Poolside Fun

It was 73 degrees and sunny today! We started the morning out really lazy. We made scrambled eggs with toast and sat around in our pj's for quite a while. Then we got motivated and did a little laundry. It had gotten to that time of the week for us to tackle a few stains. We're so blessed to have a laundry room right in our villa. Then after a little more grocery shopping and some lunch, we put Grace and Nana down for naps and headed out to the pool! It was so much fun! We played and splashed and Abby made new friends. I was even able to sit in a poolside chair and read a book. Ahhh....another great day! After the pool we headed out to Don Pablos for dinner. It's a great Mexican restaurant. Don't you love this pose of Grace with her hands behind her head? It's like she's reminding me that she's here in Florida to relax. :)

Here's my swimmer! She stayed in the water for over two and a half hours. I think she might have turned into a dolphin or a mermaid.

This is a picture of our pool side area. It was huge. There was a sand box play area in the middle of those bushes and a restaurant under the green roof. This is also only half of the pool area. I couldn't fit all of it in my camera.

Here's another section of the pool. This is the section we hung out in because it had the water slide. Abby went down it with me first and then tried it on her own. It was such a fun slide!!! We went on it again and again. It was quite fast and dumped you right into the water.

There was also a shallow pool for the kids. Abby made quite a few friends and spent the last hour playing with them. She walked right up to them and said, "Hi, my name is Abby and I'm five." It worked because they all hugged each other when we had to leave.

Dare I say that there's a little sunburn on me? We're waiting for our shuttle bus to take us back to the villa.

On the way out for dinner I saw a cute bench and quickly grabbed this photo of the girls. Don't they look so happy? Family and vacation does that.

Dolphins, Stingrays, Shamu...Life Rocks!

Wow! What a day!! We headed out to Sea World at 8:30 this morning in order to be there in time for the 9:00 opening. We got great parking and since we had already purchased our tickets, we were able to walk right in. We headed straight to Dolphin Cove. We wanted to feed the dolphins and thought our chances were better earlier in the morning. We were not disappointed. It was great! Abby and I both were able to feed the dolphins. Here we are waiting for the trays of food. Abby was a little nervous, but did great when the dolphins were there.

I know that you can't see us in this picture, but we are there, right behind this family. Each person was given a tray of 6-7 fish. The dolphins headed straight for us. They must be used to this :) Abby grabbed a hold of the fish tail without hesitating and the dolphin was right there to eat it. As you hold the fish you can reach out and pet the dolphin on his chin. I did pet the dolphin, but Abby didn't want to. She did however, grab hold of my tray of fish and feed that one to them too. She loved it!

After feeding the dolphins and the dolphin show, we headed to the sea lion and otter show. It was hilarious!! Then we stopped to get our picture taken by this bush. If you look closely, it's shaped like a sea otter. Cute!

Can you see the excitement on Abby's face? She was happy all day long. I was so excited to be able to give this to her. She really had a great day!

Here we are hanging out with Shamu!

We headed home around 1pm for lunch and naps. Everyone, and I mean everyone, took a nap. Then we grabbed dinner and headed back to the park for the evening shows. We went to a Sesame Street show and then Shamu's Miracle show.

Here we are on the walkway to Shamu's stadium. The trees behind us in the water were so beautiful. The whole park was decorated for Christmas and really pretty.

While waiting for the Shamu show to begin, we headed over to the sea creatures carousel. Abby chose to ride a dolphin of course! When asked at the end of the day about what was her favorite part, she replied, "DOLPHINS!".

After a great day, we all came home smiling! The best part is, we can go back again later this week!

Let's go exploring!

Today was another great day. Both girls woke up early and were ready for breakfast. Since we had gone grocery shopping last night, we were all set for breakfast. All I wanted was a cup of coffee with my hazelnut creamer. Ahhh....
We spent the morning being lazy. When Grace went down for her morning nap, Abby wanted to go explore the resort grounds. So I grabbed her hand and off we went. We found so much! There were little lizards, shuffleboard, basketball courts, 2 swimming pools, a fitness center, little palm trees, hammocks, and even a kid play center. By the time we got home, I was tired, but Abby apparently had more energy because she jumped into the whirlpool tub. And as soon as Grace could whip her clothes off, she joined her.
Then we had lunch and Abby wanted to go exploring again. This time we took the shuttle bus to the resort next door that is connected to ours. All I can say is WHOA! This place was awesome. There were 4 heated pools with water slides, water fountains and even a small kiddie pool that would be perfect for Grace. I'm sure we'll head over there later this week.
When we got back, I was given the best gift. Dad drove me to the outlet mall and left me there. Alone. Yes, alone. I had an hour and a half to do some shopping without anyone hanging on my arm and begging for a snack, or a diaper change, or screaming out of boredom. I was amazed at how fast I could move without both girls with me. I was able to find a few things and I'm even going to use my new jacket tomorrow night.
After a dinner at Logan's and some fun laughter at home, both girls are tucked in and I'm drinking a glass of wine. Yep, another great day. Abby absolutely loves the water. I bought her a pair of earplugs yesterday because I'm worried about her getting another ear infection, and she seems to be doing well with them.

