Wakulla Springs

On Tuesday, Renee and I took Isaac, Maddox, and Maclain to Wakulla Springs State Park.  It is about 30 miles from our house and I had heard really good things about it.  They have all sorts of things to do there: biking, snorkeling, swimming, hiking, etc...  They also have these really neat boat tours that take you through one of the oldest and deepest freshwater springs in the world.  You have the chance to see all sorts of wildlife, including deer, turtles, birds, alligators and ducks.  We had the best time and saw soooo many alligators.  The boat tour was about 50 minutes and it did not disappoint!  We plan to go back as often as we can!

Ready to take off!

Isaac and Renee

Another gator

He did a LOT of pointing!

We are loving Tallahassee and all that it has to offer... It's such a neat place and I am thankful God brought us here.  Speaking of thankful, I am THRILLED about this upcoming weekend.  Daniel and I have a kid-free "staycation" of sorts planned and it could not be hitting at a better time.  We had a trip planned to Tampa for this weekend, then changed our minds and were going to go back to Disney to use the 3rd day on our tickets, then changed our minds AGAIN, and settled on a nice, low-key weekend at home.  My parents graciously offered to take the kids for the weekend and excited does not even cover it!  We have several things on our "to-do" list and we are looking forward to it! :)

Disney World

Almost 2 weeks ago we took a trip down to Disney World.  My parents came down on Tuesday night and spent the night with us.  We left Wednesday morning and drove to Orlando. It is only 4 hours from Tallahassee (with no stops) and we had a great ride down.  I was not sure how Maddox would do since he is still pretty young, but he amazed me.  He loved every second of it and was a lot more fearless than I expected him to be.  He rode everything he was tall enough for and was begging for more.  I am so glad that we went and I know there will be many more trips in our future (at least while we are living so close!).  Florida residents get in for a steal so you really can't beat it! 

We spent Thursday at Islands of Adventure in Universal Studios.  I had never been to this section of Universal before and I was impressed.  They had several things for younger kids and Maddox loved it all!

Getting ready to go into the park

Wil and Thomas :)

Maddox's favorite part... watching everybody get wet on the boat

Sharing popcorn with Pop

Where Maclain was happiest...

On Friday we spent the day at Magic Kingdom.  I had not been here since I was in middle school, and it was every bit as awesome as I remember.  I did not take many pictures on this day for some reason...

Teacups!!

About to ride Dumbo

Waiting in line... our longest wait was about 25 minutes

While Maclain was a trooper the entire time and mostly slept in the moby, my parents graciously offered to keep her at the house Saturday so Daniel and I could take Maddox to Animal Kingdom and really focus all of our attention on him.  It was so nice of them to do that and we LOVED Animal Kingdom.  I had never been so I had no idea what to expect.  Everything was on Maddox's level and it was a lot more low-key and less crowded than Magic Kingdom.  I would highly recommend Animal Kingdom for younger kids (especially animal lovers). 

Getting ready to go in

Checking out all the fish

Looking at the ginormous Rhino

On the Safari

Kissing the big dinosaur

Bein' crazy while Daddy rode a roller coaster

Getting one last look on our way out of the park... so sad!!

I knew this trip was going to be a lot of fun, but it far surpassed all of my expectations.  It was so amazing to see everything through Maddox's eyes and I am so thankful we were able to go on this trip.  Maddox was a trooper and did so well!  Here are a few more pictures I took at the house where we stayed...

Eatin' some pizza

Wanting to get in the pool so bad!

Rise and Shine!! :)

How can he sleep like that???

5 Months Old

Can't believe this sweet girl will be half a year old next month...

(When Crystal was here a few weekends ago, she took this picture and I am in LOVE!  I can't wait to share the rest!)

Here are some things about our little Maclain at 5 months:
-Starting to grab toys and put them straight into her mouth
-Smiles at everyone (especially her brother)
-Has tried rice cereal (not a fan), applesauce, and squash... she likes the applesauce and squash
-Started rolling from her back to her belly about 4 days ago
-Sleeps without her woombie or sleep positioner for both naptime and bedtime
-Takes 2 good naps during the day and sometimes gets in a 3rd catnap in the evening
-She is getting very squirmy and less cuddly
-We dropped her night-time feeding a few nights ago and she is doing well... she is still waking up about 2:00 am but we just put her paci back in and she goes back to sleep.
-Takes four 5-6 ounce bottles a day now.
-Size 2 diaper
-Wears 3-6 month or 6 month clothes
-HATES riding in the car for longer than about 10 minutes... this is hard!!
-"Talks" a lot

We are beyond blessed to have this sweet girl! :)

*Another New Post Below!*

Play Date

This morning we went over to Renee's house and let the kiddos play together for a while. As always, everyone had a fabulous time.  Maclain had her first ride in a swing and seemed to love it.  She smiled the whole time!

Milestone

This may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but to me it's huge...

Maclain has been sleeping in her woombie and her sleep positioner since she was about a month old.  Since yesterday, she has been consistently rolling form her back to her belly.  Since she can now roll both ways, I knew it was time to get rid of both...

She has made the adjustment very well.  Only 20 min. of crying for her morning nap, and then about 5 this afternoon.  She obviously prefers her belly now and I am hoping she may decide to start sleeping through the night SOON! Maybe she was waking up since she couldn't move all around like she wanted to.  We'll see... :)

More Travels

We have been on the road a lot lately and this past weekend was no exception.  The kids and I left Thursday morning to go back home.  I helped with one of my BFF's (Lydia) shower.  She is due June 1st with her 2nd baby boy, Levi.  We can't wait to meet him!

On Friday, we went to Callaway Gardens with my mom and grandmother.  It was a crazy trip to say the least.  We wanted to take Maddox to the Butterfly Center and I have to admit, I was disappointed.  It did not help at all that he didn't want to sit in the stroller... he wanted only my mom to hold him... not to mention that it was 185 degrees inside the building, and my mom was also pushing my grandmother in a wheel chair.  The doors in that place are not very stroller friendly, either!  It was way more stressful than it was worth, but Maddox did seem to enjoy seeing the butterflies.  We were not there for very long when we decided to head to the playground.  The signs were horrible, and we ended up lost.  When we finally figured out where to go, the gate we needed to go through was locked shut.  In the meantime, both Maddox and Maclain had fallen asleep... Needless to say, we called it a day and headed home.

Up close

Trying to "reach it!"

Just hangin' out... covered in spit-up

Sleepy Girl! :)

We spent some time just hanging out at my parents' house doing all of Maddox's favorite things.  He is obsessed with feeding apples to the horses across the street so we did just that...

Getting out the apples

Maddox decided he wanted Pop to do it...

Sweet, sweet girl!

On Friday night me and a couple other girls threw a spa night shower for Lydia.  It was a blast... we all wore pajamas and ate dessert.  We had manicure and pedicure stations set up, and we even had a masseuse come by from Aromatherapy and give massages.  It was such a fun night celebrating with Lydia!

Hostesses and Guest of Honor :)

Lots of candles to set the mood

Dessert!

On Saturday we got to attend Cooper's 2nd birthday party... Maddox was glad he got to go and wanted to help Cooper open all of his presents!

Birthday Hugs :)

Getting instructions from Remle

Helping Cooper

We had a great weekend, but it will be A WHILE before I travel again with both kiddos alone.  I just don't think my nerves can handle it again for a long time! :)