We spent the few days around 4th of July in Orlando at
the Marriott Resort across from Sea World. Seeing the roller coaster whizz by from our hotel room was an awesome sight to see. The weather was pretty decent
the first day and we spent time at the resort pool swimming and sliding,
the girls got their first taste of a water slide and were hooked (after
some convincing from us and making us ride with them)! At first C would only ride the open slide, then she finally braved up and rode the enclosed one after some convincing from her sister (and maybe mom and dad too). Once they got
tired of the slide (they must have slid 30 times each) we enjoyed the
bigger pool, lawn games, the magician, balloon artist eating (and
watching soccer) and just hanging out enjoying each others undivided
company. Later that night we got to watch the fireworks from our room,
they weren't Disney quality but they required no driving to see them and
we could watch in our PJs (C stayed awake for these ones).
The morning of the 4th they couldn't wait to get down and ride the slide, we were there so early that we had to find someone to open it up for them. By 11am (and after they rode it another 20+ times) they were clearing the pool for lightening and the storm that was rolling in (too bad because the resort had a whole party planned for the day), we decided to call it a wash, shower and head out to find something dry to keep us occupied. They loved driving around Sea World and see the roller coasters and water park rides from the car, I think a water park will be a trip we make in the spring. We ate some lunch and then headed to Dave and Busters (along with everyone else in Orlando) for some afternoon fun. The girls are always wanting to play video games when we see them so they were in seventh heaven when we walked into D&B, they were like a deer in headlights taking it all in! We played games for two hours and collected lots of tickets, the line was too long to cash them in so we promised to take them back another time for some more fun. We had dinner at Bahama Breeze (not very patriotic but they had not wait) and then headed back to the hotel for some ice cream and to wait and see if they fireworks would go off, it was still raining/lightening on and off. They were late but finally went off, we watched them on our balcony until J said she got bit by a mosquito and then watched the rest from inside the room (and C fell asleep on daddy before they were done, too much fun the last two days wore her out). It was just enough to make us happy, especially since we didn't have to drive or deal with crowds (or rain)! Thursday morning we hit pool for one last time and within 20 minutes they decided they were slided out. We played some lawn games (while we dried off) and taught them how to play Jenga, C did good but need to be told while one to try, poor daddy knocked the tower over! We had a nice little escape, it was just what we needed to recharge for the rest of the month.
The morning of the 4th they couldn't wait to get down and ride the slide, we were there so early that we had to find someone to open it up for them. By 11am (and after they rode it another 20+ times) they were clearing the pool for lightening and the storm that was rolling in (too bad because the resort had a whole party planned for the day), we decided to call it a wash, shower and head out to find something dry to keep us occupied. They loved driving around Sea World and see the roller coasters and water park rides from the car, I think a water park will be a trip we make in the spring. We ate some lunch and then headed to Dave and Busters (along with everyone else in Orlando) for some afternoon fun. The girls are always wanting to play video games when we see them so they were in seventh heaven when we walked into D&B, they were like a deer in headlights taking it all in! We played games for two hours and collected lots of tickets, the line was too long to cash them in so we promised to take them back another time for some more fun. We had dinner at Bahama Breeze (not very patriotic but they had not wait) and then headed back to the hotel for some ice cream and to wait and see if they fireworks would go off, it was still raining/lightening on and off. They were late but finally went off, we watched them on our balcony until J said she got bit by a mosquito and then watched the rest from inside the room (and C fell asleep on daddy before they were done, too much fun the last two days wore her out). It was just enough to make us happy, especially since we didn't have to drive or deal with crowds (or rain)! Thursday morning we hit pool for one last time and within 20 minutes they decided they were slided out. We played some lawn games (while we dried off) and taught them how to play Jenga, C did good but need to be told while one to try, poor daddy knocked the tower over! We had a nice little escape, it was just what we needed to recharge for the rest of the month.
The hot and stormy summer days kept us mostly indoors when we weren't
swimming. We enjoyed the Thursday morning activities at the mall, dressed up as
cows for Chick-fil-A day, and went bowling a few times. C tried like J to bowl without the ramp but she still needs it, it took forever for her ball to get down the lane the couple time she tried without! With the ramp though she is our little ringer and does well on her own, I could sit and watch her all day with her hands on her hips, scream, booty shake and dance as she watches her ball go down the lane, she gets very excited! We took Nana one night out to the beach for the sunset
to see it one last time before she moved to Georgia for her new
adventures. We had a nice dinner on the water and then walked the beach
looking for shells as the sunset. The girls loved finding shells (we
don't get to the beach often because mommy hates sand) and watched in
awe as the sun set into the ocean, it was a picture perfect night and a
great memory made.
