Zoo Field Trip

 I got to take Bus on his Zoo field trip this year. I was nervous about the weather because it was supposed to be rainy and windy, but it cooperated just for us for a few hours and we had such a fun morning. He wasn't shy about holding my hand in front of his friends, so I'll take that as long as I can get it!

Mason turns 12

 Mason had quite an interesting birthday this year.

He was so excited and had been driving everyone crazy asking for hints about what his presents were. Tim took the other kids to the store a few days before his birthday to get him gifts from them, so there was a good stack all wrapped and tempting him from the table for a while. He really really wanted me to let him open one present a day early.

He lucked out on that because the day before his birthday we had dinner and cake and ice cream and Pop's house. Ryan made him a cherry chocolate cake and he got to open a present. They got him a .22. I've been  a little nervous about having a gun in the house lately, so I wasn't sure about that one. But he was pretty excited. 

On the morning of his birthday we had donuts for breakfast and he got to open all his presents. The one he had really been waiting for was from us, we got him a pair of Nike AirMax 270s that he has had his eye on. He was so happy! Then he tried them on and they were too small. It was such a bummer, he was so excited to wear them. Then he opened a pair of headphones that Brielle got him to pair to his Xbox. Only it wouldn't pair. At this point he is getting a little upset, but still trying to make the best of it.

He had been asking all week to go to Lagoon A Beach for his birthday so first thing in the morning I checked the website to make sure it was open. Then after lunch we packed up the swimming stuff and drove there, only to find out in the park that Lagoon A Beach was closed for the day. This is where he started trying to hold back some tears. He decided to try a couple rides, but the ones he wanted to go on were all closed (one closed after they had waited in line for 20 minutes) so we ended up going on The Rocket and leaving. Then he decided that going to the Aquatic Center would make up for it, but if we went there we wouldn't have time to go out to dinner at Tepanyaki like he had requested. 

We asked the Coates if we could go swimming in their pool and luckily it was free. That ended up being really fun! Afterward we all got cleaned up and invited Grandma and Grandpa to come to the restaurant with us. Mason had decided that even though his headphones wouldn't pair, they were still good for listening to music, so he brought them on the drive. When we were getting out of the car they got knocked onto the street and broke. Then Tepanyaki wouldn't take reservations and when we got there it was a minimum 60 minute wait. Strike six. We made our way over to Chuck A Rama and that turned out great. The kids love that place.

Tim and I spent a good chunk of the day feeling  bad about how things were turning out. And there were a couple of times that we had to remind Mason that everyone in the family was going out of their way to try to make it a special day for him. So it wasn't perfect. But I think in the end he had a good day. I just can't believe he is 12. That sounds so old. 

Arbons in Florida

After Brielle's best friend Cheyenne moved to Florida at the end of October last year, we promised her that we would go visit. We haven't been there as a whole family and it seemed like the perfect excuse to go. Especially since Brielle has been been moping for months and not at all eager to make new friends. So when I saw that tickets were on sale and we could fly everyone there for relatively cheap, we planned our trip.

We flew in to the Orlando airport around 5:30 on Thursday night, got our rental minivan, and drove about 2 hours to east Bradenton. We got to the Goodyear's house just after 9:00 PM. The girls went up to the door and surprised Cheyenne and Indy by ringing the doorbell and asking if they could play. They had been planning that for several weeks. It was pretty cute, and very exciting. We let them play for a couple hours before bed and they fell right back into their old paces. 

The next day we drove to Anna Maria Island to go on a private dolphin tour. We were on the boat a solid hour before we saw any dolphins, but we did see a few and it was a perfect, beautiful day. It felt so good to be out in the sunshine with the sea air in our faces, hanging out with friends. After the boat we went to lunch at the Ugly Grouper and I tried grouper for the first time. I wish I had taken a picture of the tacos because they were amazing. Then it was soft serve and back to the Goodyear's to swim in the pool and play at the park. 

On Sunday we packed up again and drove back to Anna Maria Island for a beach day. They had an area all scouted out that wasn't crowded. It was a warm day and the water was warm and it really was just the best day ever. I could sit out on the beach and play in the water all day. Everyone got solidly sun burned, though. That night we had a BBQ and just relaxed. We got everyone to bed early because we had get up early the next day to go back to Orlando, and Brett and Suzie's kids had school.

