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)

: )

My feet.

My view.

No time to blog - it's going by way too fast already!!

Week One

went to the beach (almost) every day.

love.

didn't even make it to the pool right here at our place until saturday (after the beach)

because who wants the pool when you could be at the beach??

we did make it to the Jacksonville Zoo one day.

so so cool.

and beautiful.

Noah loved...everything

Alex loved the misters

Avery loved being in her stroller - not a peep for 3 1/2 hours

Paul ended up with a three day weekend and finally got to enjoy FL with us.

Going to work today was hard for him I think : )

made a couple of purchases over the weekend - we are now a true "beach family"

except for the beach chairs - which Paul reminded me I would NEVER be sitting in, chasing my 3 kids around the beach by myself most days.

Yeah, I had to practice setting it up by myself.

Success!!

and I couldn't get this kid out of the ocean today.

try not to hate us.

I pinch myself every day that I get to LIVE here for two months!!

oh yeah, and Noah lost another tooth.

and then literally lost the tooth.

love the note he left under his pillow : )

Road Trip

Day One:

Stayed at a waterpark in some tiny town in Iowa. The kids loooved it.

Day Two:

Drove through Illinois and stopped off at Nauvoo for a couple of hours.

Made a rope at the Family Living Center, got a brick at the kiln, ate a gingerbread cookie at the bakery. Noah loved it. Avery is not going back until she is MUCH older.

And somewhere in Missouri this happened too -

Drove on to St Louis where we stayed for the night.

Huge room, so nice. Swam (er hot tubbed) with the kids and ordered pizza.

Day Three:

Stopped at 7-11 in downtown St Louis where we were afraid for our lives.

Then did the St Louis Arch.

Pretty cool.

Then back on the road.

Stayed in Nashville, Tn that night.

The kids embarrassed us at a mexican restaurant.

And Noah barfed in the car when I made him clean up the mess he made in his cup holder (soggy goldfish floating around in juice).

Day Four:

Stopped at Old Stone Fort State Park in TN. Hiked around, saw the falls and the indian ruins.

Drove on to Atlanta Georgia.

Stayed with our good friends the Laings.

Had so much fun, thank you Steve and Kim!

Day Five:

Drove the last 6 hours into Florida!!

Picked up Paul's rental car, stopped at the hospital to get keys to our place, got settled in the apartment, got a few groceries.

Exhausting Day.

Didn't stop me and the kids from hitting the beach the next day!

We are in love.

And sunburnt.

3 weeks later

I could blog about how sick we've all been, and how sick I still am 3 weeks later, but that would just be depressing. But really, if we ever needed a reminder that we cannot do another pregnancy (we didn't) this was it. I'm on my second round of antibiotics and I need to get better SOON.

We are headed to Florida in 8 days (hence the need to get better SOON). We will be there for 2 months. The current temperature in Jacksonville is 86 degrees. Visitors welcome : )

We are driving. Our kids are not car kids. Paul does not cope well with kids screaming in the car (why can't he just ignore it, like me??). So we are taking 5 days to do it, with lots of fun stops on the way.

Paul took the kids to the library last night and Noah came home with books about all the different states we're driving through. With maps. Love that kid.

Avery insists on wearing her hoodie, with the hood on, everysingleday. Like a gangsta. Except that her hoodie is pink with flowers on it. I think Avery is cuter and funnier everyday. Her whole life I have been thinking to myself, "I wish she would stay this age forever." Maybe I will keep thinking that for the whole rest of her life? Love that girl.

Avery is finally talking. She says everybody's name (and lots more), but the person she asks for the most is Alex. Alex said to me the other day, "mom I'm so happy that I'm Avery's new favorite person!" Love that girl. And she is so sweet to me when I am sick. Except for today, but I forgive you Alex.

Today I heard myself saying (in frustration) to Avery, "you need to stop wanting things you cannot have." good advice for all of us really.

I just spent a weekend in The Cities with a few of my besties. It was THE BEST. Even if we were sick. And even if we did all share one king size bed.

Paul and Avery bonded while I was gone.

Probably the next time I update this blog we will be in Jacksonville. Maybe I'll even take some pictures.

I will miss my friends while we are gone. But I will be at the beach, the pool, the park, Disneyworld, outsideinthesun...so I think I will be ok. For 2 months anyways.

When we come back it will finally be summertime in Rochester.

Here's to 5 months of summer! (and a more exciting blog)

The kind of girl we are raising

Alex is constantly making up her own jokes. They are not funny and they never make any sense. Until today:

Alex: Why did the princess fart on the tree?

Carter: I don't know, why?

Alex: To make her boyfriend laugh!!

I laughed out loud.