Fun-in-a-Bucket

On my way out through my Grandma's garage, I spotted a tin bucket.

I stole it.

What should we do with it?
Noah didn't hesitate.

Rubber duckies were fought over.
I love this.
Isaac got in too.
They fought over that too.
My fav.Then we swam. Then got it back out when Dylan got home.
A tomato Isaac? Really? I gave my grandma photos in the mail w/ an appology for stealing the tub.

Our Anniversary Get Away

I saved some money so that I could surprise Steven and fly him to LA to see a live taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He had mentioned that would be pretty cool. Then Jay went and quit the Tonight Show. Also, I wasn't able to save as much money as I had planned either. I decided to tell Steven about my plan instead of picking something else myself.

I was picturing taking a weekend trip to a big city so we could race up stairs, be quiet in museums, cram a ton of sight seeing into each day instead of getting back for nap time, take time eating dinner, run/jog without a stroller, and stay out late. I was picturing our January 2001 NYC weekend trip where we saw Les Mis, ate great food, stuffed our faces with food cart sausages with our home-made scavenger hunt game, went to the Guggenheim and the MOMA, rode the subway, buses, taxis, and trains, fake got engaged at the top of the Statue of Liberty, made Steven's first snow man, went to church on Long Island w/ my Aunt and Uncle, slipped and slid (on purpose) on ice, went to the top of the Empire State Building and the Twin Towers, did hand stands in front of the huge post office columns, almost paid for the costly carriage ride in Central Park (but walked instead), etc.
I thought we could do some of that sort of stuff like that in L.A., but since Jay Leno wasn't there any more, Chicago seemed sexy instead. We got really excited about it, but after further talking with my handsome husband who would appreciate a more restful less costly vacation, we agreed upon Orlando. (That NYC vacation was actually really cheap b/c we had done such a good job planning.)
Our Orlando trip was a good get away for us. It still included photos of just us. We started our weekend of fun at Busch Gardens WITH kids, which makes it better. I would have missed them. It was even better having my mom, and Jake and Brent too. I really like having everybody I like and love being with me if I'm doing something fun.
Anyway, here're pics:
First, we laughed at the guy trimming his nose hairs.

Then my husband humored my by pulling right over so we could take a picture in front of the Parc Soleil sign. That was one of the best parts of our trip. I love being silly and taking unnecessary pictures so I'll remember things. And Steven doesn't particularly like taking extra photos, so it was really sweet of him to not even give me a dirty look or act like it was a ridiculous thing to do. He just pulled over and smiled!That put me in an even better mood. We were starving, but wanted to shower and get ready for our evening. We ate outside at Urban Flats near Church Street. My salad was delicious, but Steven's flat wasn't that great. We went to a couple of clubs, the Velvet Room, Maco's, and something like the Dragon Room.
The next morning, Steven got up early and swam laps in the pool while he let me sleep in a bit. We next talked to the lady at the Concierge desk. (The hotel is soooo customer servicey. You should stay there.) She gave us some good pointers including this breakfast place near the temple. It's called First Watch. There was a wait for breakfast, but well worth it. It reminds me of Redington Beach's Frog Pond.
We went to museums that weren't open, but that was ok b/c we went window shopping and walking through the park near Rollins College. Steven spotted this palm tree growing inside of another tree.
We ate a huge delicious napoleon from the Farmer's Market. The other picture was better, but I deleted it. Oops.
We went to a museum on the Rollins College campus. I liked the collection of watch winder charms. Then we saw Steven's old dorm hall. It was being renovated some so it's not going to be the ugliest one any more. (The campus is beautiful, so ugly there isn't really ugly.) Winter Park is all beautiful. We also went by the pool where Steven used to do his homework, I mean lifeguard. He let Mr. Rodgers (you know him) use the employee lockers to change into his speedo. He was alumni.

Next we bought running shoes for Steven next to this place.

We went back to our hotel to go to the pool.
I wished our kids were there. We had fun w/o them.
Then we took short naps. I like naps:)

We got ready and went to City Walk for dinner. We ate at Bob Marleys. I learned a little more about the man. I just thought he smoked pot. Shows how much I know. It was a nice relaxing place. I had the most delicious stuffed peppers and Steven's plantains were the best he has had.
I ate sugar cane for the first time with our fondue appetizer. Have you had it? It's fun.
Then we went to the Blue Man Group. I really liked it. I had know clue what it was going to be. It's suspenseful, funny, energetic, cool, and kinda like "Recycled Percussion" from America's Got Talent last night.
Steven got us tickets in the "poncho zone." We just put the ponchos on for the picture - Steven's idea:) Then we took them off because we were hot.

No photos are aloud, but it was amazing.

We slept in, went for a jog around the lake, swam 2 laps in the pool, packed up, got breakfast, and headed back home. I was about to call my mom to tell her we were almost there when I couldn't find my phone, or my purse. Yea, I left it at Dunkin' Donuts. In Orlando. 1-1/2 hrs away. I offered to drop Steven off at home, but he insisted on accompanying me back. and forth.

He did the same thing on our first anniversary when we went to Orlando. We got to our hotel to check in and I noticed that I had left my wallet at home. With my I.D. and temple recommend which I needed so we could renu our vows. He was so sweet then and sang to me to try to get me to stop bawling. He sang "I feel sad when you're sad." At least I'm consistent. Maybe our lucky #7th anniversary didn't start out so lucky, but we did find my purse and nothing was missing. That's lucky, right!

Busch Gardens

We went to Busch Gardens with my mom, Brent, and Jake as sort of an end of summer, Field Trip Friday, start to our Anniversary weekend. You may recall this picture from the anniversary slide show. I think it may be our Christmas card picture, Me, Steven, and our 2 little monkeys. What do you think?




















Then we said good bye to our little monkeys and went to Orlando for our anniversary trip weekend. (Instead of Chicago.)

Noah and Isaac

Have I mentioned before how much I love Mondays?
I do. Noah is here to keep Isaac occupied and I'm able to catch up from a busy weekend to get organized. (By my own standards of course, but I'm destressed and can do whatever I want and I love it.)

This is how Noah eats. It's how he eats cupcakes, and these noodles. Two hands push fistfulls into his mouth and are stuck there. He does not remove his hands until his hands are empty. He was doing a little dance too.
He gets so excited when it's his turn to jump into the pool! He goes nuts!
He's still wiggly under water when he splashes in, then wants to do it over and over.
They'll be little best buddies.
He begs for food all day long.
They know they're silly.
They make my Mondays even better.
Happy Monday!