It was so nice seeing Bri back with her friend. They got right to work on being weird and making annoying sounds together. It was like they'd never taken a break. And everyone had fun. I was worried Mason would hate it because he didn't have a friend, but he had a great time. Next time we go to Florida I think we'll just visit a lot of different beaches each day. 

Bright and early on Monday we headed to Disney World. Everyone had to wear masks the whole time, which we were dreading, and it was as crappy as I thought it would be, but it didn't ruin the fun. We spent the first day in Magic Kingdom. Naturally we rode Space Mountain first. Ava pulled out her very stubborn tooth while we were on the ride! We rode nearly all the rides we wanted to, but it was hot standing in line in the sun and everyone was feeling the effects of their sunburns, so we called it a day before we hit everything. 

On Tuesday we went to Hollywood Studios. This was the best one. The rides were all fun, everyone was well rested, and the lines weren't as long. We got off to kind of a rough start because Bus wasn't tall enough for the Rockin' Roller Coaster so Mason and Bri went with Tim and he and Ava and I did a Cars thing instead. He was appalled that we split up like that and could not get over it for way too long. But a couple more fun rides and he was back to happy Buster. At lunch we managed to get on the standby for Guardians of the Galaxy, and we were happy that we waited to get on. It was very cool. But everyone liked Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror the best.

Wednesday we woke up to pouring rain and were a little worried that our day at Animal Kingdom would be a wet one, but it cleared up and stayed sunny all day. The Avatar ride was my favorite of all of them. There wasn't as much to do at this park, and our feet were getting pretty sore, so we rode all the big rides and headed back to the hotel to swim right after lunch time. 

After swimming we went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory (it has become our Disney tradition) and then headed to the airport super early on Thursday morning. 

It was so nice spending a whole week with my kids without needing to nag them to do stuff or spend all my time cleaning up after them. We just got to play together. Everyone got along and had a good time. Mason showed a lot of maturity. He looked out for his siblings, he was conscientious of not complaining. He was happy and grateful the whole. It is so fun watching him grow up. He's a cool young man. Our last couple of big trips have not turned out the way I was hoping, but this one completely exceeded my expectations. I'm so grateful we got to go. 

Ava's Baptism Day

Ava's baptism was such a special day. She was a little nervous but excited about everything. Her Pop gave a great, short talk about baptism and the Holy Ghost. Ava was the last one to get baptized that day so the water was very cold, which caused a few tears when she came out to get changed. But we got her warmed up and she was good the rest of the time.

Tim gave her a beautiful blessing when he blessed her with the gift of the Holy Ghost. He mentioned all the people on both sides of the veil that were there to support and love her. And it was such a sacred moment. There truly were angles in attendance. He also mentioned how Ava is a natural leader and that she will lead for good throughout her life. When Bro. Rhett Zito gave a talk afterward he told us that the Bishop Benson had said the same thing to him about Ava after the two met for her baptism interview. She is really a special girl.

I was worried that we wouldn't be able to have many people there because of the covid restrictions, but everyone came and it was a wonderful day.

Christmas

This was a very different Christmas. Tim and I both got Covid. We went out to dinner at Hug Hes Cafe for his birthday and then the next evening we both started to get a sore throat. Sunday we felt fine, and then Monday started getting sick again. By Thursday we were both totally sick. I got tested and it was positive. We lost our sense of smell and taste. I got it a little worse because I had a fever for several days, and it lasted a little longer, but overall it really wasn't terrible.

I wish I hadn't been tested though, because when the school found out they made my pull the kids. So they missed to two days before winter break and they were in tears over it. We decided to make the best of the situation and took them skiing since they couldn't go to school. There was only one run open, so the lift line was long, but it was fun.

We really missed going to Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas party. That's one of our very favorite traditions. But with Grandpa's lukemia, they are being very careful. We did get to go to Pop's for Christmas Eve and do all the traditional things. Mexican food, acting out the nativity, reading the night before Christmas and opening gifts. Kelson and Lexie were here from Dallas with their little 18 month old Luke. He is so busy! 

I gave the kids all some meletonin and they went right to sleep when we got home. It was the easiest Christmas set up we have had in a long time and we were in bed before 10:30. Of course the kids made up for that by getting up by 5:00 AM!

Christmas day was perfect. Everyone was happy with their gifts and the kids all played nicely together all day. It really was wonderful. We got a few visitors and had a nice ham dinner. I love Christmas.