Florida Vacation - Days 5 & 6

My feet are tired, I'm sunburned and absolutely exhausted but I thought I'd see if I could muster up enough energy to post a few pictures. We are having a wonderful time at Disney World. Our hotel is beautiful, although we've been at the parks from sun up till sun down so we haven't been able to enjoy it too much. Here's a few pics from our first two days in the Magic Kingdom! Tomorrow we're headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios!

Abby, Olivia and Julia after we arrived at our hotel

Taking the monorail to the Magic Kingdom

Liv cried and cried because she wanted to go on this horse and carriage ride so badly. Kelby was on Space Mountain with Abby and Julia (which they HATED!) so I lugged Olivia and the stroller all the way back to the entrance in the 90 degree heat. Once we were finished with the ride she was still upset because the horse wasn't brown! Tough luck kiddo!

Julia and Liv on the speedway racer cars ... which I drove because the girls (Abby & Julia) were traumatized after their ride on Space Mountain. Jules was too scared to drive!

Family tea cup ride ... dedicated to Grandma Norton because she loves her tea so much.

Liv wasn't sure if she liked them or not ... I guess by the picture she didn't

Taking a break after the Pirates of the Caribbean ride or as Liv likes to call it "The Pirates of the Carrot Beans"

Abby and Julia riding up front on the monorail

Riding the starships in Tomorrowland
Sweet Julia with her little sister ... on our first day at the Magic Kingdom we told the girls that if for some reason we became separated from each other to go find a Disney employee and tell them you're lost ... and wouldn't you know it, about 5 minutes later, as I was rushing to It's a Small World to get in line with Kelby, I turned around and there was Abby but no Julia! After much panic and and what seemed like forever (only a minute or so) there was Julia hand in hand with a Disney employee. She had huge tears in her eyes but we were very proud of her for listening to us!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Bonus ... tonight I'm even adding a quick little video I took of the girls singing. Aunt Karen had this bear that sang "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". I can't tell you how many times they played it but by the end of our stay we noticed that Liv knew almost the entire song, especially the chorus. Enjoy!

Note: Remember to pause my playlist so you can hear the video!

Florida Vacation - Day 4

Today was a fun filled day for us! We're visiting with my Uncle Dave now. The girls have loved meeting their other set of 2nd cousins. We all went jet skiing over at St. John's River. Abby and Julia rode with my Uncle Dave - you should have seen the smiles on their faces and heard the screams of joy! Kelby and I rode on the other jet ski with Olivia sandwiched between us. We were going about 50mph, so Liv and I were hanging on for dear life. I wish we had pictures to show but we forgot our camera! Liv was a little trooper. She didn't really like the jet ski ride so she didn't say one word the entire ride and for those of you that know Liv that is very unlike her! We stopped at Blue Springs along the way and took a dip in the COLD spring water. It was actually pretty refreshing after the heat. On our way back to the dock we even saw an alligator pop it's head out of the water. We're heading to Disney World tomorrow!

The girls meeting their 2nd cousins

No I don't have another redhead ... this is their second cousin Katie... see the red hair comes from my side of the family too!

Liv before the jet ski ride

Baily and Holly the Boxers swimming in the pool

Olivia and Daniel

The Redheads having fun on the trampoline

Abby, Katie and Julia doing a little night swimming

Olivia giving love to Holly

Playing fetch in the pool with Baily

Florida Vacation - Day 3

Before we headed out to Daytona beach, the girls had fun playing dress up in Aunt Karen's closet.

Aunt Karen giving the girls a make-over

Three little ladies in high heels

A closet full of shoes ... every woman's dream

I think Abby is loving these shoes a little too much!

Julia went for the classic black heels

Liv liked the open-toed black heels

We had a wonderful time at the beach with the girls and their 2nd cousins! But again, even after generously applying sunscreen, the girls all got a little sunburned. It's really a full-time job keeping them lathered in sunscreen. They loved the ocean, except for Liv but she suprised us all by sitting in the sand making castles, which is very surprising because she hates to be dirty!

Abby and Julia collecting sea shells

Mackenzie, Olivia and Ava playing in the sand
To end our day we spent the evening at Kelby's cousin Matt's house. The girls all had fun watching Cinderella on Mackenzie's bed. Olivia and Mackenzie

Florida Vacation - Day 2

Well after a bumpy flight and 1 missing stroller (which has been recovered!), we made it to Florida yesterday evening! We had a fun day relaxing by the pool. Tomorrow we are going to the beach. The girls are all really excited because it will be their first time! Here's a few pictures we've taken so far!

