“Don’t you feel a little out of place?”

The title says it all. This is what Mike asked me on day two of our vacation to sunny Florida.

 

We decided this year to forego Orlando and check out Twins training camp in Ft Myers. Mike found this awesome, newly built, place online through travelzoo (which is also how we find awesome hotels in Chicago for cheap! If you don’t subscribe, you really should). I remember his frantic phone call home and me having to quickly look at this place online and decide if I wanted to stay there because the “deal” was going to expire soon. I took one look and told him to grab it because #1, I was tired of looking for places and reading hundreds of reviews, and #2, the place looked darn nice.

 

The Resort at Marina Village did not disappoint.

 

The kids relaxing in their room, watching their flat screen, after a LLOONNGG day of flying. They have their own bathroom.

 

Master bedroom. It took every ounce of willpower not to jump into that bed.

Master bathroom. This is one of two areas like this in the master. The other one is identical except it has a close-up make-up mirror attached to the wall that swings out….I think I would like to have one of those in my real house.

Huge walk-in shower in the master. There is also a separate commode area with a door. This bathroom has three separate areas. Unreal. Oh, and a walk-in closet too.

 

Full kitchen. So much nicer than anything I own. It’s exactly what I would want mine to look like, from the cupboards, to the granite, to the set-up. The cabinets are filled with pots, pans, glasses, cutlery, strainer, cutting board, Tupperware, wine glasses…..absolutely everything and it’s all brand new. Amazing.

Living room. The big flat screen is on the other wall. In between this and the kitchen is a huge dining room table.

This was the screened patio! It had sliding doors off every room in the condo. It was so nice. Mike especially loved sitting out here. 

This is the view. We were on the 10th floor.  Sorry for the poor quality, but I wanted to show it and didn’t have any other way except through the screen. Those are full-sized huge trees so we are WWAAYY up in the air! Very peaceful and quiet views.

We hit the jackpot with this place. Without that deal Mike found, we would never be able to afford a place like this. The staff is incredible, the restaurants onsite have great food, everywhere you turn the staff is cleaning, organizing, restocking. Every time you walk by a desk or enter the gates someone greets you or waves. It’s pretty awesome. I could used to this!

Day one we spent swimming, batting, and go-carting.

Day two was spent at the ocean. The water temp was only in the 60’s. According to the waitress at Cheeburger Cheeburger where we ate lunch, this has been a horrible winter and spring for Florida. They haven’t seen temps this cool, for this long, in forever. So no one was in the ocean, but it was still fun to play in for awhile. That night we actually went to How to Train Your Dragon in 3-D because the weather was just not nice! So sad! The movie was very good though.

 

 

Day three has started with another gloomy day….hence why I am able to write this post while everyone is lounging! Hoping for brighter skies in the day ahead. Not sure what is on the agenda…good thing we bring the computer, we will have to do some googling.

The Wee One Turns 7

Ahhhhh….seven years ago today I struggled through hours of labor without pain meds to bring boy #2 into the world! And when people told me I would forget the pain…..they lied. I remember every. miserable. second. Even this morning I recollected those agonizing hours of being in labor, and I am pretty sure I had some Braxton hicks just for ol’ times sake.

 

Connor David Budach is growing up!

 

 

He’s a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich loving, DS fanatic playing, high energy expending, tough as nails….. BOY. He’s great at math and is reading every night to us, instead of the other way around. He continues to love baseball, basketball, and will play soccer this spring as well. He swims like a fish and can’t wait for pool time during our vacation next week.

 

With both of my boys I have always been amazed at how much growth occurs between the ages of 6 and 7. This is the year that so much maturing and realization happens. I sat at a restaurant last night (thanks for dinner Grandma Cindy and Dave!) and was so proud of how he ordered his own supper, looked the waitress in the eye, said thank-you and please repeatedly as the dinner went on, never once had to be asked to stop kicking/talking loudly/bouncing, and ate like a real person!

 

This is the year Connor has discovered friends! He has had play dates and birthday parties and is looking forward to his own friend birthday party this weekend. He has come to recognize the qualities of a good friend and it’s been fun to see him expand beyond just playing with the older neighbor boys. He’s become such a social butterfly that it was the one thing discovered at conferences that he needed to improve on…LESS TALKING! Seems he’s got a little girl in him after all…..who knew.

 

 

 

He still never tattles (lucky brother he has), he rarely cries, he loves to sleep, and he is a great eater! He’s even decided he likes broccoli this year. He doesn’t like pop (perfect!), does like Spongebob macaroni and cheese, Doritoes, Sunchips, pears, lemonade, and can make his own ham and cheese sandwich! He does not like cake of any kind. So this year I got him an ice cream cake which seemed to go over a little better.

 

 

I can barely hold him anymore. He’s almost too heavy for me. I knew this day would come. Makes me sad. He’s starting to sit still for longer than 3 seconds too so he’ll actually hang out on my lap for awhile. So, I suck it up and allow both legs to go numb just to squeeze out a few seconds with him. He always has, and still does, prefer to be held when he first wakes up…..mom and dad are happy to arrange that.

