Orlando

John, Madison and I all went to Orlando for a few days to scope out the area and celebrate our 5 year anniversary. Can you really celebrate with a 9-month old? We both love warm weather and wouldn't mind moving there in the future. Friday we went to see the Orlando Temple and surrounding areas. It was gorgeous. If I could get remarried, to John, I think I might choose this temple. It had gorgeous green stained glass all around and the landscape was amazing!



Saturday we went to Cocoa Beach. John had never before swam in the ocean, so he was really excited when he discovered the water wasn't frigid, just chilly! He went swimming, Madison and I watched until the end when she had to be washed off.

Madison LOVED crawling around in the sand. I was having mild heart palpitations at her getting into things and trying to eat things that looked inedible.

After the beach, we met my cousin Emily and her little girl Vanessa at Downtown Disney for dinner. It was fun to see them and to eat such good food!!



We went to Gatorland to burn some daylight before our flight home. When we first walked in they had this little alligator for petting. Yes, we all pet it. It was a lot softer than I thought it would be. This little guy is actually seven months old, I thought they would've gotten bigger quicker.

There were a number of these little turtles in the swamp area that we walked through. They were cute but not cute enough to try and touch.

This big guy was named "Chester, the dog eater". He is about 16 feet long!! He was found in Tampa eating neighborhood dogs! I guess some guys wanted to catch him and turn him into shoes and handbags . . . the sign said he was lucky and that he gets to live in his own little pool area now. I think he would've appreciated being made into clothing instead of being trapped in a little tiny area all day by himself, but that's just me.

Overall, we had a great time. It would have been a fantastic time if we hadn't had a motel on skid row. I was in charge of the hotel and I found a fabulous deal. We were about half a block from the strip clubs and about a mile from the slums. We survived and that's all that matters. We had lots of fun and enjoyed the warm sunny weather and nice humidity.


While we were gone, Stephanie watched our kids the majority of the time. She had help while she was at work, which was nice for her!! (Thanks everyone for helping!!) While Steph had the kids she took them to see the Easter Bunny. Alexis asked if it was the real Easter Bunny and Steph told her: "of course". She should know better by now. When they were done seeing the Easter Bunny, Alexis told Steph that she didn't think that it was the real one. When Steph asked her why, she said: "Because he was wearing tennis shoes and hair." Oh, she's too observant for her own good!

The morning after we arrived home, I went in to see if Drew was awake, and he was sitting on his bed. He got this big smile and said: "Did Daddy find a job?" What a goose he is. Maybe next time he'll be excited to find me.

As a side note, I'm a bad mom and haven't posted how Madison's 9-month check-up went. Other than needing three shots, it went really well. She is 21 lbs, I know huge, which is the 90th percentile. She is 29.8 inches long which is in the 97th percentile. Her head was only in the 75th percentile, no need to worry, she is super smart like her siblings. She is getting bigger and bigger each day. As a comparison, Drew is only 27 lbs, yes they are only 6 lbs apart and 20 months apart in age!!