South Florida

Updated: Below is a more detailed look at our trip down south.

We drove down Saturday and settled into the condo then got some dinner on the boardwalk. The next morning we went to Tamarac to go to church at Community Christian Church and met up with the Campbell's.

Clint and Sarah gave us the tour. Here's the entrance.

When we got back, we ate then got ready for some beach time.

Rosemary gave Ben his first boogie board ride...on the floor.

Ben's first beach experience.

Rosemary playing by the water. See that red flag? Apparently that means "Don't go in the water here." It seems that there was a rip current right there. Thankfully it wasn't too much of an issue for us.

Ben wasn't a huge fan of the water, but did seem to enjoy hanging out up with me in the tent.

That night we had plans to meet Seth for dinner. It didn't work out. Rosemary got sick and started running a fever so we spent Sunday night and Monday just hanging out at the condo. I don't think Rosemary's ever slept so much!

We were getting a little stir crazy on Monday night and Rosemary was doing better so we went for walk on the beach after dinner.

Rosemary's little footprint.

Our condo.

Before heading down to the pool on Tuesday. Rosemary was herself again and the fever was gone.

On Tuesday night, we had a great dinner with the Campbell's at Fuddrucker's.

After dinner, we headed to their house and Rosemary got to see lots of their animals. She even touched a snake and a gecko. When she got up the next morning it was the first thing she started talking about.

Wednesday was a full beach and pool day.

Wednesday night we went to First Christian Church Pompano Beach to share with them about Campus House.

We wanted to give our sunburns a break on Thursday so we walked down the boardwalk for lunch then attempted to go on a boat ride. It didn't work out so we went to a playground instead.

Mmmm...pizza!

This playground was in one of the roundabouts on Hollywood Boulevard.




After playing awhile, we headed up the street for some gelato.

Rosemary had 'blue' gelato.

Jonathan had chocolate.

I had pineapple and strawberry.

And Ben shared mine.

We had dinner with Seth on Thursday at Chili's. It was good to catch up.

We had one last beach day on Friday.

Some people build sandcastles, our family builds sand snowmen.

Not lovin' the sand and sun.

The one picture of our family...I think I asked someone who was Russian and was very scared to use our camera. Ah well. At least it's all of us!

Ben Pulls Up

While everyone was at the graduation, I stayed at home to clean up and start packing for our trip. As I was working in the kitchen, I looked over and saw Ben...on his feet! Our little boy is now pulling up.

Zach's UF Graduation

Zach graduated on May 1 with a degree in computer engineering. We've enjoyed having him in Gainesville the past four years. For his graduation party, Richard, Janice, Tim, Michelle, Joel, Elizabeth and some of Zach's current and former roommates came to our house. Janice brought all of the food and we ate and visited until it was time to head to the graduation.

The Peine Family...sans Matthew, Olivia, Brenna, Sarah, Ezekiel and Ian

I tried to be creative with the decorations and pulled out some old textbooks and Gator stuff.

Rosemary's gonna miss her Uncle Zach stopping by for dinner.

Vertical Ben

Check this out! Ben's lovin' his learning table.

Ice Cream Social Preschool Open House

Last Thursday was Jonathan's last night of class for the semester. Yay! It was also the preschool's Ice Cream Social which is basically like an open house. Families get to go to the classes and see what the kids have been working on then there is a bunch of ice cream for everyone to eat.

Since Jonathan was going to be in class and I had to run some errands, we decided to grab a bite to eat out...at Taco Bell. That's some quality dining for you.

Mmmm...gotta love those pintos 'n cheese.

Ben enjoyed his spaghetti.

Rosemary was very proud to show off her work when we got to her room. She was also very excited to see her teachers...at nighttime! Here she is with Miss Sam...

...and Miss Teresa.

Then we headed out for some ice cream and playtime. That playground was so busy! Rosemary caught up with some of her school friends. In the photo above are Liz, MacKenzie (who shares the same birthday as Rosemary), and Rosemary.

Rosemary enjoyed the tire swing, but it got a bit crowded.

This was one of the projects that the kids did to get ready for the party. The eyes have already fallen off the duck and are sitting on our counter awaiting a re-glue.

We got to take home most of the crafts that night. Tucked under Rosemary's arm you'll see a peanut butter jar full of pudding and gummy worms. This item certainly was the source of the most excitement. She wanted to crack that jar open as soon as we were in the car.

Jonathan met up with us as we were getting ready to go so he also got to see all that Rosemary and her friends had worked on. She loves her school.

A Look at Our Week

Pretty normal week for us and that is nice. Jonathan's back from Chicago and for that I am quite thankful. I'll be even more thankful Thursday night, when Jonathan is done with class for the semester. Jonathan will be even happier than me. I'm counting down the days.

