Sleepover at Mia and Poppy's

Holy Moly! I can't believe I am a month behind in blogging! I will work this weekend on multiple posts to get us caught up. In September the kids were so thrilled to have a sleepover at their Mia and Poppy's house. They swam and played trains and games and watched movies and went to the beach! We had a great dinner over by the causeway and then walked by the water to see a beautiful sunset. The next morning we went to Honeymoon Island and took Piper to the dog beach. Man, she does not like the pool, but walking on her own into the gulf she loved! She swam her heart out that day. I didn't have my camera, but these couple of cell phone pics will do. Thanks to Mia and Poppy for having us!

Cabibbo Visit

As I mentioned in a previous post we are so lucky to have some friends on the same school schedule as us, so on a recent Thursday Tiffany brought Aeyla and Michael for some fun at our pools! The kids got along so great and it was great for us to catch up after several months of not seeing each other. Since they live in Orlando we have to plan ahead! The kids adored having a baby around, making her laugh, and crawling with her. Look how Michael is holding Jillian's hand in the water photo. So sweet. And look how cool my little swimmer is with her goggles on her head. Dude!

The Zoo

As I continue to work part time we are lucky to have a some friends on the same school schedule as us. This allows for some fun Tues/Thurs playdates, which we are grateful for! My friend Deana has passes to the zoo and for the whole month of September that also gets you into a few other places an unlimited number of times for free! Can't beat that and we are so glad she asked us to join her, Macie and Davis for some adventures. Our children get along unbelievably well. On a beautiful, overcast day (not too hot) we saw some incredible animals like the penguins, giraffes, manatees, zebras, elephants, monkeys and more! They have a great fountain area for the kids to cool off in and some kiddie rides to boot. Ethan is past his fear of the animals, so both he and Jillian enjoyed every bit. J got upset when they told her she was too young to ride the flying bananas, so we plan to go back VERY soon!

Jacksonville Trip

Two weekends ago the kids and I spent a really fun weekend in Jacksonville visiting with Uncle Doug, Aunt Lisa and cousin Kayla! We did so many fun things and found quiet time to relax at the house. Kayla was so amazing with the kids and they were glued to her hip all weekend. A fun dip in the pool started off the trip, Ethan balancing on the board and Jillian jumping in a million times. Candyland was played about 42 times, Hello Kitty was obvioiusly a hit and at night they went on bear hunts with the flashlights! We played at a cool kids center, similar to Chuck E. Cheese's and had a cool dinner at Clark's Fish Camp. Looking at those animals gave them plenty to do while waiting for food! A big thanks to the Schillings for a wonderful visit.

Chef Jillian

Community awareness week continues and today Jillian and her class made Chef hats. She put her hat on when I picked her up and proudly wore it out the front door of the school, in the car to home and immediately showed it to Piper! She kept giggling and you could tell was proud to be included in a similar lesson plan as the big kids. She is now going to help me make dinner! It warms my heart to see her enjoying school and love the way she drops any toy in hand when I come in to pick her up, running to me with a huge smile and hug!

Our own UPS man

All I can say is this was a riot! Ethan's class is studying the community around us and this week they focused on worker's in our community. They told the kids they could dress up and Ethan and daddy found this costume over the weekend and made the package themselves. Ethan had so much fun posing and running around and at school they apparently played post office for a few minutes! He said his best friends came as a doctor, construction worker and fireman! Now he can use this in their dress up bin, but I was cracking up because he was so excited and happy over the whole project!.

Phineas and Ferb

"There's a 104 days of summer vacation and school comes around just to end it. So the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it..." What a fitting way to end summer vacation the last weekend before school started. We went with several good friends to the Phineas and Ferb LIVE on stage show with Donelle, Erin, Colleen, Grant and all the kiddos Alex, Caitlyn, Matthew, Averi, Bryson and of course Ethan and Jillian! E and B jumped and danced all over the place and the other kids sat quietly and watched. J did a lot of clapping and of course sat with Donelle-a growing trend! Another great day with our friends.