These two crack me up. They just love each other so much. I am a blessed momma of two beautiful girls!

Isn't this picture funny? When I took it I thought Grace was trying to strangle Abby, but really she's trying to hug her really tight and giggle at the same time. Now if I could just get her to look at the camera, we'd be all set.

Yes, it's only day two of vacation and my dad is already vacuuming the villa. I don't know why he tries so hard. With two girls around things get messed up pretty quickly. But it is nice to have a vacuumed spot for 10 minutes or so.

On our first exploring outing we found a small playground. Abby was so excited that she jumped right on the slide. Only after she went down it did we discover that everything was still wet from the morning dew. Her pants were soaked. Good thing we have a dryer in the villa!

Here's Abby hugging a palm tree. Florida is so great!

We've started our fun!

We're here! Yeah! The plane ride yesterday was interesting. The flight right before ours landed an hour late so we were an hour late getting off. Abby did great on the flight and was very interested in everything. She was easily entertained and very surprised that we were way above the clouds, even higher than the telephone poles. Grace on the other hand, was an entirely different story. The flight was right at her nap time so that was the first mistake. She was so tired and totally unable to find sleep. I was prepared to give her some benadryl to help her relax, but her doctor told me that benadryl complicates ear infections and since she just finished her medicine for an ear infection, I decided to not give the medicine. But, we will be giving it on the ride home. She was so antsy and it's hard to hold her still for two and a half hours on a plane. My parents were awesome and relieved me several times. Needless to say, I was so glad when the plane finally landed.

Then it was off to find our rental car. We're driving a black Chevy Malibu. I must admit, it's a pretty nice car! I'll post pictures of it soon. After a quick late dinner at McDonalds, both girls finally fell asleep in the car.

We found our hotel (Marriott Royal Palms) with no problems. It's a nice villa. We have two bedrooms and two full bathrooms. Later this week I'll make a video of our place for all to see. My room has a queen size bed, a daybed for Abby and a crib for Grace. We're a little cramped, but it's really nice to have our own space. When we got here both girls woke up and then started running around the rooms like crazy girls. It was fun to see all their excitement. As you can imagine, it took a little while for us to find sleep, but it was welcome when it finally came.

When we woke up we remembered that there was no food in our villa, so we headed off to find a McDonalds, but ended up at a Dunkin Donuts. Abby was absolutely thrilled with a strawberry frosted sprinkled doughnut. You would have thought she won the jackpot and it was only a doughnut. It's so fun to make her happy. Now the girls are napping and then we're headed out to the grocery store for some food.

Ahhh....vacation is good.

Suitcase Fun!

Yesterday as I was frantically trying to get all three of us packed for vacation, the girls reminded me to slow down and giggle every once in a while. Vacation is to be enjoyed!

Christmas is Coming!

Today was the last day of school for both Abby and me. After numerous chaotic parties, way too much candy, presents, and lots of candy canes, we're both very tired. Now we have two weeks of vacation. I am so looking forward to this time. I need to slow life down and enjoy it again.
This year we're headed to Florida for a week. We're leaving tomorrow afternoon. I'm not looking forward to having to entertain Grace on the flight, Abby will be fine, but I am looking forward to Orlando so on the plane we will go!
Today at school someone gave me this Santa hat. I wasn't thrilled with it, but apparently my girls were! These two thought it was hilarious and kept trying it on all night. It does make for super cute pictures!

Time to Catch Up...

It seems as though life has taken control of me lately and is moving at lightning speed. The holidays are always busy times, but this year seems to be extraordinarily jam-packed. School has been very busy for me. Our school is scheduled for our three year audit this coming week and that involves quite a few meetings, classroom observations and instructional analysis. In other words, boring yet tedious work.
Abby's been busy too. School seems to be really tiring for her. It's a long day. She is at school from 7-4pm and I think it's taking its toll. She is great at school but falls apart as soon as we get home. I have to keep reminding myself that she is only five years old. Consequently, bedtime often comes early.
Grace has been...Grace. She is the most curious child and into everything. I mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Sometimes I feel like I can't get anything done because she's constantly right next to you pulling open drawers, splashing in the toilet, emptying cupboards, annoying her sister, etc. We did get manage to get her 15th month check up in last week. She's 31 inches long and 23 pounds. It's fun to see how healthy she has become. While the doctor was checking her vitals etc., he discovered a double ear infection. So, we're back on medicine. It's a good thing that she loves the taste of it.
I don't have many pictures to post, I guess I'll have to drag out the camera and catch up on life. Sorry for the lack of posts, I honestly will try harder. Jessie, Emily and Hannah all came for a visit last weekend. Life is just so much better with them. The girls always giggle more when they're around. We even had them over last night to babysit while I went to a cookie exchange. Abby was so excited that as soon as they arrived she looked right at me and told me to leave "right now!" Haha!

This is Grace's new silly face. Whenever you ask her to smile, this is what you get. I'm not sure if she's trying to tell me something or not. She has learned a few more words. In fact, Hannah taught her to say "Hannah" last night and I've been hearing it all day. :)