Cruisin'

 Here are more pictures from our cruise last month.  Enjoy!

First time staying in a hotel room!

Family putt-putt time

Collin's favorite part was the water slides.  He went on all of them, even the one he wasn't tall enough for!

View of Atlantis from the ship

Ready for the beach!

Waiting with Mimi to get off the ship in Nassau for beach time!

Tired.  But not tired enough for a beach nap.  Too much to do!

Loving the sand

Ready for the clear, blue water

"Where's mommy's camera?"  "There it is."

Our girl ONLY sleeps in her bed.  She was  EXHAUSTED!

Watching brother from the sidelines.  And sneaking into the spraying water every once in a while.  Shhh!

Build a bear.  

Or "quack quack"

Or scuba diving monkey.

All dressed up after the family scavenger hunt.  We didn't win, but we had fun!

Wedding/Cruise Slideshow

Wow, did I take a lot of pictures on our cruise!  Mike's sister Joy and her fiance Virgil were married on board the Carnival Fascination before it left port in Jacksonville.  Collin was the ring bearer and Katelyn was the flower girl.  We were lucky enough to be able to cruise with them after the wedding.  Here is a slideshow of most of the festivities including our yummy dinner the night before the cruise, wedding day on the ship, and some of the fun we had while on the ship.  I will be posting some more pictures/video of the actual cruise since I didn't carry my camera around and I have a lot on my phone.  

A lot of people have been asking me what it was like and if I would recommend taking a 5 and 2 year old on a cruise.  While my answer may be different than Mike's, it was actually better than I expected.  The room wasn't as cramped as I expected it to be with 4 people and no one got sick!!  Also, the kids were so exhausted every night, that bedtime wasn't an issue (I was worried about this since Katelyn falls asleep by herself in her room and we would be in the room with her.  The first night, she fell asleep when Collin was still hyped up and playing around in the hotel room!)  We will cruise again with the kids, but I would recommend holding off on taking a 2 year old.  She isn't potty trained, so she wasn't allowed in the pool or on the slides.  She also wasn't up for staying up too late at Camp Carnival.  They both did great the first two nights, but then they were done so the "grown up dinner" as we called it didn't work out the whole time.  I would also recommend a bigger ship with a bigger pool (the pool was tiny and was the only place on the ship that ever felt crowded).  So while we didn't get a lot of adult time, it was still a fun family vacation and would probably be great once the kids are old enough to really enjoy all of the kids activities available.  Any suggestions/experiences on cruising with kids are appreciated! 

Congratulations!

 Congratulations Auntie Joy and Uncle Virgil!

 

We love you both!

~Many more pictures from our wedding/cruise adventure with the kiddos coming soon!

Spring!

I can't believe I forgot to post these cute pictures!  Last month, Collin had community helper day at school, or as their school calls it, Praise Town.  They all dressed up as community helpers and Collin chose to be a doctor.   

 Katelyn didn't really get to participate since she doesn't go to school on Thursdays, but she had to get in on the picture anyway.

And Happy 1st Day of Spring!!

Is it spring yet?

You may remember that both Collin and Katelyn were super sick over Christmas break.  I wish I could say it has been better since then, but it hasn't.  Both have since had pneumonia and had to be on breathing treatments at home, and Collin has had strep throat twice!  Each time Collin has been sick, he's been running really high fevers which he really hasn't done much before.  They were so high one time that he was hallucinating.  It was really scary.  He also has a new habit of throwing up every time his fever goes up.  It's really fun!  

Needless to say, we are ready for spring, despite the fact that I really need to go get myself some Claritin!  We've been having fun on our well days though!

The other Friday morning, I took them to Krispy Kreme for breakfast.  It's always such a treat for them.  They love to watch the donuts being made and of course eating them!  Thanks Ms. Rachel and Ms. Eryn for the sweet Valentine with a coupon!   

Katelyn's favorite...chocolate iced with sprinkles!

Collin's favorite...powdered!

 Collin and Katelyn are in Auntie Joy's wedding NEXT WEEK!  Collin really needed a haircut, so we decided to go ahead a let them even Katelyn's up as well. 

Brother seems ok, so it must be alright.

I really wasn't sure how it was going to go at this point.

I've got this yummy lollipop, but what is she doing to my hair?

Checking on brother again.

Still ok.  He's a pro.

It was a success!  So proud of you big girl!

And then there's Kung Fu.  We are thinking of enrolling Collin in karate.  I think you can see why. 

FIVE!

