Life in general

It's just been the same old, same old around here for the most part. I don't even have anything to blog about anymore it seems. Here's a recap of us:


Logan's doing well in 1st grade. He's made all 105-107% on his spelling tests with included extra credit sentence. Math is easy for him so far and seems to be a strong suit. He's very popular with his classmates and I'm told he's a peacemaker.


Ian's also doing well. His teachers have nothing but praise for his behavior in school (why can't he be like that at home?). He loves school and can't wait to get there in the A.M. He's having fun and making friends. We did have a broken bone scare a week or so ago. He climbed up on Logan's new bike and fell upon getting off of it. He was complaining about his arm so I kept him home from school the next morning and took him to the ped's office. They sent him to a diagnostic's center for xrays and after spending a while there it came back that everything was fine. Phew.


Bella is 18mo now and growing so fast. She's gone from my little peanut into a chunky monkey who loves to climb on the couch and chair and is always into something. She's very curious and can be quite outgoing when she wants to- at least to women. She gets very shy around guys. Good girl! :) She loves to play peekaboo and to run and *hide* from you. She's a Daddy's girl and thinks that running to him when I say bedtime may actually save her. Too cute. She's talking quite a bit and even signing thanks to a video she loves. I love watching her grow and learn. She's very smart and amazes me some days.


Dh is still plugging away at work and hoping to win the lotto one day. That would solve so many problems. I think we're responsible enough that we'd be okay and wouldn't be bankrupt in a year. Ahh dreams. His side computer work has slowed down so much so if you know anyone looking for a PC to be custom built or needs repairs, let me know!



I'm doing the mom thang shuttling the boys back and forth to their schools at different hours of the day. Fun times. I'll be so glad when the weather cools off and I can actually turn the car off while waiting so I can save some money on gas! I've got a fun weekend planned this week. Me and my besties are taking off for a night on the beach. We've got a suite courtesy of one of their dh's all reserved and waiting for us. I plan on eating some yummy seafood, maybe having a drink and just hanging out and having fun. The weather is supposed to be beautiful thanks to a cold front moving through and I'm sooo looking forward to it. I'll take lots of pics hopefully to share next week!

Bok Tower Gardens (pic heavy)

I really wanted to take some photos of Bella for her birthday and since most places wouldn't be able to have the photos back in time I decided to do them myself. What was supposed to be birthday photos ended up more like Easter or just nice photos though. I loved the dress I put her in today (I had planned on changing her later so she wouldn't spit up on her birthday dress or something) so much that I never changed her! So now I still need to do birthday photos but I got some good shots to put on my wall as well.

So now that you have the back story, this is where we went today. It's about an hour away in Lake Wales. It's called Bok Tower Gardens and it's beautiful! Bok Tower itself is this 205ft tower that houses the Carrillon. It's also called the Singing Tower. The boys both loved it and Ian wanted to go back to see it instead of going home. You can't actually go into the tower but the grounds around it are so nice. You can picnic, relax on the grass or benches, take in the view of the surrounding area or explore all the gardens and trails. We did a little bit of everything. There's also a mansion on the property you can tour (for a fee) but you can walk the grounds around it free. I'd love to have a house like it! There are orange groves all around the area and they are blooming right now so the smell is wonderful. If someone could just bottle that up I'd wear it as perfume! LOL

And there's a ridge trail you can take that used to be the highest point of what is now Florida. "...a geologically significant range of sand and limestone hills, which were islands from two to three million years ago, when sea levels were much higher than at present. Many species of plants and animals evolved in isolation and are endemic to the Ridge. Most are threatened or endangered by possible extinction." It's totally different than the gardens. A lot of scrub, cacti, and sand. The boys weren't into it like they were the garden trails. Thank goodness it ended back at the front where there were picnic tables to rest, water fountains and spigots to wash off our feet. We were thirsty and dirty! Thank goodness for Crocs! ;)

I look forward to going over there again one day. It may become our new picture taking spot! Here are only a fraction of the photos we took today.





Can you spot our little friend? It's the only wildlife we saw all day! Not even a squirrel could be seen!












View from the top of the ridge behind the tower.


I'm in love with this photo. It will def be going up on my wall!


It was realllly windy up on the ridge. This is Bella's best Marilyn Monroe impression. ;)





Then she started getting unsure about that wind in her face. LMBO!



Small pond on the Plantation House grounds.






I loved all the detail work on the house. It's hard to see here but every shutter was detailed and then you have the crest and the mini windows. All very nice!


This was a quiet little fountain area in the back yard.


Pond in the far backyard.


Looking up the hill from the pond.


View of the tower from the house.


This is the view from the Ridge Trail. Supposedly there are plants on the ridge that have been around for like 12,000 years.

