She did what?!

Today we went over to Mimi and PawPaw's to take the kids swimming. It has been so hot out that really that's one of the only outdoor activities that is bearable. Plus, the kids always have a blast in the water, and this time we really let them just play in the water and not stay in their floats the whole time. I think we created a monster with that one though. Here are some photos from us swimming....

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The rest of the day was really chill, we just hung out around the house. Scott and I are in the process of cleaning out the garage because we're terrible pack rats. I just want to be able to pull the Explorer in the middle of the garage when it's pouring outside so I don't have to juggle a big golf umbrella and one of the kids. We've already sold some stuff today on craigslist which is awesome. The kids were big helps in this whole process because they took a nice long afternoon nap!!! Gotta love long naps! After they got up we just played around the house, here are some photos...And I have to share this....tonight was bath night, and usually Jill is the last one out of the tub, so I let her run around in her birthday suit. Well we've had one stand and pee incident, but tongiht, oh tonight... My angel whose halo is being held up by her horns, squatted in the middle of the floor and peed, then proceeded to get up, look down at it, smile and run into the other room. Fabulous! But hey, at least she knew she had to squat, right?

Hope you had a great weekend!

Really Gerber? Really?!

So remember how a few days ago I put a letter to Gerber on the blog? Well I actually sent them an email (a much nicer version of the one I put on here) and this is the response I got...seriously...

Amanda, Thank you for contacting us about Gerber® Graduates® Finger Foods™ Peach Fruit Puffs. We are sorry for any disappointment or inconvenience you may have been caused. The first rule in controlling stains is to treat them immediately. Any stain that has been allowed to set can be extremely difficult to remove, and in some instances, almost impossible if the garment has been through several washings and dryings. To remove fruit stains, soak the garment in cold water and rub detergent into the stain. Launder in the hottest water possible for the safety of the fabric and then air dry. If the stain remains, soak the garment in a non-chlorine bleach solution and launder again. We are sending replacement coupons, via postal mail, that can be used for other Gerber products. We hope you will use them with complete confidence and satisfaction. Again, please accept our apologies for your experience. Best wishes from your friends @ gerber.com.

Thank you for the lesson on how to do laundry Gerber, because clearly I hadn't tried all of those things more than 10 times. Oh and by the way, the dress is totally ruined now, and the buttons are falling off from being washed every other day. Awesome....

Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks

We took a road trip today with Mimi and PawPaw out to Tarpon Springs to walk along the sponge docks. I, obviously, had never been, so I was really excited to walk around a new part of Florida. Besides, the only thing I knew about Tarpon Springs was that I competed against their high school marching band at BOA Grand Nationals every year in high school (please save all the band dork jokes). It was like an hour and a half/two hour/really long time thought I was in Texas ride, here are some photos of us heading over there....

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So we got to the sponge docks and it was hot, like scorching thought I was going to become part of the concrete, hot. They were also having a bike fest (not on the events calendar by the way Tarpon Springs) which meant there were a lot of people walking around in leather that had no business walking around in leather, especially on a super hot could fry an egg on the sidewalk kind of day. Here are some of the main sponge shops on the strip...

Here is us walking to the end of the strip...
Here is Aaron's boat, I had no idea he had one....
Here is Aaron, his first mate Jill and his boat in the background....
What is nice about the strip is there are a ton of shops that you can't find just anywhere. A lot of the stores have European linens and shoes (super amazing Italian leather shoes, to die for!) because the majority of the people that live in that immediate area are Greek. There are also Greek restaurants every 3-4 feet I would say. And the people that work there sound like every single person from the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". AND every other boat was called Nicholas, swear to God! It was awesome!
There were also a ton of little antique shops hidden away. Scott and I walked through one, and it was pretty cool. They actually had this candy dish that is shaped like a hen, and it's all white, and it is exactly the same one my Mom had when we were growing up. I about peed my pants when I saw it. They also had a ton of vanities, like the really pretty ones from the 1940s. I think if you gave them a little TLC they would be amazing. There were also a ton of those old glass perfume bottles. One in particular was just gorgeous, and I'm kicking myself now for not getting it. It was jade green with a cameo style necklace that hung from the top. Scott told me to get it, and like a dummy I said no, and now I wish I had said yes :(
After the docks we went to dinner and then made the trek home. Here are the rest of the photos from our day. Please excuse my hair, I promise I did do it today, I'm just in desperate need of a haircut/color.

