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!

Field Trip to the Planetarium Take Two

 Tommy's school took a field trip to the planetarium.  With as much as he loves space, I couldn't possible miss this trip with him!

Before the planetarium, we visited the park.

 We ate our lunch there too.  Thanks for the fab dab in the background, Mason!

 Swinging!

 Hanging out with some preschool ladies in the playhouse!

After the park, we went to Jeff High School to see the planetarium. It was much better this year.  We got to see videos of rockets launching on the dome which was AWESOME.  My favorite part.  We also talked about the constellations and planets too.  We had a super fun time on the field trip.  I drove separately, thank the good Lord, so when we were done with the planetarium, we took off so we could get ready for vacation.  More posts to come soon!

Charlotte is 3.5 Years Old!

Her half birthday really comes out of nowhere every year and I can't figure out why that is.  Maybe it's because she's my baby and time goes so fast.

She seems older and smarter every day.  She LOVES to drive Mr. Mater.

She can do the monkey bars! Who is this child? Isn't she still at the crawling stage?

At Barnes and Noble, she took the stage and put on a jumping show! She's quite the performer.

She loves to be silly, especially at dinner time.

She knows she has the best big brother. She thinks everything he does is the coolest. :)

She's no stranger to shopping for dog beds since they fit her perfectly.

Who has five fingers and likes peanut butter?? She does!

Her class had a spring day parade. She's second from the last in line.  They can send videos on the school app now.  Her teacher sent some videos where the kids were dancing to songs and doing hand motions.  Charlotte was just kind of standing there.  I sent the teacher a message and said, "Is she doing okay today? She looks tired."  Her teacher wrote back, "Yeah she's fine.  She told me she just wasn't feeling it today. HA!"

She's a definitely fashion force.

Check out those boots!!

Don't you love her choice of dress and pants? She can really put those prints together! :-)

She LOVES smiling with her bottom teeth. :)

Her class is so adorable.

When it snowed recently, Charlotte had to be outside in it.  I don't know how she got those pink boots back on.  They are two years too small I think.

But boy was she happy to be in the snow.  Full bottom teeth smile!

That smile really isn't that rare though.  She's my smiley girl.  The Beauty Bat Moana Girl!

She is learning all letters, I can tell.  She knows the sound, words that start with the letter, and what it looks like up to the letter T. She knows her numbers but always skips 21 for some reason.  She loves soccer and plays at school.  She still has the same besties, Lakynn and Olivia.  She still blames one boy in her class for all her boo-boos even though I know for a fact they are not all his fault. She is SOOOO good at stalling bedtime but asking ridiculous questions (mostly starting with why) until I have to just RUN out of the room.  She thinks (well, like the rest of us do) that butts and the word butt is HILARIOUS.  She's our favorite girl.

Happy 3 and a half birthday, Charlotte!

St. Patrick's Day at the Heaths

We were invited to a family St. Patrick's Day party.  We were able to have drinks and the kids played.  It was a great time.

They had 2 cats and a dog.  I was afraid that the kids would be scared but they did great.  Tommy sneezed and coughed for awhile when he ate his dinner but then once he started running around and playing, he was fine.  They ended up LOVING one cat.  Charlotte chased it around and tried to take it home.  Tommy even liked the animals, even the dog.  Really surprised me.  They might be coming around on pets!

I was also really happy that the kids all got along so well.  There were so many kids there. It was nuts.  But super fun for them and us.  Yay for family nights of partying!

Oh and sidenote.  The kids started watching Avatar at 11:30 pm which is when I decided to take our kids home.  The next morning Charlotte grabbed a blue marker and colored her entire lower leg blue. It was impressive.  But hey, she wanted to be an avatar!