Halfway through 2023

Happy summer! It honestly kind of freaks me out that 2023 is already halfway over. I don’t know how this year is flying by so quickly! We’ve really been enjoying this busy stage of life with the kids! Here’s a recap of the last few months.

APRIL-

Evie Anniversary

We had our one year anniversary of when we got our pup, Evie! We are all pretty much obsessed with her. She is the absolute perfect fit for our family – a good combination of fun and energetic to sweet and snuggly. We’ve had the best first year with her and can’t wait for many more!

Easter

We had a fun, busy Easter season! We loved making and decorating our annual Easter cookies, as well as dying Easter eggs.

We had multiple Easter celebrations with family. The first was at Ryan’s sister’s house with his dad’s side of the family. There were HUNDREDS of eggs hidden for the Easter egg hunt, and with my competitive kids, we ended up with most of them! The kids loved it, but we still have some of that candy leftover!

On Easter day, we went to Ryan’s aunt’s house to celebrate with his mom’s side of the family, and my family joined as well. There was tons of food and cousins and lots more eggs to hunt! The kids had a blast and we ended up coming home with a ridiculous amount of candy!

Start of Baseball/Softball Season

We had a wonderful softball and baseball season! Both kids moved up to the next league – Kinsie was in 10U, which was kid pitch, and Brax moved up to 7/8. They both got on great teams with great coaches. On opening day, my parents came and the kids had their first games at the same time, so between the 4 of us (and Brody), we ran back and forth between fields to see both of them play!

Losing Teeth

Braxton lost both of his top two teeth this month! I LOVE this phase – he was the absolute cutest!!

New Orleans

Ryan had a work conference in New Orleans, so I was able to tag along! I had never been to New Orleans, so it was quite a fun new adventure! We stayed in a nice hotel, so when Ryan had conference meetings, I worked out, hung out by the pool, or just sat in the room and got lots of reading done. Then when Ryan was done with meetings for the day, we would go out and explore!

We had some of the best food we’ve ever had in our lives. We tried New Orleans’ famous beignets at many different places so we could compare and see who really had the best ones!

One day we went on a swamp tour, which was a lot of fun! We got to get up close to some gators and even feed them some marshmallows!

We also decided on a whim to get matching tattoos of our anniversary!

I absolutely loved exploring this unique city with my favorite travel partner! We had a blast!

Outside Time with Bro

Brody was especially obsessed with spending time outside this spring. When the big kids were at school, we would spend hours outside swinging or playing with all of his trucks. He and Evie would also team up to dig holes in the yard!

MAY-

Braxton’s 7th Birthday

Our boy turned 7 in May!! The stage of life that he’s in has been my favorite!! He is so much fun to be around. He is funny and sarcastic, but also sweet and helpful!

On his actual birthday, the kids didn’t have school because it was an election day, and they use the schools as voting places. We started our day with our usual donuts, then tried to find some fun inside activities because it was actually pretty cold. We had his best friend over for a playdate, played some Mario Kart, and eventually went to sushi for dinner (his favorite!) and then ice cream afterwards! He had a great day!

A few days later, we had a sports birthday party with his friends at the YMCA. They got to do some fun games and activities in the gym, then we had snacks, a cookie cake and ice cream in the party room. Brax LOVED having all of his buddies together playing sports with him! The only other person who I think was as happy as Brax was Brody! He was so happy running around with all of the big boys!!

Baseball season continued

I love baseball season! I love the atmosphere of the ball fields, and we all love seeing all of our friends there. Most of the kids’ friends also play, so no matter what, there is always someone we know playing. Brody’s favorite part of the ball fields though – is the concession stand! You can almost always find him living his best life with popcorn, a snow cone, nachos, or some candy!

Mother’s Day

Ryan and the kids spoiled me for Mother’s Day! Ryan had to work, but he still made me feel loved with fun gifts. And the kids made so many sweet homemade gifts!

Brody’s 3rd Birthday

Our baby boy turned 3 this month!! Goodness we are obsessed with him. He is quite the handful – extremely stubborn and marches to the beat of his own drum…but he is the absolute sweetest, the funniest and the cutest little human!

Brody had quite the busy birthday! We started the day with donuts as usual. Then once we took the big kids to school, we went to the mall to make a birthday bear at Build-a-Bear. My mom met us at the mall to eat lunch with us and shop around for a little while. After the mall, we took him to play at the playground.

Once Kinsie and Brax got home from school, and Ryan got home from work, we let him open his presents and then we took him to Buffa-Louie’s for dinner. After dinner we walked around campus, and then ended the evening at our favorite ice cream place, Jiffy Treat. He was a very happy little 3 year old all day!

End of the School Year

May is always such a busy time with all of the end of the school year activities. Brody had a closing program where his class was supposed to sing a few songs and then say their name into the microphone. A few kids cried or hid behind their teachers, but Brody wasn’t one of them so I was happy!

Brody had a wonderful first year of preschool. I was a little nervous about him – considering he was my 2020 baby who didn’t interact with other humans for the first 2 years of his life. He cried at drop off sometimes, but it never lasted long. His teacher said he was always a good listener and participated in the classroom activities. I am very proud of him for a great first year!

Kinsie and Brax both had a wonderful year of school too!

This was Braxton’s first year at this school, and he started out a little nervous and timid but soon became extremely comfortable and close with all of his friends and teachers.

Kinsie had a fantastic year in third grade. She has made SO much progress in the last few years with coming out of her shell and being less shy. She’s such a natural leader and her teachers adore her. Kinsie was given an amazing opportunities to join the ALPS program (advanced learning program for students) for 4th grade next year. She will attend a new school where she was be with other advanced 4th graders in the district. This school is especially great for her because they have an integrated arts program. She is sad to leave her current school but she is really excited to start at this new school. I can’t wait to see the amazing things she does in this new chapter!

The kids enjoyed a Field Day on their last day of school. I came to help out with one of the stations, and I love seeing the kids in their element with their friends and teachers. The highlight for Braxton was getting to pie his P.E. teacher in the face! 

Carpal Tunnel Surgery

I have suffered with carpal tunnel syndrome for over a decade. The first flare up I ever had was when I got my first teaching job in 2012, and I was using my hands a lot while setting up my new classroom. After that, I had severe flare ups every time I was pregnant. It was so bad when I gave birth to Braxton that I could barely hold him for the first few weeks of his life. I received multiple cortisone injections after giving birth to Brax, and some when I was pregnant with Brody as well. After I had Brody, my hands pretty much always bothered me. They were numb while doing almost any task – my right hand always much worse. So after a very long time – I finally got surgery on my right hand! The sports medicine doctor that I saw said that my carpal tunnel was extremely constricted – so much so that I was beginning to show signs of atrophy in my right hand, so I got the procedure done at the right time. My mom came to watch the kids while Ryan took me for my surgery – which was done with a local anesthetic, meaning I didn’t even have to be put to sleep. It’s been almost 6 weeks since my surgery and I am still gaining my strength back in my hand, but the numbness and carpal tunnel discomfort is gone!!

Summer Fun

We’ve been busy but have still managed to make time for lots of summer fun – including ice cream trips, swimming, Jeep rides and water activities!

Memorial Weekend

We were so excited that Ryan got the entire Memorial weekend off! So we took full advantage of it but spending the weekend at the lake. We brought my nieces with us because my nephew had a baseball tournament, and I knew they would have more fun at the lake with us.

We started our weekend with pizza and watching the Super Mario Bros movie on the projector outside of the lake house. The kids loved it!

Brody is OBSESSED with riding on golf carts, so we had to make sure we took him on plenty of rides through the weekend!

The kids enjoyed swimming in the lake and wearing matching swim suits 🙂

We also did lots of fishing!

The kids all had so much fun together doing all of the various outdoor lake activities. And it was good to see my husband get to relax and enjoy the lake too!

While we were there with all of our family, we celebrated our May birthday boys!

We enjoyed lots of boat rides too! It was such a fun and busy weekend. We hated to see it end!

Spotty

Braxton’s pet gecko, Spotty sadly passed away at the end of May. Brax was really sad to lose his buddy, but we were all there for him and had a small celebration of life for him before burying him in our backyard. Kinsie even made Spotty-themed snacks. We love having pets, but it’s always so hard when we lose them.

JUNE-

Welcome to the family, Goomba!

We were sad to lose Spotty, but shortly after, there was a reptile expo at the state fairgrounds, so we told Brax he could pick out a new lizard. He chose a bearded dragon and named him Goomba! We were excited to have a new pet join the family!

End of baseball season

Baseball season ended at the beginning of June. Both of the kids had fantastic last games in their tournaments, and Brody enjoyed a nice nap in the second half of Kinsie’s late night game! Kinsie’s team ended up getting 2nd place for the season. We loved watching them both grow and develop in their skills this season!

Touch-a-Truck

Our town had a fun event called Touch-a-truck, where lots of local trucks gathered together and kids could get up close and sit in them. There were firetrucks, a digger, a cement mixer, and lots more. It was Brody’s dream! It rained pretty much the entire time, but he didn’t mind at all!

Father’s Day

Ryan had to work on Father’s Day this year, so we celebrated him a little early. He loved the cards that the kids made him!

While Ryan worked, the kids and I spent the weekend at the lake. We loved lots of boat rides, fishing, and Brody even had his first tubing experience and absolutely loved it!

Potty Trained!

I’ve attempted potty training with Brody a few times now – each one unsuccessful. As I said earlier, he is a stubborn little fella and didn’t want to be told to do it, but he wanted it to be his idea. It has also been hard to be consistent with our busy schedule of school, activities, and baseball. I finally found a few days this summer that we would be home for a few days. We woke up one day and I told him he wasn’t going to wear diapers anymore. He resisted for a little while and tried to put his diaper on himself, but eventually gave in. Then he learned how to use the potty in ONE DAY. He started by going outside a lot, but quickly picked it up going on the potty inside too. It was the easiest potty training experience EVER! I cannot even tell you how happy I am to finally be DONE with diapers!!

11th Anniversary

Ryan and I celebrated our 11th anniversary this month! It was been quite an eventful 11 years – but I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world!

