Charlotte turned 3 months old on April 10th. This month she’s continued to be a super sweet baby. We’re working again on getting her to take a bottle, but otherwise all is well. She’s sleeping from around 8:30 or 9 at night until 8:30 in the morning, giving us smiles, and showing us those big beautiful blue eyes.
And just for fun, here are all three kids at 3 months:
Rosemary – April 30, 2006
Benjamin – October 2, 2008
Charlotte – April 10, 2011
Since we were so close, we visited SeaWorld before heading back to Gainesville. We had tried to go on the Monday of Spring Break, but it was pouring rain so we decided against it. This time, it was beautiful. A bit on the warm side, but a great day to be at the park.
No need for a triple stroller when all three ride semi-comfortably in the Sit-n-Stand. And it was Charlotte’s first theme park experience. I’m sure she’ll remember the day fondly. :-)
Shamu’s Happy Harbor was pretty empty first thing in the morning so we rode the boat, Shamu Rollercoaster, and the carousel. Rosemary rode Shamu twice, once with me in the front row and then again with Grandpa! Ben wanted to ride, but he’s still got a few more inches to go.
After the rides we headed over to catch the Shamu show.
Charlotte watched a bit.
But the big thing was that Ben and Rosemary sat in the splash zone for the first time. I knew that day would come sooner or later. Jonathan was the lucky one that got to sit with them and get drenched in salty, cold, whale water.
So fun and they all got super wet.
After the show we ate some lunch then the kids played on the playground and in the splash park. Then we headed back to the condo to pack up. Rosemary went swimming with my parents (she’s getting much more independent in the water!) while Ben ‘helped’ us. He was crazy with no nap. As soon as we were packed, we headed back home after an amazing weekend.
This past weekend was jam packed full of all kinds of fun events. On Friday night we drove down to Orlando to stay at a condo with my parents. Mom had gotten tickets for the kids to go to A Day Out with Thomas and Jonathan and I decided to go too. We really just wanted to see Ben’s reaction.
Saturday morning we got up, got ready and were on our way to Parrish, Florida shortly after 8 am. We arrived and were parked about an hour and a half later.
It was held at a railroad museum and was set up a bit like a carnival with tents spread out on the grounds featuring various Thomas-type activities.
Getting ready to go in the gates.
Lots of fair food to be had (around noon these lines were a lot longer!)
Looking at the Gift Shop tent (on the left), the Storytelling and Movie tent (in the center) and the Lemonade stand. They had some good, sweet lemonade for a very hot day.
We checked out all the Thomas toys in the Gift Shop.
Lots of trains to choose from. (As a side story, we lost Ben’s Thomas train while Jonathan was in Seattle. Not a good thing. Thankfully, our friend Christy found it for Ben under Charlotte’s changing table a few weeks later).
Checking out all the trains to be had.
Souvenir t-shirts
In the end, Rosemary picked out a Day Out with Thomas pennant.
And Ben had picked out the free catalog available at the checkout counter. :-) My parents got him a commemorative train though and since he’d attached himself to the reusable bag my mom bought, Jonathan went back and got him one of his own. At least he picked out something super useful! He was so funny with that bag, he wore that thing strapped across him most of the day.
My super happy little boy.
After shopping, the kids caught a ride on the little train. It was still pretty early so they didn’t have to wait in line.
After the little trains, we headed over to the Tattoo tent.
Rosemary picked out Rosie.
Ben picked out Thomas.
After that, the kids headed over to the play tent to play with the toy train tables. I attempted to find some shade so that I could feed Charlotte. Shade was tough to find out there. Soon though it was time to get in line to ride Thomas.
Thomas arriving with the group before ours. Thomas was at the front and he was followed by about 6 coaches.
Ben was so excited to get on the train!
The ride was exactly 25 minutes and took us by strawberry and cabbage fields.
Grandpa and Grandma enjoyed the ride too.
Ben read some of his catalog a bit on the ride.
He loved looking out his window.
As soon as the ride was over, Ben said “More choo-choo!” He had a great time on that train.
After the train ride, Ben, Jonathan, and my dad went up to the front to get a better glimpse of Thomas.
It was noon by the time we all met up again and it was getting pretty hot and crowded. We got some refreshments then headed out to see the parts that we hadn’t gotten to do yet.
Before heading out, we got in line to meet Sir Topham Hatt. After that, even though we hadn’t seen absolutely everything there (we skipped the bounce houses and hay rides) we headed out and grabbed a bite to eat at Sonny’s. We had so much fun. It was perfect for Ben and Rosemary enjoyed it too. And Charlotte’s such an easy baby that she just fit right in. The grown ups just had a great time watching the kids have so much fun.
