July 4th

We had such a fun time in Independence Day!  We started out the day by heading to the beach with the Loughrans and the Storrs.  I stayed up on the "shore" with Audrey for the most part and Ryan was in the water with Wyatt and Parker for a while.  They had a good time out there! 

 

 

Ryan was a "sea monkey" (???) and was "getting them".  They loved it!

After the beach, we grabbed a quick CFA lunch in the car and stopped back by the house to grab a few things before heading over to Honey and Granddad's.  Audrey and Parker both fell asleep in the car and took car naps in their driveway.  This was my plan all along--tire them out at the beach so they'd nap in the car and be ready for action when we got to their house.  It worked!

We were out back and in the pool all afternoon.  I haven't been in the pool for that long in a long time!  Audrey and Parker love being in the water, so it was nice to be in there and play with both of them for a while.  Before we left, I took a couple pictures of Audrey and then the two of them with the flags.  They had a little too much fun with that! 

 

Probably the biggest/most-real smile I've ever seen come from this boy! 

These pictures just crack me up.  It's the essence of the two of them.  Parker is doing something to her that he thinks is funny but isn't sure if it's "okay", and she is just laughing at it.  Hilarious!

We went home and the kids were BEAT.  They were both so tired, but I decided I wanted to try to get a few more pictures of Audrey in her sweet dress because I didn't think I had gotten any "good" ones when I took thew few above at the J's.  I am so glad I did because I got a couple pictures that are probably my fave EVER of her! 

Wanting to eat the flower...

 ...trying to eat the flower...

...here, Momma--you want this?  

Sweet little face.

I was trying everything to get her to look at the camera and smile, but my attempts weren't working.  I'm sure the neighbors thought I was crazy because I was hooting and hollering and bouncing around like a maniac.  I finally decided to try "fake laughing", and Audrey joined in.  Worked like a charm!

This is her doing her "signature" move where she shakes her arms up and down and say "hi-i-i-i-i-i-i".  You'd have to see it to know what I mean!

This girl is too cute for her own good!  

Disney (AKA Florida Day Five)

I'll pretty much let the pictures tell the story of our Disney trip.  When you have tons of pictures, that's definitely the easiest way!  I would like to preface that pretty much every family picture in the bunch turned out just slightly less than fantastic.  It was a very sweaty day.  haha!

We headed to Hollywood Studios first thing in the morning to have breakfast with Jake, Special Agent Oso, June from Little Einsteins, and Handy Manny.

Parker was pretty excited--can you tell?

Parker and his buddy, Jake!

Parker with Special Agent Oso.

This is Handy Manny fixing Parker's boo-boo on his knee.  So cute!

Parker and June!

"Joining in" on the dancing.  haha.

"hey, I was there, too!!"

Family picture number one--not too sweaty yet.

Proof that Mona and NayNay were there!

After breakfast, we went to the Disney Junior Live show to see the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters, Sophia the First, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Parker enjoyed it, but Audrey really liked it.

Couldn't get a clear picture becuase she was moving around too much!  (and it was pretty dark in there)

Our last picture at Hollywood Studios.  Parker and Goofy!

After Hollywood Studios, we headed back to the hotel so the kids could take naps and we could chill and have lunch.  It was a nice mid-day break before heading to the Magic Kingdom!  Our first stop when we got to the MK was to see Mickey!

He was so excited, but overall the whole setup was kind of weird.  It felt like we were in a funeral parlor at a viewing.  They had everyone lined up to see Mickey but you went in one family at a time and there was NO music.  Like totally quiet, and Mickey doesn't talk.  There was also no outside light so it was just kind of dim and weird.  But as Ryan said, "He looked really good."  haha!

Family picture number two.  Would NEVER have shared if it wasn't literally our only family picture with Mickey.  

This picture turned out super-dark, but I brightened it up a bit to share because it was Parker's first time on a carousel!

Love these boys.

"Heyyyy....get uppppppp....get louuuuuuuuud.....pumpin' up the party now!"  (your welcome, Mom!)

And now for our attempts at a "good" picture with the kids in their Mickey/Minnie hats in front of Cinderella's castle:

 

Me and my little Minnie.  And my windblown hair!

No words.  But we did have so much fun!

Parker had a classic Mickey ice cream bar.  No surprise here:  he loved it!

We stayed until the fireworks started at 9:30 but left as they were starting because we quickly realized that it would take a really, really, REALLY long time to get to the car and back to the hotel if we didn't leave before the thousands of other people that were there to see the show.  Plus, Parker was NOT a fan of the fireworks, so it just made sense.  

We had the BEST TIME at Disney.  It was so fun and truly magical.  When we walked through the gates it kind of took my breath away.  That sounds corny, but it was just so beautiful and exciting and fun.  We'll eventually go back one day--I can't wait!