More Florida Fun

One day we ventured out to a botanical garden.  It was so beautiful.  It was on the grounds of what was a failed amusement park from the 50s called Bongoland, and the dinosaurs from the park were still there.  

On Tuesday we drove to Orlando to the happiest place on Earth.  

I dressed twinsy style with my toddler.

The temperature was perfect, and the day went very smoothly.  We rode 13 rides between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. including about a 45 minute lunch.

We had fast passes, but mostly there was less than a 10 minute wait on all of the rides.  

Dumbo is still her favorite ride.  

We rode in honeypots for the Winnie the Pooh ride.  

Goofy's Barnstormer kiddie roller coaster was new to me.  I think the last time I went to Disney World I was like 14.  G loved this one and we hopped off, ran down to the exit and ran back up and got back on!  

YaYa and Bob were troupers with this adventure.  Everyone had on their tennis shoes.  We had to hit up a Finish Line the day before because Jane forgot hers.

Dad represented the Hoosier state as we experienced a lot of culture on It's a Small World.  G sang the entire time.  

Now let's talk about the hell on Earth that was Ariel's Grotto.  We waited to meet Ariel, since we had no chance of getting in to see Cinderella, Aurora, Anna or Elsa.  G walked right past Jasmine, so she was jazzed about the mermaid.

An hour in line later, G threw a major hissy, screamed and flung herself on the filthy floor of the grotto.

Now any other mother would have yanked her off the floor and left that second.  Not this mama.  I waited for too dang long and she was going to sit next to that swimming ginger if it killed me.  

I hope that doesn't offend any redheads.

Well, the tears dried up when she saw that sparkly tail.  

So not worth an hour.

She loved the ride!

We ended the day with the People Mover.  Here you can see our matching glory.  

YaYa and Bob have taken us for both of our Disney experiences, to Disneyland in CA last year and to Disney World last week.

Trinity has escaped the fun both times!  

Beach week!

I have oodles of pictures from our recent trip to Florida, so I've broken it down into a few posts.  This one is all about our days at the beach!

YaYa and Bob were invited to the wedding of a dear family friend, Lauren.  She lives in Daytona Beach and her wedding was in Ormond Beach.  Instead of just going for a long weekend, they took me and Genevieve along for 6 nights in Florida!

Day one was bright and sunny.  G and I hit the beach in front of our hotel, The Shores Resort and Spa in Daytona.  

Mom and Dad were zooming around the Daytona 500 racetrack (in a bus) for Lauren's rehearsal dinner.  We were trying to get beach photos taken by someone who I now believe was inebriated.  

Let me fix your hair.

Dammit it, Mammoth Mother, get off of me!

We lived it up with room service.  Mostly because taking Genevieve to a restaurant by myself these days is not really in the cards.  Her behavior since turning 3 has been much less pleasant!

Night one was interesting.  I have a toddler who is about 39" tall, and yet I'm still putting her in a pack and play when we travel.  She's still in a crib at home, and I have no plans to end that game anytime soon.  She has never once tried to climb out of it, so she can remained contained until kindergarten.

However,  a Pack and Play is a bit snug.  She woke up several times and finally I put her in bed with me.  I was afraid she would fall out of bed, or remove my kidneys with her toes (unrelated), so I put pillows on the floor by the bed. 

At about 3 a.m. I heard a thump.  She hit the pillows, let out a yelp and then fell back asleep.  At about 5 a.m. I awoke to her voice crying and saying, "It's dark, Momma, I can't find you!"  

Well, I couldn't find her either.  She had rolled under my bed and wedged her foot and really was trapped.  Now that made for some panicking for both of us.  I managed to pull her out and the rest of the nights were spent in the cramped pack and play.  She told me she did not want to fall on the floor again.

On Day two I woke up and surveyed the gorgeous pool.  

I went to sunrise yoga on the beach and was getting my zen on.

Mom brought G down to walk on the beach and this happened.  

After yoga, we spent the rest of the day playing on the beach.  

YaYa and Bob got dolled up for Lauren's wedding and G didn't quite understand why she could not attend the party!  

We went back down to the pool for some kids' activities.  

Face painting and coloring books got us ready for dinner.  

After dinner we got a S'mores kit and then sh*t got real.

My child threw an absolute hissy fit in front of all of the people at the restaurant because I would not let her hold the sharp eye remover marshmallow stick.  

Here she is all excited.  

We were literally wrestling next to a fire pit for a sharp pointed stick.  We both came close to losing an eye and singeing off an eyebrow.  

Ah, parenthood.  

Meanwhile, a lovely union was taking place with no sharp objects in sight.  

The father of the bride toasting the new couple!  

Andrew flinging Lauren around.

That so happened at my wedding.  

Just kidding.

I don't think my husband could lift me.

Mom and dad reported a beautiful evening was had by all.  

We had another beach day where G applied sunscreen for us.  

My friend Tara comes to New Smyrna Beach on all of our breaks from school.  Her family is there.  She drove the 20 minutes with her daughter Lydia to play with us one day.  We had such a great time!  

Autumn Fest 2015

We have been traveling.  Genevieve and I just got back from almost a week in Florida with my parents.  The weekend before last we went to our church's Autumn festival.

We invited Jenny, Jason, Margo, and Rosie.  Margo was quick to start applying G's makeup.

They jumped.

They painted!

We had a great time.  

Fall has Fallen!

Genevieve had her first birthday party last Sunday for a friend from school.

Austin's soiree was held at a gymnastics center, so the whole family decided to attend!

I went down that slide and nearly cracked my spine.

G's BFF Kate was there too.  Genevieve had her first "barrel 'o sugar" drink, at least to my knowledge.  Her jumps were higher after that and a cupcake.  

I perfected my donkey kick.  

On Tuesday I took my class on their first field trip of the year to the apple orchard.  My mother never missed a field trip during my whole childhood, so she didn't miss this one either!  My darlings were enthralled knowing that I had a mother.  

We examined a lot of pumpkins. 

We picked apples.  

Mother was there to document the whole thing, but I didn't get a single picture of her.  

My darling volunteer assistant, Jamie, showed off her perfect posture.  

I enjoyed a good face in a hole with Laurie, Cat, Marinda, and Susan.  Marinda and Susan and I have now taught together for 12 years!  

We had a ball and my mom stayed the night.  She got this great shot of G at a local nursery.

Fall has fallen!