Orlando!

We had the privilege of representing our church at the SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL.  We shared a condo with Mark & Ginny Hopkins, which was tons of fun.  Unfortunately we took zero pictures inside the condo.  Caelyn loved having "her" GiGi & Mark stay with us.  Hopefully they didn't mind Caelyn's early wake up times.

My parents also attended the Convention and then my brother and Natalia joined us in Orlando on Wednesday night.  Here are some highlights of our fun visit to the different Disney Parks.

On Wednesday after the morning meeting we headed to Animal Kingdom.  Caelyn fell asleep as soon as we got in the park, which turned about to be okay.  We took that opportunity to figure out where we were going and what to do.  We didn't stay at the park very long, so that we could be back in time for the closing session, but we did have time to do the Safari and visit a few more areas.   Here are some pictures.

Caelyn isn't afraid of snakes at all, the creatures fascinated her.

Up Close with the Goat

With Mimi after the Safari

Caelyn loved being able to see all the fish.  She decided it was a good place to sit and watch.

Us 3

With Mimi and Papaw

On Thursday we went to Magic Kingdom with my parents, David, and Natalia.  Caelyn's favorite part was the castle.  Every time it would come into view she would get so excited.  I decided to pour down rain during the afternoon, so she and I got caught in a store for about and hour.  While we were in the store I let Caelyn pick out one stuffed animal.  Her choice was Minnie Mouse, who quickly became her favorite toy and her favorite character.  When the rain let up a little bit, ee then ventured over to a near by restaurant and met up with the rest of the family.  Caelyn discovered the castle and wanted her little brother Jackson to see it too.  

Everyone's favorite ride as Buzz Lightyear.  Even Caelyn liked steering the cart, which meant my mom and spent most of the ride spinning in circles.  Phil & David took advantage of the fast pass and the rain to ride it several times.

 

Caelyn on Papa's shoulders watching a show in front of the castle.

A little tuckered out.

On Friday our flight didn't leave until 3, so we took the morning to do a quick trip over to Hollywood Studios.  There Caelyn was able to see her favorite Disney Character up close.  Caelyn met Minnie Mouse.  I didn't think that she would walk up to a giant character all by herself, but she did and gave her a big hug.  There were no smiles during picture taking, but before and after she was all smiles.

Waiting for the Playhouse Disney show to begin.

Waiting in line for Minnie Mouse

Hugs for Minnie

No Smiles, I am just impressed she is not screaming.

All smiles when she was all done and kept talking about it.

High Five for Goofy

Just for Daddy in the Star Wars store

Happy Birthday Caelyn

Our little girl is 2!  She is a crazy wide-eyed one.  We love her that way.  She loves to sing and dance.  Caelyn loves to play with her babies & cook in the kitchen with mommy.  I don't think she ever stops moving.  Here are pictures of her birthday.  She had 3 parties.  The first was with Dan, Tabitha, Matt & Sarah when they came to visit for Memorial Day.  I learned that Caelyn doesn't like frosting or sprinkles.  I had to cut the top off of her cupcake so she could eat the cake part.  Here are some pictures.

Testing the Water

First Bite

Showing Her "Big" Smile

Frosting-less Cupcake

"Mommy, Me Messy"

The second was with MeMe, PaPa, David & Tia (Natalia) on her actual birthday when we went to get our family pictures done.  She also had a doctor's appt. that day.  We were told no shots, they lied.  However, she took it like a trooper.  Nothing a Strawberry Frapp from Starbucks couldn't fix.  I am still working on getting the pictures from my parents, so they will be coming soon.

The last was the day after her birthday.  We only brought a couple presents with us to see my parents, so we opened the rest of them the next day and finished off the cupcakes.  We put candles on her cupcake, which she wasn't too sure about.  We had a fun day.

Voicing Her Opinion on the Candles

Picking off the M&Ms, she still wouldn't eat the frosting

Making Sure She Gets Them All

Reading

We love to read!  Caelyn has a love of books and has them tucked into every corner of our house.  However, she likes to "read" her book first and them place them in a pile for me to read next.  We have a shelf of books that she isn't quite ready for or I don't want to keep in her room, but when she remembers that they are there she likes to sit and look at the pictures. Here is what Saturday's reading session looked like.

"Mommy Read?"

Babar

Spot's Giant Treasury

Arthur's No Good Very Bad Day

My Reading Stack

About 5 minutes later

I am so excited that my little girl has an appreciation for reading and books.

Out Cold

We stayed out too late on Sunday night.  So Monday at lunch time this is what we ended up with.

Pig Tails

Caelyn's hair is finally long enough for pig tails.  If you ask me, I think she looks pretty cute!

Zoo with Nate

Nate is Caelyn's best bud.  They have so much fun playing together.  Today we went to the Norfolk Zoo, it isn't a very big zoo, but it just the right size for two toddlers in 80 degree weather (not to mention a pregnant lady).  The zoo is really well done and you can get fairly close to the animals, which was really fun for Caelyn & Nate.  Right next to the zoo is a playground where we ate a picnic lunch and played for a few minutes.

Buddies

Caelyn Charging the Way

Bongos (I think)

Watching the Elephant through the Glass

Coming Out Into the Yard

Fascinated by the Elephants

Caelyn Loved the Cow and How Close She Could Get

Swinging with Nate

Trying to Hold Nate's Hand

Riding Together

Passed Out After a Day of Fun

Big Girl

We are working towards the transition to a "Big Girl Bed."  I bought Caelyn a small pillow to put her head on and of course, with a pillow comes a blankie.  The one she is sleeping with was made by Grandma Great Gifford (Phil's grandma on his dad's side).  It is pretty cute to see her cuddled up with her buddies taking a nap.

