I Guess I Have To Go On A Diet!

Tonight after I got out of the shower Abby told me "I love you big fat mommy."

Headed Home

Here are some shots of our last time in the airport and on the plane. The girls were fantastic on the flights home and we were all very glad to be in our own beds that night. Thank you Craig and Barbie for making our trip so much fun. It was wonderful to finally meet Porter and we can't wait to see you all again!!!

St. Augustine Castillo De San Marco

After checking out of the Royal Floridian we decided to stop in St. Augustine on the way back to Craig and Barbie's house.

Here are Mike and Abby at the Castillo De San Marco after the canon demonstration. It was extremely loud but very cool. The whole fort is made of this very cool seashell rock. The best thing about it though was the restroom.....it was the only part that was air-conditioned!!!

After viewing the fort we went to a very nice restaurant called Hooked on Harry's. We got to have the whole upstairs to ourselves. Here is Porter waiting for lunch:)

All of us enjoyed our meals, especially the girls.

After leaving St. Augustine, we made our way back to Craig and Barbie's house where I got to do some laundry and we did a little more swimming. That evening, Barbie made us some spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. We ended up at our hotel which please Abby to no end. She loved her "new" hotel bed!!

Sea World Day 2

Abby is all set for day two at Sea World! Doesn't she look cool:)

We arrived earlier this time so we were able to make it to the dolphin show. It was very good although its hard to compete with Shamu.After the dolphins we went to see Shamu again. It was awesome. They even made a few changes from the first time we saw it. The best part though is when all of the trainers came out into the audience and got the crowd to chant for Shamu. Abby and Lissie still do it in the car. The do the arm motions and say "Left, Right, Together, SHAMU SHAMU!"
Once again, Lissie would have preferred being without clothes.
This time I gave in. I figured she'd get wet anyways what with being in the Splash Zone again!
This time Abby decided she would try and meet Shamu herself. Note the pose, hands over ears. Poor baby was terrified.

The carousel is more her speed. She absolutely loves the carousel!!!

Concentrating very hard on playing the steel drums. I love the look on her face.

In true Abby form, she decided that during the Arctic Flight simulator she decided that she wanted to use the potty. We had to abruptly leave the ride and desperately try and find the nearest bathroom. Fortunately we made it but I missed seeing the Beluga whale and the Polar bears. I was very sad:( Abby made up for it though by trying to carry every stuffed animal in the gift shop while we waited for Daddy and Lissie to come out. Note she has Shamu, a seal, a wolf and a sippy cup. To her credit though, when I told her to put them all back she did it without complaint! I must admit, it took everything in me not to get both of my girls giant stuffed Shamus to take home. I'm such a sucker for a stuffed toy!!!

Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse

To celebrate our 9th anniversary on the 4th, we decided to take the girls sightseeing. We went for a great breakfast. I had the most amazing apple fritters! After breakfast we went to see the tallest lighthouse in Florida.

Poor little Lissie was so tired she fell asleep in the car. It was only a 20 minute drive from the hotel!
While Lissie was sleeping Abby decided to be a big girl and go to the potty. She did great the first trip but clearly I didn't make her stay long enough because this picture is of us going back a second time! Needless to say, she had an accident:(
The lighthouse grounds are part of the tour. Its actually quite interesting. There were always three keepers on the property with their families. We got to see their homes and also various other buildings that they maintained. In one of the homes, Lissie decided yet again that she would rather be naked. We should move to Florida and save a fortune on clothes for Lissie!

Here we all are on the steps of the actual lighthouse. It has 213 steps to the top. Had I known we would have to carry both girls I'm not sure we would have attempted it!

Lissie was very tired and decided to cuddle her big sister. She really is very affectionate.

It was very windy at the top but the views were amazing!

