third day of vacation: Magic Kingdom

Officially we have been back from our Florida trip for 24 hours

but I have to take the time to post some of the photos I took.

Expect more in the next few days to come.

Day 3 consisted of Disney World Magic Kingdom.

Don't be too surprised to hear that it was Andrew's 5th or 6th

time at Disney World when it was my first.

A little odd considering I'm the American!

I have gone to CA Disneyland multiple times though.

It's hard to say how much Elliot and Avery will remember

as they grow up but we had a lot of fun.

They didn't really know what Disney was

but they made some great memories

so next time they'll really look forward to it - kind of like Christmas.

That reminds me - the other day Elliot was singing

a Christmas song and Andrew said how he

shouldn't sing it until Christmas next year

and Elliot couldn't believe Christmas was next year too.

Avery absolutely loved that little bubble gun.

It's a keeper!

Elliot missed the parade since he was with Andrew

meeting Mickey Mouse but Avery saw it and

you can see in her face that she didn't know what to think.

Against Andrew's wished we went on It's a Small World.

Fortunately, the song wasn't as bad as he remembered.

It's a classic Disney ride so I was not about to deprive my children from it.

We went to Magic Kingdom on the train so we left on the boat.

The train and the boat were Elliot's

favorite parts of the day and they weren't

even park rides. Ha ha!

After putting the kiddos to sleep we were able to

go back and catch a few rides.

We wore the 3-D glasses for Philharmagic.

I absolutely loved it!

Too bad CA Disneyland doesn't have it.

We were able to catch the end of the lights parade

and purchase an umbrella for Claire and Avery -

a Freeman family tradition.

I only wish we had more time to spend.

One day just isn't enough.

second day of vacation: {continued}

I wanted to take some time to sort of

scrapbook these pictures while I had a chance.

We had a blast at SeaWorld.

It was a great way to spend our anniversary

and Avery's birthday.

Elliot got to experience his first roller coaster

and Avery her first ride - the teacups.

They both thoroughly enjoyed it!

Below was the famous Shamu show.

It's amazing how intelligent killer whales are.

We sat in the "splash" seats so we got a little wet.

The best way to cool down after walking

all over SeaWorld was to swim.

Good thing we have a pool in the backyard!

Rich taught Elliot how to swim.

It's a big deal because he used to not even get in the

water and now he's swimming unaccompanied and he loves it!

In celebration on our 5 years together

Andrew and I went out for dinner.

Unfortunately, there weren't many resturants

where we stayed so we had to settle

for Cracker Barrel. We both have bad memories

there but this dinner made up for it a little.

Dinner became a wonderful end

to a wonderful day.

second day of vacation: b-day girl

Avery is two today!

The picture below is from today but the rest

are in no particular order.

Here are some of my favorites.

Happy Birthday Avery!

I love you!

{ baby photos by Betty Photography,

family photos by Jessica Drew Photography,

the rest by me }

celebrations

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary.

It's also Avery's birthday! She's two today!

Marrying Andrew is the best decision I ever made.

He just makes me so happy.

Now that's one fine lookin' guy!

I've been reflecting on how far we've come since

we met, started dating, and got married.

We've been through a lot (good and bad) and

I'm so glad we did it together.

Come through memory lane with me. Here are places Andrew and I

went to between July 2007 and April 2008.

These were just after Elliot was born so I'm a little chunky.

{Whitby Abbey, Whitby, England}

{top: a street in Belgium, inside York Minster, York}

{bottom: York, bowling on a date, Portsmouth?}

{Stonehenge, castle ruins}

{London, Leeds Armories Museum}

{top: Beverly Westwood - where Andrew proposed to me,

Craven Park watching Hull Kingston Rovers - our rugby team.}

{bottom: Leeds Armories Museum, Nana's house}

I'm glad I can look back and see five years well spent.

I really look forward to see what our future has in store for us!

Andrew, if you're reading this, I LOVE YOU!

first day of vacation: get there

Today is marks the beginning of our first real family vacation.

As you are reading this I am probably on the airplane.

Tune in tomorrow for some photo over load.

It's Avery's b-day and my wedding anniversary

and we're going to be at Seaworld all day!

Some kids

Some kids are climbers.

Some kids eat rocks.

Some kids are superheros.

Some kids destroy things.

Some kids get into things.

Avery falls into the last two categories.

Actually, I'm sure every kid has done a bit of all of the

above but I noticed some kids do some things more than others.

There is not a day that goes by that Avery doesn't tear something

apart of mine or go through something she's not supposed to touch.

It's what she does.

The other day I found her going through my purse

again.

This time she covered her face with diaper rash cream

and my new red lipstick.

She felt so pretty.

I think she just wanted to look like her mommy.

What a little sweet pea.

Wishing he were Peter Pan . . .

Sometimes I wish Elliot were Peter Pan and never grow up.

But then he would live in Never Never Land

and forget all about the mother who loves him.

As much as I don't want my children to grow and change

I know they're going to grow up beautiful

and confident and happy.

I want to be there to watch them

through fun times and hard times.

That's what's so great about being a mom.

Today was Elliot's last day of pre-school for the school year. His teacher, Miss Jen, is close to the end of her pregnancy and is usually bed-ridden the last few weeks so she had to finish the semester up early.

I was the teacher's assistant this year. I am amazed at how much

these little 3 and 4 year olds learn. I learned some things too.

Did you know a sea horse is a fish?

At the beginning of the year Elliot used to laugh if

someone said "poo poo" and now he spells his name

and knows all sorts of things about the world around him.

My little boy is growing so fast!

I'm so glad I have another year with him at home

before he goes to kindergarten.

He even learned to read the newspaper! Ha ha!