Our Disney Vacation

Mommy, Daddy, and Lauren spent the weekend at Disney's Beach Club Resort and Villas, located on Disney's Boardwalk. FRIDAY: We started the trip at Animal Kingdom.

We spent half the day over there before checking into our Villa.

Lauren loved petting the animals!
"Hello, Room Service?" Caught ya!SATURDAY: The next morning we played at Epcot. It was only a 5 minute walk from our hotel. We were able to use the World Traveler entrance which lets you in by Great Britain and France. Daddy bought Lauren a little figment. She slept with it each night.
In the afternoon, we hopped on the monorail and sat in the front with the driver! It took us to the Magic Kingdom just in time to see the 3:00 parade. Lauren experienced her first roller coaster ride over in toon town. She fit the height requirements for Goofy's Roller Coaster. She actually enjoyed the fast little plane ride!

After a brief trip at the Magic Kingdom we headed back to hotel to enjoy the pool, Stormalong Bay. This was the best resort pool I've seen. It was three acres of waterslides, currents, and sand bottom pools. The kid pool was the best. It was no deeper than 3 feet with a sand bottom. They had mounds of sand, buckets and shovels for kids to play with. The adults just sat in the pool to relax and tan while the kids were self-entertained. That's what you call relaxing! We loved it so much that we ended up booking an extra day at the hotel just to stay and play. SUNDAY: The next day we ate at Cape May Cafe - Character Breakfast. Mmmm, was it a delicious buffet breakfast! Lauren loved seeing the characters from a far, but only let Minnie get close enough for a picture.

After breakfast we played in the pool again. Since we booked one extra day to play, we also had to switch rooms from our Villa to a Hotel Room. They actually placed us in a brand new upgraded room. Lucky us!After resting up in our new room, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom to end the night. Because we were resort guest we were given wrist bands to stay extra hours in the park. We rode many rides late at night with little to no lines. The last picture is our sleeping beauty at about midnight. We really wiped her out! Although we enjoyed our little vacation, we were all ready to go Monday morning. Sometimes you need a vacation from your vacation!

Baby Update

What a drama queen! Her hands were constantly covering her face. As if she knew we were trying to take pictures of her. It was amazing to see her this developed at only 17 weeks. Lauren came to the appointment with us. She was full of giggles during the ultrasound. She kept leaning over to hold on to my arm and kiss me! What a sweetie. I'm glad she was so excited. As of right now, we are thinking about naming the baby Kendall. I came up with the name in memory of my dad. I think it's a great way to keep her grandpa Kenneth connected to her. My jaw drops everytime I look at these pictures! 17 weeks
" No pictures, please!"
Profile
Yup, still a girl!

Party Time

Lauren enjoyed attending her best friend's birthday party.

A little fun in the sun.Yummy cake and ice cream!

And who could resist playing dress up! Probably Lauren's favorite part of the day.

Above she is dressed like Fancy Nancy.
Rah, Rah!

Mommy realized that since her best friend is only 4 months older than Lauren.....that means in 4 months Lauren will be 3 years old. Oh, my!

Getting some Zzz's

Another proud moment!

Lauren is loving her new twin bed. She sleeps in her bed all night and loves every minute of it.

Miss Swim America

Congrats Lauren! (Can you tell I'm a proud Mommy?)

Get Ready... Here she come Miss Swim America!

She did it! To the end all by herself.

Lauren received 3 stickers out of 10. And, boy is that an accomplishment. When I read the back and what each one tests them on, wow...she did a great job for her first swim lessons.

That's my girl!

My Little Fish

I'm so proud of Lauren's hard work with her swim lessons. In the beginning of her lessons I walked her over to her teacher to help her get into the pool. Now she walks confidently over to her teacher and gets right into the pool without hesitation. She is now swimming a couple feet by herself. Every morning on the way to swim lessons Lauren reminds herself, "Head down, big arms." Today she tricked her teacher. Instead of swimming straight to her, she turned right and swam to the rope. I guess she thought the rope was closer than her teacher. Smart Cookie!

