Fun in the Sun (at the Villa)

      Monday morning we woke up to rested children and beautiful sunshine. Eli requested to eat breakfast outside, and Jac and Sue came and joined us for coffee. Monday was supposed to be the hottest day of the week (90 degrees), so we decided to enjoy all of the water features around the resort. The pool was heated, so even on a "brisk" 70 degree morning, we could still go swimming at 9:00 am! 

      To say that the boys loved the water, would be an understatement. They thoroughly enjoyed the freedom their puddle jumpers (aka: flotation device) offered. At one point, Cal forgot that he was not wearing his puddle jumper and cannon balled off of the side of the pool. He was completely submerged, but popped up spitting and doggy paddling until I grabbed him. Whew! That boy is going to age me even more than nature is already. 

     Our villa also has a lazy river that encompasses the circumference of the pool. (You didn't know my 2nd grade teacher vocabulary could use those words, did you;) The lazy river was complete with water falls, rapids, and streams of squirting water. While the boys/men were taking it easy (nothing is easy with a 2 year old) I mean, enjoying the lazy river, Sue and I were working our buns off in a water aerobics class. It was a lot of fun and a pretty good work out too! 

     The crazies (Cal and Eli) also enjoyed the splash pad at the villa too! Jac and Sue played with them while Cody and I tried out the water slide. If the water aerobic made me feel young, then those water slides definitely made me feel old. I was so motion sick after riding that open topped slide of sickness, I could barely stand up at the end to get out of the slide area. Thankfully, Jac and Sue also validated me when they took their turns. Cody showed us up and did the enclosed slide; He put us all to shame as he exited the area without the least bit of teetering. Although, I did notice that he didn't try that slide a second time;) None of us rode the slides again. (The boys were too small to ride the slides).

      After we were all nice and shriveled we headed back to Jac and Sue's for lunch, and then back to our place for the boys' naps. Both boys were exhausted from their morning of splashing, and fell asleep quickly. After naps, we went to the onsite playground, ate supper, took baths, and went back to bed for the night. Add another point to the fun counter!

Eating breakfast

so so so excited for warm weather and sunshine 

Cal learned to float on his back!

Occasionally I do make an appearance in our pictures

Watch out David Hasslehoff! 

A Day of Firsts!

     Yesterday was our travel day to beautiful Orlando! I could not sleep the previous night because I was so nervous about how the boys would do on the plane ride. Ever since Cal found out we were going to Florida, he would adamantly say that he wasn't going to ride on the airplane. Cal has a huge fear of the unknown. Once you get him to try something, he becomes fearless, but that first step is always difficult for everyone involved.
     The moment of truth had come, they announced that it was time for families with young children to board the plane. Eli and Cal were trying to race down the jet way, (unfortunately for them, Cody and I had their hands so it was a struggle of a race) but the moment Cal set a foot on the plane he melted into a Cal puddle and cried, "I don't want to go on the plane." I scooped him in my arms and tried to hold him together while Cody and Eli led us to our seats. We sat down, and Cal was still crying and panicking. I reassured him, and my mind was racing a million miles per second trying to think of way to distract him now that my DVD, fruit snacks, coloring book, cars, and other ideas had failed. Finally, the starfall app came to my rescue, and he calmed down. From then on out it was smooth sailing, I mean flying. The boys watched a movie and looked out their windows for the remainder of the flight. Unfortunately, they did not have anything on board for the boys' first flight (the wings pin), but told us to check again on our return flight... HOWEVER Mr. Incredible (aka: Cody) had this brilliant idea to wait to be the last people off of the plane. As we were leaving, I asked the flight attendant if they boys could peek at the cockpit. The captain was so nice. Eli went right in (Cal, not so much) and got to sit in the pilot's seat. I knew instantly what he was going to do, so I reminded him, "Eli, don't push any buttons" and the captain replied, "Push ALL the buttons, Eli." What a great guy!! Eli loved it:)
      After we got of the plane, we excitedly discovered that we would have to ride on a monorail to pick up our luggage. Another first for the boys! They loved hanging on to the poles all by themselves, and yes, I did have to tell them to stop spinning around the poles. Then we picked up our MINI VAN!!!!(Which we had to ride in a bus (ANOTHER FIRST) from the airport to our rental car shop) Eli, who shares my love for all things with sliding doors, asked if we could give our Acura away to someone else so we could keep the van:) We loaded up our bags, headed to Panera, and then on to Cocoa Beach for Cal's first (Eli's second) trip to the ocean!
   The boys had a blast in the ocean. Eli jumped in the waves the entire time, while Cal did the opposite. He stayed in the sand the entire time. We were at the beach for about 2 hours, then we headed back to our SUPER AMAZING van, and headed to the airport to pick up Jac and Sue. The boys were so excited to meet them! From the airport, we went out to supper, checked in to our villas, and called it a day!
     So extremely thankful for a smooth trip down to Orlando. Praising God for providing safety and sanity for this Mama, her family and friends!

Oh, you know smiling at 6:00am, and ready to head inside the airport

Breakfast with Grandma and Papa before heading through security

Eli just "loves" taking pictures (insert sarcasm)

We're at the gate!

Cal's "cheese" face while watching Turbo

Hello Mr. Captain

First monorail ride (in the airport... no disney yet)!

After I told Cal we weren't allowed to spin around the poles

Always cars...

and more cars...

Eli during take off!

In the cockpit!

Happy 30th Birthday Cody!

Here is the video of Cody opening up his present. I love Eli's commentary in all of this. ("What is it?" "This is the best present ever." "It's cool .")It's so neat to see how God is slowly transforming Eli's heart to think of others. Eli has been getting so excited to see others opening gifts and sharing in their delight, instead of focusing on the fact that he is not getting presents. Cal, not so much... He's a work in progress. (Aren't we all:)

An Oldie but Goodie

This is an old video clip of Eli I found on my Dad's computer.  It is titled, "Adventures of Eli:  A Day with Grandad."

just for Daddy

Hanging at the Tree House

Yes, I know it's been FOREVER since I posted last, and once again, I'm not even going to try to catch up:)

My dad brought up a dresser for Eli's room and a wagon, for the boys this weekend. We decided to take him to one of Eli's favorite places up here... The TREE HOUSE! The Tree House is a place that has a pretty big indoor play area, leather couches, tables, a huge rocking chair, and serves coffee and snacks too! Eli loves playing here and we love taking him because he can do almost the whole play area by himself! What a great idea... coffee and play areas for kids!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jump! Jump! Jump!

Granddad and his grandsons! 

We're just missing their cousin Zach!!

S-M-I-L-E

As usual, Papa got Cal's first smile at 5 weeks. Yet, I'm just now getting to capture them at 7 weeks! He was/is such a gassy baby, it was hard to tell if he was smiling in reaction to us or it was gas. It melts my heart to see our sweet baby respond to us! (Forgive the awful grammar in this post please!)

What a great start to a morning!

A bad angle, but I think you get the gist:)