Three's Company!: Happy Birthday Mommy!

3 Years, 7 Weeks.

This week we celebrated another birthday for Tangie. Out of respect for her, I won't go into any details as to how old she turned.

I do, however, want to personally thank her for who she is to me, and to our children. We are truly blessed because of her roles as wife and mother, spouse and parent.

Happy Birthday Mommy! Here's to another year of life, love and laughter!

Our weekly recap:

Sabbath we attended a birthday get together for our friends the Jamerson's at Ponce Inlet Beach. Their daughter Adalyn was turning 3 and they had invited us to join their small group of family and friends for Sabbath school and potluck lunch. Afterwards we let the kids play in the sand and surf, Tangie sustaining a slight sunburn although it was a pretty overcast and cloudy afternoon.

Our view at Ponce Inlet.

Picnic shelter with kids having Sabbath School.

Fio pouring water in cups as the adults sing "Fill it up and let it overflow."

Adalyn blows out her candle.

Driving on the beach. Haven't done this in a while!

Setting up base camp and sorting our gear.

Mommy and the kids enjoy the surf.

She was just thrilled to be at the beach!

So was Mr. Sandman.

Frozen yogurt for the ride home.

Sunday we stayed low key, except for Mommy and Madelyn who attended Adalyn's official birthday party at the Jamerson home. It was a Mermaid party for girls only, and Kohlden was so distraught that his twin sister was leaving and he wasn't. When Tangie told Maddy to go put on her shoes, he was quick to put his on as well! I'm sure he was confused as to why she was going without him, poor guy. I had to take him crying upstairs while the girls left, and then I took him and Braelyn to Lowe's to get some more garden supplies, so he got over it. Later that evening the entire family went out to go see the animated movie Epic. And it really was just like the title.

Sunday morning laptop session.

Just as Mommy and Maddy were leaving.
You can see the disappointment on his face!

Maddy and the girls at the party.

All dressed up as mermaid princesses. The birthday girl was in all pink.

Watching Adalyn about to blow her candles.

Mulch and step stones to add to the garden feature.

Hanging out with some monster sized cardboard cutouts!

Playing a game promoting Despicable Me 2, coming soon.

Tuesday Tangie had to be in Tampa for the day, so we decided to all tag along and spend the day there exploring the city while she was at her meeting. It was a very early morning as we rolled out of the garage at 7:20; luckily I had prepared and packed everything the night before so alls we had to do was get the kids dressed and into the minivan. After dropping Tangie off I took the kids to Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry, us getting in for free due to our membership to Orlando's Science Center and paying only $4 for parking. The kids enjoyed seeing a different museum and their children's area was fantastic! We had lunch there and then drove around until 1:30, where we went to another museum downtown. Target was hosting an event at the Glazer Children's Museum from 2-7 so it was free admission into the museum during that time. I knew it was going to be crowded because of that and that's exactly what happened. But it was such a neat place, reminiscent of the Children's Museum in Denver. I had to be on my game as I was the only parent there for all three, keeping an eye on all of them amidst the crowds, only losing Kohlden once. Luckily I found him at the bottom of the stairs but that was a nice 30 second panic attack that felt like 30 minutes. Boys will be boys. We stayed there two and a half hours and then headed back into downtown to pick Tangie up. We drove to a section of town called Channelside for a Greek supper before changing the kids into their pajamas and driving home through some torrential rain, as our first named tropical storm of the season, Andrea, was starting to come up the west coast. Wednesday and Thursday would be a complete washout, keeping us indoors and going stir crazy.

Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI).

Figuring out how a spider's web works.

A section of the children's exhibit at MOSI.

2 ferocious dinosaurs! Well, at least one of them.

Braelyn built this pyramid.

Landing a plane.

Another section of the children's exhibit at MOSI.

And still yet another section!

The twins going grocery shopping.

Brae makes a sandwich at the deli.

Maddy trying to figure out where the rest of Braelyn went!

View of downtown Tampa while waiting in line to the Glazer Children's Museum.
Tangie's building is the blue one with the pointed top.

The line of people to get in for the free event.

Large water feature on the first floor.

They had this really neat climbing exhibit, to resemble the journey of water from sky to earth.
The kids loved it and climbed up and down. Notice the people on the bottom floor.

A really neat concept and activity!

Doing a mask craft.

End result.

Top level exhibit at Glazer. This was where I lost Kohlden.

Planting carrots in the garden.

Making sounds with different sized tubes.

Watching big sister paint virtually.

Maddy grocery shopping. Again.

Snack break.

The twins help needy pups at the veterinary exhibit.

Maddy really wanted to help this one in its kennel.

Kohl and Brae making sandwiches.

Maddy decided she wanted to make a pizza instead.

Firefighter Kohlden to the rescue!

Maddy: "I'm good. I'll stay down here and keep an eye on the fire hydrant!"

Braelyn shows her bouldering prowess.

Kohl participates in a virtual soccer game while the girls watch.

Maddy puts on a kimono for the show.

And back to the climbing feature.

Last minute bouncy ball parachute thingy.

Greek dinner at Opa Taverna, Tangie silhouetted by the waterfront.

Kohlden was exhausted and conked out right away.

The rest of our week:

We hit the pool early this week. Good thing too, as it rained every day afterwards.

Here we go.

Maddy takes the plunge.

Enjoying the water.

Bonzai!

Wednesday the clouds were ominous and gathering formation, as Andrea loomed near.

Here she comes!!

Lunch outside watching the rain fall.

The entire day Thursday.

Just chilling out on Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Getting comfortable at the store.

Coloring activity outside after lunch. Finally the sun came out!

Sleeping in style! This was how I found him taking his nap.

Friday evening, the kids decided they wanted to walk home from the neighborhood park, a good mile away.
So Tangie let them, slowly following behind in the minivan.

Garden Update, week 9.