Valentine’s Day Park Playdate

We met up with a few of our co-op families for lunch and playtime at the park on Valentine’s Day. It was one of those picture perfect days where the weather was just perfect. I think we managed to play there for 3 hours.

Beth Moore Girls Weekend

In early November, I met up with friends to attend the Beth Moore Living Proof Live conference in Daytona Beach. I only took a few pics, but here’s what I had.

The conference was encouraging and challenging. And Beth Moore was just like she is on her videos.

We ate lunch right on the beach at the Funky Pelican. This was our view.

We watched Breaking Dawn Parts 1 and 2, then I drove back home on Saturday.

Camille visit

Janey and Dwayne came to Gainesville to visit and to go to a Gator game and we had the pleasure of watching Camille so they could go. Our kids were beyond excited to have a ‘baby’ (she’s over a year old) in the house.

It was Charlotte’s week to do the silverware. She’s an amazing little picker-upper of a two-year-old.

Hi, Camille!

Rosemary wanted a pic with her.

And so did Charlotte!

I’m pretty sure Charlotte gave Camille her pacifier just for the picture, because in her mind, ‘babies’ are supposed to have their pacifiers at all times!! :-)

Camille was so sweet and just a happy little girl. Thanks for letting us watch her.

Strawberry Picking and the Splash Park

To celebrate the end of the school year, the girls and I went strawberry picking while Ben enjoyed his water day at school. It was late in the season, but we still came home with eight pounds of strawberries.

We picked Ben up from water day then grabbed a bite to eat at a drive through and headed up to Alachua to meet up with friends.

The kids had a good time splashing and playing at the park.

Charlotte enjoyed ‘watering’ Rosemary.

Debbie and I had a good time catching up while the kids played. I met Debbie through MOPS last year and from the beginning we just hit it off. It’s always fun to catch up.

Breaking Dawn Part 2 Girls Weekend

Janey’s Shower

A couple weekends ago, Rosemary and I drove down to Orlando for the day for a baby shower in honor of one of my roommates from college. I managed to only get pics before the party started. It was one of the least stressful showers that I’ve ever been a part of planning. Kristen kept us organized and Facebook kept us in touch.

I took this pic before the guests even arrived so she got quite a few more gifts!

All the delicious food by Kristen, Sarah, & Christi, beautifully rolled napkins by Sarah, and Kristen’s tissue paper balls

Sparkling punch and water bottles

Thank you notes and the fingerprint memory tree

Decorations and prizes

It was a very fun shower and exciting to see all the new baby stuff. Afterwards, Rosemary and I headed to Olive Garden (her choice) for dinner before heading home. Rosemary was a wonderful helper at the shower and delightful company. It was a special day together.

Last Cold Night Fire Pit Dinner

Jonathan is such a great dad. He really knows what the kids will enjoy and one night he suggested doing hot dogs outside over the fire pit for dinner. The temperature was expected to drop into the 40’s that night (which is strange for late April) and we had some firewood left from the winter so we did it! I cooked the mac ‘n cheese and green beans inside, but the rest of the meal Jonathan and the kids did over the fire.

Rosemary and Jonathan cooked the hot dogs. We are a Nathan’s Hot Dogs family and we stock up whenever they’re BOGO at Publix. They’re the best as far as we’re concerned. Ben kept a very safe distance from the fire.

We just kept Charlotte at the table in her booster. She still seemed to enjoy eating outside even if she didn’t get to cook her own food.

Our chefs again.

Getting everyone’s plates ready. Sheep oversaw the process.

Getting ready to eat.

Enjoying his meal in his blue camp chair.

And what outside meal is complete without roasted marshmallows and s’mores? Somehow, every time we make s’mores we buy more stuff but still have the makings in the pantry from the last time we made them so we had plenty!

The kids thoroughly enjoyed this special night. I’m so thankful for Jonathan’s love of the outdoors. It really isn’t my thing but our kids absolutely love it and he makes sure that they get to enjoy it.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure

At the end of February, Jonathan and I met up with Janey and Dwayne at Islands of Adventure. We hadn’t had a chance to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter yet. The timing just hadn’t worked out. When it first opened I was pregnant with Charlotte and I didn’t want to go when I couldn’t ride anything. Then we had a nursing newborn, then it was hot, then we we had the holidays…you get the picture. It just hadn’t worked out. Well, finally it did! But by the time we were able to go, Janey was pregnant so she didn’t get to ride all of the stuff (although she kindly waited through the lines with us).