Ryan was on night shifts during our anniversary, so we barely saw each other. However, my van wouldn’t start that morning so the most time we got to spend together was when he tried to help me jump start it! Luckily we were able to have a date night the next weekend!

Cincinnati Zoo

Every year we try to take a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo to see Kinsie’s favorite hippo, Fiona! This time we also got to meet Fiona’s new baby brother Fritz!

My parents and my sister’s kids came to the zoo with us. The kids loved getting to feed the giraffes, get up close to the kangaroos, watch the hippos swim back and forth, and much more.

Brody’s favorite part was Ryan taking him on a train ride!

The kids had such a great day together at our favorite zoo!

Sweet Summer Time

We’ve had some weird weather this month, but whenever it’s been nice, we manage to make our way outside for swimming, water fun, popsicles, and driving their little vehicles!

Indians Game

Near the end of the month, we met up with some friends in Indy to go to an Indianapolis Indians game at Victory Field. The kids had an absolute blast with their friends from school!

 

Even though we’re busy, we have all really enjoyed lots of family time! We have some fun planned before school starts, then some fun new adventures coming this fall, including a trip to California in September! 

Happy summer!!

Off to a Great Start in 2023!

How are we three months into 2023 already?! We’ve had a great and busy start to our year! We had a mild winter and are patiently waiting for consistent warmer temps to enjoy spring and summer. Here is a recap of our last 3 months.

January

The ONE Snow Day

We were prepared to have multiple snow days (aka – online learning days) this winter, because that is just what usually happens, but surprisingly, we only had ONE! The kids got their work done as quickly as they could so they could play outside.

The kids loved sledding and making snow angels, and Brody found a new obsession with digging up snow with his trucks and diggers!

Disney on Ice

We used to love going to Disney on Ice before Covid hit. And of course Brody never got to do it since he was born in 2020, so I was excited to take the kids this year!

Kinsie’s Redstepper Clinic

Kinsie had a really neat opportunity to go to a dance clinic with the Indiana University Redsteppers. She spent a few hours in the morning doing fun activities and learning a dance routine, then they got to perform the routine at the Men’s basketball game at halftime! She even had a few surprise visitors come to see her dance!

Random weather

Indiana weather is the most random thing. Sometimes it snows, and other times, it’s nice enough to have a picnic on campus, play outside and “sunbathe!”

Evie turned One!

Our sweet pup turned 1 year old this month! Kinsie made decorations, we bought her a few new toys and a new cozy bed, and we even made a cake for her! She LOVED it and the kids had a lot of fun celebrating with her!

February

Girl Scout Cookie Season

Kinsie had her first official season of selling Girl Scout cookies! She really enjoyed it and did so well!

IU Sweeps Purdue

It was an exciting and fun college basketball season this year! But the best part was that IU swept Purdue, and Ryan and I got to witness it! It was such a fun game!

Family Hike

We always love finding new parks and hiking areas, so we were excited to find a new place to hike in our town. The kids loved exploring nature and throwing rocks in the creek.

Monster Jam

Brody is OBSESSED with trucks of all kind – so we knew we had to take him to Monster Jam this year! We even bought tickets to the pit party before the show so we could walk around and see the monster trucks up close. Brody was in heaven!!

We brought our nephew Briggs to the actual show while Kinsie hung out with the girl cousins. The boys had a great time watching all the monster trucks do races and tricks and scoring them. It was a really cool experience that we will for sure do again!

OG Family Vacay

February is a rough time for me mentally – mainly with the weather. When my sister invited me to fly out to Florida with her to visit my parents who were there for the month, I was going to do everything I could make it work! Luckily I have the best mother-in-law in the world and she was able to make it work to come help with the kids since Ryan would still be working. I am SO glad I was able to go. It was so relaxing and refreshing and I absolutely loved getting to spend some quality time with my parents and my sister. This was the first time we took a vacation – just us 4 – in probably 20 years!

We even took a day to drive to Orlando and spend the day at Epcot. I had to ask for forgiveness from my kids for this, but it was such an amazing day. We rode a few rides (mainly Guardians of the Galaxy over and over!) but we mainly spent our time eating and drinking around the world. It was such a perfect day and a perfect quick getaway!

Valentine’s Day Activities

We had fun celebrating Valentine’s Day this year! The kids enjoyed seeing a new heart on their door every morning with a reason why we love them!

They also LOVED doing a scavenger hunt to find their gifts. Brody talked about this for days afterwards, and even asked Kinsie to make more scavenger hunts for him to find prizes!

March

Brody’s Guest Day

Brody was so excited that he got to bring a guest to school, and he picked his Yaya! He loved showing her around his classroom, making a craft, and going to chapel with her. And after school, I enjoyed some lunch and shopping with my Mama 🙂

SPRING BREAK

This was the first time we went on a spring break trip since 2019! We decided to drive down to Arkansas to visit our old home! We left in the late afternoon after Ryan slept off a night shift, and drove about halfway and stopped at St. Louis to spend the night. I knew Kinsie and Brax would do fine in the car, but I had lots of movies, snacks and activities ready for Brody. He did great on the drive!

We stopped in St. Louis and enjoyed seeing the Arch, having dinner, and hanging out in the hotel for the evening. In the morning we were back on the road to head to Northern Arkansas for some hiking!

Part 1 of Trip – Buffalo River National Park

We always wanted to go here when we lived in Arkansas, but never got around to it, so we were excited to spend some time here. We rented an awesome cabin to stay in during our visit. There were no restaurants or grocery stores nearby, so we stopped in the nearest town to get some groceries before we got to the cabin, and we made all our meals there.

Hike 1 – Hawksbill Crag

The big kids were absolute champs during the hikes. Brody, on the other hand, was good, but wanted to be carried everywhere! He wouldn’t get in the hiking backpack or the Ergo carrier, but just wanted Ryan to carry him. But he still really enjoyed the hikes!

The end result of this hike was an awesome overhang view! We spent some time enjoying the view, eating a snack and taking a breather. This was probably the hardest hike of the trip, but the kids did great! Afterwards, we headed back to the cabin to relax for a little while and eat lunch.

Hike 2 – King’s River Falls

After lunch, we did another hike. This ended up being the kids’ favorite hike, mainly because there was a creek all along the path. Brody was obsessed with throwing rocks in the water, so wherever there was water, he was happy!

Once we got to the falls, we hung out here for a while and played, enjoyed the view, relaxed, and threw rocks. We had a great day of hiking!

Hike 3 – Lost Valley Trail

The next day, we headed out for another hike. This hike had some waterfalls, caves, and more creeks to throw rocks in! Oh and I forgot to mention that Kinsie did handstands and cartwheels at every location as well. At one point, Brax walked on a slippery spot and fell right into the water. He sweatshirt and pants got all wet (and it was chilly!) but he carried on and still made the most of it and enjoyed the rest of the hike!

Hike 4 – Pam’s Grotto Falls

This was a really cool hidden gem. It took somewhat of a crazy path through the woods, but it brought us to a really cool waterfall area. The rock formations here were amazing and we all enjoyed exploring this neat area for a while. Our time in Buffalo National River was a lot of fun…we are so glad we did it. The kids really enjoyed it as well. The next day, we drove a couple more hours down to Little Rock for the next leg of the trip.

Part 2 of Visit – Little Rock

When we moved from Arkansas to Indiana, Covid had just hit so the world was shut down. We didn’t get to visit our favorite places or our friends before we left, so our time there ended somewhat abruptly, and with me being stuck in the hospital with Brody for the first week of his life, we just didn’t have the best memories of our last few weeks there, so it was a breath of fresh air to see our old home again!

We loved driving by our old house and the kids’ old schools, and visiting our favorite parks. We always loved downtown Little Rock, so we enjoyed visiting the “Rock Park” the nature center and the Junction Bridge.

Visit with Friends

We loved getting to spend an evening with some old friends from residency. The kids all played so well together and had a great time while Ryan and I loved catching up with our friends too.

Little Rock Zoo

We used to go to this zoo ALL the time, so we knew we wanted to revisit! It was a chilly morning, but it wasn’t crowded and the animals were very active!

St. Patrick’s Day

And of course we had to get a pic of the kids with their St. Patrick’s Day shirts!

Re-enactment Photos

While we revisited some of our old favorite places, we loved re-enacting some old pictures! Brody obviously wasn’t around during the first photos, so he threw himself in some of the new pictures this time around 🙂

We had a fantastic trip and we are so glad we were able to do it! The kids loved remembering old memories about our time there and making lots of new ones!

And that’s a wrap for January, February and March. We are anticipating a VERY busy spring and summer with lots of sports and activities, and hopefully some beautiful weather! Happy spring!

Fall Update

Hi there! I’m back! We have been SO busy the last 3 months! So many fun and exciting updates! Here we go…

August

The kids all started school in August. Kinsie and Braxton started earlier than Brody, so Brody and I had lots of quality outside time.

This is the first time since they were little that Kinsie and Brax went to the same school! Kinsie started 3rd grade, and Braxton started 1st grade. They were excited to be in the same school and get to ride the bus together. Brax was a little nervous about starting at a new school, but he quickly got acclimated and soon all the other students and teachers loved him!

Brody loves when his “Bubby and Sissy” get off the bus! He loves to tell them all about his day.

Then later in the month, Brody started preschool for the first time! He is in the 2’s class 2 days a week at the Christian preschool that Braxton went to the last few years. I was a little nervous about this one, since Brody is a Covid baby and has spent his entire life in my protection. Drop off was rough the first couple weeks but he has done wonderful! He loves his teacher and the fun activities he gets to do at school! Kinsie and Brax’s school starts later this year, so they get to come with me to drop Brody off on his preschool days, which they love to do!

Later in August, we went to the Indiana State Fair with my parents and my sister’s family. We hadn’t gone since before Covid, so the kids were so excited!

Even the dads got to come along for the fun!

The kids loved all the rides! 

These cousins had the best time together!

Here is my 1 Second Everyday video for August!

September

September mainly consisted of baseball, a special wedding and birthday celebrations. Braxton played Fall Baseball and continued to improve on his skills. He is super pumped about baseball right now and enjoys practicing whenever he can. He had a great season!

In early September, Ryan’s brother, Nate got married! Nate has been with Kendyl for almost a decade, and we absolutely adore her. She has already felt like part of the family for so long, but we were excited to make it official! Kinsie, Brax and Brody all got to be in the wedding along with their cousin Griffin.

