Disney Love

After living in Florida for seven years, we finally made it to Disney three times this spring.  Once just the two of us during Brandon's annual work trip below, and once with each side of our families.


On our second trip, GJ and I took the girls to have dinner in Cinderella's castle where they met some of their most favorite princesses.




My personal favorite was Ariel, the little mermaid.  She was so great with the girls and you could tell that her enthusiasm was genuine.




We also had a little birthday celebration for Tom-tom.  He kept saying "I be fwee" while holding up both index fingers.






I must confess I did not take many pictures at all, and one of the reasons Ryan and Amy are not in ones with the kids is that they were the ones that took most of these!  Thanks Amy!


We went with my parents on our final trip to Disney.  Here is our feeble attempt at a family photo in front of the castle...


The second day we got to the park early and snapped one while the moods were still favorable.


My favorite ride at Hollywood Studios was the Toy Story 3 ride, I used to be really into video games in my younger years so it was right up my alley.


Minnie Mouse Fashionista




Our dining highlight from Hollywood Studios was the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater.  It was air conditioned, dark, cocktails were flowing like water and the kids were happy.


When asked about Disney World, Tommy replies: "I shoot gun! I shoot gun on Toy Story 3!"


If you ask me where I ate the best food, I would definitely say Tony's Town Square at the Magic Kingdom.  It was superb, although a glass of wine would have definitely come in handy, unfortunately beverages of those kind are not served at all in the MK.


They were good, but very silly.


It was impossible to get Tommy to sit down and eat his hummus, pretzels, oranges and pudding.  He was too busy lining up his trains on the back of the seat and putting on dramatic faces in the mirror.


All in all we had a great time.  I am so thankful for our families who were able to join us on these trips we've waited so long for, and that the kids were able to see it for the first time with all of them as well.  We plan to return in a couple of years when the new Fantasyland is open and I hope that by then the girls will still be young enough to enjoy the new princess castles and rides that they have waited so long to build.

Pool fun, Soccer and Teacher Appreciation

This year is going to finally be a lot of fun in the pool department.  Tommy is comfortable wearing floaties and the girls have proven to be little fish, so I can now relax poolside while the minis splash around.


I love my delicious little man.




The girls have come such a long way in the pool in just a couple summers.


Elle looks like she's ready for a synchronized swim competition.


Khera played spring soccer this year, and we learned quickly that she has a competitive edge that we didn't even know about...when Elle and Tommy let her have the ball, that is.




She had a couple of schoolmates on her team, it was so fun to watch how their skills evolved throughout the short season.


The main reason Khera wanted to play soccer was to get the trophy or medal at the end.  She was VERY proud when she received hers from coach Joel.


Tommy showed off his muscles during the last game.


Papi and Grandma made it to her final game also.


Elle made a friend and Tommy ate his dinner on the field.

I've got to say I was really relieved when the season was over, it takes a lot of effort to coordinate homework, meals, carpools, snacks, baths in the afternoon/evenings and fitting in a soccer season was NOT easy.  It was worth it to see Khera grow and work on a team.

Teacher Appreciation week was a couple weeks ago at preschool, and since I volunteered to be room mom this year for Tommy's class, there were several things I had to pull together.

Door decoration:


Stationery and flower pens:


I also made some fun clipboards with this photo attached:

So you might be wondering what Tommy was doing during these various projects???

Feeding his cars roasted garlic hummus...


Dipping his trains into his Oreo dipper icing...

I was very thankful when this week was over as well.  It was a lot of fun making these treats for his teachers, but now we can get back to catching up on our own lives!

Cupcakes, Spring Breakers and Tampa Bay Rays

St. Pete finally joined the new millennium and opened up a cupcake shop...that serves Tommy-safe cupcakes!

Mommy's Tommy's thrilled that mommy no longer has to make these from scratch!!!  Can't you just see the relief in his eyes?


He prefers chocolate frosting, he must get that from his mama's side...


Here he is plotting his next move.


Love the-cupcake-anhilation-face, Tom-tom!


My BFF Jenny brought her twins down to visit for spring break in the beginning of April.  We had a blast!  It's funny how old friends just pick up where they leave off.


We went to the Dali museum and worked on ginormous floor puzzles.




Here they are at the breakfast bar.  We played with the kids by day, and pretended like we were back at UC by night.  Thanks for visiting Jenny!


We visited Bumpa and Kathy during their visit to Anna Maria, and all I got was this mobile picture?  I have been super absent-minded lately about bringing my "good" camera.


We headed down to Siesta Key when some friends from Ohio were on spring break too.  We love entertaining spring breakers, even if it means ditching school ourselves!


Elle's BFF Sophia took her to a Tampa Bay Rays game, she's the first North child to experience a real baseball game--even if it is under a dome.


They had posh box seats...poor deprived little girls.

These two are so much alike it's crazy, they also share the same birth date and astrological sign.

I couldn't tell if she was having a good time...


Stay tuned for more about what we've been up to, we are still running about a month behind on our posts!