Mecha-Ant Invasion Vacation

Ah ha! Gotcha! We just got back from a wonderful vacation in Florida. And we DID have an ant invasion...of our van! Turns out the ants wanted a vacation too so the stowed away in the hole of our air compressor! Several words come to mind while we were dealing with those little buggars but it is best summed up as just plain bizarre!

Other than that, check out this awesome fun we had!

Day 1: Road Trip!

Three bugs in a gigantic bed!

Armed with snacks and a DVD player. We picked up Em from school on Thursday and headed south as fast at the speed limit allowed. Len was such a trooper and handled the car driving duties for the entire trip. The hotel was very nice. As you can see, the girls liked the big beds. Having the whole family in one large room made me reflect on the families that are forced to live that way in transitional housing. Just for our little vacation, it was insane to keep the room straightened so we weren't tripping over each other and the stuff. When we finally did get out of the room, I was too grateful for the housecleaning service.

 

 

 

Day 2: No sunshine? No problem.

Len went to work for the

business end of the trip on Friday while the girls and I planned to go swimming at the hotel pool. Except that it rained and thundered...and lightninged all Friday. We did walk across the parking lots to Publix and stocked up on fridge and micro food. I was glad I packed a few things to do, like spikey blocks and coloring plus a few MLPonies. TV can only hold a little person's attention for so long. Luckily, Len's day ended earlier than we thought so I took the girls to the closest outlet mall in search of ANY kind of adventure. Yeah, it rained on us again. So what do you look for when it rains at an outlet mall? ICE CREAM!!! 

I can tell you we gave the passersby some cute chocolate covered smiles.

I also got a nice selection of fudge and mint chocolates as a souvenir for my mom, but alas...the Mecha-Ants attacked and the chocolate souvenirs fell victim to their relentless advance.

 

 But who can stop bored children?! The answer is no one. Yeah. Not a single person, so I didn't event try. All three splashed puddles after ice cream cones (yes, even Cora). We got back to our room with some fast food in tow and I slapped those sopping wet shoes under the blowdryer and on top of the A/C unit. After that, sleep soon followed a warm shower and a showing of "Epic" on the free HBO Demand channel. Our favorite family activity is still Family Movie Night. It's amazing how those three little words can translate into a triple speed clean-up, bath, and brush routine. Then to watch Em and Liz pile all their blankets, pillows and sleepy buddies in the middle of the living room is just too cute.

 

 

 

 

Day 3: It's a little warm for Winter!

Saturday shined nice and bright for us! But OMG was it muggy! Lucky for us that we were prepared to REALLY have fun as we headed for the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the home of Winter, the dolphin. Winter was a stranded dolphin who lost her tail but then had a new one developed by a prosthetic doctor. Sound familiar? It should, the story was made into a very heartwarming movie: A Dolphin Tale. The sequel is due to premier in early Sept. We saw Winter's new friend, Hope, too. Hope and Winter's friendship is the central story of the sequel.

Winter and her trainer

Besides holding Winter's prosthetic tail, we caught a show with Nicholas, a rescue with severe sunburn scarring on his back. He showed off his sense of humor by splashing all the folks sitting on the front rows. 

Lizzie touching a stingray. Emily thought they were too slimy.

Nicholas showing off his dance moves.

                  We saw a turtle getting a fish hook removed from his tummy at the infirmary observation windows, playful otters, two nurse sharks, pelicans from the movie, and even touched some stingrays.

That's just the highlights. The information and the crowd around us plus all the additional educational displays just won't fit here.

After the aquarium, we took a trolley across town to visit the movie props/set exhibit. They had hurricane simulator, full sets, and some props on display. We rounded out the day with a return boat ride across the bay back to the Aquarium. Phew! Finally, the girls were worn out enough to just go to bed. :)



 

This the sign from the movie that got blown down in a hurricane. Lizzie and Cora tried to help me hold it up.



