Spring Break in Florida

As soon as we woke from our slumber, and when I say slumber, I mean I slept like a bear hibernates, we went down stairs to find the boys bathed and fed and grinning ear to ear with excitement.

These boys love their grandparents so much.

Can I just take a moment to mention the weather. Ahhhh, the weather.... That Florida sunshine and 72 degree weather was like fuel for my soul. There is something so wonderful about going home and basking in the love, and friendship, and familiar sights and sounds, and the sunshine. I found myself just finding some place to sit down outside, tilt my face into the sunshine, and just be still for a minute. It was blissful. Just remembering makes me want to shed a little tear.

Anyway, onto the fun stuff. Being at my parent's house was a pretty much as good as being at a theme park for these two boys. Their days were filled with rides on the lawn mower, rides on the golf cart, going down the slide, running with the grass, and swimming in Gramma and Grandpa's big tub.

It is only a slight exaggeration when I say they were in heaven.

Gramma and Grandpa Visit & Gordy's 27th Birthday

Gramma and Grandpa came to visit us for a long weekend. It was so good to see them, since we hadn't seen them since Adam and Amanda's wedding back in November. Unfortunately, mom wasn't feeling 100%. She was in a lot of pain and we thought that she might have a kidney stone, but it turned out to be something different. As soon as they got home, dad ended up taking her to the emergency room and she ended up having to stay in the hospital for a couple of days until she got better.

I know she was pretty sad that she wasn't feeling like her usual self while she was visiting, but it was still so nice to have her here. My boys just adore my parents, and Gordy was out of town for the weekend doing a recruiting dinner for the law school, so I really appreciated the extra help.

Their trip overlapped with Gordy's birthday, so they got to celebrate with us by eating this delicious chocolate cake I made... Happy 27 Gordy!

Road Trip to Florida

This year, for spring break we decided that we wanted to go to Florida. We wanted to avoid the high cost of plane tickets so we decided to drive with our two little boys... GASP!

The trip down actually wasn't all that bad. We thought we would try an old Lake family trick-- driving through the night, so that the boys would (fingers crossed) sleep for most of the trip.

Well, wouldn't ya know that they day we were supposed to leave, and I was busy frantically packing and cleaning for the entire family, that BOTH of my boys decided that they were going to be lil stinkers and forego nap time all together. This made getting out of the door REALLY REALLY difficult... Once we were on the road though, Charlie fell asleep immediately. It took Jack about a half an hour before he finally crashed. Those of you who know Jack will know that it is a small miracle to get that kid to fall asleep in a car seat, so we were pretty elated.

Jack woke up just short of Louisville, and was absolutely desperate to get out of his car seat. Mind you, we were only two hours into a 13 hour car trip. It was then that I got a pit in my stomach thinking, "what. have. we. done?". I decided that we ought to locate a McDonald's (gag) with an indoor play place (thank you smart phones) so Jack could get out some of his energy and so that we could stuff some dinner down his gullet.

That kid played and played and played.... We stayed for a little over an hour, and I'll tell you that kid must have burned an a ton of energy because he worked up a huge appetite, he ate his entire happy meal. That's a pretty big deal for a two year old.

When we got back in the car, I hung out with the boys in the back seat for a little over an hour until they both fell asleep. Then I crawled up front and crashed. I was so incredibly exhausted from all of the running around I did earlier that morning and from entertaining our kids that I just could not keep my eyes opened.

I debated whether or not I should show you this picture that Gordy took of me, but it pretty much illustrates how exhausted I was. Fair warning, it is both hilarious and hideous at the same time... You'll probably laugh when you see it, and then have nightmares about it when you fall asleep. It's one of those pictures.

I mean, you would have to be absolutely and completely worn out to fall and stay asleep in that position. How did I sleep with my mouth that way? Terrifying.

Anyway, I tried my darndest to stay awake during the drive, but I must have fallen asleep half a dozen times or more. Poor Gordy, he was such a good sport driving the entire way.

