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!)

Quick Post

This week has been consumed with Tylenol, Motrin, wet washcloths, tissues and lack of sleep. My little one had a cold and a fever virus which meant very little sleep - or anything else for that matter - for Mom.
He's finally on the mend, thank goodness. Nothing but a runny nose to remind us that we're so thankful for healthy children.
So, since we haven't been anywhere, or done anything this week, I have very little photographic evidence to share with you. Except this one cute pic...

Payton made "Port-o-Beds" the other day (e.g. laundry baskets with blankets and pillows). He loaded up Parker's with all his favorite stuffed animals and they played in them for hours. It was the perfect mix of brotherly playtime mixed with creative summer fun. Love that.

I'm off to spend the next few days with my parents. No house to clean, no meals to cook, extra willing hands to help out with the kids... sounds like a vacation to me! I'll post some pics when I get back. Have a great weekend!

Father's Day Weekend

As you know, I like to turn special occasions into a big reason to celebrate. Especially when it's a holiday like Father's Day.
I have a wonderful father and super special father-in-law too. I am blessed in both areas. They are kind, generous, loving and so incredible with our kids. I love them dearly!

I also have one of the most amazing husband's in the world who is a spectacular father to our two children. I often look at him when he's with them and just say a silent prayer thanking God for giving him to me. He teaches them about life, God's love, generosity, standing up for themselves, how to be a gentleman, respecting others, and he always makes sure they compliment me. As I said, I am so blessed to "do life" with him.

So, I wanted to make Father's Day a great celebration weekend in recognition of all that he does for us. We started Saturday morning bright and early by heading out to the beach. We got there by 8:45 a.m. and the beach was nearly empty. It was so beautiful and quiet. There was a cool breeze in the air and the kids were ready to play!

The boys heading down the boardwalk to the beach.

 Payton had so much fun "walking on water" - really there is a huge rock structure that sits just below the water line when the tide is high.

Parker just loves playing in the sand:

 Look how happy he is!

 We ate lunch at the ocean-side restaurant where we were and then headed out. On the way home, Parker fell asleep (ocean air will do that to anyone!) so we stopped at a new meat market to pick up some steaks for Father's Day. The place was packed, which is always a good sign!

Brian got a little cat-nap in Saturday afternoon while I cleaned up from the beach and then we both got ready for a special date I had planned.

Our sitter arrived and we headed out to one of Brian's favorite Irish pubs where he got to enjoy a pint:

 And a Scotch egg. Never heard of a Scotch egg? Well, it's a deviled egg, wrapped in sausage and then deep fried. Oh boy, was he in heaven!

 

 After the pub, we did a little shopping and then headed to my little surprise.

I booked Brian a professional barber shop shave at "The Art of Shaving."

The barber has been doing this for over 30 years, but the store itself is new to Tampa. They only had 1 appointment available on Saturday, so I guess it's doing quite well.

First, they started off with a hot oil massage:

 

 Then a steam towel:

And then the straight-edge razor shave:

I think the barber was getting annoyed with me taking pictures, so I stopped there, but the whole experience took 30 minutes. It was quite intense.

Needless to say, I couldn't stop touching Brian's face the rest of the night! It was SO smooth and smelled so good!

Sunday morning started out pretty typical with church. Then we opened presents and Brian read through all of Payton's cards (there were 4 of them if you were wondering).

(Do you think someone was licking the beaters from the chocolate cake I was making???)

 Intently reading the cards together:

 

 Payton made Brian a paper tie. And of course got him the cliche pair of socks (at least Brian looks really excited about them).

 And while we were at the store, Payton spotted these beauties and insisted that he HAD to buy them for Daddy. "He will LOVE them!" And he did! :)

 We had some low-key family time in the afternoon playing in the yard:

 And then we had two very special families over for dinner that evening. Brian is really close with the husbands and I am really close with the wives and the kids all get along great. It was the perfect Father's Day BBQ!

 

 Remember those steaks we got at the meat market? YUM! Brian cooked them to perfection!!

 We ate until we couldn't move. Laughed until we cried (literally!) and treasured every moment with our dear friends.

Brian said overall, it was a great Father's Day weekend, so that makes me very happy.

We love you Brian - you are the best father we could ever ask for!