Cousins and Disney

I am still struggling to blog. We went to Disney before Halloween....Rick's sister Trisha and her family came in town and Grandma and Grandpa T. took us all to Disney for the week! It was so fun. We stayed in a big house with a pool and ran ourselves ragged but had a blast doing it.

I missed this but, apparently when cousin Matthew (13 mon.) saw Carson for the first time this trip he went crazy and wouldn't stop hugging him. It was very cute.

Before we left, Cole took his first pony ride at Grandma/pa's neighbor's house. The other kids went too, but they've all been before. From what I heard, Cole wasn't a huge fan.....


We wanted to take the girls to the "Bibbity Bobbity Boo Boutique" to get their hair, makeup, etc. done at Disney, but it was booked. So Trisha and I decided to do the girls up ourselves. As much as it saddens me, Brynnli doesn't last more than about two minutes with me doing her hair...

Cole and Grandpa, his BFF

One of the days after we got home from the park at 6 it was raining and we decided to go swimming. The pool was heated, big plus, since it was pretty chilly for Orlando that day! (Ok, like 80?)

The kids got their faces painted at Sea World












I ended up going on most the kiddie rides at Sea World since I couldn't ride most of the cool ones at the other parks, and it was so fun. One of these days I will end up at a theme park not pregnant, and not with a baby strapped to me.......maybe in five years????

Race cars at Magic Kingdom

Cole and Brynnli's favorite, Carson finally is getting too old to like the same rides as the little ones most the time...so he got to go on lots of roller coasters with Daddy!

These boys were super good sports at sitting in the stroller lots waiting while the rest of us had fun....don't they kind of look alike? And Grandma and Grandpa were good sports about staying with them so we could do the fun stuff......THANK YOU!!!

The girls in their matching dresses sewn by Grandma T. They really thought they were royalty that day.....super cute. Carson got a kick out of Cinderella saying he was the handsome prince:)

These girls had a love/hate relationship this visit....they LOVED playing together, but fought over EVERYTHING!!

The boys had matching shorts.....this was our best picture....after the third full day at the park....think they were done????

It was a fun trip, I will call it a trip and not a vacation, like my mom says, going places with kids, even though fun, is a trip, not a vacation. They had a blast though, and that's what the trip was for. We had fun watching them have fun, and boy were we tired when it was over!!!!

Halloween all Week

We had Halloween all weekend long like I'm sure all of you did. We had our Trunk or Treat party at church....Carson stayed consistent and picked another blue collar job (last three years: garbage man, fireman, ups man)

Brynnli dressed up as Belle for the church party, Snow White for her school party, and five minutes before we left tonight for Trick or Treating decided she wanted to be a ladybug. Luckily, we had all these costumes already! Except for her ladybug antennae which I made as we were leaving.....

Cole was a pirate:) He wasn't a fan of his costume at the church party though, so the hat came off, and his vest ended up around his waist like a skirt:) He did pickup a cute little strawberry though!


Our annual visit to the pumpkin "patch..." aka the parking lot filled with straw and pumpkins:)

Brynnli had a school party today and got to swim afterwards!!! Only in Florida in October!!

Carson had his school party today too and got to wear his costume and do all sorts of fun things!

Tonight for Trick or Treating! I was solo, so I walked most of the neighborhood with Cole on my hip dragging Brynnli in the wagon and with Carson running ahead. Carson couldn't get to the doors fast enough, Brynnli was set after about ten houses to sit and eat candy in the wagon, and Cole sat happily in his favorite spot on my hip and ate lollipops and pointed to the next house mumbling (I'm pretty sure he was saying more candy or trick or treat...). We had a great time!! Love these little guys.

All that walking made me hungry....HELLO Halloween candy!!!

While mom and dad were away.....

Oh how our kids did play! They had a blast. I'm pretty sure the boys spent 90% of their time outside, which is what they love best.

Sweet Brynnli not afraid to get dirty or wet.....


