I would start this blog and then never get around to updating it. At the beginning of May, we went to Florida. It was such a great trip. We found a great deal on airfare and were able to fly, which saved us a total of 2 days and the kids loved it! They were amazingly well behaved on the flight there and almost as good on the way home (just a little less excited and a little more overtired).
We went to Magic Kingdom at Disney World for one day and we all had a blast. It was a long but magical day. We were at the park for almost 12 hours and Toby only napped for a short time in my arms but the kids were so busy they didn’t have time to get crabby. We met Mickey, Minnie, Peter Pan, Cinderella (Lucy’s favorite), Sleeping Beauty and Belle. Caleb loved the Toy Story ride which we had to ride twice.
We spent the next week on Sanibel Island in my Grandmother’s condo. Andy and I honeymooned there and this is our 3rd trip there with the kids. It is great to be able to bring my kids there as I spent most of our family vacations there as a child.
The kids all started off timid at the beach and the pool, but were fearless by the end of the week. On our first visit to the beach any time we put Toby down he started walking back to the condo. The last day he was walking into the ocean solo and refusing to let anyone even hold his hand. Both Lucy and Caleb learned to trust their inner tubes and were swimming all around the pool.
Caleb practiced going underwater and was able to stay under for 20 seconds.
Lucy loved jumping in and screaming “UNDERWATER” and then going under. The last full day we were there she even doggie paddled all by herself!
They loved the pool best, but built sand castles and found lots of great sea shells at the beach.
The first day we were there a starfish even washed up right to us! Behind the condo is a lagoon and we saw an alligator we named Ally nearly every day while we were eating breakfast. We saw him lurking, yawning and swimming really fast.
We came back to Mundelein and 30 degree cooler weather, but it has started to warm up here again and it is starting to feel like summer here too.
We took the training wheels off the 12" bike that we have (both Lucy and Caleb have a 16" bike) so that Caleb could start to practice riding without training wheels. He attempted once or twice before, but fear and lack of balance got the best of him.
We had been told that if he practiced balancing on his scooter that the bike would be a lot easier. Recently he has had a lot of interest in the scooter and I had been trying to teach him to coast with both feet on. he refused to take my advice. Aunt Emily was up last week and I suggested that she teach him that. He was quick to listen to her and was showing off his moves.
On Saturday (May 22nd) we were out early to get some yard work done and he asked to try the bike. He got on and just could do it. We decided to pack up and go to the school parking lot so he would really have room to learn and he was great at it. Since the bike is so little he didn't even need us to help him get started. Needless to say, we were quite impressed with him, but we were even more impressed with his determination. He did fall a few times, but he got back up without hesitation and wanted to try again. The next morning he went out and immediately got the bike out...and every day since. We have yet to venture outside of the driveway and the school parking lot, but I am sure we will take off the training wheels of his big bike before we know it.
