Pool party at Grasslands

The community we are living in has a country club with a pool that we visit everyday. On Saturday they had big party for the members from 12-5:30. Daddy went to Memphis for the weekend so the kids and I decided to head over. We stayed for 6 hours! I did not bring the camera and did not want to run home to get the camera since the kids were having such a great time. There was a giant moon bounce and attached to that was a moon bounce waterslide. It was huge, wet and so fun that my kids played on it for almost 6 hours straight. I made them go into the pool a few times when I got too hot and I made them take a break from the sun and eat lunch. All the staff loved the kids and thought it was so funny how much my kids loved the slide. After a few hours some of the other moms tried the slide and thought it was fun. I tried it and it really was fun. So we staggered home, I had to drag them away, as we were the last people at the party and they all took baths, ate and slept 12 full hours that night. Grace actually was sore the next day. I honestly can say that when we talk about our summer in Florida later this year this day with the moon bounce/waterslide will be what they remember. 

Disney World

Since we are only 30 mins from Disney we decided that it would be silly not to make at least one trip there. So we took Grandmom and the kids to the magic kingdom. We started the day by leaving Lakeland at 7:30am. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 9am right as they were opening the gates. We quickly headed to Fantasy land and the very first ride we rode was The Madhatters tea cups. Then it was Dumbo, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, the carousel and a 3D movie. We did all this in 1 1/2 hours.  We did Toon Town with a kids roller coaster, caught the steam engine train that goes around the park and headed over to Tomorrow Land. It was very crowded but we did Monster Inc. Laugh floor, Stitch, Buzz and two rides that have been there since the beginning, the Carousel of Progress and the tram that goes all through Tomorrow Land. I remember riding this ride as a kid and it turns out was one of our kids favorite rides, they rode it four times that day.  We then went to the Crystal Palace to have a buffet lunch/dinner with Pooh and his friends. All the kids enjoyed hugging and chatting with the characters except for Little Nathan. He stayed in his seat at the back of the table but the picture shows his delight. After that it was Adventure Land with the Swiss Family Treehouse, the Pirates of the Caribbean (we rode two times) and a ride on the Jungle Cruise. Little Nathan was laughing his head off at our guide and the guide let Grace drive the boat through the cave. Then we went to Frontierland and everyone except Mommy and Ella rode Thunder Mountain Rollercoaster. Ella was too small. Finally we went back to Tomorrowland so mommy and daddy could ride Space Mountain. This has always been my all time favorite ride over the years at any amusement park. But I think I must be old because it was too fast, too jerky and I think I forgot to breath the whole time because I was panting when the ride was over. On our way out of the park we caught the night time parade which was amazing and beautiful and classic Disney. We arrived home at 11:15 that night. The kids did wonderful and we all had a great time at Disney.

Favorite Rides:

Daddy- the 3D Mickey Mouse movie

Mommy- 3D movie and the night time parade

Grace- Thunder Mountain, the tram that goes through Tomorrow Land

Noel- Thunder Mountain, the steam engine, Peter Pan

Nathan- hated the 3D movie, cried the whole time, loved Thunder Mountain, The Jungle Cruise

Ella- the movie and the horse carousel

New Smyrna Beach

Going to the beach has quickly become one of our favorite family activities. Grandmom really wanted to go the Atlantic Ocean so off we went Sunday am. New Smyrna is 1 hour and 45 mins northeast of Lakeland.  The sand is very fine, soft and white. And the waves were big this time. Nathan finally got his big ocean waves to play in. As we made our way down to the beach we noticed surfers out in the what looked like 10 foot waves. They were quite impressive (the waves and the surfers). Daddy quickly jumped right in with Noel on his back and they headed out to brave the waves. Ella was terrified and Grace uncertain. Little Nathan giggled, sat down and let the surf push and pull him around the beach.  The roar of the ocean was loud and the 4 foot waves that looked like 10 foot waves to us (the lifeguard told us how big they really were) were intimating to my little 2 foot 3 yr old. But after an hour she slowly relaxed and played in the surf. As the day wore on the waves became rougher and the pull stronger so the younger kids played closely to shore. But daddy, mommy, noel with daddy and Grandmom all braved the big waves further out at some point during the day. Finally we headed home, a few of us very sunburned (daddy), stopped for ice cream and drove home with half of the beach coming home with us. 

