50 months

It was an exciting start to the month, Grandpa and Grandma closed on their new house here in LWR! C was off from school and got to accompany us to the closing (and surprisingly behaved well!). After they signed their life away we went and off loaded some boxes to the house and then went over to the clubhouse for lunch. C liked sitting outside and kept wanting to sit in the sofas saying they were so "comfy". Later that night we all went out for dinner to celebrate (we went to Stonewood where we had never been, it was actually really good) and the girls had to get all dressed up in their new dresses they got when we were down in Miami. C was good but got super tired at one point, I think if I would have let her she would have fallen asleep in my lap. She is excited for G&G to move here next month.

School is great and it is hard to believe the year is coming to an end, the second half of the year really flew by, not sure I am ready for this one to be in Pre-K in the fall. Her class (along with the other three year old and two year old classes) took their Spring field trip to Mixon Farms. It is some place that has been on my radar to take the kids, just something we haven't gotten around too. I was  happy for a field trip that lasted more than an hour and kept the kids entertained through lunchtime! We started off with a tram tour through some of the groves, we got to see orange, lime, lemon, start fruit and other trees, they lost a bunch of trees during the hurricane and are still recovering. At the back of the property there is a wildlife refuge where we got to get up close and personal with a bunch of injured and orphaned animals. We saw alligators, both big ones and baby ones, different birds, two types of raccoons, a a tortoise and snake, both of which C touched, not mommy! After the tour the kids had some fun on the playground and checked out the koi pond. All C wanted to do was go down the big slide, I lost count at the number of times she went down it but it was shaded and kept her occupied for over an hour so I didn't care! We had some lunch with friends and then went up to the Grove Shop for an ice cream treat, they are famous for their creamsicle ice cream which I had and was yummy, C had just plain old vanilla, she isn't a fan of trying new things. It was the perfect outing for these kiddos and glad I made the suggestion to her teacher.

We ventured to Epcot twice this month while daddy was in his real estate class, so much easier to keep them happy at the Happiest Place on Earth than at home where they constantly fight (or ask what else can they do)! Our first trip (the Sunday after Easter) was just the three of us and what was an overcast day turned into the perfect day. The weather was great (it never rained) and so were the kids. I never think of Disney and relaxing but somehow we made it into a very relaxing and not chaotic day. We got there just as the park opened at 9am and were home to meet daddy for dinner just before 6pm. We saw the dolphins in the Seas and watched a little of their interaction session, rode the Land, Soarin (C's new favorite ride) and made our way only to Mexico (the only country we went to) to ride the Three Caballeros. The rest of the day was spent either walking and taking pictures of the topiaries we were missing or in the butterfly garden. We actually went to the butterfly garden twice for about 45 minutes each time, C got better once she actually got a butterfly on her finger (I caught one and was able to transfer it to her finger), then she got more into it, before that she just wanted to leave and said it was "boring".  We even got to see some butterflies hatch from their cocoons and found one with a broken wing that the girls switched holding for what seemed like 30 minutes, they didn't want to leave it. It is such a cool exhibit and I am glad C has become more receptive to it!

Our second trip (the next Saturday) we went with some friends. We can't visit Epcot without seeing Daisy as we enter the park, I pretty much have to bribe J to take a picture but C is all about it, goes right up and poses with her. We rode Spaceship Earth while we waited for our friends to arrive and the girls were excited that I let them ride together by themselves and that one didn't have to sit in my lap! They sat and behaved so well holding each others hand the entire ride (melt my heart, so much better than fighting at home!). We went to the Seas and got there just in time to watch the dolphin interaction session, this day they were working with them on matching objects, one of the dolphins wasn't very cooperative and didn't do so well, the other got about 90% of the objects right! It was pretty amazing to watch them at times have to think about their answer, similar to what we do when we are between two answers, and when they got it wrong and were shown the correct answer they would shake their head. C was patient at first but then kept asking to leave, one day she will inherit some patience! We visited the butterfly garden twice, C was all excited to hold a butterfly like she had the weekend before, it was the only way to get her to go in there, they weren't too friendly and we had a hard time coaxing them onto our fingers. Of course the kids were getting frustrated and we decided that was our que to feed them (but then they were mad we left so we promised to go back after lunch and try something out)! After lunch we went back, had no luck and right when we were ready to leave J caught her first butterfly and that changed everything! We must have stayed with it (it had a broken wing) and passed it around the kids for a good 30 minutes, then we caught a butterfly that had just hatched and wasn't yet fully flying, the kids were happy! We went and met Mickey and Goofy and saw the 3-D short films over by Figment that we always pass up, they were actually cute, the kids cracked up and it was a good for 15 minutes of A/C! Before leaving I decided to live on the edge and conned both of the girls into riding Test Track with me, not sure how I got them to agree but I did! C designed her car and once we got on the ride and it took off her face was priceless. She sat mute, but looked scared and when we got off the ride at first she said she didn't want to go again but then said she would try it again another time with daddy, let's see if she lives up to what she said! We had another fun day with no meltdowns or tantrums!

Oh tumbling class, not sure what to write about it! J joined C's class so at least now I only have to be there for an hour instead of two. C does pretty good at listening to her teacher and following directions. She is getting better at rolling and the balance beam (and of course she is the best somersaulter, hopper and twirler because that is all she does as she moves from station to station). Her cartwheel leaves a lot to be desired and she just flips down the mat landing on her butt each time. I really think this kid would like an actual dance class but she says she doesn't want to take one.

Strawberry season is coming to an end and we made the most out of the last few weeks of the season, the girls got to pick one last time and then the weeds on the field got to high and they didn't get to go, just mommy, but they did enjoy eating them up until the very end, last year they got tired of them with a few weeks left. We've been enjoying the patio, (the pool is still too cold, the girls like to have water fights on the big step) grilling out in the evening and letting the kids run around the patio, thank goodness we don;t have any neighbors for the screaming they do! Mommy's birthday was this month and was pretty quiet and low keyed, we enjoyed a nice lunch at Kona Grill (and then walking the mall) and a steak dinner at home, the girls made me lovely cards and of course C couldn't keep a secret about my present, she gave me a hint that it was like Fitbit.

Here are the pictures from the month and from the Disney trips.