Aquatica

On our second full day in DeLand we all loaded up and headed to Orlando so we could go to Aquatica! I love a good waterpark and this one did not disappoint. We all had such a fun time and made lots of great memories. I don't have many pictures because I stored my phone in a locker while we were there, but we had lots of fun! 

Ready to have fun at Aquatica!

Dan was in charge of sunscreen and took his job very seriously.

Unfortunately, he forgot it was sunscreen on his hands when he went to wipe it off on his shorts...busted.

We did everything Aquatica had to offer multiple times. I was even brave and did the scary water slide where the floor drops out from under you and plunges you into total darkness (Nicki talked me into it). Definitely not for the faint of heart (like me) but I survived and I probably won't do it again. The boys really enjoyed racing down the slides and the fast lazy river the most. Eli made a souvenir penny to commemorate his experience and we ended our day with Dippin' Dots. It was an exhaustingly fun day for all! 

Summer Fun-Beach Vacation Day 4

Wednesday morning Eli woke up bright and early to find that the Tooth Fairy had visited and left him some money and a new pair of goggles for the pool. He was super excited and we sent this picture out to all the grandparents just after he woke up. 

Josh wanted to do something different than just our regular beach routine so we looked at all the things to do in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area and we found a local water park called Waterville. We got dressed and went there that morning and had a blast! Eli was now tall enough to ride all of the rides-even the ones that made me really nervous-and he loved every single minute of it. He's going to be a little daredevil like his Daddy :) We did tons of slides, the wave pool, the kid splash area, the lazy river, and much more. Eli's favorite were the slides where we all got to go at the same time and race down the bottom. It was lots of fun! This is the only picture I took because I stored my phone in a locker while we were there. We had a blast!

Ready to conquer Waterville!

We stayed at Waterville until well after lunch time and by the time we left we were starving! We stopped at Rotolo's before going back to the condo. I took this picture of Eli because he was rocking some serious water park hair :)

Our friend (and Josh's old boss) from college just happened to be on her beach vacation at the same time as us, so Wednesday afternoon Lori drove over to our condo to spend some time with us. By that time the water had calmed down a lot and you could immediately tell just from the color of the water. It was BEAUTIFUL! I spent the entire afternoon while we were waiting on Lori on the balcony reading my book and looking out at the water. This beach bum couldn't wait to get down to the water!

We visited with Lori in the condo for about an hour and then we all put our suits on and headed down to the beach.

We took a long walk down the beach altogether and found lots of jellyfish and more starfish. Then we went back to the pool at the condo to relax some more. We sure do love this lady a lot! 

We made dinner reservations at a local place called Shipp's Harbour Grill and it was FABULOUS!! Oh my word, the food was SO GOOD! I definitely recommend eating there and the Wilson family will for sure go there again next year. Eli was so tired from our incredibly busy day that he actually fell asleep in the restaurant. I can count on one hand how many times that has ever happened in his life. Lori, Josh, and I stayed late at the restaurant enjoying our food and catching up and were some of the last customers to leave the restaurant that night. It had been a wonderful day! We said bye to Lori, carried our little sleepyhead to the car, and drove back to the condo. Tomorrow was our last full day on the beach and we wanted to make the most of it :)

Mini Vacay with Family-Day #3

The next morning Eli and Tinsley woke up in great moods. Mom and Dad had gotten back late the night before (they FINALLY closed on their old house!!!) so they didn't get to see either one of their grand babies before going to bed. Eli and Tinsley were happy to spend some time with their Grammy before she had to go to work. I made muffins for the kiddos and then we planned what we were going to do with our day. 

After breakfast they played in the crib together for a little bit :) Crazy, little monkeys!

I planned on keeping Tinsley for another night so after coordinating with Andrea on a place to meet to get more clothes for Tinsley the three of us set off. Our first stop was Whole Foods. Josh has been following a more Paleo type diet so he wanted me to get him some almond flour and some Paleo wraps he can use when we do tacos or burritos. I love Whole Foods and usually the only time I visit one is when we see Josh's dad in Dallas. I was excited about going. 

I loved looking in my rearview mirror and seeing these two cute faces :)

When we got to Whole Foods Eli and Tinsley both announced they were hungry (great timing kids) I know it's a fresh food, organic, healthy place but I also know that no kid turns down a cookie. We went straight to bakery and got cookies for both of them. They chowed down while I shopped in peace :)

After Whole Foods we went to the mall to meet Andrea, get some lunch, and ride the carousel. Fun, fun, fun!

