St Paul's Carnival

St Paul's Catholic Church, here in Jacksonville Beach, has an annual carnival to raise money for the school.  Colby got a glimpse of the Ferris wheel the first night it opened and it wasn't long before he told Dylan all about it.  The entire next day they talked about the carnival and begged to go.  We said that if they could be really good for the day and if mommy got a good report from Bobbi Lynn (our weekly helper) then we would go.  Off we went to our first carnival!!!

All by themselves on the Ferris Wheel

Abby and Mommy

View from the top

Cheese

Looking down on the boys

Can you see Daddy waving?

Mini Pirate Ship

Yes mommy is on this ride with the boys

It was going to fast for Daddy to get a picture of us!!

Still cant capture us

 A little story about the whale ride: its a little kids ride but of course Colby wanted to go on too.  He actually looks a bit silly once he gets in and we laugh.  The ride begins and I start taking pictures.  I can get one of Colby and Abby but my silly little man AKA Dylan decides to duck when I try to get his photo.  I must have deleted so many picture because he kept hiding.  You will see I actually got a pretty good one of him bent over in fetal position hiding from me.  He then pops up and says "boo" which I got on camera too.  By the way this went on for about 10 minutes.  Colby then ask the carnival guy "is this ride going to go on all day?".  It was hilarious....basically he was now really bored and ready to go back on the big kid rides.  He then said "hey! I'm about to throw up!".  Scott and I were laughing so hard.  The people around us had to think we were one big crazy family!

Who's bigger?  The whale or Colby?

Dylan being Dylan

Abby is actually laughing at Dylan who is in front of her

Where's Dylan??

"BOO!!!!!"

All three racing each other

Here they come

Its a tie!!

Colby and Daddy on the bumper cars

Crazy driving



We played games and won prizes, rode many of rides, walked through the fun house, and had one awesome family night together!!!

Six Kids all by Myself - WOW!

My friend Nikki and her husband bought a house recently and it has a ton of work that needs to be done before they can move in.  Having the 2 kids it is very hard for her to get over there to work without either paying a babysitter or splitting the duties with Mark.  I offered my services today for a few hours so that the two of them could work together on the house.  Besides Abby and Liam being 2 and wanting the same toy or fighting about who gets to go the bathroom first thankfully they all play very well together.  Dylan seems to take Liam on as his little pal and Colby was my big helper when the babies began to cry.  Although we had a few bumps in the road and a few tears from each and every one of them we ended with big smiles!!!

Yes the last picture may make you think the day ended with tears but this was taken prior to diapers being changed, food, and naps!

Double Date

Finally, after months of planning and cancelling, Lea, Grady, Scott and I were able to go out on a double date!!! Our Christmas present from Mom and don (or as Lea calls them Dad and Bonny) was a $50 coin to III Forks and free babysitting.  It was so nice to go out with them and actually have a conversation without being interrupted by the kids or eating where it would be kid friendly.  Of course since Lea's birthday was at the end of February and Scott's had been a few days before I let them know so we could sing Happy Birthday (and get free dessert). 

Daddy's Birthday

We began the celebration a few days early and took Daddy to The Red Elephant for dinner.  The kids love the pizza and we love the relaxed family atmosphere (also it is loud so we don't have to worry about the noise our crew can make).  I couldn't leave dinner without some singing because if they didn't sing we wouldn't get an elephant ear!!!

On the actual day of his birthday we celebrated with Grammy and Pop Pop for a quick dinner at Taco Lu then home for presents and brownie sundaes! The kids got daddy tennis rackets so he could play with them (they are taking lessons).  You may notice that I said rackets and not racket.  Dylan insisted that we get two rackets so mommy could have one too.  He wanted to play as a family.  His big gift was from his parents, grandparents, and me which was a Garmin for his bike. 



Happy Birthday Daddy!! We love you!!!

First Day Back at the Beach

Florida decided to skip Winter and now I think it has decided to skip Spring too! Normally in March it isnt warm enough to put bathing suits on much less go in the water.  It was a perfect day between the weather and the friends we went with.  The plan was to put the babies into the nursery but since both of them were happy little campers we decided to let them play too.  Blake has never been to the beach before and just as I expected he, just like Abby did at this age, thought the sand was better in his mouth than on the beach :-).  Colby, Dylan and Abby played in the waves but Liam wanted nothing to do with the water.  Nikki and I camped out under the palm covered cabana with Declan and Blake keeping them away from the rays.  If the other kiddos were not down by the water they were playing on the playground or playing in the sand.  The best part was that it was warm enough to be there but just cool enough to be comfortable.  I need to enjoy this before its 100*!!!