Kelby and girls hitchin' a ride on airport shuttle

By the way, we went for a dip in the pool at our hotel the night before our flight left and you know what our little Liv said? "Mommy, this Disney World is sure fun!" She thought the dive of a hotel pool we were at was Disney. Boy, we could have saved ourselves some serious cash! :)

Wait airplane .... don't leave me!

Julia lounging in the pool

Abby having fun in the sun with her 2nd cousin Mackenzie

The sun is a lot more intense here ... even after applying lots of suncreen ... we still got burned!

Kelby and girls playing with Shack the Boxer, who thinks he's a lapdog

Project Swingset

I've always wanted to be able to look out my kitchen window and see my girls playing on their very own swingset in our backyard. Well, I got my wish! It's been a huge undertaking for Kelby because he has had to put the entire thing together himself (me and power drills don't get along too well!). I've chronicled the progression of the swingset so you can see what a task this has been!

Oh my goodness, where to begin?

Taking shape...

The swings are up!

It's done! Thank you Daddy for all your hours and hours of work!

Jules having fun on the swings!
Julia monkeying around Liv and Jules

Abby chillin' in the treehouse

Gorgeous flowers in bloom in backyard Onto other news ... after 3 1/2 long months of waiting, Kelby received a job offer!!!! Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited and relieved?!? It was a stressful few months but I think we've come out the other side stronger than before. The Lord took care of us in so many ways over the past few months, so we feel very blessed and thankful. Before Kelby starts his new job, we've decided to go on vacation to "The Happiest Place on Earth"! Yep, we're going to Disney World. The girls are so excited, although I don't think Livvy knows what she's so excited about, but she does keep saying, "Are we going to go see Mickey today? Are we, are we?" If I'm not too exhausted at the end of the day, I'll try to update while we're away, so check back soon!

Crazy Mornings!

I think I've mentioned this subject before but I got to thinking it deserves its very own post. Somedays I feel like I'm torturing my little Olivia when I'm brushing her hair in the morning. There are screams and tears and more screams. The neighbors must wonder what is going on each morning! No matter how gentle I try to be it's never quite gentle enough. It must have something to do with her mass of curls because Abby and Julia never protested so much!

Pre-torture Session

Post Torture Session and no, No More Tangles doesn't help!!!

Oh and pray for strength for me today. I'm attempting to take Livvy's blanket AKA "soft" away, at least until bedtime. It's her "trigger" for sucking her thumb. Many times throughout the day I'll find her plopped on the floor somewhere in the house sucking her thumb with her "soft". There have already been tears but I am trying to stay committed to this new challenge!

Bird Watching

We've been watching this Swallow nest the past few weeks which is under our deck. The nest is pretty amazing because it's built up against the wall with mud. A few days ago the seven little eggs hatched and we've had fun watching the mom and dad fly back and forth to feed their chicks. I videoed this today ... enjoy!

Note: You may want to pause my playlist so you can hear them tweeting

Sisterly Bonding

Moments like these seem few and far between sometimes so I thought I'd capture this photo opportunity this evening. It was really the most precious thing. Livvy had her head on Julia's lap and Julia was telling her the story of "The Three Little Pigs". She even had props.

Props: Brick, Sticks and Straw

Little Miss Independent was busy playing with Mitzi

Sorry, not the greatest photo quality tonight. It is really windy out this evening. We're in for some more thunderstoms, second evening in a row. I hope the big bad wolf (the weather) won't come and huff and puff and blow our house down!

And She Sleeps

A few moments ago I was working on some of my dictation when I realized how quiet it was upstairs...unusual since all three girls were playing together! I went upstairs and found Abby and Julia had migrated to my room to watch TV, so I went in search of Olivia. This is how I found her in Julia's bedroom ...

I guess when the girls ditched her she found her "soft" and her thumb, plopped on the floor and fell asleep. I was able to carry her to bed and get her jammies on all while she still slept. If only we could all sleep so soundly! By the way, any suggestions on how to get a 3 1/2 year old to stop sucking her thumb would be greatly appreciated!