Things were going so well, the boys were asleep and relatively happy (minus the fact that Jack just could not get comfortable in his car seat) when all of the sudden we hit bumper to bumper standstill traffic just south of Atlanta. We stayed that way for an entire hour. Not exactly what you want to happen when you've already been in the car for nine hours and it's 2A.M. AND you have two sleeping kids in the back seat.

Any of you with kids will know that as soon as a car in motion stops, a switch flips on in a kid's brain and all of the sudden they are awake.

Mind you, I am a mother that NEVER, EVER takes her kids out of their car seats. It's pretty much a cardinal sin in my book. But, it was at this point that I took pity on my children and they both came out of their car seats. I actually completely took Jack's car seat out and laid it on the floor, buckled him into the center seat belt, and tried to arrange him so that he could sleep more peacefully. Charlie came up front with me and we played a little. It was also a golden opportunity for me to nurse him since we weren't moving.

Once traffic started moving, we were furious to find the cause of our delay was that 4/5 lanes were closed so that they could paint the lines on the road. Really guys?!

Anyway, the rest of the drive went off without a hitch. Gord loaded up on Red Bulls to stay awake and I fell asleep another half a dozen times. Whoopsie.

Jack woke up again when were were about 15 minutes away from my parent's house. It was just perfect because it gave him plenty of time to get excited. I could not believe that the boys slept for pretty much the entire trip. I was near tears with relief.

We pulled into my parents house just after 7 AM. We promptly handed our children over to my parents and went upstairs to sleep. Man did it feel good.

Driving though the night was very difficult, we were soon to find out that it is so much easier than a long road trip during the day...

Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day this year, we were all puking our guts out. So we celebrated later. It was pretty low key since we were all not feeling very well. Gord requested cinnamon rolls, so that's what he got. 

Life Lately

Lately, we've been watching lots of cartooms, because it seems like someone is ALWAYS sick.... It's shameful to say, but Disney movies have proven to be a very effective babysitter this winter. 

When everyone was feeling better, I took both of the boys out for a pizza lunch all by myself. It's what Jack wanted, and I felt inclined to oblige since he had been throwing up for a week. Note to self: a pizza buffet is not the best choice to take two little kids all by yourself. 

Jack has been obsessed with the ice cream cones from McDonalds. Every time we pass the golden arches, he asks if we can go to "Old McDonald's had a farm". So funny that he made that connection to the song... Clever guy. 

Being trapped inside due to cold weather/sickness, we've spent a lot of time in our pj's. 

Being trapped inside has also made us all a little stir crazy...

Lately, Jack LOVES suckers.

...and Jack has decided that there isn't anything that he can't/shouldn't try climbing...

I was the committee chair person for our ward cultural arts night, which was a really fun evening. 

We've spent a lot of time wandering the mall. It seems to be the only place where Jack and run and there is also a heater...

 

Jack and Charlie are becoming even better friends...

With all of the illness we've had this winter, it's a pretty big deal when we actually make it to church, so we usually document with some sort of picture...

... and every once in a blue moon, we'll be good parents and take Jack outside to play in the bitter cold. I'm such a pansy when it comes to the cold. 

I Hate Winter

I hate winter. Okay, okay, it's not winter per se that I hate, it's the incubating germs that seem to fester and linger and relentlessly make my kids sick.

We have been sick ALL. WINTER. LONG.

I don't mean to complain, we definitely have a great life and generally enjoy good health. However, I sometimes wish that there was a complaint department I could write to, or a patron saint germs I could yell at because the sickness in this house has been constant for the last three months. That is to say, if there were a sickness quota, our family would have met it back in December of last year.

We've spent all winter cleaning up throw up and snot and managing fevers. It ain't been pretty folks.

We spend our days, inside, watching cartoons and playing cars. I mean, there is only so many times a parent can watch the same animated movies before you start to go a little bit coo-coo for cocoa-puffs, if ya know what I mean.

I just want it to be spring in February so we can get a little fresh air. Is that too much to ask?

MLK Day

For MLK day, we decided to take advantage of the free admission at the children's museum in Indianapolis. The Rickey's met up with us and we had a really good time, even though the museum was PACKED. After the museum, we went to our favorite pizza joint in Indy, Bazbeaux's. It was a delicious end to a bitterly cold day.