Spring Break 2017 Part 3

 On Wednesday, we were lucky enough to get a visit from the Staffords!  They were about an hour north of us and they were heading to South Beach so they decided to spend a day with us.

There was so much to do, especially with Uncle Kev there! Lots of building to be done.

 Then the big kids headed out to the ocean and the littles stayed on the shore.  Diane and I got to spend about 4 and a half minutes of peace where we could talk about adult stuff until we had to help one kid with sand in his eye and another was throwing a tantrum and one more was crying about who knows what.  Ahhh but there were a few moments of peace.

The kids got along so well that we HAD to take a group photo.  We have the cutest kids EVER!

 Then we had to take a full group photo.  Yay for vacation! I think Charlotte looks the happiest here.  She was into it!

 Then Uncle Kev helped the kids build a spider.  It was an AWESOME spider.  Great work kids.  I think absolutely everyone ended up helping.  It was quite a project.

 We came back to the rental house.  (My parents hightailed it out to eat that night. They were smart.) Andrew, Diane, and I assembly-line made up dinners for all the kiddos.  Oranges, hot dogs, and chips.  Dinner of champions.

 While we were doing that, the kids and Kev swam in our pool. Then Andrew rode his bike to Yo! Tacos and got the adults tacos and burritos. They were delish.  We all had a GREAT time!

Then it was time to say goodbye after Tommy swallowed too much water and puked and then Charlotte somehow went #2 in her swimsuit.  Yikes! So the Staffords packed up and the kiddos said their goodbyes.  Assembly-line hugs in the car!
The adults and kids had so much fun together that we decided we need to do that more often, fo' sho'.

 The next day was our last day.  We walked to Time Square again to get some lunch.  The hostess let the kiddos ride the lift instead of taking the stairs.  They thought that was super cool.

 Then we went to the candy store and Tommy got a gummy gator.  He was so excited.  It didn't last long.  He scarfed that down quickly.

We spent some more time on the beach that day.  Charlotte was beached out. I built her a fort to stay out of the sun.  Tommy was at his bravest point when it came to water.  He wanted to go out deep in the gulf and it seemed like there was a riptide so we had to keep a really close eye on him.  A little scary.
That night we went to the beached whale for dinner.   A girl sitting with her mom at a table next to us fell unconscious.  I ended up helping her come back to consciousness until the ambulance arrived.  So that was crazy and there was definitely another margarita needed after that.  Sheesh.  Make sure to also drink WATER while drinking all that alcohol on spring break, people.  It's HOT.  The waitress was so funny.  She was like Oh yeah, this happens all the time.  She'll snap back soon.  Yikes!

Anyway, grandma and grandpa were nice to take the kids again so we could go out for another date night.  No arrests to watch this time! Just people watching.

 Also, look at this bathroom situation that I discovered in the bathroom at the bar. I don't feel like this is safe.  I don't know who thought this was a good idea?

 Friday we loaded up the van and headed to the airport.  We had to eat lunch first so we stopped at Cheddars on the way.

 After a food allergy mix up (which happened a lot during the week, ugh), we ended up with a gigantic plate of fries because they had to redo his chicken.  Tommy couldn't have been happier.  Fries are his absolute favorite.  Can't you see the excitement?

 Then when they finally brought his chicken, they brought it with MORE fries.  HA! That kid ate the crap out of those fries.  He was so stoked.  He ate almost ALL of them.  Can you even believe that?

 It was time to board the plane home. Waahh.  We had a great flight though.

 This is what Charlotte thinks about being back in Indy.  :-)

 She was so tuckered out from the long week of no sleep that she fell asleep after being in the car for about 3 minutes.

Tommy, on the other hand, STILL COULDN'T STOP EATING. He ate everything I packed in the lunch bag for all 4 of us. Is he already a teenager?? Holy moly.

What an amazing vacation.  Thanks to my parents for watching the kids and putting up with our shenanigans. We had such a great time.  I wish we could have stayed longer.  There's just something about being on the beach.  Memories made!

Spring Break 2017 Part 2

 So what is there to do in Fort Myers when the weather is beautiful?

Oh I don't know. Maybe hit the beach again?? YEP.  This time with shovels.

 Plus a boogie board and a grandpa that is willing to drag you around!

 This. Is. Sparta! Or something along those lines.

 She really knows how to pose.

 We walked to dinner and on the way, the kids discovered an awesome giraffe statue.  He is great at photobombing.

 In Times Square, we saw a street performer. You can't really tell but he is half way through sliding his body through a tennis racket.  He was quite funny.

 The kids loved checking out the pier.

We tried to get a family picture.  Instant classic.

In fact, all the pictures had great faces from the Tommeister.

 We cruised over the Nervous Nellie's.  Charlotte looks like she ate too much Mac n Cheese there. :-)

 We found some signs for the kids to stick their heads in.  Too funny.

 We really laughed at this one.