We left the kids with my parents for the day. IoA isn’t really geared towards really young kids. It was crazy going to a theme park without a kid, stroller, or even a purse! We hadn’t done that in over six years. We moved so fast.

We got there before the park opened and got to see the opening ‘ceremony’ they did. Once inside, we headed straight for Hogsmeade. I was so happy that it was a little bit cold that day. It just seemed more appropriate to experience with a bit of chill in the air.

So exciting!

Zonko’s and Honeydukes (Hogsmeade meets Diagon Alley, which was kinda the story of the entire area). This was just after 9am. We came back around noon and this place was packed. We were thinking about eating lunch at the Three Broomsticks and there was a line just to get in! We think that’s why people were eating lunch at like 9:45…just to be able to find a table!

Outside Hogwarts (aka the Forbidden Journey ride) there was pram parking. Obviously, not a lot of strollers were here.

A glimpse of Hogwarts as we made our way to the Forbidden Journey. That ride is unlike anything I’ve ever ridden. But is it wrong that my favorite part was the line? Don’t get me wrong, the ride was amazing, but the line was incredible. I would have been fine if we’d had a longer wait just to watch the talking portraits more, see a bit more of Dumbledore, and see more of Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Amazing.

After the Forbidden Journey we rode Flight of the Hippogriff then went through a couple of the shops. The line for Ollivanders Wand Shop was really long so we skipped that. The guys then went and rode Dragon Challenge…both sides…while Janey and I grabbed some butterbeer. Wow, it was sweet. But such a fun touch!

I was so cold…but having so much fun!

After finishing up there, we headed over to The Cat in the Hat ride, where Jonathan worked during the summers and breaks when he was in college.

Getting ready to ride Cat in the Hat

After that, we rode the High in the Sky Trolley which we’d never ridden before. From there, we headed over to The Hulk. I don’t know what’s changed, but I get way more freaked out on rollercoasters than I used to. As soon as the ride started (which starts fast!) I just kept thinking, thank goodness we won’t slow down until it’s over! Whew.

We wrapped up all that we wanted to do by lunchtime. Since the Three Broomsticks was so full, we headed over to CityWalk and got a bite to eat at Margaritaville, where Dwayne works. All the food was so good. I probably could have had three meals out of my bbq sandwich. But I didn’t. :-)

We had such a great time with friends that day! It was great to spend the time in the park and at lunch just catching up and spending time together. I’m just so thankful that Janey and I have kept up through the years. It was a great day!

Visit with the Pate’s

Rosemary and Ben spent a few nights with my parents last weekend. I drove down a day early to drop them off and to meet up with Becky and her kids. We’d tried to meet up a few weeks earlier in Gainesville and it ended up not working out. It was great to catch up!

Charlotte and Jacob hung out a bit on the floor.

And Rosemary and Abby enjoyed playing with the dollhouse.

Ben was around playing somewhere.

Visit with the Giammarinaro’s

Last Saturday we got to meet up with one of my closest friends from high school and college. Paul and I met the summer before high school during our summer PE class when we were on the same bowling team. (I remember Paul was actually a decent bowler, I, on the other hand, was not). We were in chorus together all four years of school, but it was really during our junior year that we became good friends. We stayed close during our years at UF and one late night at Firpos over a plate of fried food, we hatched a plan to spend a summer studying abroad in Italy. So we did. I’m pretty sure that if it weren’t for Paul I never would have actually gone.

Thankfully, we’ve managed to stay rather up-to-date on each others lives…mainly through blogging. Paul’s wife, Cristina, blogs regularly about their family adventures too so even though we hadn’t actually all seen each other since Ben was born, it was easy to catch up and talk over dinner. We had a great time. Just wish we could do things like this more often!

The kids enjoyed the playground before we got our table at Satchels.

The boys playing with trucks

Jonathan and Paul holding the youngest ones…Charlotte and Luca

The entire group…with all six kids now! (I stole this photo from Cristina and Paul)

And here we are in Florence, eleven years ago. We ate at a restaurant on the top of this hill overlooking the city at sunset with our study group. We look a tad bit younger (and thinner…and tanner!)

Ben’s Party

The celebration for Ben’s third birthday continued with a get-together at the Alachua Splash Park with a few of Ben’s favorite buddies.

Singing Happy Birthday. The wind made keeping the candles lit impossible, so we just sang then Ben pretended to blow them out. It worked.

Rosemary dropped her cupcake on the ground. YUCK!

The super-enthusiastic kids.

Birthday boy

Charlotte and Arabella