Slab and Foundation poured - Finally!!

This Thursday, the footers were finally re-completed and re-inspected. The footers passed inspection and the concrete slab was poured on Friday morning. We went out in the morning to take some pictures of the concrete trucks. We're so excited we're finally making progress. We're officially further along now than we ever have been before. It took four and a half long weeks just to get back to this point and we're hoping things sail along smoothly from this point forwards.

ISR Swimming lessons week 4 - Complete!

This Friday was our final ISR swimming lesson! The kids have been doing it every Monday through Friday for the last four weeks and it's been a big commitment. They've both improved an incredible amount and we're so proud of them both. Prior to the lessons, Connor might have floundered for a few seconds before drowning and there's no doubt that Paige would have been helpless if she'd fallen in. By the end of this week I'm pretty confident that they both would have some kind of skills and could probably survive.

This week, they practiced in "summer" and then "winter" clothes. The winter clothes in Florida consists of long sleeves and pants with shoes. Being Florida, people don't typically wear heavy coats and boots, so we didn't practice with those.

Connor went first and had a lot of trouble moving in the water and he had to float quite a bit to catch his breath. He worked much harder than normal to get around in the water, but he still did well and was confident and calm in the water.

Paige did very well in her winter clothes too. She floated a lot and didn't have much of a different time in the water than she normally would. She does so well floating, she could probably do it all day. It's amazing to see the difference in her on her final day. Compared to the first day, it's an amazing transformation. She doesn't cry during her lessons, holds her breath well underwater and floats effortlessly. She doesn't have a great swimming technique and we don't think she'd be very capable of swimming her way out of a pool if you dropped her in the middle, but she knows to float and will roll over and reach for the steps or someone in the pool if they're close.

We're glad to be done with the lessons and plan to still come back once a week to keep the lessons fresh in their minds until we get in to the swimming season and are able to practice regularly on our own. Thanks Michelle! Great work kids!

Connor's first soccer practice with Creeks Athletic Association

On Tuesday, after swimming practice, we went to Connor's first CAA (Creeks Athletic Association) soccer practice. Connor hasn't played in a while and it was great to get him back out and he was very excited. Amanda and Ryan flew in and arrived just in time to go with us.

Connor's coach worked well with the kids, although he's got a tough job remembering their names since four of the six boys have names that start with C. 

The fields were made for youth soccer and the area was well kept and very nice.

It was actually a little cold out (by Florida standards) at about 65 degrees. Aunt Amanda helped Sissy keep her ears warm.

Connor did a great job listening during the drills and did awesome during the scrimmage they played at the end of practice. He got two shots on goal and made his team's only goal of the scrimmage.

Connor's video:

We're looking forwards to cheering on our little guy!

Paige had fun during the practice. She found a little step up between the field and the grass and would step up then jump off over and over.

Paige's video:

Jump!!

Disney World for Connor's birthday

On Friday, after Connor was done with school, we drove to Orlando to celebrate his birthday at Disney World. We arrived at the Coronado Springs resort and checked in Friday night, we walked around a little bit, then went to bed pretty early. The resort was beautiful, with great landscaping and neat decorations. There were squirrels everywhere, and the kids loved chasing them around. We we had a decent sized room and were very comfortable.

Our room was cozy and very nice.

We took a few short videos of the resort grounds, they were huge, and the pool.

On Saturday, we woke up with great expectations and high hopes for our adventures. We were planning to go to the Animal Kingdom first and then play it by ear and see how we were feeling for the afternoon. We got a pretty early start, but then it took a long time at the ticket counter to get our passes. We bought 1 years season passes and it took between 20 and 30 minutes to purchase them. I guess we should have mentally prepared ourselves for long waits, but the kids are not super patient people. They were already getting off on the wrong foot.

The kids were pretty bored while we're buying tickets.

Once we got into the Animal Kingdom, we rode the African Safari ride first. The park wasn't too busy and the waits weren't too long throughout the day. Paige really liked the animals on the ride and loved spotting them and pointing them out. Connor liked the ride too and I have been talking to him about all kinds of animals lately so it was nice for him to see them all in person. After the Safari ride, it was a bit of a struggle to find something that was age appropriate and height appropriate for the kids. We rode a little dino ride and watched the "Finding Nemo" show, but there weren't a lot of things to do with the kids at the park.

Connor and Mommy sat together on the Safari Ride.

Sissy sat with Daddy.

Connor and Mommy sat in the front on the dino ride. Paige was throwing a fit right before the ride started, so we didn't take a picture together.

There were some neat roller coasters but Connor was still too short to ride them. There were some shows we could have watched, but after the "Finding Nemo" show, we didn't think the kids would want to just sit and watch something again. We were barely at the park three hours when we decided to try a different park.

We took a quick family pic before we left Animal Kingdom.

