Family Vacation 2015

To kick off our Spring Break, we ventured to Universal & Islands of Adventure with the Goobers!

Best choice of our trip--renting a van.

Will I ever buy a van? No.

Did I love the endless space & automatic doors? You betcha!

Both boys enjoyed the movies played on the DVD player, as well as having all the snacks for our trip within arms reach.

(C and I call eachother 'eye twins.'  His eyes are always amazing in pictures.  Love him so!)

This goon was supposed to nap for the whole drive there, but opted for a quick cat nap then was recharged for movie time and endless snacking.

Whatever Noah saw Connor eat, he had to have some too.

The Pringle Monster.

Side note:  Why is there not a vacuum extension invented for the sides of carseats?  Chip crumbs are the devil.

Oh & this Smarty Pants knows how to navigate the Ipad on his own.   It's really the oddest thing seeing such a tiny person use technology without assistance.

If Matt had a say, we'd own a minivan.  He loved it!

When we arrived at the hotel, the boys enjoyed a good bath together.  Big brother gets a kick out of messing with the Noah Monster.  C always takes full responsibility for teaching Noah how to identify and say his numbers from 1-10.  Having siblings is great!

The next day we took on Islands of Adventure & Universal allllllll day.  Since C is so much into the Avengers right now, I was happy to see he was tall enough to go on some of the super hero rides, like SpiderMan ride and the Transformers Ride.  He was pumped to go on the SpiderMan ride first (simulated 3-D ride).  After being on it for a few seconds, I had a Mom Panic Moment where I realized my sweet boy may be tall enough, but it still may be too scary for him.  Sure enough, I practiced the art of 'close your eyes when you're scared' and kept talking calmly to him, reminding him it wasn't real & it was almost over.  My whole 'this is going to be the best vacation ever' started to crumble after getting off ride one.  I just kept with my upbeat Mom voice & C was just the cutest...

"Um, Mom.  I think I will really like that ride when I'm a little older.  Like 7 or something?!"

Bless his little heart.  He seems so big yet so little sometimes.

When we saw SpiderMan was there for pictures, we hopped in line.  After pictures with him, C said to me,

"I know he wasn't the real SpiderMan, but he sounded a lot like him."

We then had a short talk about even if he realizes the characters aren't real, that he needs to 'play along' for Noah's sake.

See what I mean?! Sometimes he seems so little yet seems so big sometimes.

Why must they grow up?!

But it was when we reached SuessLand, that my Mommy voids were fulfilled.  Both boys were in HEAVEN!  It was the Grinch, Sam I am, and Cat & the Hat!  The rides were fun, not scary.  The lines were short.  It was magical & I savored every last second of it!

Noah's favorite (and only) ride!  He loved the carousel!

I decided to snap a pic of the boys after lunch in SuessLand.  C was giving Matt bunny ears (or trying to) and Noah was pooping in the photo.  Kodak moments.

From there, we hopped over to Universal for some rides--faves were Despicable Me & the ET ride.  We scarfed down dinner at the NBA City restaurant there, rode a few more rides in SuessLand, and ended the day on a high note!  Noah was fast asleep before we got back to the hotel (which did super awesome things to our night's sleep...he woke ready to party from 2am-6am).  I spent the final hours of the morning holding Noah asleep in bed to catch just a few hours of sleep (since he wouldn't let me put him down).  When we got up, Matt & I must've been out-of-our-vacationing-minds when we threw out the surprise stop of Legoland on our way home!

The lines were long, C may have had a grumpy meltdown when he didn't get a carousel horse next to Noah, BUT lunch was wonderful, the boys had fun, and we ended the trip happy!

Waiting in line for lunch.  Noah has the 'innocent, but definitely guilty' face on.

A pizza buffet?!  The boys enjoyed every second of it.

(If you notice, I'm wearing strapless the entire trip.  This was my once chance to get sun (and no tan lines) before my sister's wedding in a few days.  What we didn't know was there was a cold front that came through that morning & I'm pretty sure I was the only one without proper clothing coverage for the weather conditions.  What Floridian in their right mind would think to pack jackets & sweaters to go the a theme park at the end of March?!  I was worried about everyone getting too hot.  Definitely not the case this day.  I think it was in the mid 60's.)

On our way out of the park, we spotted a giant 'W' (Noah's absolute favorite letter for some reason).  The whole trip he was pointing out letters & fascinated with all the large lettering everywhere.  We thought it was appropriate to have Noah pictured with his 'W.'  

