Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Who Says Rain Is No Fun?????

We have been getting a lot of rain for the last couple of days and are expected to get a bunch more tonight and tomorrow.  One good thing about living on top of the hill is that we don't have to worry about the flooding that is happening in our area right now. 
I promised Hannah that we can go play in the mud and she was really excited.  So, this afternoon during a brief rain break we went outside to play in the dirt and had a lot of fun.
And since moving day is coming up next week we have already packed up a bunch of stuff including our sand toys, so a Halloween bucket and some kitchen utensils will have to do to play in the mud.
Remember the cows we had in our yard a few weeks ago?  Well, they have left some presents on the volleyball court where we were playing.  Hannah was really close to scooping them up, but I caught her just in time.  Thank goodness!
I will miss this view!
By now it was really starting to rain again, so I had to put the camera up, but we continued to play in the mud and rain for a while.  We had so much fun!
Our matching rainboot came in handy today!

Now I just want to write down a couple of stories I want to remember.  We were supposed to go up to Lincoln, NE to visit Megan and Barry last week, but Hannah and I ended up staying here to do some packing.  Before we decided not to go I was talking to Hannah about visiting Megan and Barry and she said "And Charlie (their dog).  I like Charlie.  I put stickers on Charlie".  I was really surprised that Hannah remembered Charlie, but also that she remembered putting stickers on him last time we visited.  I can't remember the last time we visited them, but I know it's been a long time.

On Saturday morning I talked Hannah into wearing this cute outfit......of course she did not want to at first (she only wants to wear comfy pants/leggings), but after showing her the big pockets she was all for it.  Here she is loading up the pockets with Legos/Duplos.
Little did I know that these Legos in her pockets would come in handy later.  We were running some errands in Fayetteville and went into this used book store that is really big and packed with books from the floor to the ceiling.  This store has a lot of rooms with small and narrow aisles and just keeps going.  I was looking for some books and Hannah got away from me, but I cold hear her Legos in her pockets the entire time.  I think I would have lost her in that maze of a bookstore if it wasn't for the Legos in her pockets :)


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Florida And This And That

We had a few more days in Florida and spent a day at Sea World and visiting friends.  Hannah and I went to Sea World and had a blast.  I have to say Sea World is still my favorite theme park.  It feels so much more relaxed even when it is busy and it is perfect for Toddlers.
Watching "One Ocean" at Shamu stadium
Taking a little break to play in the water
My friend Lisa and her adorable son Landon met us for the afternoon.  It was so great to catch up with Lisa and meet Landon.  It had been a really long time since I last saw Lisa.  I hope it won't be that long until next time.  This is the only picture we got.  One of the workers at Sea World was umping up and down trying to get the kids to look and smile and it was hilarious.
The next morning we met up with Hellen, Gracyn an Camryn Reese at the Mall at Millenia.  We played some at Pottery Barn Kids and the ate lunch at Chick Fil A. It is always great to see Hellen and the girls. 
Hannah and Gracyn were taking a nap at PBK
We spent a few hours in Lakeland with Tabitha in the afternoon.  Tabitha has been such a wonderful friend throughout the years.  We can always pick up right where we left off last time we saw each other.

This week we celebrated Scott's birthday with some ice cream cake.  The weather has been beautiful in our neck of the woods.  We have spent a lot of time outside this week.  The trees are already blooming and the weeds are sprouting in the yard.  I am so happy that we don't have to bundle up anymore (at least for now).
Hannah also started gymnastics this week and she loved it.  Now she asks me every day if it is time to go again.  Too bad next week is spring break.
Hannah is still in a Wee Tots class right now where I stay with her and participate.  Once she turns three she can move up a level and go in by herself.  She is already telling me now that she wants to go "all by myself".
Hannah had PJ day at school today and she insisted on wearing Simon's jammies (that we borrowed a year ago).  Hannah loves these PJ's and they sometimes become a great "bribing tool" for me (for example: if you brush your teeth you can wear Simon's jammies).  Works great. Ha!
Last night Hannah was taking a shower in our bathroom.  I looked over and saw her pretending to shave her legs.  She took the razor (without a blade) and put her legs up on the ledge and started to pretend shave.  I am always amazed by how much she picks up and think it is so funny what she tries to copy.
We were driving home yesterday and out of the blue she said "Sometimes you look funny Mama".  Not sure what to think about that.  We have some very interesting conversations in the car and I love them.
Hannah filled out a bracket for March Madness yesterday.  Scott asked her every game what team she liked better and she answered.  It was really funny and so far (after 1 day) she is 9 out of 12.  She really liked Montana, because it sounded like Hannah.  She also liked Kansas and said "Kansas City" every time.  She picked any "State" school and said "steak".  Then she said "you like steak Mama?".  We had to take several breaks while filling out the bracket, because she got tired of doing it, but we finished it. 

Monday, March 12, 2012

The Sunshine State-Animal Kingdom

We paid another visit to the Sunshine State last week.  I always enjoy being back and we had great weather and a wonderful vacation (even though it was not all that relaxing).  Hannah loves hotel rooms and is always so busy as soon as she gets into the room.  She has to make several phone calls (sometimes I forget that we don't have a home phone anymore and for Hannah a phone with a cord is something completely new and exciting. Ha.) and the notepad and pen are always exciting too.  She also really enmjoys riding the elevator to the room.

Here she is eating a red pepper (yes she eats it like an apple)
I was excited to go to Animal Kingdom for a day.  I had never been and didn't know what to expect.  I was surprised to see it very crowded already.  We thought we would beat the spring break crowd.  The weather was perfect for it and it wasn't too hot yet.  Hannah was really excited to see some of the characters.  After standing in line for about 30min it was time to meet Goofy.....as soon as it was Hannah's turn she panicked and didn't want anything to do with him.
As soon as her turn was over she didn't want to leave and watched the other kids meet Goofy.
Then she wanted to go see Minnie, Mickey and Donald.  Once again we stood in line to see Minnie and when it was Hannah's turn again she froze and didn't want to go up there....she did go up with us, but wouldn't look at Minnie Mouse.
Guess what she wanted to do after we were done with Minnie?????  Yes, she wanted to go see Mickey.  We decided to take a little break and go to the petting zoo and ride a few rides.
After all of this excitement we decided to go stand in line to see Mickey.  We had promised Hannah that she would get to meet Mickey, so we thought we give it a try.  Well, once again she got scared, but at least she can now say she met Mickey. Once again she wanted to go meet Donald after that, but we didn't go for it this time.  We had already stood in line almost 2 hours at this point to meet characters and everytime Hannah froze up and got scared. 
Last thing we did was get on the Safari and I am so glad we did.  It was definitely the highlight of the day at Animal Kingdom.
We were all exhausted by the end of the day and went to bed early.  I don't know what it is about these parks, but they wear me out. 
The next morning Hannah made herself a bed in my suitcase :)
I will finish up with the rest of our trip next time.