Daytona

Daytona Beach 2010

Grandbuddy, Rob, Steph, Amber, Jenna, Carson, Lindsey, Ben, Jeff, Deana, Ella, Ava, Jan

Eat, beach, pool, eat, beach, pool, putt-putt :)

Big Canoe

We went to Big Canoe again this year for a few nights. Lindsey wasn't able to go because of summer school and of course Matt was still gone but we had fun anyway. Aunt Jerri came up for a few nights too!

The first night we were there we went to a Mexican restaurant. They had a mariachi band playing and Carson LOVED it. He danced the whole time and when they would stop he would nod his head at them for more. They came over to our table and played The Itsy Bitsy Spider for him.

Of course there was lots of time at the pool and at the lake.

And we got a boat again this year. We ordered pizza and took it out with us for dinner. And we took left over hot dog buns to feed the geese.

We had a great mini vacation! :)

Kid-Free

ding festivities for my cuz....and I LEFT THE KIDS AT HOME! This was the view from my bedroom window!
I went out of town to Gulf Shores last week for wed I stayed up late, slept in, walked on the beach, shopped, ate seafood and enjoyed two days kid-free. :)

Spring Break!

Lindsey, the kids and I went down to Orange Beach for Spring Break. We stayed at my aunt's condo with my cuz all week long. We had a blast. This was Carson's first time at the beach and he really loved it. The water was freezing but luckily we had an indoor pool to go to.

We also went on a dolphin cruise and we really enjoyed it. I don't have the pictures on this computer so I will have to update later.

One Last Night Away...

Matt and I were trying to decide what to do for our last date night for 13 months. We wanted to do something fun and different. Luckily, Matt sold his car on Friday so we had a little extra money left from it after making a couple payments on our new car. So we went to Gatlinburg for the night while Pam kept the babies. We went to eat at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company, which is our favorite resturant ever! It was great, as always. Then we went to Wonderworks. Neither of us had ever been there and I must say we were very impressed. It was so much fun. We stayed in there for hours! The next morning we got to sleep in late!!! Matt never gets to because of work and I never get to either because of Carson. So I rolled over to check the clock and it was 9:00! I was so excited that we got to sleep that late on a Satuday morning! We went to eat at one of the many Pancake Houses and then decided to head back to reality in Cleveland. Once we got back Matt had to pack. It wasn't fun and it took 2 hours. Thankfully that part is over and I can start packing more boxes now to move.

Big Canoe

Mom and Dad invited us to go to Big Canoe with them for a few days. We gladly said yes, after all, this is our last getaway before Matt leaves. We drove down(or up...Mom and I can't decide which one it is) after Matt's party. The next day we slept late(well everyone else did...i don't get to anymore with the little guy waking up at 6:30) and then went to the swim club after lunch. We all had a good time swimming, playing volleyball, going on the canoes and paddleboats, and the boys went down the rock slides. Poppy had Carson all set up outside so he wouldn't get too hot!The next morning the boys went hiking. The girls and Carson stayed at the house and ate breakfast. Then everyone took a nap and then it was off to swim again. Carson and I didn't go. He was having a rough morning.

Luckily by early evening he was feeling better and we were able to go out on a pontoon around the lake with everyone. We got a couple pizza and took them with us. It was beautiful! And Jenna LOVED being on the "big row row boat", helping Papa drive and feeding the geese.

The next morning Matt went fishing and Mom and Dad went walking. The rest of us were lazy around the house. Eventually Mom, Ben, Carson and I went to the store to get a few things. When we got back Ben, Matt and Dad went to the pool. That night Dad grilled hamburgers and hotdogs that were wonderful! Jenna helped Mimi wash the dishes afterwards! After that we pack up because Matt had to be at work the next morning. We were sad to go but had a GREAT time of relaxing before our life gets turned upside down in the coming weeks. Thanks again Mom and Dad! We love ya'll.

Happy Anniversary!

June 20th was our first anniversary. Crazy how times flies.

We went to Orange Beach, AL to stay in a condo that my aunt owns. We stayed there for our honeymoon too. Here we are last year.

We had a great time. We had some friends come stay with us too which made it even more fun! Mom let us drive her car down..thanks Mom! We ate breakfast and lunch at the condo everyday and then went out everynight. We ate at the Hangout, which is right on the beach, Tacky Jacks which is right on the water also, and then at Lulu's, which is Jimmy Buffet's sister's restraunt. They were all fabulous!We spent most of our days on the beach; reading, swimming, playing games.

