Legoland (Florida)

Last weekend we took the kids to Legoland. Bailey called it "Legoland, Florida" all day--too funny! I think that is what they say on the commercials. Anyway, thanks to my brother-in-law, we got almost all of the tickets for free, which was a really good thing because the park is only open from 10am-5pm, and that is NOT enough time to see and do everything. Plus, it rained, so they closed some attractions and we missed out on those. That was disappointing but it would have been even more so if we'd paid full price to get in! If it wasn't so far away, I might have considered getting the annual pass, because the kids had a BALL there. Unfortunately it is about an hour and 45 minutes away, and that is a LONG ride with three little kids.

Here are some pictures from our day!

 Both Bailey and Liam were being difficult--they were not going to be in this picture without me, LOL. Oh, well--I am almost never in the photos.

Waiting to go into the park...

Our treasures, LOL. Aren't they cute??

Emily and cousin Xander on Kid Power Towers. They had to use a rope to hoist themselves up to the top. It was really neat!

Bailey at Junior driving school--these cars aren't on any sort of guide track or anything. The poor man running this attraction, which was aimed at 3-to-5-year-olds, spent the whole time running around, moving the cars off the curb, untangling the kids from each other, and pointing them in the right direction. It was hilarious to watch.

Emily in driving school. This one was a real system of roads with traffic signs and signals. She didn't get to drive for long, though. It started to rain and they closed the ride.

All-Star Emily!

Yesterday we took Emily and Bailey to Sea World. We left Liam with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a real experience for us--no baby bag, no stroller!! Bailey really wanted to play a carnival game because the prize was a stuffed flamingo. I told her that those games are really hard to win, but if she would ride the Shamu roller coaster with me, I'd let her play. Well, she rode that ride, so we went over to the game. It was basically a surface full of holes. Most of the holes were black but some had a stripe of color around the top. The object was to throw a wiffle ball into one of the striped holes. Bailey shared half the balls with Emily, and on Emily's third try, she got it! She was jumping up and down and yelling, "I did it! I did it! I finally got it!" LOL. When we congratulated her, she said, "Mommy, my eyes were ready for action. And my hand was ready for action! And I saw that blue hole and I just aimed right for it!" She was so cute and excited!

Super Star Bailey

Bailey was SO excited when I picked her up from school today. She came bounding out of the classroom and said, "Mommy! I got the SUPER STAR STICKER!" Apparently, when someone does an extra good job all day, the teachers award a super star sticker. Bailey was so cute telling me about how she got it: "You have to work VERY hard. You have to line up at the fence when you are on the playground and it is time to go inside. You have to clean up at centers. You have to sit QUIETLY on the mat at circle time." LOL--she was so cute and so excited. I am proud of my super star!

First Day of School

Today was Emily's first day of first grade AND Bailey's first day of pre-k! They were both excited about going to school.

M&M-mones

Bailey's current favorite show is Octonauts on Disney channel. Each episode features a sea creature and at the end of the show they give facts as well as a picture of the animal or plant. Last week they had an episode about anemones. A few days later, we went to Petco and we were looking at the fish. Emily yells, "MOM! Look--m-and-m-mones!

Whaddaya think?

I was just giving the kids their bath and Liam accidentally bunked me in the eye with a toy. "Ow, Liam!" I cried.

Bailey goes, "What's 'ow'?"

I replied, "Liam just hit me in the eye."

Bailey goes, "Maybe it's time to get rid of this baby. Whaddaya think?" You know she has been waiting forever to make that little suggestion. I told her lucky for her, we don't get rid of our kids when they mess up (otherwise she'd be in real trouble, LOL).

Treehouse Vacation

For her birthday this year, Will's mom, Stephanie AKA Grandma, wanted to stay at the Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs (Disney World) with the kids. She took Emily out there on Sunday night. I brought Bailey out to her on Monday, and Eileen, Andrew, Xander, and Derrick were there Monday as well. The kids stayed all week. I drove back and forth each day with Liam so that he could be a part of it all as well. I think the kids had an absolute blast. We got to visit the various pools at the resort, which have water slides and splash parks. We considered going to a water park but the kids had so much fun at the hotel pools that we skipped that. However, the girls got to go to the Contemporary Resort and watch the fireworks over Magic Kingdom. They went to campfire stories with Chip and Dale and had s'mores. We had a family BBQ on Wednesday to celebrate Grandma's birthday, and then we took the kids back to the Contemporary to see the fireworks again. Bailey said, "Mommy, to go to the 'pireworks' we have to ride the 'mama-rail'"--SO cute!!

Liam on the slide in the splash park--he LOVED it!

Bailey coming down the BIG slide!

Emily's 27458th trip down the big slide!! She screamed the whole way down EVERY time.

At the Paddock pool at Saratoga Springs Resort.

Bailey on the 'mama' rail :)

Getting ready for our boat ride!

