We went out for a day on the boat with Rick's parents last weekend. We let the kids get in the water and "snorkel" for shells and help Rick catch a lobster. They loved it. We stopped by a sandbar on the way back in to swim, I was slighty distracted by the ominous storm that appeared to be heading our way.....but the captains of the boat (Rick and Grandpa T.) knew better, it missed us entirely. It was a great day.
Happy Birthday to our little "Cole-man!" It was his birthday yesterday and we had such a fun day celebrating with him. We kept it lowkey and just let him do the stuff he loves to do. We started off the morning with a visit from one of our friends, the garbageman. He's seen Carson and Cole growup, so it was only fitting for him to head up the day. Carson is training Cole to be a garbageman just like him, so it looks like I"ll be in for another five or six years of watching the truck. Yay. We swam, played outside, and played with Cole's new toys.
The kids, especially Carson, LOVED putting out corn for the deer. When we left, Grandpa said he was going to have to put the deer on a diet becasue we'd fed them soo much corn. Needless to say we made lots of deer friends.
We took the kids mining for gems....they loved it. Brynnli wasn't so sure for five minutes or so about putting her hands in mud, but after that....
Once she found a pink gem in the mud, she was hooked.
We roasted smores and had a fire.....
We hiked a waterfall.....which was beautiful. We brought the kids swimsuits and they had a blast playing in it.....I was however a complete and nervous wreck....
I left Cole with Rick for two minutes to be brave and walk around with the kids in the waterfall, and this is what I looked over to.....my sweet Cole who I had been trying to keep dry (the water was freezing!) was soaked and chewing on a tree.
We were so excited this hummingbird stopped to drink long enough for us to take tons of pictures (usually they fly so fast you can barely see them)....until he was there way too long....we're not sure but maybe he got drunk and nectar and passed out....because he was still there the next morning (not with us anymore)....until Rick "helped" him fly back down below.
The kids had fun playing on the playground below the house and riding on the paddleboat....what is wrong with this picture? The only one who CAN'T swim is the one without the lifejacket.....I promise he was wearing one until I walked away for a second....RICK!!!
Carson learned to play horseshoes with Grandpa and daddy, and was pretty good.
Kids watching the deer (it's down there, just in the shadow...)
Watching the bats at night....
Cole getting into trouble....confiscated a Krispy Kreme doughnut off the table and LOVED it! 
We were there over the 4th of July too, but that will be it's own post. It was such a refreshing trip, and nice to have fun together. We might have to make it an annual thing. 
We showed Grandma and Grandpa who have never been to Orlando all kinds of fun stuff to do at Sea World like feeding the dolphins and Sea Lions (Brynnli opted out of the dolphins), petting Sting Rays.....
Since we only have a double stroller and we have three kids who need to rest sometimes....there was a lot of this going on. We won't be getting a triple stroller anytime soon, so this will just have to do. 
We spent plenty of time eating too at Cici's pizza, Friendlys for ice cream, and Tony Romas. 
And we rode lots of fun kiddie rides at Sea World too. I wasn't so sure about letting Grandpa take Brynnli on the teacups but she kept laughing the whole time saying "Grandpa you're going really fast!" Carson and I took a non-spin approach which I liked better.....
Cole was so excited to finally get to do something and not watch everyone else! (I"m standing behind him)
And we got to meet the "real" Shamu himself:)
It was a fun trip and of course went by too fast as usual. We miss you!
