Busch Gardens

It has become an annual tradition with our family and Chris and Julie's family that they come to our house the weekend of the NFL draft. Usually the boys camp out in front of the TV and Julie and I spend a lot of Saturday shopping- leaving various babies behind. This year, the NFL commissioner decided to have the draft start at 3 o'clock instead of noon, so Julie and I tried to think of something to get the kids out of the house so they would be tired out when the draft started. Julie mentioned maybe trying the Lowry Park Zoo and I thought, if we were going to drive all the way out to the zoo, why not just go ahead and go to Busch Gardens? Brad and I hadn't been in close to 5 years, and right now they have their Florida resident promotion going- buy a ticket and come back for the rest of the year, for free! 

Julie and I concocted this whole plan on Thursday afternoon, then had to present it to the husbands. Surprisingly, they both agreed wholeheartedly, so early Saturday morning we headed out. I am sure we were quite a sight- Chris and Julie pushing two strollers, and me with my "monster truck" of a double stroller, even though half the time Landon was in the Baby Bjorn. The adults didn't get to go on many rides- Julie and I went on 2 roller coasters and poor Brad and Chris only got to go on one- but the theme of the day was tiring the kids out. Busch Gardens has a whole area dedicated to kids, called the Land of Dragons. Now Savannah absolutely LOVES dragons, so once we told her we were going to Dragon Land, she was set!

All of us, minus Landon (under the Hooter Hider) and Julie

Grace, Savannah and Caleb on the boat ride in Dragon Land

Me and my big girl

Julie and Grace

I LOVE this picture of Grace. She was bummed that she wasn't quite tall enough for most of the "big kid" rides, so she was stoked to get to go on the Sand Storm. I love Chris' face, too. She had so much fun!

Grace and Savannah- I can't believe Savannah is big enough to ride without me!

LOVE this one- the three amigos checking out the flamingoes

Chris, Caleb, Julie and Grace

Grace and Savannah on the flying dragons

Julie had to take Caleb and Savannah on this pinwheel looking ride. My favorite part was catching Julie in a big ol' yawn!

Me, Landon, Savannah and Brad

It was so much fun, even if it was a short day focused mostly on the kids. We are already planning future trips, to take full advantage of our free year passes. And we are planning these trips with lots of babysitters in mind, ha!

Projects

As promised, photos of the new living room set up. Of course, all my photos of the couch before are on the computer upstairs, so I will have to edit this later. But the couches used to be yellow, and now thanks to some awesome new slipcovers they are a dark blue. The throw pillows are my own work- I took our duvet cover (since we need a new bedspread) and covered the yellow throw pillows in the striped material. I think they turned out pretty fantastic, even if the seams aren't exactly straight. But they are all sewn up and that is an accomplishment in itself (thanks, Mom, for my sewing machine!)

I also took some of the excess material and recovered our dining room chairs. The chairs used to be a strange shade of yellow- now they coordinate with the throw pillows and it really ties the whole room together. 

The couches:

The dining room chairs:

A Quarter Century

Yesterday was my 25th birthday.

After 6 busy weekends in a row, I actually cancelled my original plans to visit my parents in lieu of a nice, quiet weekend at home. And it was absolutely perfect. Saturday was spent outside, weeding what will soon become (hopefully) blooming flower beds, while Brad edged the yard. Savannah ran around like a wild banshee, before happily settling down with a spade and a square of dirt and digging in. She might have stayed there all day if we'd let her, but the Florida sun was too brutal for too much time outside. Landon was happy to sit in his swing in the shade and nap so I could actually get some work done- good boy that he is!

After showers and a little time spent cleaning up the house, we headed to Five Guys for my birthday dinner- the best cheeseburgers I've ever had, and I have only the slightest addiction to them. We came home and actually watched 2 movies (!)- Juno and Dan in Real Life- both were cute, though not the gut-wrenching, hilarious films I was expecting, especially Juno. 

Sunday I woke up, came out of the bedroom and Kevin told me Happy Birthday.. and it took me a minute to say thanks because I had actually forgotten for a second. I'll blame it on sleepy brain! We drove to the New Tampa area to meet Brad's parents for lunch at Outback, where Landon decided he had been much too well-behaved on Saturday and proceeded to be unhappy for our entire meal. So everyone took turns taking him outside- I still don't know what his deal was!

We got back and headed upstairs, where I spent the next 4ish hours sewing. Yes, sewing. How domesticated of me to spend my birthday in front of a sewing machine! But I had two projects I really wanted to get done, so Brad was on Daddy Duty while I got to work. I ordered new slipcovers for our downstairs couches and they should be arriving tomorrow, but our throw pillows wouldn't match, so I made some covers for the 4 pillows... and then took the remaining fabric and recovered our dining room chairs to match. I have to admit, they look great. Especially the dining room chairs- I'll have to post pictures, because I am so proud!

As soon as I finished, it was off to bed for everyone, and Landon must have felt bad for being fussy during my birthday lunch because I put him in his crib at 11 and he slept until 6 this morning!! I can't remember the last time I had 7 uninterrupted hours of sleep!! That might have been the best birthday gift yet!

