Halloween

This is the only picture I managed to take on Halloween. Cole really isn't that big into super hero's, but he has seen the old Superman movies / and cartoons over at Grammy & Grandpa's house and for awhile there he was about all things superman. It's funny how the costume is so huge on him, with all those fake muscles swallowing up Mr. Skinny. Adison was happy to be Minnie Mouse, but really anything with a bit of fluff and sparkle on it she was happy with.

We usually do it up big on Halloween, going to several houses in different neighborhoods of friends, but this year we kept it close to home and just trick or treated our neighborhood. It was nice to see the neighbors and all the other kids that come out and you realize you are not the only family on the block.

One Last Time

I'll never forget Cole's 2-year check up, where the Dr. I saw at the Pediatrician's office gave me a stern talking to about dropping his pacifier as quickly as possible. Being the well-meaning new mother I was, I took this advice. And Cole rarely napped again. At 2. Needless to say this was not our favorite Doctor.

I was determined to do it my way with Adison, and was unapologetic about her pacifier habits at her check up. Plus we saw a different Doctor. But come 3, I knew it was time for her to say goodbye to it. At that point she only had it during sleeping times. Nap and Bedtime. And I knew full well that once I took it away, I could probably say goodbye to the nap.

I was right on.

So here, I captured what I'm pretty sure is one of her last regular naps.

Disney - Wrap Up

We had so much fun on this trip. We do our best to not over-plan, allow for days off and time in between big activities so we can truly enjoy our vacation. One thing we've made a habit of is getting a rental house with a pool, which is pretty easy in Florida. The kids really enjoy it so much and it's a fun thing to do just staying at home. I have a couple of pictures of us playing away in it.

We always take a picture of our group outside the house before we leave, and I think I love the picture that happened before "the" picture this year. I love these moments, captured accidentally because some glitch set the camera off early. Kevin isn't in this one, because he's manning the automatic button. Nancy is mostly ready to go; she's got her picture smile warmed up. Fletcher is in the middle of saying something to Kevin. I imagine it was funny, or instructional, or both. I am grooming the kids, telling Adison exactly where to look, getting her body into place. Cole, I think, is my favorite: he knows exactly what is going on, and frankly, he's not thrilled about it.

Looking at the "after" picture you'd never know that all this went on.

The last pic is of all of us in the car, driving home. We bought the car not long before the trip with the purpose of having a 3rd row and more space and it worked out great! Another wonderful trip with family. :)

Nana's Birthday

It just so happened Nancy's birthday was during our trip and we were so happy to be able to spend the day with them and celebrate. The men cooked up a fine meal, topped off with a delicious Key Lime Pie and the birthday song. We made up a little album of pictures of our trip for her as a gift.

I'm so grateful that they took time out of their schedule to make this long drive to Orlando with us. It's such a special time to just spend the days with them, from activities to simple meals at home, it's something we've enjoyed very much. And you always learn something new: like Nana has a Nintendo DS. For her. Not for the kids. Just when you think you have her figured out... :)

Disney - Not So Scary Halloween

Disney runs a little special during October, and that is their Not So Scary Halloween Party where you purchase an extra ticket for the evening, come in costume, and trick-or-treat and ride rides late into the night.

We knew we wanted to see the fire works with the kids one night, and we also knew that Magic Kingdom was going to be the place where we spent the most time. So after a lot of thought, we decided to pay for the extra tickets.

The day of we just took it easy, knowing we'd be up a little later that night. We headed over to the park, costumed and ready to go about 5:00. They had fireworks planned at 9, and although the park stayed open until midnight, we knew that we'd most likely watch the fireworks and call it a night.

Man, were we wrong! The kids had an absolute BLAST! We did plenty of rides, and took our time trick or treating at the stations. The places were marked with a big white light and they would literally put handfuls of candy into your bag. It was insane.

They had a lot of characters out and about, and although it was still crowded, it wasn't nearly as long of a wait as it was during the day. Adison spotted Donald at a "dance party" near the carousel and she lit up. She wasn't shy at all and ran right up to him and danced with him for a good while. I think they had to pry him off of her. My pictures are blurry and don't nearly capture how excited she was.

