vacation '09 part tres

part three was spent in orlando. friends that we were with have a house there with a pool in the back (and a hot tub too!) we had fun spending hours in super wal-mart (none here at home), getting free slurpies at 7-11, playing adults-only putt-putt, and on our last day--we caved and went to disney world. jon and i haven't been in over 20 years and even though we were worried haven was too little to enjoy it, she had a ball.

jon, h, laura, and braden watching the AWESOME fireworks at cinderella's castle

haven couldn't stop smiling on the carousel-- she 'princess' waved at everyone we passed

stuck inside for a little rain shower

we were a little worried about how to handle naptime, but h took care of that for us in the middle of the haunted mansion-- she just passed out in the dark coolness! here she is on jon's shoulders watching the parade pass by-- she loved dancing to the music and waving at everyone going past.

a pirate's life for me!

our first ride (as recommended by haven's friends) and by far, haven's favorite-- it's a small world. i love being a mom--i got teary watching haven take it all in, she sang along and danced with the dolls. for the rest of the day she'd go back to 'humming' and swaying to the song.

this is our 'before' picture' (*notice, i didn't post the after-- it was hot and sweaty) on main street. we were given 'i'm celebrating' pins which we claim was to mark our 5th anniversary and branden and haven got 'first visit' pins.

can't pass up free chick-fil-a! all the ladies dressed like cows for free lunch. laura and i went back with branden and jon for dinner. it's just. that. good.

after hitting chick-fil-a twice in one day haven now say's "moo" whenever she sees a cow :)

vacation '09 part two

part two was spent in fort lauderdale, fl with jon's dad, pops. we had a blast! mark works at a super swanky hotel with the greatest staff -- we stayed the night (but will surely be back for more!) and felt like royalty everywhere we wandered. :) thanks for the beautiful rooms and the amazing view!!

playing with pops

walking down the strip-- the beach and it's sea turtle nests were on the left

yummy seafood at bubba gump's-- thanks mark!

heading to the mall where haven had her own little dance party outside brookstone

breakfast at the hotel

vacation '09 part one

our vacation this year consisted of three parts, here's numero uno.

we went with two other families to grand cayman island-- thanks to the recession, our little budget went a loooooong way!

haven at the pool

building sand castles

haven is such a beach baby-- she loved the sand and wasn't scared of the ocean at all! everyday, we came back to the room with half the shore's sand in her diaper.

jon and branden are the little heads in the middle, jon's on the left.

daddy and hae 'on a boat'-- we (ALL twelve of us) went out to snorkel in two spots and to stingray city--a sand bar where TONS of stingrays gather for fishermen's cleanings. more pics to come of this stop...

haven loves her drummers! either going in for the kiss or the drumsticks--not sure. j is an excellent three-year-old drummer-- he's playing with branden and us singing worship songs.

an inside-out oreo kiss.

no fear. there were lizards and iguanas EVERYWHERE and h wanted to touch them all.

all the kids were invited to feed the barracuda and tarpin near one of the restaurants at the hotel-- see the splash?

h and her ducky lifejacket

laughing in the sand

'bye-bye'

first fruits

last summer we tried our hand at a couple tomato plants and a few peppers too. THIS summer, we went all out-- our little garden is packed with corn, tomatoes, peppers, onions, squash, zucchini, basil, cilantro, and mint. here's haven with our first harvest.

note: if you go on vacation, you come home to monster vegetables!

lesson #87993

clapping your hands while covered in strawberry yogurt results in a freshly mopped floor and clean windows--and a wardrobe change. :)

pb&j...&h

to all the new and future moms out there, never leave your child and a peanut-butter-jelly sandwich unsupervised (even in the amount of time it takes you to put the wash in the dryer) during lunch. the sandwich will explode all over said child and the white t-shirt you dresses her in, especially if she just got out of the tub hours prior. cheese.