Cousin Violet!

We were so excited to be able to see Cousin Violet in Florida. We spent a day together in West Palm Beach where my parent's 'rented' a hotel room at a nice hotel downtown for the day. We hung out at the beach and the pool and the weather was fantastic. The second time we met was at Butterfly World. Here I was able to take my camera and get some pictures without fearing sand and water attacking my camera. My kids loved this place...it was the perfect size to take up a big chunk of our day, allowed plenty of room to RUN and explore, and the kids finally started to get to know each other enough to 'hang out'. A fun day!

Beautiful Violet:)

Skyler and Violet checking out the butterflies.

Uncle Matt....

He was talking about the BIG butterflies we saw.

I don't know what they were saying here but this picture cracks me up.

Uncle Matt and Vi....and Skyler looking at something. Another Skyler picture that makes me laugh.

And another....

And another!!!

The bird jumped right onto my dad's head. He thought it was funny. Michael? Not so much...he had a silent freak out that only I noticed when a bird landed on his shoulder.

Sadie was really into the map of the park and was explaining it for the remainder of this field trip. She still loves that map! She looks like a little old lady reading her map in this picture.

Vi and Sadie 'discussing' what they saw on the map. A discussion that lasted a pretty long time!

Now Skyler was involved in the map discussion with the girls. Love the cousins together:)

Christmas Day

We felt very lucky to be included in a x-mas day dinner at my Mom's cousins. We have spent time with them before and they are some of the nicest and warmest people I have ever met. Insanely wonderful with children and both of mine felt super comfortable in their houses. We had a really nice time, until of course we were stuck in 'shut your engine off' traffic for over an hour at 8:30 at night with two very tired kiddos. They were troopers and I was super proud of them...they were much more patient than their parents!

I woke Sadie up from nap, got her dressed in this super tacky shirt that I bought on clearance in Florida because I had NO summer clothes for her, and she was still such a pretty girl posing for me!

Have you ever tried to get a 4 year old boy to pose seriously for a picture? A really silly boy? It's impossible! He was threatening to swim in the hot tub in this picture.

Cheeesssseeeeeee......I guess it's better than nothing! Thank goodness he's super handsome:)

This is the typical picture I get from Skyler:)

Not sure what they were trying to do, but they both look super cute pre-swim.

Christmas Eve Day

We really try to see my cousin Layne and her kiddos every time we are in Florida. Sometimes it doesn't work out, sometimes we meet half way, and sometimes she comes up to my parent's house. She has invited us every time down to her house and it just feels too far to drive after the usual Florida traveling. But it was time. We needed to make the trek down to check out her beautiful house. And it was so worth it. The kids had a blast hanging with their second cousins who welcomed them into their home and their toys with open arms. Of course, I always enjoy being with my cousin...we can go forever without seeing each other or talking and fall right back into things like we haven't been apart. It's nice.

Sophia hung out with Sadie and showed her what it's like to be girly. Sadie was in love! Here they are having some down time together.

Layne's youngest (3) and Skyler hung out a lot. They even look a lot a like which is crazy!

One happy kid. And I love this firetruck toy!

Noah is the oldest. Sweet and very smart kiddo.

Some women are very natural mothers. My cousin definitely falls into that category.

Ok, creepiest, but a pretty fun hanukkah gift that had to remain in Florida. Nemo is a remote control fish that 'swims' through the air. It's crazy! Except the last night, around midnight, I woke suddenly to the crashing of our suitcases outside our door. I sat up only to see Nemo swimming slowly and creepily into our room....no remote controlling it and it was originally hanging in a room on the other side of the house. It was something I'll never forget!

And on to Day 3 or maybe 4? Can't keep track!!

There was a day when the men went fishing. So, my mom and I took the kiddos on a field trip to Oceanagraphic. The place gets better every time we go, and the kids were really into it this time. Especially Sadie who was fascinated by all of the fish and ocean creatures in the tanks.

Here they are at the touch tank.

Playing games together...

And making footprints....