How stinkin’ cute are they!?

It was such a beautiful evening. The kids had a blast dancing the night away, and we loved watching our sweet Nate marry the love of his life!

The kids also got to get a few more swimming days in before the pool closed for the winter.

I got to go with Braxton’s class on their field trip to the Pedan Farm Festival. I loved getting to spend the day with him and his 1st grade buddies!

Brody upgraded to a big boy bed in September! He LOVES his car bed!

We loved celebrating our big NINE year old this month! She had a wonderful wonderful full of donuts, cards, pizza, ice cream and a visit from family!

The next weekend, we had her birthday party with family. First we did a girls cousin date at Brightly Art Studio in Brownsburg, where the girls made puppy houses. 

Afterwards, we went back to my parents’ house for swimming, dinner and cake. She loved her puppy-themed party and getting to spend the evening with all the people she loves most!

And here is the 1 Second Everyday video for September.

October

And now for October. Whew it was busy! It seemed to fly by because we always had something going on.

We started the month with IU’s Homecoming parade with some friends.

Right after the parade, we went to Hoosier Hysteria, the official kickoff to basketball season! This was my kids’ first time in Assembly Hall – somewhere I’ve always loved!

Then we took a 5 day fall break trip to Disney! My sister’s family was already planning on going, so we tagged along. 

The first day, we took it easy in the morning, then in the afternoon we went to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. It was awesome!! This is a ticketed event, so they limit the capacity so it wasn’t as crowded.

We had a blast! The kids dressed up in costumes, and we rode lots of rides, watched an amazing Halloween parade and fireworks show, ate lots of yummy treats, and ended our evening with a fantastic Hocus Pocus show. We stayed in the park until about 12:30am, didn’t get in bed until closer to 2am but it was an awesome night and my favorite part of the trip!

The next day was a break day. We all slept in, then we went to Art of Animation for Brody to see the Cars again (since he was obsessed when we went in April!) then we rode the skyliner.

Later, we went to Disney Springs for a little while, then we had dinner reservations at Storybook Dining at Wilderness Lodge. Snow White, Dopey, Grumpy, and the Evil Queen were there. The dinner was great and the characters were a lot of fun!

 

The next day we went to Animal Kingdom. 

It was very crowded…much more than it was when we went in April, but thanks to Genie+, we still got to do everything we wanted to do. We even rode Avatar Flight of Passage (our favorite) 3 times! It was a great day!

 

For our last day, we went to Epcot. I was so excited since we haven’t been in years. We loved it all. We got to ride the new Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and it was AMAZING! That was definitely the highlight of our day. We also loved exploring the countries and trying some food and drinks from around the world. It was a great way to end our great trip! 

When we got back to Indiana, the leaves were in full fall mode – my favorite! Our town in particular is BEAUTIFUL in the fall, and I just can’t get enough of it.

We always spend a day walking around campus and enjoying the beauty. This time we even brought the pup!

 

This month I got to go on a field trip with Kinsie’s class! We also went to a farm, but a different one then what Brax’s class went to. It was pretty cold, but we still had a great time!

 

The kids’ school had a “Spooktacular Night” fall festival. The kids loved dressing up and seeing their friends and teachers!

 

The kids loved doing our traditional Halloween cookie decorating! Brody even got to participate this year. He took it very seriously and he loved it!

Our yard has been the BEST place to play in the leaves! The kids and Evie have loved running around and jumping in the leaves. It’s been the best way to wear Evie out!

We even got to have Griffin over to enjoy playing in the leaves too!

This has been a big month for Braxton! He lost not one, but TWO teeth! 

 

We loved getting to spend an evening at the pumpkin patch this month. It was a beautiful night! 

The kids loved the hayride, the corn maze and the tractor ride!

 

And of course we had to make time for our favorite Halloween activity – pumpkin carving!

Kinsie and Brax did theirs completely on their own this year! Kinsie made Zero (the dog from the Nightmare Before Christmas), Braxton made Stitch, and Brody made Lightning McQueen (with mom’s help of course!)

And Ryan and I continued our intense pumpkin carvings as well – despite the fact that we had a toddler and a crazy stir crazy puppy running around the house! Ryan made Vecna (from Stranger Things) and I made a sugar skull for Dia de los Muertos.

To finish our month, we went trick-or-treating with some of the kids’ friends from school! Kinsie was an artist, Braxton was a baseball player and Brody was Lightning McQueen. They had the best time!

And finally, here is our October 1 Second Everyday video!

You will more than likely hear from me again in a few more months…probably after Christmas. With life as busy and crazy as it has been, it is much more manageable to post every few months. Thanks for understanding!

Island Vibes in June

June flew by quicker than I anticipated. Summer didn’t seem like it really started until mid-June because of sickness, vacation, and baseball. But it was a great month, and now we are in the full swing of summer. Here is a recap of our June.

Anniversary Trip to St. Thomas

Ryan and I have been married for 10 years! Our decade together hasn’t exactly been a cake walk with Ryan’s long and grueling medical training journey, but we came out stronger through all of it. To celebrate, we took our first extended vacation together since our honeymoon…to the Virgin Islands!

The view from our balcony

We did TONS of sightseeing and exploring. The views everywhere were absolutely breathtaking!

One day we visited Coral World, where we got to swim with dolphins. This was definitely a highlight of our trip!

We probably spent the majority of our week snorkeling in the beautiful bays of the islands. We saw SO many amazing fish and coral, both on St. Thomas and on St. John. A few of our favorite things we saw included sea turtles, Caribbean reef squid, sting rays, barracudas, and parrot fish. Between the two islands, we snorkeled in 14 different bays! To see more of our pictures, check out the Youtube link below.

We loved getting to spend so much quality time together. We don’t get to relax much in our everyday lives, so we enjoyed living on island time and eating delicious seafood and drinking painkillers and banana daiquiris every day.

After 10 years, he’s still the one I love!

We got a new underwater camera before our trip, and we took some amazing photos and videos while snorkeling. Check it out in the video below.

While we were gone, the kids stayed with Grandma Bev and Papa Tim. They had a blast! They had lots of fun at the lake and spent time with their cousin Griffin.

Ryan and I had to miss a couple of the kids’ games, but they still had plenty of representation! My parents were watching my sister’s kids while they were also on vacation, so they came to see the kids play in their games. Brax even got the game ball when they came!

Evie got to have cousin fun too! She got to spend a couple nights at Nate and Kendyl’s house with her cousin Alfie! They were best buddies and spent lots of time playing and snuggling together! We were so grateful for our tribe for taking such good care of our babies so we could enjoy our vacation together!

End of Softball and Baseball Season

The kids had an awesome season! We loved seeing Kinsie make tons of improvement from last year when she started. She ended her season with a bang and got another game ball…which her cousins were there to see!

Brody was sad to see baseball season end…mainly because that meant he couldn’t get as much popcorn and slushies from the concession stand anymore!

We were also so proud of Brax for his first season of baseball! He did so great and had so much fun. His team got regular season runners up, and he also ended his season with another game ball!

Summer Adventures

At the beginning of summer vacation, we couldn’t go anywhere because we were in quarantine from Covid. Then as soon as we were all out of quarantine, Ryan and I went on our trip. So FINALLY one I was home, we could go explore!

We went on walks on the trail

We went to the park for a play date

We’ve taken rides in Daddy’s Jeep

Another park day…

And we’ve gone to the library a few times!

Stay tuned for more summer adventures in July!

Outside Play

We’re still trucking along with our outside hours. We are usually averaging around 3 hours a day…but sometimes we get up to 9 or 10 hours in one day! The majority of the hours we got this month was at house doing water activities. We bought a new kiddie pool and it is the BEST. Every other pool we had popped or broke after a few uses, but this one is much more durable. The kids have also been enjoying using the sprinkler under the trampoline. Our water toys keep the kids busy for hours!

We also take Evie on walks whenever we get the chance to help get some of her energy out. 

The trampoline and sprinkler have been a huge hit!

Another summer tradition has included making s’mores on our new fire pit! Brody mainly loves the marshmallows, and he will keep trying to sneak more when he thinks we aren’t looking!

The kids always find something fun to do outside!

One night, we let the kids go out to the backyard to catch fireflies. We have the perfect yard for it since we have woods behind us and open lots next to us. They loved it!

Swimming at Yaya’s

We always try to find time to go swimming at Papa and Yaya’s. The kids still had softball and baseball throughout most of the month, so it was harder to find the time to go, but we squeezed in a few trips. I’m sure we’ll have more in July.

Brody’s Tooth

Unfortunately, having a fearless, adventurous little toddler has its downside. Brody took a spill on his little bike and knocked out his front tooth. It was pretty traumatic to see my baby bleeding and in so much pain, but it could have been much worse. His tooth was knocked clean out, root and all and he had a fat lip and some scratches on his face, but after a popsicle and some medicine, he recovered pretty quickly. 

He was acting like his silly self again by the next afternoon. I was sad that his little smile wouldn’t be the same, but I’ve learned to love his precious new look!

Pops

At the end of the month, we lost someone very near and dear to our family. My brother-in-law’s dad, Don, joined his beautiful wife Diane in heaven. I’ve known Don since I was in high school, and he has always been such a special part of our lives. He was the best Pops to my sister’s kids, and treated my kids as his own as well. He was such a special man, and I feel so blessed that I was able to call him family.

We ended our month spending lots of time with family, which wasn’t under the best circumstances, but definitely needed through the heartache of losing Don. My kids loved getting to be there for their cousins and making them smile during a difficult time. Now we are looking forward to July…hopefully having more fun summer adventures before the kids start school in August. 

Enjoy our 1 Second Everyday for June!

A Magical Month

We had a very busy and exciting month! It was exhausting, but for all good reasons. I’ll just get right into it…

Meet Evie!

We got a new pup!! As you know, we lost our beloved Koda last September, and our home just hasn’t been the same since. Ryan and the kids would have gotten a new pup immediately, but with the chaos of life, and upcoming winter, and my wild toddler, I knew it was best to wait a little while. After about 6 months (the longest Ryan and I have ever been without a dog), we were ready. We had intense puppy fever, so we started the search of adopting a pup. After several weeks of watching on the Pet Finder website, we came across this precious little Shepard mix about an hour away. We planned to meet up with her foster, and we pretty much knew we’d be coming home with a puppy! We fell in love with her immediately and brought her home that day!

