the final day...

these people were the smart ones...they flew!

Brody took some pictures with my phone.  Grampy's is especially charming!

our last rendevous to the beach...

 I don't think Eli liked his sip of Coke. 

my father's fashion statement. 

he also will occassionaly rock some black socks with those sandals. 

he looks quite proud!

  here's that pool grampy!!

 brody wasn't thrilled to leave the beach...i really wasn't either. 

mr. mischievious...five seconds later he sat down in the water. 

so much for those clean/dry clothes.

let's see, we left around lunch time saturday.  both boys fell asleep before we even left the beach.  so for about two hours we had peace and quiet.  by the time we reached the edge of florida, i was ready for kurt to drop us off at the airport in atlanta so the boy's and i could catch a flight home.  luckily, they both settled down for the night by atlanta and we drove on to chattanooga, tn.  after a few short hours of rest for kurt and i, we were back on the road.  sunday's drive was by far better than saturday's...the boy's and i slept a lot. 

brody was never so happy to be home.  he insisted on going to see dave storm.  so across the yard he went to see dave.  he seemed to walk around in circles the next day reaquainting himself with our house again.

riley and eli both ended up at the doctor the next day and eli was puny all week.  riley had croup and was good to go the next day. 

so, sickness were those two boys' souvenir from vacation.

kurt and i both felt like we needed a couple days more of vacation to rest up from our vacation! 

so that ends our trip recaps.  thanks to my sisters for letting me borrow some pictures.  thanks to my parents for inviting us along.  thanks to great-uncle frosty and ginger for putting up with our noisy group. 

lesson learned though:  don't be cheap, just buy the darn plane tickets!

hope you enjoyed.



kurt's weekend into this week

this weekend, kurt stripped and re-finished the floors in riley's room. 

and i must say, he did a mighty fine job.

tonight, he is almost finished putting the second coat of paint on the walls. 

that will leave him with:

• baseboards and window casings to install
• outlets and face plates to install
• a light or fan to install
• a closet to jazz up with organizational shelves/clothing rods

now if spring in the farming world can hold off just a few more days, the room might just get finished!

my weekend...

during nap time and after little boy bedtimes, i kept my sewing machine humming. 

 a small sampling of what i made this weekend!!

this little guy woke up a wee bit early from his nap so he just bounced and bounced on the rocking horse while i finished.  he almost had to sit there permanently, as his legs were not wanting to squeeze there way back out!

kurt's weekend was quite successful as well...riley's floors are refinished!!

March 10th and 11th

 March 10 and 11, 2011

Days seven & eight of vacation

The 10th was a yucky Florida day...rainy in the morning and windy in the afternoon.  It also happened to be the day Grandma and Grandpa Yakey were arriving at the airport.  Riley and I rode along to the airport with Grampy while everyone else went shopping or hung out back at our home away from home. 

This firetruck was our excitement for the day...so, Uncle Frosty got stuck on Day One in the elevator.  After he was rescued, the elevator folks worked on it and thought it was fixed so my dad was brave and rode it a couple times, making sure he had his cell phone just in case.  After a long day of traveling, my grandparents were ready to get unpacked and take a small rest before dinner so dad rode along in the elevator and Brody hopped in too.  Not long after they hopped in, it stalled again.  My nervous habit kicked in about this time, but Brody was thankfully cool as a cucumber almost the whole time.  He eventually told Grandma to get his MeMe (grammy) because she could fix it!  Thankfully fifteen or so minutes was the extent of their adventure. Grandma was re-energized after she crawled out of the elevator and ready to go again!  I guess maybe she needs something that exciting everyday to give her an afternoon energy boost?

The next day, Grandpa Yakey marked something else off his list...he rode a SEGWAY!

EIGHTY-EIGHT years old and still going strong!

Grampy John zipped around on one too with Michelle and Justin.

I'm usually a chicken, but if my Grandpa could ride one, I figured I should try it too.  I started to get scared when I was zipping along and couldn't remember how to slow it down.  Thankfully I finally remembered to just lean back and the crazy thing slowed down. Kurt thought he could hop on one without a lesson and nearly took out Michelle in the process.  The lesson was definitely important!!

Unfortunately, Eli started getting sick just in time for us to leave the next day.  Poor kid was rather miserable and it only got worse.

As we all settled in for the night, we said good-bye to the Ellis's, who were leaving at 6:00 a.m. to catch their flight home.  Sadly vacation was drawing to a close AND we soon had to load up in the pirate ship to start our trek North. 