 

I can’t wait for this summer. Seriously, with boys like this…..our summers are going to be so much fun. They are easy, they are sweet, they are fun, they love to play with each other, and they are pure entertainment. What more could parents ask for? We are so lucky.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUGAR! We love you and are so proud of the boy you are growing up to be……

 

Weekend

Busy weekend!

We are finally thawing out in Minnesota! Sunday afternoon the sun came out, and temps got up to 50 degrees. You know spring has arrived when the sump pump is going off every 15 minutes or so. A familiar and welcome sound…..

 

The yard is a mess, but that’s okay.

Saturday we took the kids to see The Lightning Thief. Noah read the book, took an AR, and was ready to see the book come to life. I had already heard that the book and movie were nothing alike. Boy was that an understatement! Noah kept telling me when things were changed throughout the movie, and there were numerous. He was a little disappointed in how much they changed it, but still thought it was a good movie. I liked that it taught the kids a little about Greek mythology. It was an action-packed movie, sure to please any boy….and a mom who is easily amused.

 

 

A little sword fighting is a must after seeing this movie. You have been warned.

Next weekend is busy. We are having a progressive dinner on Saturday with four couples. (Which by the way, I am in charge of dessert. Any suggestions?) Then Sunday is Connor’s birthday party. The movie we had hoped to see doesn’t come out early enough, so we are having Connor’s party at the indoor Holiday Inn Serengeti water park. He has five little friends coming and since we can bring up to 10 kids, Noah gets to invite two friends too. Should be a good time.

 

On a side note, last week I got out the last of Connor invites. I actually drove over to their houses and put them in their mailboxes (they lived on the same street, near each other so it was easy). FOUR days later, they were returned to me with a little $44 written in the right hand corner. In other words, the mailman didn’t like my little sneaky plan. I wasn’t happy about it. I thought for sure the kids’ parents would have made plans already and they wouldn’t be able to come to Connor’s party.  It would take another two days in the mail for them to get delivered and I was discouraged to say the least. 

 

Mike decided that night we would drive them back to the houses and go to the door. So, we all piled into the car and drove back over to the houses and Connor was going to run up to the doors. As we pulled up to the first house, I was confused. It looked nothing like the houses I had been to a few days earlier. You guessed it, I had delivered those invites to the wrong houses that first night! OOPS! One street was called Stony Creek and the other was Mossy Creek and both streets have identical house numbers. I took back all those mean things I said about that mailman (including the part about him injuring himself on the rust on someone’s mailbox) and drowned my humiliation in a Shamrock shake from McDonalds. I laughed the whole way home every time I thought about all the mean things I said about that poor mailman! Ha!

 

Since next weekend is pretty busy, I have been doing some things this weekend to get ready for Florida. We are down to 12 days and can feel it creeping closer and it’s stressing me some. I have been hauling out summer clothes, making the kids try on tons of stuff, and then I did some ordering online for ME and found the CUTEST t-shirts online at Ann Taylor loft for 30% off!

Here’s one…isn’t it cute? I am sure I will look that skinny when I wear it too.

 

Planning on grilling some chicken tonight, doing some correcting, and watching my Sunday shows! Another week is upon us. I started teaching health this week at school though and it’s BY FAR my most favorite thing to teach. I actually look forward to it. So, makes for days that fly by when I get to teach it three times a day!

 

Hope you are all enjoying some spring sunshine. What happened to the 30 inches of snow we were supposed to get?

Love,

LB

March, my love….

We love March around these here parts. The long cold months in the tundra can start to get to a person. Then, just when I begin to think winter will never go away and spring will never arrive to put us out of our misery…it gets to 34 degrees!

 

 Look! You can even see the GRASS! And it’s green! Okay……green-ish.

 

 

 

I can open the front door and enjoy the light coming in. Until the furnace kicks-in anyway. Which takes about 7 minutes.

 

 

Never mind that it still looks like this across the front and back yard. Heck, the side yard too, if you want to know the truth.

 

 

 

Never mind that the swing set is buried still…..

Nerf gun wars still work in the snow! Although don’t put the gun down, you won’t find it again until June.

 

 

MARCH brings with it BIRTHDAYS!

Connor turns 7 on March 18th. I think we will plan a movie theater birthday party.  THIS movie comes out this month so I think he and his friends will enjoy that while I enjoy the peace and quiet a movie brings, even with 5-7 small boys!

 

My birthday is the 24th. I tease Mike because he actually has acknowledge it this year! For the past three years we have been in Florida for my birthday so I, of course, didn’t expect anything or any big deal made. But, this year we will be home, so hopefully he’s planning something grand. I am sure he is. Right now. As we speak.

 

Then we leave for Florida at the end of the month! I can not tell you how excited I am about this. It’s what is keeping me from going insane. Things have been hectic, crazy, all over the place. Not my idea of fun.

 

So WELCOME March! What took you so long?