Florida Summer Vacation 2015 - Botanical Garden and More

After driving all day Saturday and being at a theme park all day Sunday in 98 degree heat, we decided we would stay local to Spring Hill and do things fairly close to the house.  Vince found a botanical garden that was amazing and huge.  It was filled with lizards, butterflies, and I even saw a long black snake slither under a bush to hide.

The best part was that it was free!  The boys weren't that impressed, but they remained calm and enjoyed the ride through the various gardens.

We also found the Bayport dock and park.  It had a nice view of the Gulf of Mexico and tons of picnic tables. The history lessons were all over the area with stories on both sides of the signs, spread throughout the park.

Aunt Susie got to visit with the boys several times during the week. And we took them swimming in perfectly warm, lovely water in her swimming pool.

We enjoyed dinner at the Greek City Cafe on Sunday night and the Masaryktown Cafe (Cuban sandwiches and garbanzo bean soup) on Monday night. 

Florida Summer Vacation 2015 - Busch Gardens

We took the boys to Spring Hill, Florida to stay at my parents' beach house. It's only about 45 minutes from Tampa, which had loads to do for toddlers.  We drove all day Saturday, and luckily, there was not much traffic so we were able to eat at one of our favorite seafood restaurants, the Bayport Inn.

On Sunday, we had reservations at Busch Gardens for lunch with Elmo and friends.  Evan and Alex don't watch much Sesame Street as they are so preoccupied with Mickey Mouse, so I had bought a DVD for them to watch on Saturday during the 10 hour car ride.  They loved watching Elmo.

We arrived at Busch Gardens in time for the Elmo show, which included all the kids being able to run on stage and have a big dance party with Elmo, Grover, and some other character that I kept calling Zoe, but found out later she was Abby.  Both boys wanted to watch and touch them, but weren't too keen on being touched back.  They clapped and danced for 30 solid minutes with the characters.

We then rode a few rides.  Evan liked riding.  Alex liked riding for approximately 20 seconds - just long enough to want to get off as soon as the ride started.  He only went on 3 rides and did the same whining to get off every time.  Then the real fun started when it was time to eat lunch with all the characters.

Elmo, Bert, Ernie, and Cookie Monster all came in to the dining area dancing and ready for pictures.  It was not crowded at all, so the boys had lots of attention from all the different characters.  They both were entranced by Elmo & kept searching for him.  Alex was keen on wanting to photo bomb all the other kids' pictures with Elmo.  The lunch itself was a buffet filled with great food.  It was totally worth it even if there were no characters and a free 6 x 8 picture involved.  The kids absolutely loved it.  It was the best hour we spent in the park.

The best part is that we got a free extra day with our ticket so we can go back anytime within a calendar year & do it again! The day was 98 degrees and very hot, but Vince had rigged the stroller with two fans for the boys and a shade cover.  We kept them hydrated and in the shade a lot, and took several breaks for drinks or ice cream.  I love that the lines are short and you get a lot for your money at this park.

Leslie Family Reunion - Camp Cockamamie

We celebrated the umpteenth Leslie family reunion on Memorial Day at Uncle Alan's house this year.  It was dubbed "Camp Cockamamie" since they live in Cocke County, TN.  I have forgotten how many years in a row we've been gathering on Memorial Day, but I think it's close to ten.  The boys slept in the same room with us at Uncle Alan & Aunt Linda's house. It made for interesting nights since three of us (the boys & me) had a bad cough.  In fact on Saturday night, I held Evan up right against me from 3:30am to 4:30am since he was coughing so bad he was hardly breathing from all the drainage.  We moved Alex's crib to the huge walk in closet (& left the door open) to give him a little bit more privacy from the noise.  That worked great as he slept all night until after 7am.  I think he liked the dark and quiet room of the closet. 

Tallest cousin, Andrew with shortest cousin, Alex.

The siblings (minus my dad, who was in Alaska on a cruise).

We ate our traditional Friday night fare of lasagna and/or poppy seed(less) chicken.  Aunt Linda doesn't like to put the poppy seeds in her version. On Saturday, all the aunts, uncles and cousins from near and far arrived to Cosby, TN and we feasted on smoked pork and lots of fixings.  Sunday we visited with some more cousins and ate hamburgers and hot dogs. 

The older kids fished outside in the big pond stocked with fish and snapping turtles.  We saw wild turkeys every morning.  And my cousins saw a small black bear run from them on the other side of the pond.  There is lots of wildlife in the mountains! 

The boys loved playing on the big porch outside and we blocked them in with relatives that gave them lots of attention. 

