Skippin' School..to go to WDW!

Friends from MD let us know that they would be spending a few days at Walt Disney World before leaving for their Disney Cruise, so we decided to play hooky one day and head on over to Orlando! Isabella and I spent the day at the Magic Kingdom...doing whatever Isabella wanted! The boys went to Hollywood Studios, then Epcot and finally met us at the Magic Kingdom. The weather was beautiful and the crowds weren't too bad, so all in all, it was a perfect day!Our friends, the Arringtons...Lucas, Richard, Lenora and Anna

This was Isabella's first time on the Haunted Mansion! She went on it twice!

Jonah at the Rockin' Roller Coaster in Hollywood Studios.

The boys at the Tower of Terror!

This coming weekend is the ESPN Weekend!

Epcot Center!

Livin' the Florida Life!

Today we went to check out Freedom Boat Club...all the fun of being on a boat without all the work of actually owning a boat! Jonah was all over driving the boat (and wanted to swing by the nude beach that the dockmaster pointed out to us...oh yeah, teenage years ahoy!) while Isabella and I hung on for dear life! Evan was dying to jump in for a swim but it was a little too chilly today! This is a whole other side of Florida living that we've yet to explore!
The windswept look is much better on Isabella than it is on me!
The kids got a kick out of the crazy signs all over the Riverside Cafe where we ate dinner after our boat trip!

Pizzookie!

Jonah came home after his dentist appointment yesterday and ended up staying home the rest of the day. He had two fillings and was pretty numb...slobbering his lunch all over his chin kind of sealed the deal. He decided to make a surprise for Evan and Isabella so he created a pizza cookie...PIZZOOKIE! It was yummy!

Guess Who Got Contacts??

Evan has been waiting to get contacts for a long time! We told him he could get them when we didn't have to bug him about brushing his teeth anymore...that's been happening for a while now. so when he needed a new prescription this week, we decided to take the plunge! We love seeing his beautiful, baby blue eyes!

BEFOREAFTER

Some Valentine's Day Love...

Isabella decorated a very fancy Valentine's Day box to collect her cards at school!
Evan enjoying some of his Valentine's Day candy stash! Looks like Fun Dip was the candy of choice this year!
Evan's new school had a Valentine's Day dance, so Isabella, Evan and I went. They loved the chocolate fountain! The kids could buy a little snack tray with cookies, pretzels, strawberries and marhsmallows to dip in the chocolate!

Evan's friends Alyssa, Bobbi and Olivia

Wow! I think they really love each other! This photo was Evan's idea!

Our Furry Family Is Growing!

I think I've mentioned before that I'm volunteering with a dog rescue here in Florida since we adopted Cooper over Labor Day. We've had several dogs in and out of our house over the past few months, which the kids have really loved! Harley just rolls his eyes at us like "are you kidding me?? another one??" and Cooper loves getting new playmates! So we decided that we really wanted to get Cooper a buddy...Cooper and Harley are definitely pals, but at 14, Harley just isn't up for the reindeer games anymore. We brought Gracie home over the weekend and just fell in love with her! She's a 10 month old, Yorkie mix. She loves to play with Cooper, but she's so much calmer than he is. We'll be posting more pics!

ARRRGGGHHHH Mateys!

Late Saturday afternoon, we headed to Ybor City, near Tampa to explore! It's a very eclectic part of town, with a Cuban flavor, and the city streets and variety of shops reminded us of downtown Frederick!

We ate dinner outdoors at a New York style pizza place (where you fold the pizza in half!) and Isabella loved watching the guy toss the pizza dough!

After dinner, we drove to the Bayshore section of Tampa to watch a sunset airshow and fireworks display that was part of the Gasparilla Extravaganza! Next year, we'll go for the parade because everyone had on beads...you would have thought it was Mardi Gras!

The Legend of Gasparilla sounds like an exotic drink...or perhaps even a rare, tropical flower. But, as any Tampa resident can attest, "Gasparilla" means boats, pirates, parades, merriment and more. The name and foundation of Tampa's traditional Gasparilla Carnival come from legendary pirate Jose Gaspar, "last of the Buccaneers," who terrorized the coastal waters of West Florida during the late 18th and early 19th century. Gaspar, given to calling himself "Gasparilla," served as a lieutenant in the Royal Spanish Navy for five years until 1783 when, upon seizing command of a Spanish sloop-of-war, he with his fellow mutineers set sail for the Florida straits. And so the young Spanish aristocrat-turned-pirate began an adventurous life as outlaw of the sea.
You can learn more about Gasparilla here.

Even Cooper snagged some beads!

Cooper was so tired from his adventures that he crashed on the console in the car on the drive home!