Happy Anniversary, Matt! I love you! It makes me sad to think about next year...we'll be thousands of miles apart...

While we were gone the kids stayed with our parents. They stayed with Matt's parents the first night and then mine for the others. Jenna has such a great time. She loves them all so much. Carson doesn't really care yet. :)

And Baby Ben came to play with Carson too...here they are again! Carson and Baby Ben!

Catching Up

I don't have a computer in my new house so I haven't been posting as much as I'd like. But now that I'm working again I can while the kids are napping. So I have a lot of catching up to do...

Back at Daytona Beach our week got a little more eventful. On Thursday we went to the Daytona 500 International Speedway. I wasn't looking forward to it. I'm not exactly the greatest Nascar fan. But it was actually pretty interesting. We loaded up the gang; Mom, Dad, Lindsey, Ben, Matt, Jenna, Bill, Grandbuddy, and Ella. We got there just in time for the next tour around the track. The guide took us all around telling us tons of history about the track and Nascar. The Richard Petty Driving School Team was there letting people ride around the track. We were able to get out and watch them. It was amazing watching how fast they were going. It was so loud! Then we finished the tour and went in for a snack and to look around in the gift shop. After we all re-grouped we made our way into the IMAX movie. I was hesitant about going in with two babies. An hour long movie is no place to entertain little ones. But they did great! They stayed up for the first few minutes and were both sacked out for the rest of the movie. We all laughed because it was one of the loudest noises I've ever heard. Funny. Then we looked around at all the history stuff and rode in a simulator. Lame. By the time we left we were all starving. We made a pit stop at Wendy's and then back to the condo. Jenna had two of her breakdowns, one at on the way to Wendy's and one on the way back to the condo. Stressful! That night Mom made a "recreation of a salad at Panera." It was very good. As the night went on, Jenna got worse. I called her doctor's office and they told me to take her to the ER. I didn't want to but I really didn't want to travel 10 hours with her on Saturday like that. We got to the ER and were so impressed. We didn't even sit in the waiting room. They took us straight back. Jenna had ear infections in both ears, of course. They also took an X-Ray of her stomach to check her gas patterns. The doctor called us to his desk to share what the film had shown. Jenna's large intestine was back all the way up and there was gas trapped in her stomach. After two antibiotic shots and a few suppositories she was much better. We were in and out of the ER in 3 hours. Record time!!



Friday was our last day there. We all relaxed on the beach and at the pool all day long. That night we went to the North Turn to eat dinner. It used to be the north turn of the Daytona race track in the 50's when they raced on the beach. We sat outside right on the ocean with a live band. So much fun!! When we got back to the condo Rita wanted to do Mary Kay makeovers on me, Lindsey and my mom. We had a blast. Lindsey was in heaven the entire time. She took all the samples that Rita brought. Crazy girl.




Sadly on Saturday we said our goodbyes and headed north. It took 12 hours! We got stuck in traffic 3 times in Atlanta. We were happy to finally pull into our driveway at 10pm!

A few days after we got back Andrea asked if I would come stay the night with them in Big Canoe and keeps their kids. I was so excited to go. I hadn't seen the boys in forever it seemed like. I arranged for Jenna to stay here and took off on Monday afternoon. After getting lost for 30 minutes, I finally made it there. Me and the kids had a blast. They ate dinner, played games, watched a movie, popped popcorn, and hit the sack. The best part of all was that I didn't have to wake up one time in the night! It was great. I got up the next morning and headed home. I love the drive. It's so beautiful and gave me time alone just to think. It was so relaxing. This picture was the view from mine and Blake and Brett's bedroom.


On Wednesday the 23rd our friends Drew and Amy had a beautiful baby girl. They also have a 5 year old daughter, Makayla. Kendall Marie was born at 8:19am. She was 8lbs 1oz. We are so excited she is finally here and healthy. Tuesday night I stayed at the hospital with Amy. Drew and Makayla had to be at cheerleading camp early Wednesday morning. Kendall is doing wonderful! She is eating so much already. We only got 2 hours of sleep and I think I'm still trying to catch up!




And last but not least, my favorite picture of Jenna and Ashton playing together this weekend. They were so cute giving each other hugs and kisses!



That's all for now folks!