Well, the van is packed and though we're probably not READY to go, we will be heading out in another hour or so. On our way back to IL. :) Please pray for a safe drive, cooperative weather, and a pleasant car atmosphere. :) See you in IL!!!

A little Mario Kart to top off the morning and get the day started right! :)

At lunchtime before the kids' naps we went to Chuck E. Cheese. It was a bit crazy! Olivia had fun dancing in front of the "blue screen."

Tonight we headed to a mall to shop a bit ( I have a whole post brewing in my head about how Gymbucks are EVIL! LOL ) and eat dinner. This is a funny wall poster they had with footprints in front showing you where to stand for your "shot." :)

The carousel at the mall before we headed home...

Here are a bunch of random shots I haven't used yet but I loved, and the stories behind some of them! :) Enjoy!

Our first morning here we went to Krispy Kreme for a special breakfast. Liam was loving the donuts, to say the least!!! :)

For some reason, I don't have as many of Olivia (maybe because the boys do more things that are just funny/off the wall!) so my goal today is to capture her image as much as possible, but here's one of her opening a Hannah Montana doll. (which she hasn't touched since this photo) :(

Liam's new buddy, now named Marley, which Grandma and Grandpa went overboard with! :)

Liam pretending to be Santa at a deli we went to (great free cheesecake if you order a complete meal!)

An early birthday gift from the grandparents for Liam (3 on the 30!)


Braeden at a mall play area. He was near me and I saw a woman just kind of watching him. I was thinking, "Oh no, what did he do???" She followed him with her eyes as he basically crawled (he was on all fours being a gorilla - he's obsessed with Donkey Kong right now from Mario Kart!), over to me. I was cringing inside wondering what she was doing. She asked me, "Is he yours?" I said, "Yes" thinking, WHAT HAPPENED? And she proceeded to say, "He is such a nice and polite boy!" :) So nice to hear!

Olivia ice skating at the mall near my parent's home.

New Aprons sent from my aunt and uncle!

Liam playing with Grandpa's hat. Though I've never actually seen Grandpa wear this...hmmmm...


Once Upon a Toy at Downtown Disney with Brandi and her kiddos. Brandi got to talking to a ?manager about adoption. I joined in and we discussed foster/adoption and single parenting. Then she brought out sets of My Little Pony stuff for the kids to play with and sent another employee to get sets of Mr. Potato Head things for the boys to play with. The two of them sat with our kids and we played there for at least 30minutes, it was priceless!


Brandi and kids at the aligator in front of Rainforest while we were looking for the new Dinosaur restaurant to meet up with our other blogging friend and her family.

Our friend Anne and her son. I finally captured him! :) He likes to turn his head and not get a photo! :)

Braeden and the onion which came out of a very large onion ring at Olivia's favorite restaurant - IHOP!

Two more from swimming


Braeden's Donkey Kong pose!

My mom and I took Liam to a great Mongolian grill. You pile your bowl full of raw meat and tons of veggies and hand it over for them to do up on the grill for you with whatever sauce you choose. It's wonderful, but not really for Olivia and Braeden, so Grandpa took them to a nearby McD's which had a great playplace!!! :) Liam loved the chopsticks!

Brandi... this one is all for you!!! (They are hitting the trash today!)

Well, until today we really hadn't had a day to swim, due to weather or certain activities. So it was either today or tomorrow as they REALLY wanted to while we were here. It's a bit chilly today, but tomorrow was supposed to be cooler, so today it was. My mom and I didn't even dress! My dad said he would swim with Liam and I knew Olivia and Braeden were fine. I honestly didn't think they'd last 10 minutes, they get cold so easily. Check out Braeden's face as they went in! :) But they did real well and lasted almost an hour while Grandma and I read and took pictures. It was a good time! :)





Olivia made a "friend" with another seven year old girl while we were there. This is BIG for her. We have worked so hard on how to do just that and how to age appropriately interact with other kids. I was so excited for her! She even knew the little girl's name to tell me later, a HUGE accomplishment! Yay!