Disney World 2009

We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take Arielle to Disney World again this year...

Arielle got to meet most of her favorite princesses for the third year in a row {lucky girl}...

Momma and Averi did not go but Zak, Arielle and Gaby had a great time! Zak took Arielle & Gaby on Space Mountain {she was barely tall enough}. Had I been there I would have convinced Arielle otherwise seeing how she was so afraid on the little kids roller coaster at the pumpkin patch. Needless to say, Arielle was very scared but she was proud of herself for trying it out! Gaby didn't enjoy it much either.

The teacups and Winnie the Pooh rides were much more enjoyable!

The day ended as they watched the parade go by...

~Momma to Bug~

A Walk on the Beach

We enjoyed a nice walk on the beach at Siesta Key...

~Momma to Bug~

On Vacation in Florida

Hello from Florida! We are on our 7th day of vacation visiting the Beach Family. The weather has been cold and rainy for most of the time but we managed to get some warm weather yesterday. Averi stayed home while Zak and I took Arielle to the beach. She was ECSTATIC! She loves the ocean, sand and salt! Earlier yesterday morning we were at the park right next door to Gaby & Tee's house and while Arielle was picking flowers she stepped into a pile of fire ants and got stung. You wouldn't believe the crying and screaming that followed {who can blame her?}. A little mixture of bleach and water applied to the bites seemed to sooth her but according to her this was "the worst day ever".



Averi seems to change every day while we are here. She is becoming more alert and playful. Her head control has improved significantly too. The best thing she has done so far is put herself to sleep occassionally for naps and bedtime. She just goes to town sucking on her fist and sleeves until she tires herself out. This morning Averi woke up with a little cold and has been sneezing and coughing. This cold has been going around the house so I'm not surprised; I'm just hoping it doesn't turn into anything worse {fingers crossed}. Averi has also pleasantly surprised us a couple of nights by sleeping without eating for over 7 hours!

I'm looking forward to Christmas decorating when we get home!


~Momma to Bug~

Thanksgiving Road Trip

I am tHaNkFuL that we safely drove nearly 2,000 miles last week and it was rather uneventful! The first part of the trip, we decided to leave in the afternoon so that Arielle could {not that I really thought she would} "sleep through the night." We made our first and ONLY stop to eat dinner after being in the car for nearly six hours. Arielle fell asleep after watching her fourth movie of the day. That was around nine o'clock. At 2 o'clock in the morning, we had to stop for gas and Arielle woke up. She didn't go back to sleep. We made it to our desitnation, Cape Girardeau, MiSSoUrI at about 4:30 am. At least Daddy was able to get her to go to bed for another five hours that morning.

Thanksgiving was wonderful! It was so nice to spend more time with Gaby and meet all of our relatives from her side of the family. Arielle and her cousins got along so well and they played from sun up until sun down. Arielle took an extreme liking to her older cousin, Josh. She followed him around all day long and didn't let him out of her sight. He read her stories, protected her from flying dodge balls, pushed her in the "wagon roller coaster", coached her through her first game of kickball and made sure she found good hiding places for several games of hide and seek. It was truly amazing to see how kind and well mannered other children can be. This trip definitely proved that Arielle is NOT shy and she LOVES attention from grown ups and kids!

The best part about the trip was that Arielle and I got to meet GrAnDmOtHeR. Grandmother is 93 years old and is the only living Great Grandmother that Arielle has. I couldn't help but tearing up as we walked into her room at the Lutheran Home and I saw her reaction to meeting us and seeing Gaby, her youngest daughter. Grandmother asked if she had died and gone to heaven. Arielle asked to sit next to her at the table on Thanksgiving. She had a great time chatting with Grandmother and all the other kids at the table. It was a nice sight to see!

We set out for our journey home on Saturday morning. This time we made several stops along the way and I think Arielle set a new record for number of movies watched in one day (I lost count after four). In addition to movie watching, we colored several pictures and she did lots of playing with her little toys that she brought. She needed something to occupy her time because wouldn't you know it, that kid did not get one wink of sleep during that entire car ride. FoUrTeeN hOuRs and not even a doze or a nod out of her but like I said, it was pretty uneventful which is a good thing. Arielle kept saying, "This is a really long drive, huh?" It was a loooooong drive but well worth it.

Aunt Pat & Arielle

Aunt Carol & Arielle

~Momma to Bug~

Casey Key Beach Views

Today we took a drive to CaSeY KeY. It was the only outing we took on this entire vacation that Arielle actually fell asleep in the car so we took advantage of the the extra time we had in the car to do some sight-seeing. Here are some pictures I took today as we drove down the only road on this small island which is located near Venice, Florida.

Enjoy the beach views!

We couldn't believe how GIGANTIC the houses were and most of them had little BeAcH CaBaNaS across the street literally a few footsteps away from their own private beach.

