Tag: Shecklet #2

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Cape Coral 2010

Days 6-8. After our visit to Orlando, we drove a few hours southwest to see my first babysitter, Lois (who turns 95 this April!) and her daughter, Kathi.  We lovingly call them Grammy Lois & Auntie Kathi 🙂  They hadn’t seen Nolan since he was about 13 months old and had only seen pictures of Lincoln.  Needless to say, they were excited to see the boys!  We spent 3/7 – 3/9 in in Cape Coral. It was a pretty laid back visit, which was a nice way to end our time away.

Larissa also accompanied us on this leg of our trip, which was fantastic!  It was great to have 3 on 2 defense.  While the weather was once again unseasonably cool, we were still able to take the boys to the local beach, where they loved playing in the sand.  I think we could plan a whole vacation around the beach and they would be in heaven!  We were also able to spot a couple of burrowing owls,  which are protected animals in the area.  They are probably my 2nd favorite animal.  🙂

It was hard to say goodbye on the 9th, but we left with good memories of our time together.  The trip home went smoothly.  Both kids slept for a good portion of the flight home.  We were all thankful to be back in our own beds.  And as an added bonus, we arrived home to most of the snow missing from our yard 🙂

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Orlando 2010 – Central FL Zoo & Botanical Gardens

Day 5. This was one of my favorite days.  Perhaps it’s because I got to get up close and personal with my all time favorite animals.  We attended an elephant show, and Maude did not disappoint.  Despite having recently suffered the loss of her best friend, she wowed us with her talents.  And afterward, those who were interested could feed and touch her.  It was amazing to be that close to such a strong, yet gentle, animal.

After we toured the zoo, which was the perfect size for our kids, Jake and Larissa took Nolan & Lincoln on a train ride.  On the way home, the boys crashed in the van.  It was a big day!

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Orlando 2010 – Animal Kingdom

Day 4. Our second Disney park visit was to the Animal Kingdom.  This was my favorite of the two we visited.  So many cool animals to check out.  We didn’t take quite as many pictures because it was more fun to just enjoy the park. (I did have to include a picture of my favorite animal, though…the elephant.)

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Orlando 2010 – Cocoa Beach

Day 3. Lincoln said he would drive us to Cocoa Beach, so we took him up on his offer.  🙂  Well, sort of.  We did go to the beach and the boys LOVED playing in the sand.  It was a bit cool again, but the sun was warm and Jake actually ended up getting a bit rosy from it.  The boys and I sported our 100 SPF sunblock, so we were in the clear.  Jake made sure to enjoy a McRib on the beach (and rub it in by sending a picture back home to an old co-worker to create a little jealousy.)

Special thanks to Bri, Jason’s girlfriend, for several of these pics, including the group family picture we took at the end of our journey to the coast.

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Orlando 2010 – Magic Kingdom

Day 2. We had a semi-leisurely morning and headed out for our first trip to Disney’s Magic Kingdom.  I’m glad we traveled with Disney “pros” because the whole Disney system is really quite complex: 4 Different parks, regular tickets, hopper passes, shuttles, mono-rails…it’s enough to confuse any first-time visitor if you ask me.

To begin our visit, we rode the ferry across a large lake and at that point, I realized I should have packed the boys’ winter jackets and hats for the day.  Here I was thinking we’d at least be able to get away with just sweatshirts.  I assumed incorrectly.  Mother nature apparently hasn’t been that nice to Florida this winter and we found out later that it had been unseasonably cool for the last 2 months.  Oh well, we made due and attempted to hit a few indoor rides/shows to warm up from time to time.  By the afternoon, the sun warmed things up a bit.  We stayed to experience a couple of rides (Nolan didn’t care much for the Monster’s Inc. show we checked out,) the boys had their pictures taken with several characters, we watched the afternoon parade and had our picture taken in front of the Disney castle.  It was a full day and the boys crashed (thankfully) later that night.

