Laura's Birthday!

 The night before my birthday, Eric made a delish dinner (steak on the grill, and Publix cake for dessert!)

And in honor (well, sort of, not so much) of my birthday and anniversary there was a parade out at the beach for the Opening of the Beaches.  We went out to the condo and watched the parade from our own personal viewing area on the porch!

Bryce found a fabulous shell out on the beach!

The parade had ALL of Tanner's favorite things. . .fire trucks, motorcycles, and trucks.  All we were missing was a garbage truck, and it would have been perfection!

a few more disney pictures

apparently I hardly took ANY pictures at Hollywood Studios, but here are a few from Animal Kingdom!

Bryce's favorite moments at Animal Kingdom: his first trip on the Kali River Rapids (he LOVED it, and got soaked!) Lunch at our favorite booth, at Restaurant-a-saurus. Tanner's favorite part : the dinosaur ride with Daddy, and Mickey Bars.  (He's pretty much obsessed with Mickey ice cream bars! He says he's a "Mickey Bar Man".)

 Playing in the dinosaur boneyard is always a favorite afternoon activity.  Digging with the buckets that their lunches came in is a bonus!

 while bryce was on the river rapids, tanner had his own wet fun in a fountain. both boys had clothes-changes after that! :)

after animal kingdom, we had dinner at Giordano's and introduced my parents to REAL CHICAGO PIZZA. (yum!!!!)

at the hotel!

Our hotel was FABULOUS! and the pool was ah-MAZE-ing!!!!!  it had a giant pirate ship in the middle of it, with a water slide coming out,  and lots of fun water features to splash in! the boys had a GREAT time playing, and Bryce practiced a lot of swimming!

they also LOVED the gigantic jacuzzi tub in our suite! 

 and we loved the view from our 15th floor balcony! we could see the Disney fireworks every night, plus hot air balloons taking off every morning. the sunsets were lovely, and of course. . .the best part of all for Tanner. . . .he could watch for the garbage truck.  :)

the boys went on lots of rides this week, but the last ride was on the luggage rack going out to the car! :)
(look at tanner's face in this picture! hilarious!)

Magic Kingdom pictures

The Disney pictures are coming NOT in order. . .but here are some pictures from Magic Kingdom!  The rest are on the other camera, which I haven't gotten pics off of yet.  But we're home, and we had a super time!!!! I was NOT very good at taking pictures this trip. . . but this will getcha started! :)

xoxo

Some of our favorite things at Magic Kingdom: 

driving race cars, finding the smushed penny machines to add to Bryce's collection, brunch with Winnie the Pooh and his friends, and riding It's a Small World, 

we are OUTTA HERE.

Most of you know we've all been SICK around here.
SICK.
SICK.
SICK.
It was pretty ugly around here for a while.  There was much dirty laundry being washed, and many crackers eaten.
We all had it.
And most of us at the same time.
We watched children's television shows on Sprout for LITERALLY 8-10 hours a day.
Because it was the most we could muster up.
Ugly.
Very bad.
We pretty much completely missed Easter. The bunny came at bedtime on Easter, when Bryce was well enough to sit up. We had a make-up Easter egg hunt a few days later. It was definitely memorable.
But the good news is, that we are ALL BETTER in time for Disney World!!!!! And that is where we are heading today.  Never to think about the past two weeks ago. (Because it was BAD. Did I mention that?)
But I'll be back soon! Maybe I'll even attempt to update from our trip. (Maybe! Depending on the internet connection!)
xoxo

EPCOT day with Lizzie!

We spent Thursday of Bryce's Spring Break at Epcot, with Lizzie! (It was her Spring Break too!)

We went to The Coral Reef restaurant, which the boys LOVED.  Bryce had only been there as a baby, and Tanner hadn't ever been there.  They LOVED watching the fish and sharks in the giant tank, and we had a great table up close!

In Norway, we bought the boys Viking helmets.  We played with them the last time we were there, and it just HAD to be done!!!! They are so cute and funny!

 As part of the Flower and Garden Festival, the park always has some great extra playground areas set up.  (I wish they'd leave them up all year!!!!!)

 And of course NO day at Disney would be complete without a Mickey bar.  I think they have at least three trip's worth of Mickey Bar stains on their Disney shirts!!! ;)

 For dinner, we left Epcot and stopped at Downtown Disney, to eat at T-Rex.  Tanner had a love-hate relationship with the "meteor showers" that happen every 15 minutes, but we all had a fun time!!!! (And then a LONG drive home!!!)

Visiting Jilly and Ava!

The boys and I went up to South Carolina to visit the Shockey's this past weekend.  The kids had such a blast together.  Tanner really thinks he is just as big as them, and he zipped around on the scooter, and did everything the big kids were doing! Bryce loved sleeping in Jilly and Ava's new bunk beds, and Tanner was happy to sleep in his "elephant bed" (our Pack N Play with elephant fabric on it) and to share a room with mommy! 

Annamaria and I even snuck away to Target, and left the three big kids at home with Shawn. (And then they promptly turned on the hose, got soaked, and got in trouble! Ha!!!)

They played outside a ton! Annamaria and Shawn have a great big backyard and a long driveway!

 Saturday was St. Patrick's Day, so the kids ate green pancakes, and wore every green accessory they could! :)

 The giant rainstorm was lots of fun to watch from the front porch!

 And rocking out, in the bathroom, with Shawn was another highlight of the weekend.

 PIZZA!!

{best friends forever!!!}

thanks for a super special fun weekend!!!

xoxo

family pictures (Part 2)

 GOOF. BALLS.

 The rest of these pictures were taken at Memorial Presbyterian Church, right next door to Flagler.  It is a BEAUTIFUL church, and one of the centerpieces of downtown St. Augustine.