2 Years, 1 Week
You would have thought I was a little girl by the way I screamed out loud. You would have thought I was a little boy by the way I jumped up and down. And you would have thought I was crazy insane by the way I grabbed and embraced the individual standing in front of me.
My little brother, all the way from California.
In town for just 2 days on business, he flew in a few hours early just in time to surprise us at the twins' birthday party. And what a surprise it was! Seriously, there could not have been another person so far removed from my mind to show up for the party, especially since we had close to 35 adults and 35 kids including 8 infants coming to celebrate with Maddy and Kohl. I was ecstatic, as were my parents and the children, to have Uncle Mike with us, if but for just a small time. It would've been perfect had Auntie Gen and Cousin Preston come along too!
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| Braelyn couldn't believe it was Uncle Mike either! |
It was a packed house, but luckily we held the party over at the clubhouse, so the kids could keep busy at the playground or swim in the frigid pool, which didn't bother any of them, including some really brave dads (aka Duncan). Lolo and Lala had arrived with my younger cousin the evening prior, and the morning of my Aunt and Uncle arrived from Avon Park to assist us in the preparation of the food and decorations at the clubhouse. We had an assortment of goodies, including 4 different selections of mini sandwiches, a vegetable platter, varieties of fruit, choices of crackers and cookies, and an amazing 3-tier, multi-flavored Dora and Diego themed cake made by our good friend and personal baker, Jennifer Bergherm of Sweet Expectations Bakery!
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The cake! It looked too good to eat!
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Bottom layer was banana cream, with chocolate peanut butter in the middle,
and then the top layer was red velvet, a special order just for me!
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The party went off without a hitch, with perfect weather conditions, considering that the night before we were pounded by severe lightning and thunderstorms due to a cold front coming in. So yes, we lucked out, although we would've been fine even with the rain. Remembering Braelyn's rainy birthday party at Sea World a month ago, this group could handle just about anything!
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| Lala helps Maddy in the pool. |
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| Kohl looking cool in blue. |
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| The well-wishers mix in with the paparazzi! |
Here's a recap of the week:
- Friday evening we joined the Cochrans, Bergherms, and for the first time, the Ottatis, at the Food Truck Pod in Ocoee. Even with the threat of severe weather and swirling clouds, we braved the elements for a chance to partake in some great eats, including hitting the Swedish food truck and getting my favorite hotdog in the world: the Tunnbrödsrulle (sounds just like it's spelled) complete with mashed potato! We managed to eat and jet back home right in time for the heavens to open up and downpour just seconds where we were.
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| Maddy, Gabriella, Kohl and Blake play while we take turns getting our food. |
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Delicious presentation of meat in tubed form [stock photo]
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- Sabbath we attended church, and celebrated the twins' birthday with their class. We headed back home for a quick lunch and nap before Lolo and Lala arrived that afternoon. We had a nice supper of Vietnamese Pho that evening, and afterwards a Skype session with Papa and Nana in Denver to wish the two a happy birthday. Food and party preps were the highlights that night.
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| Kohlden blows his candles first. |
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| Maddy follows suit. |
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| Kohl wasn't too agreeable to a nap. |
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Watching Lolo and Lala pull up into the driveway.
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- Sunday was the big day, with an early start to get the clubhouse decorated and set up. We had the place until 1:30 pm, and after cleaning up we joined the Grodacks who were looking at some home listings with their realtor along with the sales manager of our community. We're trying to convince them to come move out here because #1: the houses are huge and #2: they're very affordable. And how awesome would it be to have them as neighbors right? Anyway, it was neat to go and look at the homes, and it was like how we were doing that just a few years ago. When we got back I went to mow the lawn, and then Mike and the Clarkes joined us for dinner back at our place, then had the twins open their presents (with big sister getting really jealous and wanting to open them herself!) Later I took Mike back and caught up with him, talking with him face to face for the first time as a brand new father. We spoke for nearly 3 hours about life and how we would help support each other, now as fathers, to our young children.
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| Cousin Lyka was great watching the twins all weekend. |
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| Catching up with Uncle Mike! |
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| Opening their gifts. |
Maddy doing her happy dance.
- Monday morning I had my follow up visit to the optometrist. My parents had [surprisingly] spent the night since Mike was here and were watching the twins for me while I went back to the eye doctor. He said that with the drops the abrasions were gone and scarring was minimal, but the blurriness was still there and he said he noticed several dry spots scattered around the lens, due to the contact lens ripping out pieces when I removed them and leaving craters in its place. So, I'm on another prescription eye drop, this time a steroid to help with any inflammation and hopefully help with moisture, along with a couple of eye drop lubricants for both day and night to help with the dryness. Wow, I didn't realize my warranty expired at age 35! Later that afternoon I took the kids to the Science Center where Tangie picked them up, so I could go attend my first ever parent/teacher conference with Braelyn's teacher at OJA. She had nothing but praise for Braelyn and her academic skills, sharing that Braelyn was definitely a leader in her classroom. I was so proud of her that the following day I took her out shopping for a toy as a reward!
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| All this for one eye. |
- Wednesday I hooked up with Jared for the first time in like a month and we took the kids down to Sea World for the morning. The worst part of this is getting up real early in order to make it down there when the park opens, but the best part is getting there real early when the park opens. I mean, we parked on row 8! And the place wasn't crowded or packed, even with a perfect weather day like it was. We let them run about, but only had time for one show, the pets ahoy one with those very talented animals, and then it was back home for naps before heading out to pick up big sister. Sea World has a new exhibit called Turtle Trac that opened on Thursday...we missed it by one day!
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| The twins mesmerized by the dolphins. |
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| Maddy in a viewing tube inside an aquarium. |
Quotes:
I really don't have any good ones but I just wanted to document words/sentences that they are saying now:
Maddy: "Thank you sooo much!"
Kohl: "Daya (Daddy), what doing?" and "Hee go!" (Here you go!)
Brae: "Why?" and "I already know that!"
Thanks to Uncle Mike and Tangie for taking the pictures and videos this week. I'm hoping to resolve this no camera situation by next week, cross your fingers!
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| Here's the parting shot: Tangie reading the children's bedtime story. |
Until then, have a great weekend!
