Easter

Easter morning started early around our house as the kids searched for their baskets left over night by the Easter Bunny.  Emory was first to find his hidden in a computer armoire.  He was extra sweet and didn't stop there though but kept searching with Ellie for her basket.

Ellie was so excited to find her basket and check out her bunny and all of the other fun treats.

Next we had an egg hunt in our backyard.  The kids are definitely pros at searching for eggs and found all of them in no time at all.

We hope that your Easter was as sweet as ours!

Spring Break

We've had such a long, cold winter here in St. Augustine that we decided to head south to Sarasota for a few days during spring break to soak in the sun and hopefully some warmer weather.

Our first stop along the way was unplanned but turned into so much fun.  We were passing through Plant City where many of the strawberries that we buy in our local grocery stores are grown.  Dan quickly found a local u-pick strawberry farm and we headed there to pick some strawberries.

Picking strawberries turned out to be so much fun and they were the best strawberries ever!

On the second day of our trip, we headed south and visited the Everglades.  There we took a boat ride through Everglades National Park.  While on the boat ride, we had the best view of dolphins ever.  They were having so much fun following the boat and spent at least twenty minutes jumping in and out of the wake. 

After the boat ride, we drove a little farther into the Everglades to a park that is known to have alligators within easy view.  There was only one at the park due to the recent rains but the park ranger suggested that we drive down a dirt road where we saw several more.  It's quite something to see an alligator on the side of the road.

Our next day we visited Siesta Key which has one of the world's top 10 beaches.  The sand was super fine and bright white.  The day was sunny and in the low 80s, but the Gulf could have been a little warmer for me.  The cool temperature of the water didn't seem to bother the kids though.

The sand was perfect for making sand castles and building motes around them!

Easter Fun!

Mrs. Ledford had all sorts of fun planned again for her class for Easter!  The children started off by visiting the Glenmoore Retirement Center where they sang songs, read poems and told Easter jokes for the residents.

Mrs. Ledford made the cutest little bunny shirts for each child to wear with their names on them.

After the program the children greeted each of the residents.

The next day at school was the Easter party and egg hunt.

Each child made the cutest little baskets to collect their eggs in and then they were off~!

After the egg hunt and lunch it was time for bubbles and hula hoops.  Ellie blew the biggest bubble that I saw that afternoon!

Look at Ellie go!  Next week is spring break and Easter and we're off to a great start!

Soccer

Ellie decided that she wanted to try soccer again this season and is part of the Red Dragons team.  She doesn't really remember much from playing at age 4 but she is really catching on again quickly and enjoying the game.

The Red Dragons have a winning record but the best part of each game is seeing Ellie's smile as she plays!

HAPPY St. PATRICK'S DAY!

What could be cuter than a sweet little Irish boy?

Only a cute little Irish girl and boy of course!

Each year we try to make a new leprechaun trap in hopes of catching one of those lucky little guys.  Wouldn't it be great to have your own personal guide to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?  Here are the two traos that Emory and Ellie made this year.  Emory made the space ship and Ellie made a green castle.  Unfortunately, the only thing that the leprechauns left behind for us was gold candy, small dice and a mini pot of shamrocks.  There's always next year to try again...

Happy 1st Birthday, Piper!

On March 8th, our sweet little Piper turned 1 !  We couldn't let the day pass without a celebration for our sweet girl so we had a birthday party for her and invited her friend Chloe.

Owen, Piper and Chloe celebrated by eating a frozen doggy treat called Frosty Paws.  It was peanut butter flavor and the doggies all loved it!

Piper started off trying it a little slowly but once she got a taste she loved it!  Doesn't everyone love ice cream?

Owen loved it right away and licked it very slowly.  It was cute to watch how gentle he was while eating.

Little Chloe wasn't sure where to start but she loved it too.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, PIPER! 

We love you sooooo much!

Universal Studios Mardi Gras Parade

This year we purchased season tickets to Universal Studios for my birthday.  It's was lots of fun on our first visit when we took the kids to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.  In March we went back again, this time visiting Universal Studios, where they have all of the movie and tv based rides.

We found the cutest little Thing 1 and Thing 2 while waiting in line for the Jaws ride.

Universal has a great Mardi Gras parade with floats and costumes that come directly from New Orleans.

It was chilly and raining by the time that the parade started in the evening but the kids spirits couldn't be dampened once the parade was underway.  They loved catching all of those beads!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!

On March 3rd, Ellie celebrated the birthday of one of the best authors of all time....Dr. Suess. She started her morning off with a yummy breakfast of Green Eggs and Ham...mmmmm!  Wanna try some?

A Decade Old...

It's hard to believe that Emory is now TEN!  Where did the first decade go?  It has been so much fun watching him grow and we can't wait for the next ten years.  We love you so much, Emory!

Here are a few pictures of Emory celebrating this important milestone...

February 21st  fell on a Sunday this year.  Emory thought that he would be able to sleep in but we couldn't let that happen on such an important day!  It's a tradition in our house to cover each child's floor with balloons while they sleep so on their birthday morning they wake up to a room full of balloons to start off their special day.  Emory woke up to a floor covered in orange and blue -- his two favorite colors.  It was our first year with Piper and Owen who thought that it was pretty fun too!  They thought all of the balloons were balls for them - until they popped!

 

Emory played in a 3v3 soccer tournament that wrapped up on his birthday.  His team, the Kickers, came in 2nd place in their age bracket.  Way to go Kickers!

Later at home that evening, Emory opened all of his presents and we sang Happy Birthday.  It had been a long day, but he still had enough energy to blow out all ten candles.  Inside his cake had 6 layers of alternating orange and blue cake!

We had a party for his friends on the following Sunday, February 28th.  It was a super fun called the Party of Ten Challenges.  Here are a few of the things that the boys did...

In this challenge, the boys had to pull plastic frogs and lizzards out of a box filled with 150 live crickets.  Everyone did it in the end, but Emory waited until last and protested quite a lot.

Another challenge involved pulling gummy worms from a whipped cream pie - using only their teeth.  This one was a lot of fun to watch!

"Icy Toes" involved pulling marbles out of tub filled with ice cold water.  It was definitely our cleanest challenge and the one that we probably should have done last.

Another challenge involved a relay race between the two teams to see who could pass the most cracked open raw eggs from the first person to a cup at the end.  It was a messy one but the kids seemed to love it!

The m&m challenge came next.  The kids had to carry m&ms around the ping pong table using only a straw and place them on pedestals made of straws.  The kids were more than happy to eat all of the extras!

Doggy Doggy Where's Your Bone came next and was my own personal favorite.  They raced around the pool carrying a large dog bone using only their mouths. 

The challenge that brought the most protests was the Baby Food Challenge.  The boys each tried six different kinds of baby food and had to guess what each one was.  Mmm, Mmmm, good!  I had forgotten how wonderful all of those baby foods smell!

After a fun afternoon of games, it was time for birthday cake.  A soccer ball and grass in the shape of a 10.

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY, EMORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time is flying!

Sorry that I haven't been doing very well at keeping the blog updated!  The kids have been super busy but I'll try to get caught up in the next few days -- or at least before Ellie's birthday gets here.