Our July 2016

I've recapped most of our month in July now: our St. Petersburg visit, Venice visit and E.J.'s birthday party were the major highlights (plus the beginning of our road trip, which is next up on the docket!). But, we did have some smaller fun events tucked in between the big things, too!

When we got back from all our July Fourth travels, we did a little belated birthday celebration for E.J. at home, complete with some of his favorite foods for dinner (hot dogs, baked beans and corn on the cob) and gifts from his family: a stuffed Spot (from The Good Dinosaur) from Ellie, and a big Millennium Falcon playset from Eric and me.

He loves corn on the cob!

Checking out the cool new toy!

E.J. also had his two-year well-visit with the pediatrician, and I am pleased to report that he is now in the 18th percentile for height (at 33.5" tall) and all the way up in the 11th percentile for weight (weighing in at a chunky 23 pounds, 6 ounces)! So basically, he's a beast compared to his former self. He also thought the toe-prick for his iron follow-up tickled and was very brave for his shot. He's such a grown-up!

Big boy!

On a related note, E.J. graduated from his high chair to a booster seat at the table:

So fancy!

Speaking of growing up, E.J. isn't the only one in our family with a July birthday! We also celebrated my birthday in a lovely extended fashion. I received a few early birthday gifts, including a beautiful personalized necklace from my babies and a great robe from Heather in Japan (plus kimonos for the kids!):

Thanks, Aunt Heather!

On my actual birthday, I received an amazing gift (a Cricut cutting machine, thanks to very generous family members!), ate a delicious spice cake, and spent the night at the zoo with my favorite people.

My birthday cake and Ariel-wrapped gift!

Night at the Zoo

We also did some crafting at storytime...

Roooooaaaaaaarrrrrr!

...enjoyed the July Little Learners event at MOSH...

Trying to manipulate blocks with astronaut gloves on

My Gym fun

Painting with "fishing rods"

...cooled off in the southbank riverfront fountains...

E.J. knows how to beat the heat!

...and tie-dyed shirts and painted Ellie's face at the Jax Moms Blog Park Hop in Hemming Park. (We actually had a terrible experience with the face-painter but Ellie looked cute anyway!)

Pretty kitty!

Eric and Ellie had a date day to see The Secret Life of Pets  in the theater.

Daddy-daughter date!

I also took the kids to a summer movie in the theater (Curious George). This was E.J.'s second movie theater experience and he did much better this time around! He loved it!

Happy movie-goers!

One evening when we were out walking in San Marco Square, we stopped by the fire station so E.J. could visit the fire truck and a very kind fireman came out to talk to the kids. He let them get in the truck and look at all the gear and even let them work the hose! They loved it, and Ellie now wants to be an astronaut, mama and firefighter when she grows up.

Thanks to this nice firefighter!

She is SERIOUS.

Eric spent a couple of days in Denver for his final interview for his NEW JOB (HOORAY), and while he was away, my mom came to hang out with the kids and me. We went to the beach, the splash park (when Eric got back) and the playground and had a very nice visit!

Ellie at the beach

What a beach bum.

Shipwreck Island at Adventure Landing, followed by lunch at TacoLu 

 Bike riding at the playground

In the playground tunnel with my Ellie

And of course, Eric returned from his interview with GREAT NEWS that required some champagne celebration!

Cheers to Eric's new job!

What a great July!

Our Fourth of July 2016/E.J.'s 2nd Birthday

Before I start my recap of E.J.'s actual birthday, I should mention that today is my birthday! I am 34 years old today, and let me tell you what: this new year is shaping up to be a great one, full of promise and new adventures. I'll share more with you very soon, but for now, suffice it to say that I am feeling like one lucky girl!

Now that I've told you all about E.J.'s birthday party, I want to tell you about our Fourth of July/his actual birthday! We really debated what to do for the Fourth this year. We were down in St. Petersburg for E.J.'s party on the 2nd, and we planned to drive back up to Jacksonville on the 3rd so we could be at home for his birthday and watch the fireworks down by the river again this year. But, after the party was over, we felt 1) lazy to drive right back to Jacksonville and 2) that since my cousin Molly and her kiddos were still in town (and had just been joined by her husband, too!) that it might be really fun to stick around, head down to Venice overnight and spend the Fourth with cousins at the beach. So, that's what we decided to do!