Hope you had a great day!

Quick Photo Update

Good morning! I just wanted to share some photos from this morning, they are just too cute not to share!

Friends and more friends!

Today we met up with some friends at the lake. The big kids got to play in the splash area (check out Lani's blog for insanely cute photos) while us little ones played in the super yard. I think Jill would have been fine running around, but Aaron's just not that good at walking yet, and I would have hated to have one in and one out. The big kids got to splash for awhile before the really big kids (2 bus loads) came in. All in all it was a great day at the park!



When we got home Mimi came down for a visit. Jill instantly became a Mimi's girl and rarely left her side. She also showed Mimi how she can say AND sign dog. Seriously I had a tear form it was that special of a moment.


The rest of the day we really just hung out around the house, I spent most of my afternoon cleaning up from dinner last night. I made frutti di mare with linguine in a puttanesca sauce, it was really yum-o. It also required the use of like 3-4 pots and a million cutting boards and colanders, but well worth the effort!
Aaron has been very vocal lately. He literally talked my ear off today, I swear! And he's so deliberate with every word he says now, he wants to make sure you heard every syllable! Here are some more photos from the rest of our day....

Not too sure what we are doing this weekend. It's nice for a change not to have any plans :) Hope you have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving Thursday!

Has it really been a week already? I guess so.... This week I am thankful for....

• An awesome visit with my sister and niece. I feel bad that it rained the entire time they were here, and that it is now raining in Chicago. But, I think that had a good time, and I know the kiddos had fun with them.
  

• My super secret plan coming together and actually being able to surprise Scott on Saturday!
  

• Everyone who helped make Saturday possible!
  

• A relaxing, semi-three day weekend with Scott and the kiddos. I love three day weekends! Always have, always will!

• The past three years and everything it has brought. I never thought that we would be where we are today and I am so glad that we are :) Thanks for the best three years ever Scott!

• All the sweet comments here and on Facebook from everyone!

• Finding $20 in my purse. I have no idea where it came from, but it was awesome to find.

• Publix selling organic milk by the gallon. You make my life a little easier by doing that!

• Lani picking up the slack for me while I was on my staycation!
  

Be sure to play along with Nicole at What a Trip!

Yesterday was pretty chill. I'm trying a new schedule with the kids and it seems to be working quite well! The only snag I've hit is that Jill wants to go to bed later (she didn't fall asleep until 8:30 last night), other than that it's awesome!

The rain in the afternoon is still pretty rough, and will be until September at least. We got hit pretty hard yesterday afternoon, to the point that we almost lost power. The rain is great though, honestly, it's saving us money because we don't have to water our grass, excuse me, savanna. Seriously, I'm considering buying a flag to attach to our dog so I can find her in the backyard. Hopefully this weekend the grass will dry out so Scott can cut it.

Other than that not much else is really going on over here. I get to pick up a baby gate today that I found on craigslist. Now if I could only find a big baby gate, then I'd be set! Here are some photos from the past two days....

And finally, HAPPY 2ND ANNIVERSARY DEBBIE AND DAVID!!!!!!!

Hope you have a great day!

Our 3rd Anniversary

Here are some of our favorite memories from our wedding. I can't believe it's been three years already!

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Happy anniversary Scott!

Dear Gerber....

My dear friends at Gerber, I am writing to ask you what type of food coloring you use in your Peach Puffs. Is it permanent ink? I have tried washing my daughters dress 10 (yes ten) times and still have stains from where she smashed a peach puff. I have been able to remove blood in one wash and yet the peach puff stain remains. Is there some secret I do not know about? If yes, please fill me in, you can even wipe my memory afterward just as long as I can get the stain out of her dress. If you are going to tell me that I just need to pre-treat the stain I will laugh in your face. I have pre-treated this stain with everything in my home and have scrubbed it to the point that I thought I was going to rip it. Surely there is something better?

Many thanks,
Me :)

Our Memorial Day

We had a really good Memorial Day yesterday! Aaron surprised us all in the morning by actually drinking his milk by himself. He's my cuddly one and always wants you to feed him, but yesterday he finally gave up and did it himself. It was amazing!
After naps we went up by Mimi and PawPaw's to go swimming. The weather was perfect, it finally stopped raining and the sun was out! The kids love the pool, and Jill finally figured out that if she kicks her legs she can move around. We let them play outside of the floats too for a little while, which they loved. I'm still looking into swim classes for them. There is one company that has an indoor location, which I think may work the best since we won't have to miss any classes on count of the weather.
Here are some of the photos from our day. They are watermarked now due to an incident over at the multiples blog, long story.

