School Carnival

Luke's Tooth

Today at the school carnival Claire got mad at Luke and hit him in the face with her shoe.  It made his very loose tooth bleed and he was very upset.  But later that night it fell out and then he was happy.  I know I shouldn't find it funny....but it was hilarious.  Mainly  because his tooth was hanging by a thread and I kept telling him to just pull it out already.

The dog ate my homework

Lizzy chewed on Luke's homework.  Good thing he doesn't have to get it graded just checked off.

Tayson's Webelo

He did it.  He finished his Webelo and is now an 11 year old scout.  He's growing up too fast!!

Oh Sophie

Sophie is very independent and loves to get herself ready.  Today at church I was dying when I saw her choice of shoes.  Yes she knew they didn't match .... she did it on purpose "cause it's cuter this way".

Birthday Date

Todd took me shopping at out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate my birthday.  I love our weekly dates!

My Birthday

My birthday started with a run - lots of girls showed up so it was a blast.  Higgy even came and rode her bike with us.  And I got some sweet Halloween decorations as presents. I love Halloween so I might have been a little too excited about the skull!

Then because Todd was out of town the kids made my birthday pancakes before school.  The girls made the batter, I cooked them, Luke decorated them and Tayson lit the candle.  Talk about some sweet kids!!

Todd got home that afternoon and took the kids shopping for me.  Claire picked out plastic flip flops.  Sophie bought some crazy black & pink earrings and a shirt for me.  Then Todd made me wear them to the ward bar-b-que then out to Brick Oven for family dinner.

I am the luckiest gal alive to have these people who love me and spoil me every year. 

Going Home

We had a very early wake up call for our flight home.  And we were all sooooo sad to see this amazing vacation end.  Everything about the trip was absolutely amazing.  Don't worry kids someday we will do this trip again. Someday soon.  It was so much fun!!

Thanks Grandma Johnson for taking us on such a great trip.  We love you so much.  We know it wasn't easy planning this one and we appreciate it so much!!!!

Bountiful Harvest

After being gone a week my garden was VERY ready to be harvested.   I love my garden!

Universal Studios

Today we spent the day at Universal Studios.  The new Despicable Me ride was one of the kids favorites.  And I think Twister scared Sophie a little too much.  Somehow she and I ended up on the very front row and there was a lot of wind, rain, fire, etc. 

Someday Tayson will regret the faces he makes in pictures. 

Universal - Islands of Adventure

Today we went to Islands of Adventure.  Todd and I have been here several times and we came here with Luke for his 8 year old trip but this was the first time for the other kids and it didn't disappoint.  They loved the rides and loved Harry Potter land.

Before Spiderman

Jurassic Park

Hogwarts

On a the Harry Potter ride

Butterbeer and wands...it doesn't get much better than this

The kids wanted a picture with the bad guys from the show we saw

I think the girls had the most fun getting splashed by the Jurassic Park water ride.  We were waiting for the boys and they got soaked over and over and over for a good 20 minutes and loved it.

Disney Cruise - The End

It is a sad day when you have to get off the ship.  But at least our vacation wasn't coming to an end yet.  We got off the ship and headed back to Orlando to our hotel.  

We swam and relaxed for a while

Then headed over to a mini golf place just up the street from our hotel to feed the gators.  Amy really wanted to see gators while we were here and Todd found a sweet place where you could feed them.  So we headed over to feed and hold the gators.  It was a blast!!

Disney Cruise - Day 4

We spent the day having fun on the ship today as we sailed back home.  The girls got their hair braided - I should've done that the very first day!

Disney Cruise - Day 3

Castaway Cay - Disney's private island.  

We started the day with a 5K - I got 2nd overall and 1st woman.  Not that it was really timed or anything but it was fun to race and to get a Disney finishers medal.   Amy and Jan did the race too - it is always so much fun to race with friends.  It was crazy hot and humid during the run.

It rained for a little bit so we left the beach and grabbed lunch in the covered veranda.  With everyone else on the island.  It was so crowded but still so much fun.

The rain was coming down like crazy. 

When it cleared up we hit the beach again.  The boys all went snorkeling and saw some awesome stuff.

We all went for a bike ride around the island - a total of about 2 miles.  The bikes were crazy old and rusty and Sophie was tired and wanted to walk most of it.  But it was still a fun time.

I think she needs a bigger bike...

The view from a watch tower we rode to.  You can see our ship in the background.

We totally earned ordering 4 deserts with our long bike ride

Our servers were so great with the kids.  They would make Mickey shaped ketchup for the kids to dip in and do magic tricks to entertain them while we ate.  

It was Pirate night today.  So after dinner we got to go to a Pirate Party on the deck.  There was a show and fireworks and we all dressed up.  It was so much fun!