Max is worse than a toddler!

Max came home and quickly found some great spots to lie down. Kamryn's chair being one of them! She is not too fond of sharing it with him. In fact, we've had to deal with some jealousy issues between her and the dog. She's always said she wants a sister, but I don't think she could handle not being the only princess in the house!
















Max is saying, "What? I'm not doing anything."





















Then he's saying, "How can I grab those sandals? I hope no one is looking."


















Max steals socks, toilet paper rolls from the garbage can, and Kamryn's clean pull up. We gate him downstairs so he has free reign of the family room and kitchen but occasionally he gets past us and sprints upstairs. One morning while Kamryn was getting dressed, he took her pull up. Thank goodness it was clean as she really doesn't need to use those anymore.

















Max is a good playmate for Kamryn.

Meet Max

Max is our new puppy. We brought him home in August when he was 8 weeks old. He's not this tiny anymore! He's probably a big part of the reason why I've been so tired too! No more sleeping in on the weekends when he is used to getting up at 6:30am when the boys are getting ready for school during the week.

































The boys have always asked for a dog. We've always said no because they have proven to be allergic to them. But they keep asking and then I started doing some homework about more hypoallergenic breeds. My friend Beth some time ago mentioned that her neighbor sometimes breeds her Bichons. They are in the "hypoallergenic" category. Back in the spring of this year, Kevin & I actually checked out a different older Bichon puppy that another friend told me about, but we walked away, and I walked away knowing that I wasn't ready for it. Then Beth called me this summer and told me about these adorable little pups next door to her. I had to go take a look. One look and it was love at first sight. I couldn't walk away this time and the boys were thrilled!














We were fortunate that Anita was gracious enough to let us "visit" the pups a few times before we were able to bring Max home. Grandpa Ahearn & Grandma Dianne from Florida even got to meet Max before he came home. Look at how the pups all slept together! They are on Max's blue towel. Anita sent home a care package with Max and that same blue towel was part of it. He still loves it! Max was the blue ribbon dog.
















Aren't I cute?

Blog hiatus

Yes, there's been a huge pause in my blog. I can't believe there's been a 6 month hiatus from blogging. It's not because I've had nothing to say or because we've been home doing nothing but twiddling our thumbs. I actually dream of white space on my calendar. No, it's probably not entirely due to the fact that I'm on FaceBo*k now. Although that is fun and quicker to write a one line update. It's probably more or less just due to the fact that I just plain haven't been feeling like it. I have been very fatigued lately and not just the normal tired. So after finally seeing a doctor and several tests, I am on thyroid meds now and getting B12 injections. Hopefully I will feel back to normal soon and my blog will resume because in all truth, I do love having this blog to vent, share, and to use it as a personal journal.

But 6 months is a long time . . . so instead of filling in the gap and trying to catch up (which seems very overwhelming), I will instead focus on the now.


  

Boys Adventure Day

The boys are more into roller coasters now so we spent a day at Universal'$ I$land$ of Adventure. We all really enjoyed that park! There is a Dr. Suess section for the little ones and big roller coasters like the Hulk for the bigger ones.


















Kamryn and I spent most of the day together and Kevin went on the faster rides with the boys. I did one roller coaster and that was enough for me. We took advantage of the parent/child swap feature for the water ride; we all stood in line and then Kevin & the boys went on while Kamryn and I waited on a nearby bench. When the boys got off the ride, Kevin & I swapped places so the boys and I were able to get right back into the line at the end of the line:) The boys got a kick out of it because that way they could ride the rides twice in a row without the wait. Figures, the boys came off the ride looking dry but I ended up getting drenched!

Kamryn also loves Spiderman. Probably because she has seen the Spiderman movies with her brothers. So she loved seeing him IRL. I absolutely LOVED the 3-D Spiderman ride. So very cool.

There's always been something about teacups

Disney Day

Kamryn and mommy had breakfast at the Castle after the salon appointment. K loved having the Princesses come up to our table so she could have her picture taken with all them. Unfortunately for K though, her favorite princess wasn't at the breakfast. She stayed very loyal to Ariel and wore her mermaid dress. The minute we were done with breakfast, we headed to the Grotto to see Ariel.




