Practice makes Perfect

She made it! Swimming to her teacher all by herself. She is exhausted after each lesson.

The Orlando Science Center

This was Lauren's first visit to the Orlando Science Center. They had amazing exhibits including, Stepping into the world of Norman Rockwell, The Titanic Experience, Kids Laser Light Show and many other hands-on exhibits for her to explore.

Titanic Experience:
The legendary vessel comes alive with opportunities for discovery and learning. Featuring full-scale recreations of the ship's most famous locales along with historians in period costume portraying the ship's designers, officers, crew and passengers; Titanic – The Experience offers a rich interactive examination of the history and science behind the "ship of dreams." Lauren next to the grand staircase.

Fossil Hunter

Step into the world of Norman Rockwell in the hands-on exhibit, Rockwell's America. Norman Rockwell's art is as much a slice of Americana as baseball and apple pie. One of the most recognized and loved American artists, the covers of The Saturday Evening Post, his showcase for over 40 years, gave him an audience larger than that of any other artist in history.

Ready for school!

Oh, no...look who's driving!

Dave Matthews Band

Gabe and I went to our annual Dave Matthews Band Concert. We have been going to their shows for the past ten years! Some years we attended two or three shows. I completely lost count of how many shows I have actually been to. In my book, it's completely worth it every single time I go! They are the best artist I have ever seen live. I love when they just start to jam out in the middle of a song. One of my most memorable moments was during a New York show. James Brown surprisingly appeared on stage with Dave! That was an incredible experience. Rain or shine (or lightening for those of you who attended this Wednesday's show in Tampa) I'll aways be there.

This is a picture of Gabe and I at our first DMB concert, ten years ago!

Swim Lessons

Lauren started swim lessons! The first day was a breeze. She actually cried when her teacher finished the lesson. The second day and so on... well, let's just say the crying hasn't been after the lesson anymore. It is so hard to hear your child say, "I want my mommy" and you can't just run to them. Everyday she is toughing it out and getting better and better. We are continuing to practice with her at home. The best part is her teacher is really nice. I know that makes a difference!I wish I could get a picture of her in the water practicing. I am afraid of disrupting her intense lesson. Maybe I can snap a pic next week if I'm brave enough. This picture was taken after her 2nd swim lesson. She is standing outside Lake Brantley Aquatic Center.

Going to the Movies

We took Lauren to see her first in theater movie. She did surprisingly well! Lauren enjoyed the whole experience, including the popcorn.

This was a picture of the three of us two nights before at Downtown Disney. We were already pumping her up to go see this movie and she was thrilled to see a large version of Wall*E standing by their theater.

America's Birthday ?

A little humor :-)

Whenever you talk the word 'party' in front of Lauren she refers to a birthday party, typically HER birthday party. Yesterday as we were getting ready for our friends to come over for the Red, Hot, and Boom fireworks she became very excited for a 'party.' Her daddy began to tell her that actually it is America's Birthday. Well that did it!

Lauren: "I don't want America to come to our house!" she replied over and over again... She was very persistent that we are not inviting America over for a birthday party.

In the end, America did not come over which made her very happy!

Happy Birthday America

Red, Hot, and Boom

Every year Altamonte Springs has a fireworks show on July 3rd.

We are lucky to live so close to see them. Our friends came over to enjoy it with us. Lauren admired the two new babies at the house. At one point a baby was laying in the playyard sleeping. Lauren crawled on the ground next to the playyard, laid flat on her tummy with her hands on her chin just gazing at the sleeping baby. It was a perfect picture moment but as soon as I could grab the camera she moved. By the end of the night she was asking me to hold the baby so she could get an up close and personal look. I'm glad that she is so interested.

She will be a great big sister!

Happy July 3rd!Lauren and her Best Friend