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Our last week in Florida we tried to soak up and enjoy every last minute of every last day at the beach.

It was hard to say goodbye to this...

sigh.

But our two months were up.

And we started our journey home.

This picture was taken during the first hour of the first day on the road...which is about how long our smiles lasted.

Let's just say it was a lot more fun to drive to Florida and into the warmth than it was to do the reverse.

We made it home in 4 days and I pretty much don't want to talk about it.

Except for the night that we stayed with our great friends the Johnstons!! Thanks guys, we loved spending time with you again!!!

Anyways. We survived (with our sanity hanging by a thread, thanks mainly to Avery).

And as sad as I had been to leave Florida, I was excited when we drove into Rochester : ) And I was downright giddy when I walked through my house. And seeing my friends again? Well, I could have kissed them all (oh wait I think I did)!

So we are home. And life is still good.

But those two months in Florida were special.

So grateful for the time we got to spend there as a family and for all the memories we made!

DW

Just got back from Disney World!

Where we spent time with these guys...

and these guys.

It went a little something like this:

4 Days

4 different parks

Early mornings

Late (late) nights

Fun

Food

and HEAT.

We left Jacksonville early on a wednesday morning and headed straight for Hollywood Studios.

We spent the day there, my parents and my sister's family spent the day on a plane.

The highlights:

Avery totally surprising me by loving the Beauty and the Beast Show (singing, dancing, cheering and clapping through the whole thing).

Noah's and Alex's faces as the elevator fell on Tower of Terror - yeah, I felt like a bad mom but I also couldn't stop laughing!

The take-off on the Rock'n Rollercoaster, 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. C.R.A.Z.Y.

Mango Slushie - best. thing. ever. in that heat.

Oh yeah, and Avery dancing at the Pixar Pals Parade : )

Spent the next day in Magic Kingdom with the whole fam.

Had to take a pool break back at the condo in the middle of the day, the heat was just too intense.

Not to worry though, we came back that evening and stayed till close - 11pm.

Which equaled getting home at 1am. With three small children.

A monorail ride, a tram ride, a car ride...with lots of waiting in between.

It was worth it though! (we think)

Saw the Main Street Electrical Parade, the light show on the castle, and the fireworks.

Loved:

Space Mountain with Noah

Peter Pan with Alex

Magic Carpet Ride with Avery

Splash Mountain with Paul (who got soaked)

Buzz Lightyear with the cousins

and a whole lot more!

Day Three was spent at Blizzard Beach.

Avery loved the water...but man she drove me crazy that day!

And the ground was so scorching hot that I think we all felt like the skin had been scorched off the bottoms of our feet by the end of the day. Not to mention all the stairs we climbed...with struggling toddlers on our hips.

Exhausting.

But fun, and nice and cool : )

Noah did some of the biggest and fastest slides with his dad.

Alex was super proud she did the tube slide that shoots you out into deep water.

But my favorite was Teamboat Springs, the family tube ride even Avery could go on - which was actually pretty crazy considering how wild and fast it was! She loved it : )

Our last day we went to Epcot.

It was so beautiful, we just happened to be there during the flower and garden festival.

Amazing.

Rode Test Track and Soarin (a definite favorite)

and even Mission Space (which made me sick for an hour).

Avery's favorite was Nemo.

Took a boat ride to "Morocco" where we ate a delicious lunch.

A great (hot) day!

And a great trip!

No one really wanted to go home - except for maybe the grown-ups : )

Not gonna lie, the heat and the crowds and the kids...it was exhausting.

But so worth it!

We'd go back in a second. In fact, I think I've converted Paul : )

Mission Accomplished.

To Us

9 Years ago today...

and still happy together.

Happy Anniversary!

Did I tell you that we thought about moving here??

Ok so we don't really want to move to the opposite end of the country as all of our family members...

but it's certainly nice to be somewhere that people want to come and visit you!

My sister Tiff and her friend Ashley came to visit (from Chicago) with kids in tow.

For a grand total of 10 people in our 3-bedroom apartment.

It was awesome : )

I love this pic of all the kids in the beach tent (minus baby Reese).

It was a little crazy, yes.

But totally worth it!!

Alex loved having a new best friend

(miss you Zoe!)

And the kids loved their cousin time...mostly : )

It was great to have a family photographer too.

We loved going to a different beach everyday, eating good food, drinking lots of coke, staying up late...

Mostly though, it was just great to have my sister here with me.

We love and miss you guys!!

So glad you came : )

my sister's blog post about the trip is better than mine.

you can read it here

I just have one thing to add Tiff...

"I thought you would be average..."

: )

When Grandma came to Florida

We went to the beautiful Amelia Island

and stayed on the beach for the weekend.

You can't beat having the beach right out your back door.

We practically had the place to ourselves.

And this tidepool was perfect for Avery.

A great weekend, it was hard to leave.

When Grandma came to Florida

we went to the Alligator Farm

and watched a man get into a pit with 37 alligators and feed them.

Rats.

We even got to feed the alligators ourselves

(but not rats).

It was pretty awesome.

When Grandma came to Florida

we drove around the beautiful and historic St Augustine.

(this is the only picture my mom did not take herself - although we did drive across this bridge)

Then spent the afternoon playing at Crescent Beach,

which turns out to be my most favorite beach of all.

When Grandma came to Florida

we took a water taxi ride downtown,

ate lunch on the river,

and played at the Science Museum.

When Grandma came to Florida

we (of course) took her to our favorite local beaches so the kids could show off their skills.

When Grandma came to Florida

we had one AMAZING week!!

Love you mom, thanks for coming

(and thanks for the pics)

: )