All the Adventure!

Birthday weekend continued today with an adventure to the Crystal River! Despite the cloudy chilly weather, we took out a pontoon boat in search of manatees. We debated leaving our boat dog at home but with it being his birthday weekend too, AND how nicely he sat and "asked" to come too, I just couldn't leave him behind. Anyway, it was more of an adventure than we'd even bargained for! When we walked up to the dock there were pelicans everywhere and I thought we were going to lose Cort then and there but he and Otto just enjoyed watching them from the dock and the boat! Then, once we shoved off the real trial began. There was a VERY low low tide which left us with not a whole lotta water to boat through - we're talking two inches! Kyle was at the helm while I tried to help some but pretty much just stressed out about getting stuck. It was great that Katie was there and we had an extra set of eyes for the kids! We went out a ways, dabbled in the river, lost a water bottle overboard (no kids or dog though! AND it was successfully retrieved) and didn't see any manatees while we were cold. It was declared a failed adventure and we headed back in...THEN IT HAPPENED!!!! There were manatees all over the place! We had to stop the engine on the boat for a bit because we didn't want to hurt any of them. We watched them swim around under the water, come up and get some breaths and swim right on the surface, it was pretty cool. After we saw quite a few we headed back to the dock and loaded back into the car. It was dinner time so we made a stop at the Plant Street Market where Kyle was in heaven. It's been recommended to us before but we hadn't been. We had donuts, mac n chesse, pizza, fresh juices and Kyle had a few beers. It was a great dinner stop! After dinner we had one more surprise stop to make to finish off a very full day - Jeremiah's was the icing on the cake! Once we were home the kids were pretty sugared up so we lit a fire and did our best to get them to settle in. There was one more present for Nora to open too - she received some tap shoes - I'm sure you'll be seeing more of them in days and weeks to come!! Tomorrow Katie heads home, it's supposed to rain ALL day and it's Cort's Birthday! For now, I'm tired!

6 Came Quick!

Can you believe she's 6!!?? Nora woke up a 6 year old this morning - in my bed - argh! There were a lot of wake ups last night but this morning we kicked off Nora's birthday weekend with some birthday cake waffles! I made her cakes yesterday and last night we met up with my Aunt and her fiancee at Sweet Tomatoes down by Disney for dinner. The kids had a blast! Anyway, after breakfast and getting Nora off to school I tried to get a few things done around the house while the boys tore down all the birthday decorations in her room. Late this morning my cousin Katie arrived to surprise Nora and join us for her birthday walk at school and the remainder of the weekend's activities. We made it just in time for her birthday walk and then headed home so I could frost her cake and do some playing outside. I picked nora up from school, came home and spent time hanging out and I got started on dinner. Once Kyle got home we had Nora's requested taco dinner. She was really excited to keep things moving after dinner -

She blew out the candles on her rainbow cake, served up some moose tracks ice cream then she got to open presents. We rounded out the day's events with a bonfire on the patio. Oh! And I can't forget - Nora is hosting her first bunkbed sleepover - with Katie as the top-bunk guest of honor tonight! All and all I think she had a really fun day and tomorrow the celebrations continue with an adventure!!

Finally!

The days kind of consist of two halves these days. The morning session with just the boys and the afternoon session when Nora is home too. Each one has it's own challenges. Today was a much needed even keel day for me. Lincoln spent a ton of time outside playing this morning and I kept Otto occupied inside setting him up with some painting. He stayed really focused and worked really hard! Then on the way to pick Nora up both boys fell asleep in the car AND transferred into the their beds which gave Nora a chance to do her crystal growing experiment that she got for Christmas and has been dying to do! The kids even played together nicely in the playroom this afternoon, complete with Otto coloring on paper with markers rather than eating them! That was enough to allow me to straighten up a bit around here and take some of the edge off this week!

