Saturday: by ourselves

Ben and I had the day to ourselves.  We played games, got some work done, and spent a lot of time together. :D

I had found out that a local place now sells Dole Whips (pineapple soft serve) so we also stopped for some of that.

The boys seemed to have a great time too.  It's fun to see updates on what they're doing while not being responsible for them.

Florida vacation

Last weekend I went to Florida with Cheryl, Jamie, and Allison.  It was a lovely time!

The first day we went to Fort Myer's Beach.  Being the off season, nothing was very busy was was very nice.  I had an umbrella, and stayed under it most of the time.  With a nice breeze it was lovely on the beach!

And the water was perfect!  I do find that I get cold so fast in water often, but apparently the water temp was about 84 deg. and I felt comfortable in it the whole time we were in the water.  Of course, this is also the time I got a sunburn too.  It looked so pink because I'm so white, but it didn't feel too bad most of the time.

The next day we went by boat to Captiva.

We ate lunch at the Bubble room, which usually has the best desserts ever.  One that we got was a dud though...chocolate mint cherry cheesecake.  There was something wrong with it.  The orange crunch and red velvet were delicious as always though!

The sand was super hot.  We quickly went in the water, which was slightly cooler than the day before but still nice and warm.  I took a little walk down the beach and by the time I got back everyone was ready to go.  (Did I mention the sand was really hot and our umbrella was rather small?)

Unfortunately, sort of, only one engine would start for our trip home.  This means that we crawled along at a slow pace, but it was rather lovely.  There were no kids that were getting bored, there were clouds so we weren't too hot, and a little breeze.  We also had some dolphins jumping behind us for a bit!

That night after dinner I convinced Jamie and Allison to come on a walk around the loop with me.  The night before I had taken a walk and it had been lovely.  This night, though, was definitely a mistake.  We went right as the sun was setting and the flies were out!  We'd walk a few steps and then suddenly spasm as a fly bit us or flew by our heads.  (While not fun, it was hilarious to watch.)  I went around a second time...by that time it was dark and the flies were all gone.

The next day we had a lovely brunch and relaxed by the pool until it was time to come home.

Friday: the day

This morning I turned on the sprinklers and put out the tunnel.  The tunnel needed a rinse; Isaac didn't crawl through it as much as I thought he might though.  Joshua was the one excited about the sprinklers, but then only spent about two minutes in them.  Isaac spent close to an hour.

I was peeling paint of Joshua's lost.  He joined me for a while.

Joshua also made this puppy, and I thought he did a really good job.  It has a tail, feet, and a nose.

The boys left for a weekend with their grandparents.  I got some work done and then Ben and I went to a Brazilian steakhouse.  Usually the thought of it doesn't sound so good to me, but it did today...and it was delicious.  Afterwards we came home and played a computer game together.  I had been thinking about maybe only playing for an hour or so, but we played for significantly longer.  But it was ok, because I don't have to get up for anything tomorrow morning!

Thursday: playground

We went to a natural playground for a bit today.  The boys liked it, but didn't love it...about the same as last time.

I also finally got this photo from the birthday party.  (Photos have been slow getting into the shared feed.)  I love it.

Tuesday: 6 1/2 birthday party

There were streamers, as always.  Isaac made a "kid area" where the streamers hung vertically.  He and Joshua had a great time running through them and getting boosters.

Isaac got a bike from us.  It wasn't a surprise as he was there when we picked it up, but everyone kept pretending that he had no clue what it was. :D

And the cake!  We got it from the store because I had no time to make one, but it was an excellent choice.  Isaac picked out a yummy one.

Monday: home

I got home late last night after a lovely vacation...of which I hope to post soon.

Joshua saw me in the morning, seemed rather disappointed, and proceeded to ask when I was going on vacation again. :)  I got more love from Isaac though.

We ran a bunch of errands and then started the second session of swimming lessons.  Did I mention that we decided to do another set?  Isaac was progressing so well that we were afraid he'd lose it if we didn't do just a bit more.  I got to swim in a lane too.  Swimming is hard work, but I took plenty of breaks.

Wednesday: new playground

The local Timbertown playground was recently remodeled.  Everyone was rather sad to see the old one go as it was one of a kind.  The new one is almost as cool.  Not quite as many places to climb up, several cool new toys.  Isaac especially liked the zipline.