Here are some pictures of a couple of beautiful houses on SiEsTa KeY which is the island that my in-laws live on and is just next door to Casey Key.

~Momma to Bug~

Enjoying our Vacation

We're still enjoying our vacation in Florida. Here is a list of the things we did today:

1. Took a walk around Siesta Key. We went with Gaby on her daily run to feed the cats that she is pet-sitting. Arielle enjoys this part of the walk. I like to see all of the tropical plants and palm trees on the island.

2. Visted Gaby's work at the hospital. Everyone was so complentitive to Arielle and one lady even gave her a pretzel rod. When we left Arielle said, "I told you everyone was going to like me. I like when people like me."

3. Ate lunch at Chipotle. This is a big deal because it is the first time we have been able to do this in Florida. Arielle ate every last bit of her cheese quesidilla and a whole lotta chips & guacamole.

4. Shopped at Old Navy & Marshalls. This is just a neccessity whether we are on vacation or not.

5. Ate Ice Cream at St. Armand's Circle. We go here every year to walk around. This time Arielle ate almost all of her chocolate ice cream and all the gummy bears on top. I found my new favorite flavor of ice cream thanks to Gaby, Toasted Coconut!

6. Went to Coquina Beach. There was the most amazing spot to take photos so that is the first thing we did. Then we were so excited to collect so many beautiful seashells that we almost didn't notice the DOLPHINS swimming off the coast! This was so fascinating to me as I had never seen dolphins in the wild before. They were relatively close to us but moving so fast that it was hard to chase them down. I managed to snap a few pictures as proof.

7. Ate Rico's Pizza for dinner. This is a little pizza shop that we drive by everytime we come here but have never eaten there before...neither had Gaby or Tee.

It was a great day and I am so happy to be spending time with my family. Arielle is just so talkative and it's fun to have real conversations with her even if the subject matter is somewhat repetitive. I love listening to her talk to other people and hear her perspective on things. I am starting to realize that there are just certain things about her that are part of who she is and they are never going to change and I wouldn't want it any other way. Spending this much time with her is a blessing.

~Momma to Bug~

Vacation, the Beach & Good Manners

VaCaTiOn is wonderful! No work for 11 days straight is cOOl enough but throw in two trips to the beach in the middle of that and I am one happy MoMMa! We had LOTS of fun in Disney World and Sea World. Despite feeling totally exhausted at the end of the second day it was an exciting weekend and a fantastic start to our vacation. Arielle is getting at least 2-3 less hours of sleep than she is used to getting on a daily basis and it starts to take a toll on ALL of us around 5 pm until bedtime. This is NOT a fun part about vacation but we are all trying to work around it.

She is so HAPPY to be spending time with GaBy, tEE & NiPs and is doing everything in her power to impress them. Something she has not been impressing anybody with is her manners, which is to be expected of a 3 year old, however I am working frantically to teach her to have good ones. Just a couple of hours ago when we were saying goodnight she told me, "I'm going to use good manners everyday and I'm going to sing the good manners song so I remember." She even found a way to incorporate Please, Thank You and Sorry into our bedtime routine. It was a great end to another day on our vacation and I can't wait to wake up in the morning and spend another day at the beach!

~Momma to Bug~

~Momma to Bug~

We're going on vacation!

It's almost time...just 2 more days left and off to fLoRiDa for vacation we go! We go there each year to visit Gaby & Tee, our favorite Beach Family! Last year was the first year that we took Arielle to Disney World. We spent one day at Magic Kingdom and one day at Animal Kingdom. For only being two years old Arielle held up extremely well but we were all very tired and ready to leave the park by lunchtime on the second day {well, everybody except Zak!} Now that Arielle is one year older I think she'll be able to handle a full two days in a row. This time we're going to Sea World the day after Magic Kingdom.

After our adventure at the parks, we drive down to Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota and spend the rest of our vacation at Gaby & Tee's! While we are there we go to the BeAcH as often as possible; this is where Arielle has the time of her life! Last year she spent a lot of time chasing seagulls, letting the waves hit her in the face {much to my surprise because she hates water pouring down on her face} and playing in the sand.

Here are some highlights from last year's vacation {most of which involved meeting princesses and other favorite characters}:

Here's TiGGeR at the Charactar breakfast!

We met the Jungle Book Gang & MiNNie MouSe at Animal Kingdom!

Princess Jasmine kissed Arielle on the cheek

{and ARIELLE TRIED TO KISS HER BACK ON THE LIPS}!!!

While in line for the DiNoSaUr RiDe, we were chosen to be the "Family of the Hour" and received a free mask, a pass to the front of the line and two turns on the ride!

Arielle was loving life at the BEACH!

Although it may appear that she was on a photo shoot for a swimsuit magazine in some of these pictures, I assure you that was not the case! She was just extremely relaxed.

LooK OuT Florida...here we come!

~Momma to Bug~