Our two future recycling men in action....

Brynnli getting her hair "done" by the vaccuum

Carson organizing the recyling....



The gang outside riding around....
I was pretty nervous about leaving Cole, he's in his clingy phase now and he's so little. Luckily for me, his BFF is grandpa. In fact, most the time Grandpa's around, he'd rather have him than me. Very cute really. I think they're just two peas in a pod. Notice that ear right under Cole's little tushy? That's grandpa:)

Carson playing school....

The two outside boys riding on the lawnmower. The kids had so much fun. Poor Grandma and Grandpa had fun too (I hope) but were absolutely wiped out, and understandably so, these guys are busy!!!

We certainly appreciated the much needed break though. It was nice to have a conversation without getting interrupted every two seconds!!!

Gotta love Grandpa T. though. We told them we were pregnant last week at Disney. His first comment (with a smile and I"m sure remembering how much work it was to watch THREE) was "well you're certainly not going on anymore cruises anytime soon!!" I agree. Four is quite a handful. We will have to wait awhile:) But we have our whole lives to do those things, right now we get to have little kiddos filling our home, and what better blessing than that.

It's been awhile....

Oh blog friends....have you given up on me? I hope not. I have been struggling to stay up past nine lately, and have been exhausted during naptimes....and when I do have a little energy I am cleaning my disaster of a house...why you ask???

We are pregnant! A surprise for sure, but a great one! Fourth and last....due in May. In any case....that's why I've been a lame blogger lately.... but we went on this amazing cruise last month for our anniversary/my belated 30th bday....it was so fun. Especially because it may be our last for quite some time......

We went with our BFFs the Wernlis, and had a blast!!! The last day we stopped in Key West and ate at this hole in the wall, but oh so yummy place. We rented this set of wheels to cruise around.....

(This pic is of Rick and Chris pretending to fit in in the Keys.....)

Another day we stopped at Coco Cay, a private island owned by Royal Carribbean and lounged on the beach.....



But the best day was the first day of the cruise, when we stopped in Nassau, Bahamas, my favorite because of so many reasons.....we at at this yummy place Rick and I visited last summer when we were there with my sister's family...

And spent all day at Atlantis using their pools and waterslides. Seriously, I think we spent like four hours alone on the lazy river....and I'm pretty sure I haven't laughed that hard in years. It really was the best day....although I"m pretty sure most of the other people there thought we (okay especially the boys who were dive bombing eachother with tubes) were high schoolers based on our behavior.....

I found out I was prego about a week and a half BEFORE the cruise, and luckily it wasn't until the last day or so that the nauteousness started....although it may have been the gross amount of food I consumed.... (and by the way still have a little pouch to show for it....but I"m blaming it on being pregnant)

Also, the day we got on the ship we entered a spa raffle and out of three prizes given away, we won one and our friends the Wernlis won one....so awesome. I got my hair highlighted and got a massage.....SO AMAZING!!! First time for both!!

Can't wait until we can go again! In about ten years......

Meanwhile, our kids were having a little fun of their own at Grandma and Grandpa T.'s....

Minor League....

Carson started his first season of baseball. Last year we tried soccer.....Rick and a good friend of ours coached and Carson was less than enthused. Rick was pretty much angry for a good hour or two after every practice and game because Carson wasn't even trying.

So this summer Rick took Carson and Brynnli to a Marlins baseball game with some other dads in our ward. Carson LOVED it. Ever since he's been asking to play. The hilarious part is that Rick not only never played baseball (but did somehow manage to play almost every other sport...) he pretty much HATES the game.

Carson LOVES it. So funny. He told me today on the way back from Brynnli's dance class right before t-ball practice...."mom, I just love baseball, it's so fun!" Too cute. He got a hat tonight to go with his uniform and didnt' want to take it off to go to sleep.

