Florida, Again

The last of the Florida pictures. It already seems like so long ago.

Grandpa was a sport and took Annie on the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom a couple of times. Daddy was with Cole on the Mt. Everest ride and Mommy was still feeling a little queasy after her the first go-round on the Mt. Everest ride. Note to unsuspecting riders - don't be fooled into thinking this ride is just like Disneyland's Matterhorn. It will make you feel much pukey-er (official spelling). Stick to the Safari.

"It's A Bug's Life" glasses. The maggots leaving at the end of the show get me every time. Cole was highly impressed with the bug spit.

Ben made a little home for himself climbing on this Corythosaurus. And thanks to Cole, I needed no help in identifying this creature as a Corythosaurus.

Annie and Cole liked climbing too.

Universal Islands of Adventure - everyone told us the lines here were terrible because of the new Harry Potter land. We lucked out and went on a day when the weather was a little dicey and walked right on to rides that we were told we would have to wait three hours for. I say "we", but really I mean Floyd and Cole and his cousins. I chose to keep my lunch and stick to the Dr. Seuss carousel.

Hogwarts castle, above, and Ben gets a taste of Butter Beer, below. He liked it.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Don't try the ear wax.

Next up, Sea World. Always my favorite. Although the Killer Whale show is not as cool when the trainers can't get in the water.

And finally, a little peek at how Cole and Annie looked pretty much every night after they finally wiggled their way into sleeping position. They are not used to sharing beds and it was a battle for the best spot every night.

Trip moments I want to remember:

-Hearing the Space Shuttle land. We didn't make it out to watch the landing, but just as we were walking into Sea World, we heard the two quick booms meaning it was there and landing. I got chills.

-That my kids did not cause any problems on the plane, even on the flight home when we were missing Floyd. They were champion fliers. Thankfully.

-Watching Annie giggle when the plane hit turbulence and explain to the man sitting next to her that it tickled her tummy on the up and downs.

-The three babies battling for Grandma Rose. Whenever she held one of them, the other two would start howling for her attention.

-Cole's excitement when we finally made it to Harry Potter land. He could hardly hold it together, he was so happy to be there.

-Ben and his cousin Kaden clapping and clapping and clapping at Ben's birthday party. They are a handsome little duo.

-Annie holding her little arms up throughout the entire ride on almost every ride. If ever they would drop on a hill or something, she would immediately pop them right back up.

-Landon (my nephew) standing on his tippy-toes to try and be tall enough for all the rides and how excited he was when he was tall enough. Also how sad he was when he was too short.

-Watching Ben at the beach. He was in heaven and it was so fun to watch.

-Annie "handling" the cold and refusing to put a jacket on when it got cold.

-Cole pretending he was all grown up and going on all the big kid rights. How did that happen? Let's just stick to Small World.

-And last but not least, that I nearly missed the trip. I left my wallet home and didn't realize it until we were in Salt Lake, so I sent Floyd and the kids to the airport and booked it in record time back to North Ogden where I met some person I do not know that my dad had sent to break into my house and get my wallet and then zipped back to Salt Lake. Whew! For the record - don't read this part, Mom - it took me thirty-two minutes to get from 5th south in Salt Lake to the 2700 North exit. Not too shabby.

Cocoa Beach

Sundays are hard when you are traveling. Some of us (Floyd) "forgot" our church clothes, so we nixed the idea of finding a local sacrament meeting (although Grandpa Clair and Grandma Donna were troopers and found one), but we didn't really want to just hang out at the amusement parks all day either. So, we had a little Sunday devotional and talked to the kids about Sunday being a special day and then headed out for a Sunday drive to the beach. We told the kids they could "dip their feet" in the water.

It looks like we will need to work on our definition of feet around here.

My family always laughs when my kids are around water because they all are little fish. I was not. To put it mildly.

Annie has asked to go to the beach or swimming almost every day since we got home from Hawaii a year and a half ago. She was ecstatic to be back at the beach and wasted no time in soaking her dress.