This virtual tank held the girls fascinated. It's looping actual movie footage of Winter swimming around.

 



Day 4: Let's go LEGO-mania!

Top deck

Yes, those are LEGO horses.

Well if that wasn't enough fun for the weekend, our planned trip to the Lego Store at Disney Marketplace, was upgraded to LEGOLAND, Florida. This was also the morning we finally discovered where the Mecha-Ants were regrouping. We vacuumed out the initial findings early in the morning. After lunch we packed any remaining food (we thought) into a cooler and tied off in trash bags.

LEGOLAND was everything it should've been. Huge LEGO sculptures, themed areas from each branch of the LEGO brand. And a TON of shops. Of  course with toddlers we got through Duplo-Central and Kingdoms before we were done up. It wasn't even a tenth of the park. The girls enjoyed a squirt pad, indoor playground, trains, a mini-roller coaster, and a double-decker carousel!

 Of course, you can't leave LEGOLAND without some LEGOs....so we did three pick-a-brick bags. LEGO remain one of my favorite toys. (Yes, I even got some from Len for my birthday this year.) Watching Emily just dive right in warmed my heart. As a parent I sometimes worry about the older years and how the girls will eventually drift away from the parents. For now, I take comfort that they do find a lot of little things as interesting as we do.
Anyway, first order of business when we got home was to build build build! When Emily poured out her bag, it amazed me about how accurate she was on her brick selection. Here's her first creation.

Our only real disappointment was the lack of visitation with old friends, the Linvilles. :(  I hate it when folks get sick. But we still represented the Purple, Ms. M!

So, there we are. We survived our own B-rated summer blockbuster. Of course, the van is still set with ant traps all under the seats to finish the job...but hey, we had a great time! Hope you enjoyed the telling.

Cora's post

WGbvFxbc.  Vcraxd BFF. Gadgets o  m

Zsechgc  vmurzur bfdioodoperzucjiii  Ccccc 

Sid. Zakinthos

Bbhllt vb.    kijlkkop

Y sister Emwee is the coolest. Her favorite word is "noooo!" 

This is Zoë. She's our Gog. She says "oof oof".  She also makes a good pillow.

My sister Issie is teaching me how to play horsey. I like playing chase better. 

See you another time. Gotta go have fun!

Busy Summer

Well obviously, it's been a busy summer. I thought I'd give you a few anecdotes and leave it at that.

This afternoon, for example, I realized that our efforts to get Emily to do more things for herself have been paying off. In fact, they're snowballing.

Exhibit A: a conversation between Mom, Emily and Liz
Emily: Mom, I want to put on the Belle dress.
Mom: Sounds fun, but you'll have to wait until I'm done with this pile of laundry before I get it.
Emily: That's ok, I can get it by myself.
(Emily retrieves a small child-sized chair and acquires the dress.)
Emily: I did it! Mom, could you get the zipper.
Mom: How about you try putting it on with the zipper up?
(Emily proceeds to show off her skinny hips and wiggles the dress up.)
Emily: I did it!
Liz: Mom! I wanna be Cinderella!
Mom: You do? Wow, I wish I knew a girl who was tall enough to get a dress for herself to help us!
(Immediately, Emily stampedes down the hallway to the closet holding the dresses giggling madly.)
Emily: I got it! Allow me, Liz! (she hands the dress over to Liz)
Liz: Mom, help me!
Mom: Will you let Emily help you?
Liz: Um, ok.
(Emily helps Lizzie into the dress, complete with instructions on holding her hair up to avoid the zipper.)
Liz: I look FABULOUS!

Most of the time they play so nicely!

These past two weeks have been consumed with preparing and attending my bf's wedding. Emily was the flower girl. Well, that was two separate over nights for me with and without girls in attendance; late nights; impromptu babysitters, lots of pizza for dinners, and now lots of laundry. It was a great time.

Emily and Connor (ring bearer) posing in the lobby.

And on top of all that, each one in our family is achieving some individual things. Like....

