First Trip to Disney World's Magic Kingdom!!!!

It always takes me so long to get this updated when we do something. I think it is because we are always doing something ! HA!

Well, two weeks ago we were able to go to Magic Kingdom for free. Thanks, Kelly!

What a blessing our lives continue to be. God sure does take care of us.

Anyway, our journey included Nana, Aunt Laura, Taylor, Kelly, and Danny(Kelly's boyfriend).

It was difficult to keep up with the kids and stay on top of taking pictures but thanks to Kelly and Aunt Laura, we were able to walk away with some great picture memories.

Our journey started on the monorail, where Sydney, Parker, Patrick and I were named co-pilots for the monorail. We got to sit up front with the driver.

**This is a picture of our family with Chip and Dale. This was when we first walked into the park. (these were the only characters we waited in line to take pictures with)

**Parker was so happy to hang out with the chipmunks. Can you tell?

**A family pic in front of Cinderella's castle.

**First ride we went on was Snow White. We didn't think the kids knew "scary". Well, we find out that they do. Parker did not like it at all!

So we opted for a happier ride....Dumbo! Here is a pic of Daddy and Parker.

**Nana, Mommy, and Sydney on Dumbo

**Weeeeeee!!!!!

**Sydney, smiling for Aunt Laura!

**Parker catching a ride with Taylor.


**This is us waiting for the Spectro Magic Parade, definitely a highlight of the day. I think this was Sydney's favorite!

**This is Taylor sharing her popsicle with Sydney. Yummy!


Following the parade we watched the fireworks. I think this was Parker's favorite part. He kept saying, "Boom, boom!"

Finally we stopped by a gift shop, where Sydney got her very first stuffed Minnie Mouse and Parker got his very first stuffed Mickey Mouse(at a discount of course).

Overall it was a great day. The kids were much better than we anticipated. They never did take a nap so it was no surprise that 4 minutes after getting in the car, they were both fast asleep.

Visiting with Family

The week before Halloween was bitter sweet....
We said our goodbyes to Grandpa Jensen(my Grandpa and the kids Great Grandpa).
Instead of a sad goodbye, in honor of Grandpa(Vic), we had a "Vicnic". This was appropriately named by Aunt Jan. Vicnic was a cookout and gathering of friends and family at Oscar Scher park in Osprey, Fl. Oscar Scher was was one of Grandma and Grandpa's favorite places to go. Swimming, camping, canoeing, all the wonderful outdoor things that they loved so much and passed onto me. Anyway, we got a chance to see family we had not seen in a very long time and some we had never met. Like I said bitter sweet. This is a picture of Parker meeting his third cousin, Sarah, for the first time. He was smitten. And another picture of Sydney with Great Grandma and Aunt Bobbie.














After we left Oscar Scher, we went to Patrick's dad and stepmom's house(aka Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt)to stay the night. Grandma and Grandpa took Parker and Sydney for another trip to a pumpkin patch and then onto a park on a nature walk by the lake. These are pics walking to the pumpkin patch, Parker walking hand in hand with Grandpa, and all of us by the lake.

Halloween

Well, we went back and forth on whether or not we would even dress the kids up for Halloween this year. Would they really care??? We couldn't figure out what costumes to pick and we were also concerned about how hot they might be. Last year's cow costumes were adorable but they cooked in them. Well the weather turned cooler so we decided to get them dressed up.

Don't know how, when, or why, but Parker LOVES Elmo. Whereever we go, he always manages to find something with Elmo on it. You should have seen his face when we tried on this costume. He was so proud to be wearing it. He grinned from ear to ear. For the whole week before Halloween, he kept going into our closet to go get it. Sydney is not really into anything yet but I found this adorable Ladybug costume. She was not so sure when we first put it on but when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was sold!

On Halloween night, Nana joined us on our journey around the neighborhood. We thought we would wheel them door to door in the wagon but they showed us just how big they are and walked up to the door(well sometimes Sydney held Mommy's hand for moral support). The first one or two houses they weren't quite sure what was going on but by the third house they got the hang of it. We visited approximately 10 houses and then returned to our house to hand out candy.

