Orlando - Part 1

Back in February Jon's boss told him he'd been selected for a three-week training program.  Normally I hate it when he has to go out of town for training, but I was super excited about this one because the 2nd week was going to be in ORLANDO!  I'd never been to Orlando or Disney World.  We decided we should take advantage of Jon's flight and hotel being paid for and take the whole family!  We also decided to take our friend, Sarah, along as well so I could have some extra hands while Jon was in training the first part of the trip.  Which, by the way, was the best idea, because most of the first five days, Jon was gone before we woke up and wasn't home until after the girls were in bed.

We stayed at the Hyatt Grand Cypress which was absolutely beautiful.  It has the best pool I've ever seen.  We were so thankful for that since that's just about all we did the first part of our trip.

We were a little worried about how our trip started off.  We were supposed to take off that Sunday morning at 6:30am.  We got a call at 3:30 telling us our flight had been canceled.  We quickly found a new flight, and were on our way, later than normal, but still the same day.

On one leg, we got put in Economy Comfort and Jon was so excited.  He's never had that much legroom before.  Another plus was that Annabel got her own seat!

Our view from our hotel room..

 

Our hotel also had a talking parrot on this perch every day in the lobby.  It was great entertainment for the girls.

When we arrived we quickly dressed for a dinner Jon's conference hosted for everyone and their families.  Annabel really enjoyed the dessert.

The next few days were spent outside at the pool and all the other fun activities the hotel had to offer.

Paddle-boating is harder than it looks!

Adeline decided marinara is the perfect salad dressing.

The girls loved this splash pad in the pool area.

And the rock climbing wall.  Adeline was scared to do it at first, and Annabel was screaming, "Climb! Climb!" so they let her do it, even though you were supposed to be 30 pounds or more.  Then Adeline decided she wasn't scared, after all.

Part of Jon's training involved them splitting up into groups and building a boat out of cardboard and trying to race it across the pool.  It was quite entertaining for us spectators!

One day it was pretty cloudy, so we visited a nearby outlet mall and dined in their food court.

We had a two-bedroom suite with a living room separating the two bedrooms.  The living room also had a bathroom in it so it was the perfect set-up for hanging out after the girls were in bed, or for Jon to shower in the mornings.  I think hotel cribs look like little torture chambers, but Annabel slept perfectly the entire time.  She napped at least 3 hours every day and never woke up before 8am which is better than she does at home!  I guess it was all the swimming that wore her out!

They also liked to get in the big bed together and watch TV in the mornings.  I love that they love each other so much.  One night when the girls were playing and Adeline thought they were alone I heard her say, "I love you, Annabel."  Melt.my.heart!

We went to Downtown Disney a couple nights during the week.  It's just a big area with shops and restaurants and some live entertainment.

One night we went to Rainforest Cafe.

The girls were in awe, but Jon had had an exceptionally stressful and long day, so he was less than impressed.

We also rode a carousel.

Another night we went to an Irish restaurant there that had live dancers performing throughout our meal.

That was on Friday and Jon finished his training early. He gave Sarah and me the afternoon off to get massages, and treated us to this yummy dessert after dinner.  What a good man I have!

We visited a lego store there and I got Jon to pose with this Hulk made out of legos.  He's such a good sport!

We also bought the girls these Disney dolls.  They each chose their favorite princess - Cinderella & Belle.

The next part of our trip was Disney World overload.  I'll blog about that later when I get my CD from Disney with all our photos on it.  We had a blast and are already talking about our next trip!

Busy July

It's been a very busy month, and only about to get busier!  I'll catch you up on all the happenings before we leave for our big Orlando trip.

I played a sweet game of Memory with Adeline last Friday afternoon.  I quickly learned that she's smarter, funnier, and nicer than I am.  :)

I worked at the rehab hospital on Saturday, so the girls got some quality time with their daddy.  He sent me pictures throughout the day of all the fun they were having.  

Coloring...

Playing at the school near our house...

Then, when I got off work, we went to Colson's third birthday party.

 We had such a fun time!

Jon was spinning these five girls so fast.  I noticed that Adeline was starting to look a little worried so I got her off.  She quickly told me, "I think I'm going to puke!" but thankfully she didn't.

 Sunday was church day and Jon and I volunteered in Adeline's class.

I love our church family.  There's a sweet lady named Linda, that everyone calls Gigi who's always helping out in the nursery.  She knows every kid by name; or at least the ones like us who practically live at church.  She gave Annabel a kiss on her cheek that morning.  She didn't want me to wash it off.

We took Annabel with us into Adeline's class.  As you can see, she wasn't as into the movie as the older kids were.

That night we went to dinner with the Lieuxs.  While we waited for our food Adeline and Caroline mixed up a little salt and pepper for Annabel to try.

Hanging out in the neighbor's yard on our evening walk.

Monday we never left the house except to go on a few walks and play outside.  It was so nice!  

We had a little lesson on John 15:5.  

This little precious had gathered up everyone of her babies when I went to get her out of the crib Tuesday morning.  So sweet!

I caught a sweet sister moment on camera the other day.  Adeline was "reading" books to Annabel and teaching her everything she knows.  Precious!

The girls got these matching goose eggs within 10 minutes of each other Wednesday night.  Lots of crying going on around that time, as you can imagine.

 I started a new parenting Bible study this week.  Each day there's a little blurb in there on "what God wants you to teach your child today."  Yesterday we were supposed to ask our kids to draw a picture of God.  Adeline said the purple one is God and "the blue thing is His big knife!"  I asked why God had a knife, "He just does."  I like to tell myself it's her representation of Hebrews 4:12.

When the girls got up from their naps yesterday Nana & Isaac were here!  They came for a quick 24 hour visit to pick up Tulip so my parents can keep her while we're gone.  Isaac was pretending to be a lion.  The girls thought it was hilarious most of the time, but a few times he got a little too close for comfort.

When Jon got home from work, he took the girls and Isaac to Cabela's while my mom and I went to get pedicures and our first shellac manicure.  We are big fans!

We met up with everyone for dinner, then we made a quick Target trip.  Adeline wanted to walk and hold Nana's hand, so Isaac took her place in the cart.

This morning Nana showed the girls how to put on make-up.  Then we spent a busy day running around everywhere and bouncing at Monkey House.  My mom, Isaac, and Tulip headed back to Texas after dinner.

I'm so "gladiola" this bloomed before we left so I could bring it in and enjoy it for a few days!

I thought Summer was supposed to be filled with long, hot, lazy days.  So far we've just got the long and hot part down.  Maybe we can fit some "lazy" into our schedule sometime in August.  We are having a blast, though!