Science Center & Old Friends

I was able to see both of my bridesmaids while I was in town last weekend. Yes, I had two of them at my wedding. Why? Because they have both been my best friends for so long, I can barely remember life before them (seriously).
Friday night, my bestie Jenny came over to spend some time with my family. She is so great with my kids. They call her "Aunt Jenny" and Payton just adores her. He loved looking at her vacation pictures from Niagara Falls and learning about how she has rollerblades (this definitely took her up several notches in his "coolness" book). :) I guess I was having such a great time, I totally forgot to take any pictures while she was visiting. But we sure did enjoy our time with her!
On Sunday after church, we headed to the Orlando Science Center. This is one of the BEST kids museums I've ever been to. It was always a fun place to go on field trips when I was growing up, but they've renovated it and added SO many wonderful exhibits over the years. The kids had an absolute BALL!

There was this magnetic wall with PVC-like pipes that stuck to the wall. The kids could make all sorts of designs with the pipes and then send wooden balls down the design to see if they connected them correctly. 

I'm pretty sure Payton would have stayed there most of the day if we let him. He LOVED it.

 Parker liked it too! :)

 

There is a "Kid's Zone" area for the little ones that has an "Orange Grove" where these orange balls float down pipes into trees that have holes cut out where the balls come through, making them look like oranges. The kids "pick" the oranges and put them into crates and then deliver them to the large box. You can also ride the bike to deliver the oranges up a conveyor belt and back into the tree area.

(It doesn't feel like I gave a coherent explanation of this area, but trust me, they had so much fun playing in here). 

Here are the boys "picking" oranges out of the holes:

 And here they are riding the bike to make the orange balls go back into the trees:

There is also a nature area filled with baby alligators & turtles (and snakes and other creepy crawly things):

And other kinds of archaic creatures:

And Payton even got called up on stage to participate in the show we went to called "Kaboom! The art and science of explosions."

Of course Parker couldn't sit through the entire show, so I took him out to do some other fun things. Like...

Pushing enormous pool balls around:

 And running on a huge backgammon board that lit up and played music when you stepped on it:

 Needless to say, when we left we were all happily exhausted - both physically and mentally. It was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to go back!

Remember I said that I got to see both of my bridesmaids while I was in town? Well, my other bestie, Ash, was in town with her two boys. She came over for some swimming and BBQ.

Her youngest son is 3 months older than Parker:

 Her oldest is a few years younger than Payton, but that didn't seem to keep them from enjoying swimming together:

 How cute are they??

 Love this girl! (and her family!)

 That about wraps up my weekend in Orlando.

Now we're back in the normal routine of things... back with Brian at home...back to summer laziness. Life is good!

Weekending

Brian was out of town for work this past weekend, and one of my oldest and dearest friends was visiting her family in Orlando at the same time, so it made perfect sense to scoot over to Orlando for a quick visit to see everyone and get some extra help with my kiddos. :)

It felt like we were busy the whole time we were there visiting with people, going places and enjoying spending time with my folks. But I'm sure we had some downtime, as Parker did nap, and Payton did work on a puzzle with my Dad. But it was a weekend chock-full of fun and activities.

We made a quick visit to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. The boys got to pet all sorts of sweet dogs who were walking around enjoying the attention from everyone. 

 This man let the boys feed his dog a mixture of dog food and treats that he had in a little baggie. The dog was so gentle! I think Parker could have stayed there for the rest of the morning.

 Next to the orchid table, there was a man selling butterflies. Well, I guess he was actually selling caterpillars and habitats to grow your own butterflies. But he was so friendly and let the boys admire his beautiful creatures. He even took one out and put it on Payton's finger!

And off it flew! Thank goodness the man wasn't upset. I guess he was expecting that to happen.

We also had a yummy breakfast while we were there and of course had to take home some kettle corn. Yum!

And speaking of yummy things... Payton got to make "Nana cookies" while we were there. He always loads em up with sprinkles and frosting. So good!

 We also spent a good amount of time in the pool and the jacuzzi...

(Doesn't Parker's smile just make you laugh??)

And Parker discovered the fountain during our visit. He spent a good amount of time playing here:

And since we were experiencing a tropical storm while we were there, we got creative indoors with a blanket fort:

Which quickly turned into a Kindle-Fire video game fort:

And then I think the weather got the best of us and the boys decided to go swimming in their pajamas. Oh yes, you read that correctly. :)

They thought it was so much fun! Sometimes it's the little things - like swimming in your clothes - that make super fun memories.


When we did see the sun working hard to peek through the clouds, we would head outside and go for walks (or rollerblade) around my parents' beautiful neighborhood:

Aren't the trees amazing on their street?

Well, that's it for now. I'll post some other pics of our adventures at the Science Center and my visit with my friend Ash and her kids real soon!

Driving with Kids

You know you're traveling with kids in the car when...

• Your cup holder looks like this:

•  15 minutes into the 2-hour drive you get asked, "We're much closer now, right?"

• 1-hour into the drive you are dying for a coffee, but you don't dare pull off the interstate for fear that the sleeping child will wake up if the car stops moving. 

• You hold your breath every time you hit a big bump praying that the sleeping child will not wake. (FYI, he slept soundly until his big brother ripped open the Velcro strap on the DVD player waking him into a crying fit. Can you feel my nerves tensing up yet??)

• Your heart practically stops when you see a road sign that reads "Incident ahead, all lanes blocked."

• You take the next exit after said road sign and go 30 minutes out of your way and pay an extra $5 in tolls just to keep the car moving. 

• You hand back an exorbitant amount of candy and snacks to the back seat just to keep everyone's mouths occupied. 

• You pull into your destination's driveway and realize your shoulders/back/legs/nerves/hair (is that possible??) have been so tensed up for the past hour and didn't even realize it. 

Fortunately, once we arrived, we got to do some of this:

 And some of this:

And I got to visit with my bestie from high school, Jenny.

After a couple glasses of wine and a yummy home-cooked meal... all the stress magically melted away.

It's great to be home.

(But we do miss you Brian!)