We kicked off the Fourth in traditional birthday fashion: we ambushed E.J. with a balloon drop in his crib as soon as he woke up! He thought it was the coolest thing.

A fun way to wake up on your birthday!

We let him play with his balloons for a while, then got up and got ready to head to Venice, where my Aunt Debbie lives. We arrived there mid-morning, and were welcomed by a homemade Happy Birthday banner for E.J.!

A banner in honor of the birthday boy!

It didn't take long before we all got our swimsuits on and set off for the beach. We had such a nice time playing with our cousins! Ellie absolutely loved the water. She won't swim at our beach because our waves are so big (we're on the Atlantic Ocean, Venice is on the Gulf of Mexico), but at this beach, once she got past the waves breaking on the shore, the water was calm (and warm like bathwater) and she basically swam the whole time. E.J. went in and out of the water, also enjoying some playtime in the sand. It was such a nice morning!

Fourth of July at the beach!

With my birthday boy

Ellie swimming with Aunt Molly, Santiago, Uncle Arturo and baby Milena

Fun in the waves for the boys

Our little fish!

Father/son swim time

Big and little cousins!

Beach day selfie!

After the beach we went back to Aunt Debbie's house for some lunch, and E.J. took a nap.

The big kids entertained themselves while the little ones slept!

When E.J. woke up, we went to check into our hotel. The kids and I had spent a couple of days in Venice earlier in the week (more on that to come), and had a good experience with staying in a hotel to maximize our cousin time, so we did the same for this visit. We were able to rent a suite with a little kitchen for a reasonable rate, so we decided to stay in the hotel for dinner and have E.J.'s birthday dinner there as a family. We planned to cook two of his favorite things to eat: peas and macaroni, and corn on the cob. Unfortunately, there were only two burners (we needed three) and only one of them worked, so we had to scrap the corn and get creative for the peas and macaroni. But, we made it work, and had a nice little dinner!

E.J.'s birthday dinner at our hotel

After dinner we sang "Happy Birthday" to E.J. and had cupcakes (leftover from the party).

He totally hated it.

What an unhappy child.

Then, we went back over to Aunt Debbie's house, where E.J. got another little celebration! Debbie and Molly made (delicious) brownies, and we supplied a sparkler "2" candle to add to the festivity.

E.J.'s birthday brownies!

Those kids are wowed.

The birthday boy and his fancy candle!

VIDEO: Singing to E.J. on his birthday!

After we enjoyed some brownies and ice cream, we walked out to the beach to watch the fireworks. We had just enough time for a couple of quick sparklers before the show began, and it was really nice! We had a great view, but it wasn't too loud. Of course, E.J. spent the entire time jamming his glow stick flag into the sand and then "using the force" to get it out, and running around waving it like a lightsaber. Ellie spent the whole time burying her glow stick in the sand. So they were totally impressed with the fireworks display.

A blurry photo of the 10 seconds E.J. actually sat with me to watch the fireworks

Fireworks for his birthday! What a lucky kid.

Happy Fourth!

When the show was over, we walked back to Debbie's house and then went back to our hotel for the night. What a great day!

The following day, we enjoyed some more beach fun with our cousins and Aunt Debbie!

Ellie and Aunt Debbie playing in the sand

Swimming with E.J.

Kids at the beach, man. How do they get sand EVERYWHERE???

We had such a nice time!

Then, after lunch, we bid farewell to our family and made the drive back to St. Petersburg, where we would pack up our things and head back to Jacksonville the following day. It was a great holiday, a great birthday for E.J., and a great visit!

May 2016

We had a really busy May this year! In addition to the Disney weekend I already recapped, we also did a ton of other stuff.

We went to the zoo's Garden & Wine festival, where Eric and I sat and sipped free wine samples while the kids ran around like lunatics. It was delightful.

They clearly had a terrible time.

Wine!

Ellie had her four-year well-check-up (thanks to insurance issues, it was a bit delayed), where we learned she is 43 inches tall (95th percentile!) and weighs 43.5 pounds (91st percentile!). She endured four shots, and when she was given the opportunity to choose a prize from the prize box she asked if she could take one for her baby brother, too.