When he realized he was on a 'W', he kept pointing and repeating "duh-doo" while I tried to get a decent picture.  Funny, odd little kid.

We hopped across the street for some Perkins dinner before hitting the road home.  We were all exhausted, but the food helped a lot!  The kids were great & the entire weekend was worth it!

Nana & Papa's

We live for our Tuesday evenings at Nana & Papa's.

Our evenings may consist of football in the backyard, pool, bike rides, and yummy dinner on any given day.

Both of my boys love it.

Noah's always a wildcard in photos.

Mr. Wildcard at his finest.  True life photo...

Tomorrow we leave for a mini vacay. 

 I must go pack the entire house now.

Nap time = Edit time

While Noah snoozes (and while I wish I was snoozing too), I decided to edit a few more photos.

Behold, some pretty adorable babies in our family!

In some photos Brooks looks like a baby & others, he looks like a giant toddler.  Regardless, he is stinkin' adorable.

Bennett's face just makes me laugh.
"Seriously, Auntie? You want me to model?"

And Brooks' face!
"I'm naked on the beach. Hmmm..."

Oh & here, Bennett looks too cool for the basket.

All I see is cool kid cruising in his car...

This morning, I tried quick photos in the backyard with the Monster.  It's WAY easier photographing others' kids than my own sometimes.

How do I get him to smile & look?
I hold up a letter "W."  No joke.  He has a weird obsessive love for this letter.
Whatever works.

If only Connor would willingly model for me.  I'll try later when he's home from school! :)

Cutest, Squishiest nephews...

When I told Nicole I was in need of some baby models, she was up for it!

There was some sand eating, water crawling, and almost a basket disaster, but Brooks & Bennett rocked baby modeling like...well...babies!

One cute baby is wonderful.  TWO cute babies is cuteness overload!!!

Enjoy :)

I was bummed to see this photo turned out to look like Bennett was possibly unhappy.  He was mid-clap and was happy as a clam in the water!

This mom right here, is pretty amazing!

Thanks to Nicole, the Grandma/Nana duo, and my butterball nephews for a fun photo shot this morning!

My models...

I took my THREE children downtown to scope out some spots before I take a family's photos this weekend.

I want to make sure I figure out the best settings on my camera for sunset pictures, so I asked the boys to pose for me.

Pretty sure Noah is fearing that this is, in fact, his real family.

And then, out of no where, I get a real smile from my sweet boy.  No awkward cheesy face.  No whining.  Just my adorable freckled big boy.

I'm sure there will be many more 'forcing my kids to pose for me' photos in the near future. :)

Busy boy

Today, basketball season came to a close!

Connor really progressed in his basketball skills this season.  My shy guy became more aggressive each game & got right in there as one good defender, stealing the ball away.  He was great at passing the ball & made one basket (2/14/05 game).  I think he really enjoyed himself & we hope to play again next season.  C was all about keeping track of the score & his team finished the season with a 6-2 record.

C & Michael enjoyed post game cupcakes.

Connor received his medal today as well!  He now has 6 awards on his bedroom shelf.  He likes to point out, he has "SIX awards and I'm SIX years old!" 

C & Coach Justin (aka Michael's Dad) at our post game lunch

As basketball comes to a close, Connor is now the Karate Kid!  

He's been 2 times so far, and he seems to like it.  His Sensei works with his age group on a lot of coordination activities, which is good for him.

I get nervous every time I dress C in white from head to toe.  Who thought it was a good idea to put boys in that much white?!?  

I hear Noah Monster chatting away in his room as he just woke from his nap.  Figures...I'm so ready for a nap!  

Happy Weekend!

Bath time routine

Here's how our nightly bath goes...

Noah plays with his foam letters...

Sifts through his tub of 50+ letters and gives each one it's special attention...

He, then, starts to launch each one across the bathroom...

And then gives me his 'I'm trouble' face since he knows he's not supposed to...

We repeat all the steps above until Noah decides he's done with the tub & tries to climb out.

I then try to dry off the Monster quickly, before he frolics down the hallway in the buff.

He & Connor were their happiest when they were naked after bath at this age!  It's all fun & games until you find a potty puddle on the tile.  Boys...

Smart Cookies

Today, I was a very proud mama.  More so than usual!