Too cute. In any case, I'm just glad he wants to play some sport, because Rick is pretty much obsessed with sports (in a good way....) and I want them to have something to do together:) I kind of love that Carson picked the one sport Rick could care less about....too funny. Unless that means I have to start watching baseball on TV too in addition to football, basketball, hockey, and soccer........Yikes!!!

Yay for Preschool!

Brynnli had her first day at her new preschool taught by two wonderful ladies from church last Wednesday. It was amazing. We went the Friday before for a little "meet the teacher" time and Brynnli was so excited after that she asked every second until Wednesday when Carson would get on the bus and leave for school "do I go to school today?" She loved it. The bonus is that she gets to do swimming lessons after preschool with the same lady in her pool, which she loves too (and which gives me 45 extra minutes to run errands, workout, or shower).

She walked right in, waved goodbye, and had a blast. That's Brynnli though. Miss independent. Cole and I went home, broke out the jogging stroller (which I haven't used in at least two years thanks to the Y) and went for a run, then he went to sleep and I got stuff done!! Hooray!!

So proud of her.

NINE

That's the number of years we've been married today! Nine years ago in August, in Dallas, it was 104 degrees. If you look closely you can see we're both a sweaty mess:)

It's been quite the ride. The other day I was showing the kids pictures from our wedding and all of a sudden i was like.....whoa, we don't look the same anymore! I feel like up until now I thought we still did (maybe because my mental age is still stuck at 21...). Crazy. Rick looks like he's twelve!!!

Ten or eleven years ago when we were dating, we went through a lot to be together (what with a year of long distance, Rick getting baptized, and me trying to date other guys) and It's been well worth it. We have tons of fun together still, and I"m so thankful I get to be married to my best friend.

Happy Anniversary!

Kindergarten!

Carson started Kindergarten today. I was so proud of him. He wokeup excited, knew right where to go to his class (even though Brynnli and I walked with him), and sat down ready to start the day. I was lingering behind and I asked him...."do you want me to stay a few more minutes?" He said, "no mommy, I will be home after lunch ok?" He was so excited. I was devestated. I put on my happy face until Rick picked me up in the car....and then I started my ugly cry. It was a sad day for me today, but I am so excited for Carson.

I was most nervous about Carson riding the bus home by himself today....but he has been looking forward to riding the bus since he was like two. He did great and has tons of new friends already. My little guy doesn't need me all the time anymore! Luckily, I have two more who still do.....:)

Staycation

Summer is almost over. School starts next week. We have a kid in school, and now I feel like I am committing to something for the rest of my life! Making lunches, waking up early, homework, should I be excited about this? You know how some people get the pre-wedding jitters, fear of committment? I feel like I have the pre-school jitters. I digress.....so all of a sudden on Saturday I freaked out a little, feeling like I needed to get all the fun out of my system before school started...so we tried to plan a fun getaway this week. I researched all the hotels and we WERE going to stay on the beach. Then, Sunday Cole was miserable, teething, sick, or something. I was adament we were still going, and then I checked the weather. Rain, Rainy, more rain. That's all it said. I gaveup. I was bummed. Two weeks ago our vacation to the keys got cancelled by the tropical storm....me and weather are not on good terms. The worst part? BOTH times, the weather prediction was wrong. The tropical storm disappeared right after we cancelled our reservations, and the rain here for this week.....nonexistent. COME ON!

Ok, moving on. Since I'm married to Mr. Optimistic, we decided to make "lemonade out of lemons" (those were his exact words). We headed out and had the most fun we could at home. We went bowling, which was a blast, and out to eat every meal (part of my request so I didnt' have to do dishes or clean.....like I was on vacation), and then we setup our tent inside and watched a movie, had cookies and milkshakes, and slept under....the ceiling fan. Well, Cole slept in his room, and the rest of us slept in the tent. It was a good time. It was cute listening to the kids tell people we were on a "staycation." The best part, no unpacking!

Any by the way, Cole is officially the cutest bowler ever. Here's a video. You had to be there, but still can't remember when I've laughed so hard.