More Spring Break Fun!

We are having a great time in Florida with the Klaasens. Tuesday was a rainy, cloudy, windy day. We walked to downtown Clearwater to have some lunch, did some shopping and the kids played at the playground for a while. Wednesday we went to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. We had a great time!! Got to see lots of animals and the kids got to ride some rides. Elyse and Jordyn loved the Tiger roller coaster! They were both a little hesitant the first time they rode it (I rode with Elyse and Christie rode with Jordyn) but they decided they were brave enough to go just the 2 of them. Here they are one of the first times riding by themselves. They are having a ball but notice they are hanging on!

But it wasn't long until it was hands up all the way!!!

When we got back to our condo - Jeff and I went out to dinner just the 2 of us, while Kevin and Christie watched all the kids. They took them down to the beach and Elyse was so excited when she found this starfish but she was quite surprised when Kevin told her it was still alive!!! They took this picture of Elyse with her starfish before throwing the starfish back into the water.

Today we took the boat to Caladesi State Park. It is an island that you can only get to by boat. We saw some dolphin on the way there. We set up "camp" for the day and had a great time!! The girls had fun looking for shells and I even found a whole sand dollar!! It was such a beautiful day! When we got back - it was Kevin and Christie's turn for a kid-free dinner and we stayed with all the kids. Can't believe there is only 1 more day left - even the kids all got a little sad when we told them we only have 1 more day in Florida. Here is a link to more pics on facebook - enjoy! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=297200&id=559977367&l=a06619366f

Spring Break - the first few days

Our spring break did not get off to a smooth start. We ended up with a flat tire about 2 1/2 hours into our trip. Thankfully our spare tire on the trailblazer is a full size tire - so Jeff (and a guy who saw we were from out of town and stopped to help us) changed the tire and we were on our way again. We stopped in Kokomo for dinner and Jeff checked to make sure the spare tire was doing ok. We kept driving and decided to drive through the night. The kids did great, although a couple times in the night Elyse woke up and asked if we could stop and stay in a hotel because she couldn't sleep (even though she had just been sleeping!). We had a major traffic jam around 2am, Jeff and I actually switched drivers during the traffic jam, since he was getting tired and I was awake. The rest of our trip was uneventful - thankfully!

Since we arrived, we have gone to the beach several times, went on the boat several times, watched dolphin swim by our "backyard" and saw some dolphin up close on our boat ride. The kids have enjoyed the pool and we took a walk down to Pier 60 - where they have vendors, street performers, etc. every night and they also have a nice playground. Andrew went fishing with Jeff and they caught a couple of Spanish Mackerel. We hope to catch a couple of more, so we can have a fish dinner. Andrew was so proud to hold them up for a picture!

The house we are renting is beautiful!!!! It is on the intracoastal, so our boat is right in our backyard and it also within walking distance to the beach. They have tons of beach and pool toys at the house for us to use and the best thing is they have a wagon to help haul all our stuff to the beach! Here is a link to some pictures on facebook of our spring break so far.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=297200&id=559977367&l=a06619366f

Elyse's 1st Annual(?) Movie Night

We told Elyse that after our basement was done she could have a movie night with her friends. We invited all the girls from Elyse's class and a couple of girls that were in her kindergarten class over to our house for a movie night. We told the girls to wear their PJ's or comfy clothes. The girls had fun playing in Elyse's room and the toy room. Then they were ready to watch the movie. I bought them each their own popcorn bucket from Target and one of the girls brought a bunch of candy to share with all the girls. So, they had a big bowl of candy, popcorn, juice boxes and water to eat and drink while they were watching the movie. They watched Tinkerbell and The Great Fairy Rescue. After the movie was done, I think all the sugar kicked in and they were running around the house screaming little girl screams! It was a very fun night and I think we may just have to make movie night an annual event! It is something fun for the girls to look forward to in the middle of winter. Here is a picture of all the girls on the couch getting ready for the movie to start.

Winter Walk

We took advantage of the rare sunny day on Sunday and took a walk to Tunnel Park. I pulled Andrew in his sled and Jeff pulled Elyse in her sled. The kids enjoyed playing on the snow covered playground and then we took a walk through the tunnel to go see all the ice on the lake. We even ventured out onto the ice and found some "ice caves", as the kids called them. On the way back home we stopped at the neighborhood sledding hill. It was a fun afternoon - although I think we all agreed that we prefer Tunnel Park in the summer!

Andrew down in an "ice cave". I had to help him climb out because it was deep and it was too slippery for him to climb out on his own.

Elyse and Andrew in another "ice cave".

There was a small river of open water. Andrew had to take his glove off and feel how cold it was!

I thought his picture of Elyse was cute with the beach grass and lake behind her.

At the entrance to the tunnel. Jeff had to duck when he was walking through the tunnel because there was so much sand built up inside the tunnel. Not to mention the huge mound of sand and snow that we are standing on!

Elyse loves playing at the playground!

Christmas morning excitement!

We had a great Christmas - we are so blessed! Here is a short video of Elyse and Andrew on Christmas morning. Santa scored big with our kids by giving them both a pillow pet!

Merry Christmas!

Father/Daughter Winter Ball

A local organization sponsored the Father/Daughter Winter Ball. When I heard about it I asked Elyse if she would want to go with Jeff and her answer was a resounding yes!

When she got home from school on Friday, we painted her nails and while her nails were drying I curled her hair. Then we put on her Christmas dress and she was ready for the ball! She was so so excited especially when she found out at school that her friend Maura was going to be there too!

Here they are all ready to go to the ball.

It was at a country club in Saugatuck and Jeff said it was a beautiful setting. As they walked in they had a professional photographer that took their picture. Their picture turned out super cute!!! He was also taking pictures throughout the night but the last time I checked they were not posted on the website yet. They had punch and then sat down for dinner. Jeff said they had little cards on the table with questions for the dad's to ask their daughters and for the daughters to ask their dads. Jeff said Elyse was really into asking and answering the questions! They had a speaker and some local ballet dancers did a couple of dances. Then it was time for the dads and daughters to hit the dance floor! Jeff said it was packed and everyone was having a great time! Here is a picture of Elyse with her friend Maura.
And no evening is complete without dessert! Elyse loved the chocolate fountain - here she is digging into a chocolate covered marshmallow - yummy!
Elyse is already making plans for next year (and was already talking about how she was going to put the picture of her and daddy from each year into a scrapbook - that's my girl!) - I'm sure Jeff will gladly take her again - they both had a great time!