I have included two short video clips of the kids in costume.
So glad we decided to dress them up. They really enjoyed it.

Twins

There's two to wash, there's two to dry,
There's two who argue, there's two who cry. One's in the mud having a ball,
The other holds a crayon, another marked wall.

Some days seem endless, my patience grows thin.

Why was I chosen to be a mother of twins?
The answer comes clear at the end of each day,

As I tuck them in bed and to myself say,
There's two to kiss, there's two to hug,
And best of all, there's two to love!

The Pumpkin Patch Pair

Well, it's been a year since Parker and Sydney's first visit to a pumpkin patch. This year was a little different. Last year was on a pumpkin farm off the side of an old country road in North Carolina. This year at a church on the side of a busy street in Orlando. Haha. As you can see from the pictures, last year they didn't care much, this year, we couldnt keep them still. They were running up and down the rows and rows of pumpkins. Each pumpkin they found was their favorite. I wanted to get a picture of them together, but I should have known better.

"Halfy Birthday"

September 21st

was

Parker and Sydney's

"Halfy Birthday".
Can't believe that they are actually 18 months old.
The kids received a couple of presents: Two "Look and Find" Books, a package of four new wood puzzles, and another book "The Wheels on the Bus" which happens to be one of their favorites songs to sing. The Look and Find books are exactly that, they are to look for certain items in the books. It is kind of like a Where is Waldo. They love them. Sydney's favorite are the puzzles. She is so good at putting them together and loves to cheer for herself.
~
We made another trip to the beach the day before this and as you can see from one of the pictures..Parker made a new friend while he was there.

Sydney is a swimmer!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, so like I said there were more videos of Parker at lessons because Sydney continued to cry until her very last lesson which I have included here.

The kids were going to lessons Monday through Friday and then on the weekends we would attempt to get into the pool, too, just to have some fun. During family time in the pool, it is always a fight to get her 'out' of the water. The reason there isn't more video of family time in the pool is because I am usually in the pool too and not behind the camera.

As you can see Sydney loves showing off her skills.

9/14

9/14

9/27 This video is the very end of Sydney's last lesson. This is her winter clothes checkout swim. Remember that she is wearing a long sleeve shirt, long pants, a regular diaper, socks and some heavy tennis shoes too.

GO SWEET PEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Parker is a swimmer!!!

As most of you know, our family LOVES the outdoors. The beach, camping, boating, diving, or just a backyard BBQ. Whatever it is we like to be outside. Thankfully Parker and Sydney have inherited this LOVE for the outdoors. We decided since most of what we love to do involves being in or around water, we would get the kids in some swim classes.

The kids have always loved their time in the pool but we wanted to feel comfortable with their abilities in and around a pool. We wanted to know that "if" there was ever a chance that they would fall into one they would know would know what to do. They would know how to survive!

We did tons of research and found ISR(Infant Swimming Resourse)to be what we were looking for. It consists of 10 minutes lessons(each child), 5 days a week for 5 weeks.

The kids completed their lessons the last week in September.

It is so exciting to see them in the water now.

They have learned a respect for the water. They can swim and then roll over to float/breathe/rest and then can roll back over to swim again.

If you are interested in seeing what ISR is all about you can check out their website: http://www.infantswim.com/

You will see there are a lot more videos of Parker at lessons than Sydney at lessons. The reason for this is both of them spent the first three weeks of lessons crying through every lesson. Learning but crying. It was hard as a Mommy to sit back and watch but seeing their progress each every day made it worth it.

Then around the three week mark, Parker just stopped crying. He actually started giggling and getting excited during his lessons. He was giving high fives and clapping his hands. I think I shed a few tears of happiness that day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are just some quick clips of some lessons. Remember they have to work their way up to this point. The first couple weeks are about teaching them signals to do certain things and then slowly the instructor takes away those signals until the child can do things on their own.

