We spent the weekend with some of our old neighbors from Huntsville, Andrew, Kirsten, Ava and Patrick. We rented a condo at Okaloosa Island and it was so much fun getting to see them again! Patrick was walking all over the place, something he'd learned to do after we moved and they were glad to see Sophie's new tricks as well. We all arrived Friday afternoon and had pizza and caught up on what's happened over the last 5 months. Saturday we swam in the pool and rode the lazy river. Unfortunately, when we were packing up to leave, Christopher tripped over his towel and landed on his forehead on the concrete. It was one of those falls that makes you sick b/c you can hear it and it looked like he had a golfball right above his eyes. We took him up the room and put some ice on it and la bandaid. He was a trooper! That afternoon we headed off to go on a dolphin cruise. It was so much fun! We saw a lot of dolphins, crabs and fish. The kids had a blast getting to "drive the boat." Christopher loved getting to ride passed the crane by the bridge too. Sunday we stayed around the condo, it was overcast and cooler, so we didn't feel like swimming and the kids napped at different times throughout the day so we couldn't have gone anywhere if we wanted to. It was a perfect day to lay around and relax. We took several walks and then everyone crashed at bed time. Monday we hung out as long as we could before having to load up and head our separate ways. We were so grateful that they were able to make the trip down. We miss our friends from Potter's Mill and look forward to any chance we have to get to see any of them. Hopefully next time we'll get to see the rest of the gang!




Brandon, Christopher, Sophie, Me, Ava, Patrick, Kirsten and Andrew... together again. (well, at least half of the old Potter's Mill gang)

Christopher after he bumped his head. Poor little man!!!! This photo doesn't even show how big it really was.

Sophie enjoying her first dolphin cruise. Maybe this would have been a good time for the sailor outfit. Oh well.

Andrew feeding the birds. They would swoop down and take the food right out of your hand.

Christopher's turn to drive the boat. Brandon said he never even touched the wheel.

Patrick and Sophie playing blocks one morning. They were so cute together!

Everyone watching to see what's going on outside. The kids wishing we'd take them swimming.

We took the kids to Disney World for our first family vacation and here are just a few photos from the trip:


This pretty much sums up just how excited Christopher was to meet Mickey. He screamed, "MICKEY!!!!!!!!!!" as soon as the door was opened and he could see him. It was all he wanted to do as soon as we arrived at the Magic Kingdom. Brandon and I were laughing so hard b/c we thought he'd become really shy (like he does when meeting anyone he doesn't know), but I guess all that time spent watching tv was a good thing. He gave big hugs and told Mr. and Mrs. that he loved them. It was adorable!


Here the kids are holding hands. Sophie is only 8 months old, but she already understands love. She kept reaching for her brother's hand when they were riding around the parks and he had no problem showing that he loves his little sis! It was so cute!!!


We headed straight the the back of the park where the kids rides were and the first thing you see is the carosel, Christopher couldn't wait to go for a spin and wanted the whole family to join him.


Sophie LOVED going up and down on her horse! I was getting dizzy, so we sat on the seat for the next ride. (I think I'm starting to reach the point where you feel your age, I'm not completely there, but it's definitely begun!)

This was Christopher's first ride. Up until now he's only been on a carosel or one of those trains at the grocery store. We were glad that Dumbo was such a hit!

This was later the same day. We would go home for naps and then head back to the park when the kids woke up. Here's Sophie on her first ride. It was a rocket ship that you had to take an elevator up just to get to! Our little girl has very few fears. (Shout out to Wes Ficken who I saw while waiting in line for this ride. I just knew I'd see someone I knew while we were there!)

You gotta take a family photo in front of the castle. By now the kids are starting to feel the excitement. They are getting a little tired, but we keep going.

This is Christopher on his SECOND roller coaster ride. The first one was with me, but we were finished before Brandon realized we'd even gotten on the ride. I was worried he'd get scared, but as soon as it was over he said, "Again Mommy!!!" Guess he's not as scared of things as he lets us think he is!

Later we saw Tigger and Christopher (along with some other kids) started to chase him. He was headed for a break and had to practically run from the kids, it was funny!

Sophie taking her morning nap. She was such a trooper!!! She's very particular about her sleeping locations, so we were worried, but she did amazing on the trip.

Here's Nemo and Marlin. We were sitting along the middle where they would run up and down. We could practically touch him, but we didn't.

Sophie had fun playing on the full length mirror. I think she'd like being a twin. We're glad she isn't. Although my arms would definitely be toned if she was!
The kids loved the kiddie pool at our hotel. It was just this big round pool that was sloped so Sophie could crawl in as far as she'd like and I didn't have to worry about it being too deep for her. Christopher loved running across the pool and doing belly flops in the middle of it.

Finally, Christopher lined up his new toys and asked Brandon to take a photo of them. It was all his idea! He's pretty smart!!!!

My mom bought this outfit when I was pregnant with Christopher and before we knew if he was a boy or girl. Thankfully someone in the family had a girl and she was able to pass it on. She's always had a love for sailor clothes and that came from her dad, my Grandpa. I'm so glad that it fits her and I think she looks adorable! Who doesn't love a good sailor suit?

