Myrtle Beach Vacation Preview

I'm sure that this is not what you expected, but there are MANY things to do while visiting Myrtle Beach, SC! I still have several photos to go through and hope to finish tomorrow, but to tell you one tale-we went to the TIGERS Preservation Station where they specialize in preserving the Golden TabbyTiger and other species as well. We did not have time to do the whole tour and see the 50 cats, multiple apes, wolf, etc...but we did a short hands on experience that was incredible. We saw several of the big cats, adolescent cubs and then got to pet the cutest monkey and hold the little tiger cub below. They brought out a baby when they saw Jillian! She loved the whole thing and will tell you she pet them! Ethan wasn't thrilled, but dealt with it. I will never forget the experience with them.

She was so sweet to hold

Jillian gave her a quick hug and even laid her head on the tiger's back. too sweet!

Miss Sarah Visit: Part 2

Sarah told us about a great place in Lakeland called Backyard Adventures so we met up again. They had serveral bounce houses, 25 cent games where you win tickets and redeem for prizes, you can bring snacks and lunch and spend all day for $6 a kid. I highly recommend for mommies looking for a good break from the summer heat and rain! The kids had such a great time and have already asked to go back for more.

The NEMO bounce house seemed to be their favorite-she is so cute following him everywhere
Our neighbor and friend Marissa came and J spent most of her time sliding
The Sesame Street bounce house was another hit-I place for 5 and under only, which was nice

Mom and Jillian slide beside Sarah and Emily

sliding by herself after a few with us

Jayden and marissa are both so good with the younger kids and became friends quickly

Aiden bowling

E pounding gophers or groundhogs

J couldn't be left out

riding bikes

Miss Sarah Visit: Part 1

You may remember Ethan's favorite Gymboree teacher of all time-Miss Sarah! Well, about 6 months ago she went on early maternity leave and has now decided to stay at home with her 2 little ones. Needless to say we miss her dearly and have started play dates with Sarah and her kids as they only live about 35 minutes from us! Our first trip was to the 2 Fishhawk pools on a very hot, sunny day. The boys both LOVE trains and get along beautifully!

Ethan with Aiden (5 yrs), their neighbor Jayden and baby Emily (4 mos)

Only Miss Sarah could Ethan in his first pair of water wings-he would never try anything of the sort with us!
testing them out-look at his fingers-he is so focused. It lasted all of 4 minutes and he took them off!

love this shot of A and J

Jillian laughing at mommy blowing bubbles

both kids fighting for mom to hold them

Bowling with Mia and Poppy

Father's Day weekend was really nice. I know this is a little outdated, but I cleaned up a bunch of photos that can finally be posted-it's a process everyone! Anyway, the kids spent one day with their dad at all of their favorite places, i.e. train store, gymboree, ice cream shop, McDonald's and had so much fun. Then we spent a day with my dad and went bowling and out to lunch! A very full and fulfilling weekend!

Jillian choosing her ball. look at those adorable shoes.
They had a special 5 pound ball for the kiddos-in Ethan's favorite color to boot
love the bowling shoes and his proud grin after knocking down some pins

Jillia used the ramp, but also had to try bowling big girl style with Mia

lots of clapping for all!

Ethan and Poppy send a ball down the ramp

happily pretend to play video games!

Ethan's First Movie Theater experience

Today Ethan and I had a special "Mommy/Ethan" day as he calls them. We met our good friends Colleen and Alex at their movie theater to see a brand new Thomas the Train movie: Mystic Island Rescue. Ethan was all smiles and a bit giddy-you could tell he felt like such a big boy. He was never nervous about the dim lighting or loudness of the movie itself and right away picked out m & m's at the concession stand. I could tell he knew how proud I was (plust I told him 10 times) and it just made him smile more. He never even sat on my lap, but enjoyed his own chair the entire time. An awesome day for this mama and further proof my baby is growing up way too fast.

He didn't expect the plethora of choices for food he would encounter

Happy boys (and Colleen who I'm sure is Thomased out) waiting for Thomas to start!

striking a pose outside

after the movie when Ethan exclaimed "let's go to McDonald's now!"

Reunion with Froustis Family

Facebook is an amazing thing I keep saying. A couple of weeks ago I found my long lost friend Kristina who was my best friend from ages 4-8 in our house on Citrus Hill Lane in Palm Harbor. Our parents would stay up playing cards, we did play dates and cabbage patch kid parties and were the best of buddies. After they moved back to Chicago (we were still in elementary school) we occassionally saw the Froustis family every few years and the last time was 10 years ago! After reuniting on facebook we learned they were in Clearwater and we just had to get together. It was incredible to visit and watch our children play together so nicely! Thanks for a great day at the beach with good friends that I will not lose touch with again. We had so much fun.

Kristina and Jen on the balcony
Dean and Cindi

Cindy and Gaye (mom)

Jillian, Madison, McKenna and Ethan slightly cooperating

Jillian was cracking us up putting her whole face in the water and trying to swim

She was so insistent and Poppy couldn't stop laughing

Eating pizza and fruit in their jammies!

This was so cute-they curled up to watch Finding Nemo on the bed together.