I only wish everyone had felt better.  We came home and both boys were diagnosed with a bad ear infection that Tuesday.  The only up side was that Evan loved just being held and snuggled by his relatives all weekend long. I think everyone was able to get their baby fix.

We ended the trip on Monday morning by dining at the local restaurant called Janice's. 

Spring Fling 2015

On Friday night, Vince & I took the boys downtown to the bike races that kick off Spring Fling.  I won tickets and a t-shirt to my work's booth that had free catered food from Cribb's.  Yum!  They had two platters of pickles, so Evan and Alex were in heaven.  They love pickles more than any other food on the planet. 

This year was the first time that my parents got to go with us to Spring Fling.  Vince and I went on one of our first dates to Spring Fling in downtown Spartanburg over 7 years ago.  I remember we ate chicken on a stick.  On Saturday, I talked my mom into trying deep fried Oreo cookies for the first time.  She liked them!  I think my dad liked them, too.  They are one of my favorite fair foods. It was very crowded this year and we don't like to stand in long lines much (who does??).  All of the food vendors were packed with people, so I think their profits were way up this year. 

The boys rode in their double stroller and saw the Budweiser Clydesdale horses when we first arrived.  They were beautiful horses and very large.  We also visited the Spartanburg Regional medical tent to say hi to my coworkers.  The rides were not for infant/toddlers so we just breezed past the kiddie ride section and strolled through the vendor booths.  I'm glad they had such a great turn out this year.

6 Year Anniversary and GMAT

The past 6 years have flown by for me and Vince.  I am so lucky to have found the man of my dreams and so much more.  We have been abundantly blessed and have a wonderful little family.  Our boys keep us on our toes and they are growing up so fast.  In order to keep up with them and be the best I can be professionally, there's no time like the present to start achieving my personal goals.

Several months ago I decided I would go back to college and earn my Master's Degree.  I wanted to pursue this for the last 19 years and did not want to keep putting it off any longer.  Since working at the hospital for the last few months, I've had nothing but encouraging words to better myself and achieve higher education.  So after studying with a book from the library for the last two months, I took the GMAT exam the morning of our anniversary.  It was from 11am to 2:30pm in Greenville at a testing center.  The math was hard, but somehow I prevailed and scored higher than needed to get accepted into Gardner-Webb University. I am waiting on my acceptance letter, but should have no problems getting in to their on-line master's program. The hard part will be finding time in the evenings and on weekends (in between very few cake orders) to do the work.  I will still be working full time at the hospital, which I totally love!!

Speaking of love, let's get back to my anniversary.  Vince and I were fortunate that my parents were in town and willing to babysit for us while we went to dinner at Long Horn.  The meal was sooo fabulous.  I love all of their food from the appetizer to the steak to the dessert trio.  And I love being able to spend my anniversary with my one true love.  I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him.  Every day is a blessing and an adventure.  I love you, Vince!  I'm so glad we turned 6 minutes into 6 years. 

Easter 2015

I had my cousin in-law, Pat's sister, Darla, make the boys their Easter shirts this year.  She makes the cutest shirts and I had already bought several from her for their birthdays, Disney, etc.  They were a little more casual than the traditional Easter toddler suit that most kids wear, but I got some good use out of them at a couple of Easter egg hunts, visiting the Easter bunny, and on Easter Sunday.  The boys looked so cute in their personalized shirts. 

They both loved the Easter bunny at the mall.  Evan kept looking at him so it was hard for him to want to look at the camera.  Alex got comfy and wanted to sink into him and snuggle.  They did not want to leave the Easter bunny. 

We had an Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood the week before Easter.  It was the first time Alex had ever been to one.  We practiced that week putting his play balls in his Easter basket so he performed like a champ.  Evan liked opening each egg to see what was inside before placing it in his basket. 

Our second Easter egg hunt was at church the Saturday before Easter.  Alex fell asleep and missed out, but Evan collected more than enough eggs for both of them. 

Easter Sunday was busy at church, but since I only keep the 2 year old nursery on the odd months, I got to go to service and see the Easter sermon.  We attended the contemporary service for the first time in order to free up space in the main building for guests.  It was a nice change of pace and we both enjoyed it. 

After church we ate our traditional Easter ham dinner that I made in my new pressure cooker that I got for Christmas.  That afternoon we had our third Easter egg hunt at the house of Vince's co-worker.  Both boys enjoyed themselves.  Alex was quite social and said hi to everyone.  Evan liked their dog, especially his tail.