Love at first sight!

Evie has adjusted very well to our home. She is still getting the hang of potty training and learning what is or isn’t an appropriate thing to chew on or bite, but she’s definitely making progress. She is very smart, sweet, energetic, and mischievous. She knows the commands of sit, come, lay down, and with me (heal). Her favorite things to chew on are shoes, socks, and Brody (don’t worry…just his pants. She is a Shepard mix, so we think she is trying to “herd” him!) She loves being outside and finding anything in nature to eat…rocks, leaves, sticks, mulch, you name it. She is an exhausting little thing (especially combined with my already crazy toddler), but we absolutely adore her!

 

Take me out to the Ballgame!

Baseball and softball season are officially underway. Kinsie and Brax have both had their first games, and their season is off to a great start. Brax had a serious case of the jitters before his first game, but once he started playing, he loosened up and had a great time. Kinsie started out strong and received the game ball at her first game! She was so excited, and she had a whole fan club of family members there to see!

 

Brody tags along to each game happily…but he’s mainly in it for the snacks!

My parents love coming to the kids’ games, and they try to bring along their cousins whenever they can. The kids loved getting to play together on the playground after one of Brax’s games!

Easter

Easter snuck up on us quickly. Between having a new puppy to care for, and preparing for our upcoming vacation, we had to squeeze in all of our Easter festivities into one weekend.

We baked and decorated our Easter cookies…

and we dyed Easter eggs…

On Easter Sunday, we spent the entire day with both of our families. We watched church online in the morning with my parents, then we headed over to Ryan’s aunt’s house for Easter fun. They had an awesome Easter egg hunt, and lots of food and treats. The kids had SO much fun with ALL of their cousins!

Kinsie and her cousins Kerigan and Emery are all the same age. Their birthdays are in September, November and December of the same year, so they have always been very close. When they were only 3 years old, before we moved to Arkansas for residency, they were all on the same soccer team, and their dads were the coaches. This picture comes up on our Timehop every year, and we thought it would be a great opportunity to reenact it! We even all still had their jerseys! So the pictures below are 5 years apart!

The kids had so much fun riding on cars and ATVs and exploring the creek. It was a wonderful Easter!

The Great Outdoors

We are still going strong on our 1,000 Hours Outside goal. Now that it isn’t winter, we try to spend at least a little time outside every single day…and having Evie helps us with that. We have to take her out to go potty often, and she LOVES being outside so she motivates us to be outside more. We love taking her on walks, and the kids love running around with her in the yard. 

 

And I love spending time with my sweet boys while their sis is at school!

Rainy Days

We had a LOT of rain this month. It definitely made it tough to potty train a puppy. But whenever we couldn’t be outside, we tried to find things to keep us busy inside.

Like puzzles…

And drawing the family tree of the Madrigal family from Encanto…

And organizing craft time,

And even making nugget slides on the stairs!

There’s never a dull moment in our house!

DISNEY/UNIVERSAL TRIP

We were so excited to get the opportunity to travel back to Disney World and Universal Studios! The last time we went on a week-long trip there was in 2019…pre-pandemic and pre-Brody. In fact, I was about 12 weeks pregnant with Brody, so I wasn’t able to ride a lot of the rides that I love. Now that Brody is old enough to really enjoy it, and the pandemic has improved significantly, we couldn’t wait to go back! When Ryan’s mom sent the whole family a text message asking if we would want to use their time share and make a trip in April, we were all in!

For those of you who have been to Disney lately, you know that you can’t just show up and start riding rides anymore. It takes months of planning…like trying to snag popular dining reservations, syncing up your entire party together on the My Disney Experience app, learning how Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes work, mapping out your general strategy for park days, and making shirts for each park day…ok that last part isn’t 100% necessary, but I’m obsessed with making shirts with my Cricut, so it was necessary for me! But it’s a LOT of work, but definitely worth it! Ryan’s sister Megan and I tag-teamed to prepare for the best trip possible!

Day 1- Traveling and Disney Springs

Our flight was in the morning and was a direct flight, which was really nice not to have to switch planes with 3 kids. We were on the same flight as Ryan’s parents and his brother Nate and his fiance, Kendyl, so it was nice having lots of help with carrying luggage and keeping track of kids! The kids were great on the plane, and we overall had a very smooth traveling experience.

We headed straight to Disney Springs, where we met up with Ryan’s sister Megan, and her husband Tim and son Griffin. I had been trying to get a reservation at the T-Rex Cafe for months, but none became available. After learning some tips and tricks from friends and Facebook groups, I was able to snag 2 tables for all of us on the spot! We loved the experience! It was such a fun environment, and the kids loved watching the dinosaurs come to life and watch the meteor showers on the ceiling.

After eating, we walked around Disney Springs, shopped at the stores, and ate ice cream. Then we went to our condo, unpacked and prepared for our first park day.

Day 2- Disney’s Animal Kingdom

To be honest, I’ve never been THAT crazy about Animal Kingdom…it seemed like a glorified zoo to me. But Ryan and the kids love it so I always went for them. HOWEVER…my opinion on it has changed over the last few visits, and now I absolutely love it! This was our first experience using Genie+ and it worked SO well. We rode all of the main rides we wanted to ride early on, and then got to just relax and explore and try fun foods and drinks, and even ride a few rides for the second time in the afternoon

We loved all of the animals!

Avatar’s Pandora is our FAVORITE area of Animal Kingdom!

We loved the Night Blossom drink in Pandora.

One dining reservation we were able to get early on was lunch at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom, which is a character meal. Disney just changed their policy within the last few weeks so that guests can now get close to and hug the characters again! Brody was in a weird mood after his stroller nap, and didn’t love the idea of getting super close to the characters, but he liked watching them and waving to them. The food was wonderful and we had a great meal!

We even got to do a few rides more than once. The kids loved the Triceratops Spin! Kinsie and Brax were both big enough to ride Avatar’s Flight of Passage, which is my favorite! They loved it just as much as I do.This ride is the most popular ride at this park, so we had to buy an Individual Lightning Lane pass for it, but it was worth it! And right before park close, we decided to run back over to Pandora to get in line to ride it again! It was a great way to end the day! 

Day 3- Universal Studios Islands of Adventure

Whenever we do an Orlando trip, we always make time for Universal Studios as well. For me, it is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter that always brings me back!

Kinsie and Brax are both more into Harry Potter now than they were a few years ago, and have even read the first few books with us, so I loved getting to share these experiences with them. They loved drinking butter beer and getting candy at Honeydukes. Kinsie was tall enough to ride Forbidden Journey, which she loved, and we rode it 3 times! Brax got to ride Flight of the Hippogriff and he was obsessed! Brody wasn’t quite big enough to ride those rides yet, but he was happy as can be with a “chocolate frog” lollipop that Grandma bought him from Honeydukes!

Universal Studios was crowded, and does not have a system like Disney for avoiding lines (unless you get an Express pass which costs an arm and a leg), so we just had to kick it the old fashioned way and wait to ride the rides with lower wait times. We were very efficient with our time, and were able to ride everything we wanted to, and never had to wait more than 30-40 minutes. We even got to ride Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure, which usually has a wait time of well over an hour. Ryan got to go on this ride in 2019, but I didn’t because I was pregnant. This time, Kinsie and I both got to ride on it together and we loved it!!

The kids enjoyed seeing characters, and Brax loved the Jurassic Park area! And I am so thankful for Ryan’s parents for hanging out with Brody while Ryan and I went on bigger rides with the big kids!

Day 4- Disney’s Hollywood Studios

This is where we went in February, and where Brody had his first Disney experience, so we were excited to go back! Since February, the kids have gotten more into Star Wars, so Ryan was especially excited to explore more of Galaxy’s Edge with them. Right away, when we got to the gate, we could tell it was going to be a crowded day. Somehow, after lots of persistence and constant refreshing of my app, I still managed to snag some Individual Lightning Lane passes for Rise of the Resistance, which is the hardest ride to get into in all of Disney right now! Because the park was so crowded, and everyone was booking their Genie+ passes, ALL of our Genie+ windows weren’t until the afternoon. And all of the rides had way too long of waits to stand in with little kids. So we wandered around a lot and saw some characters and shows.

Brody was hit or miss with characters this trip. He LOVED seeing Olaf, and continuously hugged him and even tried to take him with us as we left the room. He also loved watching Chip and Dale in the courtyard. But he didn’t want to hug Pluto, he was more comfortable keeping his distance!

The first half of the day was tough. It was unbelievably hot and crowded, and it was hard to get anywhere or do anything with the crowds and the long lines. I still am thankful for Genie+ though, because even though our passes weren’t until the afternoon, we were able to ride all the rides we wanted to because of it…just later in the day. Slinky Dog Dash was still a favorite, along with Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Toy Story Mania. We enjoyed spending more time exploring Galaxy’s Edge, and got to ride all of the Star Wars rides.

One dining reservation I worked really hard to get was at Oga’s Cantina. It’s a bar-type hangout in Galaxy’s Edge with really fun drinks. We always like to try something different every time we go, and we’re never disappointed! Brody fell asleep right before our reservation, so we carried him in and he napped in the booth while we enjoyed our drinks. We also loved the famous blue milk at Galaxy’s Edge!

One of the highlights of the day for the big kids was building their own droids. Kinsie learned about this during our February trip, and it was all she talked about since! So I made sure to make reservations as soon as I could so she could experience it. And Brax loves all the droids on Star Wars, so I knew he would love it too. It was such a neat experience!

We love Toy Story Land. It is one of our favorite parts of Hollywood Studios. However, it was unbearably crowded during the day. We didn’t get to enjoy it at all…until evening! After droid building and a quick dinner, we had a Genie+ pass for Alien Swirling Saucers, and then we were able to jump in line for Slinky Dog Dash five minutes before park close. It was AWESOME at night! By the time we were off the ride, the park was closed, so we got to walk through Toy Story Land and finally admire it with the beautiful lights and empty walkways. It was glorious!