The fireworks were amazing, and the kids were not melting down at all and Cole asked to do some of the faster rides again, and we figured, why not? The second it goes sour, we'll leave. It cleared out a ton after the fireworks, and so taking turns we did fast ride after fast ride with Cole, and Adison rode the carousel, Dumbo, and a few other things. Before we knew it, it was midnight. MIDNIGHT! We were shocked. We headed home and I can say without a doubt, that this was my absolute favorite part of the trip. Everyone at the theme park, adults and kids alike were costumed up in some of the neatest costume's I've ever seen. The atmosphere was so fun, and as a family we had a wonderful time! I can't wait to do it again.

Kennedy Space Center

It's no secret around here that Kevin is fascinated by most things NASA/Space related and so he was pretty excited about a trip down to Kennedy Space Center. He took Cole and Fletcher down there for the day, and Nancy, Adison and I stayed back and did other important business -- like visit IKEA, Nancy's first time!

To say they had a great time is pretty much the understatement of the century. Kevin came back with 3 Nasa t-shirts. (He claims they came as a set.....). Since I wasn't there, I thought it would be neat to use the story Cole wrote about his visit for this post. These are all his words, taken down by Kevin the afternoon after they went.

Fire that is white because it is so hot it is white. The Space Shuttle is connected to a rocket that makes it go up. The thing in the middle is the gas tank that gets gas for the fire.

The crawler drives really, really, really slow because the rocket doesn't want to fall off when it is facing straight up. The crawler has one thing to do. It is to bring space shuttles and the rocket and the tank to where it blasts off. That thing that is yellow/orangish and black is a satellite. Satellites go around the earth and never, ever stop. They look for earth for some reason I don't know.

The Space shuttle is a thing that goes up in space and that is the only thing that goes up into space. I got to look inside the space shuttle and look at the satellite and got to look where the pilot sits, the one who drives.

Space Shuttles need rockets to help them get up. Space shuttles only have two wings on the back. There is no wings in the middle or the front. Space shuttles have to have parachutes at the back because they go so fast that they can't even stop on the runway.

The rocket helps a space ship or if anyone is in it helps them get up to space. And a rocket breaks up into little pieces. It has a place where the fire comes out that gets smaller and smaller so they need to have less fire shooters that shoot fire and it is so big that it is taller than you are, even taller than a space shuttle.

That building right there with the big, big, big, big, big, big, American flag. The big tank that holds all the gas for the fire, that's where the space shuttle and the rocket and the gas tank gets put together. Then the crawler comes in and takes all the stuff that was put together and takes it where it blasts off.

That big round rock is something that you turn, it's like a globe, except it is so heavy it's sitting on water, and you can move it perfectly.

When we went to the Kennedy Space Center the last thing we did was watching a 3-D movie. We needed to wear glasses because it will look like something is coming at you. The movie was about walking on the moon.

Disney - Animal Kingdom

Today's adventure was Animal Kingdom. The kids and I had been the year before when we met Dana and her family there. The one thing I loved most was the Safari so we planned on taking Kevin and his parents on that for sure. It is simply amazing to me that in the middle of several theme parks they have managed to make an area that appears wide open and in the middle of nowhere. We saw so many animals, you almost couldn't keep up. There were all the usual suspects: zebras, elephants, giraffes, alligators and so much more. The big wow moment came when we got so close to a Rhino that I honestly wondered what was going to happen. It was a really special moment to be so close to an animal we rarely see in a zoo and never would get the chance to see so close up.

Animal Kingdom is pretty show-heavy with the Lion King and several other song-and-dance type things, but there was a really neat garden section that we walked through and were lucky enough to see not only one but two tigers. It was just spectacular to see them interact and even the tour guide - or whatever the cutesy name they give that person at the park - noted how we should get the camera out to see these two rubbing their heads together.

Kevin and I left the kids with Nancy and Fletcher at the kiddie carnival area where we went and rode their big ride attraction: Mt. Everest. I'll be honest, I thought I was a fast ride person, I thought I missed the days when I would ride fast ride after ride and not think twice about eating my weight in food before or afterwards. But shortly after Mt. Everest started, it became painfully clear that I no longer enjoy feeling like I've left my stomach three seats behind me or the sheer panic of literally not knowing what turn is next. I'm not ready to give up fast rides yet, but I do know this: I do NOT enjoy going backwards on a fast ride.

