more from fort myers

after we got back from new jersey, we spent a few more days in fort myers. we took bryce to Lakes Park. . . .which was a pretty neat park way-back-when (you know, like back in the day when i was a kid!) but now, it is AWESOME. they have done a ton of work (thanks to Hurricane Charley basically flattening the entire place) and Bryce had SUCH fun. They have an AMAZING playground (two of them actually!) And Bryce also liked playing at the beach next to the lake.

more from NJ

so you already know he played in the leaves. . .a LOT. (i love this picture, why oh why does it have to be so fuzzy!? i hate when that happens!!!)
but we also made a trip to our most FAVORITE Italian bakery and deli. YUM YUM YUM. I was seriously disappointed that they didn't have any cheese bread when we were there, but maybe its better that way. What if it wasn't as good as it is in my memory???

And then a big five minute train ride, from Little Silver to Red Bank. (In the rain!) Bryce LOVED going for his first REAL train ride!

Ummm, ya think its FALL?

the leaves were AMAZING in new jersey last week. nene and poppop's backyard was absolutely COVERED in the most beautiful yellow and red leaves. i will try to use restraint, and not post a thousand pictures of the leaves (but i definitely have a few more i'll have to share!)

everything was wet and cold, and it was raining off and on all day, but it didn't stop us from being outside - raking leaves, jumping in leaves, piling up leaves, collecting leaves, throwing leaves, and walking in leaves. it was FABULOUS!

leavin' on a jet plane

here's bryce in the airport, waiting to leave for new jersey. . .
and this is how he spent some of the trip - watching cartoons on the iPod. poor thing, he had to hold onto the earbuds to keep them in his ears, but he didn't seem to care too much!!!

as i edit and get more photos ready, i will keep posting them a little at a time!
XOXO

just checking in!

So after our travel plans were a little. . .ahh-hem. . .disrupted, thanks to dear Spirit Airlines, we finally arrived in New Jersey yesterday afternoon (a day later than our original plans) but we are here. Its cool and rainy outside, the ground is covered in leaves. . . and its absolutely beautiful!!!! Give me a cool misty fall day ANYDAY - i love it!!!

Bryce did FABULOUSLY on the airplane, and only asked once or twice "Is this plane stopping YET?" (And I responded, "Ummm, I HOPE not, since we are up in the sky!!!")

Today we are going to play in the wet leaves, and drive over to visit our old house, our favorite Italian bakery, and watch for the train at the train station. I just wanted to check in and let you all know that we are well, and here, and having a nice time!!! XOXOXO

See ya!!!

Here is Bryce at Lizzie's soccer game last weekend - he has such fun sitting in the stands, and cheering for Lizzie! (She's a goalie, so thankfully she's always easy to spot out on the field!!!) Bryce was ESPECIALLY excited because we got to eat chicken sandwiches from Chik-Fil-A while we watched the game!
Tomorrow we are heading out, Bryce and I. We are off to Fort Myers, and then flying with my parents up to New Jersey to visit Nene and PopPop (my dad's parents). It will be Bryce's second ever plane trip, but this time he is big enough to sit in a seat withOUT a carseat, so he is feeling ESPECIALLY big and grown up. (Yes, i will be SURE to take a picture of him on the plane!!!) It will be quite an adventure!!! I won't be online while we are away, but I will be sure to share lots of pictures when we get home!!!!! We love you all. . . .talk to you next week! (Unless you are my parents. . .and in that case, SEE YOU TOMORROW!!!) XOXOXOX

the cake that bryce made (well sort of)

Here is the cake that Bryce and I made for Daddy's birthday. Bryce placed each of those M&M's quite purposefully and thoughtfully - and only ate a few in the process. Bryce was SO excited about Eric's birthday - he's really into the idea of surprise parties lately, and he REALLY wanted to have a surprise party for eric - so when we knew he was almost home from work, we turned off the lights and hid behind the table, and did the whole jumping-out-and-yelling-"Surprise!" routine. And yes, i think eric WAS surprised. it's pretty much guaranteed that he was NOT expecting a two-person surprise party upon his arrival home. ;) We went out to dinner, and then came home for cake.

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY ERIC!

Finally. . .at last. . .eric can't harass ME about being 30, because he is joining me as a 30 year old today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We love you!

