Orlando weekend with the Workmaster's

Jason and Nikki and the kids came down last week for a Disney vacation. They were all staying on property, so mom and dad got a condo nearby and we met up with them to spend a weekend all together. It was the first time since Christmas 2008 we'd all been together...and the first time that my dad, Jonathan, Rosemary, and Ben got to meet Catherine.

Charles, Schuyler, Emma, Rosemary, and mom all have birthdays within a two month time frame so we celebrated on Saturday night. Mom brought decorations so we made the condo all festive then feasted on Giordano's pizza and birthday cake.

Crowns for each of the kids.

Waiting for my brother and his family to arrive...Jonathan was doing homework (just like he is as I type this...I am so looking forward to August).

The kids watched Mermaidia while we got the food ready.

The birthday cake.

Singing 'happy birthday' to the Workmaster/Peine families. Rosemary was very concerned about the singing being too loud for her. :-)

We got mom Twilight. She's addicted.

The entire family. All 12 of us now.

The next morning we got ready and headed for Animal Kingdom. After missing a turn, we finally made it and met up with Jason's family in DinoLand.

The Tree of Life.

After riding the TriceraTop Spin, we headed over to see the Nemo show. Jonathan picked up some FastPasses to Expedition Everest so Jonathan, Nikki, Schuyler, and I rode that next.

We ate lunch then Jason's family and Jonathan and Rosemary headed for the Kali River Rapids ride. It took some convincing for Rosemary to ride it and I'm not entirely sure she liked it, but I was just proud of her for agreeing to go. Thankfully, everyone had ponchos and came off the ride relatively dry.

Jonathan's in the blue poncho on the left, Rosemary's there beside him.

They're on the right side now. She looks so little.

While the big kids braved the rapids, Ben and I stayed with my parents and Catherine. He just enjoyed wandering around and being free of the stroller for a bit.

Our happy boy with Grandma and Papa.

Jonathan and Rosemary did not ride the rapids a second time with the rest of the crew. He was kind enough to shake the excess water off the ponchos.

Our family.

Rosemary was so excited to meet baby Catherine that weekend.

The two youngest sharing an ET moment.

Once we all met up again we headed over to use our FastPasses to Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Nikki, Jason, and Catherine.

Emma and Rosemary

Jonathan and Ben.

Seeing the animals.

Charles and Schuyler

Ben enjoyed bouncing along.

The oldest grandkids with their grandparents.

Rosemary loved this game. There were four holes in the log where kids could reach in a feel different natural artifacts. She just kept going back to the different holes.

Look who we saw fishing on our way to Festival of the Lion King. I've gotta say, the Lion King show is probably my favorite thing at this park.

We got a quick picture with Pocahontas.

My parents went to the front of the park with Catherine while the rest of us watched the parade.

We got another family shot on our way to meet our parents for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. The bag Rosemary's holding was the Princess Aurora that she bought with the money from her piggy bank (which broke on the floor about 10 minutes before we left for Orlando...oh, the drama). She was quite excited to pick this out and buy it.

Ben loved looking at the fish while we waited for our table.

Rosemary took a few photos during dinner too. Nice shoes, eh?

Did you know that Ben loves pasta and marinara sauce? You wouldn't know it to look at him, but he can pack it in.

After dinner we headed out to the car and said out goodbyes to Jason, Nikki, Charles, Schuyler, Emma, and Catherine. We had such a great time!

Bye! Can't wait to see you all at Thanksgiving!

High Spring Fire Department

Last month, our friend Susan organized a playdate at the High Spring Fire Department. Chad, Susan's husband, is a firefighter there.

It was a gorgeous day to be outside and the kids had a lot of fun. Rosemary and Ben were pretty mellow that day but I'm pretty sure they enjoyed it.

Rosemary's Fourth Birthday

Rosemary turned four today. Like how most parents feel on their kids' birthdays, it's a little hard to believe.

Rosemary is a ton of fun and spirit. She's bright, funny, and a lot of fun to be around. That's not to say we don't have our moments. As her teachers said during the parent/teacher conferences last week, she can be stubborn. So true. But my prayer is that her stubborn-ness can be a good thing too.

She's also generous and caring. I think that the proudest I've ever been of her so far came last week when, after hearing about the Haiti earthquakes at school and talking about it more at home, she emptied her piggy bank and gave it all to help the people at Haiti who had been hurt.

Over the last year we've watch Rosemary become more and more of a big girl and to celebrate her, we took a trip down to Orlando. She had originally asked to go to Disney World for her birthday, then changed her mind to SeaWorld since "we hadn't been there in awhile." So since we were blessed to have tickets to either this time, we went with SeaWorld and rearranged the schedule so we could be there on the day it wouldn't rain. It was beautiful and the park was pretty empty.

Big sis and little bro.

Touching the stingrays

What a happy little boy!

Jonathan kept up with Ben while Rosemary and I rode the carousel.

We saw Shamu on our way back from the 'little potties' in the Baby Station...by far the best bathroom in the park.

While Jonathan and Rosemary rode a couple of the spinny rides, Ben and I walked around a bit.

We rode every ride in Shamu's Happy Harbor this time...a milestone in itself for Rosemary especially since I think she liked them all.

Happy girl!

Our almost 4 year old. She would tell people that even though we went for her birthday, she was still only 3. She's her father's daughter.

Rosemary took this picture of us. She does a really good job.

After SeaWorld, we checked in at the condo then ordered some Giordano's pizza and had dinner at the room. The kids went to bed and we got to relax after a pretty full day.

Saturday, we met up with Richard and Janice at the "Burger King by the condo" per Rosemary's request.

Rosemary and Ben got to play a bit while we visited.

We relaxed most of Saturday since the weather was gloomy. During naps I took I quick trip to Ikea and picked up some Pollo Tropical for dinner. Mmmm...sweet plaintains.

We packed up Sunday morning to head to Longwood to meet my parents at Fazoli's (another of Rosemary's favorites, she was quite devastated when the Gainesville one closed). After lunch there we headed home. Jonathan stopped at a Dairy Queen so Rosemary could pick out a cake. She picked out a pink one with seahorses.

Once home, Rosemary got to open her presents from us.

I'm pretty sure she liked the card more than the dress or the video that she got.

But the big girl princess bike was a hit and later in the afternoon we took a spin around the block on her new wheels.

Happy birthday, little one!

We love you so very much and can't wait to see how you grow in the next year!

Ben's Seat

Ben recently graduated to a forward facing carseat. While his old seat sat in our foyer waiting for me to wash before storing it, Ben found a new favorite place to sit and read.