 On Thursday we went to the Boardwalk and rented a boat, which was a real adventure because neither Bailey nor Liam wanted to wear the life jackets (required of everyone) and they were both super crabby. I ended up getting off the boat halfway through the trip and taking them for a walk. We were all exhausted when we got home that night! Today we went to the beach to wrap up our week. It was a great time for all of us!

Catching up!!

Wow, it sure has been a while since I've been on here! Here's an update on everyone and all of the things we have been up to lately.

Will is working like mad on his dissertation and research hours to finish his PhD. He thinks he's about 12-18 months away from completing it. He has also been busy with work. He went to New Jersey for two weeks in June and he has to go back in September.

Jennifer is training for a 10 mile race on September 28. It is at Disney's Hollywood Studios. She is both nervous and excited about it. She is running approximately a 12 minute mile consistently--although she can run at 6 mph for a lap or two! She is trying to do a long outside run each Saturday to help prepare for the race.

Emily is enjoying her summer vacation and her time with Mommy, Bailey, and Liam. She and Bailey made a list of a bunch of things they wanted to do this summer and so far we have done most of them! We have about three weeks left to finish checking off our list. Emmy is reading ~2nd grade level books on her own and also is listening to The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark. Both she and Mommy are enjoying the book.

Bailey has been rather challenging lately, LOL. I think it has been hard on her to have to share the spotlight with her sister and brother all of the time. Her dearest wish is to have Mommy all to herself. A few weeks ago she spent the night at Mimi and Grandpa's house and she had a blast. She didn't want to come home!

Liam has a LOT to say lately! Much of it is still gibberish, but he will babble an entire conversation! Mom says he is Chinese because a lot of what he says sounds like, "Gong gong gong gong gong!" It is very cute. He is so busy, too! He has been nodding yes and shaking his head no which is really cute (and helpful!) because you can say, "Do you want to eat?" (Nods.) "Time to get out of the pool.
 (Shakes head no.) "Time to get out of the bath." (Shakes head no.) LOL.

In June we did a "staycation" in Cocoa Beach. It was disappointing. We'd booked a resort that looked great online, and they had something called kid suites which was a room that had a separate area with two bunk beds and a twin bed. We thought that would be good because otherwise staying in a hotel with little kids means everyone goes to bed at 8:00, LOL. Anyway, Will and I were not too impressed when we arrived, but the girls were thrilled, so we figured we'd just make do. After a swim (towels were NOT provided--what the heck??), we went back to the room to clean up for dinner. We discovered that the phones didn't work, the internet was out, the help line provided in the guest guide book was outdated and that company no longer provided internet help for that hotel, there were ANTS in the bathroom (the last straw for Will), and underneath the bottom bunk was a soggy towel and some TRASH. We were out of there as fast as we could carry our stuff downstairs! We moved to a Holiday Inn Express, which was much nicer, but it was not *on* the beach and there was no separation between us and the kids (so it was lights out at 8 pm). The first night the kids were up until after 10! Normally they go to bed between 7 and 8 so that was unacceptable. The next day I told Will I wanted to go home a day early because if we had to drive to the beach, then we might as well drive to the beach from home and at least have our HUGE house to sleep in! We did get to visit the Brevard Zoo, where the girls fed giraffes and birds. Liam liked the animals and we spent a little time in their splash park, which was fun for the kids. The beach was an adventure--Bailey freaked out because there was sand on her (shocking!!). Liam apparently felt that sand and salt water from a bucket was a tasty treat! Emily loved the beach but cried when we had to leave. Mommy had HAD it, LOL. I think we were all glad to get home after that adventure.

What's the problem with chocolate milk????

Grandpa and Mimi babysat Emily, Bailey, and Liam last night. Emily and Liam went right to sleep, but Bailey was up for a while crying. Now, you have to understand the situation to really get this one. We have been trying to reduce her sugar intake, because I noticed that when she has sugar (especially 10 grams or more), she gets really mean. So the other day, after she had chocolate milk, she started yelling at me and just generally being mean, so I said, "Okay, Bailey, you just lost chocolate milk." Obviously she was very upset about that--chocolate milk is an important food group, in her view--and she cried for a while when I told her. But when Mimi and Grandpa put her to bed, she was in there crying, "What's the problem with chocolate milk? Mommy says I can't have chocolate milk any more but I love chocolate milk! I don't understand what is the problem with chocolate milk!" To make it even funnier, she still has a few sounds she can't say, so her crying ACTUALLY sounded like this: "What's the pwobwem wif chocolate miwk?" LOL. That kid is something else!!

Getting our Hopes up

Bailey has been taking classes at My Gym for a couple months now. I'd planned to pull her out before the summer, because honestly, it's kind of pricey, but she has shown so much growth in the past few months that I thought it would be good for her to continue. I was able to take advantage of a special that allowed Emily to participate over the summer as well. As we were heading to My Gym this morning, I told Emily not to get her hopes up too high about starting class today, because I was pretty sure she wasn't scheduled to start until next week. When we pulled into the parking lot, she said, "Mommy, I am trying to keep my hopes low, but they keep on getting higher and higher!"