9/5 This was probably the second lesson where Parker was finally excited about what was going on in lessons.

9/12


9/18


9/18 Here you can see that he knows to get to the wall and if he can't get to the wall then he has to roll onto his back and float and then he can roll over and try again.


9/19 The last three days of lessons were his check out lessons. These lessons are important because they test the child in real clothes and a real diaper to see if they can perform what they have learned with those on. Remember the focus of these classes is on survival and if a child falls into water they will likely be dressed in their everyday clothes. Also remember that real disposable diapers are made to absorb water so when a child wears one in the pool that is what it continues to do. It continues to absorb and becomes very very heavy and bloated.

This was Parker's first check out lessons. Here he is wearing summer clothes: shirt, shorts, diaper, and sandals. He performed like it was any other lesson. He was kicked back and relaxed. Look at him navigate his way to the steps!!! Too funny!

The next day after this lesson(not shown)was also in summer clothes but with socks and shoes. Then the final check out lessons is winter clothes: long sleeve shirt, long pants, diaper, shoes and socks.

I have a picture of that day that I will include but no video.

GO PARKERMAN!!!!

Grandpa

Grandpa

What I can say
Truly one of the most amazing men to grace this earth
Husband, Father, Grandfather, Great Grandfather
I remember riding in the basket on the front of the bicycle built for two
Then when I was ready I actually got a chance to ride on the back
He taught me how to skip rocks
He taught me how to ride a bike
Taught me a love for camping and the beach
Memories of beach trip after beach trip
Turtle Beach was our favorite
Digging for coquinas
Building sandcastles
Silly songs on bike rides
Bike rides to the mall
When he still smoked a pipe, we went into the tobacco shop...it always smelled so good
Good morning songs to wake up to
When I was really little, he would watch Perry Mason during my naptime
What a great cook
Thanksgiving dinner, always a great feast
He had me convinced as a little girl that he had magical powers to make red lights change and grocery store doors open
While Grandma would be shopping in the mall, Grandpa would be entertaining me by talking to the mannequins
His sense of humor, sometimes dry, always funny
Supe-supe-super Grandpa
Supe-supe-super Grandpa
Supe-supe-super Grandpa
Yea Super Grandpa
You will be SO missed.

NEVER forgotten.

Catching up...

Alright so last month, Patrick and I woke up at 3am to head to West Palm Beach for our first ocean dive since before I was pregnant. We met up with our dive buddy, Nicole. The weather and visibility was fabulous. It went by way too fast! Two great dives and four lobsters later we were on our way to meet up with Nicole's 4 year old son, Dane(aka Boo Boo Dane)for lunch. The last time we saw Dane, he wasn't much more than a toddler and now he is a little man.
The next weekend, Nicole, Dane, and our lobster friends made the trek to Orlando to meet Parker and Sydney for the first time. We dined on lobster(yes the lobster caught on our dive trip), filet mignon, grilled potatoes, and casaer salad. Yum, yums and great times!!

Labor Day weekend was also Patrick's birthday weekend. Happy Birthday, Baby! Friday night we drove down to New Port Richey to spend the night at Patrick's Dad and Sue's house. Saturday was a great day with family. Then Saturday night we left Parker and Sydney for their first overnight stay away from us. We left them with their Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt and they had a fantastic time. Meanwhile, Patrick and I made our way to Clearwater Beach. We returned to the Sheraton Sand Key, where we were married. This was not the first time we had been back, but it was our first stay since our wedding. What a beautiful place. Ironically the weather was very similar to our wedding day. It was gray and part of the time stormy. We still managed to catch a sunset. Walks on the beach, dinner, and breakfast in bed. We had a wonderful time!

On Sunday, we met back up with the family, enjoyed some more family time, and then headed back home. On Monday(Labor Day)we met up with my cousin, Michelle, her husband Krys, and their son, Benjamin.