Here's a peek into what we've been up to:

Rosemary got her very own LIBRARY card. Woohoo! I can't wait until Millhopper is open again though. I like the downtown library, I just don't like going to the downtown library.

I made shoes. Never made shoes before.

Ben graduated to the bathtub. As you can see in the pic below, he very much needed a bath. What a messy face but what a handsome boy!

And we saved time and money and the earth (well, maybe that's a stretch...but it's in honor of Earth Day tomorrow) by putting the kids in the bath together.
Sidenote - I'd hoped to switch to blogging using Windows Live Writer but I can't get photos to upload so I'm sticking with Blogger's Dashboard. Anyone had any luck with Live Writer?

Easter 2009

We hope that you had a wonderful Easter celebrating our Savior's resurrection.

Ben at 9 Months

Stats:

weight: 15 lbs, 9 oz

height: 26.5 inches long

head: 46.5 cm

Highlights:

Eating table foods like green beans, potatoes, soft cooked carrots, puffs, cheerios, bananas, lunchmeat, cheese, and pretty much anything that is soft and small

Easter Eggs

We colored eggs the weekend before Easter. Ben didn't get to help, but he sure looked cute as we finished up dinner.

Excuse the shirtless Rosemary, I didn't want dye on her clothes.
All of our beautiful eggs.

Gardening

I have not been blessed with a green thumb. The last plant Jonathan gave me in hopes that I would keep it alive was a cactus. (So far so good). So this endeavor is very much more Jonathan than me.

We are attempting to grow a small (actually, very small) garden. A few weeks ago Jonathan and Rosemary planted cucumbers, carrots, and green beans after a family trip to Lowe's. Jonathan found all the containers that we used in our yard after we moved in a few years ago. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be able to try some of the vegetables.

At the Park and Fishing

A few photos from the past week or so...

We went to the park for some playtime and a picnic. Rosemary apparently has allergies and so even though the weather has been gorgeous, we've been limiting our time outside. We braved it last week though and had a great time at the park. Thank goodness it's finally rained so our girl has some relief!

And check out the big boy in the swing! Ben loved it.

Last fall, Jonathan and I took the kids to one of UF's Family Fishing Days. I knew it was something my dad would like so we invited him up to this one. 

My dad was the only one who caught anything this time. Not a huge fish, but a fish nonetheless and it was enough to make us all pretty excited and hope that maybe we could catch one too. After an hour and half of fishing we stayed for lunch then headed back to the house.

Rosemary thought that Pa-pa's fish was pretty amazing.

Ben at 8 Months

Ben's eight months old now. There's no check up this month so I don't have stats, but he seems to be growing well. He eats his food like there's no tomorrow so he should be! Besides lots more fruits, vegetables, and meats, Puffs and Cheerios have also become a part of his daily fare. And with the tooth that popped through this past month, that makes chewing those a bit easier.

He's quite the accomplished scooter now. He pretty much can get anywhere he wants to go which makes things more interesting around here. Cords on the floor are his primary scooting target. Ben sits very well but still can't figure out how to get down without basically falling over.

As far as his temperament, Ben is still very mild and sweet. He seems to be able to focus pretty well too...at least well for an 8 month old. He'll chatter and chuckle with us throughout the day.

A Weekend at "The Condo"

Yesterday was my mom's birthday and to celebrate we went down to Orlando to spend the weekend with my parents at a condo near SeaWorld. Rosemary loves going to "the condo" (even though the condo has never been the same condo the next trip) and it cracks me up everytime she talks about it.

Saturday we hit SeaWorld again. It was a strange SeaWorld day--Believe, the Shamu show, ended up not happening. Apparently the whales were having some social issues and wouldn't cooperate. Randomly, we ran into Bennett, Logan and Caitlyn in the first 10 minutes we were there. Rosemary was in a mood and it took some coaxing to get her to talk. Finally, she walked a little with Caitlyn.

Watching the dolphins.

Petting the stingrays.

Ben's such a great tourist. So easygoing.

Rosemary had a tough day towards the end.

Later that night, mom and dad got the kids dinner and put them to bed so Jonathan and I could go out on a date. We went to CityWalk and had dinner at Margaritaville (Janey - if you're reading this, tell Dwayne it was delicious) then went and saw Slumdog Millionaire. It was so great to go out since we don't get to do that very often. Dinner was so good and the movie was fantastic.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Rosemary wanted to move the table so she could prop up her feet while she looked at her 'magazine.'

Lunch

The other day, it was so nice that the kids and I had lunch out on the porch. In the end, Ben had lunch all over his face too.

Rosemary just asked if she could borrow the car...not really, but something about how she was walking around with keys and sunglasses just seemed so old.