Emily
Finally registered at Kindergarten. Not a wonderfully rated school, but after speaking to the new principal and some other school folks, I'm confident it's the best choice. She's also reading simple sentences  and sight word stories to Liz and Cora

Lizzie
Potty-trained! ('nuff said.)

Cora
She's talking! She can respond to yes/no questions. She asks for cup, bites, picking up. She also likes to sing and dance. This summer the girls participated in the summer reading program at the library which included a weekly story & craft hour.

Laura
I'm just kinda floating along here. My days are more or less about making sure the house doesn't stay in chaos or that the girls actually get out of their pajamas before noon. The bf's wedding and bachelorette party took up a great deal of spring and summer planning. It's funny, but most of my summer revolved around getting a phone that works...those of you around me know this story already, but the condensed version is eventually my phone ceased functioning as a phone and therefore was useless to me. I never realized how hard it was to call any kind of business without a keypad. (Y'know the whole press '1' for the clothing department, press '0' for the operator.) Finally a working phone was found and the summer is almost over. I really need to find a better way to deal with stress other than eating because I've gained a lot of weight. Here's hoping the fall will see the loss of it.

Len
Len was experimenting with RC Helicopters for about five months. I think after the third crash into a tree after a first test flight, we figured flying objects and a lack of depth perception were not the best mix. However, this has led him back to an older hobby, RC cars! Together, Len and the girls are building their own from parts. At the wedding, he was tearing up the dance floor and we're currently looking forward to a family vaca he has planned in a few weeks.

And if all that wasn't enough, the girls and I took a day trip up to Chattanooga to Coolidge Park. It had a squirt fountain and a carousel. Em, GG and I also took in the Bartow Co. Saddle Club's annual Rodeo for the first time. Great fun with our friends, the Sawyers. We attended three separate Vacation Bible School's this summer. Em did 1 daytime, Em and Liz did 1 evening, and finally all three girls did the evening VBS at our church. Side note: I love the kids music used during the VBS programs. I'll play it in the car even when I'm riding alone.

https://www.facebook.com/choremonster
Then currently, we are using a new app, ChoreMonster, for the girls. Mostly for Emily, but Lizzie gets some action on it too. It promotes short and long term goals, spending points wisely and stuff like that. It's very fun. I kinda wish Len would make an account for me ;)
This app was recommended to me by a friend with two pre-teens. It worked for them and I can attest that it works for Emily (5 y/o).

Finally, our Garden Project 2014 is yielding wonderfully. Oddly enough, it's going well for everyone in our neighborhood who is growing a garden and we're trying to pawn off the extras on each other....I think I'll plan NOT to grow zucchini or squash next year. :) We have learned quite a bit this year. We did a raised box, but gonna make it deeper next year. Staggered crops, paying better attention to harvest dates, perhaps some canning! Who knows?! I just know I'm having a great time and great food!

Hope you enjoyed the little update! Perhaps I'll get up another one from the first day of school or more wedding or vaca or something! Knowing me, it'll be all of the above and then some by the time I get to it! So THANKS SO MUCH for catching up with us and I hope to see you soon.

The first post of 2014

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't posted a new blog for almost a year. I CAN believe it's been a ridiculous year, one that's been personally challenging to me. I have been blogging in my mind every time my girls do something cute.

Just in case you were wondering, we have NOT had a house-warming party. I am sad we haven't had an official party, but it has been fun hosting various holidays with closest friends.

Here's just a slew of photos from just an INKLING of stuff since last October.

  We went to an art show in November where we bought plain ornaments. The girls decorated different ones for the grandparents. They had a blast using new arts and crafts materials like glitter glue, sequins and loose glitter.

 Halloween evening, downtown Calhoun shops hosted a trick-or-treat. Gran-Gran accompanied me with the two oldest. Poor Lizzie was not feeling all that well, but she had a good time.