Day 5- Break Day

After 3 park days in a row, we were ready for our “rest” day. We slept in (as much as my kids do), relaxed in the condo for a while, then went out for a small adventure. I really wanted to see some of the other Disney resorts, and the kids wanted to ride the skyliner. We went to the bus station at Disney Springs, where Brody was in heaven!! He LOVES any and all buses…but Disney buses are his favorite! He was awestruck when he actually got to ride on a Disney bus to the resort!

We went to the Art of Animation resort because I’d seen pictures of it and I knew my kids would love it. Brody LOVED all the Cars statues! 

After exploring the resort for a while, the kids were getting hungry and wanting to swim at the resort, so we hopped on the skyliner and took a quick ride to another resort. From there, we took a bus back to Disney Springs, ate lunch, then headed back to our resort.

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, playing in the splash pad and floating down the lazy river. It was exactly what we needed! We ate dinner at a restaurant at the resort, then walked around watching ducks, fish, and the sunset. It was a relaxing evening, and gave us the rest we needed before another park day!

Day 6- Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom has always been my favorite. It doesn’t necessarily have my favorite rides, and it is always super crowded and overwhelming, but it is the most magical. I love all the parades, random shows, and the fireworks. I especially love when I get to bring one of my kids for their first trip and seeing the magic through their eyes!

We booked Genie+ passes for the rides we knew would have long waits, but we still had plenty of rides that we were able to just walk right on, or have very short waits. We started our morning riding Small World, Dumbo, The Little Mermaid, and eventually made our way over to watch the Country Bear Jamboree and the Enchanted Tiki Room, which Brody was obsessed with! Magic Kingdom definitely has the most rides that Brody could actually ride, so he loved every minute! We got an Individual Lightning Lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and I’m so glad we did because it was really cute! (It’s usually over an hour wait) We fit in SO many rides in one day…and we were able to ride on rides that we haven’t done in years because they usually have too long of a wait. Thank you Genie+!

We were so excited that the Festival of Fantasy parade was back! Watching it with Kinsie and Brax when they were little are some of my favorite memories, and I couldn’t wait to watch it with Brody too. He absolutely loved it…especially Chip and Dale!

We didn’t see a ton of characters outside of the parade and calvacades…mainly because we were so busy hopping on and off rides. We did run into Stitch though and snapped a quick pic! 

We ended up using a Genie+ pass on meeting Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater because there was a long line for it all day, and we never got to see him at Hollywood Studios for that same reason. Brody was being really shy again and didn’t want me to put him down, but he enjoyed saying hi to him while in my arms.

Another priority for me this trip was trying more of the unique snacks that Disney has to offer. That was part of all the prep work I did…finding the best snacks! The dole whip was a classic that turned out to still be our favorite!

We watched the fireworks show, and it was absolutely amazing. There are no fireworks like Disney fireworks! This is always the most crowded part of the day, and can often get frustrating…but I tried to stay in the moment and not let rude people get to me and ruin the magic. I will admit, I shed a few tears as I watched the fireworks over Cinderella castle for the first time with my little Brody while he rested his head on my shoulder!

After the fireworks, we still had around 2 hours before the park closed. We had a Lightning Lane pass to use for Splash Mountain since the ride closed down earlier in the day while we were in line. Kinsie opted out of that one, but Brax loved it. Kinsie and Brax also both rode Space Mountain. Brody soon fell asleep so Grandma Bev stayed with him while we did a few more rides with the big kids. We finished the night with Mickey’s PhilarMagic, a 3D show that we all love. When the show was over, the park was closed and everyone was heading out of the park. So I had to snap one more pic in front of the castle since it wasn’t crowded anymore!

14 hours and 30,000 steps later, Braxton was out! Brody and Griffin were already asleep for a little while, so Kinsie was the last kid standing as we left the park around midnight! It was SUCH a busy, exhausting day, but it was absolutely amazing!

Day 7- Universal Studios

Last park day. We were up really late the night before from Magic Kingdom, and Universal Studios was our last stop…and it opened at 8am. So we started our day tired already, but we powered through since it was our last day!

On our first Universal day, the Hogwarts Express broke down right before we were about to ride it to the other park. So we made sure we started our morning at Diagon Alley…my absolute favorite!

The kids also enjoyed seeing the Knight Bus, and seeing Creacher the house elf peek out of the curtains of Number 12 Grimwald Place.

Since the kids are really into Harry Potter, we decided to do the Wand Experience at Olivander’s Wand Shop. Kinsie was chosen to do some spells to find the perfect wand match! A special wand chose her, and she was over the moon! It was such a special experience that she’ll never forget!

We also ate lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, drank more butter beer, and had ice cream at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour.

Afterwards, we finally got to ride the Hogwarts Express. Brody is obsessed with cars, trucks, buses and trains right now so he was SO excited to ride the choo-choo! He seriously could not contain his excitement, and he danced and squealed around happily as he waited to ride, and during the entire ride!

We spent the rest of the day riding all of the rides that we hadn’t done yet, and we were completely exhausted by around 4pm. The park closed at 6pm that evening anyway, so we called it an early evening and went back to the condo to relax and get ready to head home the next day. 

Disney vacations are always so busy and tiring, but so amazing. We always make so many wonderful memories, and I love experiencing it with my kids at their different ages. 

And that was our April! It is hard to believe that it is already May and the kids will be done with another school year soon. Life has seemed a lot more normal for us lately since Covid numbers have been so low, and I’m not going to lie…it feels so nice. Praying that things continue to move in the right direction!

Enjoy our April 1 Second Everyday!

 

Feelin’ Good in February

February is usually one of my least favorite months. We usually have the worst snow storms in February, and even though it is a shorter month, it always just seems like it takes forever to get to March. But this time, it was better…probably because we went on our first real vacation since October 2019! But before I get to that, I’ll discuss the rest of our month.

Spending Time Outside (Before the Snow)

The first day of February was amazing – it was in the 60’s and sunny. Brody and I spent most of the day outside. And when we did go inside to eat lunch, he didn’t want to take off his hat and boots! The funniest part is that is was warm enough that he didn’t even need a hat or boots – but that’s what he wanted!

Once the kids got home from school, we went to the walking trail. Kinsie and Brax brought their bikes and Brody rode in his little car. It was a perfect day to ride on the trail and let Brax practice his new no-training wheels bike skills! There was a huge snow and ice storm coming the next day – so we savored the amazing day. (Also, don’t judge Brody’s crazy hair – he was getting a haircut in a few days!)

Snow Days

As I said, the very next day we were due for ice and then snow. Kinsie’s school went ahead and called in for e-Learning days for the next few days since the ice was supposed to start that afternoon. Kinsie had a class meeting on her iPad, and she brought a friend to class! When she was doing her school work, Brody wanted to do some too!

We didn’t get much snow the first day, just some ice. But the next day, it snowed. And snowed. And snowed. It snowed heavily for the entire day. Luckily Ryan was off for a few days, so he got to enjoy being snowed in with us. Once Kinsie was done with her schoolwork, we all bundled up and went outside. The kids loved sledding, catching snowflakes, and playing “arctic animals.” However, it was REALLY cold and windy so we didn’t spend as much time outside as we could have liked.

The next few days were much more bearable. The snow stayed but it was a tad warmer, no wind, and the sun was out…so we ventured outside for several hours each day. We enjoyed LOTS of snow activities including sledding, making a snowman, snow painting, snow volcanoes, following animal tracks and more!

And of course we had to make snow ice cream!

Even when the kids went back to school, Brody and I still tried to venture outside whenever we could. He’s always in a better mood outside!

One day after school, Brax had a sledding playdate with his best friend from school. They had a wonderful time together!

Haircut for Bro

This handsome boy was LONG overdue for a haircut…he hadn’t gotten one since September! But between the Omicron surge, the holidays, and the fact that Brody HATES haircuts, it just wasn’t a priority. But since we were going on vacation soon, I knew we had to get it done. He definitely didn’t enjoy it, but it’s Ryan’s cousin who cuts his hair and she was patient with him and loves him so she didn’t mind – and he looked SO handsome when he was done!

Gym Ninjas

Kinsie is still loving gymnastics, and recently I signed Brax up for a class called Gym Ninjas at the same place and time. He’s had one class so far and he LOVED it! One of his best friends from school is in his class too so he was so happy!

Valentine’s Day

We got to squeeze in some fun Valentine’s Day activities before we went on vacation. We always love making cookies, and we even got to enjoy making some with the kids’ cousin Griffin!

And here are the cookies we made at home!

Brax’s class needed an extra parent volunteer for their Valentine’s party, so his teacher asked me to step in. I love getting to volunteer for his class! I love seeing him in the school environment and with his friends.

And here’s just a picture of my cute boys in their matching Valentine’s shirts!

A tradition we started a few years ago includes a heart for each kid every day starting February 1 until Valentine’s Day with a reason why we love them.

Another tradition includes a scavenger hunt around the house that leads to their Valentines gifts!

We love our sweet valentines!!

VACATION

We finally went on a real vacation for the first time in over 2 years! We didn’t feel comfortable traveling with our unvaccinated, unmasked infant for a while, but also…life kept us very busy the last 2 years. We finished residency, moved to a new state, started a new job, had a baby, and built a house all during a global pandemic…so vacation wasn’t exactly at the top of our priority list for a while. But now that we’ve settled into our new lives, and 2/3 kids are fully vaccinated, and cases are dropping significantly, we were ready for a vacation. My parents were going to our condo in Siesta Key for 3 weeks, and they invited us to join at the tail end of the trip. I was so excited to get my babies on the beach!

Brody’s First Flight

I really haven’t taken Brody many places in his life, so this trip was a whole new world for him – starting with the airport. He was so nervous with all the people and new things to see. He clung on me like a koala bear all through the airport, including through security. Once we were on the plane, he got more comfortable and acted like his crazy self.

Our flights were later in the evening, and we had to stop in Atlanta for a connecting flight. Brody was a wild man on the flights! He just didn’t want to sit still. Ryan and I took turns throughout the first flight passing him back and forth. Kinsie and Brax were absolute traveling champs, making it much easier on us. The second flight was better because it wasn’t a full flight, so we found an empty row and Brody was able to have his own seat and more room to wiggle. I was hoping he would sleep on this flight since it was well past 10pm at this point…but nope. There was too much to do and see! Overall, he was a great traveler!

