Florida Vacation January 21-29, 2011--Part 1

Excited kids getting ready for their first airplane ride....Indianapolis International Airport

GATOR!!!!!!!

Ella and Mommy in the education center at Circle B Bar Reserve....we climbed up onto a platform that sits inside a huge tree.....so cool

Mae could not figure out this sculpture.......she really wanted that book!

Really cute tractor to play on at Barnett Family Park

Which boy is real?

Healthy Ella playing on a saucer swing at Barnett Family Park

Wow! We did it! We flew our busy little family to Florida and have now made it home safe and sound. We had quite a week. The good times were really really good and the bad times were really yucky. Little did we know going into this trip just how sick our family would be. Only the first 24 hours were illness free.......then the coughing started.......then the fevers.......then the Orlando Children's Hospital emergency room.......not exactly the Florida attraction we were interested in visiting!!


The week was full or highs and lows but thankfully we made it through and did enjoy some really fun family outtings. On Sunday, we drove to Lakeland, Fl to Barnett Family Park and the kids had a big fun time playing on all of the really neat playground equipment. We also walked down to the water and saw lots of seagulls. After lunch at Crispers, YUMS, we went to the Circle B Bar Reserve. There was a really cool education center with a huge tree to climb and several nature displays and interactive stuff for the kids to do. Then we hiked. Oh my did we hike. I forgot the sling so I carried Mae FOREVER because she was tired and needed a nap and couldn't get settled in the stroller. We were on a mission looking for gators.......and we found 'em! And an armadillo......so cool!! Ella started feeling poorly on our hike and ended up quite sick by the next morning.......that's when we headed to the hospital. We drove past the exits for Magic Kingdom and Epcot on our way to the emergency room.......talk about depressing. She was thoroughly checked over and was diagnosed with a viral infection. No appendicitis, thank the Lord, and no UTI. So no family outtings on Monday or Tuesday but Lenn did kick me and Evelyn out of the house on Tuesday and told us to go shopping. Woo hoo!! Of course, I love to shop but I didn't want to leave my girlie and my son, who was dealing with his own 103 degree fever and coughing.......YUCK. Evelyn and I worked through it and spent a few hours enjoying some shopping therapy at the Florida Mall.


Next post.........Wednesday......one of the most fun days ever for our family.......Magic Kingdom!!!

Niko turns 7

It took Niko two tries to blow out all of those candles!!

Mae Mae with her grandmas

Papa Carl with Nicholas and Ella......cuddling before Niko's party

My baby, my firstborn, is now 7. His birthday was on a special day this year.....1-11-11. Unfortunately, Ella was sick so we had to postpone Niko's special birthday plans. We did have a nice dinner......his pick......fish sticks and mac and cheese......yes, that's what Ella picked for her birthday also! He helped me decorate his cake and we opened a few presents. He was really sweet about his birthday despite the fact that it was far less fun than it would have been if Ella were feeling better.


On Sunday, the 16th, the grandmas and grandpas came to our home for a little birthday party. The kids and I had made yummy homemade pizzas on Thursday, after thoroughly hand sanitizing and bleaching our house......I exaggerate but only by a little. We ate pizza, fruit with dip, cake and ice cream and Mimi's brownies. Nicholas received some really nice presents. He had the most fun when he got to teach the grandpas some lessons on Wii sports resort. Would you believe that we had to pull the grandpas away from the t.v. in order to get them to come eat? There was a bowling competition underway.......or so I'm told.

Niko's new smile!!

Nicholas lost his two front teeth last week. It was quite a traumatic event. Ella had been sick for several days and was finally feeling well enough to play with Niko on Thursday (1/13/11). They were upstairs playing for a long time with very little noise.....which usually means eventually someone is going to get hurt. All of a sudden, I heard Nicholas crying loudly......he came down the stairs with blood dripping from his mouth (gross).......it seems that he and Ella were doing "silly wrestling moves" and she jumped on him, banging her head into his chin, which caused him to smash his teeth together.......then the bleeding and crying started. The left incisor was dangling at that point and we quickly removed it. The right incisor was soon to follow......by the next evening, Nicholas had pulled that one too. He looks so different without his two front teeth but he's pleased to report that he can still say his "S"es.

Ice Fishing December 25, 2010

Ella and her fish........she was absolutely the cutest ice fisherperson ever!!