Their First Cars

The kids saved up and bought their first cars!!
We are SO proud!
~
At Tyler's 13th birthday party, Parker and Sydney got a chance to take a spin in Taylor's Cozy Coupe.(for those of you who don't know...the Cozy Coupe is ONLY the most loved and wanted set of toddler wheels around) They loved it! So the hunt began!
As anything with twins, I look for the best deal around. I will shop and shop until I find it!
So one Sunday(on our weekly trip to Target), Patrick eyed one on clearance for 1/2 off!
Woo-hoo!!
Sharing is a big challenge in our house but we refuse to give into this and buy two of everything, however, we felt it was appropriate to make an exception to that rule when it came to this.
So the hunt continued to find a second deal on a Cozy Coupe. No luck! Couldn't even find one local for full price. I really wanted to find a princess one like Taylor's for Sydney but these were doubly impossible to find. Even if you could locate one online, the shipping was insane.
Then one day while looking on craiglist, I found a great deal on a still "in the box" Cozy Coupe! Yippee! It was like getting a two for one!!
~
So here they are...
~



















When I say they saved up and bought their first cars I mean it. Anytime I sell something of theirs, I put it in a little envelope that we keep aside for things just like this.

Sweet pea..My princess...Parkerman....My monkeyman

They continue to grow into these amazing and funny little people. Not really babies anymore(although I still like to call them that). They have preferences and opinions. They have attitudes and a sense of humor. They are incredibly smart and can even be sneaky. Full of energy, curiousity. Little sponges. Imitators. Comedians. Loads of fun.

Sweet Pea...my princess...

beautiful blue eyes, great smile, silly, knows what she wants, copy cat, fights sleep, loves books, loves anything Parker has, great eater, great listener, loves the outdoors, loves to show off what she knows

Parkerman....my monkeyman....

serious face but really funny, best giggle, thumbsucker, extra squishy, enjoys sleep, picky eater, loves books, stubborn, loves to cuddle, loves Elmo, loves the outdoors, loves to see how things work

Cute video

This is a video taken from Fourth of July weekend in Jacksonville.

I thought it was really cute but wasn't able to add it to the blog because it was too big of a file than this would allow, but thanks to my genius friend...Doug Liebler...it has been re-sized and is now ready to post.



Thought it was cute..

Salt Springs

It's funny..I always start these things and then it takes me a week and sometimes even two weeks to actually get them done.

Another first this last weekend included Parker and Sydney's first boat ride.

We met up with some extended family....Aunt Brandi, Uncle Johnny, Mee Maw, Pop Pop, and dogs, Levi, Rosco, and Maggie for a day on the river. We met them at the Salt Springs marina in the Ocala National Forest. More great times.

On the first boat ride, Parker had a blast feeling the wind blow through his hair. Sydney wasn't so sure at first. The kids loved swimming in the spring. After swimming, we went for a second boat ride and seconds in they were both sleeping like babies. Oh yea, they are babies!

Chuck-E-Cheese

So, last weekend Parker and Sydney had their first experience at Chuck-E-Cheese(or known to Grandma Truty as Chunky Cheese). I have to be honest....I was frightened. I am not a germ-a-phobe but all I could think about was that germ and urine infested ballpit that I as a child thought was so much fun. Patrick had some crazy idea that I would be OK with the kids being in there. I tried to explain that they weren't even big enough for that yet. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that those ballpits are no longer in existence(I am sure for the very reason I was against it in the first place). There was actually a toddler specific area.

It was Chloe's 3rd birthday party and it ended up being great family fun. Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt, Uncle Jimmy, Heather, Chloe, Uncle Eric, Aunt Danielle, Desiree, and Uncle Joe were all there. Parker and Sydney got to ride their first rides. As you can see in the first video, Parker kept his same "Mr. Serious" face. Not sure he was impressed with the Teletubbies. I can't blame him....what are those weird things anyway???? Hey, it was the first one we saw.

In the next video, you will see Sydney on her first ride(also those creepy Teletubbies). You can see she was a little more excited...then you can see Parker on his second ride which he LOVED...someone more familiar....Barney.