And of course, she went to her appointment dressed in full Doc costume.

We went to a "Star Wars Jump" at Pump It Up, where the kids were able to make their own light sabers (which was great, because we have such a dearth of light sabers in our house) and battle Darth Vader while bouncing around on the inflatables like crazies. They had a blast and it was an excellent kid-energy-runner-outer.

They both look completely stunned but I promise, they loved it.

We wrapped up my year at my moms' group, much to my chagrin. The kids brought flowers for their teachers (E.J.'s teacher cried when they had to say goodbye to him), and my fellow moms and I had a little end-of-year party complete with table-decorating contests. The theme was Children's Literature, so I put a bunch of leftover goodies from Ellie's Alice in ONE-derland first birthday party to use!

Sweet kids bringing flowers to their teachers

Our Alice table

We also spent some time outside enjoying the nice weather before the suffocating heat really set in.

Playdate with our moms' group friends!

Pizza picnic at the train park. Always a classic!

Enjoying some park time with this cutie while Ellie was at school.

(Of course, a mere moment later he got his head stuck in the tree, because TODDLERS.)

Jumping in puddles by the river!

E.J. got in touch with his inner ice queen.

He's the Elsa to her Anna.

I made matching Star Wars pajama pants for Ellie and myself.

Twinsies!

The kids and I learned about weather at MOSH's May Little Learners event, and studied how different objects float/sink and how ice melts.

Little scientists at work

Ellie and I enjoyed a Girls' Day Out to see a child-friendly production of "Snow White" at the Alhambra Theater. It was very interactive and fun—a great introduction to live theater for little ones! Ellie really enjoyed it.

Ready for our girls' day!

Ellie at the theater

My mom came to visit and helped me plant some flowers in my flower boxes on the front of the house! They are looking rather sad now, despite my best efforts, but they're scrappy little things and are trying to hang in there. Bless them. They sure were adorable when they were first planted, at least!

Flowers!

We also went to the beach with my mom, and E.J. had a blast. This was quite a relief to me, as he hated our previous beach trip. This time, he couldn't get enough of the waves!

Happy beach baby!

Showing Ellie the little coquina shells

Laughing with Grammy

The cutest.

Eric and I went to his high school's senior prom! Eric and I went to his actual senior prom together 15 years ago, so it was fun to do it all again, complete with pre-prom photos by the river and dinner at a Japanese steakhouse. The actual dance was...louder than I remembered my own prom being, so we hit the photobooth and then spent some time with the other old folks out in the peace and quiet of the lobby. We used to be cool, I promise.

Prom-ready!

I took E.J. to a toddler painting class while Ellie was at school one day and he drew a lovely picture (of snakes), and then promptly dropped his canvas through the cracks on the front porch of the little boutique that hosted the class. Well, it was a lovely picture while it lasted.

A true masterpiece!....that now lives under the porch of that house.

My dad came to visit, and we had a nice time taking him around town. He also got to join us for Ellie's ice cream social at her school.

Out to dinner with Papa

Ice cream at school with Papa!

My dad also sent Ellie a Target gift card as a congratulations gift after her very successful spring ballet performance, and Ellie had a blast picking out a new toy and paying on her own with her "money."

She was so thrilled.

We also went to Eric's high school's spring football game...

Awwwwwwww

...the members-only opening of the new "Darwin and Dinosaurs" exhibit at MOSH...

Dinosaurs!

...and the Jacksonville Jazz Fest downtown (we actually had so much fun when we went the first time, we went back again the next night!).

Look! A kid-free photo of the grownups! Remember when we used to take those?

And, we wrapped up the month with a very fun Memorial Day: we spent the morning at the zoo (E.J. and I went through the Destination: Dino exhibit and Ellie and Eric fed the stingrays), then in the evening we had a little backyard pool party and picnic!

Eric and Ellie at the stingray exhibit

Too bad you can't hear him "rooooaaaarrrrr"-ing through the photo.

Backyard fun!

Sweetheart!

Happy Ellie!

And that was our May!