busy weekend

We have been so busy lately, I am ready for life to slow down a little bit. For the sixth weekend in a row, we went on yet another road trip. Ryan and Jason went to the Bucs game yesterday, so we left early in the morning to head to Tampa for the day. As usual, Kristin and I had to entertain all five kids while the husbands were off having a good time. Where is the fairness in this?! Oneday soon we will get our payback :) It was an overcast day, so we mostly hung out in the hotel room except for a little visit to The Cheesecake Factory for some dessert..yum! The girls were both a wreck when it was time to leave...Emma didn't want to leave the hotel and Madeline didn't want to leave her cousins :(

back to reality

We're home! We started off our trip last Saturday by going to the east coast for Jane's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. The girls had so much fun with their cousins! Emma won enough tickets playing games to get a gumball machine, so that totally made her night! From there, Ryan, Claire and I headed to Fort Lauderdale to stay by the airport and the girls headed up to Orlando with my parents.



Atlantis was awesome! The hotel was amazing..it was the perfect trip. It was great to get away with Ryan without the kids, we definatley needed the break! It was hard, though, to see so many things that we knew they would love...we'll just have to go back with them one day! Claire could not have been any better for us. She literally spent the entire week in her stroller...she was such a trooper. She even went to bed every night before dinner and she would just sleep in her stroller and d awe enjoyed our meals with no distractions. The only hitch is that she was totally off of her schedule all week. She went from sleeping 12 hours a night to waking up every few hours. It took a few days when we got home to readjust, but thankfully she is finally back to her normal routine :)

The girls had a great time with Grammy and Pop Pop! It was good to know that they were in good hands while we were gone and that they were having a little vacation of their own. The highlight of their week was going to Sea World and Downtown Disney. When we picked them up and they were telling us about everything they did while we were gone and showing us everything they made, I was exhausted just hearing about it. It's funny how after just a few days away I forgot how tiring parenting is! My mom helped Emma make a photo album to remember their visit and it was so special....definatley something that we'll have forever. I'm sure my mom was wiped out by the end of the week, but part of her was sad to see the kids leave. I think the house seemed pretty empty the next day :(

Once I get some pictures downloaded, I'll post a few!

girl's night!

Last night Emma and I went on a date to get our nails done. While I got my pedicure, Emma got a manicure (gold sparkle polish with pink flowers!). She had SO MUCH fun and it was special to do a "big girl" date with just her. I have a feeling that she's gonna want to make a habit of this :)

counting down

The girls went out last night with Grandma and Grandpa..they had a blast! Ryan's parents have been out of town and the girls hadn't seen them in two months, so it was a special treat to spend the night with them. Emma and Madeline had so much fun going to their house and playing and doing art projects, then they went out to dinner where I'm sure Grandpa filled them up on plenty of chocolate :)

Claire is getting so big. She's sleeping through the night which is amazing! She goes to bed when her sisters go to bed and wakes up when they wake up...I couldn't ask for an easier baby :) She loves nothing more than to smile at everyone around her. She can't keep her pacifier in her mouth because she's always smiling and usually while I am feeding her she stops eating every few seconds to smile up at me. She is such a sweetheart!

We go to Atlantis in three days! I cannot wait. The next couple of days are going to be busy with birthday parties, running errands, boot camp, doctor's appointments, etc. and then we head over to West Palm Beach on Saturday to unload the kids on my parents for a week :) Hopefully they'll all make it to the end of the week in one piece (my parents included!).

my ballerina

Madeline now wakes up every morning telling me she wants to go to dance class. She can't grasp the concept that we only go once a week :)

slacker!!

We have been so busy lately...it seems like I have not had a second to sit down and blog. On Labor Day weekend, we took the kids on a spur of the moment trip to Disney. We had the best time!! It was Madeline's first time to the Magic Kingdom and her reaction was so worth the trip! We got up there Saturday afternoon and stayed at the park until it closed at 11:00...the kids did great despite the late night. Madeline's face when she saw Mickey and Minnie for the first time was priceless. Her jaw dropped to the ground. She loved seeing them from a distance, but whenever we asked if she wanted to take a picture with one of the characters, she would say "I too scary". The highlight of the trip for Emma was definatley the fireworks. She stared at the sky with huge eyes and twirled around with her arms out singing about how amazing it was. We didn't get to our hotel until 1am and the kids STILL woke up at 6:45, so needless to say the were wiped out the next day. We spent Sunday with my parents and Aunt Laura in Celebration (my favorite place ever) and it was great to see them. The girls were devestated when we had to come home :(

This past weekend I took the girls to West Palm Beach to visit my sister and the guys had a golf weekend at our house. We had so much fun...it's always so much work when we are together with all five (almost six!) kids, but it is so worth it. Gina had us over to her AMAZING house on Sunday for lunch..I always love spending time with her...she's the best! Afterwards, we went to Caitlyn's birthday party at Super Star Kids. It was a hollywood theme and the girls had fun dressing up, getting their hair done, walking the red carpet and having a dance party. Emma was a little reluctant to dance, but Madeline was rocking out with all of the big kids...go figure!

Today my dad had surgery to remove cancer from his colon. We just found out about the cancer yesterday and the doctors seem hopeful that they were able to remove all of it. Praise God! I was so worried about him being in surgery today, but he did great and he is recovering. It seems like cancer is running rampant in my family..I absolutely hate it. Hopefully we are all in the clear for a LONG time.

Madeline started dance classes last week. It is the cutest thing ever. She goes on Tuesday mornings from 9-12 for a Mom's morning out program. She has the best time dancing, making a craft, playing dress up and reading stories and I get an entire morning to myself with only Claire at home. I got more housework done around the house today in those three hours than in the last three months combined!! I need to take some pics of Maddy in her tutu to post..she is too cute. Her favorite part of dance is when they do the "pokey pokey" :)

I started a new round of bootcamp last night. I became too addicted to live without it. We had one week off and my workouts seemed so boring without the whole crew. I think that is Ed's whole plan....to get us addicted to his work outs so he can keep getting our money!