Kamryn loved the rides! The faster the better. Good thing her brothers were good sports about riding them with her!
















My princess in her rain poncho.















She was in awe at the wonderful shows!
















and the parades and fireworks at night!

A Princess for the Day

Kamryn had a fairy tale like morning . . . even though it was raining . . . again.


















Kevin dropped us off at 8am, and we made our way to the Castle for an 8:30 appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. We walked in and they presented Princess Kamryn with her royal invitation to the salon. Her Fairy Godmother-in-Training met us and asked Princess Kamryn which hairstyle was the one of her dreams for the day. Kamryn chose the Fairy-tale Princess look since she a true princess at heart.

This is Kamryn before all the magic took place:



















Here she is getting dolled up. Her Godmother-in-Training asked her if she wanted bangs or no bangs. Well I would have said bangs, but before I knew it, Kamryn answered no bangs and I didn't have the heart to change her wish since this was her day. I am not used to seeing my princess without bangs! It makes her look so much older:(















Another girl came by to do her makeup.





















Kamryn got to choose the rhinestone tiara for her hair and a Mickey-shaped hairpin was put on the back of her hair. Here are the finishing touches of the transformation.




















The magic begins when a pinch of fairy dust is sprinkled in your hair!





Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, May all your dreams come true!

All done!

Magic Kingdom

We took Kamryn to the Magic Kingdom when we first went down to visit Grandpa & Grandma three years ago. But she was only almost 2 then (thanks to my blog, I know it was Nov. 2006 from my posting - this blog thing is a great journal when the memory fails! So fun to go back and see how little the kids looked then!)

She was in awe then of the rides like It's a Small World.

She was in awe this time of all of the princesses and the faster rides!

We were all in awe at how quickly at night the Castle changed colors! I snapped this shot of it in pink and the next shot I got it was orange!

Cocoa Beach . . . in the rain

We had planned on going to Cocoa Beach one day, which is about a 45 minute drive from Kathleen & Peter's. The skies were cloudy and it was raining in Orlando, but the weather is so weird in Florida in that it can be raining in one town and sunny in the next. So we still followed Kathleen, Peter & Greta to the beach in hopes that it would be clear over there. No such luck that day.

So what do you do when you want to wait out the rain? EAT! We went to a little restaurant (with covered seating) right on the beach. Kamryn stole a few of Peter's steamed clams and actually liked them! She doesn't get those when she's with me.















After lunch we got a bit lucky because the rain actually stopped. The kids were able to run into the waves and Kamryn was thrilled to find a bunch of pretty seashells.



























It was Kamryn's first time being at the beach and she would have loved an entire afternoon there! It was actually Greta's second time being on the beach, that little adventurer that she is! Well, her parents are the adventurous and brave ones. Despite the weather, a fun day of togetherness was had by us all!








































Greta was actually put asleep by the crashing waves. The rain started again so we headed to the Ron Jon surf shop and then headed back to Orlando.

Pool time!

Grandpa & Grandma Dianne have a really nice pool. The kids loved swimming!















Once again, I had Kamryn in swim lessons for a couple of sessions before our trip. At lessons she acted afraid to jump in the pool. Not in Florida!











































Kamryn likes gator float rings!















The kids were in the pool for hours at a time. We had to shoo them out of the pool at 10 pm! I'm sure the neighbors appreciated that.

















Even baby Greta got in the pool one day!

Gatorland

We all went to Gatorland for the first time together. Even the Floridians hadn't been there yet. It was a fun afternoon! It's so cool to see so many gators together (and not on your own property or by your front door like your neighbors did, right Dianne?) and know that you are safe!




























This is a little too close in my opinion!
















Brendan LOVES holding snakes and reptiles. Oh my. He really wants one for a pet. I'd do the dog route way before this!
















Kamryn wasn't so sure!

















A fake gator is more her speed!