Orlando - Magic Kingdom

We have been itching to get back to Disney since the first time we went 2 years ago. Just like before, we went with Nancy & Fletcher (aka Nana and Grandaddy) and rented a house. I hope we are building a little tradition because we simply love this little trip. We love the chance to visit Disney and we love spending some extended time with Nancy and Fletcher.

First on the agenda was Magic Kingdom. Cole remembered Goofy's Barnstormer from the trip 2 years ago and was itching to go again. The kid LOVES fast rides. (more on that later).

We had such a great time at Magic Kindgom. This was Adison's first visit, since she was just 1 the last time we visited, and we didn't bring her to the theme parks. She absolutely loved it.

We hit the hot spots: Tea Cups, Goofy's Barnstormer (times 3), The Motorway, Mickey & Minnie's house, Winnie the Pooh and more. A note on Mickey & Minnie: we met them live and in person. You can see from the picture, Adison is thrilled while Cole is most likely thrilled but playing his shy/nervous look.

The most surprising thing was that the kids LOVED the Transit Authority in Tomorrowland. It was essentially a moving sidewalk, only sitting down. It took you on a view over the whole section. The wanted to ride it twice! Fine by us who had been walking a good bit.

As usual we left when the kids started getting tired and headed back to the house for a relaxing afternoon. We love staying in a home instead of a hotel. It's so peaceful, everyone has their own space, we have our own little pool, it's such a treat!

3 Years Old

Adison turned 3 on October 12th and I still cannot believe it. I cannot believe my youngest is 3 whole years old. At 3, Adison is talkative, imaginative, emotional, happy, and talkative. We celebrated with Mom and Dad and cake pops and it was fun to watch her open all her special gifts. Top of the list was a shopping cart and shopping bags. She will put things in all sorts of bags and containers and drag them all over the house. Adison has a very specific sense of what she is doing when she's playing and she'll leave her mark all over the house. Over the course of a few months I have found:

-plastic animals lined up for the potty (yes, she's potty trained!)
-7 pairs of underwear stuffed in a bag
-All her babies & stuffed animals in a circle, each with a snack on a plate
-Pooky (my stuffed bear given to me by my Grandma Thompson when I was probably 11 or 12) tucked neatly into my bed, head on my pillow with a book beside him.

Despite the usual sibling squabbles, Adison loves Cole and can often make him laugh like no one else. When she stumbles onto something he thinks is hilarious, she'll do it over and over until he can hardly breathe.

We're so thankful for this little girl, and simply cannot imagine what life would be like without her.

Cole-ism

Cole caught a nasty cold at the beginning of school, and we were attempting to stop the flow of germs from spreading. I mentioned to Adison to give Cole some space because he was sick and not to hug each other and wrestle when they were playing. A little later Cole was drawing on the chalk board and I was busy cleaning or something but he had been shouting out to me how to spell words so I told him without thinking much about it.

When I finally looked over to see what he was doing, this is what I saw.

Atlanta Girls Trip

I got the chance to go to Atlanta to see some great friends!

The trip originated when I found out U2 was having a concert there. Dana, my bestest friend from high school, had never seen them in concert and we decided it was a great idea to drive down there and meet and spend a few days together. We had a fantastic time. We literally power-shopped for a day and a half, visited the Coke museum (amazing!) and of course saw U2. I captured one (yes, only ONE!) picture with my camera. This winner of Dana was moments after I drove what seemed like an eternity around this neighborhood to find the condo we were renting. I have a lot of pictures I took with my camera that I'll upload a little later. We had a blast, and it was the first time in probably 5 years that we had done something just the two of us. After almost 20 years of friendship, it's still so fun and easy to hang out together. We talk almost every day, 5 days of the week and it's a special thing to have such a lasting friend.

I also got to visit my wonderful friend Diane who lives in Atlanta. I'm sure I've told the story of Diane and I meeting in the street outside someone's house at a church function. We were both new, and we clicked immediately. To this day when I pick up the phone and talk to her it's like no time has passed. We've had many a laughing fits together and it never takes much to get another one started.

It was a great 4 days and such a nice treat to be able to get away with good friends and relax and play!