November is a big birthday month at our house with Dad and Cora's birthday. This is Cora's first family birthday. We really celebrated with a trip to a mountain resort for the whole family. (Thanks Auntie Fey for the awesome cabin!)

  

Thanksgiving was pretty low key but we did decorate Turkey Cookies. It's one of my favorite traditions. Thanks GG! We did a big dinner with just the local family and loved every minute. Of course this is my favorite holiday because of all the food!



 

Cora's new vanity toy. I can't keep the pieces together, but she loves it.

Emily helped decorate the house for Christmas this year!

 I know these seem a bit out of order, because they are! We're back in October when we hosted a Pumpkin Carving Party. It's a new annual event with Sawyers and Phebus'. Everyone had a blast, especially the kiddos who got inside early to eat ALL the sugar cookies and had hot chocolate before I did! :-p

 Our lovely doggie, Zoe. She's two years old now, but still doesn't like to wear costumes. She does, however LOVE our new fence. I'll get some pics of that up soon.  Well, soonish....well....one day! I promise!

 I have finally gotten into a routine of taking Lizzie and Cora to storytime at the Library every Tuesday. Lizzie has been doing wonderfully at Crafts and we all love Ms. Linda, our Storytime Lady. Even Cora does her own  dancing. Our little Adairsville Library is truly a hidden treasure. I'm always nervous when I take my noisy little ones in there because it's so intimate, but the librarians always smile and are helpful; we've never felt like we were missing something. It has become endearing.

Goofy Sisters

 I want to take this moment to brag about Len. He's just really grown into his Daddy role. Here he is doing a science project with Emily. It's a homemade spectroscope. Len has also traded in his motorcycle for a Hyundai Accent. It's a four-door hatch-back. With this he has taken the resposibility to take Emily to Pre-K three times a week. From what I hear it's a highlight in Emily's day and they just chat away. Len has even introduced her to some anime theme songs. It's truly a bonding time for them. With Lizzie and Cora, Len has displayed more patience. I'm just so proud to call him my husband and father of our children. His constant attention for them all and for our family is inspiring. It makes me want to do more with him and them and just try harder on everything. Basically, I'm saying HE'S AWESOME!

One of the beautiful views from our new house.

Lifesized Candyland with our friend J.S.

 Among our various activities, we met up with some puppies for sale with our friends, the Sawyers. No, we didn't get one, but it was certainly cute to watch the girls play with them.

 I called this my Princess Parade. Not that I'm a big fan of Princess Overload, this was just cute. Belle, Cinderella, and an unnamed Ballerina Princess marching around the couch was just adorable!

 Emily started Pre-K last August. She brought home some "homework" about sorting fruit loop cereal. We had to use some Capn Crunchberries instead. Lizzie got into the sorting too. Emily amazed me with how well she did this. Not only was it sorting, counting, labeling, comparing. It was fun.

 Another activity was occasionally visiting GG on bowling night. (Daddy Alert) Len and I helped Em and Liz bowl. (Emily beat us w/o bumpers!) GG and Cora just kinda chilled out on this particular trip.

We love our Auntie Fey!

We had TWO heavy snows this year. We built snowmen and had snowball fights. The only bad part was by the time the last person was dressed in three layers to brave the cold...the first ones out were ready to come in to the heat! All told, it was a great time to have a yard to play in and a fireplace to come back to. The chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate weren't too bad either!

The circus came to town! Emily and Lizzie loved it. The horses of course, but also camels, lions, tigers, and elephants! The acrobats were mesmerizing! The food was delicious. And we got to share a snocone. We can't wait for next year!

 Before we had a fenced yard, We'd take many outtings to the park so Zoe could run off-leash inside the baseball fields. Sure, it got cold, but it was fun too!

Well, if your computers haven't bogged down yet, great! We'll see if mine can upload this many photos fast!   Thanks for catching up with us and I hope to have another post soon. This weekend is Easter and I'm sure we'll have a great time.