A Down Week

5 Years, 2 Weeks.


Because of the previous weekend's whirlwind birthday celebrations, and this upcoming weekend's events, we decided to have a "low key" weekend this past week, the low key in quotations because, let's be honest, it wasn't really even remotely relaxing.  Maybe in snippets.

But that's what you get with three very energetic kids!

Okay 4…myself included.

Anyway, we did have kind of a down week this week, more so than most weeks. Back to the daily grind, so to speak, again because laundry doesn't wash itself, right?

So, as we look forward to next week's adventures, here was our week:

Dropped off the van for maintenance on Friday and rode the 6 miles back home,
I took a slight detour West and added another 40 miles to my route!

Needless to say, I was beat!

Mommy teaching Brae how to play volleyball in the front yard.  Here she goes all out!

It mostly consisted of lunging back and forth.  Tangie's backside would be sore the next 3 days!

Promoting the new Drama Club at the church we're going to be starting with Ashley.

We had some cute assistants passing out a parents questionnaire. 

The ducklings follow mama duck.

At the otter exhibit at the Animal Kingdom.  Such a neat way to view wildlife!

Getting attacked by some rhinos!!  

Sitting in front of the ruins in Nepal, not realizing a real earthquake had happened in actual Nepal!
Very sad, a lot of people killed in Kathmandu, including climbers at Mt. Everest.

Went to Hollywood Studios for a couple of hours Sunday morning.

Working on their animation skills.

Mommy took Braelyn to her classmate's birthday party in Longwood that afternoon.

Pretending to be asleep, when they were supposed to be helping with the camping gear!

Suppertime shenanigans.

Continuing to pack and prep, making sure all the flashlights and lamps were working.

Excited and counting down the days.  "Yes!" with a fist pump!

Spent some time at the library.

Our mid-week treat to Scoops!

Organizing the van's DVD collection.

Food:

Mushroom risotto with red peppers.

Randoms:

Don't forget the sunscreen.  Ouch!

18 more months and this person will be happy.

Ah yes, the NFL draft happened this week.  Only 4 more months to football season!!

Quotes:

• We were talking about driving to Camp Kulaqua and who was going to drive the van between Daddy and Mommy:

          Me:  "Well, Mommy is probably going to be doing some work in the car, 

                   so I will probably end up driving."

          All 3 in unison:  "Yes!"

          Me:  "Why?"

          Brae:  "You're a much safer driver."

          Me:  "Really?  Why is that?"

          Brae:  "Because she speeds a lot."

           Ha!  Busted Mommy!

• So Maddy has started this fixation of catching love bugs.  She caught two of them one day:

           Me:  "Do they bite?"

           Maddy:  "No."

           Kohl:  "Because they're love bugs.  They love people."

           Maddy:  "They only bite sharks, because they're not nice."

           So sharks, watch out for love bugs.

• Heading to pick Braelyn up from school, the twins are very aware of my driving the speed limit and making sure I don't speed:

          Kohl:  "Are you going 50?"

          Me:  "No."

          Kohl:  "Are you speeding?"

          Me:  "No.  What's the speed limit?"  [pointing to the sign marked 45]

          Maddy:    [sees the sign]  "It's forty-fifth."    

          Kohl:  "Daddy, don't go 50 because that's speeding."

          Maddy:  "Yeah, don't go infinity because that's really speeding!"

• Maddy was putting her shoes on for school one morning, when she stopped and looked up:

          Maddy:  [dramatic] "What is that smell?" 

          [pauses, then smiles]

          Maddy:  "Oh, I tooted.  I tooted really hard."

That was a good one girlie.

Have a great weekend!!

Goodbye Four, Hi Five!

5 Years, 1 Week…and counting!


We celebrated the twins' birthday over the weekend.

I can't believe they are 5 years old now.  I remember carrying these two tiny things out in their carseats as we left the hospital, thinking to myself, "How the heck are we going to do this??"  Now, 5 years later, I look back and see what an amazing journey and adventure we've been fortunate to have been a part of.  Oh no, it hasn't been easy, even trying at times.  But it has been so worth all the sleepless nights, messes, frustrations, and hard work to see these two just grow and develop right before our eyes.

3 days old comparison.

Year and a half comparison.

Happy Birthday Maddy and Kohl!  We are so proud of you both!

Here was our [celebration] week:

Friday morning before school.  We're turning five!!

