Hogwarts Hangover?

Today was a sloooow day for me. It was back to swimming this morning, Katie got to come too. On the way home we stopped and got some cookies at a Katie researched place and WOW, they are SO good! Then, this afternoon there was a whole lot of not so much! As bad as I felt I felt more tired. I'm not sure if it's because of all the fun yesterday or if I'm trying to fight off what these kids have. Nora and Lincoln are still coughing and snotty but Nora seems to be about through the worst and Lincoln, trooper that he is I think he had his worst day yesterday and despite being whiney and blah today is about to be on the mend. Otto is our wild card. He's by far our worst at being sick and I think we're just getting started with him. So, after an afternoon of bickering kids in quarantine and not much else it was time for us to take Katie to the airport. Hopefully she'll be spared the plague and her cookies made it home in one piece! We always love when she comes to visit...even the boring days are more fun! After we got home I did catch this cute moment of all three of them playing happily in the playroom while I put together some dinner.

Adventure Day!

Today was a fun first!! We went to Universal! With 3 sick kids! Haha! I had very low expectations for today - I figured 3 hours and a ride or two would be a victory.

Our first good omen came right after we walked into the park and these two stepped up to the measuring stick. What do ya know...Lincoln is tall enough to ride real rides, and he was all about it! We hit a bump in the road when we got into Diagon Alley.

It was a bit dark and intimidating for Nora's liking but Tim's wand saved us! After Universal Studios, where Nora hated the fire breathing dragon and Lincoln loved it AND Katie was kind enough to wrangle kids while Kyle and I snuck on a ride! After that, we went over to Islands of Adventure. First stop there was...

BUTTER BEER! After that key stop Lincoln, Nora, Katie and I all went on the Flight of the Hippogriff! It was the kids first roller coaster and they loved it! From there we went all over, had some dinner, rode the pterodactyl ride (twice), went to Seuss Landing and did it all there!

By about 8pm we were headed for the gates after a day full of fun, brought to us by Motrin! We had 3 tired kiddos in the car on the drive home. All and all a spectacularly and surprisingly successful day!

A Cousin a Cold and a Couple of Owls

Katie's here! Our first real guest in the guest-room/game room! She's really entered into the belly of the beast this time and is risking returning to Ohio with one heck of a nasty cold after spending the weekend with my giant germs. The noses and the coughing and the yucky Otto...uuuuhhhhgg. Anyway! We managed to have a little bit of fun despite some less than 100% kiddos. So far Motrin is doing wonders to keep them somewhat functioning and tonight we doled out some Vicks on the feet of the bigs as we tucked them in in hopes it would help them get a better night's sleep.

Before bed we all hung out outside and watched our owl friends settle in for their night of hunting and doing owly things. Tomorrow is an adventure day...I have low expectations but we'll see what happens...whatever we manage to squeeze out of the day, I assure you it will be brought to you by Motrin & Tylenol cause this cold is a nasty one!

Summer Start

A quick catch-up: Nora finished up her school year and is officially headed to Kindergarten in the fall. I dropped the ball and didn't take a last day of school picture! Whoops! What kind of Pinterest mom am I!? My mom also left on Wednesday and I didn't get any pictures of that! As for today, it was another first for Otto!! Baby boy had his first haircut and did great. He was a little curious about the buzzer but wasn't phased by it. I just cleaned up the back and around his ears a little bit and I wasn't sure how it was going to go because this guy is feeling really under the weather!

Overall the summer is off to a rocky start and this wasn't exactly the 102 temp and popsicles I had envisioned for the start of summer! The other two are starting to show signs of a cold too...fingers crossed they can fight it off because we have another visitor arriving tomorrow and hopes for a lot of fun this weekend!

Fun, Games and Ice Cream!

We were back at the Y today and this time the gang was all there. The last couple of lessons I've just taken Lincoln and Nora while Otto stayed home and got to take REAL naps! Today Lady got to go check out the swimming progress. After lessons she joined in the every time game of side-walk-down-the-sloping-rail-thing. Nora gloated that she came in first with Lady in a close second and Lincoln, well, coming in Lincoln-place. Before swimming and after dropping Nora off at school I headed over to Joann's again and finished up ordering the fabric I needed. Other than that I don't think there was anything - OH! Lady surprised Nora by signing her out after school and then after swimming lessons we went to Jeremiah's for an ice cream snack! That was definitely enjoyed by all...especially since the last day of school is tomorrow and we have Lincoln's lessons right after. My mom heads back to Ohio tomorrow morning so it'll be back to reality and if I'm being honest, back to a messy kitchen! While it hasn't been the most adventure/excitement packed trip for her it's been awesome having an extra set of hands and eyes around while I will the game room into fruition. This project has been a doozy!!

Memorial Day With Mom

Despite all the touch and go weather this weekend we managed to send Tim, Meg and their boys back to South Carolina with full belly's thanks to fitting Memorial day lunch off the grill. After they left my mom and I set to work taking measurements and making a list of supplies I'd need from the fabric store to make a slip cover for the diva chair (which now also lives in the game room) and make a cushion/cover for the window seat. We stopped at Lowes and then headed to Joann's. The fabric hunt, while successful overall was a quite the process but I think it'll all work out when I head back to the store tomorrow to tie up loose ends. It wasn't the most glamorous of mother daughter dates but it was fun and thank goodness she was there to help me figure stuff out because measurements and all that jazz are NOT my strong suit! As for tomorrow, Nora heads back to school for her first of only 2 days this week to close out the year. All and all a pretty quiet Memorial Day around the house.

Donuts and Raindrops!

We made it out of the house before the rain! We took all the kids to go get DELICIOUS donuts at a local shop this morning. There were so many awesome flavors to sample! Miles was eating/sleeping in the car so Megan stayed put with him and had a donut and coffee delivered before we followed Nora's lead and headed out on an adventure to the candy store. As it turns out, candy stores aren't typically open at 10:30am on a Sunday - at least not in Downtown Winter Park. So, we did what you do with a gaggle of kids who just might end up trapped inside due to storms all day? You go to the park and let them climb around in a big tree! (Then take pictures of them with the nicest phone in the bunch!!)

By the time we finished at the park it was raining and the candy store was open so we made a break in the (not pouring - according to Kyle) rain and released the kids in the candy store! Kyle went and got the car and Meg and we were all reunited and ready to pick out sweets! The rest of the day was playing at home, dodging some occasional raindrops and Kyle suckered Tim into assisting with his drainage project outside. And, because I know you're chomping at the bit for a room update from the game room...here ya go!

I'm getting more and more excited, and actually this picture was taken before Tim & Kyle moved the dresser/TV console in and before the table moved in off the porch. It's all coming together!!