family pics

We had fun getting our pictures taken last weekend - here are a few of the shots - there were so many good ones - how will I ever pick!! For the rest of the family - once I get them uploaded to shutterfly, I'll send you a link - you can check them out and let me know what you want me to get for you too! I personally really love the top one here - how cute is he?!

for the birds.... literally.

I had a really hectic morning at work, so when I got home, I just wanted to check my e-mail and then go to bed. As I was sitting at the kitchen table, all I could hear was clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk - over and over and over again. I looked out the window to see 3 woodpeckers eating away at my deck. They are awfully cute and didn't mind getting their picture taken - I just hope they don't destroy the deck by the time I wake up this afternoon!

I did it!

So after having dinner at Jeremy and Jackie's house on Saturday night - I was inspired to try and make an apple pie. Jackie's was so incredibly delicious and looked just beautiful! Last night we went to visit nana and papa and picked a whole bunch of apples from their tree. Today, with Gavin's help, we baked - it's not always the best to try something for the first time with a three year old helping - but we managed. I made a total mess of my kitchen and Gav and I were covered in flour - but in the end I have 2 somewhat pretty pies - I hope they taste good!

I've also been reading "Julie and Julia" where she sets out to master Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I have now been inspired to learn how to cook. I'm determined to figure it out - so I'm going to make menus, use new recipes and see if I can get my family to eat anything that I make - I'll keep you updated!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Ellie turned 5 yesterday - and we had a blast celebrating with her! I hope you had a wonderful day sweet girl - we love you so much!

our family vacation....

Here are some pics of our vacation... if you start at the bottom and go up - they are in chronological order. It was hard to pick which pictures to post out of the 783 pictures that we took! And that's not even counting the pictures that are on the smaller camera that I haven't down loaded yet! Hope you enjoy!

Wow - we had so much fun! I hardly even know where to begin. Saturday night, we stayed in Minneapolis. I think we had hyped up our vacation for so long to Gavin, he thought that when we arrived at the Marriott - that was it - and he was quite disappointed. He didn't want to go to sleep that night - and just kept asking when we were going to get to Disney World! Gavin did great on the plane ride - even though his portable DVD player didn't work. I had brought plenty of other things to keep him busy. When we landed, he yelled out "we are in Disney World!" He kept asking "is this Disney World yet?" Until we finally arrived and he was asleep! My mom and dad met us outside of The Beach Club and we checked in and headed to the party room to meet Laurie and Eric and Owen, Krista and Shane. We spent that evening at the Magic Kingdom - the first thing Gavin wanted to do was go on the Buzz ride. We also let the little boys pick out balloons and they both wanted blue. He was also super excited to ride the tea cups - I'm so thankful for Daddy and Uncles that will go on the spinning rides with the boys - I got nauseous on the merry-go-round! Monday we had breakfast with Goofy, Donald and Minnie at the Beach Club and then the big boys went golfing while we got to spend the day at the Magic Kingdom with the little boys. We spent a lot of time in the very awesome sand bottom pool! I loved the hot weather!!! Tuesday was spent at Hollywood Studios - and it was very hot that day! Gavin met Mike from Monster's Inc, McQueen and Mater, and also got to dance with Mr Potato head during the parade. We rode on the new Toy Story ride multiple times - which Gavin absolutely LOVED - so did I! We spent that evening at EPCOT. It's become tradition to have dinner at Rose and Crown in England. The meal was great and the company was even better. We had such a blast and watched the fire works too. We then headed over to the boardwalk for one of the most fun nights on the trip - we rented surrey bikes and drove them around the boardwalk - but not in a nice, leisurely fashion. No - we had to race. We strapped the little boys to the front and the bikes - and Gavin rang the bell every time we met a pedestrian on the boardwalk. It was quite a hilly ride and most of us were pretty spent at the end of it all (Bryan and Shane in particular!) The rest of us made it over to play some carnival games and the boys even won two little puppies! Wednesday we had breakfast with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eyore. Even though Owen took quite the spill off of the chair (he was ok!) we had a fun time. We then left the kids with the boys and us girls spend the day at the spa. I had a Swedish massage, and a facial - the facial was wonderful! We also went to grand afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian - very fun. We met up with the boys at EPCOT to watch the candy lady. She picked Gavin out of the crowd and asked him which animal he would like her to make - he picked a chicken - very random! Gavin was big enough to go on some big rides this year - so we took him on Soarin and Test Track - both of which he thought were great! We spent Thursday at Typhoon Lagoon - definitely another high light! Bryan and I even got to snorkel with sharks and sting rays - I'll have to down load those pics later - they are on a different camera! Friday we spent all together - it was so fun for Gavin to have Owen there with him. He kept saying "he's my best friend!" They had their crazy moments - but over all were very well behaved. It was very hard to get a picture of the two of them together - they are very busy boys. Friday night we got to go to Mickey's not so scary Halloween party. It was one of the highlights of my trip for sure. We dressed up like Vikings players, got to go trick or treating in the magic kingdom, went on lots of rides and got to meet Mickey with papa. Saturday, the rest of our family had to leave - it was amazing how fast our week went with them. We had so much fun and can't wait to do it again! The remainder of the day was pretty rainy, so we headed to downtown Disney for the day. We did a little shopping, had an amazing meal at Fulton's crab house and Gavin made a dinosaur at build-a-dino! It was so fun for him and for us too! Sunday we had to check out of the beach club, then spent the day at the animal kingdom. Gavin loved all the animals - and also took a very needed nap. It was also the only day that we got stuck in the rain and got POURED on! Luckily we had our ponchos with and were able to stay pretty dry. That afternoon we checked into the Polynesian! We had an amazing room - with pool and lagoon views! We were only a short walk from the big pool - which we really utilized every day! The next days were pretty relaxing. I even got some "me" time at the pool while Bryan and Gavin napped in the room. The last night there, we enjoyed some really good sushi, had a great meal at Kona, while Gavin rocked his pirate costume! He even had the workers playing along! We ended our last night by watching the fireworks from the beach - they even played the music beach side. We laid in the hammock and just enjoyed the peacefulness of it all. It was such a great vacation - it really felt like a get a way. Gavin of course was completely spoiled and loved having his extended family so close for so many days. He asked us every day when we were going to meet everyone again! I'm really loving my time off at home right now too. It's so nice to be home every night and get to spend my days with Gavy! Luckily when we got home, the weather was still so nice - it was 84 degrees today! Gavin has asked me everyday when he gets to go back to Disney World - can't wait until next time!!