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Orlando, FL 2010

Day 1. Left for the airport about 7:30AM.  Thankfully traffic was flowing nicely and we made it to the security checkpoint about 8:30.  Once through security we stopped for breakfast at McDonald’s and then headed for our gate.  Not surprisingly, the non-stop flight to Orlando was packed.  Larissa traveled with us; she was such a big help!  It was nice having 3 on 2 defense.  Lincoln slept on my lap for most of the flight and Nolan chilled next to Jake while watching various DVDs.  We were able to watch an in-flight movie, which made time “fly.”

Once we landed and picked up the boys’ car seats, we found our mini van for the week and headed for our home away from home in Kissimmee, just a few minutes from Mickey’s house.  The place we stayed in was quite spacious – 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and enough beds for everyone, which was great!  The kids enjoyed the over-sized bathtub almost every night of our stay.  It was a treat to have so much space for the boys as well as a nearby park for them to play at.  I can imagine I would have been a bit nutty by the end of the week if we had only been in a one-room hotel room all week.

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Swimming with Daddy

Jake took the boys to the gym and went swimming.  They really love the water.  Lincoln especially loves splashing and Nolan is becoming quite the jumper from the edge of the pool.

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The week in review

Busy week, but I neglected to take many pictures.  Here’s the week in a nutshell:

Monday – No School for Nolan.  My good friend Michelle came over to watch the boys so I could run to an appointment.

Tuesday – Mardi Gras party at our church.  Pasta & hot dog buffet dinner along with crafts for the kids.  Nolan picked up a mask, fan & mardi gras beads.  He was all decked out!

Wednesday – back to school.  Lincoln and I made a much needed run to Sam’s Club to stock up on the basics.  It never ceases to amaze me just how much “the basics,” cost.  But then again, it will hopefully be a few months before I need to rest0ck what I just picked up.

Thursday – heard another good friend, Libby, speak at a women’s group at our church.  She is an amazing woman, who I am so thankful to call a friend.

Friday – met with a trainer to get my new heart rate monitor set up.  Here’s to making the most out of my workouts!

Saturday – Dinner with our friends Jess & Brandon.  The boys love going to their house.  And as parents, it’s so great to know when our boys show up, there are kid-friendly things for them to play with – and Jess & Brandon are right alongside playing, too!  Awesome 🙂

Sunday – Didn’t feel well today.  Lincoln had a rough night, so he thankfully slept in a little after being up for a good 2-3 hours in the middle of the night.  We all ended up taking a nap in the afternoon and watched the Olympics in the evening.  We even had a surprise short visit from our friend, Deacon Joseph.  It was a nice end to the day.

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OTW – feeling crummy

My weekend actually started Thursday, if you count the weekend as the days I’ve felt less than 100%.  Not that I feel 100% a lot of the time, but I’d say it’s generally at least in the 90’s.  The last four days I’ve been down in the 25-30% range.  Not fun.  Thursday I started an on and off streak of migraines that have had me down for the count most of the weekend.  Friday morning I woke up in such pain that I called my mom to see if she could come over to wrangle the mini-men.  Thankfully, she was able to clear her schedule and come to my aid.  I was in bed (and in pain) until dinnertime.  My awesome mom not only handled the boys (play time, lunch time, nap time & dinner time) but she also helped me get started on the mountain of laundry that has been silently growing in my basement.  What a gift to me she was on Friday.

Unfortunately, the pain did not subside on Saturday and Jake was kind enough to pick up where my mom left off and took care of the boys, meals, etc. all day.  In the morning, he took Lincoln to the swimming pool while Papa & Nolan went to Lowe’s to build something together.  That something was a fantastic jewelry organizer!  Nolan was SO proud of his project – and rightfully so!  I love it!  And to make it even more perfect, Jake’s Valentine’s Day gift to me was a beautiful sapphire necklace, & earrings made by our family friend, Becky.  The boys rounded out their Saturday morning outing by stopping for lunch at Nana & Papa’s and a little cake decorating.  They boys had fun with all of the frosting and sprinkles (or crickets, as Nolan called them.)  After dinner, we enjoyed the finished products.  Yum!