Vacation Day 5: April 3

Saturday, April 3, we had the opportunity to invade Uncle Lou's friend's pool! They invited us over for margarita's by the pool, swimming and a water gun fight! The only people who swam were Gracie, Kailee, Jon and Lou's friend Mark. Everyone had a marvelous time!

Can you tell these two little punks were having fun!

Those smiles never left their faces the entire time they were in that pool! 

Vacation Day 4: April 2

Day 4 of Florida vacation was lots of fun, we woke up early to go to Fort Myers Beach (we weren't getting stuck in 2 hour traffic!) so we could see the sand sculptors.

 See the traffic was much better!

However the children were just as goofy!!

 Even Grandpa Lou and Kailee were pretty funny!

The sand sculptures were so cool... but the kids thought that the "kids zone" was even more fun!

 Kailee and Uncle Lou are besties!

So glad we were driving the opposite direction! The line of traffic was backed up miles to Fort Myers Beach!

 Somebody has a wiggly tooth!

 These grand-girls are tired after a long morning walking around and playing on the beach.

 Me and Mom



Vacation Day 3: April 1

Day 3 of our Florida vacation Uncle Lou was off work, so we had a lazy morning and attempted to go to Fort Myers Beach... the wait in traffic was over 2 hours (at 10 a.m.!) so we went to Sanibelle beach. It had a huge selection of sea shells! We brought home a gallon baggie full!

Looking at all these Kailee pictures probably had you thinking, "where's Gracie" well, she sat in the sand and wouldn't look at the camera so I have lots of these shots...

We were at the beach for 2 hours and time flew by! I couldn't believe how fast 2 hours went, there was a nice breeze, the sun was hot and the kids were very entertained playing in the ocean and moldable sand! Look at those sand castles! I couldn't get close enough for "good" pictures because of the crutches darn it!

Vacation Day 2: March 31

Day 2 of our Florida vacation started with some really cool orange sunglasses that Grandma Deb found for us. Nothing like stylin like a G6. Since Uncle Lou was working our day included some fun shopping at various interesting places that included a cool Goodwill where Gracie and Grandpa Lou found a wooden airplane.

See the airplane above; this will be the Uncle Lou's newest addition to his home as it was too big to bring home on the airplane.

Our day also enjoyed some relaxing and lizard searching... though the lizard wasn't really a search so much as it was a jump out of no where to say, "Welcome to Uncle Lou's house in Florida" - according to Gracie.

Our afternoon also included some sidewalk chalk!

Grandma Deb also found herself bonding with grand-puppy Emory. Lil Em loves her grandma!

The after also involved checkin out of the rental van, it was a stow and go kind... so Grandpa Lou had to show the girls and Jon had to tease the girls and say that they ripped the seats out. To which Kailee says, "it's not safe dad!" He says, "you can just sit on the floor." Gracie screams, "it's not safe dad, the police will be mad!" Yep... she's the drama queen.

Kailee told Grandpa Lou, "can you please close the door so we can have some peace and quiet." Really... the kid asked for peace and quiet... that alone is the reason for this blog! I love her!!

The day ended with Bo the Lion being silly with Lou.

Vacation Day 1: March 30th

Day 1 was our airport day! Everyone woke up early (6 a.m.) to finish packing the car, showering, and preparing for our day of travel. We met Grandpa Lou and Grandma Deb in Boyne Falls at 7:45 a.m. then followed them cat and mouse style down to Flint. Where we enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the Meijer parking lot (killing lots of time!) then a lengthly wait at the Flint Airport while awaiting our 2:30 p.m. flight to Fort Myers. Finally by 3:15 we were in the air and beginning our trek to Florida! We eagerly said "bye, bye snow and hello sunshine!" We arrived to a welcoming 83 degrees! Uncle Lou met us at baggage claim and aided us in taking our bags to his vehicle so we could get our rental van situated. Finding Uncle Lou after getting the van was interesting... he passed us patiently waiting for him on the side of the road, then we passed him when attempted to travel in his direction. It was a long day of cat and mouse play, flying, driving but it all ended with hugs, kisses and exhausted children, eagerly awaiting a day of beach play!

Just realize...

Everyday my children teach me something new...
...stop and wait for the angel to kiss your cheeks, you feel it when you close your eyes and listen with your heart. Inspiration: Gracie
...when the lights are off and the sunlight is shining in the windows there are rainbows, everywhere! Inspiration: Kailee
...books are good for reading when my fingers get tired from typing all that school work. Inspiration: Gracie
...books are good for listening to when you need snuggle time. Inspiration: Kailee
...sleeping is only good when it's dark, if there's nothing else fun to do. Inspirations: Kailee and Gracie

Suck it up buttercup!

Sunday Classics

Kailee is in her bedroom, putting away toys, shoving them all in the toy box.
Gracie walks in and said to Kailee, "you're not cleaning this up right."
Kailee begins to cry. Through the sobs she says, "you don't understand me, your words hurt my feelings."
To which Grace replies, "suck it up buttercup."

I was doing Kailee's hair and she said, "ouch mom, you're hurting me."
I began to say, "pain is-"
Kailee interrupts and says, "yeah, yeah pain is beauty, I know, but it still hurts."

Just when...

... you think your life is horrible and no good could possibly come from the torcher you have endured... something happens... a silver lining is there! Just when you think there is no one who understands, a stranger smiles at you, a child touches your hand, the phone rings and it's a friendly voice, or maybe it's just a tender moment where the sunshine hits the window just right and there's a rainbow. Sometimes enduring the hard things can be so unbearable that you think, why me? WHY ME? WHY! Just when you think these things are too much to handle, and you question it again, WHY ME,  you may discover the answer by looking at it from a different point of view. There's always going to be those "why me" days, there's always going to be those horrible-no-good-very-bad days, but those are the times we must just take a moment, take in a deep breath and think, there is good within all this craziness. The good might just end up being, "I'll look back and laugh" or it's a moment that changes your path forever. All good comes, just find it... find the good. Strive for the good. It's there, keep looking, it's there. You only have one life to live and you mine as well live it the best you can and be happy. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff, worry about the dust bunnies or hold that grudge... it's not worth it. With that being said, certain things occur that make you realize that people come in and out of our lives for a reason... sometimes it may seem bad but every person you meet has that "good" that they bring to your life... find it... and thank them for helping you find that good, even it was them helping you find strength within yourself.