I brought cupcakes and cookies to celebrate with their classmates.   They were so excited.

The sugar kicking in.  Or perhaps they have been this way the entire day!

Took Buddy to get a haircut afterwards.

Looking sharp bro!

Trying out his new 16" bike!

Went to the food trucks for supper.

Met up with the crew for an enjoyable time catching up,

moving it back to our place for fondue and dessert!

Joined the men for a bike ride early Sabbath morning.  Here William and Karis pull me along.

The ride ended unfortunately with a pretty serious bike crash, affecting Rob H. and William,
who we thought broke his arm, he was in so much pain.

Gathering around the injured.  It was a pretty subdued group the last mile back.  

Attending 2nd service and Sabbath School.

They couldn't wait, so we let them open their present from Uncle Mike and Auntie Gen,
including Braelyn's from her birthday last month.

New REI camping backpacks!!

Family selfie portrait!

We had supper and relaxation over at the Clarke's on Saturday evening.

Birthday morning, we celebrated the day at EPCOT.

Wearing her new Elsa dress from Isabella, she poses in front of the dress's namesake topiary.

With Belle at the Princess character breakfast.  She no longer is the most popular princess!

The three Elsas:  Mei Li, Madelyn, and Isabella.

Our table for breakfast.

The princesses working the floor.

Maddy with Cinderella.

Braelyn and Snow White.

Kohl meets Princess Aurora.

And we met [human] Ariel, with legs!

I couldn't let the kids have all the fun.  Princess selfies!

Photo session with the three Elsas.

It was so cute seeing them walking around in their dresses.
All the people got a kick watching them too.

Our group on the Mexico boat ride.

The Grodacks joined us for our Test Track fast pass.  Brae was so happy to hang out with Calleigh!

Walking to the World Showcase, Kohl hitches a ride with Isabella.

We treated the group to ice cream in France, because we didn't have any cake!

We hooked up with the Bergs at the Nemo attraction.
They had arrived later due to the boys' soccer games that morning.

We left for home before the impending afternoon storm.  Not 5 minutes into our drive.

Opening up their presents and having a ball messing up the house.

Showing off their new school shoes, Cars and Frozen themed, Maddy's with lights!

Chilling in the front with Daddy and munching on some snacks, in line to pick up Brae.

Mommy spends some time doing playdoh with the kids.

Bedtime story with Mommy, what a treat!

Trying to sell off their old 10" bikes they've certainly outgrown.

Excited to have a bowl of cereal with blueberries, just like on the box.  That's life!

Mommy joins us for an evening game of kickball in the backyard!

Sweet corn on the cob!

5 year wellness check up, Kohl doing the eye test.

Sister's turn.  Both had perfect vision!

Dr. Gordon listening to Kohl's heartbeat.  It was a good one.

We met Dr. Gordon's daughter Anna, as it was Take Your Daughter To Work Day.

Anxious about getting their immunization shots.  4 of them.  Apiece!

Buddy being brave.  He even looks at the needle as they stick him.  Madelyn looks pensive.

But is steady and calm when its her turn.  The nurses were in complete amazement.
They said, "This never happens!"

Walking in the rain to get their treat at downtown Winter Garden.

Showing off their bandages.

Quotes:

• We were going to pick up Mommy from the Kia dealership because she was dropping off the Sorrento for some maintenance.  We were driving around the parking lot, and I spotted someone that I thought was her:

          Me:  [to Braelyn] "What color was Mommy wearing today?"

          Brae:  "I don't know."

          Me:  "Was it red?"

          Brae:  "I don't remember.  Just look around for a beautiful face."

          Awww!

• We were opening up a present for Madelyn, inside the box were lots of pieces to be assembled together.  She grabbed the paper that was inside the box and thrusted it towards me, "Here you go, the constructions."

          Or…instructions?

• I was going over with the twins what they learned in school one day, they having gone over the letter "E":

          Me:  "Oh, so did you learn to write it and what words begin with it?"

          Both:  "Yes!"

          Maddy:  "Daddy, what does capital mean?"

          Me:  "You mean like capital E?  Capital is another word for big.
                    It means big."

          Maddy:  [looks out the window]  "Like that tree?  Is that a capital tree?"

• We were at the doctor's, practicing and memorizing our address.  After several minutes of repeating it:

          Me:  "Okay guys, what is our street address?"

          Kohl:  "The United States of America!"

          Oye.

Have a great weekend!!