I asked Eli what he wanted to do and he said the Splash Park again so that's what we did. Tinsley was so happy to go "swimming" again :)

These two kiddos played their little hearts out. They were both exhausted by the time we left but neither one fell asleep in the car on the way back to Mom and Dad's house. I was sure they would have! Mom and Dad got off work and we all made plans with Josh and Andrea to meet at Chuck-e-Cheese that night so the kids could play. When we got there Tinsley wouldn't let anyone else but Eli get her out of her car seat. This is how she was everywhere we went that day!

The kids had a blast at Chuck-e-Cheese and the adults had lots of fun watching them play. The pizza wasn't half bad either :) Eli had saved some tokens from the last time he stayed with my parents so he didn't even come close to spending all of the tokens he had. That's okay though because he'll have even more when he goes back again! 

Andrea looking great at 37 weeks pregnant! 

Only a few more weeks to go and then Jameson will be here :)

At the end of the night Eli cashed in his tickets and got some super cool prizes...hahaha! He got some blue shutter shades and two back scratchers-one for him and one for Pop. 

We kept Tinsley with us so she could spend the night with Eli one more night and the entire ride home Eli and Tinsley kept singing the song from "The Elephant Show" called "Skinnamarinky Dinky Dink". It was so cute to watch both of them do the motions and sing the words but after about 10 times in a row, I'd had enough :) We got home and put both kiddos to bed. We had to leave the next day but we were going to squeeze one more day of fun in before we left!

Mini Vacay with Family-Day #2

The next morning Eli and I ran some errands around town and then ended up at Toy-R-Us. He had been saving his money because he wanted to buy a Captain America shield toy. This was the first toy he's ever bought with his own money and I think it was a good lesson for him. He was very proud of his first ever purchase.

We stopped at Old Navy and got Andrea a little happy since it was her 30th birthday. Then we met Andrea and Tinsley at Chick-Fil-A for lunch and after both kids ate they went to play in the play area. Tinsley had lots of fun and even climbed up the stairs and went down the slide for the first time ever. She was hooked after that first time though and it was hard to get her off the slides. She chased after Eli and did exactly what he did. I sat inside and watched them both and loved hearing her say, "E-i I coming! E-i I coming!" Precious just doesn't describe it enough!

We left Chick-Fil-A and headed to a splash pad near my parent's house. It was the perfect way to beat the heat that afternoon. Eli and Tinsley had a blast. They ran all over the place splashing and playing in the water. Neither Andrea or I wore our swimsuits so we just took our shoes off and followed the kids around while they played. It felt great just to get my feet wet! And poor Andrea...she was 37 weeks pregnant walking around in that miserable heat so I know the water made her feel better. It made me thankful that the end of my pregnancy with Eli fell during fall. I tried to get pictures of Eli and Tinsley while they played but they were quick! These are some of the ones I was able to capture :)

Tinsley saw me putting on my chapstick while we were taking a break and she had to have some too. She kept saying, "Manna, I need stick." 

Andrea had me put Tinsley's hair in a high ponytail and she looked like quite the diva with it and her pink shades. I could just eat her up!!!

And I can't say enough good things about the way Eli was with Tinsley. He watched out for her and was so patient with her. It made my heart so happy to watch the two of them playing together. 

Since it was Andrea's birthday I volunteered to keep Tinsley that night so she and my brother could go out to eat and celebrate. Eli was super excited about Tinsley coming over to stay the night.

We got back to the house and I let the kids play the Infinity for a little bit while I got stuff for supper ready. Tinsley thinks she's playing and doing exactly what Eli is doing :)

Tinsley let me paint her nails and toes for the first time ever. Well, actually we tried to do it last year but she was NOT having it. This year she loved seeing the pink on her little piggy toes :) 

Tinsley is an animal lover at heart and while I was cooking supper she played with Annabelle. Well, played might not be the right word according to Annabelle :)

She would lean over and say "Annabelle, I wuv you!"

It felt great to cook a quick meal-salmon croquettes, mac-n-cheese, and lima beans-for these two kiddos. Tinsley had never eaten salmon croquettes and when she saw them cut up she said "It's chicken!" Haha! Sure thing kid! Eat that chicken up :)

I knew they would be super tired (who am I kidding? I was SUPER TIRED!) and I wanted (needed) them to go to bed early. We all needed lots of sleep :) Tinsley and Eli gobbled up their "crunchies" (as Eli calls them) and then we did bath and bed. Whew! It'd been a very busy but fun day and the next day was going to be full too!