This was Ben's first trip to the beach (minus Bear Lake). He fits right in with his sibs and took right to it. While he was playing in the sand, a big wave came and knocked him right over and washed over him. I scooped him right up, but the only thing he was bothered about was that I had taken him out of the water.
And Cole we hardly saw. He was too busy jumping waves and playing in the sand to be bothered by talking to mom. He did stop by and announce that he had buried his flip flops at some point. It took a bit of searching but he later found them.We had a great day at the beach. So we headed back two days later for more fun. But this time, we took our suits. And yes, Annie did remember to pack hers. All seven of them.

Our Irish Eyes are Smiling

We love holidays around our house (mostly me and Annie, but we drag the boys along with us). I'm mostly Scandinavian, but do have one family line, the Blaylock's, that are Irish. So today we are Irish. Top o' the morning! So the kids were excited to wake up and find that O'Malley, our family leprechaun, had visited once again. He is a tricky one. Turning our food green, hiding little treasures for us, and leaving lucky shamrocks all over the place. He makes us smile.

But the main reason we're smiling today is that Daddy will be home from a trip in just a few minutes. The even better news - he has tomorrow off and doesn't have to travel again until the end of April (unless Louisiana falls apart again)! Talk about the luck of the Irish!


P.S. And a big welcome home to my cousin, Chris - home after spending two years in Ireland as missionary.

P.P.S. And speaking of Ireland, anyone else going to listen to the Garth Brooks song "Ireland" today? Just me? "They say Mother Earth is bleeding, with each wave the comes ashore..." Love it. Time to go find that old CD.

P.P.P.S. And speaking of CD's, when was the last time you actually bought a CD? It's been awhile around here...

That's really all. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Birthday to Ben

Little Buddy got quite a present for his first birthday - a trip to Florida! And a couple of other things, but who really cares about those?

We tore ourselves away from the amusement park (Epcot) a little early on his birthday and came back to our condo for a little birthday celebration. Annie and Savannah spent the morning getting balloons and streamers ready and the party hats decorated. They are terrific party planners!
Ben and Kaden loved this group shot - they both clapped the entire time they sat on the couch.
Luckily, there were a few extra helpers since Ben was more interested in clapping than in opening when it was time to open the presents. Okay present. We only wrapped one, but he did get a few others. I was just too lazy to wrap them.

Ben likes only one toy - Lego's. So his banner was made from paper that looked like Lego's and his cake was supposed to look like a Lego. It kind of did. But it also looked like a tank and a submarine and a big green glob.
Thanks for celebrating with us, family. And thank you, little Ben-a-boo for capturing our hearts and completing our little family. We love you oh so very much.

The Sunshine State

Whew! What a trip. Not relaxing in the slightest, but oh-so-much-fun. We went with my entire family, including Grandma Donna and all three babies, to Florida for 10 days. And it was a packed 10 days. Magic Kingdom (twice), Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Universal Islands of Adventure (with Harry Potter Land or whatever it's official title is), Sea World, Cocoa Beach (twice), the swimming pool, more restaurants than I'd care to see in a year (I'm not much of a restaurant person), and a birthday party. Florida lived up to its name and graced us with pleasant weather all but one day.

Annie loved the carousel at Universal. It was Dr. Seuss themed. I loved that every day she managed to pull out clothes from her suitcase that I had no idea she packed. She's a sneaky one.

Ben liked the carousel too. I like his dimples.

This might be the only time Ben was actually in his stroller. He liked to be held. Annie liked to be strolled. I guess it worked out.

Yes, we did take his car seat. Daddy just let him sneak up front while waiting for mom one morning. He was super happy when we removed him from the front seat and strapped him into his car seat. Emphasis on super.

More carousel pics. This one was Magic Kingdom.

Um, Small World? I think that's where we are in this shot. Ben wanted that water oh so badly.

My least favorite ride in the world. Luckily, Daddy has an iron stomach and is always up for the rides that make Mommy sick.

Cute boys, aren't they? With matching dimples. So handsome.

Thunder Mountain. Always a crowd pleaser. Even for me.

Inside Bruce's mouth at Epcot.

One more dimple shot. I just love them.

Still to come...

Cocoa Beach
Ben's Birthday
Other miscellaneous pictures from the other camera which have not yet been downloaded

I know you are all (Karlee) anxiously awaiting those.