Then we found a penny horse.  Charlotte had to ride it. Tommy's tastes were a bit more expensive.  He chose to smash a penny in one of those molds that prints a design on it for 50 cents.  He was super excited about it.  Now I have to remember the safe place I put it in so we could bring it home.  ;-)

 The next day, we decided to head to Bonita to see Grandpa Al. I loved the guest parking signs. :-)

We had a nice visit with him.  The kids were perfectly behaved for the first 45 minutes of sitting and talking quietly without touching anything.  But that was their limit.  Then it was time to start losing it.  Tommy came over to me and very quietly and a little angrily said, "I'M BORED."  I knew it was time to go.  But it was really nice to visit.  He told us that he was selected for the Honor Flight program because he's a WWII veteran. He's going in May.  I'm sure that will be absolutely incredible.

 We came back to the house and Charlotte wanted to stay inside and watch movies.  She was adamant.  So Tommy and I went down to meet Grandma and Grandpa on the beach.  He trying to earn money for a expensive lego set he wants and I told him for every good sentence he writes properly, he can earn a dollar.  He wrote "I love Mama." in the sand.  Now I know the E is backward but how can I NOT count that?? Straight to the heart.  Smart kid. :)

We went shelling after that.  It was an awesome day for it.  

He had some awesome finds.  His favorite was a rock with fossilized shells in it.

 We felt we all deserved a drink after that day.

That night my parents watched the kids so Andrew and I could go out for a date night.  We had a really great time and watched a bunch of kids almost get arrested! Yikes!

Yep, gotta stay tuned for Part 3.

Spring Break 2017 Part 1

 We decided out of the blue to go on spring break this year.  It had been awhile since the kids were on a plane so we thought, why the heck not?

We boarded our plane (with a baby bottle lollipop) and headed out.

The kids watched movies throughout the two connecting flights.  We got to our hotel very late that night and scarfed some late night Wendy's.  The kids were champs! Obviously exhausted, but they did great. 

 The next morning before we checked out to head to our rental house, we hit the pool.  We also hit the breakfast bar but they didn't have any food that Tommy could have.  They didn't eve have FRUIT.  Are you serious?? Oh well.  At least the pool was awesome.

 The kids definitely didn't forget how to swim (with floaties).  Charlotte was an instant fish!  

 It took some time but we finally convinced Tommy to jump in the pool.  He jumped onto this raft because he's still not too cool with water on his face.  Might be time for swimming lessons! ;-)

 We arrived at our rental house and unloaded all our groceries (from Target, duh).  Then we walked to the beach! Hooray beach!

Charlotte fell in love!

 I wasn't kidding.  She was overjoyed!

 I was overjoyed to see the joy! Two lady strangers offered to take our picture and after some edited, I got this. Yay! They also asked me to take their picture and Charlotte decided she needed to be in their picture.  She stood directly in front of them.  It was so funny.  They rolled with it well at least.

Charlotte told us she got some "beach" in her hair.  :)

 We were only there for a couple hours but the kids had a ball!

 Impromptu hugs!

 Must! Throw! Sand!!

 Charlotte and I had to reenact our last Fort Myers Beach selfie.

 Why is sand such a great toy? I love it too and I can't explain it.

 We tried to take a family picture before we left.  An instant classic!

When we got back, we had to rinse off all the sand.  Shower dance time! 

 Then we decided to get in the pool. We had a perfectly sized pool with screen over it to keep out the lizards and bugs.  It was awesome.  Tommy decided to learn how to swim by himself.  (No floaties!)  We really aren't good at teaching someone to swim so it didn't go well but he can almost tread water now.  I call that a win!

 The next day it was back to the beach, early this time.  The kids picked up where they left off.

 The weather was beautiful all week. Perfect for playing in the only slightly cold Gulf.

 The ice cream man walked by with his cart.  We had to partake! Yum-o Popsicles!! A Rocket Pop and a Jolly Rancher popsicle.  Great choices.  So messy!

 It got cloudy that afternoon so we decided to go to the IMAX and see Beauty and the Beast.  It truly was my childhood brought to life.  I had very low expectations but Disney knocked it out of the park.

 After the movie, we lost Tommy because he disappeared into the arcade section.  He really wanted to play the shooting jurassic world game.  I wasn't too excited about this but as you can see, Andrew definitely was! :)

We tried to leave but realized Charlotte was upset because she wanted to play the motorcycle game.  She was throwing a major pity party.  I just couldn't say no.

 She was so happy to be hot rodding on that thing.  Haha!! I just wanted to get through it so I pressed a bunch of buttons to get it started.  Turns out, I had selected a hot rod leather clad dominatrix biker babe.  HAHA!!

 She finished the race somehow (with a little help from dada).  This is her 9th place award.  Lovely. :)

But you couldn't beat that smile when she was done.  She absolutely loved it.  Worth the wait!

Stay tuned for vacation adventures in part 2 and 3!