48 months

School is going well and they continue to work their way through the alphabet, C continues to practice her sight words at home and knows a few more words from list two. Her teacher is pretty impressed with how she is able to sound out the letters and put words together. They got a new play set at school which C couldn't wait to tell me about, especially since they now have more swings which is her favorite thing to do! And she has learned to get herself on the swing, now she is really a big girl! We had cupcakes a few days after her birthday with her friends at school, Grandma and Grandpa where her and got to come and celebrate with her too!

Unfortunately we had to cut C's birthday trip short, nothing like having to pack up a hotel room at 1am, load up sleepy kids and get back  home in two hours. In one way I am thankful she is only four as it made telling her the news on Pop Pop's passing a bit easier, yes she was sad but wasn't full of questions (she knew he was sick) and proceeded to go back and play after we told her. She remembers and mentions him, and sometimes asks what he might be doing but it isn't a constant topic of conversation for her. The days after Pop Pop went to heaven we spent time with family, we had lunch at one of his favorite restaurants on the water, went strawberry picking and had ice cream/milk shakes in his honor, the girls got to play with cousin B and we snuggled at night with his blanket I had made him a few years ago for Christmas. Even in sad times the kids brought us some much needed smiles, C enjoyed having cousin B here to hang out and play with (and boss around) while J was at school and we were either at the hospital or getting things taken care of, it's so much better when you have someone to play (and go crazy with)! She even got him to wear one of her dresses and be a "princess" with her!

C had her yearly check-up, she is doing great and growing like a weed! She is in the 89% for weight and 57% for her height, I'm hoping for a height jump soon to hopefully lean her out some. She was excited that she didn't have to get any shots and told the doctor she was skipping turning five so that she didn't have to get shots and that she was going to jump straight to six, she had the doctor who is very quiet and reserved laughing! I don't want to rain on her parade but she will be in for quite the surprise next year when she has to face turning five, I had some time to plan a good bribe for her! This kid doesn't know how to walk, she only knows how to run, skip, hop, jump and dance her way from place to make, she makes me crazy when we are out in public and is constantly "running" into people and not watching where she is going, maybe I need to put some sticky tack on her shoes!

The girls started tumbling class at the YMCA this month, this might be helping to contribute to her not wanting to walk and will hopefully help some with her behavior. She is always an angel at school and we thought that having something else to do with some structure would be good for her and her fournado temper! She remembers doing the mommy and me tumbling/dance class when she was younger and fit in pretty well with this class. She had no trouble doing a somersault by herself and tries her hardest at the other things, she is actually doing pretty well for her age. Watching her try and do a cartwheel is pretty comical but one day she will get it, as will she get the coordination together for jumping jacks, I can't help but laugh most of the class watching the three and four year olds, it's been some comical entertainment I've needed.

The girls had a day off from school and we checked out the playground at the Ringling Museum with some friends. Not sure why it has taken us this long to get there but it was nice and we all had a nice time, the weather was beautiful so that (along with the breeze from the bay) helped. The girls enjoyed playing on the playground, playing hide-and-seek in the big banyan trees, smelling the roses in the rose garden and wandering the grounds.They were having so much fun they didn't want to leave, so we bribed them with McDonalds ice cream and took our party there.  Our pool and deck is finally done and someone would spend all of her time outside if I let her! I'm hoping my little mermaid didn't lose her swimming skills, it needs to be a lot warmer for mommy to get in and give refresher lessons!

We went and saw the mouse twice this month, C's birthday trip got cut short and Mickey always makes everything better. Our first trip was one Sunday to Animal Kingdom for the day. We needed a "fun" day and I happened to score FP for the new Pandora's World river ride so it was the perfect excuse to go! The weather was nice and the park was somewhat manageable for the Sunday of Princess weekend. Pandora's World has been all of the hype since it opened, we have never seen the movies so I had no clue what to expect, I had run through it during my half back in November but that is a total blur! The river ride was cool, the animatronics, graphics and special effects were something not on any other ride but having not seen the movies I would have never stood in the two hour line to ride! We all enjoyed the Lion King show (and some needed AC) and strolling the Gorilla Falls, we got to see most of the gorillas up close to included the babies. The Safari is always a hit with the girls and the chance to get to see most of the animals up close is neat, this day the giraffes were out in full force roaming the Savannah, the tram got so close to them twice you could have almost touched them! Of course we can't make a trip without seeing the mouse himself, C still has to have her individual picture with him and just melts into him and gives him a big hug! We finally tried the BBQ place for lunch and it was worth the wait for the food, no wonder there is always a huge line, even with ordering via the app I still had to wait a bit. Pop Pop had seen it on some TV show and would have loved the food, especially the fries. We might take a trip back just for lunch one day! By 2pm we had enough and ventured home, it was a nice day and just what we needed.

Our second trip was to Epcot with some friends for a girls day out. All the kids got to skip school and we had so much fun hanging out and sharing our Disney secrets with our friends. We had a full eventful day and even though we did a lot it didn't seem like we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We were lucky to pop into the Living Seas for the morning feed and dive. We got to see all three of the turtles up close and watch them feed one of the GIANT stingrays. The big girls got to ride Soarin, we all rode the Land, Figment and the big ball. We had some lunch before heading to meet Mickey and Minnie and then headed back to the countries for an afternoon stroll, to meet some princesses (Anna, Elsa, Mulan and Aurora) and ride Frozen. Our last stop before calling it a day was to meet Princess Aurora, we got there right as she was finishing and had to wait 30 minutes for her to come back. Luckily for us a super nice PhotoPass Photographer kept the kids entertained taking all kinds of magic shots for them, they laughed and giggled as she had them pose and laughed even more when they saw the pictures come through. We had a super fun day and by the time we headed out the girls were exhausted!

Here are the pictures from the month.