Take it Outside

The weather was pretty nice this morning and the boys spent lots of time playing outside. Otto of course sans pants! Lincoln was VERY busy making sand cakes for everyone he knows and completely wrapped up in his own little world - which as we've discussed here before, isn't all that common. I spent some time working in the family room, cleaning and freshening up a bit so at least one room in the house can feel put back together! I was hesitant to take pictures outside but he was totally ok with it. Otto was busy wandering around and sliding down the slide and then...the inevitable happened!

Otto moved in on the cakes and Lincoln wasn't having it! These guys are funny to observe in their natural habitat!

Knew Better

Since Floor and Decor didn't happen yesterday, I decided to try it today. We weren't there long, and the kids were alright but definitely started to lose interest and get a bit antsy. I had hoped to go to Ikea to pick a few things up too...but decided after the first stop it wasn't really worth the risk of "losing them" at Ikea. There was a plea from the back seats though...Lincoln was all about going to Ikea and Nora was pretty interested too...sooooo I fell for it. Guys, it was every bit the disaster I had feared it would be. We only went to the Marketplace. To start can we talk about how much I cannot stand the carts there and the 4 moving wheels...infuriating! Secondly, my fears about Otto and carts were very much confirmed and he wouldn't even bend to get in the seat and finally agreed to be in the main part of the cart but spent the majority of the time trying to stand up and surf around the store. Meanwhile Nora was laughing/cackling at every not-safe thing Otto did and Lincoln was whining about how empty his tummy was and how he had no more energy to move his body. I spent the entire lap through the store correcting and lecturing and argh, it was sooo bad. I felt like a terrible mom by the end. Then of course we're loading things onto the checkout belt and Nora smacked Lincoln in the face with a shelf, Otto was wandering around taking things out of the "cages" by the checkout and handing them to strangers and Nora's yelling "I didn't do it on purpose!". It was chaos and I just wanted to sit down on the floor and quit. BUT, we made it out of the store and home and somehow survived the rest of the day. After Kyle got home I headed out and about almost immediately, I needed a break. I went to a few stores and got some things I've been meaning to pick up. It was a refreshing few hours on my own! Here's hoping the week only goes up from here!!

Running Around

This morning I snuck out for a run - it was perfect weather before the cold front finished coming through. This afternoon Nora wanted to go for a run too, and Lincoln - so at their request we went to the track. Nora ran a few laps and Lincoln did great, running two laps without stopping and a smile on his face the whole time! He even ran most of the way home. Later this evening we ran a couple errands and picked up a couple things for the house. Our mission to finally nicen up our room is leading to some shuffling in other rooms - primarily of the electronic nature, but we also were hoping to go check out some floors too. Unfortunately we pulled up just as Floor & Decor was closing - insert weepwah sound. Best Buy wasn't bad though thanks to the kids interest in all of the refrigerators and ovens. The best part of the day was the pace that it moved at. It was a long Sunday which almost tricked us in to thinking that it really is a long weekend - except for the part where Kyle has work tomorrow. Nora has the day off though so at least we can take it easy tomorrow morning. Hope you all had a nice Sunday!

Testing the Waters

Today was a big day! We headed back to Daytona with the whole crew - boat-dog Cort included and headed out into/onto the Intracoastal. We got there a little later than planned (typical) but still had plenty of time in our morning session to head out a ways and back. Today was meant as a trial run because we weren't totally sure what to expect with our two wild cards (Otto & Cort). It was a bright sunny day but a little on the cool side. The kids did well, happily snacking most of the time we were on the water. A combination of snacks, a spot on the floor to lay and the handle on his life jacket proved to be VERY helpful in keeping Otto safely on the boat and Cort did great, as I kind of figured he would. If anything the wind and chop got to him a bit but I'm sure by summer he's going to be loving his new found boat-dog title! We got back to the dock on time with no issue so I'd say, overall, the first trip was a success! After boating there were some moods to be tended with but we eventually got some lunch and then headed to a birthday party in the park for Miss. Jessica's daughter. The kids were super excited to see all of their swimming teachers and life guards outside of the Y - I'm not sure the feeling was mutual HAHA! All and all it was a pretty good day! Trying at times but overall encouraging for future boat rides!