Our next decision was to try the Hollywood Studios park. It's also a fairly small park, and we hadn't been there before with kids. We were trying to remember an we're pretty sure it's been 6 or 7 years since we'd been there. The Hollowood Studios park had a couple little rides for the kids, but overall was pretty disappointing. Again, many of the rides required Connor to be taller, and it wasn't geared for little kids. We knew that the Magic Kingdom was the best park for little kids, but didn't realize how bad the other parks would be. The kids enjoyed climbing on a play area and a few rides, but overall we did a lot of walking between the few attractions that were suited for small kids.

After an exhausting day of running around, we got back to the resort and went swimming. It was definitely the highlight of the trip for the kids and they had a blast. There was a small pool with 5 splashdown jets that was perfect for Paige, and Daddy and Connor did a lot of swimming in the big pool. I was so impressed with how well he swam and he was very impressive without his swim vest. We've officially retired the swim vest and we're guessing that he'll be swimming like a fish by mid-summer.

 

We ate a poolside dinner after we were done swimming.

Paige also swam in the big pool a while and she had so much fun. She was an absolute angel on the trip and was in such a great mood and so fun. We all had a good time and although the parks weren't perfect for the kids, we did all the fun stuff that they offered. On Sunday, there was a big storm coming through and it cooled off quite a bit. There were alerts about severe weather and lightning, so we didn't chance going to the park and drove home after we got up. The weather actually cleared up quite a bit and we have been second guessing our choice, but we were pretty exhausted anyways.

Connor's birthday cupcakes at school

On Connor's birthday Friday Mommy and Daddy came to Connor's school to celebrate his birthday with his class and friends. We brought him Power Ranger balloons and cupcakes. Mommy also got Power Ranger rings to go on the cupcakes as party favors. We were a little concerned at Power Rangers wouldn't be "cool", but the kids absolutely loved everything.

Connor was very happy to see us and it was fun to see him with his VPK class. Typically, we drop him off prior to the VPK class starting and pick him up after it's done so we don't usually get to see all the friends and classmates that he spends most of his time with. They were all very sweet and cute and you could tell Connor gets along great with them.

We took a few pictures with Connor and his balloons, then everyone sang Connor "Happy Birthday". It was possibly the slowest rendition I can recall, and Connor was a little shy with all the attention, but you could tell that he loved it.

The kids all liked the cupcakes and we felt guilty for bringing them since the teachers had to clean up so many messes. The bright red icing got all over faces, which we expected, however it also got all over arms, clothes and even hair. Some of the girls inadvertently would turn their heads to close to a cupcake and many had red icing caked into their hair. Yikes.

It was great to spend some time with Connor at his school, we love our big boy.

Week 3 ISR Swimming Lessons

This past week concluded the third week of our ISR swimming lessons. Both kids have improved so much from the first week, it's amazing.

Connor is doing great swimming and Michelle described to him how he should use his hands while swimming. She told him to imagine that the pool was made of ice cream and he should make scoops with his hands to scoop the water out of the way. It helps him to go faster, but also gets him to break the habit of holding his nose with one hand. He's definitely a better swimmer, although he still isn't reflexively always rolling to his back when he needs to breathe. He'll often pick his head up straight out of the water, which causes his body and legs to sink.

He's definitely floating much better.

Good job buddy!

Paige is also improving every day. She has a better attitude as well and although she'll fuss a little during some lessons, she has had some great days where she is happy the entire lesson. This Thursday, she was happy and playful the entire lesson and worked hard. She's floating very well, and for her age Michelle thinks Paige is pretty close to being done with the major things she needs to know.

Good work Sissy!

Chloe in Florida

Chloe's adjusted well to Florida so far. She was a trooper on the car ride down and has been a good dog for us as usual. She really didn't seem to care for the grass in Florida at first. The grass leaves are thicker and much different than what we're used to in the Midwest. For a long time, when we let her out, she'd be hesitant to put her paws down and you could tell she was uncomfortable.

In our rental, we don't have a fence and we were pretty concerned with how this would affect her going outside to do her business. We put a stake out so we could attach a leash, but Chloe's been such a good listener and has done so well that we never use it. Typically we can just open the door, let her run out and do her stuff, and then she comes right back.

She likes this house pretty well and loves the view of the pond. During the days, she'll lie in the master bedroom where she has a nice view of the pond and can still see the front door in case anyone comes to the house. Her favorite thing to do is watch the ducks. There are three of them that seem to live in the pond and they love pecking around in our backyard. Chloe is very interested in them and we're a little concerned she'll chase them or catch one when they're around. She's run all the way down to the water a couple times when they were nearby. Typically if she needs to go out and we see the ducks, we'll make her go out in the front yard instead. We're not sure what would happen if she ever caught one, so we don't risk it.