I am so proud of C and what she has accomplished this month in the pool. She is a "pro" with her freestyle arms and as she swims you can see her concentrating on her stroke to make it perfect. She is more about perfection than speed but is not far behind J when they race across the pool. Friends watch her swim and are amazed at how perfect her stroke is for just being four! She has been working hard on floating on her back (thanks to the zero entry at the community pool) and can float for almost 10 seconds! She is now working on flipping over to her back while she swims, at the rate she is going she will have it down in no time! She too might be ready for a swim team next summer, and we just might have to buy a pool heater for this mermaid!
Someone is obsessed with the Greatest Showman and has it on continuous repeat, she wants to watch it every day! She knows all the songs and sings and dances along to the movie, when I try to get it on video she stops, go figure. She loves her wand she got from magic day at the mall, now she has the full Showman effect, maybe she needs a ring leader costume? This kid is full of energy, love and pure joy (when she is not being a fournado) and wish I could bottle up her giggles, they are contagious and even when I am so mad at her and shes make one I can't but help laugh at her, she melts my heart and hope she never loses this spunk.
We all gathered in Miami for a much needed weekend of family time to
celebrate Dad/Pop Pop. With all that had gone on since he went to
heaven it was time to close this chapter in a way he would have wanted
it, at sea and with his favorite drink. And that's what we did, we piled
onto two boats out of Key Biscayne, headed for the deep blue sea and
Fowey Lighthouse, said a few prayers and sent the "magic pillow" on its
way. The kids enjoyed the boat ride, seeing the old Stiltsville houses
and looking for dolphins. Questions were asked but not as many as I
thought, I'm glad they are still little and don't fully understand.
Afterwards we gathered for an afternoon of swimming and eating,
incorporating his favorites into the day as much as we could. Lots of
memories were shared and new memories made with all seven cousins being
together for the first time. It was a day he would have loved to be a
part of and know he was watching from the blue skies above (and he did
his job and kept the rain away).
We've been to Miami so many time and realized we have never taken them to the "U", so on our way home from Key Biscayne we made a quick side trip for them to strike their pose!
We brought back some extra baggage with us from Miami, our Georgia cousins came to spend the week with us! The girls (mostly C and K) sang or watched the Greatest Showman the entire four hour ride here, by the time we pulled in I was glad to turn it off! C and K spent a lot of time playing together this trip, they were all about getting dolled up at C's vanity and playing with the babies (and hoarding everything they could in as many bags as they could find). We went to the $1 movies one day, the girls saw a movie with me while the boys went with Nana to a different theater. We went bowling and K got her first spare, mommy and Nana even bowled that day too! We swam in both ours and the community pool, we were lucky we had pretty good weather the week they were here. We saw Cinderella, Elsa, Anna and Ariel at the mall (the boys weren't happy but glad I found them an Xbox to play instead) followed by lunch and playtime at CFA. I think their best day was the day the girls got to go to art camp (with Nana) and paint flamingos while the boys and played putt putt and had ice cream. It was C's first time at art camp, she was so excited she got to go and did pretty well, Nana reported she did about 75% of it on her own, her masterpiece is hanging in the bathroom. We had a full filled week and everyone pretty much went to bed with no complaints each night, they were tired from having so much fun! Oh and the girls got to have a special sleep over night with Grandma and Grandpa, dinner at McDonalds followed by Menchies and a shopping trip for Barbies to Walmart, they aren't spoiled at all (the boys got a Hibachi dinner and a trip to Walmart so they made out too!).
As much as she wants to be a really big girl she is still a little girl at heart and fights against rest time and naps (and the sporadic days she does take a nap she is a totally different person). There are days she is OK and then there are days she is a monster and just crashes, like 4th of July night, she didn't make it to see the fireworks finale. She also still talks in her sleep, we haven't caught her sleepwalking for a while but have seen her sit up and have jibberish conversations that make no sense!
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