Dear Collin,
I am sorry this post is so late.  I think I have been in denial that you are actually FIVE!  But since we went to open house for KINDERGARTEN last week, I guess it's true.  Happy 5th Birthday!  

 This year, you decided to have a Kung Fu Panda birthday party and you insisted that we invite some of your friends from school! 

 We had lots of fun food like peanut butter and jelly "sushi", chicken won tons, and fortune cookies!

 Kung Fu Panda's hand was definitely NOT supposed to be on fire with the candles. 

 But you saved the day by blowing the candles out (along with Po's hand) before we were done singing.

 We also had your first pinata this year.  You got to go first.

 Then it was cousin Carter's turn.

 Grabbing as many lollipops and M and Ms as you can!

 Katelyn watching as Nanna gathers her lots of lollipops!

Here's a little bit about you these days:

You weigh 42 lbs and are 46 inches tall!  Tall and skinny just like you have been for the last five years!  You wear a size 5/6 but have to have adjustable waistbands.  We just bought you size 13 shoes the other day.  I think you are going through a pretty big growth spurt, because you have been eating CONSTANTLY!

Unlike last year, when you hadn't been to the pediatrician between your 3 and 4 year old checkups, you've had your share of sicknesses this year.  (You are just getting over your 3rd yucky sickness since November).  We've had some sort of sore throat virus, flu, pneumonia, and strep!

You are all set for Kindergarten and didn't need any shots at your checkup.

You are walking on your toes less.  This past summer you did some OT sessions with Ms. Victoria and I really think it helped a lot.

You really do love your sister.  But this past year has been hard on you since you have had to share your attention from mommy and daddy and your toys a little more.  You don't like when she messes up your creations like lincoln logs and marbleworks.  On the other hand, you have started to realize she is old enough to play some things with you and you are very helpful with her at times.  

Your favorite foods haven't changed much from last year.  You are a really good eater.  Your favorite breakfast foods are oatmeal and jelly biscuits.  For snack, you prefer cereal bars, fruit snacks, and a new favorite, newtons.  You love ham and cheese roll-ups for lunch and also peanut butter and jelly.  Your dinner favorite is pizza.  You also love fruit, yogurt, applesauce, salad, and cheese.  You will eat just about anything except for mixed things (but even this is getting better) and beans.

Your favorite toys are anything that shoots, flies, sticks, or transforms.  You love helicopters, magnets, and "transformer cars".  You also love puzzles and dot to dots.  You LOVE to play the Wii.  Your favorite game is Kung Fu Panda, but you're pretty good at bowling, golf, and baseball too.  

You like to play outside.  We recently got a trampoline, so that is your current favorite.  You are also learning to ride a bike, roller skate, and ride a scooter.  

You love your "screen time".  Your favorite TV shows now are Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Max and Ruby, Olivia, Special Agent Oso, Octonauts, and Kung Fu Panda.  You have also discovered some old shows on netflix like Sonic, Ironman, Spiderman, and Power Rangers.  You like to watch movies, but I'm not sure if you have a favorite right now.  Lately you are into Kung Fu Panda 2, Beauty and the Beast, Cars 2, and Despicable Me.

You are doing awesome with your school skills!  You can write all of your upper and lower case letters and numbers 1-10.  You can count to over 100!  You love to draw and use scissors.  You are beginning to read and are recognizing many words already.  You can dress yourself, tie your shoes, brush your teeth, and take a shower by yourself!  

You love pre-K!  We went through a very short phase where you didn't want to go, but now most days you are ready!  You love your teachers and friends and are very helpful at school.  Your teachers say you are plenty ready for Kindergarten!  You love going to music and chapel (especially since you get to see your sister).  I love listening to you sing the songs that I used to sing when I went to preschool.  Favorites are Father Abraham, This little light of mine, the Hello song, and some song you both love that starts with "oh oh oh" but I can't get either of you to teach me the rest of it.  

You sleep from around 8:30/9:00 until 7ish.  You sleep with blankie and angry bird.  Bailey (the cat) loves to sleep with you until Mommy goes to bed.  Then I have to let her out so she doesn't wake you early to eat!

You love your mommy (you still tell me you love me 20 times a day for no reason).  I have seen you become even more attached to daddy lately too.  You went fishing with he and Papa a week ago and had so much fun.  You caught 27 fish I think!  You were really upset to see daddy leave on his most recent business trip.  I'm loving watching the awesome father-son relationship grow as you get older. 

We love you to outer space and back little buddy (or "stink" as daddy would call you)! 

Love, Mommy