Ohio Visit

We took a week and went to Cleveland, OH for Phil to attend the Basics Conference at Parkside Church.  The beauty of it is his parents live not too far away so we get to visit with them during the week.  It is also a plus for Caelyn and I, we don't have to stay home alone or be cooped up in a hotel room.  The conference is always the week after Mother's Day so we get to spend it with Phil's mom.

This week was unusually cold and our plans to go to the Cleveland Zoo were thwarted by below 50 degree weather and high winds.  Here are some pictures of the fun we did have.

Basketball with Grandpa

Digging Up Earthworms

Bubbles with Grandma

Stomping Bubbles

Little Helper

Caelyn is a great little helper and is going to make a great big sister.  Here is her helping her daddy do dishes one morning.

Strawberry Picking

I LOVE strawberries.  I could eat them any time of the day and when they are in the house I do.  Today we went strawberry picking at Wood's Orchard in Hampton.  We had so much fun!  We started out on a hayride out to the field and spent a good while picking berries.  It took Caelyn just a few minutes to discern the difference between green and red, and once she did we were off with a bang.  She is a very good helper and will make a great big sister.  About half way down the first row she figured out that only did we pick them, but she could eat them.  She was the messiest kid in the bunch when we were done.  When we were done picking and sampling Caelyn went over and started helping Tiffany, a task she took VERY seriously.

I got 7 pounds of strawberries, partly to freeze for when it is no longer strawberry season.  I am excited about all the possibilities to come :)

Here are some pictures of Caelyn's strawberry eating adventures.

She shoved the whole strawberry in her mouth the first time around.

Looking for her next sample.

Shoving it all in there.

I squished it mommy...

Still good though

A Trip to the Beach

We LOVE to go to the beach.  The good news is we have two little beaches about 20 minutes from us and I have friends that love the beach as well.  This is the third time I have gone to the beach with friends, but the first time I have remembered a camera.  Caelyn loves to play with Nate and occasionally they share their toys.

 Normally Tiffany I take turns bucketing water up from the beach for them to play with in a hole we have dug.  Neither Nate or Caelyn are fans of the cold water.

Fortunately this time Nate realized how much fun it was to splash in the water in the bucket, which lasts must longer than the water in the sand.

Nate had a watering can in his bucket of toys and Caelyn spent most of the time watering the sand or the sand molds.

Watering the bucket.

Showing Nate how it's done.

We had a wonderful time and can't wait to do it again.

Breaking News...

Not so much, as most of our friends and family found out yesterday.  However, if you don't know...we are having a boy!!!!  We are super excited.

On another note, my sweet friend GiGi posted this stick figure drawing of our family on her blog today.  It is so cute!  Take a look at her blog for other cute things she has done & rack your brain for cute things she can do for you.

Vacation

Today is the last full day of our vacation.  Sad to say, I don't think I took a single picture during the entire week.  We had lots of fun though.  We started the week with my dear friend Marianne coming to visit.  Marianne was my college roomie and we always had a ton of fun together.  It had been over 2 years since we last saw each other, but it still felt like no time had passed at all.  Marianne is also a history teacher, so we had a fun time exploring Yorktown (my favorite) and Jamestown (her favorite).  I was sad to see her leave on Thursday, but as soon as we dropped her off at the airport we headed off to Lynchburg to see Phil's family.

We stayed with Matt and Sarah at their new house, which is totally cute!  I am excited to see what Sarah will do with it.  We took a visit to Grandma & Grandpa Great's house and took them out for ice cream for Grandma Great's birthday.  In the midst of all this we realized Phil left his suitcase sitting on our bed at home and it never made it to the car.  Fortunately, Lynchburg has a Target that supplied all our needs.  The next day we began our day eating breakfast with our dear friends Tom & Connie Nylander.  Tom & Connie were my family while I was at LU.  It was great to get to see them, hopefully we will get to see them more this summer.

Part our visit was so Phil could visit the library to get some research for his paper.  Once there he found out that his LU account was still active and he could check out books free of charge.  Now we just have to figure out how to return them :)  We also went to visit Sarah at work at Starbucks several times, as most people know Phil loves his coffee, especially Starbucks.

Saturday was our last day in Lynchburg, we headed back over to Grandma Great's for a WONDERFUL breakfast and a fun time of fellowship.  After that we headed out to run some errands, a quick lunch, and then headed home.

It was great to be home, we found Phil's suitcase right where we left it and our house a welcome refuge. Caelyn was excited to sleep in her own bed that night, as were Phil and I.  The next morning we headed out to another church in our area.  After Caelyn's nap we headed out to Sandy Bottom and let her explore the playground.  She was extremely bold and did the smallest steps and slide all by herself.  Near the end she decided she wanted to go down the tall twisty slide, the first time she wanted Daddy up top and Mommy at the bottom.  After that she wanted "My Turn" and would tell Phil, "No Daddy, My turn" when she wanted to go up the steps by herself and push herself down.  This made Mommy very nervous, but Daddy was not too far off from Caelyn.  We then headed off to a delicious dinner at IHOP, where kids eat free after 4 pm, which was wonderful news.

Today we went and visited my parents in Moyock.  We had a wonderful day laughing with my brother David, and his wife Natalia.  Caelyn had a ton of fun playing outside with Mimi.  David recently purchased a Wii and we had fun bowling, rowing, and playing tennis and frisbee golf.  I realized my hand eye coordination is not built for such things.  Now we are at home, taking a few minutes to relax from all of our travels.  We had so much fun and look forward to the next vacation...whenever that may be.