We are off to breakfast right now, and then Eric is going to come to Little Gym with us. After he heads to work, Bryce and I have big birthday cake plans. It should be INTERESTING!! :) Tonight we will head out to dinner, but not sure where yet.

And thus begins the season of insanity in our household. My mom's birthday, and Halloween are done, but we have Eric's birthday today, my dad's birthday ON Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, Bryce's birthday, and Christmas. (Plus a trip to NJ, a boy's golf weekend, and a weekend at SeaWorld thrown into the mix, just for kicks!) All between now and December 25th. WOW.

The uncooperative robot.

the pictures don't quite do it justice. . . .he looked totally adorable, but he was NOT particularly happy to have his picture taken. He just wanted to make a lot of grumbly growly faces at me. I think the highlight of his evening was actually handing OUT candy at Gigi and Doobie's house, rather than COLLECTING candy (which is FINE WITH US!!!) He really liked picking out which particular candy he would give to each person who came to the door. We all had a lot of fun! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIMI!!!

Mimi. ....

She doesn't think twice before she climbs in the creek, or scales a mountain to collect firewood. She is sweet and sassy and full of FUN!

She fights tirelessly for the people she loves, and she gives GREAT hugs!

She is creative and incredibly generous.

She always smells like vanilla.

Her brain is always working, and always thinking, and always trying to make a good plan a BETTER plan.

She has a solution for ANYTHING. (whether I want to hear it or not!)

We love you Mimi!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

FINALLY. a massive NC update!

OKAY. it has been a CRAAAZY week around here. Trying to get caught up, do laundry, unpack, get settled, AND make bryce's halloween costume, and get ready for Eric's birthday, plus some Halloween festivities. BUT, without further ado, as fast as I can - before bryce wakes up - here are a ton of pictures from North Carolina, in no particular order! ENJOY! One of Bryce's all-time favorite activities at the cabin has always been to dig in the rocks - and this was no exception!!! He wanted to be outside, sitting in the driveway with a bucket and a truck any chance he could!!!
(I am pretty sure this face means, "Seriously Mom? STILL taking pictures? Whats your deal, woman?"

Having an in-depth conversation about leaves and rocks, and what's for lunch.

Playing Mousetrap with Mimi. (Funny how he carried the mice around the ENTIRE time we were there - they even came home with us! Not the game - just the mice!)

" fishing" in the creek with poppy! (the pole has a little plastic fish on the end. Bryce loved throwing it in the creek and then reeling it back in!)

Tromping through the woods at Timber Creek (anyone want to build a house?)

walking around downtown, shopping, eating, and getting treats!

playing "Spy" (which really sounds like "PIE" when bryce says it) with new walkie talkies! (and well, maybe jumping in the creek a time or two, as you can see by the wet pants!)

Roasting marshmallows (after a hamburger dinner on the porch, of course!)

You know there are a ton more pictures. But that's it for now.

Last night we went to the zoo for Spooktacular, a big Halloween event they do every year. The kids get to go from treat station to treat station, collect lots of goodies, and see lots of volunteers in costumes, look at a kajillion decorated pumpkins, lots of music, dancing and FOOD. It was SUCH fun. Not all of the animals are out, but we did get to see a jaguar, the giraffes, and the bobcats. Bryce was up REALLY late, and totally full of sugar. I think it was about 10 before he finally fell asleep!! Tonight we are going to go trick-or-treating and visiting family and friends, - which means I need to go put the finishing touches on the robot costume! I hope it makes it through the night! XOXO

its looking like fall around here!

thank goodness for FALL WEATHER. what we haven't felt in florida yet, we are certainly getting a healthy dose of here in North Carolina!! We spent pretty much the ENTIRE day outside today (including lunch and dinner!) Bryce is just about the happiest little person you could ever imagine. He spent the day digging in the rocks, walking in the creek, raking leaves, tromping through the woods, going for a wagon ride, and exploring EVERYWHERE. The weather is PERFECTION, and the leaves are AMAZING. I will try to share some more pictures soon!!! XOXOXO

one happy kid and his pumpkin

bryce has been DESPERATE for his first pumpkin of the year. (Yes, FIRST means there will be more to come.) Last year, he had a little collection of tiny pumpkins that stayed next to his bed, for weeks. . .until they started to rot and we had to get rid of them. And THAT my friends, was not a happy day!) So in honor of his extreme patience, I got him a pumpkin yesterday at the grocery store. He has taken it everywhere with him. He even took it to the coffee shop with us this morning, "Because our friend Marcy hasn't seen our pumpkin yet!!" (Marcy is our friend who works at the coffeeshop down the street.) HAPPY OCTOBER!!!!! We are off to North Carolina next week, where it will REALLY be feeling like October. Wooohooo!