The Beach

We were all SO excited to get to the beach the next morning. It had been at least 3 years since we’d been to the beach, so Kinsie and Brax didn’t remember much about it either and were so excited. Brody wasn’t sure what to think about the sand between his toes at first, but he quickly learned to love it and was a happy little beach baby! He especially loved the ocean…but we had to watch him like a hawk because he kept wanting to run straight into the ocean!

Around lunchtime, my sister’s family flew in also and met us at the condo. The kids were so excited to have their cousins to play with on the beach! They spent the next few days digging holes, building castles, boogie-boarding, and finding sea shells.

The pure joy on this sweet boy’s face while he experienced so many new things made my heart so happy!

Enjoying the sunset with my girl

Big Cat Habitat

After a couple days on the beach, our family needed a little bit of a break (we all had sunburns!), and my dad had told us about a cat sanctuary nearby, so we decided to check it out. It was called the Big Cat Habitat, and it was really neat! Kinsie and Brax both got to feed a bear and a liger (a lion mixed with a tiger).

There was also a fun petting zoo area.

Eventually, Brody conked out in the stroller with his hand in the goldfish bag!

Kinsie and Brax showed off their stickers proving that they fed the animals. It was a fun day!

Other Florida Fun

Our time in Siesta Key also included sitting on the dock waving to the boats passing by, shopping at the village and sharing snacks and smoothies with cousins, swimming at the pool, and lots and lots of crazy cousin fun!

DISNEY

I’ve been dying to take Brody to Disney World since he LOVES Mickey Mouse and all his friends. When we decided to go to Florida, we really wanted to make it happen. We planned on driving to Orlando and spending the last 2 nights of our vacation there, including 1 day at a Disney Park.

Fun at the Resort

It was my sister’s idea to stay at a Disney resort, and I am so glad we did. Not only are the resorts amazing, but you get extra perks at the Disney parks when you stay there. We left Siesta Key Saturday morning and headed to Orlando. We got there around lunch time, and got to spend a few hours by the pool. The kids loved the slides and splash pad area!

After swimming, we went to Disney Springs for a little while, but it was insanely crowded. We went to the big Disney Store and walked around a little, but it was honestly hard to maneuver around so many people and trying to stay distanced. As we walked around, Brody took a little stroller catnap…which made him wired later on at bedtime! But eventually we all went to sleep and prepared for our big Disney day!

A Magical Day at Hollywood Studios

We chose to spend our 1 Disney park day at Hollywood Studios because it has some of the most sought after rides that are often hard to get into unless you get lightning lane passes for them, and you can often only get lightning lane passes for them by staying at a Disney resort. It was also great because it was so close to our resort, so we were able to take the skyliner to the park!

Here’s our whole crew with our neon tie-dye shirts (that I helped make with my Cricut!)

The best part about the entire day for me was Brody’s reactions to Mickey and Minnie. He loved them SO much, just like I knew he would! He could have stayed there with them all day if we let him. All the other kids enjoyed seeing the characters too, but mostly everyone loved watching Brody’s interactions with them!

We also met Olaf, Chip and Dale, Pluto, and Doc McStuffins. Character interactions certainly aren’t what they used to be before Covid, but they were still magical…especially through the eyes of a toddler!

We also had some fun dining reservations throughout our day…including lunch at the Sci-Fi drive-in theater…

And drinks and snacks at Oga’s Cantina. The girls particularly enjoyed the limes that came with the drinks!

Papa and Yaya were in the happy place with all their babies!

We had a blast on all the rides. This was Brax’s first time riding Slinky Dog Dash and he LOVED it! Thanks to lightning lane passes and child swap, Kinsie and Brax were both able to ride it 3 times…and Brody loved watching us all ride the “Doggy!” We also loved Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Toy Story Mania, Aliens Swirling Saucers, and Rise of the Resistance (Ryan’s fave!) 

The sweetest cousin crew!

For dinner, we had reservations at Hollywood & Vine, which is a character meal. We were excited for Brody to get to see more characters! Before dinner, he dozed off for a nap, but we woke him up in time to see the characters.

It was truly a wonderful day. It was crowded, but very manageable. Having Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes were SO helpful and let us ride almost everything. My sister did an amazing job planning and booking everything, and now I’m learning everything I can from her so I can do it when we return to Disney in April!

Heading Home

The next morning, we were able to sleep in and have a nice breakfast. The kids enjoyed Mickey waffles with a view! Afterwards, we packed up and headed back to Sarasota for our afternoon flight home.

My parents were on our flight this time, which was nice to help with the kids. It was also a direct flight which was very helpful too. We were all exhausted so it was nice to finally relax on the plane. The kids watched shows on our iPads and Brody actually slept most of the flight! It was a quiet, relaxing way to end our wonderful vacation.

Bookends of Nice Weather

We started February with beautiful weather, and ended it with more beautiful weather. When we got back from Florida, it was freezing, raining, or freezing rain for about a week. So when it finally was warm enough to be outside again, the kids were ready! 

It was a great month, and I don’t usually say that about February! We may have to plan more February Florida trips in the future because it definitely helped break up the dreadful winter months. Now we are ready for SPRING!

Here is our February 1 Second Everyday. Enjoy!

 

Pumpkins, Weddings, and Theme Parks

Pumpkins, weddings and theme parks…that was basically the gist of our month! We spent the month of October in 3 (kind of 4) different states between a family wedding and vacation…and still managed to fit in all of our favorite fall and Halloween traditions! Like I expected, it was a very busy month…but we made lots of memories!

Here’s how our month went down…

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Between traveling, school, and Ryan’s schedule, we had ONE day of the entire month that we could actually take our annual visit to the Pumpkin Patch…so luckily it worked out! It was hot and crowded, but we had a great visit. We enjoyed picking out pumpkins, taking a hay ride, playing in the corn pit and climbing on the hay playground. We love this farm and will miss it next year…but Indiana knows a thing or two about farms so I have no doubt we’ll find another one to continue our fall traditions next year!

Kinsie Rocking Kindergarten

Kinsie is still doing great in school! She still loves it more than ever and I know she’s learning a lot. Lately, she received a few awards…a responsibility citizen of the month from the school counselor, perfect attendance for the quarter, and Super Falcon for her class! We are so proud of her!

             Kinsie’s Writing

I LOVE when Kinsie brings home her writing from school…it melts my heart! I love watching her using her phonics skills to sound out her words. Here are a few of my favorite fall writings this month.

               Red Ribbon Week

The week after Fall Break, Kinsie’s school celebrated Red Ribbon Week to promote living drug free. I used to be the Student Council sponsor for my school, and I loved planning the dress up days for Red Ribbon Week, so of course I also enjoyed dressing Kinsie up!

Day 1: “Tell Drugs to Take a Hike!” (top left – dress like you’re going camping)

Day 2: “Make it a GOAL to stay drug free!” (top right – dress in a team jersey)

Day 3: “Don’t let drugs be the villain in the story of your life!” (bottom left – dress like a Disney character)

Day 4: “Bubble Bubble, Witches Brew…we’re drug free…how about you?” (bottom right – dress in Halloween costume)

Wedding Weekend in Indiana

Ryan’s cousin Nicole got married in October, and we were excited that the kids were asked to be the flower girl and one of the ring bearers, along with their baby cousin Griffin. Unfortunately with Kinsie’s school and Ryan’s work, we were only able to visit Indiana for the weekend. We left on Thursday after school and returned home Sunday evening. We were really only there for 2 days, but we made the most of it!

On Friday, my sister took Kinsie to have lunch with her cousins at their school. She loved getting to see them and their school!

The wedding took place in a beautiful barn, and fall (and practically winter) weather decided to show up for the occasion…it was cold! Kinsie loved dressing up like a princess, and Brax decided to make things as difficult as possible while putting on his nice clothes. He goes through waves, where he’ll be super laid back and sweet for a few months, and then an absolutely stubborn terror for a few months (remember when I said he’s a sour patch kid?!) Unfortunately, right now he’s in a sour phase so everything is a battle. We won every battle except him wearing the bow tie and suspenders…so we called it a win. The kids looked great and did their job well, and Griffin was the absolute sweetest, smiling away in his wagon! We loved getting to see all of family at the wedding and the kids loved dancing the night away!

Vacation in Orlando

We were so excited for this vacation, not just for where we were going, but the fact that Ryan got to spend an entire week with us! With the wedding and this vacation somewhat back to back, he had to use all of his days off for those trips, so when we were home, he was working every day. We all definitely needed this week of vacation!

Day 1 and 2: Traveling and Disney Springs

Our trip there was overall non-eventful, which was nice after some of the stressful airport experiences we’ve had in the past! We had to drive the 2 hours to Memphis for our flight, which wasn’t too bad considering how much cheaper it was. My saint of a husband even offered to sit with the kids on the plane and let me sit across the aisle from them. It was lovely!

We got to Orlando around 2pm, so we wanted to use our time wisely! We spent the evening at Disney Springs. The kids love digging for dino fossils at the T-Rex Cafe and looking at giant LEGO statues. We also loved the Marvel store and shopping at the Rainforest Cafe!

On Day 2, the original plan was to go to Universal Studios with the whole family, but there was a huge tropical storm and it poured all morning! Luckily we had a built in “off” day the next day, so we just switched and went the next day. The storm was over by early evening on Saturday, so we all went back to Disney Springs again that night!

Day 3: Universal Studios part 1

The whole crew (us, my sister’s family, my parents, Ryan’s parents, and my aunt Stella and her husband Andre) went to Universal Studios together. They all hadn’t been in a really long time, but Ryan and I went a few years ago so we helped lead the way. I could have spent all day just in Harry Potter world, but I knew not everyone knew and loved the wizarding world like I do, so we just visited there for a little while and made time for other activities too. My sister recently read the HP series though, so I was excited for her to share the magic with me! We enjoyed the castle, some rides, the butter beer, and meeting some characters.

