April is forever going to be
a busy month for us, since both girl’s birthdays are in April and it usually is
the start of warmer weather and Easter.
This year also marked our first spring break trip as a family. My definition of “spring break” has definitely
changed over the years and this trip was a 180 degree different than my college
spring break experiences!
The month started off with us flying on April 1st
to Florida. After arriving at Tampa, we
drove an hour to Siesta Key and got settled in.
I took the girls to the pool while mom unpacked for us. Our condo was next door to the Anderson’s, so
we had 4 girls to help entertain each other while the adults attempted to
relax. We were right across the street
from the public beach. Most of our days consisted
of meeting at the beach for the morning, swimming at the pool in the afternoon
and then either heading out to eat or staying in and cooking. One day during the break, we got up early and
went to Disney World. The girls were
excited and we were able to get on several of the longer line rides early in
the day before it got extremely busy. We
enjoyed lunch with Winnie the Pooh and Friends and got to partake in a few
random parades that occur throughout the day on Main Street. I’d say that Allison’s favorite ride was the
Barnstormer Goofy roller coaster and Sarah enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh
ride. Both girls loved meeting Ariel,
Cinderella and Elena and getting their autographs. Yeah, you read that right. Disney is so smart that they don’t even need
to try anymore. They just have people
stand in line to get autographs from fake princesses. The girls did well throughout the day and
seemed to really enjoy it and everyone was wiped out and slept on the drive
back to Siesta Key. We did get out to
the village at one point for some drinks at the Daiquiri Deck and dinner at
Gilligan’s. We also made our way down
the Sniki Tiki for another meal. We
enjoyed ourselves so much that we have already booked a condo for next
year!
We decided this year to give the girls a joint birthday
party the last weekend in April. We had
a great turnout as our out-of-town guests were Aunt Barbs, Randy & Anna,
the Shafer family along with part of the Vandervaart family (Laura, Grace and
Jake). Although the weather didn’t
cooperate that weekend at all and cancelled the Race for the Cure, we had a lot
of fun inside and the girls enjoyed playing with their cousins. They received all kinds of fun gifts which
have kept them busy over the last few weeks and we have starting talking with
them about “giving older toys to kids who need them.” Because of our full house, the girls got to
sleep in the same room and enjoyed having those “sleepovers.”
Sarah’s Things of the Month
Sarah’s 4 year check-up went well. She is in the 80% percentile for height and
weight, which I assume both of those traits can be allocated to my gene
pool. She did get 2 shots and didn’t cry
much at all. Sarah is doing great in swim lessons and just recently "graduated" again.
Allison’s Thing of the Month
Allison asked to have her training wheels taken off her
bike this month. About 15 minutes after
taking them off, she was good to go.
Most of her issues now have to do with falling when she stops or starts,
along with simply not paying attention while she is riding and nearly running
into her sister. Allison also started playing tee ball this
year. She is on the Cubs and is now
really excited to watch them on TV!
A few more items from this
month:
- Easter was quiet this year. The girls enjoyed finding their baskets from the Easter bunny in our basement and we had a nice brunch at my mom’s condo.
- Deb went on a 3 day trip to Knoxville for a work conference. The girls did well for me and I utilized my mom a few times to help pick up the girls and get the house ready for the guests we had coming at the end of the month.
- I took the girls to an Indy Indians game on one Sunday afternoon. They did fine, but I underestimated how much work that was going to be and with how much judging I received when standing in line to get a beer!
- Deb’s “Mom’s” group meetings ended this month. I thought it was really cool of her to sign up for that and I think she enjoyed meeting other moms at the church.
- Deb finally got into a thyroid specialist to start getting an expert’s opinion. No exact plan yet, but her medication was adjusted and she is heading back in a few months.
- Allison had a class field trip to the zoo on her birthday. Deb chaperoned and Anna and Randy took Sarah and joined up with everyone.
