Day 104: Aaron, Kelly & Cora, Brian's brother & his family, arrived late into the evening Sunday night. We introduced the newest member of our family to them & watched two wild girls run laps around the house. Carly screamed & darted toward the door yelling "cousin Cora" when she heard the knock but was a bit overwhelmed once all the action actually began! It only took her 10 minutes, however, to invite them up to her room. I love that she has ownership over a place she feels so safe in. You know you are welcome in our home if you get an invite up to Carly's room. ;) Moving on though, since all that actually took place on day 103. On day 104 we all awoke rested and packed our bags for the BEACH! I'm fairly certain this was both Cora & Luke's first time seeing the Ocean & I think they both enjoyed it! We live just over an hour from Cocoa beach and yet never go that direction. Silly us. I think we will begin to visit the beach more regularly! The resort we began our honeymoon at was just a few miles from where we ended up parking ourselves. I thought that was pretty cool. I mean, who lives an hour away from the place they honeymooned!?
The beach is fantastic every time we go. The sound of the waves put Luke to sleep instantly and although I laid him in the sand for some sweet beach baby photos, he spent most of the day in his carrier up close to mommy.
The girls enjoyed the water, the sand & the boogie board! Brian & Aaron even took the board out far enough into the ocean that we could barely see their heads! We all spent time laying in the sand, picking up shells & letting the waves hit us (well, not all of us...Luke didn't get any salt water action).
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| This is the only picture we got of all three cousins! |
The beach was an amazing start to a wonderful week! Upon our arrival home, Kel & I left the kiddos with their dads and went to Bonefish Grill for a very lovely girls evening. I am blessed to have a sister-in-law I enjoy being with and who has ended up being in my closest circle of friends. I know many women are not that lucky!
Day 105: This day was all about Orlando! While Brian was at work, the rest of us headed downtown, where we took a walk around Lake Eola & then headed to a few museums. We really enjoyed the Orlando History museum...it was very well done & it was fun to learn more about the place we currently reside. After the museum we had lunch at a deli then I took my kiddos home for naps & A, K &C continued on to more downtown adventures. That night we picked up BBQ from our favorite place, 4 Rivers, and enjoyed one anothers company.
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| As close as Carly would get to the gator... |
Day 106: A cool front came in which made for a really nice visit to a packed Magic Kingdom! It was so busy the property actually began a "phased closing" in the afternoon. We got to do the new attractions in Fantasyland & enjoyed eating in the Beast's castle before deciding to head home for a low key evening. The girls enjoyed an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Carly had "helped" me stuff the eggs so she knew exactly what she was picking up. I realized it was her first egg hunt & wondered why she didn't participate in the one we had in Iowa last year. Then I realized that a year ago she wasn't fully walking yet! Holy moly what a difference a year makes!!!
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| These two couldn't be any sweeter! |
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| My favorite pic of Cora! |
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| The boys were totally enthused... |
Day 107: Brian & I both had to work this day, but that doesn't mean it wasn't an incredibly full day! We headed to a local trail, the Tibet-Butler Preserve & had a really super nice hike. The girls began by running the trails so naturally tuckered out & needed to be carried the entire way home. ;)
I must be accustomed to our variety of exotic tropical plants after living here four years. A&K kept commenting on all the cool plants they were spotting & I just kept thinking that they weren't that special. ;) I also realized how much more manageable one kid is than two. I most certainly needed their help when my 2-year-old demanded to be carried. Walking back we were in a row with Kelly holding Luke, me holding Carly & Aaron holding Cora. We may have looked a bit silly. ;)
After our hike we went blueberry picking!! There is a farm right down the street from us & there is a 6-8 week period when blueberries are ripe for harvest! It was my first time ever fruit picking & it was delightful! Aaron teamed up with Carly & commented, "I think I'm at a negative ratio here." Carly had figured out it was easiest to have Aaron pick the berries and her eat them out of the bucket. Ha! We ended up with nearly 6 pounds of super yummy blueberries!
We came home & off to work I went. Once Brian arrived home, the clan came to DTD, where we all had our first experience at Bongos Cuban Cafe; which was quite delicious!
We had such a fun week with A, K&C! The girls have a pretty special bond and despite being miles a part and only seeing one another a few times a year, it was pretty obvious they love each other. Cora is a sweetheart & I told her she is welcome at our house any time she wants! Truly, it was such a fun week & I hope they will consider making it a spring break tradition!!! :)
Day 108: The "other" Weiss clan left for their flight way before we were up for the day, I had a full day of work & Brian & the kids hung out in the morning then picked my mom up from the airport in the afternoon!
Day 109: This is a day I wish I could re-live. I was rushing around trying to get ready for work & make snacks for our weekly staff meeting. I was in the process of using my food processing wand & idiotically decided my finger would suffice for scraping the sticky dates out. My hand slipped & hit the button, which made the blade spin, grabbing my finger & wedging itself into my bone. Luke was sleeping & my mom was upstairs with Carly when they heard me let out a very shrill scream. Ugh. The worst part was trying to get the blade out of my finger. My mom tried pulling it out and cut her finger, then told me to just leave it in until we got to the hospital. I decided I had already essentially cut my finger off so ripping the blade out couldn't do too much more damage. Carly freaked so I was careful to calm down & explain that I had an owie and she needed to get in the car with Nana. I am impressed by how quickly my mom had grabbed Luke from his crib, Carly from upstairs and remembered to grab my purse. Sadly, I was not dressed, so she put some pants on me but I couldn't separate my hands to get a shirt on. I apologized for not being dressed when I got to the ER and one of the nurses told me to just pretend I was coming from the beach. ;) We got in the car and headed up the road to a Centra Care. On the way we passed a fire station ambulance and rolled down our window to make sure we were correct in thinking there was a Centra Care in the village. They advised us to follow them to the nearest hospital instead. How nice was that!? So...we ended up in Ocoee 30 minutes later & by this time I was in pretty bad pain. I just kept telling myself that it wasn't as bad as childbirth so I needed to suck it up. Carly kept yelling from the back seat, "what happened mommy?!" and "Carly kiss it, Carly kiss it!" I hadn't eaten yet that day and was feeling fairly light headed so by the time I ran into the ER I could barely talk. We hadn't grabbed a bottle and so now Luke is also screaming. My poor mom is chasing a two-year-old around the lobby of the ER while trying to soothe a hungry boy who clearly cannot be soothed. Once they took my vitals I requested to nurse my baby. So, I have a dangling finger (not really...it was still attached), I'm not wearing much clothing & now I'm breastfeeding my baby. I'm going to say that combo was a first in the ER. Yep...all that happened. I just couldn't make this stuff up, folks. Anyway...after some numbing wonderfulness, xrays & stitches, I was good as new and off to work I went. I figured I better go to work since I now had some hefty medical bills to pay. Plus I needed some sympathy from everyone at work. ;) What a blessing that my mom was here when such a bad accident happened. I would rather not ever have to cross "ambulance ride" off my bucket list. Here's your picture from the day...my lovely bandage...lol.
Day 110: EASTER! The Lord has Risen indeed! He loves you & came to save you, dying a gruesome death on a cross so that by accepting him & allowing him to have reign in your heart you would have a more fulfilling life on Earth & more importantly would have eternal life in Heaven. I am such a sinful, broken & troubled being but by His grace I am redeemed and blessed beyond what words can say. We celebrate his Resurrection everyday, but rejoice together as Christians on the Sunday we call Easter. It was extra special to have my mom here to celebrate the day with us. :)
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