Bailey's FLAMINGO party

Bailey had a fantastic flamingo party. She loved playing in the pool with her cousins and friends and she got lots of great flamingo presents. She got a flamingo outfit, a flamingo cup, a flamingo purse with a stuffed flamingo inside, two flamingo towels, a flamingo postcard, a decorative flamingo tile, a flamingo figurine, and more!! She also got some cute outfits and some special toys.

The flamingo cupcakes were a huge hit with all of the kids! I learned how to make them here.

Party pictures coming soon!!

Presents

Bailey is SUPER excited about her upcoming birthday party. She has decided on a "flamingo pool party," which has already been a lot of fun to plan and prepare for! We found some great flamingo accessories, a flamingo ring toss game, flamingo straws and lollipops, and even a flamingo pitcher (plastic!!) and glasses to use at the party! Today she called Grandpa to make sure he got her invitation. Bailey: "Grandpa, I sended you a invitation to my 'amingo pool party!" Grandpa: "I got it! I will be there!" Bailey: "We are going to swim in the POOL! And I am going to splash! So make sure to bring your bathing suit!" Grandpa: "Okay, I will bring my bathing suit." Bailey: "Yay! And Grandpa, don't forget to bring presents for me!" Grandpa, laughing: "I will bring you a present." Bailey: "Yay! Thank you, Grandpa!" That conversation was priceless!!

College

At the bus stop this morning, Emily was explaining to Bailey that she would always be older than Bailey. Bailey said, "Well I am going to go to VPK." Emily replied, "When you go to VPK, I will be in first grade. When you go to kindergarten, I will be in second grade. When you go to first grade, I will be in third grade. When you go to second grade, I will be in fourth grade. When you go to third grade, I will be in fifth grade. And when you go to fourth grade, I will go to college. I will always be bigger than you!" And Mommy said, "College? Oh, boy. That is going on the blog!!" LOL

Easter 2012

We had a very nice Easter this year. Emily was so excited that the Easter bunny was coming that she woke us up at 1 am to tell us that there were "eggs all over the house! And wait until you see what is in my Easter basket--something I wanted for a LONG time!!" We sent her back to bed, saying it was the middle of the night and she needed to wait until morning. She was back at 5, LOL. And then she woke her sister up at 6:30 because she just couldn't wait any more. The kids had a great time hunting for eggs. We had 76 of them, and they found them all in less than 5 minutes! Even Liam got in on the fun!

We had brunch at our house after the egg hunt and the kids got to swim--even though it really wasn't hot enough outside! They enjoyed the pool and spending time with their cousins. In the afternoon, Mommy took the kids to the merry-go-round park and they played for a while. It was a beautiful day filled with fun and family!

No Parking

On the way to the bus stop this morning, Bailey noticed a "No Parking" sign. "Mommy!" she said. "Look! That sign says 'No Ps allowed!'" LOL!

Spicy!

Will has been growing a beard for the past week or so. At first it was a full beard, but then he shaved off the sides and made it into a goatee/mustache. I am not sure if I like it or not, and neither is he, but our little Bailey (of course) has a strong opinion: she was snuggling with him and went to give him a kiss, and then she said, "Daddy! Your face is all SPICY!" LOL :)

Love and Rockets

I decided to make Emily a special lunch today. I forgot to take a picture of hers but I did the same thing for Bailey, so I do have a shot of what it looked like. My idea was to make a sandwich that said, "I love you," so I cut out the letter I, a heart, and the letter U from two slices of bread. Then I made those into mini peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I was careful to pack them in the right order so she'd have a yummy note when she got to lunch today. Well, when she got home, I said, "Hey, Emmy, did you have a special lunch today?"

"I sure did!"

"What was it?"

"It was a heart and two rockets!" LOL :)

Here they are:

Liam brushes his teeth

Liam is definitely in the "imitation" phase--he does everything he sees one of us do. His latest achievement is brushing his own teeth, complete with a very emphatic spit at the end. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/jqxoG0ZgovU

Dusting

Bailey said she wanted to help me clean today. So I told her I was going to start dusting once I’d finished cleaning her bathroom. She ran off into the playroom and was busy cooking something in her kitchen, so I kind of forgot that I said that. Well, about fifteen minutes later I go in there to check on her and everything, and I mean EVERYTHING—the kitchen, the table, the puzzles, the shelves, everything—is COVERED in baby powder! So I’m like, “Bailey!! What are you DOING?” And she goes, “I am dusting!” Sheesh!! What a disaster that was! I can only be glad that it was just a travel sized bottle of powder and not a big one, or I would have been in serious trouble!

Mommy's Helpers

This morning, Bailey and Liam were excited to help me do the laundry.  I was excited about that, too!
http://youtu.be/KJ5soX4LvpA

Aren't they the cutest helpers ever??