I can’t believe it’s already their third day out of school. Technically it’s the weekend, but hey, we’re all off and I’m trying to just forget about everything but hanging with my two favorite kids. Needless to say, the housework and laundry have to wait. The upside is that we’re not staying home for really long chunks of time, so there’s less chance of total annihilation of my clean house while we are there. We’re going to switch up today a bit. Planning was to go to the fair tonight but the kids had a SLOW start this morning and the whole day is kind of thrown. Also, we went to the Apopka fair yesterday and I think a little break is in order. Highlights from yesterday… coming right up! First up, the escape from breakfast. Had to add this one it because he’s so darn cute.

The Apopka Fair
Tim was at a draft in the morning, so once I got the kids up and fed, we headed for the Apopka Fair. I had to keep reminding Bella while we were there that I had a limited amount of cash, so they had to choose carefully what they wanted to do/eat/buy, but that all items were game as long as we could all enjoy it. We bought a pack of tickets (outrageously priced at $25), but we couldn’t buy the wristbands for all 3 of us because there are rides that Nick can’t go on, but that Bella wants to… etc. The first thing up was the super swing.

Moving on to a ride both of them could ride… the little cars that go round and round. Nicholas was thrilled to be driving and kept waving and smiling at me every time we went around. We ran into a few of Isabella’s friends while there, so they all went on together.

Nicholas raring to go, but Is calmly waits her turn.

Brother and Sister in the firetruck

Then it was off to the funhouse, one of two rides that we could all three go through together. Isabella kept running ahead of us and I had to call her back. Concurrently, I was attempting to help Nicholas through the obstacles. He was not keen on the moving floor. I got this picture of them on the upper deck of the funhouse.

The next ride we went on together was the “Crazy Plane.” It took over from the Crazy Bus from last year. Nicholas was excited to get on it, until it started moving. He just gripped and waited it out. He didn’t freak out or cry, but when asked if he liked that ride, his answer was a cure “No.”

Bella’s favorite ride of the day was this skateboard style ride. It goes back and forth and the right and left while going back and forth. She kept saying “That was the BEST ride ever!”

One last slide down the super slide by all three of us and we were out of tickets and hot and sweaty. Time for a fresh squeezed lemonade. We ran into the Honey Baked Ham bee and Nicholas shook his hand, then Bells posed for a pic.

We stopped for a sandwich (which only I was really interested even though I know the kids needed to eat) and then the kids hit the playground.

At this point, they announced over the intercom that one of the banks was holding an ice cream eating contest. We walked over and Bella walked up to enter. Nicholas wanted to go too. They said “It’s for under 7, so come on in.”

They both weren’t keen on the whole no hands thing, but they did both try.

We did a walk by of the American Cancer Society tent and made a donation. The kids were thrilled when they were given flags for their donations. We left the park with choruses of “It’s a Grand Old Flag” coming from my two hot and tired youngsters.

Nicholas was a gem and took a nap when we got home. Tim had already gotten home, so he helped me get the kids settled in. Bella was exhausted but wouldn’t take a nap. Under any other circumstances, I’d understand. She doesn’t do naps. But it had been a hot, muggy, busy, adventurous day. We all could have used a nap. So, after a few hours, we headed back up to Kiki’s house for Sunday dinner. Guess what happened next?

While Isabella slept (for an hour and a half!) Nicholas, Grayson and Emmy played in the backyard. Once she figured out that Bella wasn’t getting up any time soon, Laney joined them. She chased the kids around the yard and they all had a blast.

As darkness fell, the kids finally came inside while dinner was getting finished up. Nicholas and Grayson turned some baskets into boats. They drove their boats all around the living room and I believe made it into the kitchen a few times. Is finally woke up and enjoyed some dinner and playing with Laney.

Later, our little married couple shared some ice cream and a drink. They spent the entire evening playing together once again. They were still going when I called “Time to go home!” Despite protests, it had been another good Spring Break day.

Tim took the kids to the birthday party and they had a great time. No pictures of that because the camera was with me. I really need to send Bella with her camera, which is currently MIA, to be able to capture the times that they’re with him without me. I’m the family photographer, so I’m not sure how well that would work, but seriously… no pics… Darn!

After Tim brought the kids home, it was time for him and Ryan to head to the draft. This is draft weekend. One after another. So, I had called Kiki earlier and we had arranged to head up to her house to let the kids play, have dinner and play some video games. At the start of the afternoon, all the kids were outside digging in the dirt. They were little mud monsters. We got them mostly cleaned up and realized we didn’t have anything set for dinner. So we piled in Kiki’s minivan (yep all 5 fit!) and headed to Publix.

I really should have gotten a few pics of us toting around 5 kids in Publix.

Then back to the house. We put the older girls in the tub to get the remaining layer of dirt off. All of a sudden we hear 4 out of 5 start yelling “Mom! Mama!” and there was Emerson, who had decided to get in the tub, clothes and all.

After Emmy and Gray fell asleep, the girls decided they wanted to go find stars. So they bundled up and took the telescope outside. Nicholas was more than happy to follow along.

Finally, Nicholas and Bella crashed and Laney was the only one left awake playing video games with us at midnight.

I just got home from the race and am running a bath. Tim has the kids out at a birthday party. The race was great. Nice weather, great people. I ran the first 3 straight through then switched to my training mode 1:30 run/:30 walk for the next 3 miles. Once I hit 6, I ran for the last .2 miles to the finish line. My race time was 1:08, but I think there’s a minute difference to my actual time since it took a while for my group to get to the starting gate. I’ll update true results when I get them and a pic if available. It was a great morning to run.

Well, so far we’ve slept in and had oatmeal. Nick is running around naked in our morning potty training ritual and they both demanded ‘Wow, Wow, Wubbzy’ so the first part of the morning is taken care of. I’m going to try and take them to the park for lunch and we definitely need to get some food, but other than that, Spring Break has officially started! Woo Hoo! More as it happens…

Update…

We made cookies!

And then the kids went in the new tub. It’s ready for water, we’re just waiting for the electrician to finish the rest of the hookups. Then on to the rest of the bathroom.

Love Hulu! Love it! I am a tv watching girl who loves her shows and I usually bounce between the network sites watching streaming versions of my favs while I work. Then here’s Hulu that has a LOT of it all bunched together. Yee Haw! We just finished watching ‘Fever Pitch’ which I am glad we didn’t pay for, but enjoyed none the less. I’m praying Hulu doesn’t go pay any time soon. The commercials are fine!! The kids are home and tomorrow is Day 1 of Spring Break. I have a lot to pack into the week, although it’s a shame I’m not off work tomorrow. I am going to get the pool water checked tomorrow to insure that we can use the pool during our fine Spring Break! Woo Hoo! I’ll keep the blog updated in the next week and you all can see what trouble we like to get into when I get the days off work (a whole week!) I won’t give too much detail of my dentist visit though!