Project 365, Week 17

We squeezed quite a bit into these seven days!  It was a good week and I'm reminded how very blessed I am.

April 22

Still in Florida...this day we did a lot of swimming!

April 23
Disney!

April 24
We drove about as much of this day as is possible...1 AM - 11 PM.  For dinner we stopped here because I've read so many blog posts that include people raving about it.  It was a hit!  I had a couple items to choose from, which is unusual for me at fast-food places.  As a bonus, they had a playscape that the kids used for a couple minutes.

April 25
Back to school, back to life.

April 26
The bunkbeds are set up, so that's the latest novelty in our house.

April 27
Z's school held a small carnival that was mainly put on by our former church so we walked down for a bit, despite the crazy wind.  It was so good to see the many familiar faces of such dear, faithful people.

 April 28
A big, long-awaited (well, you know...like three weeks) day in this household...Z's first (ever) baseball experience.  He was so excited and so were we!

Shaun spent the couple days we were home taking him shopping for the remainder of his equipment, working with him at the field, watching baseball on TV to explain that you run to first base, then to second, there are three strikes and four balls...you know, some of the important basics.  :)

 We all went to his practice to cheer him on.  As I watched, I couldn't help but think, out there on the baseball field everyone has equal opportunity.  He is not defined by his past or family status, he's just a kid playing an all-American game.

 I left the field to head up to Boston for a photoshoot.  It'd been a while and it was great to get the juices flowing again.  They live in a beautiful section and one of the stops we made was Boston College.

Thankful for my husband who can seamlessly take over four kids, getting them to baseball, dance and church.

Florida Trip, Monday

We ended our Florida stay with a bang...Disney!  The weekend had been on and off rain...that's the only explanation we could come up with for why there were SO MANY people.  Nana and John have been to Magic Kingdom countless times and they said, without a doubt, it was the most crowded they'd ever seen it.

But first we had to wake up!  :)

 Our group in its entirety, minus Z who was taking the picture.

Lucky me, Amanda chose me as her car partner....she did the steering wheel, I did the gas.

 I walked through the rose gardens with Aiden so he'd take a nap...took about 3.5 minutes before he was out.  :)

After the fireworks, we caught the first ferry back to the parking lot and drove back to our hotel 1.5 hours away.  As we got closer, Shaun and I started talking about the possibility of beginning our drive home that night.  Our original plan to sleep in the hotel that night and then leave at 6 AM started to seem silly when we already had a car full of sound asleep kids.

So, we ran up to our rooms, tossed clothes into suitcases and had the car loaded up and were back on the road in about 10 minutes.  That was 1 AM...the first kid didn't wake up until 8:30 AM.  It was funny to listen to them try to make sense of where we were, what day it was, how it all happened.

Shaun did a great job, I only drove four of the 22 hours.  We arrived home at 11 PM (again with sleeping kids), happy to be home an entire day early.

Though I was raised on road trips, I wasn't sure how our family would do with it....it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip for me.  Hours and hours of time with Shaun trapped right next to me.  :)

It was a great trip and we're so very grateful to have had the opportunity to go.

Florida Trip, Saturday & Sunday

Shaun's brother and dad had arrived late Friday night so Saturday morning we all met for breakfast.

 As we were leaving, Amanda asked a man walking out if he had a motorcycle.  He said, Yeah, you wanna come see it?  And off they went.  I keep telling myself its because she knew her parents were right there with her and if she'd been alone there is no way some biker dude would have been able to lure her away with the promise of a ride on his bike.

 After, we all went back to Nana's house and spent the afternoon relaxing....playing catch, swinging on the porch swings, hunting for lizards, walking, talking and, of course, swimming!

 We ended the day with a delicious dinner at the Melting Pot.  It was clearly Z's first "fine dining" experience....it was funny to see it from his perspective.  He's not 100% sold on all the manners and decorum it requires, but he sure did notice the richness of the food.  :)

My three buzzcut boys.

 The next day Nana made us all a blueberry pancake breakfast and then, just like that, the kids were changed and lathering on the sunscreen.

 At one point Shaun, his two brothers and all their families were in the water together....all 11 of us splashing around, causing a ruckus in this quiet 55+ community.  :)

Sienna and I did a lot of catching babies!  We may or may not have caught them every single time.

 Love everything about this....Amanda with her two uncles.

After a nice dinner, I corralled everyone for a few group shots.