I spoke with Connor's teacher & she will be recommending Connor go into the gifted program at his school.  She said Connor is at a 1st/2nd grade level for reading and math.  She wanted to send home 1st grade math homework for Connor to work on, but the 1st grade teachers are hesitant to allow her, since Connor will be super bored learning it all again next year.  I'm all about keeping Connor ahead of the game & challenged all the time, so I got an idea of the curriculum & will be working with Connor on it all at home myself.  Since we're already in the 2nd semester of the school year, the school will test Connor for gifted before the end of the school year & he should hopefully start the gifted program 2 times a week when he starts 1st grade this fall.

I'm so proud of him.  Smart little cookie.

My other little prodigy has had a fascination with letters for the longest time.  He can now identify and say 20 out of 26 letters of the alphabet. 

Sidenote:  He also has a funny attraction to the letter 'W.'  He will point it out everywhere and carries his 'w' foam letter around at home.  We were driving to Connor's basketball practice last week & we were next to a Winnebago that had a giant 'W' on the side of it.  Noah kept happily shouting "dud-do-you" from the backseat.  Funny kid.

Noah was showing off his skills today at the library.  Connor was a late talker, so to hear Noah saying so much at this age is new to me & very exciting.

It's been awhile since I've loaded a video on my blog, so hope it works.  

Ok.  I'm done bragging for today. :)

Fountains with the Monster

I have one month & counting to get some kind of tan before my sister's wedding.

How do you get some sun & entertain the Monster?!

Morning trip to the fountains!

I've taught him to sit on the side & wait for me before he can get in.

He sits and smiles as he slowly touches the water with his toes, because he knows he's not allowed until I'm holding his hand.  Such a stinker.

Lifeguard on duty.

Water play always results in a snack, then nap thereafter.

One happy kid.

Photo Lady

So yeah...I'm a photographer now.

I don't feel right calling myself that.  I'm just a Mom, with a fancy camera, that has decided to make some money while staying at home with my wee one by taking photos of others that 'hire me'.  Photographer, no.  Photo lady, sure.

This past week, I met up with my long time friend, Rachel, to get some pictures of her & her little guy.  My challenges were as follows:

I was in a new location I was unfamiliar with, I was working with a baby that isn't old enough to sit up, I had to keep close tabs on my Noah Monster while trying to take photos of another child, and I'm self teaching myself Manual Mode on my camera (in a nutshell, every time you change lighting, clouds move, trees cast shadows, etc, you have to change settings on your camera, so your photos aren't too dark or too light).  Yep, it was a challenge.  Thankfully, Rachel & I got a good laugh throughout the process.  

There was one instance where Noah took little Grant's rattle, tossed it off the bridge, and all we heard was an, "Uh oh," in Noah's innocent, but not really innocent, voice.  

There was an instance where I believe Noah snacked on a pine cone.

Overall, though.  Pictures came out great & we got some sweet smiles from Mr. Grant.  Baby photo session, a success!

The rest of the week, I struggled with this kid.

He seemed to always be tired, crabby, indecisive, and has developed a strong 'I will do it myself' personality.  I think one night this week, he ate a rice krispie treat for dinner.  He refused e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g I gave him, Matt was working late for the 3rd day in a row, and I was just spent.  If a darn rice krispie treat was going to keep the child content, by golly, eat the whole box.

(Photo taken of Mr. I Do It Myself as he spoon fed himself lunch)

This afternoon, was one wonderful surprise!  I got to pick up Connor early, so I was able to spend the entire afternoon with my whole family together.  We opted for a trip to the park.

Connor showed off his climbing skills.

And Noah frolicked around the football field while we played.

I snapped a picture of my boys together (see Mr. Trouble milliseconds away from whacking his brother on the head for fun).  Shortly after the picture was taken, Connor got mad a me for catching the football (and he did not).  Our biggest struggle is talking through our feelings lately.  He admitted that I hurt his feelings for catching the ball.  I considered it good that he expressed his feelings.  He proceeded to give me the 'angry eyes' and test my limits by not listening to directions.  When I noted we'd be going to get ice cream after the park & if he didn't shape up his attitude, he'd be watching us eat it...he magically was all better.  Oh, the healing power of ice cream.

So as I sit in bed, with both boys snoozing away in their beds, Matt is now fast asleep beside me & snoring louder than my Uncle Pete.  I've missed my tiny window to fall asleep before he did & now my sleep shall suffer.  You're welcome, blog readers, for my sacrifices. :)

Good night!