SURPRISE!

Yesterday was a pretty even keel day for the most part. I went to pick up my sister and niece because they were going to spend the night and watch the kids so Scott and I could celebrate our anniversary early. Scott and I went to dinner at Jiko at the Jambo House at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Dinner was fantastic! If you ever stay at Disney you need to go here and have dinner, it was super yummy! We had mussels to start, which were in a word AMAZING, then I had the swordfish and Scott had the halibut. Words cannot even describe the food, that's how good it was. So before dessert came out I gave Scott his anniversary card. Inside was the best surprise ever! A room key for Kidani Village which is the new resort at Animal Kingdom Lodge. YAY for a night away! And can I tell you I was beyond proud of myself for a) not spilling the beans and b) him not figuring it out! A big thank you to my Mom and Dad for helping with that! Here are some photos from the night....The last photo was the view from our room, how cool is that?!

So the kids did well with their Auntie Cathy and cousin Lorren. After we got home we all piled up and went to the farmers market, which was a little disappointing this weekend. I'm guessing because of the holiday weekend, not a lot of the vendors were there. Then Jill got a big treat and got to have some cake with Cathy and Lorren. More like Jill ate a whole slice of cake! The rain is back, well it hasn't left. I feel bad that whenever my sister comes down in May in rains the entire time. :(
No big plans for tomorrow, just glad it's a three day weekend! Hope you have a happy and safe Memorial Day!

Mommy's little helpers

So now that the kids are more mobile they are running all over the house, literally not figuratively. The playzone just isn't cutting it anymore, it's just not big enough and we really don't have the room to add onto it, so I just opened the gate on it so they can come and go as they please. Scott also fashioned some baby gates with our dining room chairs until we find baby gates that we like. I've found one for the kitchen, but the living room is weird and we need a very specific gate that of course is over $100. FABULOUS! Needless to say I'm on craigslist like everyday all day. But back to the story....So my little helpers decided that they would help me with the laundry today. And wouldn't you know my underwear happened to be the first things they went for, so glad I didn't have company over and that the neighbors can't see in! They are also fascinated by the noise the door makes so they had to try just about every toy within reach to see what noise they each made. Jill even tried to throw her blankies in the dryer, at least she is recognizing that they need to be washed.

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Hey Lady!

The rain has stopped, at least for the day, which is, in a word, AWESOME! The kids really didn't take morning naps today mainly because of the apparent construction next door. So, we went to Magic Kingdom earlier than planned and met up with Cathy and Lorren. The park didn't seem too crowded when we got there, I think the big dark gray clouds scared a lot of people off. Before lunch we took the kids on Snow White and Cinderella's Carousel. The kiddos are like old pros on the carousel now, Jill even rode it without holding on at one point. Then we went and had lunch at Tony's, which I had never been to. I always forget it's there. Anyway, lunch was good, my fruititarians ate all the yogurt parfait and only a few bites of salmon. Seriously, if it is not a pancake, waffle, french toast stick or fruit, don't bother putting it in front of them. After lunch we took the kiddos on Winnie the Pooh, which they have never been on because the line is always 40 minutes long, but we got Fast Passes which was awesome. I do not recommend riding this after lunch though. I forgot about the bouncing and tipping and general not so good things. Then we started to notice the crowds picking up. It was crazy, there was barely anyone there before we ate and then BAM a ton of people magically appeared (it is the most magical place on Earth afterall). So we took the kids to Pirates of the Caribbean, and Aaron of course fell asleep in line. He did this the last time that Cathy and Lorren took them on the ride too, kind of funny. So then we get in our boat and the kid behind me goes "Hey lady! Don't move when we go down the hill I don't want to get wet." Lady? Really? Was the lighting bad? I don't pass for miss anymore? Seriously kid you should have just called me Ma'am or Granny or Old Maid. Sigh...wrinkle cream aisle 5 here I come! But in the end we had a good day and managed to stay dry, which is always important! That's about it over here, not too sure what is on the schedule for tomorrow. Hope you had a great day! Here are some photos from our day...FYI the kid with his hands up his pits is the one that called me "Lady". Punk!