Spring Break 2016!

We started spring break with a trip to the mall to see the Lego monument exhibit at the mall. Here they are in front of the Lego Lincon Memorial. They were all quite impressive. 

The we headed down to VA (sans Doug who was away for work) to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa. The highlight was this trip to the farm. It was super fun. Lots of tractors to "ride," slides to go down, and a bounce pad. The kids had a blast!

Thus ends my spring break pictures. The week took a turn when Mark got a stomach bug and I spent the rest of our visit wondering who would be next. Luckily for us but bad for him, only Grandpa fell victim. How he got it when Grandma and I were the ones on cleanup duty, I have no idea! It was a fun trip despite illness and worry!

Easter 2016

We went to Doug's parents' for Easter. The kids all loved their gifts and treats!

Everyone needs a nice, cozy Pop-Pop chair. 

Just hanging around

Joe has liked getting in bins lately. 

Mark hanging out at our local bounce place.

Gianna has dance class right next to a 7-11. The boys have developed a real appreciation for Slurpees. 

This picture makes it look like potty training is going well...it is not. In fact, it is no longer going at all. But taking the opportunity to make faces at Mark while on the potty was fun while it lasted. 

Sometimes you just feel like wearing your sister's jammies.

Doug and I sometimes have fun too! Billy Joel was amazing!

St. Patrick's Day...just another excuse to wear something silly!

Went back to our old neighborhood for their annual St. Patrick's parade. Joe was reunited with his baby friend, Lucy. They were adorable...dancing and waving throughout the parade!

Irish Step Dancing

In September, Gianna started learning Irish step dancing. She was inspired by our babysitter, a local high school junior. Gianna absolutely loves it and basically step dances her way around the house and even around school from what I hear. It's been fun from the beginning, but recently we've gotten to experience first performances. She started with performing for a senior citizens party. The older girls were so sweet and encouraging and Gianna did great! I was so proud. She was the youngest and smallest dancer there, so I think the older folks thought she was especially cute...which, of course, she was.

Then, the real fun began, and G competed in her first Feis (pronounced "fesh"), which are Irish dance competitions. She looked so beautiful and did so well, I could help but be so proud.  She even got a bronze medal for one of her dances. We got the wig and tiara from our babysitter, I'll admit I was skeptical of it looking good, but how adorable is she? And the babysitter was even there to cheer her on. It was a super fun intro to Feis-world!

And here's a video of some practice at home. Joe also claims to be an expert.

Disney Day 5: Magic Kingdom, revisited

More characters at the hotel breakfast. Chip and Dale were both so cute! They almost got Joe to like them. Then it was back to Magic Kingdom for our last day. This was Sunday of President's day weekend, and Valentine's day. We expected big crowds so we went super early and planned to be done by the afternoon. It was definitely more crowded, but our plan helped I think.

This Toy Story ride was finally open after being closed for a while. Luckily we had fast passes to do it first thing.

The sun was so bright it was hard to get a good picture in front of the castle. But at least we got a shot.

Our next fast pass was for Jungle Cruise and then we hopped on Aladdin's magic carpets at Joe's request. He loved it. 

We had fast passes for Splash Mountain next. Joe was too little so he posed while we waited for everyone else. Then I rode it alone. 

After lunch I summoned all my strength to ride the teacups with all the kids. It would be an understatement to say this ride (or anything spinning for that matter) is not my favorite. But it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought and the kids loved it. Joe couldn't stop talking about the dormouse who pops out of the teapot.

Finally we rode the carousel and then it was time to say goodbye to the parks. 

The kids got one more chance to swim before going home the next morning. 

I was definitely sad to see our vacation come to an end. We had so much fun! The trip home not as smooth as our arrival. The storm hitting the northeast delayed our flight by a couple of hours. It was definitely not fun, but the kids were good sports and we were happy to get home and not be stuck in some airport hotel for another night. But landing in a driving snow was definitely a little scary and the passengers all clapped on landing. The drive home from the airport was also harrowing, but we made it! And a delay from school the next morning helped us ease back into real life! It was truly a lovely trip and I have a beloved souvenir as a reminder. I mean, really, is this not the cutest mug?

Disney Day 4: Epcot and Friends

This was a super fun day. It started with breakfast with Pluto. I had made some character meal reservations, but ended up cancelling them because I thought they would take away from our time in the parks. Plus, our hotel has a few characters on hand for weekend breakfasts, so that was plenty! Especially for Joe who was scared of all characters that had non-human heads. 

Then we headed to Epcot. Here's proof that we were all there together! And we met up with friends right away, so that was super fun too. We rode Spaceship Earth (inside the ball) first and then headed to Test Track (a fun one, and Mark's favorite).

Then we did a couple Nemo attractions. My kids aren't really Nemo fans, but Crush wins everyone over!

Just as I was at 6, the kids loved the jumping water fountains. Their trajectory was a little off, so it's hard to tell, but Joe allowed himself to get completely soaked!

After lunch with our now large group of friends, we went to meet Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty. She's been Gianna's favorite since G was a toddler. And Joe could not have been more adorable. When the sweet princess squatted down to greet him, he got down on his knees too. The princess just about melted and gave him a huge hug, which still brings a big grin to Joe's face when you ask him about it. She was so sweet to Gianna too!

Gianna and I sat out for the last ride with slight tummy aches...all this weird food and fatigue was starting to get to us a bit! So we put on some sad faces to make ourselves laugh.

We headed back to the hotel with our friends and met up with some more friends. 

Me and Pete.

Gianna and Ellen.

Kelly and Brendan.

The rest of Doug's high school gang: Brandon, Robert, Doug, Mike, and Michelle. It was so fun to catch up with so many wonderful people! Until next time Floridians!

Disney Day 3: Animal Kingdom

Day 3 at Animal Kingdom was by far our least intense. Not a lot of rides for little ones at this place. And my kids are NOT animal enthusiasts so we stayed till 2. So Joe was able to take a nap while the big kids went swimming, on our warmest day so far. We rode the flying dinosaurs first and Doug and I did a fun ride. Then while I rode Dinosaur! (far too scary for anyone else, and Doug has ridden it before) Doug and the kids did some climbing and met Donald and Daisy.

Next we did the safari. This was really interesting. Did you know a group of flamingos is called a flamboyance? Joe like this a lot. Once we saw an animal he'd say, "I wanna see another animal." This giraffe was beautiful and so close!

Joe did some hanging around while we waited for the Lion King show. 

The kids really loved the show. It was full of some great acts: acrobats, fire throwing, etc. And of course the music was great. 

Doug and I took turns riding the big roller coaster while the kids played on the playground and had some ice cream.

We saw Dug and Russell on our way out. Rather than wait in line, we just snapped a quick photo of Doug and Dug.

Our evening was spent with old friends! Doug grew up in FL and his dearest friends still live there. This was round 1 of reuniting with them. We had a lovely dinner with Doug's former English teacher and friends, Megan and Brandon. Joe took quite a shine to Brandon, invited him to his birthday, and was thrilled to hear that we would see him again the next day!