March 8th and 9th

March 8-9, 2011
Days Five and Six of vacation
First two days at the beach or if you are Brody, you call it the sandpile!
The weather was near perfect for heading to the beach or pool. The pool was perfect because we had it all to ourselves and because it had a large circle that was the perfect depth for Brody, Cohen and Eli to play in. The pool was so perfect, I think my parents should just copy it for their yard!!  Whatcha think Grampy?? ;)

Other exciting events these two days:
Uncle Frosty got stuck in our private elevator.
Brody wanted to go home, more specifically, he wanted to go home and eat lunch at the elevator.  We called Uncle Dave and that seemed to appease him for that moment in time. 
We played lots of blocks and hide-n-seek.
If I could have taken the kitchen in our condo, I would have...the appliances were amazing!  The sleeper sofa Kurt and I slept on the first night was anything but amazing. 

March 7th

March 7, 2011

Day Four of Vacation

Animal Kingdom

The morning started out cold...50 degrees cold!

The sun finally peaked out around lunch time and warmed us all up.

Cohen was excited to meet Timone or was it Simone?

Brody was NOT!

The Safari...Riley eventually feel asleep.  How we don't know?  The back of the safari bus was a rough ride.  Mom and I tried to use dad as our anchor, but that wasn't really working out very well for us.   

Popcorn was consumed.

Cute kids were everywhere!

And finally there were drums to be played.

And then some little boys got sleepy...

Brody woke up with a noticeable fever and was very clingy...good thing it wasn't too hot!

We cut out early to call our pediatrician and get Brody in the bathtub to wash away the sunscreen.  His rash/sun poisoning wasn't as bad as the day before, but was still somewhat lingering and then there was that fever.  Dr. David suggested some Benadryl and air conditioning so we complied.

He doesn't look that sick though!

His fever was short lived and by the time everyone returned back to our rooms, he was ready to play and carry on.

Ulitmately we have no clue what caused him to break out, but after talking to Dr. David and him viewing a picture, he is leaning towards sun poisoning -resulting from a combination of sun/heat, sunscreen and Brody's skin.  I switched sunscreens and no other problems occurred while we were gone!

So there you go, two days at Disney that were thrilling yet exhausting! 

Next up, the 'sandpile'!! 

March 6, 2011 - continued again

Some randoms on the Magic Kingdom.

• It was busy.
• Kurt doesn't like crowds and might become a wee bit grouchy when navigating crowds.
• Brody didn't feel his best.
• it's a small world was hit with everyone but especially Cohen, who rode it several more times that day.
• We discovered Brody DOES NOT like dark, loud places.  I believe he could be scarred for life after a misadventure on Pirates of Caribbean.  He still will tell you that the pirates scared him, it was dark, and that he cried.  Same goes for Disney's Philharmagic - not his cup of tea this go round. When nap time rolled around, we returned to our room for nap time while everyone else kept going...

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  After nap time, thankfully Brody's rash was mostly gone.  He was definitely ready to go back and ride the horses (carousel) over and over again!   He loved the tea cups as well, especially that silly mouse that would pop out of the tea pot. 

We tried to stay for the evening fireworks, but they dim all the lights and that was the end of it for Brody.  He seems to have no fear here at home when it comes to loud things or dark rooms?  And that concludes our time at the Magic Kingdom.  Onto Animal Kingdom next...

March 6, 2011 - continued

Chef Mickey's

Some random thoughts about Chef Mickey's.

• The food was YUMMY!
• While waiting for our table, Brody caught a glimpse of Mickey Mouse and Goofy!  He was so excited...until they visited our table.  He was holding onto me so tight, I didn't really have to hold him.  Eli wasn't really loving them either.  Cohen and Riley were cool as a cucumber though. 
• Grampy snatched onto Riley and had quite the cluster of girls around him oohing and aahing over Riley...probably his plan for the get go! 
• I would recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting to meet characters but not have to stand in line!
• Also, Brody woke with a nasty rash this particular morning, thus the bright red cheeks.  We first thought it was maybe sunburn (I put 70 spf sunscreen on him), but after conversing with our pediatrician a couple times while were gone and visiting him once we got back, we are pretty sure he had sun poisoning.  Made for a rough 24 hours for him...

The remainder of our day was spent at the Magic Kingdom.  Another slide show to document that is on the agenda. 



EIGHT months old!

Saturday, Riley turned eight months old.  He weighs in at 25 pounds and needs 18 month pants to go around his thighs.  It feels as if his first two teeth are on their way in soon.  He is trying really hard to crawl, but so far just scoots backwards on his belly until he gets stuck under something.  His sleeping habits aren't anything to brag on whatsoever, especially after vacation, where he picked up some bad habits.  His favorite pastimes are bouncing in his exersaucer, watching Brody and squealing.  He is very attached to a silky square when sleeping, prefering it to be over his face.  I suppose he has to block out the light from our bedside lamps somehow?  Oh, and his bedroom is getting primed right now!   I probably should be helping but I'm listening for the boys (who are fast asleep and will most likely not need us for hours yet).