Shrinking Saturday

We packed everyone up today and headed off to the Magic Kingdom. We got there about 20 min or so after opening and we actually got to park right up front. I mean a very short walk to the TTC- no trams even bother stopping here. Nice!

Our first agenda was grabbing Fastpasses to Space Mountain, especially considering the crowd size! There were Brazilian tour groups everywhere. Ugh. Logan had never been on it before. I don't know why except that it's the one coaster I was nervous to let him go on since he'd have to sit by himself. From there we went straight to ToonTown via a semi-hidden back pathway and got in line to see the new Disney Fairies at Pixie Hollow. Yippee! :) It was a long 45 min.wait! When they call you back (a few families at a time) they tell you that you'll be shrinking down to fairy size. Well that just freaked Logan and some other kids out. They did NOT want to shrink. We had to explain to him that it was just pretend and he seemed okay with that. When we got to the fairies and I commented again on how it wasn't so bad to shrink he didn't get upset but he still looked at his hands and such to see if he had changed. Hahaha!

Iridessa- a *light* fairy


Tinkerbell- a *tinker* fairy


Fawn- an *animal* fairy



And a little tidbit- did you know that everytime a baby laughs for the first time, a fairy is born? I watched the Tinkerbell movie the other day and it's so cute!

The boys and I did Thunder Mt RR which Ian really likes and of course it's one of Logan's favorites. Logan did Space Mt with daddy and when I met back up with them Logan had THE biggest grin on his face. He LOVED it. If the park wasn't so busy we probably would have let him go on again. We did Buzz Lightyear which is one of Ian's faves and dh went with them to the Indy Speed Racetrack. We took Bella on It's a Small World thinking she'd love it and she was asleep the whole time. Oh and of course they did Pirates. We never miss it.

Dh decided to record everything from a stroller occupants POV. That should be interesting when we finally play it back! I'm imagining a lot of butts and backs on film. I wore Bella almost all day so at least she had a better view. And at the risk of jinxing it, I will just say that she is the best baby. She's so mellow and go with the flow when we are out and about. She'll nap if I'm wearing her. She doesn't scream for food and ate when we ate plus some cheerios for snacks. She did try her first Dole Whip and loved it. LOL Yeah, I had no idea until the boys and I came down from the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. I took her to the Baby Care center to nurse her after dinner (less distractions) and she was so good. She nursed and when she was done we went to the other room and hung out on the floor playing until daddy and the boys came back. I've just been blessed with another good baby I guess.

I saw quite a few fashions that shouldn't even be called *fashion*- like four color neon sneakers or leg warmers ( or REALLY super thick scrunchie socks) with heels. And here's a PSA for all the ladies- if you can see your bra thru the sides/arms of your shirt, the shirt doesn't fit right AND if your boobs are popping out of the top of your bra in said shirt, the bra doesn't fit either.

All in all it was a good day. I wanted to stay longer but dh's back has been hurting for a week so he wasn't up to it any longer. He refuses to go see someone though or even call my Aunt who's a massage therapist. He'd much rather suffer. Whatever. That's a whole other vent/post!

More pics:

my found *hidden mickey*- so it's not exactly an official HM but I noticed it as we were eating our Dole Whips and thought I'd share.

Drinking the pineapple juice

Yum!

Ever see a palm tree like this? I'm not sure I've ever noticed it before.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just put me in the oven because I'm stuffed! Way too much food but man was it good! Everyone has gone home now and Bella is in bed. And I get to do it all again on Saturday!

Bella had her first taste of pumpkin pie, turkey and gravy, cranberries and who know what else. I think she really liked the pumpkin pie. I have pictures to prove it! She only had little tastes so hopefully there will be no upset tummy tonight.

Logan was funny. He kept coming back for a piece of this pie or that pie. Oh and I want to try that cobbler and this cobbler. (Yes we had a LOT of dessert!! 2 pumpkin, 1 apple, 1 shaker lemon (blech!! came out bitter), blackberry cobbler & peach cobbler). And don't forget the whipped cream. My Aunt told him to say *When* as she was squirting it and she kept going and going and going and he never said when! LOL He also started a new tradition. Instead of the blessing he (and this was on his own) asked everyone what they were thankful for. It was really sweet. It was hilarious when he told Ian that Ian should be thankful for him (Logan).

It was a nice day and I'm thankful I have a great family, awesome friends, a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and we are all healthy and happy.

After Dinner Nap


Our new photo wall and my garland


General silliness before dinner


Oohhh what's that?


I think I'll try it.


Mmm this is good!


I want some more. How do I open this thing?


Forget it! I'll chew thru the top if you won't give me more.


More desserts!