Day 1

GOOD MORNING!!

Rise and Shine! Thank you Jesus for this Day!

It's been a great day. Started out warm (upper 60's...nothing too hot), sunny, cozy...two walks on the beach with the kiddos before noon (yes two walks and yes before noon...because YES our kids are up at 7:15 AM and what else do you do on vacation? DUH!) Lots of sea shells, bare feet, and swimming in the pool. Ellie and I literally raced on the beach; that kid can run! Griffin got to experience the ocean for the first time and he seemed so happy out in the fresh air. :) HOWEVER, as I write this it's now 45 degrees and still dropping. In fact, on our way into the restaurant for dinner tonight Emma burrowed her head into my neck and said, "Mommy, didn't we come to a warm place? Isn't it going to be warm? I forgot my coat..." Love it.

TOMORROW morning will be quite chilly and we won't be back in the 60's until tomorrow late afternoon. Ohhhhh well. We'll make it.

Supposed to be 78 on Tuesday so I'm gonna stop whining. :)

Griff chillin at the pool, watchin his big sisters demand attention from the adults. "Mommy Watch me blow bubbles! Griffin, watch me get the tips of my hair wet! Daddy, stand next to me! Papa, watch me lay on my back (orrrrr...attempt to float but really only have the head above water)."

She's not ALWAYS a ham. :) A pretty smile from Rosie makes our day for sure...

If only you could see the BUCKET in her hand filled with

like 25 sand dollars. Miss El was quite busy. :)

This is a pic of Ryan on the 2nd level (our balcony )...I'm standing on the beach

Checkout the size of this sandcastle we found on our walk. Insane.

Nope, they didn't build it. Wished they had, but...yeah right...

Peace Out. Nighty Night...Until Tomorrow...

DOWN SOUTH

So here we are in Florida. It's just the BEST having this time away. Riding an airplane with 3 kids and all the CRAP that comes with us is not easy though. I wish we could have had a video crew following us through the airport...I felt like we could have been on a reality show. Seriously. So funny.
Age 6 (almost)
Age 3
Age 7 months
OH MAN....

Taking shoes and sweatshirts off of everyone and having our stroller padded down (seriously?) in the security line, going to the bathroom 3 times in the airport and 3 times on the airplane, playing musical chairs on the plane...for real, I sat in 4 different seats on the stinkin airplane, which Emma for some reason called a BOAT the entire time....and of course having my left arm lock and cramp up while trying not to move or budge (while I was sitting still in one of my 4 seats) as my huge baby boy slept. I couldn't help but look around at the 50 or 60 year old men traveling alone with a tiny carry-on, either sleeping soundly or drinking Bud Light while perusing a magazine. How DIFFERENT could our lies be? Ha!

Emma wondered where the beach was when we pulled into the Toledo airport this morning (14 min. from our house) because she thought "we were there." Dude...it takes a little more than THAT to travel 5 states south. Then she wondered "why we stopped," when we were thousands of feet in the air because she thought we had stopped moving. Little did she know we were going 500 miles an hour, ha!

Ellie was bored, of course. That child is WAY TOO dependent on being entertained and active. Problem, Not good. She played her leapster and read 3 entire Amelia Bedelia books but that only kept her entertained for so long...oh my sweet girl...

But we are so blessed to be here and the kids could not be more excited. Griffin happens to be the easiest baby ever; he is just so good. He got a 35 minute nap on the plane today and still never fussed/cried AT ALL. He fell asleep for like 20 min. on the ride from the airport to the condo, but otherwise he just looked around, hung out, and smiled. What a babe.

(The airplane wore the girls out too. Emma crashed and started snoring as we drove to the condo. Ellie dove back into a book, stuck between two sleeping kiddos. What a trooper.)

But we're here. We're pumped. And we're excited for a great week together. (And the pool is heated...104 degrees...makes it nice for my daughters who want to LIVE in there). Ahhh. Thank you Jesus.

(picture taken from cell phone, so not that great...but this was the sunset tonight right off of our balcony. Ahhhh)

December FUN

Annual Christmas Goodie-Baking Day!!

Dance recital...the BEST. Was so so fun to watch. Ellie's class danced to "Let it Snow" and Emma's class danced to "Rudolph." Loved it. Griffin was a happy spectator. :)

Busy at work makin those gingerbread houses...

We have a sledding hill in our backyard---girls had a BLAST with the December Snowstorm. Ellie was out playing everyday I think. She

made trails that went up and down both sides of the hill...so fun. :)

Griffin's best friend this month---his teether filled

with the oh-so-lovely and ANNOYING to clean banana...

Lights at the zoo... FREEZING

Christmas Eve