Dance Party!

Noah was loving his music tonight. And so was Ellie. :) Jackson was, (still is) outside playing with the neighbor kids and Noah and Ellie stayed in to have a bath and get ready for bed. It's almost time to say goodnight.

We also had a major play date today with Nora and Tess. They were here from 11:30am-5pm. And it was totally fine by me. Tess is her little sister and is the same age as Noah. They were here from 11:30am-5pm. And it was totally fine by me. It was perfect. While the kids were playing I was imagining one day in the future when (IF) I have a few more kids, life might get easier. They all played together so well and I actually had a few minutes to myself. Let's not forget that Ellie took two, 2 1/2 hour naps so that eliminated one kid. :) We had a good day. And for dinner, we had that Chicken and Corn Chowder from Costco. Yummy. A must buy. (Just something I want to share for the benefit of all). :)

And GET THIS!!!! Noah is on his way to being a potty trained child. I shouldn't way anything for the fear of it all falling apart. But so far, so good. He goes poopy all by himself now. (make that THREE times today). And that is a MIRACLE for him. Slowly, it is coming together. And I am relieved!!! I am getting a little sick of having to ask all the time if he needs to go potty. But I hope that will end soon enough. And I am also getting tired of the bribes. Whatever works though! I will keep everyone posted because I know how interesting this topic of my life is to everyone. HA! Maybe I will spare you all the details from here on out. Unless it is a blog worthy event. :) And then I am going to share it!

A little bit of fun in the sun!

Here is a little warning to anyone that might be bored. This is a bit long with several pictures. But all at the request of my parents and also for my own personal memory. Feel free to skip. But if you do. . . RUDE! :)

On May 4th we left for a week long vacation to Orlando, Florida. A couple of our friends joined us and we had a great time. The Nelson's whole family came and Melanie and her baby came. The condo was plenty big for all of us and that made it nice. I had a lot of fun spending so much time with a couple of my best friends and my sweet little family.The weather was perfect!!! Especially when we came home to storms and freezing weather. Well, freezing? No. But cold, yes. Go away ugly gray clouds and cold rain!
We spent most of our time hanging out by the pools and trying to get some much needed color on my pasty white skin. And that is putting it lightly. I actually lean more towards purple skin. :) My kids LOVE the water. And I love watching them play in it. They have no fear. I guess that can be a good and bad thing. I never take my eyes off them. Brooke and I both bought some pool toys that made the time pass perfectly. And Melanie had the GREATEST thing ever for her little girl. So Brooke and I both decided to buy our little girls one. They were little floaty things with canopy's on them. Perfect. And you know what else was perfect? Strawberry Coladas!!!! I couldn't seem to get enough of those.
My cousin Anna works at Disney World and was able to babysit for us one day while all the adults went to Islands of Adventure. That was so fun. We rode the Hulk first and that gave me a headache. A major headache. But riding the rides was too fun to stop. We rode Dueling Dragons SEVERAL times back to back. Thanks to baby swap. We figured out how to beat the system with that. :) I had a lot of fun there and was so happy to get to go there without my kids. And we were able to get some seriously cheap tickets to the park for listening to one of those EXTREMELY boring time share presentations. Jason and I faked like we were my parents and were owners so I had to act like I knew what he was talking about while trying to sell the time share on Brooke and Cody. What a joke. But here is the best joke of all. Get set.

So, Melanie wanted to get the discount to the theme park as well. But apparently Marriott has a rule that you have to either have your husband with you during the presentation or be legally divorced. We tried doing the whole "I'm separated" thing, but that didn't work. And then the lies came FLOWING!!! Melanie had to go talk to a certain person about getting permission to listen to the presentation and he just wouldn't budge on the policy. And from what I could see, Melanie was holding strong to her story as well. We all thought she might have seriously started to believe she really was divorced. :) But all that for nothing. Melanie headed back to the condo empty handed of discount tickets while the rest of us had to sit there and fake interested. I actually am interested in buying a time share or two one day. Just not yet. For obvious reasons. (Hello, my parent's let me use theirs and they have way too many to count). :) Our "presenter" let us sneak into another resort that had an AWESOME pool for the kids. And that made the whole thing worth it. That pirate pool was perfect for the kids. I loved that day.
(This is just a random picture of little El's. One of the rare times she wasn't in her bathing suit).

We also spent a day at the Magic Kingdom and that was a super fun and exhausting day. And I loved every bit of it. I just love it there. I think I love watching my boys light up to all the fun and excitement that surrounds them at Disney World. Jackson is a roller coaster lover. Maybe next year Noah will be tall enough to ride a few more bigger rides. I think he is going to get a little sick of Peter Pan and Goofy's Wild Ride real soon. I know I am sick of It's a Small World. I couldn't even bear the thought of going on it. So we didn't. :)(Noah loves Zurg. And Captain Hook. Can you see a pattern? Help.) :)

The resort was gorgeous and had a lot to do for all of us. Swimming in several different pools, rock climbing, fishing, boating, jungle gym for the kids, food, (we bought most of our food and cooked there), gym room for adults, you name it. The guys went fishing a little bit at night and Cody managed to squeeze fishing into every day. That guy is a fisher! But speaking of rock climbing. Yes, I did it. And yes I was scared of how tall the wall was. After a pathetic first attempt I tried it again and actually made it to the top. Twice. Unfortunately I repelled with very little grace the first time that no one was able to see me in all my glory of actually doing it right. :) But bum slammed into the wall twice and it hurt. :) And you might be thinking Melanie and Brooke were there for me. But they weren't. Unless you call laughing so hard they were crying as "being there." So yeah, not there. But it was a lot of fun. I remember the days of rock climbing in high school because that is what all the boys I had crushes on did. I never thought how nasty my behind looked in those straps. I should have thought of that.I had some great family time and much needed girl time all at once. I actually miss the late nights of staying up with the girls talking and laughing. So much comes out in the wee hours of the morning. It reminded my of the days of roommates and sharing so much with each other.
So, it was a great vacation with wonderful friends and SUPER memories. I hope we can do it again one day soon.

We're Outta Here!!

We are leaving again for a wonderful week in Orlando, Florida. This time we aren't planning to do the "Disney" thing since we just did it in October for a week. We are going one day to the Magic Kingdom. I can't wait!!! And Islands of Adventures FOR SURE!!! Pictures and stories to come!!! Thanks Mom and Dad for always letting us use your time shares. Our traveling would be pretty pathetic if it wasn't for you! :)

Arrrrr Matey!

This last Friday Jason and I went to my first Pirates game here in Pittsburgh. And I had a great time. We went with some friends of ours, Jeff and Libby. The seats were great and the food was delish!! We went to Atria's first and then the game. Where we continued eating. :) Who can pass up cinnamon roasted almonds? Not me. And soft serve? Yep, load me up.
The Pirates lost, which shouldn't be any big surprise to anyone, but they did keep up pretty good. Go Pirates. Actually, I don't care all that much about baseball. Bor-ing. But I will go to games and be entertained. Especially if I have good company to chat with. Thanks Libby. :) It was also fireworks night and that was fun. I always enjoy a good fireworks show. For 3 minutes. Then I am good.

It was a really fun night with some really wonderful friends. And no kids. I think that might have been the best part. And the almonds.