And the Birthday Celebrations Begin...

You will be reading quite a few birthday blogs this week since Mady's official day has arrived! We began the morning by giving her a present that she wasn't expecting. Mady always has a list of things she wants, right now it's a keyboard and guitar. Since the grandparents are handling those, Jacob and I decided to get her something we know she would love. We went to Toys R Us and found a pink and purple easel that was perfect for her. On one side you can paint, use magnetic letters/numbers, or write with dry erase markers (not happening). On the other side is a chalkboard. It also has a tray to hold everything and folds up really compact. She loved her easel and so did KK. They played with it before leaving for school.

At school I had asked the teacher if it was okay to have a breakfast party since my break is early in the morning, and as a teacher I like to get the parties over with first thing in the morning. We brought Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts and OJ, as well as girly paper products. Mady's birthday buddy Bryce also brought regular donuts so the kids loved their breakfast birthday celebration! Once again I was there to capture tons of pictures and stay for the party!

Mady's Day

Today was President's Day and we had a day off from school. Since Mady's birthday is this coming Thursday I figured I take Kaitlyn to Mimi's and spend the day doing things Mady loves. Jacob had to run some errands and work around the house so it was just Mady and me!

Our first stop was to Gold Medal Athletics for their open gym time. If you go at 9 am, it's only open to toddlers and the big kids aren't there yet. We arrived right at 9 and she was the first and only person there for awhile. She absolutely loved this because she could go up and down the big slide as many times as she wanted without waiting. We stayed for an hour and it started getting crowded and she was ready to go.



Our next stop was to McDonalds because it was right next door. She wanted a milkshake at 10 am after all that jumping and running around, and who am I to deny her a Shamrock shake?

After McDonalds we had to meet up with Jacob in Altamonte Springs because he locked his keys in the car. After letting him in, he took off to finish up his day and we headed to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. Yea! Mady and I shared some nuggets and she played on the playground in the awesome weather.

Mady desperately needed a haircut. With her short hair she has to go every 6 weeks, if not sooner. We headed over to Great Clips and Mary Beth cut her hair exactly how we like it! After that we had to do some shopping. We went to Kohls (for me) and Target where she got a cute new outfit to wear to school tomorrow.

We headed home for a quick nap and then we all went to Mimi's to get KK. We ended the afternoon/evening with a trip to Friendship Park (3 days in a row now!) and Mady's favorite dinner: steak! She was a happy girl and is looking forward to an awesome week! I'm so glad I got to spend the day with her. It makes me realize how big and mature she's getting!

Valentine's Day!!

Since we were so busy over the weekend with Sea World on Saturday and Disney World on Sunday (just Jacob and I), I had to spend most of Sunday night in the kitchen preparing all the treats for the girls' valentines and teachers. For Valentine's Day this year Jacob and I decided to spend the day at Epcot and Magic Kingdom riding all the rides we don't normally ride. At Epcot we rode Soarin, Mission to Mars and Test Track. At the Magic Kingdom we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road, and Space Mountain. Fun! I've also decided that my new hobby is collecting popcorn containers from Disney and using them as gift bags. I found the perfect one at Disney over the holidays, it was a Mickey shaped snowman, so I will not be parting with that one, but I have a few others I will give away. (Disclaimer: My best friend told me about this idea, so it was not my own!) After Disney it was time for Jacob to pick up the girls from the grandparent's house and for me to get busy in the kitchen. I made pink heart-shaped pancakes for the girls for breakfast, pink heart-shaped rice crispie treats for the girls' valentines, and red velvet cake balls drizzled with white chocolate for their teachers. I opted out of chocolate-covered strawberries this year since everyone seems to be making them. We did have them for dinner Monday night since Jacob and the girls love them!

At school Mady had her Valentine's Day party. I was lucky to come and stay with her for the party. We played candy heart bingo, colored valentine pictures, made valentine bags and had lots and lots of treats! After everyone was finished at the centers the kids sat in a circle and shared the valentine they brought for the class. Then the parents were in charge of distributing them to their bags. It worked out really well and Mady came home with a ton of stuff!

After school I went over to Mimi's house and helped with her party. KK handed out her valentines and then had cupcakes and cookies. We tried to get a group shot of the kids, but that was not easy. They got adorable gift bags from Mimi filled with candy and new clothes!

At home we had set-up a valentine display for the girls when they woke-up in the morning. They had balloons, princess candy boxes, new t-shirts, a toy each, and a heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie cake. Whew! Valentine's Day was exhausting, but so worth it! Everyone loved their gifts, even me!

Sea World!!

We love going to Sea World. It's relatively close by (compared to Disney) and you don't really have to wait to see the attractions unless you count getting to shows early! It was an awesome day with the sun shining, few clouds, and temps cool enough that you weren't sweating. We also had our BOB stroller, so we were in heaven! We followed our same little itinerary: sea turtles, stingrays, underwater dolphin viewing, manatees, Dolphin Show, penguins, sharks, Shamu's Happy Harbor, and the Arctic including beluga whales, walrus, and polar bears. We even managed to fit in the Pets Ahoy! show while we were there! The girls (and boy) had a great time! We ate lunch on the way so we loaded up snacks in our bags and didn't spend any money except for the drink refills! See... sticking to a budget! It was so nice to get out and enjoy the weather and see the kids so happy! Mady even rode in the front row on the Shamu Express!