Day 4: Disney’s Hollywood Studios

We worked it out so that my family stayed in a Disney resort one night so we could all take advantage of the “Extra Magic Hours” at Hollywood Studios. I hadn’t been to this park since I was really young, and the kids had never been. They are obsessed with Toy Story right now, we we were really excited to experience the new Toy Story Land! Extra Magic Hours started at 6am, and the park didn’t open to the public until 9am…so we got a LOT in during those 3 hours! It was tough waking up at 5am and getting to the park before the sun even came up, but totally worth it!

I was so proud of Kinsie because she rode her first roller coasters on this trip! She started with the Slinky Dog Dash and absolutely loved it! She even rode it a second time with Uncle Ry Ry since the lines were so short so early in the morning! She also had fun riding with Aunt Tita on the Alien Saucer Spin.

The kids loved meeting Woody, Bo Peep and Jessie!

Toy Story Land was amazing! And it looked a little different from 6am to later in the day…like I said, I’m so glad we were able to take advantage of those extra hours!

We spent a good part of our day in Toy Story Land, but also made time for the new Star Wars land, and meeting lots of other characters! We ended up leaving the park around 8pm…we were all tired after a 14 hour day!

Day 5: Universal Studios part 2

The next day, we came back to Universal Studios, while the rest of my family went to Epcot. Ryan and I love Universal and we knew there was more we would want to do than what we’d be able to do in one day, so we chose to spend another day there. Ryan’s mom came along while his dad had to travel to Tampa for work. We had another great day exploring Hogsmeade, riding the Hogwarts Express, and doing magic with our wand. We didn’t really have time last time to explore the Marvel Superhero Land, so we made sure to spend time there this time. The kids got to meet Captain America and Spiderman and loved it!

Day 6: Disney’s Magic Kingdom

When you make a trip to Orlando, it’s a requirement to spend at least one day at Magic Kingdom…at least for our family! We met back up with my family and everyone for a day at the most magical place on earth. The kids all had so much fun together. They loved the “It’s a small world” ride, the Dumbo ride, the parade, and the fireworks.

Best attempt at a full group selfie on Small World!

Lots of castle pics are a must!

It took way too long to find a spot to watch the fireworks, (I won’t get into too many details, but Ryan just about fought with the Disney employees for not letting us stand anywhere to watch!) but by the time we actually found a spot, Brax was asleep in the stroller! He stayed asleep until we left the park! Kinsie however, enjoyed the fireworks, then finally also passed out while we were waiting (for over an hour) for the ferry boat home.

Our Disney days almost always end in two passed out kids…that’s how you know it was a fun and successful day!

Day 7: Last day at Universal Studios – part 3

Our original plan was to spend 2 days at Disney and 2 days at Universal, but when we bought our tickets, our 2-day ticket to Universal came with a third day free…so we were happy to take advantage!

We had the kids write down the things they definitely wanted to do on their last day there, so we made sure we hit up those things, then added a few fun extras. The kids could have spent the entire day at Dr. Seuss Land. They loved all the rides and characters! We also met Branch and Poppy from Trolls, and King Julien from Madagascar.

There was a fun Curious George splash pad area that the kids loved. I stayed there with them while Ryan caught a few of the rides he wanted to do by hopping in the quick single rider line. We also rode a few rides that they loved the days before again, like Storm Force (similar to the tea cup ride at Disney), the “If I Ran the Zoo” interactive playground, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, and the Dr. Suess sky train. We had a great last day, and even finished in time to go meet our family for dinner since it was our last night together.

It was exhausting, but such a great trip! We were so glad Ryan was able to join us, and that we were able to spend some time with our Indiana family as well.

Fitting in all the Halloween Activities

We got back from our trip with less than a week until Halloween. We have lots of fun Halloween traditions that we do every year, so we had to do work once we were back!

The kids and I baked and decorated Halloween cookies the weekend we returned.

We also painted our smaller pumpkins (Unicorn, dinosaur, Forky)

Ryan worked a few evenings in a row once we got back, so we had to split up our pumpkin carving into 2 separate days. The first round, the kids helped clean out their pumpkins and collect the pumpkin seeds so I could bake them. Then the kids did as much as they could to help carve, but like usual, they get bored easily so Ryan and I finished them up.

The kids pumpkins are on the left… Ariel and King Kong. Ryan and I had to do ours a few days later when the kids were in school, and we did Groot and Dobby.

Halloween Night

Ryan made sure he got Halloween night off so he could come trick-or-treating with us. I made the kids jack-o-lantern pizzas for dinner.

Kinsie wore her costume all day since her Red Ribbon Week day was for her to wear her costume anyway, but Brax is a weirdo and didn’t want to wear his to school. He is extremely particular about what he wears lately, so I worked hard to make sure his costume was as basic as possible. And with Brax being in a “sour” phase of his sour patch kid lifestyle, when it was time to put on his costume, he threw an absolute fit. He was still excited to be Forky, but he just really enjoys being stubborn and didn’t want to do what we asked of him. After a short intense battle, we won, and he was Forky. Once his fit was over, he was as happy as can be and had a great time trick-or-treating!

The whole family… Woody, the alien, Jessie and Forky

Once Brax’s fit was over, we all really had a great night. It was colder than usual, but the kids did great trick-or-treating and had a great time!

October went by in a flash, and now we’re ready to take on November. My birthday is this month, and my family is coming to visit for Thanksgiving, so we have more to look forward to!

Enjoy our 1 Second Everyday for the month of October!

All the Love in Arizona

I went to Arizona about 9 years ago with my parents for baseball spring training when I was in college. It is such an amazing and unique place. I love the mountains, the cacti, and the climate. My family goes every year, and it never worked out for us to go before, until this year. We love when Ryan gets time off from work, and spending it in a beautiful place like Arizona is even better!

The kids have become good little travelers. They are used to driving 10+ hours in the car, so flying with them really isn’t a problem. The hardest part is all the extra luggage…suitcases, a pack-n-play, car seats, etc. Luckily, they enjoy helping as much as they can! We made it there in one piece, and it took some time to adjust to the 2 hour time difference, but we were excited for some fun adventures.

Day 1 – Chicago White Sox Spring Training Game

Baseball spring training is how the yearly Arizona tradition all began. My mom loves her Chicago White Sox, so my parents would always try to come out to see them play. This was the first time that all of us got to come, and that we had all 5 of the cousins together with Yaya in her happiest happy place! To be honest, my kids didn’t pay attention at all to the game. They were more interested in the hot dogs, popcorn and churros. But nonetheless, they had fun with the snacks and their cousins!

Day 2 – Pinnacle Peak

Pinnacle Peak was a great starter hike. It was kid-friendly and we just got to take our time and enjoy the scenery. We loved seeing mountains in every direction, and the kids especially loved looking for critters!

Day 3 – Lookout Mountain

The next day, we took just the big kids on a harder hike. They’ve all hiked Pinnacle Mountain in Little Rock before, so we knew what they were capable of. We chose Lookout Mountain, which was perfect. It was definitely tougher for them, but they pushed through and made it to the top. They were very proud of themselves and enjoyed the beautiful view!

Day 4 – Piestewa Peak

This was the “adult hike.” We knew we wanted to do a more strenuous hike, so Grandma Bev and Yaya watched the fab 5 while we hiked up Piestewa Peak. It was definitely a tough hike, but it was amazing. All of us are pretty physically fit, so this hike was perfect for us. We got an amazing workout in, closed our Activity rings on our Apple Watches before noon, and saw some beautiful views!

Later that evening, we drove to Arizona State University to walk around campus and eat dinner. The highlight for the kids, however, was the rainbow chair!

Day 5 – Out of Africa Wildlife Park

This was probably our favorite day of the week. Almost everywhere we travel, we like to try out the different zoos. My aunt recommended this particular wildlife park to us, which was like a zoo, but much more interactive. It was an incredible place with wonderful experiences!

The park had multiple shows throughout the day, including 2 different tiger shows, and a giant snake show. All 5 of the kids were brave enough to pet the snake!

The tigers were a major hit. The trainers at this park are unbelievably close to animals, and love them like their own pets. They run around inside to fences with them, play with them, and hug them. We enjoyed watching the tigers swim in the pool, play games, and we even got to feed them!

Most of the adults and the bigger 3 kids got to ride on the “SuperMog,” which was basically a safari to get up close with the animals and feed many of them. Kibo, the giraffe was our favorite! We all got to feed him, and my crazy husband fed him from his own mouth! Luckily, the babies didn’t miss out too much. We walked around the park later and got to feed Kibo again. We made a new best friend!

Our day at this park was something we’ll never forget, and we will definitely want to experience it again someday!

Day 6 – Camelback Mountain

This was another somewhat leisurely hike that we did as a whole crew. The higher you went up, the harder it got, so everyone could go as far as they wanted and then turn back. Brax was going on 6 days of much less sleep than usual (thanks to the time change and few naps), so he was a bit “off” that day if I want to put it nicely. Luckily, we had quite a bit of backup to help us handle his meltdowns, so we were still able to somewhat enjoy our last hike!

Day 7 – Outlet Mall and Hole in the Rock

Our last day in Arizona, we spent some time at the outlet mall because…why not? This particular outlet mall had a small train that traveled around the mall. All 5 kids hopped in the caboose and had a blast!

Before we headed to the airport, we got in one last mini-hike up to the Hole in the Rock. It was a neat little area where the kids could climb around inside a rock. It was a great way to end our trip.

Every day is a pool day!

After our hikes and adventures almost every day, we ended up back at the pool at our resort. This was probably the kids’ favorite part of the trip (except for maybe feeding the giraffes!) They had some fun water slides, and a great kids’ area. The kids were so easy to entertain out there and they loved every minute of it!

What an amazing trip with such amazing memories. We are especially lucky that we had parts of both of our families there with us. Spending time with family is always good for our souls, and this was even more so being in such a beautiful place. We loved our time in Arizona, and we can’t wait for another visit!

Marchin’ into Spring

We are finally getting out of our little winter funk. It’s so crazy how January and February seemed to crawl by, but March went by in a blur. March has always been good for my soul…even if the winter weather lingers, it just brings new hope that spring is indeed coming. Here is a recap of our month.

