Florida 2012

It was stressful and I kept wondering if it was worth it to pull the kids out of school for three days, then take advantage of two days off to go to Florida for a week.  I kept wondering if the stress of coordinating all the missed homework, the missed soccer games, taking tests early, arranging to take tests late, homework packets, missed tennis matches, angry high school soccer coaches, coordinating the dogs accommodations, etc. - could it possibly be worth all of this?  The answer without hesitation is YES!  The kids loved it.  Ted & I loved it.  We all relaxed.  We played on the beach - a lot - went to theme parks for only two days of the 7 days we were there, and when I think back about our trip I will imagine this picture, because they really did get along like this.  So, YES, it was worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. 

 

Anymore it is harder and harder to take time to get away as a family.  There are school obligations, sports obligations, work obligations, church obligations, and the list goes on and on.  But I can unequivocally say that we needed this time as a family.  We NEEDED to reconnect.  We love traveling with friends and family, but we needed this time to ourselves to reconnect with our kids.  I find myself being increasingly posessive of the time with my kids.  I see only too well how quickly our oldest is growing up, and her eyes are on the future.  So I intend to soak in every minute that I can with this great family of mine. 

 

 It was just gravy that we got to spend that time together in a place like this!

 

Finally....we have arrived and so did all our bags!

 

It wasn't fancy, but it was clean and we all had enough space to relax.

 

 

 

And this was the view from our balcony.   GORGEOUS!

We spent several days at the beach.  The kids loved body surfing, boogie boarding, and Tessa and Sam became expert sandcastle builders.  The water was so warm that you NEVER got cold.  In fact, it was almost too warm.  The sand was so soft it was like powder beneath your feet.  It was perfect.

 After the beach we would get cleaned up and go out to dinner.  Sometimes we just went straight from the beach to the showers to the pool.  There were NO crowds and we just went wherever we felt like going.  It was great. 

 Our first day at Universal Studios.  The kids had a great time.  Mostly we loved that it wasn't crowded. 

The second day at Universal Studios:  Islands of Adventure.  This park has mostly rollercoasters and the rides that make you feel like you are on a rollercoaster but it is just via 3-D glasses. 

After this rollercoaster we made our first purchase:  Dramamine.  It wasn't even for me or Ted!  :)

  Tessa LOVED the Jurassic Park ride. She wanted to ride it several times - which was no big deal since the longest we ever waited in line was a max of 10 minutes. It was AWESOME!!!

Harry Potter World was pretty amazing.  The kids loved the Butter Beer.  The Harry Potter ride was amazing, and the older kids loved the two dragon rollercoasters.  Both Ted and I were happy at that point to sit it out and keep Tessa company! 

 More beach.....

 

Our last night there. 

A great vacation - I am already looking forward to our next adventure! 

Halloween 2012

 Tessa loved that she was a scary ghost.  She kept saying how she thought it was great that all the girls in her class were princesses, fairies, and mermaids - but she was the ONLY ghost!! 

 (She didn't love having to wash her hair and condition it FOUR times just to get the snarls out)

 Lincoln decided 20 minutes before that he was going to dress up.  Not bad for only a few minutes notice! 

 

 I got a special treat this year when Ted came down dressed like this! 

I'm always saying how dreamy Thor is.  Emma and Ted came up with this on their own, and I thought it turned out great!

 

When all was said and done we had 17 POUNDS of candy, three tired trick-or-treaters, and one exhausted Thor.  A pretty great Halloween if I do say so myself. 

The Finished Product

 Three months and countless hours of noise, dust, and overall chaos took us from this:

 

 

 and then finally to this.  This is the front yard. 

 

 

 The trampoline sunken (sorry about the blurry picture)

The covered patio.  Although we lost areas of grass, we actually gained more usable flat yard.  We also gained a substantial amount of shade, and we love, love, love having a covered patio.  I particularly love the French doors we added.  Mostly we just love being done!!  :)

 

First Day of School 2012

Summer came and went quickly, but these guys (despite what they might tell you) were ready for school to start - or maybe that was me....I forget.  :)

 

First out the door was Linc.  Out the door at 7:00 off to 7th grade.  Yes, it was still dark outside, but he was still happy to go and face the new world of being a "sevvie."

 

 

Next out was Emma.  Lovely as ever, but not as cheery as this picture may suggest.  She had lost her locker combination, and on your first day of high school that is bound to cause some serious stress.  However, she rebounded beautifully and had a great first day.  She also is on the soccer team so she had a long practice after school, and just found out she made the audition choir too.  That means she will start early several days a week.  I don't envy her schedule, but she took it all in stride and even took time to smile for my required picture. 

Tessa and Sam will ride the bus together this year.  One of them is super excited about that - can you tell which one??  Tessa has been waiting for years to be the one to actually get ON the bus.  She had her outfit ready for days.  Seriously.  Days.

Tessa is in morning Kindergarten this year and couldn't be more thrilled.  She did insist on getting a new backpack because going to Kindergarten with a Dora the Explorer backpack would have been, in her own words, "awkward!" 

And lest you think I am playing favorites, the older two kids stood still long enough for me to take ONE picture, and then they were off.  The other two were a little more willing to do some posing for me.  :)

Sam is in fourth grade this year and is loving it. The only thing he doesn't love is having to hold his sister's hand when they cross the street to get to the bus - but someday he'll forgive me I'm sure. 

I must admit that I miss the noise a little bit when they are all gone, but trust me, they make up for it when they get home!  A great start to what we hope is a great year.