By the way, Abby chose the outfits for the day. She absolutely loves these matching dresses that her Gigi got her from Hawaii! They do look very cute together:)

So since it was our anniversary we made the fatal error of attempting a nice dinner again. We went to Billy's Tap Room and the food was fantastic. I had a Black Forest Filet, tenderloin with a black cherry reduction, YUM! The staff was very nice to the girls and even gave them balloons. We made it through almost all of the meal this time before the girls lost it. Dessert was very rushed:) You'd think we'd learn!!!

Sunrise

Here are some of the beautiful sunrises I was able to capture thanks to little Lissie:) Gotta love a kid waking up before sunrise every morning on vacation!

Sea World Day 1

We were only an hour and a half away from Orlando so we decided to take the girls to Sea World. The really cool thing was that when we bought our ticket we were given a second day for free. These are the pics from our first visit.

As soon as we arrived, Abby spotted the Shamu mascot. She is terrified of all giant mascots like the Easter Bunny, Elmo and Shamu. While she hid in Daddy's arms Lissie and I went to say hello. Please note I kept Lissie from really seeing him:)

Here we are trying to touch the Manta Rays. After touching several I asked Abby what they felt like. I was expecting "icky" or "slimy" but she responded so sweetly with "soft!" What a cutie.
When we went to try and touch the dolphins, the closest we got was Abby and Daddy being splashed by one of them. Needless to say I was very dissappointed that we weren't able to actually touch one.
Both Abby and Lissie were enthralled with the underwater viewing area. They would have stayed there all day looking at the beautiful dolphins.
Look at those pretty faces. It was so neat to see them enjoying themselves so much.
The shark encounter was really cool as well. Abby kept saying "wow" and jumping up and down and Lissie kept clapping. They really had a great time.
Mommy and her girls.
Daddy and Abby waiting for the Shamu show to start. Note we are sitting in the Splash Zone!
The show was awesome and both girls loved the whales.
The noise was a bit much for Abby. This is how she looks everytime she is scared or overwhelmed. During this show, Abby and Daddy were drenched by Shamu. Mommy and Lissie escaped because Lissie got fussy about 1 minute before the splashing occurred:)
Before we left for home, we stopped for a treat. Daddy and Mommy had fudge cake. Abby, ever our little health nut, opted for watermelon.

After napping all the way home in the car, the girls were quite energetic when we got back. Lissie decided that climbing in and out of the cupboard was lots of fun while Abby fed all of her pretend dogs and cats with the pots and pans. Its amazing what will entertain a child!

Since our previous night's dinner was a disaster, we opted for a more casual dinner at an outdoor patio. Lulu's Cafe was very nice and being outside was great for the girls.

Abby enjoying her Sprite.

Another Day At The Beach

Okay so here is an idea of the age of The Royal Floridian, our home away from home. This was on our balcony within reach of the kiddos!

We did have some fun activites available to us at the resort. Here is a picture of Mike and Craig playing shuffle board. By the way, Mike is the undesputed "King of Shuffleboard"! He beat the pants off all of us. We also had a little mini-golf course that Abby enjoyed...especially after it rained. We jumped in all of the big puddles.We had a few storms while we were here but fortunately they always ended before we wanted to do anything. They actually usually occurred at nap time which was perfect for the kiddos.
Abby loved hanging out on the balcony watching the people and the waves. Before Craig, Barbie and Porter left us for the week, we attempted to take a picture of the cousins together. This is the best shot I had in over 50 takes. Neither of the little ones wanted to cooperate. Abby was happy though!

Here is my beautiful girl looking at the waves. Look at those curls!!!

I love this shot because it shows just how tiny Abby is and how massive the ocean is. How can God create two such perfect things that are so incredibly different?!

After the beach, Abby decided to clean herself off while still in her clothes! She got absolutely drenched.

Craig and Barbie had so much stuff to take home that they needed the luggage cart. The girls thought it was a toy brought up just for them!!

It was a great day at the beach. Because we had so much fun we made the fatal mistake of trying a nice place for dinner this night. The food was excellent but the only way we could eat it was Mike wolfs down his food while I walk with Lissie and then vice versa. Next time we'll order it to go!!!