Parker and Sydney got to meet their first costumed character, Chuck-E-Cheese. Sydney was so excited to see him but as soon as he reached out his furry paw to touch her, she started to cry. Parker wasn't bothered a bit and smiled at him.

Fun in the Sun!!

Mee Maw and Papa bought the kids this Elmo sprinkler toy. They had so much fun playing with it this last weekend. Sydney was full of giggles and couldn't get enough.
Thanks to this gift...Parker's new favorite word is Elmo. Sydney our resident copy-cat loves to say Elmo now too!
If you listen to the second video you can here them both say it! Sooooo cute!!!

Fourth Of July weekend continued

Ok....so it took me a little longer to get this next update in.

Better late than never.

Bryce and Aunt Erica were down in Florida the weekend of the 4th of July.(no Uncle Dwight this time). They were down to visit family and celebrate Bryces's 4th birthday.

On July 5th, we went to Jacksonville to attend Bryce's 4th birthday party. It was a pool party and Parker and Sydney were in the height of their glory. Kids splashing and playing all around them. They also had their first experience with water balloons. They weren't so sure what to do with them. Unlike our pool, this pool has a ledge so they really enjoyed scooting off the edge and into our arms.

Thanks to Erica's friends, Alison and Ryan, we had our very own townhouse to stay in while we were there. This was nice because we tend to take up a lot of room.

On July 6th, we went to St. Augustine for the day. When we first arrived in St. Augustine, the babies were sleeping, so Bryce, Erica and I found a really cool playground where Bryce could spend some energy while Patrick waited for the kids to catch up on some much needed zzzzzzzzzzzzzz's. When Parker and Sydney woke up they got to play for a little bit too. Then we went to Old St. Augustine where we were on a mission. Bryce has a sterling silver bracelet engraved with her name. Patrick and I have always admired it and wanted to have one made for Sydney. So that's what we did. Then we had some lunch. Finally we headed to the beach for some more fun in the sun. We were able to drive onto the beach which made things much easier than hauling all that gear. We didn't stay too long, just long enough to get pummelled by some waves and eat some sand, then it was time to say our goodbyes. So sad, I can't stand goodbyes.

I am trying to get a video on here of the kids playing at the playground.

Fourth of July

This year, like last year, our Fourth of July kicked off at the second annual Remington Park Fourth of July Parade. Last year the babies were bald and much fatter. We were still getting adjusted to life with twins. Boy has life changed. What an exciting journey each new day brings. New laughs, new smiles, new tears from all. But if you look closely you can see that some things have not changed...look at the serious expression on Parker's face this year and last year. I promise he shares plenty of smiles, just not on command. He does things on his terms.

The Remington Park Fourth Of July Parade is where the neighborhood kids and their families get together dressed in red white and blue. Everyone is encouraged to decorate their strollers, wagons, bikes, and dogs. We then make our trek around the streets of the neighborhood led and followed by a police car.

In the afternoon, we were invited to the other Schmidt's(Christina's parents) house for a BBQ! Yum, yum! Good times. We left around 7:30pm to return home and catch some neighborhood fireworks at the lake. Sydney loved them. Parker was a little apprehensive of the noise at first but once he realized the noise was not going to hurt him, he relaxed and enjoyed.

Below is a video of the wagon ride down to the park to meet for the parade. The kids were so cute waving their flags! Proud to be Americans!!!

Parker and Sydney update

Ok, so life these days is much busier than I ever imagined it would be. Whew!

Although as the kids get older they eat less often and they sleep for longer periods of time...their energy level is non-stop. I don't realize until after we get them in bed just how tired I really am. Thank God for a GREAT husband(Daddy) and a GREAT mom(Nana). Thank you both so much! GO TEAM!!!

