during nap time, because Tanner was just a little too small to ride these horses, but he TOTALLY would have wanted to!)

 Safari ride with Poppy! Bryce rode once with Mimi and once with Poppy.  (Thankfully the lines were not long!)

 Beep beep!

 How FUNNY is Bryce's face!? He is such a ham! I love that kid!

 Very cool that the ambulance had sound effects. . .sound effects that were very much TOO LOUD!

 Ummm. . .I don't think the cage is keeping Tanner in OR out! :)

 Tanner loved the Duplo area, with the giant barn and playground!

 Star Wars!

 LegoLand was a LOT of fun.  We would definitely like to go back. . .especially once Tanner grows about 2 inches, and then he will be able to go on a lot more rides!!!