This was picture 23984342. SADIE SMILE ALREADY! Obviously, it never happened. This was the best I got out of her. Thank you Skyler for smiling for every manatee picture:)

They were feeding the big fish and crazy big sharks in the lagoon. The fish were actually eating this time so they loved it.

Have you seen this game before? It's an angry birds board game. It's hard but Skyler loves it. Here is the 'action' pose.

And finally....THE PICTURES! From Day 1:)

I'm going to have to break up the pictures. They take FOREVER to upload to blogger. I have to figure out a faster way... I tried to take lots of pictures. Missed out on our trip to the beach and pool with Violet because I was nervous to get my camera sandy and wet. But otherwise, tried hard to document everything!

These are my kids within the first 1/2 hour of getting to Florida. They ran into the house and yelled, MOM, put on my shorts! And Sadie? Well, she was just happy to be as naked as I'd let her be:)

Sorry Sadie...couldn't resist! Rosy cheeked from her cold and being on the hot/dry airplane.

I heard running and went to check it out. This is what a found....a trail of Skyler's clothes as he got naked because he decided he wanted to swim in the pool.

AND, this is what I found next:)

And FINALLY, the pool:)

Sadie is not a fan of being left out!

My beautiful and vacation happy family:)

And well, it just wouldn't be Florida without a popsicle after swimming.

I think we finally exhausted her by the end of a day full of very early traveling, a yucky cold, swimming, hanukkah, ...

Skyler felt like such a big kid when we let him light the candles by himself this year.

FLORIDA!!!!!!

We could not WAIT to get to Florida. We were all desperate for a break...something different....fresher...WARMER!! We kept checking the forecast and saw it was supposed to be in the upper 70s to 80s every day with lots of sunshine. I didn't buy it. December is usually cold and rainy. But, the forecast remained the same and sure enough, we had some of the most amazing weather the entire time. It honestly couldn't have been better. It only became chilly the last day we were there, but we still headed to the beach to fly a kite and play in the sand. It was kind of nice not to have to worry about sunscreen and sand sticking to sweaty bodies:)

SO, our trip to Florida was also very very busy full of field trips and seeing cousins. Really really really nice. Skyler and Sadie were able to hang out with cousin Violet and they started to get to know each other. It's tough because we live so far away, but Violet's name is now mentioned all the time by the kids. They loved being with her and their Aunt and Uncle. They also met grown up cousins and little cousins. They were great sports with traveling in the car for hours at a time for visits.

Skyler had also started asking for swim lessons before we came down. He had them way back when he was 2, but I wouldn't exactly say they were successful. But this time? He was so ready. And even though he had the fear of the unknown when it came to water, he still worked really hard to conquer those fears, and by the end of the second lesson, he was swimming under water. YEY FOR SKYLER!!!! He felt so good about himself and we were all incredibly proud of him. He kept telling us that we could take the child guard down from the pool now because he could swim:)

So the pros? Weather, cousins, a ton of fun with family, did the pool and the beach, had a fabulous hanukkah, successful swim lessons for both kids, amazing little travelers

Cons? Skyler had a double ear infection right before we left, Sadie was sick with the snottiest cold ever, Skyler managed to get stung by a jellyfish for the two minutes he was playing in the water, and he also broke out with scratch induced hives that were insanely itchy and still haven't quite gone away. I think Skyler had the raw end of the stick this time!! Yet, he was a great sport and managed to have fun through it all:)

Now....ON TO PICTURES!!!!!!

Skyler's Special Shabbat Day

Every child in the class gets to have their special Shabbat day. Where they are the star! Each class does it differently. Skyler was able to light the candles and say the blessings. Than they did a bunch of activities that revolved around Skyler. Sadie and I went in to celebrate his special day. Skyler wasn't feeling so great this day, coming down with a cold, but still managed to be the happy, silly, kiddo that he is:)

The kids were singing friendship songs in their circle time. Notice how Sadie just joined right in. She loves being in school and feeling like a big kid!

So cute.

Skyler saying his blessings....

Sadie and I joined him for lunch!

Fun dancing to some Israeli folk music. And Skyler being silly! He constantly makes me laugh.

Can you spot my kiddos?