Thursday, July 30, 2009

Sea World!

We had a fun day at Sea World yesterday! Here are some pictures.The kids were trying to get a dolphin to come to them, so they could throw the ball.
Logan was really happy to see puffins! It seems kind of random, but he loves puffins!
We went to three shows- Shamu the killer whale, dolphins, and Clyde the sea lion. Ashlen loved them! She smiled and laughed through each of them! It was probably just the loud music and bright colors that she liked, but she was awfully cute! Here's Shamu posing for a picture. The shows are fun to watch! In the evening, to cool off, some of us went on the Atlantis water ride/roller coaster, which has a 50' plunge that completely soaks you at the bottom. By the time we got off, the weather had changed to a thunder storm! We got our ride just in time- after waiting over an hour in line, our boat was one of the last ones that went before they closed all rides. The storm was right above us and the thunder was so loud we thought a firework had gone off close by in the park! We cooled off alright!

All the electricity in the air has made Matthew's hair grow long! Black, and in braids too! How amazing!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

A Visit to the Goulds!

Yesterday we drove to Sebring to visit Pastor Kevin and Sheila! They have a beautiful place and it was really good to see them again, and introduce them to Ashlen! The kids all got to experience Pastor Kevin's wild roller coaster golf cart ride. They loved it!
They even rented a bouncy house for the kids!
Eileen, Susan & Alan, and kids were visiting from England. They always enjoy seeing Christy.

Matt, Allison Maloney and Laura playing with Ashlen. We didn't know Alli was going to be there! She met Katie & William's kids for the first time!
We had a delicious dinner and dessert, and a very nice visit!
Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of Sheila. We might be going to their church in Naples on Sunday. If so, I'll take one then!

The Beautiful Beach

Well, this isn't the beautiful beach, but this is to show what we drove through to get there! The whole way we drove in blinding, pouring rain with thunder and lightning right above us.
We finally arrived at Clearwater Beach with fine white sand and 89 degree water!! This was the warmest ocean water I've ever been in! The kids loved it and enjoyed jumping in the waves. Brennen thought the sand was yummy.


Ashlen had a milk picnic, and tried not to get a tan.
Ashlen stepping in the Atlantic Ocean! The sun was too intense so I didn't want to take her swimming.
My handsome surfer dude and David. The storm followed us. See it approaching?
Oops! A blurry picture. The kids all loved taking turns going out into the waves with Auntie Christy!






Sunday, July 26, 2009

Disney World!

Our adventures continue! On Friday we spent the day (13 hours!) at Disney World! The kids really enjoyed it, even though we picked one of the hottest days of the month to go! This is my mom and Brennen on the Peter Pan ride. He loved it!
Meadow enjoying the spinning tea cups! We discovered she likes rollercoasters, and even went on Splash Mountain! She said that was the "most funnest" ride!

Meadow's big hope was to see REAL princesses. We went to "Story Time with Belle" (Beauty and the Beast), and she was one of the girls chosen to act out the story as a teacup!
And guess who they picked to be the Beast....William! Ha Ha!
We had a great day, and were so proud of the kids, who were still happy as we left the park at around 11 PM! Logan loved the lights parade, and enjoyed shining his light up toys.

Well, this isn't Disney World, but I had to throw in a picture of Ashlen's first swim! She liked being held upright in the water, but didn't enjoy the "swimming" very much! Today we went to Clearwater Beach on the gulf side, and Ashlen had her first dip in the Atlantic Ocean! Now I really need to take her to the Arctic this summer...three oceans in her first 4 months would be pretty amazing! Although, she wins the award for the WORST traveler of our family! She screams pretty much the whole time we're driving! I'll post about our beach adventure tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Florida!

We are here in Florida thanks to Matthew's parents who are celebrating their 40th anniversary, and decided to take us all on vacation with them! Katie and William and kids are here, and my mom and Christy joined us yesterday, and my dad will be here tomorrow. The temperature has been around 90 and it's fairly humid. Here's Katie trying to read a story to the kids. The cousins were all very excited to see each other! Meadow and Lane are good friends.


For today's adventure we visited a petting farm. It was a pretty big place with all kinds of animals to feed and pet. The kids even got to ride a pony and milk a cow! I didn't get pictures of those unfortunately. Logan didn't want to touch any of the animals, but Brennen did everything! Here we were holding ducklings.
Brennen grabbed the poor thing by the neck!

Our swimming pool

This is the villa we are staying in. It's very nice! It has 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. There will be 16 of us staying here once my dad comes tomorrow.
In the backyard we have our own private pool in a screened in patio, with floats and pool toys! Here's David in mid jump. He loves to jump in and splash everyone. He also just learned how to swim!
Emily

Meadow floats around with her favorite floats.

Grandma Cooke and Lane

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Goin' on Vacation

We left on Friday for a couple days in Seattle, then on to Orlando for 2 weeks!
Meadow had a whole row to herself on the plane. She made sure Giraffe was buckled in too!
The flight attendants gave the kids lots of special attention because they were such good travelers.
Ashlen was very happy on this flight, but on our overnight flight to Florida, she SCREAMED and only wanted to be held standing up! I thought she would never stop! Finally a flight attendant offered to take her for a bit so I (and the poor people around me) could get some much needed sleep!
The boys got their hair cut at Kids Cuts. It's something Logan likes to do in Seattle.
Brennen was very good for his first haircut!
We're in Florida now, and I will keep updating with pictures of our adventures. So, check our blog often and leave a comment so I know who's looking!





Wednesday, July 08, 2009

4th continued...

I meant to include this picture too! Auntie Christy also came to visit this weekend! It was her 10 year reunion so she rode in the parade. That's her in the blue shirt. My camera took forever to turn on, so I didn't get a very good shot.
Here are the friends we watched the parade with- Kristina, Jennifer, and kids. And my parents too. The Cookes were in the parade in the school bus.



Fourth of July

We had a glorious sunny day! At the parade Meadow waved her Canadian flag instead! Perhaps she needs a history lesson.

Our friends Josh and Melanie Drenkpohl from Seattle spent the weekend with us. We enjoyed visiting with them, and playing cards and going to the beach. Ashlen patriotically held her flag at the parade. Here she's saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I think she enjoyed her first 4th of July! I wasn't even pregnant yet a year ago. The Clover Pass school bus was in the parade! Pastor Dave walked along side and handed out information.
The kids each got a nice pile of candy!

It was a fun day. We even stayed up for fireworks, which ended up looking like colored light flashing behind a big cloud of smoke and fog! We got an occasional glimpse of the bottom half of a lower firework. The kids enjoyed it anyway!