A Surprise Trip Home

One day my sister called me to tell me that she had just been informed that our dad was going to win one of the most prestigious awards given by their company. When this award is announced, the winner’s family meets them on stage. As soon as we knew my dad was going to be awarded this honor, my mom and sister wanted to do whatever we could to get me there to surprise him. For weeks, we secretly planned out all the details (which is no easy task…we don’t call my dad “the hawk” for no reason). I flew into Indianapolis late Monday night, and had my father-in-law pick me up to take me to my sister’s house. Then as soon as my dad went to work the next day, my mom came by to pick me up to take me to the event with her.

It was a whirlwind of a couple days. I was pretty anxious because it was all so exciting and I just wanted it all to work out and for him to be surprised. Well…it could not have gone better. The look on his face when he saw me was completely worth all of it! It was such an unforgettable experience and I am so glad I got to be there during this special time for him.

I really wanted to bring the kids with me, but I knew this would be a quick trip (about 48 hours), and it wouldn’t be worth the exhausting travel and extra money to bring them along. So, Ryan’s mom and aunt agreed to come visit to help watch them. Unfortunately, my sweet Kinsie Kay came down with the flu during this fiasco. She was down with a high fever, tiredness and body aches, and missed school for a solid week. I hated leaving her, but I knew Ryan was still there (when he wasn’t at work), and she had grandma and Aunt Renata taking care of her. I am so grateful for them driving 10 hours both ways to help me make this trip happen! The kids enjoyed having them here, and I loved my sweet welcome home message when I returned.

Marvel Universe Live!

Brax has become obsessed with superheroes lately, especially from the Marvel universe. Almost 3 years ago when I found out I was pregnant with a baby boy, Ryan told me that I needed to educate myself on superheroes for the sake of our son. Within the last year, I started watching Marvel movies and…I’m not going to lie…I’ve become obsessed with it myself! It has been so much fun learning about all the different superheroes with my boy, and watching him flying around the room with his cape, or run around with his giant Hulk hands “Hulk-smashing” everything in sight!

One day, Ryan randomly saw an advertisement for a live show featuring our favorite Marvel characters. The tickets were reasonable, so we booked it. We have gone to many Disney On Ice shows, which we love, but we thought this would be something exciting and different and focused on Brax’s current obsession.

We loved seeing Captain America, Spider-Man, Groot, and many more of the Marvel gang. Brax, however, was most excited about seeing the Hulk! In fact, he loved seeing him so much, that he cried when the show was over…and continued to sulk about it the rest of the day! Needless to say, he loved the show!

Bottom right picture – Brax’s reaction to the show being over. He was so upset that Hulk had to leave!

 

We had a great family day!

 

Spring has Sprung!

Ahh spring. We missed you! I know winter is so much worse in Indiana, but it still isn’t great here. But spring….yes. Spring here in Little Rock is my favorite. The temps are perfection during this time of year. We’ve been spending a lot of time riding bikes, taking walks, and eating outside dinners. We are going to fully embrace this weather until the dreadful humidity kicks in.

One of our favorite things to do as a family this time of year is eat dinner outside. This particular day, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. The best!

T-ball Season Begins

Another season of t-ball is upon us. Kinsie missed it and was excited to start again. She has had 2 practices so far, and has been rocking it again. She’s the only girl on her team again, but she is also one of the most aggressive players. We are excited to watch her again this season, and as long as she still loves it, she’ll be moving on up to a real softball league next fall.

Family Vacation in Arizona

We had been looking forward to this trip for a long time, and it did not disappoint! We had an amazing week in Scottdale, Arizona with our families. There were so many great memories and pictures, I’m devoting an entire blog post just for the trip. It will be up soon!

Other Activities

A friend’s birthday party

Kinsie had a friend from school who had their birthday party at the same place she takes gymnastics. The kids had a blast, and it was a great way to spend our Saturday!

Sickness strikes again

The week before we went to Arizona, my poor girl got struck again, but this time, with the stomach bug. She was down for about 3 days, then she got much better in time for our trip. The rest of us stayed healthy too which was a relief. We’re hoping she got all of her sickness for the year out of the way this month!

St. Patrick’s Day

This holiday has always kind of been a non-factor in my life. I’m not Irish, I don’t really drink, and I’m not crazy about the color green. However, when you have kids, every holiday is more fun! These crazy kids love dressing in their green for St. Patty’s Day and now I have another excuse to take cute pictures of them!

Avengers Assemble

As I said earlier, Brax is in a major superhero phase and we are loving it! He walks around with his giant Hulk hands constantly, and is always Hulk-smashing everything…including us. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, “Brax, don’t Hulk-smash your sister!” He will constantly put his little fists up in the air to Ryan and say, “Daddy, let’s fight!” He always makes Ryan be the bad guy, and he is the Hulk, and he beats up the bad guy and saves the day! We are all embracing this boy’s love for superheroes, even sweet Kinsie Kay. She loves Wonder Woman, and plays right along with her brother’s superhero games!

Stay tuned for a post all about our trip to Arizona…because it was definitely the highlight of our month. April is here now and we are excited about this spring weather and fun events coming up like Easter, Brax’s birthday, and Kinsie’s Pre-K Graduation.

Happy April, and as always, here is our 1 Second Everyday video for March 2019.

Falling for October

October seemed to fly by! We stayed incredibly busy this month between t-ball, school, ballet, church, vacation, and lots of fall fun. Some of our favorite yearly traditions take place in October, and even with Ryan’s busy schedule, we try really hard to still fit it all in and create fun memories. Here is a recap of our October.

T-ball Season

Kinsie’s t-ball games started this month, and she has been rocking it! Softball has come more naturally to her than any other sport she has tried so far. She still needs to work on her throwing skills, but she has been hitting the ball incredibly well, and being very aggressive on the field. She seems to love it, and we all enjoy watching her play!

Pumpkin Patches

Going to the pumpkin patch is always a must every year. We always try to find a day where Ryan can go with us, because we all enjoy it. We went to the same pumpkin patch as last year because we loved it so much. The corn pit, the hay playground, the farm animals, the hay ride, the maze…we loved it all!

This year, Kinsie and Brax’s school did a field trip to a different pumpkin patch. We had so much fun! The kids spent most of their time with Kinsie’s buddy, Judah (who is also on her t-ball team). They loved picking pumpkins and spending time with their teachers outside of the classroom. Kinsie had a homework assignment while she was there, which she was ALL about. This farm had tons of playground areas for the kids to run around, and lots of play scenes to take pictures with. It was a fun morning!

Trip to Florida

The kids and I were very lucky to get the opportunity to go to Florida with my family for a week. Our original hope was for Ryan to come with us for a few days, but with his limited days off, we just didn’t think it was worth it for him to try to make this trip. We really missed him, but we did have a great time! The kids spent most of their time on the beach playing with their cousins. They loved building sand castles, playing on the boogie board, collecting seashells, and more. It honestly didn’t matter what they were doing, as long as they were with their cousins, they were happy!

We also decided to spend one day at Disney’s Epcot. We hadn’t been there since Kinsie was 2 and I was pregnant with Brax. The older kids are getting more interested in learning about other countries and cultures, so we thought this was a great time to take them here. We had a very busy, but awesome day! We accomplished a ton in just one day. We loved The Seas with Nemo and Friends and the giant Epcot ball, but mostly the kids loved the characters (we’ll get to that in a minute), and visiting all the countries in the World Showcase.We bought the kids Epcot passports, and they LOVED visiting every country and getting their passport stamped. It was actually very neat, especially because the people who work at each country are actually from that country. This was a very neat experience for all of us, and I loved how much they enjoyed learning about different countries and cultures.

Our other favorite part of Epcot was getting to meet all the characters. This was definitely the highlight for Brax. He absolutely loved hugging and getting his picture taken with all of his favorites. At the end of the night, we surprised the kids with a Disney princess dinner. The girls were so excited, and loved visiting with, and getting autographs from some of their favorite princesses. It was a long, busy, but wonderful day at Epcot!

Like I said, we really missed Ryan, but we’re so glad we took this opportunity. We had some great quality family time, and the kids were so happy to spend time with their favorite people. I am so grateful for my family for making this trip work for us and helping me so much. I literally couldn’t have done any of it without them!

Pumpkins Galore!

Every year, our creative side comes bursting out around Halloween. Ryan and I, even when we were in high school, loved carving unique pumpkins together. We’ve managed to continue this tradition with our kids. This year, we also included painting to the mix. The kids loved painting their pumpkins, and Ryan and I added a Harry Potter and Hedwig to the pumpkin crew this year.

Last year, one of our favorite activities with the residency group was pumpkin carving. We made sure to be a part of it again this year. The kids loved carving their pumpkins, but they loved running around and playing hide and seek with their friends even more.

Pictured below- all of our finished painted pumpkins

And now pictured below are the finished carved pumpkins. From left to right we had Brax’s picks – Chase from Paw Patrol and Bruce the shark from Finding Nemo, Ryan’s pick – a human heart/skull, my pick – the Hocus Pocus witches, then Kinsie’s picks – a unicorn and a Hatchimal.

Halloween

It poured on Halloween night! And we knew it would…it was in the forecast for a few days. Most of the city of Little Rock moved trick-or-treating to the night before, but Kinsie had a double-header that night. Luckily, our church had a festival on the night of Halloween…so we still got to do our Halloween thing. Kinsie has had her costume picked out for months…she wanted to be Anne Wheeler, the trapeze artist from the movie, The Great Showman. Brax was a different story! I can’t even count how many times he changed his mind. Some of his options over the last month included (but are not limited to) PT Barnum, an elephant, an alligator, a lion, Mickey Mouse, a dinosaur….and about 10 more different types of animals. He’s so picky about what he wears, so I knew it would be a challenge to actually get him to wear something. He finally settled on Mickey Mouse…which I was fine with because I could make him a simple Mickey costume using just normal clothes. Of course he wouldn’t wear it to his school Halloween party, but I was so relieved that he actually wore it on Halloween!

The festival at church was a lot of fun. It was very crowded, but they had tons of games, activities, and food. The kids loved all the games and had a great time with some of their friends.

Busy, busy month…but we loved every bit of it! Looking forward to exciting things in November…especially expecting our newest nephew to arrive by the end of the month!!! We can’t wait to meet him and to witness Megan and Tim embark on the amazing journey of parenthood.

As always, enjoy our 1 Second Everyday October video!