SLOOOOW WEEKEND

This weekend was supposed to be filled with outdoor activities and having fun in the warmer weather. However, Mother Nature had other plans and we had to cancel our fun-filled day and find something else to do. Saturday we stayed in all day (except for ballet early in the morning) and cleaned out the house. I cleaned out my cabinets and found all of the favors for Mady's birthday party, donated our glider that was in KK's room, and generally organized the house. Saturday night Jacob decided to take the girls to the St. Stephen's Winter Fest while I saw West Side Story. The girls had a great time and Jacob likes taking the girls to these carnivals. I can't stand going, so it's a good trade-off!

The next morning we were supposed to meet up with two families at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant and walk around DeLeon Springs. The girls were so looking forward to cooking their own pancakes and seeing their friends. However, the weather wasn't nice and we decided it wasn't worth the drive. We ended up going out to lunch with some friends and then heading to Michaels to do some Valentine shopping. We also went to Lowe's to figure out what we're going to do with Mady's closet. I've decided over President's weekend we're going to gut it and put in ClosetMaid cabinets. So... that was our weekend. We did watch the Super Bowl and have dinner, but other than that the weekend was long and boring. We didn't even get to go outside and play in the backyard or go to Friendship Park because of the weather. Oh well! We will make up for it this coming up weekend!

Our Life

Some people may say we're always on the go, never stay still, or that we simply don't just chill and relax at home being a family. The truth is, we are a busy family and we like it that way. Rarely do we go out during the week unless you count Monday night storytime at the library, or every other week's Taco Tuesday. Our other evenings are spent eating dinner as a family(albeit at a restaurant or at home), playing in the backyard, going for bike rides, and destroying the house with the millions of dress-up clothes, Little People sets, and enough accessories to fill two dollhouses.

The great and wonderful thing about being a teacher and having a husband that is a teacher is we are both home by 5 pm each night. Sure, there are times when we like to get out of the house by ourselves and do what we like. Jacob has basketball on Monday nights and I have my every other Thursday night out. But, it makes us happy and happy parents equals happy children and a happy family. We also love it when the grandparents take the kids on a Friday or Saturday night and give us time to be kid-free. Goes back to the whole happy parents, happy family.

We have always stuck by the "work hard, play harder" motto. Okay, so really I don't have to work that hard during the week, I mean I am at the Y by 3:30 usually. But you know what I mean. There's a reason why Florida doesn't have harsh winters and snow days. And that's why we live here! There is so much to do outside (and even inside) and we take full advantage of those opportunities. We also take full advantage of having passes to every park (because we work hard to pay for them) so we go often.

So when I complain about being stuck at home two days in a row on the weekend, it's because we're not an inside family. That also doesn't mean we have to be out doing something, spending absurd amounts of money to have fun and be a family. We enjoy getting together with our friends at the park, going to people's houses and having dinner and playing the wii, taking the girls to their weekly ballet class. The list goes on and on. We also make sure that we only do one major event on one day of the weekend, either Saturday or Sunday so that we do have downtime on the weekend for the girls to be at home. We also make sure to go to church together as a family as often as possible.

So the next time someone tells me to sit still, stay at home, let my kids enjoy being at home playing with their billions of toys, I will tell you this: we do those things, just differently from your family. Our time is during the week when we get home from work or one of the days on the weekend where we don't have much planned. But we enjoy being on the go and my girls do too. I wouldn't take them out on the weekends if they were going to be miserable, but they aren't. So if they're happy we're happy, and if we're happy, then our family is happy.

Oh, and by the way... next weekend we are going to be busy both days! Shocking I know. Saturday the girls have ballet and then we're meeting up with friends to go to Sea World. On Sunday Jacob and I are going to Disney by ourselves to celebrate Valentine's Day while the girls spend the night with the grandparents (you know, making memories and all that). PEACE.

Animal Kingdom and Epcot

After dance class on Saturday we headed over to Animal Kingdom. We haven't been to this park since Memorial Day weekend, and decided to spend a few hours over there. We met up with 2 families for the day. It was beautiful weather and the park wasn't that crowded. We always head to Africa first and get fast-passes for the Safari ride. We rode the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch and saw Pocahontas. Then it was time for the Safari. The rhinos were rolling in the mud and the girls thought it was hilarious.

We decided to head towards Dinoland and ride the Dinosaur ride and let the kids play in the Dig. On our way we met up with Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger. We also saw Pluto and Goofy.

After the Dig it was time for the parade. We've taught the girls to put their hands out when a character walks by and they'll give you a high-five. They loved it! After the parade we went to the Festival of the Lion King show. It was just us girls while the guys hung out at Pizzafari and had a drink!

After the show it was closing time for the park, but none of us wanted to go home since it was only 5 pm, so we decided to drive over to Epcot to walk around the World Showcase and have dinner. We started in Mexico (they have an awesome little bar inside Mexico) and walked all the way around. We got the kids dinner in America and carried it over to Morocco where we ate outside. Morroco is our favorite place to eat!
We stopped at a few places, got a few drinks, bought a few pins and headed out. We had an awesome time hanging with everyone! We're excited to be heading back to Epcot soon for the Flower and Garden Festival. I already have matching dresses for the girls!