Landon's Baptism

This past Sunday, we celebrated as Landon was baptized into a Godly life. We stood before the congregation with his God parents (Chris and Julie!) and promised to lead him on a righteous path. It was a beautiful ceremony and he was such a good boy! He only cried afterwards, during his prayer. He was actually baptized in the same outfit that his Daddy was baptized in, almost 30 years ago- in the same church where Brad and I were married, and where Savannah was baptized, by the same Pastor. I still need to get some good photos of Landon in his outfit (of course I said this about Savannah, too, 2 years ago and never got them!)

The Hill/Martin/Swanson families

Us with Landon's sweet God parents.

Our family (I swear, I look 5 months pregnant in the photo! Bad angle!!)

Us with Pastor Horsman

Our Play Group

Savannah, Landon and I have been blessed with a wonderful group of new friends! They are actually girls from The Nest message boards- there is a local West Coast Florida board and we all met on there. I am actually the only one that has two kids, and Savannah is the oldest of the bunch but she has so much fun playing with all the babies!

We meet every Wednesday- we have been picking a different park each week and bringing blankets and just letting the babies explore. The babies, right now, are mostly in two groups- the 8-14 weekers and then more 5+ monthers. Of course, we admit that right now the "play group" is more for us Mom's than the babies, because they don't get too much out of it, but it is important for us to get together. They are a great bunch of girls and we are so lucky to have met them!

Savannah especially looks forward to our Wednesday get togethers. On Tuesday nights I'll ask her if she wants to go to the park [tomorrow] to see her baby friends. Her face lights up and she starts spouting off their names: "Go see Ella! Go see Macie! Go see baby friends!" She gets so much enjoyment out of them!

 

From L to R: Logan, Nolan, Ella, Macie and Addison, at Lettuce Lake Park. 

Avery and Landon, holding "hands"- Avery is actually a week younger than Landon!

Ella- wouldn't you just kill for those eyes!

A circle of babies, from top: Addison (in yellow), Payton, Macie, Ella, Landon, Kyson, Avery- yesterday at Ballast Point Park

And Miss Savannah, the "Mom" of the group!

Intense Cloud Formations

We had some intense cloud formations roll through last night. They were literally breathtaking:

The Aquarium

Shortly after we were married, my parents gave Brad and I their 30 gallon aquarium. Brad really wanted to turn it into a salt water tank, but being a poor law student with a wife who was, at the time, working as a hostess at the Ale House, he settled for a fresh water tank. 

When we moved to Bradenton two years ago, since we had done Savannah's room in an ocean theme, Brad bought a small, 10 gallon tank and turned it into a salt water tank. We had a little clown fish [Nemo, of course] and something else I can't remember. Little Nemo has been a resilient little guy, and made the move from Bradenton to our house like a champ. His tank-mate, sadly, didn't. 

Periodically since we moved in, Brad has talked about getting a larger salt water tank, but something has always come up. Until we got our tax return this year. 

Brad found an amazing set up on Craigslist- a 90 gallon tank, stand, the sump pump and a lot of other fancy, expensive aquarium paraphenalia that I don't even understand, for just $350. Literally thousands of dollars worth for pennies. AND the guy selling it lives in the neighborhood across the street, and said he would come over and set it all up and teach Brad how to use everything. 

So we got the tank set up last Friday, and then headed out of town. Our little Nemo, once again, made the move like a champ. And since we got back from my parents, Brad has been adding here and there (okay, really a fish a day) But I have to admit, it looks fantastic. 

Here is the tank with the daytime lights on it. The fish are hiding.

Early morning/dusk lights. I swear there are fish in here!

Moon lights. These look fantastic in person, with all the house lights off. 

Our porcupine puffer fish. His name is Gizmo. It reminds me of the little guy in the Gremlins movie- the cute one. Hence the name. 

Here he is straight on. Such a cutie!

We also have a lunare wrasse (called Lupin, after the professor in Harry Potter who was a werewolf, since we told Savannah it is a Moon fish (wrasse is too close to another word) and werewolves come out with the moon. It's not too far of a leap. He also bought a gorgeous fish called a Picasso trigger that really looks like something Picasso would have painted. Brad wants to call him Pablo- I think that is too obvious. 

It is a fun addition to the house, and Savannah is having so much fun with this new hobby. We went to a fish store over the weekend and she was in heaven, running all over and looking at the fish. We were looking at a "Dory" fish (aka a Blue Tang) while the guy at the store was feeding them. I told Savannah that Dory was eating, and she replied back to me, "Dory eating grilled cheese?" A one track mind, this kid. 

So as we add new fish, and I try to capture them on film (they are quick little guys!) I will be showcasing them on here. 

Weighing In

Savannah had her 2 year well baby (toddler now, I guess) visit, and Landon had his 2 month. Here's how they measured up:

Weight: 10 pounds, 6 ounces. 25th percentile

Length: 21 3/4 inches. 10th percentile

Weight: 22 pounds, 6 ounces. 5th percentile

Height: 33 1/4 inches. 20th percentile.

So Savannah is still my little peanut and Landon is well on his way to being a little guy, too. Although Savannah has always been in the 5th percentile for weight, so Landon is a chunker as far as we are concerned!!