It's beach season!!! We have been having so much fun going down to the beach lately! Our whole family LOVE'S the beach. Something about the ocean, sand, sun...perfection! Add in two kiddos that actually stay put (the last two years Phoenix had the lovely habit of basically spending his time at the beach running anywhere he wasn't supposed to), and you have got yourself a genuine relaxing day at the beach!
I got to go on a field trip with Audrey, it was to a nature place (I am trying to contain my excitement). Although it was NOT my cup of tea, Audrey actually really enjoyed it. She has already made some wonderful friends in her new school, and it was fun to see her with her new buddies.
Everything has been so much funner this year. The reason? BOTH kids can enjoy basically everything!! Including holidays. My pictures are scanty for Easter this year, and as you can see...blurry...but here is what we have:
Did you know that there is a Mr. Roger's Musical? I just found out a few weeks ago, and I must say that it is quite cute (at least when performed by Kindergarteners). Audrey had so much fun preparing for it, we had the CD with songs on it to listen to in the car (much to Trav's dismay). 
Audrey did a wonderful job, of course! This play did leave me asking the same question over and over again: was the mailman REALLY named Mr. McFeely?!?!?
One of my excuses for the scanty blog posting lately is that we moved! We wanted to move closer to the areas that Travis works in, although the office is still a ways away, and I wanted to get Audrey into a different school, and neighborhood. We have met a lot of our neighbors already, they are very friendly and Audrey loves them all. We live really close to some good friends, which is always nice. Our neighborhood has a pool and a FENCED IN, thats right, I said FENCED IN playground. Audrey is 100% happier at her new school. At her old school she hated going, and I hated dropping her off there. She was late all the time because she was dragging her feet so much. She developed an extreme inability to handle things with her outfit that she did not like (i.e. a string hanging off of her sock, a shirt with a neckline 1/2 inch too low, shoes that the laces were too loose, or too tight...), getting her to wear anything was a hassle (I totally gave up on trying to make her look anything close to stylish). It was a dark time for both of us. She has been going to her new school for a month, she LOVES it, her teachers are awesome, and she no longer has the clothing issues, or rather, they are to a manageble place now, and she hasn't been late to school once! We were sad to leave our previous ward, but our new ward is great also.
We are basically moved in now, getting things organized etc, next up is planting a box garden, and decorating the house. Since I am a full fledge pinaholic (aka obsessed with pinterest) I already have a ton of ideas! Wish me luck, I am hoping to have most of the decorating done this month.
We stayed at the Nickelodeon hotel, it was so fun!! The kids totally loved it, and there were two pools with water slides! The water was heated, in case you were wondering. Possibly the best thing about staying there was the daily sliming. Travis was the only adult brave enough to do it (brave because it was quite frigid outside), and all four kids were with him. There was a HUGE guy who moved right next to Travis and the kiddos so I could not get a picture of them before the sliming.
You can see the green in the pool. Phoenix did not like it (he doesn't like being cold or hot...just like me).
Audrey had been taking swimming lessons all fall, so she is not drowning in this picture, she is actually swimming! I am so proud of that little fish!Animal Kingdom was my least favorite, and I am thinking the reason is because it was not as much for little kids (despite what the hotel concierge said). There were some rides but Phoenix was too short to ride on pretty much any of them, and he was kinda devastated. We went on the Safari, I spent the entire time in line trying to keep this little boy from budging...it was annoying to say the least. The Safari was basically an entire Zoo visit, the best part being you were being driven instead of having to walk (what? I am lazy...).
By the end of the day Phoenix was worn out, and still feeling sad about the whole no rides thing, so while everyone else caught a show I took him to see the characters. I am not sure if you can tell in these pictures, but his tongue is out of his mouth in literally every single picture. One of the Disney photographers asked if I could get him to put his tongue in his mouth and I told her that I honestly do not think I could. Haha!
Sea World was awesome!!! Every show was incredible, they had an awesome roller coaster, and a huge kiddie part with quite a few rides (and NO LINES) and a huge playground. Sea World was great for all ages.
This...uhh...creature was so...how should I say this...ugly? Hideous? Kinda made me gag? 
We took a little break to enjoy some drum music and Audrey and Brighton danced (I caught them kissing on video, but I will save that of another time).
We sat close enough so that Audrey and Brighton got splashed a little bit. Next time we will bring ponchos!
I have always felt like my childhood was not quite complete having been a Disney virgin up until last month, I will say now that I have officially fulfilled my childhood dreams and I can progress to adulthood now! Magic kingdom was everything I thought it would be: magical (it's in the name), enchanting, makes you feel like an 8 year old kid again...you get the idea. 
We met up with Trav's parents, his brother Jason, and Janae and her family. ALL of the kids were extremely well behaved (even Phoenix!!!).
Audrey has never been into princesses, so I made her a Jessie costume and I made Phoenix a Woody costume to match. The only characters that I really cared about seeing that day were Jessie and Woody, and can I just say that we got very lucky? 
Instead of riding in the strollers like the other kids, Audrey walked hand in hand with Grandma the entire day. So cute!
This was THE BEST fireworks show I have ever seen! Phoenix liked it too...
Fireworks have always been a bit loud for Audrey, and mixed with her crazed brother's screams she decided to enjoy the show with her ears plugged.We sadly missed the circus this year (don't feel too bad for us though because we were at Disney World instead). Audrey still wanted to get her clown on though...
She always has the silliest poses!Totally late on this one, but better late than never, right? I did not take a lot of pictures, or rather most of the pictures that I took turned out blurry. I passionately hate/despise/loathe our camera, 90% of the pictures it takes turn out unusable and because of that I don't even bother snapping photos of a lot of things. Sad. I will be upgrading soon though. Until then, enjoy (or try to) these few pictures from the Christmas season...
Audrey has always been a wee bit fascinated with Santa, so she dressed up kinda like him for school one day (she even did a jolly laugh pose!).
I try to make the kids blankets every year for Christmas, both kids loved theirs!
Why are the kids always more excited for the chocolate (which we never have a shortage of) than they are for their presents? Me and Trav decided to surprise Audrey by bringing her to a Taylor Swift concert (um yeah...we are officially the coolest parents), she had not idea where she was going until we got to the concert. 
This was the best concert I could never have imagined, she is truly an artist, everything was spectacular, she sang ever song from her album and then some. It was SOOOO AWESOME!! And we will definitely be going to her next concert!
