Sea World in December!

The first weekend of December, Justin and I took the kids to Sea World - Kate's second time going and Mason's first.  We had to cancel our original plans in November to go when Mason got sick, but it was worth the wait!

We left Friday night after work and drove to Ocala where we spent the night (mainly because I could use Marriott reward points for a free night).  Saturday morning, we got up early and left at 7:30 to head the rest of the way to Orlando.  We arrived at the park shortly before it opened at 9am and made the most of our day. 

Excited to be heading to Sea World!

At the Stingray Touch Tank.

Watching the Dolphins.

I love how they are both holding their hands.

80 degree weather and standing by a snowman!

 Mason passed out after lunch but woke up just in time to see the Shamu show!

After the Shamu show, we took the kids to Shamu's Happy Harbor to enjoy some rides and the splash pad. 

Only in Florida can you splash in the water in December!

Both kids had a fantastic day and Mommy and Daddy were exhausted by the time we got to the hotel.  We decided to leave Sea World late that afternoon since the kids were starting to melt down.  We ate at Bahama Breeze that night for dinner (yum!) and got back to the hotel just in time to see the FSU game that sealed our ticket to the National Championship!

I hope we can take advantage of some more fun trips to Orlando next year!  

Kate's First Spend the Night

A couple weeks ago, Kate invited Maddox, Maclain and Miller to spend the night at our house!  I was excited about our first spend the night party and to make things slightly easier, Mimi and Papa invited Mason to spend the night at their house that night.

The kids had a great time.  Pizza dinner, candy canes for dessert, they played in Kate's room and we all watched Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer while eating popcorn.  Miller was a sweet little snuggle bunny and she went to bed around 8:00 that night.  The big kids stayed up until 10 and I thought it would be easier getting them to go to sleep - haha.  Around 11:30, everyone finally fell asleep after gigling, singing, talking, playing, and even a little bit of crying.

We had a wonderful time and I hope we can do it again soon! 

Family Pictures 2013

Now that I have sent out our Christmas cards this year (which has never before happened so early), I can share all our pictures.  Once again Betsy took our family pictures, which turned out great despite the fact that Kate was miserably sick and Mason had an ear infection.  Plus, Mason is at that age where he looks everywhere except where we want him to look - straight at the camera.  Oh well...it just documents this phase in our lives!

 These are some of my favorites and I wish so badly Mason was looking!

 Handsome Boy!

 Beautiful Girl!  Love that sass!

  My sweet family - love them!

Fall Pictures

About a month ago, Justin and I took the kids to JC Pennys to take advantage of a great offer they were having.  For $14.99, I got a free sitting, a 8x10 print, and three images on a disc!  This was the first time they have offered this deal and I hope they will again in the future.  I had taken them kids the week before to Dina Ivory for their 1 year and 4 year pictures so I wasn't sure what they should wear for this photo session.  I was going to do a casual look, but then I decided their smocked pumpkins outfits would be cute since they can dress casual anytime of the year.

I loved the way they turned out!

Happy Fall!

Thanksgiving 2013 and a side of Pneumonia

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year although it was different than usual.  This week has been rough for Mason.  On Monday, he woke up with a fever at daycare so he went home early.  On Tuesday afternoon, his temperature jumped up to 105.5 which is the highest it has ever been for either one of our kids.  It scared us, but after we gave him Motrin and put him in a cool bath, his temperature went down to 103 and then stayed around 101, so we just monitored him the rest of the night. I thought he just had a virus, but once again on Wednesday afternoon his fever jumped up to 104.5 so we immediately went to CHP Urgent Care.  They diagnosed him with Pneumonia, gave him a shot of antibiotics and sent us home with another prescription of antibiotics.  Most of our week has been spent holding and rocking Mason during the day and night.  We are all ready for him to feel better!

Cousin Camden has also been sick this week with congestion and an ear infection so we didn't get to see him yesterday.  Mimi and Papa were out of town too, so we had a very quiet Thanksgiving this year at my parent's house.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch with Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie, my parents and Nanny.  It was fantastic as always - turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, collard greens, field peas, gravy, cranberry sauce and crescent rolls.  Yummy! My mom did a wonderful job preparing our Thanksgiving feast - thank you!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mason's Saturday Morning Shower

I posted this on Facebook a couple weeks ago but I wanted to share it on my blog too.  A few Saturdays ago, I turned on the shower and walked out of the room for a few minutes.  When I came back, someone had beat me in there...

He was having a great time until I took him out.  

I had no idea he was strong enough the push the door far hard enough to squeeze into the shower but now I know!  Anytime he hears that shower start, he shuffles as fast as he can on those chunky legs to beat us in the shower.  I never thought my one year old would love showers so much!