Parker and Sydney are running and climbing and dancing all the time! They love music and Nana plays it a lot through out the day. They continue to show a love for books which we encourage on a regular basis. The dancing is so cute to watch. The more attention they get when they do it, the more they do it. I will try to catch some video of them dancing. They are speaking more words that you can actually understand. Parker's favorite word is "up". If he wants in, out, up, or down it is "up" and he really enunciates the "p" sound in "up". It is so cute. Their comprehension level is amazing these days and Sydney really enjoys showing this off. She follows directions so well. She also really helps when it is time to clean up, Parker cleans up sometimes too. As you can see from the video, Parker's new favorite thing to do is crawl inside boxes. He thinks it is his little fort. This is actually this morning. This is the few minutes of TV they get to watch while Nana finishes getting breakfast ready and I get ready to walk out the door. They clammed up after they saw the camera.

We have started to introduce them to the potty. They each visit the potty a couple times a day. Their pottys play music when they go in the potty. Parker makes it happen more than Sydney so far.

Sydney and Nana have a favorite song these days..."If You're Happy and You Know It". Nana pointed out today that Sydney does all the motions along with her. When it says "clap your hands", she claps her hands, when it says "stomp your feet" she sits down and stomps her feet. She even points to her mouth for the part where it says, "your face will surely show it".

Coming home to them is the best feeling in the world. They just run to you and give you the biggest hug and lots of kisses. They are these little people now.

Our anniversary

So as my last post said, I bought a Divequest trip at Epcot for a combination anniversary and Father's Day present. Divequest is a dive at The Living Seas(or now as it's called The Seas with Nemo and Friends) at Epcot. It features a six million gallon indoor aquarium with more than 65 species of marine life.
I had booked this over a month ago. I had the early afternoon to evening babysitting all set up a month in advance but last minute I realized that we may actually be able to make a day out of it. My cousin, Kelly, just recently started an internship at Epcot so she hooked us up and got us into the park so we could enjoy the day there. So Jen, Doug, and Baby Ben Liebler spent the morning and early afternoon with Parker and Sydney and then Papa and MeeMaw came over to pick up the early afternoon to night shift.
I can't remember the last time I have been to a theme park, let alone Epcot. It was so much fun! She even hooked us up with some fast passes so we could ride the rides with very little wait. It was our first time on the Mission Space ride and we got to do it three times.
We met at the front gates at 4:15 for our dive. It was so fantastic to get back underwater.
The marine life was incredible. Not sure we would ever be able to experience so many types of marine life in a single dive in the ocean. We swam with sharks, turtles, eagle rays, sting rays, Goliath groupers, and all kinds of other fish. It was strange not feeling frightened of the sharks. I have seen sharks in the ocean and I remember being curious but definitely nervous. In there though, you know they are well fed and cared for. I felt a great respect for the sharks but I was not fearful. There were actually a few times that they came with in arms reach and I just sat back and watched. It was one of those things I will check off my list of things I want to do in life and it was definitely nice to be back in the water, but is nothing like an open water ocean dive.
We are planning to make a trip to West Palm next month.
After the Divequest experience, they released us back into the park. We had not had a chance to visit the World Showcase, so we decided to travel around the World for our anniversary.
We ate dinner in Mexico and then stopped and had dessert and coffees in France. Then we found out that the Magic Kingdom was open until midnight and our passes were park-hoppers so we decided to hop on the monorail to Magic Kingdom. As we were on the monorail leaving Magic Kingdom, we got to see the Illuminations show at Epcot. When we arrived at Magic Kingdom, every one was on the street waiting for the parade. We walked right onto Pirates of the Carri bean(our first time since they changed it). Then we went to Splash Mountain and practically walked on. When we were on Splash Mountain the Magic Kingdom fireworks began and I swear we had the best seat in the house up there on that ride.Then we made our way to Thunder Mountain where we also walked right on. We attempted to make it onto Space Mountain but that was an hour wait. Instead we road some kiddie ride where the Delta ride used to be and then decided we were "done". It was already an hour past our bedtime(11pm). HAHAHA
We caught the monorail back to Epcot and by the time we got home it was after 1am. Can't remember the last time we were up that late on purpose. I am adding a picture of Patrick at the end of the night. On our walk through the parking lot, he hopped in wheelchair. The other picture I am adding is a picture we took of ourselves when we were leaving when Epcot around 9pm. Can you tell how tired we were already??
Here is a video of a part of the late night parade at Magic Kingdom before we left.

