Pictures from Florida

We made it home from Florida with our gazillion bags of luggage, pack 'n' play, and stroller! Sanibel was beautiful, and it was wonderful to spend a whole week together as a family. But, it is always nice to come home, too.

Playing in the kiddie pool. This is where Sophia learned to dunk her whole head and swim a few feet under water. This is also the pool where Juliet picked-up a drowning bee, and got strung, which she still talks about---when she sees a bee she looks at her hand and says "Ow."

One of the "pelican trees," where the birds liked to relax.

Our condo.

Juliet enjoying a snack on the porch.

Sophia goofing around with daddy on the porch.

We are at Sanibel Island!

At the last minute, we decided to go on vacation to Sanibel Island. I am usually a planner, so this was unusual for me. I had the week off from work because we are in-between the nanny leaving for college and pre-school, which starts next week. Adam has been bugging me for a long time to go on a real family vacation, so here we are! I have such great memories of coming here once with my family as a kid and wanted to share that experience with my girls, too.

Here are the great things about being on vacation on Sanibel:

• The beautiful white sand beaches.
• The crazy birds that we have never seen before--including the pelicans that perch by the dozens in the trees outside the condo.
• Watching Sophia see a rainbow for the first time.
• Catching Juliet over and over and over again as she jumps into the pool.
• Helping Sophia learn how to swim in the kiddie pool. She now can fully dunk her head under water and swim about five feet under water. She was so scared to do that when we first arrived!
• Looking at all of the seashells on the beach.
• Learning about and seeing the little crabs that clean the mongrave trees.
• The gloriously hot pools and ocean.
• Virgin pina-coladas

Here are the not-so-good things about vacationing on Sanibel:

• Who knew it would be so, so, so, hot in August in Florida?
• The constant slathering of the sunscreen on slippery kids.
• Sand flies.
• Injuries at the airport (Sophia fell really hard on the moving walkway at the Mpls. airport and banged-up her knee, nose and forehead. Juliet fell really hard on the ground at the Fort Meyers airport, causing a lot of bleeding from her nose/mouth, which caused a panicked airline employee to call 911, which necessitated waiting for the ambulance and a lot of paperwork to be told that she was fine--which we knew).
• Getting the kids to sleep when they are in an unfamiliar place.

We have decided that we will definitely come back to Sanibel, but probably during the winter months, instead.

A Few More Birthday Pics.

For birthdays, we usually have lots of parties. This year, we had a big family party at our house. It was a really hot day, so we ordered pizzas, ate homemade cake, and Sophia wore her snow white outfit. We had lots of family come who gave lots of presents, that Sophia loves. Here are a few more pictures of her family party!

Happy 4th Birthday!

Our darling Sophia turned 4 today. She woke up this morning to find balloons, presents and cupcakes waiting for her at the dining room table. She got a leash for her little stuffed puppy, Lucy; some fancy dress up shoes; and a crown, wand and earrings. She was pretty happy. When she saw all of the birthday stuff at the table, she said, "Mommy, how old was I when I went to bed last night?" "You were 3." "Mommy," she said, "How old was I when I woke up this morning?" "You are 4." Then, she got a big smile on her face. Adam tied a birthday balloon to her stroller and took the girls for a walk. So many people wished her a happy birthday. It was a great day.