That's right! Tomorrow morning we are heading down to the big DW for a couple days. Brandon has the week off and since the kids get in for free we figured, why not? So far, Christopher is excited about the following things:

- eating chicken nudge-ettes at Mickey's house (came up with that on his own)

- meeting Mickey and Goofy, but he wants to meet Shrek and Donkey first

- getting matching Mickey ears with Sophie

I'm not sure if he or Brandon is going to have more fun, but I'm counting on tons of photos, lots of overpriced food, great expressions from Christopher, three tired kids (yes, I said 3 and no, I'm not pregnant), lots of laughter and who can go on a trip without the occassional grumpy attitudes. It will be exhausting, magical and loads of fun. It may be a while before I get on here to post photos, but don't worry, I will!

Today we ran to the commissary to pick up a few things we were out of and I guess God saw that it was my turn to be "that Mom" in the grocery store. I figure we all have to be "her" at some point. Christopher is standing up and reaching for everything saying we needed it. I'm going down the baby aisle to try to find diapers in his size and he grabs a bag putting in the cart. I'm a few feet away looking at a new one and tell him we don't need it and it's not even his size. So, he just picks it up and throws it on the floor. I'm still trying to look at the new diapers I'd just picked up and so I will get to it in a second. An old woman (yes, she deserves to be called "old") is walking by and gives me this look while picking up the diapers my son just threw down b/c apparently I'm too lazy to do it myself. Not an emergency in my opinion, but in hers I'm a bad mother. You can see it in her eyes. I finally grab the usual diapers and keep going. I get to the baby food to grab a little more for Sophie since we are headed out of town this weekend. And Christopher, again, says we needed the one he was reaching for and as soon as the words "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" come out of my mouth, the glass jar of baby food in his hand, the bottom one mind you, knocks the top one crashing to the floor. Baby food everywhere and another old couple walks by giving me a bad look. I'm not sure what was going on today b/c usually we can't get through the store without at least one or two sweet, sweet senior citizens stopping to gush over how adorable my children are, stopping every time we pass each other. And I love them for it! But today they were not so sweet. Finally after using the last of my baby wipes to try to clean up the mess a man says he'll get someone to come clean it up for me. Minutes later I hear, "Clean up on aisle 10!" Now I can say that I've joined the grocery store division of the "that Mom" club.

Brandon came home this morning and was up for going to the store with the kids and I. While he was walking around Target with Christopher they wandered into the toy section. Christopher kept finding things he wanted and would take them to Brandon saying he needed it, wanted it or they just needed to pay for it. Brandon tried to explain to him that toys cost money and knowing that a two year old doesn't understand that, he thought he'd ask Christopher how much the particular toy in his hand cost. His response was, "45." Brandon tried really hard to not laugh too much, but it was hard. Where he got the number "45" from we have no idea.

This afternoon Christopher woke up from his nap and saw the new Thomas the train bubble bath on the counter. He climbed up on the stool to reach it and tried to figure out how to open it. After a minute or two he says, "Mommy, need impact hamber." I said, "You need what?" He says, "Impact hamber. Open this." For some reason he now says hamber instead of hammer. You could tell he'd been watching his favorite digger movie earlier.

Here are a few funny things Christopher has said over the weekend:

#1 - Sophie bumps her head trying to pull up on the swivel chair at the desk for the 20th time and starts crying. Christopher comes running up and says, "Sophie come to my room feel better." I asked him if she'd feel better if she went to play with him in his room and he said, "Yup!" and took off running to his room turning to see if she was coming.

#2- Brandon is on call Sunday and Sophie is crying about something (probably bumped her head again) and Christopher says, "Sophie wants MY Daddy." Still hasn't figured out that they have the same Daddy, but I'm not quite ready to have "the talk" yet and I don't think he is either. I'll just let him keep thinking Daddy's name is My Daddy.

#3 - We went for a walk after dinner last night and used the double stroller b/c we didn't feel like stopping every time Christopher found a rock and after we are a couple houses down he says, "Where'd venture go?" I told him we were on an adventure and part of that means you are looking to see what you find. He says, "Gonna find al-gator." (I forgot to mention that he talked about finding an alligator on our adventure earlier that morning. Not sure where it came from.

He is definitely getting a broad imagination now b/c he is starting to talk about things or people that haven't happened or don't exist. I'll try to keep track and let you know the next time this happens! It's pretty funny!

There are yard sales here on base it seems like every Saturday morning, but we've never driven around to see what they are selling. This morning we decided to check them out. We told Christopher we needed to get some money and that we were going on an adventure to see what we can find. We loaded up in the van and took off. Christopher kept asking us, "What my doing?" and when we'd ask him he'd say, "Go on adventure!!" We drove past one, but it didn't look like they had much, so we kept going. We saw another house, but figured they were moving in/out and went past it as well. Then we saw a sign and realized the house we thought was moving was actually a big yard sale. So we go back and check it out. She had a lot of stuff and several great mirrors, but I didn't have a single place to put any of them in our house. (She didn't either and that's why she was selling everything.) She did, however, have 2 fake trees that were just what I'd been looking for. I've been trying to fix the house up a little more and the den just needed something else. I asked how much for a tree and when she said $10 I chased Brandon down and bought it. Then we drove around some more and couldn't find anything. Christopher started asking where the adventure went and so we decided to go back to the first one we saw and see what was left. They had a few things for kids left and when they came out they told us to just take everything for free. We took the two games they had, Hungry Hippo and Don't Break the Ice and paid them $2 for both. We didn't want Christopher to think he could get things for free so we made him pay the man. So we were very happy with our little adventure this morning and I think we might go on more of these in the future!