i need you!!!!

today starts the FINAL round of the stamp contest I have been in. I am in the final four, and voting this week will determine the ONE winner. You can see my layout on MY blog, and voting will take place from noon MST Monday, through noon MST on Thursday, at www.stampcontest.blogspot.com

Please please PLEASE go vote!!! :)
THANK YOU!!
XOXOX

the beach

As promised, here are the photos from the beach! We went and played one night after dinner . . .the weather was perfect, and the sun was setting - it was such fun! We only stayed for a few minutes, but we definitely want to go back and do it again! I love how Bryce is standing on his tip toes on the photo of him by himself. He loves running down to the water and then letting the waves chase him back to dry sand. The tide was coming in REALLY quickly while we were there, so there was hardly ANY dry sand to run to!

XOXO

st. auggie or bust!

Our friend Bob, from Flagler (yes Karisse, "Flagler Bob") came down from New York to visit this past week, and we went EVERRRYWHERE. It has been a BUSY week. . . almost like WE have been on vacation, because the laundry has piled up, the bathrooms are a mess, and nothing has gotten done - except for PLAYING all day! We all piled into the minivan together, and spent a day in St. Augustine last Friday. We enjoyed wandering around downtown, playing at the playground (which I apparently got NO photos of) and picnicking (is that a word?) at the old fort. We all agreed, that somehow just BEING in St. Augustine makes the whole world okay. There's nothing in particular I feel like I have to do, and no place i HAVE to go. . .its just breathing in the St. Augustine air (minus the horse poop smell) that makes us all feel comfy, and happy. It really is a home away from home for each of us, even if we only spent four (or so) years there. So we had a TERRIFIC time. (And of course, what trip down to St. Augustine would be complete, without a stop at Dairy Queen on the way back!?) Stay tuned soon for pictures from Jax beach!

XOXO

the zoo and the rain

We have been having a great time with our friend Bob, who is here from New York. But before I catch you up on all of our adventures, here are some pictures from the past week or two. . . we visited the zoo on the first cool day of the year (well, maybe COOL is the wrong word. .. less-hot would be more appropriate) So we had a GREAT time, and enjoyed the nice weather. Then, it got a little (well a LOT) rainy, and I let Bryce play in the rain for a little while, which of course he TOTALLY LOVED!!!!

And super big thanks to everyone who voted for me, in the stamp contest. . . .I made it to Round 3!!!!!! Voting will start again on Monday! :)

if i beg and plead. . .

will you vote for me again!? I made it to Round 2 of that scrapbooking/stamping contest. Voting is open from 12:00MST Monday - 12:00MST on Thursday. The layouts should be up on the contest blog shortly, but mine is already up on MY blog if you'd like to see it now!

www.stampcontest.blogspot.com

Thanks everybody!!!
XXOXOXO

aunt B's visit

Finally, here are some pictures from our visit last week with Sabrina (adoringly known as Aunt B to the kiddos) We had lunch at the "outside mall" and then went to visit with the ducks and fish at the pond. (As well as went took a ride on the pelican fountains!)

Aunt B showed all the kids how to throw a coin over their shoulders and make a wish. Bryce just chucked his. Jillian attempted to hold her coin behind her head, but I'm not sure it ever made it out of her fingers!
Sabrina was such a sport, playing the usual Legos, racecars, and assorted games of Bryce's choice. He is excellent at politely demanding the attention of our guests and visitors. "Come on Aunt B. You drive this one and I will drive that one. Nooooo, Aunt B. . .like THIS." :) Thanks for coming to visit us Sabrina!!! Come back soon!!! XOXOXO

vote for me!!!

Okay, so I will spare you the long-winded story about this silly contest I entered, but I am in a scrapbooking contest and if you want all the details, you can look at my blog. . .

but in the meantime, will you go vote for me PLEASE!!??? (my name there is lauralooloo) and you can vote as many times as you want, from Monday at 12:00 MST through Thurday at 12:00 MST.

http://stampcontest.blogspot.com/

THANKS!!!! OXOXO