Father's Day 2008

Here is how it went....
Each part of this poem(Clue) was in an envelope marked
with a Blue paw print which led him to next the Blue paw print.
`````````````````````````````````

Happy Daddy's Day!
Today we have something special to say,
Happy Happy Daddy's Day!!!
Blues Clues is our favorite show,
So on a Treasure hunt you must go.
-
First you need to find Clue #1.
It's with your glasses you wear for sun.
-
Next you'll have to think and think.
#2 is underneath a sink.
It is hidden in a place
With what you use to protect your face.
-
Now its time for clue #3
Oh how anxious you must be.
Where do you put a special date?
So you'll remember and not be late?
-
This present is a two for one
For Father's Day and anniversary fun.
June 21st at 30 minutes 'til five
You and Mommy will scuba dive.

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

I know, I know, it's cheesy but hey it was fun. Anyway, as the poem suggested this gift was a two for one. We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary a day early and went to dive the Living Seas at Epcot.

Will tell you all about our Divequest experience on the next post.

A Trip to the Beach at 14 months

Ok...so this morning we woke up and had the idea to be spontaneous with our 14 month old twins and go the beach for a little bit. So we quickly fed them breakfast, packed up, and headed east to Cocoa Beach. While definitely not our favorite beach it was the closest and we had a prior commitment to pick up friends at the airport.

As soon as we dropped our gear and the kids onto the sand, I realized we had made a terrible mistake. We had not "pre"-applied the sunblock. Yes, we are responsible parents, we did not forget the sunblock. I just failed to think about how each one of my little ones would react when they hit the sand. They started digging in right away. Needless to say, sand and sunblock...not a fun mix. Well, we managed to get the kids rinsed off enough in the ocean to apply the sunblock but by that time they realized what the ocean was--a GREAT BIG SWIMMING POOL!!!! Sydney was more cautious as always but Parker he couldn't get enough. When we were finally able to drag them away from the oceans edge, they continued to play in the sand. At one point, Parker actually picked up his shovel and started"shoveling" some sand right into his mouth. It didn't bother him one bit. They were covered from head to toe in sand. We brought snacks and drinks along and I tried to place the dried apples in their mouths to avoid more sand in the mouth, but then they would push the snack into their mouths with their sandy hands. After playing in the sand, they got up and started running--in opposite directions. And now it was time to go. So then there was the whole..."how are we going to get our kids and all of this stuff back into the car?" Oh and you know that whole spontaneous thing? Well spontaneous with 14 month old twins means you may just forget something important like say, an extra pair of clothes--you know some dry and non-sandy ones. So our babies spent their ride back to Orlando in diapers. Hahaha!!!

The kids had a great time! Mommy and Daddy were whooped!

The best thing about experiences like this are that they teach you so much about what to do and what not to do. Guess sometimes you have to learn the hard way.

Enjoy a little video and some pics from our trip to the beach!

This blog is dedicated to GRANDPARENTS.....

Grandparents are meant for kisses and hugs,
For watching rainbows and catching bugs.
For baking all of your favorite things,
For books to read and songs to sing.

~Grandparents~

Few can bring the warmth
We can find in their embrace,
And little more is needed to bring love.
Than the smile on their face.

They've a supply of precious stories,
Yet they've time to wipe a tear,
Or give us reasons to make us laugh,
They grow more precious through the years.

I believe that God sent us Grandparents
As our legacy from above,
To share the moments of our life,
As extra measures of His love.

GRANDPARENTS


Grandparents bestow upon their grandchildren the strength and wisdom that time and experience have given them. Grandchildren bless their grandparents with a youthful vitality and innocence that help them stay young at heart forever. Together they create a chain of love linking the past with the future. The chain may lengthen, but it will never part.....