Florida 2013: 1

We went to Florida to visit Grandma Mary and Grandpa Chuck! We're so lucky that they live in sunny Orlando - it was a great 5 day getaway.

The boys were terribly excited to go. Unfortunately they had to sit through a 3 hour drive to DC first, though. Evan mastered the, "Are we there yet? How about now? How much longer? This is taking sooooo long. Are we still in Virgina? Virginia is too big!" commentary during the ride, and Drew tried to count cows out the window. "Cow! Cow! Cow! Cow!..." Whew. We were all glad to get to the airport. The boys did great on the plane. This was Drew's last non-ticketed ride, and I was worried that he'd need more space than our collective laps could provide. But JetBlue has great legroom, plus 40 channels of DirecTV, making it a pretty easy trip. After wearing himself out playing with gel clings and coloring and snacking and climbing up and down and up and down, he slept the second half of the trip, so mommy could enjoy the ride too. Evan was perfectly content to watch a couple shows and enjoy a little peace and quiet with his headphones. Success!

The boys loved exploring Grandma and Grandpa's house. They even had a room with two beds just for the boys! Drew ended up sleeping in the pack and play so he wouldn't fall out of the bed, and of course it didn't stay the boys' room for long... those Cars and Jake blankets are quite comfy... mommy knows firsthand. :) The weather was a little overcast, but great to be outside, which we were every chance we got. There was lots and lots of golf practice! And we got to meet Sallie - she's so sweet! The boys were a little afraid of her as they are with most dogs, but they loved taking walks around the neighborhood with her. We explained that Sallie is deaf so needs a little special care just like our blind Ernie does, but they kept trying to talk to her anyway.

We got a great surprise Saturday when Auntie Chrissy came down from Tennessee for the day to play with us! It was such fun to see her and we can't wait for another visit. We spent most of the day mini-golfing at Pirate's Cove - all 18 holes! Evan showed off some serious skill in putting, and Drew tried... but seemed to feel his skill would be in collecting all our balls after our first putt and placing them carefully into the hole. So we all had pseudo-holes-in-one.

                                        "Who are YOU?"                Drew tries a Captain Morgan pose.

                           A helping hand from Grandpa.                 Drew helps all our scores.

When he did actually golf, Drew had a bit of a wild swing. Ok, a VERY wild swing. So Evan decided to help him out, just like Grandpa and Daddy helped him. He walked right up to him when Drew was struggling and said, "No no, Drew, let me help you. Like this!" Be still my heart!

                                                               Argh, Matey!

The golfing was great, and for some added fun, Pirate's Cove has a water canon. Yep, a small canon sits on the edge of the pond and fills with water... you press the button and BOOM - water sprays everywhere across the pond. Evan couldn't get enough, especially when a poor unsuspecting duck swam right in the target. She got quite the bath! Good thing the canon takes 60 seconds to refill and my kids' patience isn't that long... after only 10 rounds of the canon they finally decreed that it was taking too long and time for lunch. Otherwise I think we'd still be there.

Time for lunch at Auntie Chrissy's fave: Bubbalou's BBQ. It was perfect weather to sit outside and watch the people and traffic - especially the big Harleys - roar past. Drew discovered that while he isn't adventurous enough to try a pulled pork sandwich, he loves their sweet BBQ sauce on mac 'n' cheese. Sounds good to me!

Nothing goes better with yummy lunch than kisses... except maybe icees!

After HUGE naps for everyone (we did all that in one morning??), we drove just down the street to Downtown Disney for dinner. We spent hours there and only saw maybe a third of all there was to see. Stores, trains, food, rides, street dancing... everything is so much fun at Disney.

Does this count as a photo with a character? This was as close as they were comfortable getting...and only after being reassured that they were statues and wouldn't move.

 

"They have balls?? I love this place!!"

Testing out the RC cars in the store.

 

 Evan got to drive the train.

Waiting patiently for dinner at the Earl of Sandwich.

You bet we want to ride the carousel! "Hi!!!!" Drew would yell every time he spun past.

"Wheeeeeeee!"

Whew - we were wiped. Time to snuggle into those soft blankets and get ready for more Florida vacation tomorrow!

Padres

Evan's Spring T-Ball team is the Padres! He loves going to practice and having "real games" (even if most are at 8am on Saturdays - ugh). He's all decked out this season, in brand new "spike shoes" and real ball player pants and socks... he looks like a little pro! Mike's helping to coach the team, and Drew and I are unofficial helpers too. :)

Evan definitely has some skills in baseball. He can throw really far and has very good accuracy, and loves to turn on the speed. His goal is to hit the ball out into the grass before the end of the season, and he's getting close! We are lucky to have a great team this year, with both new and old friends as teammates. I had a fancy zoom lens this weekend, so took advantage and took way too many pictures at the game. These kids are just too adorable!

Hot air balloons welcome us to the field bright and early.

Drew helps carry gear to the game. Every bat counts...

Evan stretches and checks out the clean chalk lines.

 

Honorary bat boy Drew take a couple swings during
warm ups. He wants to play so badly! 

 

 

Our Padres line up this morning, minus two.

Some last minute words of encouragement from
Coach Mike and a yell to let the other team know
we're the Padres! 

Us parents think it's a hoot our team is sponsored
by Attitudes Salon. These kids have attitude, alright!

 

Evan  at the pitcher's mound.

 

Drew cheers on the team.

 

 Evan scoops up a grounder for a great play.

Time to bat! I love seeing the two of these guys playing together.

 

Evan stops at third...

then sprints for home! 

 

Great score! Those red spike shoes can really fly.

 

Carrington scores another run for the Padres.

And Bryce brings it home.

 Fielding against the Pirates

 Evan loves playing first base. "Throw it here, guys!"

 Smack! 

A couple more quick runs score for our team.

Tony and Carrington hang out on deck in the dugout,
simultaneously cheering on their teammates and trying
to climb the fence without parents noticing...

Great game, everyone! 

 

 

Post-game pep talk and one last cheer. 

Then it's time for snack... one of the best parts of T-ball!