Grandmom

this week we have finally settled into a calmer way of life. we did lots of school, saw a Veggie tales movie for free at the movie theater, went for ice cream and of course went swimming everyday. now "grandmom" is here. this nathan's mother, my mother in law. she arrived late last night and right away this morning we went to Clearwater Beach on the gulf coast. the waves and swell were small and the beach crowded but nice. it is amazing to me that every beach you go to, even if on the same body of water is completely different from one another. Clearwater Beach has very, very soft, fine, white sand and close to the water a lot of really great shells. so we swam, collected shells and of course played in the sand. the kids are getting really good at being flexible about eating at different times and having to wait sometimes to eat. they are loving eating out and they are actually fun and enjoyable to eat out with. so after several hours at the beach, we drove back to lakeland (only an hour), showered and then went out to a great mexican restaurant. we are looking forward to having grandmom visit this week. i guess our settled calmer way of life will be on hold for another week.

4th of July

Ever since we have arrived in Florida Nathan has been talking about going to the Atlantic ocean. Growing up his family went to the Jersey Shore every summer and he has fond memories of the waves. So after a late night watching fireworks in Lakeland on July 3rd (younger Nathan and Ella did not like them, probably because they were exploding less than 50 yards from us) we headed to Vero Beach south of Cocoa and Daytona Beach. We went with our friends the Donaldsons and their five kids. It was great fun. The waves were not huge but had a very strong surge and pull verses the Gulf. It also is a colder ocean and cooler on the beach.  You can tell it is a bigger ocean than the Gulf. So daddy taught the boys and Grace how to ride the waves. We played in the sand and enjoyed our friends. We arrived home at midnight. It took me all weekend to recover.  I ended up getting sick on Thursday middle of the night with a bad sore throat and cold. Maybe because of all the activities and busyness but most likely I caught whatever Grace had. So I got to stay in bed for the weekend. But I am not complaining believe me, even if I am feeling terrible a weekend in bed having daddy taking care of the household and the kids is still a break.

another week in florida

so as i write this i realize it is already wednesday and half the week is gone. monday was an interesting day. grace has had a bad cough for several days so we ventured out to find the dr. this only proved to be frustrating and we ended up at the dr. that we had seen for Ella's ear infection a few weeks ago. at this point i really did not care who we saw as long as he was a doctor. luckily his bed side manner was much better and he took care of us. we then went to get the prescription filled and pick up a few groceries. we figured out when we got home we ended up going 11 different places in 3 1/2 hours.  later we went swimming for only 30 mins because it started storming and we all ended up being crabby.

july 1st- determined to start the month off well we started the day with a fitness class taught by me. after a few women learned that i teach yoga and pilates in tn they asked me to teach here. so on tuesdays and thursdays i am teaching a class. i am very excited to teach again and these women are very excited to have the class being offered.  so after a good start to the day we headed to the pool and enjoyed 2 hours playing and enjoying the pool where we live. all the kids are getting very good at swimming. ella can swim half way across the pool by herself with her little arm floaties. Little Nathan who is a little more fearful is getting more comfortable and will use the swim tube to swim out to me. 

lastly we started school. grace started 3rd grade, noel is in 1st and Nathan in Kindergarten. they all enjoyed getting back to work and they were actually very excited to get started. this helps me get going also. 

and then we come to today. when you go to cypress gardens they give you free tickets to be used within one week. so the kids, our sweet 11 year old babysitter, katie and myself headed out to cypress gardens. we rode all the rides we could and enjoyed the pirate show again and then i dragged us all home very tired, well i was very tired.