Marco Island

This past weekend, we took a somewhat spontaneous weekend trip to Marco Island Florida. If you are unfamiliar with it, I'd highly recommend checking it out! It's on the SW (gulf) coast of Florida, we flew into Ft Myer and drove about an hour south. 

The boys did so well on the airplane. I was really worried about Caleb and his curiosity and contant need to move, but he did well!

The balcony of our hotel "look, mom, there's the beach!"

Both boys LOVED the beach. Digging in the sand, picking out seashells, playing "construction". 

When Caleb first stepped into the water and the waves were breaking at his feet, he thought it was the funniest thing ever. He laughed hysterically whenever they crashed!

The second night we watched the best sunset. The other two nights were a little cloudy so this one was the best! Of course, I had to get some pics!

My two little fish truly enjoyed the pool too! They had an awesome slide that Caiden went down about 50 times.

We got lots of comments about how good of swimmers they both were. Of course people were amazed by Caleb, being such a little guy and swimming like crazy.  Here's links to videos of theme swimming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDzyeYQQAEY and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSYhylKO7Ls

The last night we had a pizza picnic by the beach.

I am so very thankful for this trip and that everything worked out so smoothly! We almost got stuck there because flights were preemptively cancelled due to weather in Dallas, but we made it back! Also, you might be wondering (because you know how my boys are), they actually slept fairly well in the hotel! No major drama in that area!

Visit to Iowa August 2013

At the beginning of August, Eric, the boys and I spent a week in Iowa visiting family.  We couldn't have asked for better weather either. I don't think it got above 85 degrees! We had lots of fun at Aunt Amy's house- especially terrorizing Banjo, her cat, and playing in her huge yard!

We went to the Iowa State Fair and got to see lots of pigs, cows and other farm animals. Caiden got to work in the Little Hands on the Farm section.

And of course, we had to see the famous butter cow.

then we left Des Moines and went to Gilmore City to visit Eric's grandparents. The boys loved picking vegetables in the garden. And Caiden wanted to learn how to climb their big tree.

Other days we spent with Grandpa Doug and Grandma LeAnn.  They took us fishing. Caleb wasn't so sure about the life jacket, but I was sure he'd try to jump in the water!

Another day they took us to a lake for a boat ride, some swimming and playing in the sand.

The boys had so much fun spending about 90% of the day outside.

We were spoiled all week with great food. Fair food, Adam's grilled steaks, Marv & Georgia's huge lunches, and Doug & LeAnn's yummy meals. I enjoyed not havign to cook for a whole week!  And we even conviced Caiden to try some new things- like the sweet corn that he picked himself.

Visit to KC July 2013

Sorry for the absence and then onslaught of posts!  It's been busy around here, but I thought I'd better get caught up before we take another trip! 

In the middle of July, the boys and I made a trip up to KC for visit family and friends.  We had lots of fun, but of course didn't have time to see everyone!

Since we are so lucky with weather it was nice and WARM up there. Ironically it was one of the coolest/rainiest weeks in DFW while we were gone. They boys enjoyed playing in the water in Nana & Papa's back yard. They were so sure about the slip-n-slide, but loved playing with the water!

 

On Sunday we went to visit my dad's side of the family. We don't get to see my grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins much so it was nice to see them and catch up with what's going on in their lives. I didn't take many pictures because the boys were a little tired and clingy. My dad brought a cake to celebrate the boys' birthdays so of course Caiden was ecstatic!

 

Here's my sweet grandma.... and the big knucklehead that wouldn't look at the camera!

We loved visiting DeAnna Rose Farmstead while we were there. And as you saw from a previous post, my boys love a farm! They enjoyed spending the day with Nana and their cousins too!

Another day, we went to the mall to make a bear at Build-a-Bear and rode the grand carusel!

I also met up with a friend of mine from college and we went to Wonderscope Children's Museum. It was a really neat museum set up in an old elementary school building. Each of the former classrooms was transformed into a different themed room. After the museum, we had lunch at Fritz' (the train resaurant) where the train brings your food.

My camera battery died after this day and I forgot to bring my charger so I didn't get many more pictures.  We had a fun day at the zoo with my dad so he should be sharing pics soon, and then spent our last day at the Summit Waves water park with Nana & Papa, Rusty, Addison and Ethan. We also got to visit my Grandma Parsons (my mom's mom) and she met Caleb for the first time!  I didn't get any pictures of that since my camera was dead :(

It was so nice to enjoy some time with family!

Trip to Sea World

The first week of April we took a family vacation down to San Antonio for a few days. Our Destination: Sea World!  Overall the boys did so well on the trip. We ended up driving and they took the car ride like champs. We had been worried how they would do in a hotel, but I think they ended up getting more sleep than me or Eric :)  Caiden slept with Eric and tossed and turned, kicking and headbutting him all night. I was up quite a bit with Caleb, because he kept waking up and we didn't want to let him cry like we do at home. But... we drank some coffee and survived :)

The weather was a bit cooler than we would have liked, so we had to bundle up a bit. But it warmed up nicely in the afternoon. We ended up spending 2 full days at the park.

Caiden's favorite part was feeding the dolphins. Mine too! Even as an adult, it was REALLY cool to be able to touch a dolphin! One tip for anyone planning a trip: Feed the dolphins very first! It is the best time, because it gets very crowded later! Here's some pics of that:

Of course, we had to see the Shamu show. I took a ton of pictures, but here are a few.

Caiden and Eric had fun playing in the Sesame Street Bay of Play area (although it was too cold for the spray park).

Caleb and I got to meet Bert & Ernie. Caiden didn't want to get close though :)

We saw the sea lion show, but I didn't take pictures because I was holding Caleb while he was napping. Here's Caiden after the show.

At the end of the first day, Caiden decided he wanted a stuffed dolphin for his souvenir.

 On the second day, Eric and I took turns on some rides. Eric is in the next-to-last car, last row.

And we spent some time with the penguins.

It was such a fun trip and I wouldn't mind going back again soon!