Adventures of Kailie and Kolton Matthews: June 2013

Every time I finally get caught up on the blog I vow that I'm going to stay on top of things with at least a weekly blog if not more . . . . then life happens! So here it is again a catch up. So many of the events below really could, and should, be their own blog as each one is so special but this will have to do for now! Not really in the right order, but here goes . . . .

I know this may come as a big surprise - but for our last vacation we headed for Disney (again)! This time we were lucky enough to have Keli, Chris, Maya & Cameron join us, it was so fantastic to get some ~~baby~~ family time! While we don't get to see family nearly often enough when we do we so enjoy the quality of time we get and it's super fun to watch the cousins form wonderful relationships . . . and yes getting snuggles from that sweet 5-month old was awesome!

Mickey right outside our lodge - they kids loved it!

We always get a family pic at Wilderness Lodge at this totem pole, I'll have to put them together one of these years:)

My Luvs

A trip to Greenwood Meadows - HUGE hit with the kids and parents. Basically a really big farm / petting zoo - reasonable price, no lines, all shaded, tons of animals and space to run . . . basically best part of Disney!!

We thought the kids would enjoy riding in the wagon - however Kolton had other ideas, he didn't get it in once he insisted on pulling it the whole time!! Notice Kailie's feet helping things out a bit, it was the only way we could keep moving at a reasonable pace!

Lots of fun pictures spots.

Crazy Adorable!!!

More Crazy Adorable!!!

Baby ducks were so cute and soft - only Mommy's were allowed to hold these little guys.

Loved the little nose kiss!

The kids were allowed to hold the baby chicks, and by kids I mean everyone BUT Kolton!!!

Redemption!!!!! Our last trip to Greenwood Meadows Daddy's chicken catching venture didn't go so well . . . . . !

This time it was Daddy that got Kailie's chicken (last time someone else's Daddy had a bit more luck)!

These two cuties had a lot of fun together:)

There were a couple attempts at the kids sleeping together, but I think the max time was about 20 min - maybe next time!

Kailie was as enthralled as the rest of us with the littlest cousin - she LOVED to help with anything she could and wanted her cuddles as much as the rest of us:)

Even Daddy's got some cuddles in - I mean really who could resist that face?!?!

Breakfast with Minnie / Donald / Goofy - great fun for everyone . . . expect poor little Maya :( She was not a fan, however our kids were pretty impressed by some their fav Disney characters! Don't worry Kel, we've been here before, next year Maya will be all hugs and kisses for them.

Family Pic!

Typical Disney - paper for the tablecloth and crayons beside the forks and spoons - Kailie loved it and was practicing her writing:)

One of my favorite pictures - such expression from them both!

Best part of vacation - just being together!

Downtown Disney Princess

Waiting for dinner - if you ever want to get a good story from Uncle Chris, just ask him how much he enjoyed dinner out at Wolfgang Pucks with all the kids . . . . !!! Let's just say it was memorable!!

Wilderness Lodge Lobby - little chairs and TV area set up for the kiddo' s while we got checked in (did we mention how much we love Disney)?!

Despite our obvious love for vacationing in Orlando we really are not fans of going to the Disney Parks. The crowds and line-ups are just too much for us and don't really seem worth it as our kids are still pretty young. Yes, I realize that it's taken us many trips to finally figure this out, but this time we stuck to our plan and did not visit a Disney Park. We did however opt to go to Busch Gardens, primarily for the Sesame Place part of the park . . . and we were not disappointed. We were here with Kailie a couple years ago and she had fun but was still a bit young, but this time she was at the perfect age and loved every minute of it. There was also a lot for Kolton to enjoy too . . . and it was sans crowds and line-ups!

Lots of little rides that Kailie could do on her own, she just loved them! I didn't get a picture but there is also a Grover Rollercoaster that she was big enough to go on and she went on that ride more times than I could count! She even insisted on going on it without Mommy or Daddy at times. It was a pretty good (fast!) roller coaster and I was pretty impressed that she liked it so much!

Sometimes we were allowed to go along:)

They LOVED this one - look at those smiles!!! Fun to watch them having so much fun together:)

Love Love Love

She doesn't watch Sesame Street much anymore but sure loved seeing the "real" characters!

This is where Kolton spent most of his time - in Oscars Swamp Stomp! Little fountains and pools of water, that combined with his cups he was soooooo happy!

Kailie enjoyed some of Oscars Swamp too:)

Like a Mommy & Kailie in a candy store . . . . . !!

