And we're home...back to life as usual

Our flight went off without a hitch but getting to our gate was a nightmare.  Cate was ticked. Will was ticked.  Mom was ticked b/c Cate and Will were being awful human beings and the security line was not moving fast enough.  Andrew is TSA approved and could take himself and the kids through the line quickly but he didn't get this flight approved.  I often wonder if he's in cahoots with the kids and trying to kill me.  Since we can't put two car seats in a row and there are five of us we sit in front/back of each other.  This means one person always has just one kid! I scored for take-off but then ended up with Cate since I scored an open seat next to me! 

Big Will crashed out on Andrew for most of the flight.

And Cater crashed out in the car seat for most of the flight.  But the thought ran through my head that I don't want to fly with these kids again until they can all carry their own stuff.  Or until they don't need car seats.

Miss M received the game Rummicube from Grammy and Poppy and we enjoyed playing it until Will ran off with all the blue pieces. 

We restarted our gymnastics class.

I put the kids to work when there was a nice day. I bought them scrubbing brushes from the Dollar Tree.  I gave them a bucket of soapy water and had them clean all the toys and give their cars a wash. It was amazing entertainment.

We had snacks on the porch when it was semi-nice out.  It still isn't warm yet but it isn't freezing.

I've been pumping iron in the gym.  I am trying to make others fear me as much as my kids do.

Miss M had her family birthday party the Sunday after we returned from FL. Aunt Nessa came over and our friends the Bradys came over too.  We had a practice cupcake  before everyone arrived.  We sang. Candles were blown out.

Will wanted to practice for his birthday on 8 May.  I have yet to figure out why Miss M says her birthday is on 12 March and his is on 8 May. We don't speak in such a manner.

Miss M received a lemonade stand for her birthday.  She's been talking about a lemonade stand for some time now.

Thankfully Aunt Nessa brought over all the supplies we could possibly need for a successful lemonade stand. 

Miss M received the game What's in Ned's Head. It's pretty fun.  I went into the game thinking it was going to be a joke and I would have to play down to Miss M's level. It was harder than I thought it would be without being hard.  It's really just funny.

Miss M received a lego set with what Annessa felt like was 8 million pieces.  Miss M isn't into the small legos yet and didn't have much interest but she was happy to watch Annessa try to put it together for three hours. 

We couldn't find a 5 candle so we used the 3 candle without any fits. I don't think Miss M cared as much about the candle as she cared about the cupcake.

He's been refusing to nap again and so we find him all over the house sleeping in random places.

Miss M turns 5!!! Birthday Party!!

After we got home from the beach and got cleaned up we had an official birthday party with cupcakes, singing, and presents!

Miss M was so over the moon happy! I think her face says it all. And the beach sun kissed glow works well on her too!

A party isn't complete without party blowers!

Or at least one kid being naked.

Or two kids. Let's be honest.

This picture makes me smile. You can see how excited Miss M was when she saw Grammy coming out with presents.  She wasn't sure she was going to get presents b/c we weren't home and we told her that we didn't know if Grammy and Poppy had bought her any.

Grammy, Poppy and Andrew decorated the house all up Friday night. I fell asleep and didn't decorate. The kids slept terribly while we were in FL. They were waking up at 6:30am which is 5:30am for my body. They normally sleep until 7:30 or 8:00am so the 6:30 hurt so bad.

There were streamers and balloons and a big wall decoration.  It was the perfect birthday for our little peanut.

Going for a walk across the street to do some shopping for me.  I ended up buying nothing and each of the kids ended up with a present.  This seems to be the way things work around here.  Miss M turns on her extra sweet side and says "mom, since I have been so good can I pick something out to buy". I usually say yes bc I am a sucker.  I said yes this time b/c it was her birthday and well I hadn't bought her any presents for her birthday yet!

Miss M turns 5!!! At the Beach

Miss M unofficially turned 5 on March 5th this year.  I asked her about 132 times where she wanted to have a birthday party.  Her response all 132 times was that she was going to be in FL for her birthday and therefore wasn't having a party.  I finally wised up and decided we were going to have her birthday in FL. I recognized I would be saving hundreds of dollars and a headache to change her birthday by a week.  

We had wanted to go to the beach while we were at Poppy's and since Andrew wasn't working on Saturday (Miss M's birthday) we took a road trip to Sanibel Island. The beach wasn't crowded. It was a beautiful day.  I assumed we would stay for 45 minutes to an hour b/c that's about how long Big Will stays anywhere without a fit to follow.  Around an hour he did say that he wanted to go home but quickly got over it when he was sidetracked by something.  

Walking to the beach. 

Girl wasn't bothered by the sand at all.  None of them were actually. They had sand in every crevice and didn't mind a bit.

Grammy packed bags for each of the kids so they could collect shells. There were so many shells on the beach it made it fun and easy to collect. Miss M proudly wore her princess birthday party hat for most of the day. Turning 5 was a BIG deal.

There's poppy in the background sitting in his chair with his sun hat and blanket covering his legs.  One would think he hated the sun.

Big Will and Andrew played in the water for a long time. There were lots of waves crashing which Will was excited about. The water was miserable cold so I tried to stay out of it as much as possible.

Blowing bubbles.

Everyone playing together.  A joyous sight.

Pretend sleeping in the sand.  Gross.

She's 5!!! I don't know whether I should be sad or excited. I am a little bit of both but the sadness doesn't stick around for long when I remember how much work the little ones are on a regular basis.  She yells at me and has some serious attitude occasionally but the yelling and attitude feel so much more manageable than the screeching, hitting, tantrums.  She's a lover though.  As a baby she wasn't much of a snuggler but now it feels like I can't get her off of me!.

The Great FL Takeover

If the kids could have lived in the pool they would have but snacks weren't allowed in the pool. I tried.  

The (big) kids were more than willing to wear their life jacket/floaty to float around the pool.  The littlest one was less than impressed.  

Cate was pretty happy floating around in the cheese cup.  Miss M was the original cheese cup baby and now she can touch the bottom of the pool when she walks on her toes.

Big Will loved shooting the water gun at anything and everything.  

Big Will also let Andrew throw him high in the air into the pool.  He wasn't phased by going underwater but interestingly enough if I try to wash his hair it's the worst thing that's ever happened to him .

We made time to go to a park in Ft. Myers. The park was huge and really cool.  If it hadn't been so hot I think the kids could have played for hours.  Miss M likes to swing everywhere she goes.

Deep in thought about life or her next meal.

Apparently Cate was willing to swing with Grammy for quite some time.  I am shocked by this b/c when I try to contain her in a swing she swings for approximately 12 seconds.

Poppy joined Miss M on the swings for a high flying adventure.  It was amazing. I think he loved it.

The park has a train that runs a mile around the park area.  They are single seats with foot boards.  It wasn't particularly safe for Will to sit by himself b/c we'd have lost him for sure. Grammy is in the yellow shirt with Cate, then Poppy, and Miss M, and Big Will and I.  Andrew had to stay at Poppy's house to work while we had fun. Someone has to make money.

One of the kids favorite things to do at Grammy's house is to watch videos on her iPad. They request their favorite videos which usually include themselves and then watch them on repeat.