Vacation loves

We spent a wonderful week in Florida spending time with my mom, brother, and sister in law which was so nice. We were blessed to have had the chance to go, and we know that. We made some very special memories together, but definitely missed the presence of Dad. Florida was his home away from home, and more than once I found myself thinking of all the fun that we had there vacationing with Dad near our side. This trip was difficult at times, but we all feel lucky to have made some new memories. In no particular order....here are some of our vacation loves from the week....

We loved spending time with my mom. (just about as much as she loved spending time with us!)

The kids loved feeding the seagulls from our balcony. I wonder if all the other vacationers loved this????

Ellie loved dreaming of swimming in that pool below our townhouse. Too cold to even dip our feet in!

We loved taking Ellie to Disney for a day and enjoyed a Mickey ice cream treat.

Ellie and Daddy loved the 3-D show we saw. I loved seeing them in matching fashionable glassses!

Ellie loved "driving" for the first time. She belly-laughed the entire time.

We loved the magic of Disney World. Brian and I turned into 5 year olds, too!

We loved spending time with Aunt Carol and Unlce Kevin.....(sorry Kev....no pic of you???)

We loved feeding the giraffes at the Tampa Zoo. Reid loved the cracker he was supossed to feed the giraffe. He ate it instead. And no, I am not kidding.

Look at that tongue!

Reid loved eating yummy pasta while we were there. Then again, he loves about anything to eat.

I loved his "Bozo" impression after eating the pasta!

Ellie loved being at the beach, despite the cool temps.

Reid loved watching the waves spill in.

I loved the sunrises out our great room window. I did not like Reid waking up well before the sun did, however.

We all loved our special time with my mom.

We loved being able to play at parks with only light jackets on.

We loved our play time together as a family.

We loved watching Reid enjoy his outside time. We also loved the naps the fresh air provided later in the day!

We loved seeing Uncle Doug and Aunt Holly while we were there (Brian's brother and wife). What a special treat this was!

We loved it when Reid finally gave in and napped a bit. We all needed our rest after chasing him around!

We loved making memories that will last us a lifetime. We are grateful for the time we had together. Hope to make some more family memories again real soon.......it's what life is all about, right?

We loved the little creatures that came to visit us outside the townhouse each day.

Plainly and simply.....we were grateful for all our loves last week.

Leaving on a jet plane....

Well, it's official....we are heading out tomorrow for Florida for the week. As you can see from the above photo, Ellie thinks this is all we are going for....Minnie Mouse. But, in actuality, we are going to be with Mom. My mom and dad used to stay in Florida for about 6-8 weeks at a time several times per year at their second home. This was always one of the times of the year that they would be there. As a family, we didn't want Mom being alone for this "first time". So, my brother and his wife, and all of us, are flying out tomorrow to spend a week with Mom. It is a time to be with family and remember Dad in one of his most favorite locations. I am sure it will be bitter sweet for us all. We pray for safe travels, a behaving 2 year old on a 2.5 hour flight, new memories made while remembering the old, and lots of laughs. Brian, Ellie, and I will also make the trip to Disney to visit all the princesses and Minnie herself. I am sure there will be pictures to follow...but for now, my heart is smiling knowing that we will surely feel Dad's spirit through that ocean breeze. Miss you, Dad.....and love you always.

Growing...

It really is amazing how quickly kids grow....See what I mean?

White stuff

I am actually not talking about snow this time, although with more than 18 plus inches on the ground, I should be. As I was getting Ellie all geared up to go outside and help Brian shovel, Reid helped himself to our fridge. As you can see.....the nice white moustache gives away what he got into. Or does it?????

Trust me....it's worth it.

With Reid, you can't expect the "norm"....

Yep, his beverage of choice....Coffee Mate....vanilla carmel to be precise. I can't imagine he enjoyed it. Then again, this is a kid who can eat mayonnaise as a main course if I let him. How do I know this???? Oh, I just do....let's leave it at that!

Black eyes and Baby Jammies

Little boys......ahhhh. Much different from little girls is what I am finding out, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. My little boy is wild. From sunup until sundown....wild. He is into everything, climbs, is curious about the world around him, goes nonstop, and never, ever takes a break. And you see, this is what happens to little boys who are wild....
They get hurt sometimes....
When traveling full blast on foot collides with a corner on a cabinet....this is what happens.

Black eyes and little boys.....I guess it is the first of many.

Reid and Ellie both have footie jammies that they rarely wear. You see, my children inherited a trait from my husband. They are human furnaces. If I put them in these jammies, I am up in the night getting them out because they are too hot. Everytime. But, Reid found these in his dresser and laughed hysterically. He would say, "Baby Jammies. I wear them." And then when he saw Ellie in hers....he just was beside himself. Too funny!

My babies in their jammies......love my girl and my boy to pieces.

Snowy Saturday

We got blasted!!! About 14 inches of snow fell down on us Friday night into Saturday, and the kids could not have been happier! We decided that this would be a great time to build a snow fort with the kids, and that is exactly what we set out to do!
Reid was so excited to put on his snow gear....oh, and also the snow gear that was to go on the snowman we were to make. But...the kids got too distracted in playing in the snow, and the snowman never got built. It was such a fine, flaky snow, it wasn't great for packing anyway.You can see how fast the flakes were falling. It was hard for Ellie to even look at the camera. It was really coming down fast.

Reid helping build the fort. Our recycle bin makes GREAT cubes for forts!

Love those red cheekers!

He loved the snow. But he hated his gloves. His time outside was limited because of this.

Ellie and Sophie having fun. We are holding on to our hats, because supposedly the next storm is coming in a couple more days. Aughhhhh.....I think Spring is sounding better each day!