Ella watching Nicholas clear the ice away from one of the fishing holes

Ella and Papa inside the shanty

Nicholas and I trying to stay warm in the shanty

As part of our holiday experience in Nappanee, we spent part of Christmas afternoon ice fishing. My children and I had never been before and I was quite apprehensive of sending my babies out on the ice unattended by their hovering mother, so I tagged along. Meemaw and Mae stayed back in Nappanee where it was nice and warm while the rest of us made a trek to Argos. We met Papa Carl's brother, Bob, there and boy did we have quite a time. The men drilled holes with an auger and I felt somewhat comforted by the fact that the ice was 9 inches thick. The men also set up a shanty that was supposed to keep us warm and out of the wind. I did manage to catch the first fish and was quite excited but soon enough there were no fish biting for me and my toes started to suffer from frostbite. The kids loved it. Ella and Nicholas both caught fish and Uncle Bob could barely get his line in the pole before he had another "fish on."

Am I glad we went? I would say yes.

Do I want to go again? Not anytime in the near future.

Will I allow my children to go without me next time? That remains to be seen!!

Christmas 2010

Papa Carl, Nicholas and Ella enjoying some snuggle time together on the couch.....shhh.....I think Papa's sleeping!!

Nicholas playing "HeadBanz" with Jenny, Garrett and Grace Anglemyer

Nicholas giving Aunt Jeanne a big hug!

Mae with Aunt Jeanne Anglemyer

Mae Mae in her Christmas finery from Mimi......so sweet

Mae Mae tossed her new baby doll on the floor so she could try out her baby bed herself......Papa Carl made this sweet bed and Mae Mae likes to make a sport of standing up in it!!

We've got quite a baseball fan on our hands.......Nicholas in his new Baltimore Orioles fleece from Meemaw and Papa Carl

Ella opening her Barbie laptop from Uncle Tim

Mae, Mommy and Uncle Tim

Niko opening his very own baseball bat from Uncle Tim......so cool.......it has a foam covered handle and is just made for a 6 yr old boy

Mae Mae riding her new rocking horse from Mimi and Papa Don

We enjoyed several family Christmas celebrations this year. We celebrate in Columbus with the Demas side of the family on Saturday, December 18. We had a really nice visit with Uncle Tim, Mimi and Papa Don, Yia Yia and Pappou (Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Demas).

On Friday, December 24, we drove to Nappanee and had our family Christmas with Meemaw and Papa Carl, Uncle Lonnie and Aunt Pam and Cristina and her friend Matt. The hit of the evening was the FurReal cat, Lulu, that the Bope family gave to Mae. They had us going the whole evening that they were going to be giving our kids a real cat. Lenn and I were NOT happy. Then Aunt Pam brought out Lulu in a cat carrier and there she was grooming and purring.......it was really freaky and quite funny. She's not real but it's creepy just how realistic she is. Thankfully, she does not require a litter box!!

Our final gathering was Sunday, December 26 with the Anglemyer bunch. We had a big fun time playing with cousins and aunts and unlces. Our kids were just about worn out after all of the festivities.

Children's Museum Family Night December 17, 2010

Ella riding her horse on the carousel

Nicholas standing in front of the Chihuly glass tower......according to the CM website, this tower is the largest permanent sculpture of blown glass and it stands 43 feet tall......incredible! Nicholas is standing in the walkway on the fourth floor.......the sculpture starts on the first floor.

Ella modeling on the catwalk in the Barbie exhibit......oh my!

Mae and Mommy riding an alligator in the Egypt exhibit

Nicholas, Ella and Lenn on the Yule Slide

The Children's Museum was open late for members on Friday, 12/17/10, and since our girls had both taken big afternoon naps, we decided to take full advantage. We ate an early dinner and headed out. We had such a super time. Lenn had not been to the CM with us in a really long time so it was great for him to get to play with our kiddos in all of the cool exhibits.



For more information on the Chihuly glass tower, you can visit http://www.childrensmuseum.org/themuseum/fireworks_ofglass/

Miss Joni

This morning at Discovery Days.......Ella's last day to have Miss Joni as her teacher

Miss Joni performing her first new baby hospital visit in her role as Early Childhood Minister at our church. This is baby Mae and this picture was taken September 2009.

Nicholas in Miss Joni's class in April 2008--this picture was taken before their preschool program where they sang "Johnny Appleseed"

Today was a very sad day for many Discovery Days preschool families. Miss Joni, Ella's teacher, is moving to Washington state on December 26 and today was her last day teaching at Discovery Days. Nicholas had Miss Joni 3 years ago and I fell in love with her as a preschool teacher. She has this remarkable ability to shower each child with love and she never seems to grow tired of pouring her heart into these little people. She makes each child feel special......she greets each child individually by name in the morning and hugs each child in the afternoon before releasing them to their parents. When Nicholas was in her class, he didn't really like hugs so he taught her to do "taters".......every time Nicholas would leave for the day, she'd give him taters. Awesome.


I'm very sad that Ella only got to spend half a year in Miss Joni's class and that Mae will never get to have her as a teacher. There will always be really good teachers at Discovery Days and my kids will always be in very capable and loving hands but there will never be another Miss Joni.