Aside from a couple of 'touristy' trips - we really were determined not to race around too much on this trip and to enjoy a slower paced trip that included a lot of time at the pool. I would say we did pretty good and really enjoyed swimming not only at our pool but at a few other Disney resorts as well. If you were to ask Kailie what the highlight was for her she would tell you it was getting stuck on the slide! We were at Saratoga Springs and Kailie and Joel were playing on the 'big slide' when a thunderstorm came out of nowhere - at first glimpse of lightning the slides and pools were quickly closed, except that Kailie was only partway down the slide!! As soon as the water was turned off she stopped sliding and had to shimmy her way down - Daddy was waiting at the bottom and very puzzled when the water stopped coming before Kailie did. After a bit of looking around both him and the lifeguard realized she was climbing her way down the slide - I was worried she would be a bit traumatized but she thought it was the best thing ever and would tell anyone who would listen the whole story!! At any pool we went to there was something for everyone . . . . pool parties, kiddie pools, big and little waterslides - it was really the best part of our trip:)

Our little fish!

Kolton is slowly learning to love the water too, mostly b/c I think he wants to keep up to his sister!

More Love Love Love!

The massive bathtub in the room was almost as fun as the pool!

Daddy got a bit confused putting Kailie in the car . . . .

The ride home from Busch Gardens!

The next pic's are just some fun moments at home. With a 4 year old and a 1 year old there is never a shortage of amusing moments!

This was hilarious - Kolton actually brought Kailie a diaper and laid down on Kailie's change-pad (that she has for her babies!) and so Kailie proceeded to put a diaper on over Kolton's PJ's. Kolton however got tired of this MUCH earlier than Kailie did . . . you can see in the pic's below that it ended up being more of a wrestling match! In the end Kailie won and Kolton ended up wearing a diaper outside of his clothes . . . . Daddy was a bit puzzled when he got home :)

Sorry Buddy - one day you can get her back!!

We were really fortunate to have Grampa John come for a visit - we love to travel but when people come to see us I think the kids (and us!) just enjoy it sooooooo much . . . . all the fun of having family around without any jet lag! We had a fantastic visit.

Celebrating Grampa's 65th birthday - we were very excited to have him here for this special occasion!

Fun with Daddy and Grampa at the Aquarium.

Kailie's ballet recital - this year she actually preformed in both her nights! Getting her to go to her classes all year long was a bit challenging at times, but she really loved the performances and did a great job. They danced to Wish Upon A Star - I would challenge any parent to watch their baby perform to this song and have dry eyes at the end!! It was very sweet.

Kailie and Maya

A proud Mommy!

She really does take my breath away - such a sweet little beauty!

Warm-Up before dress rehearsal!

My two kiddo's just messing around. They made a bed in Kailie's closet and were pretending to sleep:)

Our Cowboy! This is the only picture I have of our very quick trip to Winnipeg over Father's Day Weekend. We had a really great visit with Gram, Fultons, and Grampa. It was too short but very sweet.

A Fathers Day interview with Kailie!

Can't seem to get this picture the right way up - but still wanted to include it as it was just too cute to pass up!

This was supposed to be Kailie having home to nap - but the fair Kailie & Daddy stumbled upon trumped the nap!

Potty Training! I was pretty worried about how this was going to go as everyone always says that boys are more difficult. However I now fully dispute that!! Kolton has been just amazing - we had one very very long weekend of staying in and attached to a potty, but since then we've had very few accidents and many many successes!! To date we are only using nappies for naps and bedtime (oh and flights - I'm not that brave)!! I must give some of this credit to Kailie though . . . I used the same trick my parents apparently used with me and my sisters . . . . when Kolton goes to the potty everyone gets a treat, so I can't tell you how many times it's been Kailie taking Kolton to pee, it's worked like a charm!! This picture was one of the first days in and Kailie was reading him stories so he would stay on the potty:)

Up and Coming Acronairs!!!

Kailie's year-end Fashion Show and Play. Kailie was the Mommy Pig in Aeries rendition of The Three Little Pigs - and she was awesome! I was so proud of my little actress:)

The Fashion Show part of the evening - Kailie sporting her best beach look!

Some poses from the Fancy Dress part of the show!

This spring I've been trying out triathlon's a bit - and aside from a rookie mistake on how to put air in the tires of my road bike (different from a mountain bike and low pressure on a road bike makes riding sooooooo hard!!) anyway, now that I've figured that out I am really loving this new combo sport! I think I've also convinced Joel to give it a try and he's now taking some swim lessons, and then this evening we even had Kailie and a few of her friends do their own little mini-tri!! So it's really becoming a family affair and we're all having a lot of fun in the process:)

I've just seen the kids at this point and was so excited to see them cheering me on! This was the my first Sprint distance and aside from a pretty rocky start of the swim, I was pleased with how it went and look forward to another shot at this one:)