Keeping up with...

...BIG BROTHERS!  


William is now 15 months!  I can't hardly believe it our baby is so old.  In the past month, Will has decided that he wants to do everything his older brothers do!  When they are climbing trees, he stands at the bottom and struggles to climb, or when one of the older two gets off of their bike, Will is right there ready to hop on.  It has been pretty cute to watch, although I am a bit nervous...he not afraid of anything!  I have ANOTHER little thrill seeker on my hands.  

this little play set came with our rental house
and, no, Henry usually doesn't play with iphones in the backyard...i had no idea until i saw this picture- BUSTED!

one big brother lending a helping hand

it can be very tiring trying to be one of the big boys

Halloween Fun

A local church here in town puts on a yearly "Orange Festival" which is basically a free evening of games, trunk-or-treating, blow up bounce houses, and just plane old good fun for the whole family.  The highlight of the evening was eating our first ever fried oreo cookies.  I was a skeptic, but Josh had heard the were delicious, so we tried them (not a lot to risk here, as fried food is usually good stuff).  Wow, they were awesome!  The oreos were coated in funnel cake batter and then fried, and the result is probably the best tasting thing ever.
The boys enjoyed dressing up, playing games, and collecting treats.  Josh and I, once again, had a great time watching them.   We usually recycle costumes, and since ours were geared toward Nebraska Halloweens (usually cold), I was worried we might have some heat stroke issues, but the boys ended up being fine (although pretty sweaty!).  Will was the bumble bee that Henry had been as a baby, and Sean was the same monkey he was last year, and Henry was a very proud firefighter.

And here they are heading out to trick-or-treat.  They had a fantastic time and got way too much candy.

Pier Fishing

We have tried to make the most of the fishing in Florida, and in doing so, we have visited some fishing piers for some ocean fishing.  In our first few months here, we drove to Navarre, Florida, to visit the pier and beaches there.  Navarre is about 45 minutes West of us, but totally worth the drive.  There is a fee to fish the pier, or walk the pier, and they also rent heavy duty fishing poles and gear for those of us who don't own the proper pier/ocean fishing gear.  On our first visit, we did not catch any fish, but we had a blast learning how to fish off of the pier, and we enjoyed the scenery.  For those of you who don't know, since I can remember, I have LOVED dolphins.  So, as we were driving to Navarre, I was having dreamy thoughts of having a dolphin sighting.  Well, as we were walking down the pier trying to find the perfect spot to cast our lines, Josh said, "there is  a dolphin!"  The dolphin was so close, and it was AMAZING!  The water was incredibly clear and we watched this dolphin play and chase a fish until it finally ate it, and eventually swam off.  It made my day, and the boys were so excited.  Here she is swimming off.

And here are some other photos from our first and second visit (we took my dad when he was here back in August).  Oh, and the second time we came, with my dad, my dad and I spotted a dolphin just as we were leaving!

That fish on the end of the line is bait, not a catch

This is a bit blurry, but you can see Will & I on the left, Josh & Sean on the right, and Henry in the middle

Most recently, we visited the Fort Walton Beach Pier.  The pier itself isn't as nice as the Navarre pier, but it is closer to where we live and the beach is better.  We arrived late morning, and we had no expectations of seeing dolphins on that occasion.  Shortly after we arrived, we noticed a few dolphins swimming on one side of the pier.  Little did we know, that for the entire three hours we were there, we would be watching dolphins on either side of the pier (including a mom and her baby)!!  We probably saw at least ten different dolphins, but they took turns hanging around the pier doing their own fishing.  And further out, there were three dolphins jumping and playing around for about 30 minutes.  I had never seen them jump in the wild, so that was another special treat!  Apparently, the fishermen don't care for the dolphins swimming around and scaring all of the fish away, but I was LOVING it!  This is one of dolphins that we saw:

We also saw our first and second sea turtles.  They are just a dark, circular blob in the water, but, when they surface, they are pretty amazing looking.  It surprised Josh and how large they are, and cool they were.

So, apparently the whole point of this adventure wasn't about the dolphins or sea turtles, it was to go fishing.  We did do some of that, and Josh caught our biggest catch as of yet.  Here she is:

Josh reeling in our big catch (called a Ladyfish or Skipjack).  The boys were so excited, and cheering so loud for their dad!

Taking a break.  Disclaimer: they ate from the community bag of chips prior to holding any bait or fish!

Even Will had to take a little break from fishing and dolphin watching

Rain

It amazes me how children are little sponges.  After reading this poem to Henry, twice a day for three days, he had it memorized.  Sean was around for one of those days, and all of a sudden, he was reciting the poem as well.  

Speaking of rain, we got A LOT of rain in July and early August.  The rain storms can be pretty amazing here.  At any  moment, it might just start to down pour, and then just as suddenly as it started, it can stop.  We have enjoyed the "tropical rains" very much, but I do have to admit, when it was raining most of the day, every day back in July & August, we were sick of it.  The beach was calling our names!  Here are some pictures of us trying to make the most of a rainy day...

Orlando

For Labor Day, Josh was giving a four day weekend, so off we drove to Orlando!  It is a six hour drive, but we decided to take the scenic coastal route, which added a good hour.  Driving along with a view of beautiful, white, sandy beaches NEVER gets old!  I had packed a picnic lunch, and we found a great place to stop and eat.  It happened to be a training site for D-Day, so we got the added bonus of a history lesson as well.

It was a much needed stop, with a beautiful view

The boys had a great time feeding the seagulls

We stayed at a great hotel right by Sea World.  The hotel had the BEST hotel pool for young children that I have ever seen, and the boys loved it.  

Anheuser-Busch sponsors a "Here's to the Heroes," offering active duty military (and their family) free admission to Sea World for a day.  Thank you, Anheuser-Busch!  We just loved Sea World.  Here are some of our memories....

The Manatee

Waiting for the dolphin show to begin.  Yup, I planned the whole "matchy-matchy" thing...for safety purposes only.  But they sure are cute, aren't they?! 

See that guy in the second row- the one who has the kid in the headlock?  That is Josh and Henry.

Our fearless leader with half of a map.  He was insistent that we go to the "Orca Whale Show," and then he ended up hating the show.  The rest of us enjoyed it.

"Petting" the sting ray

As Josh and Henry approached the front of the line for the Shamu roller coaster, Henry instructed his father, "Dad, I am riding in the front row, by myself.  You can ride in the back."  Josh exited the line at that point, and Henry (my little thrill seeker) had a blast.  And I survived too...

Following suit, Sean insisted on riding the "tornado" ride all by himself.  It was the only ride he was tall enough to ride on his own, and he did.  He unsuccessfully tried to spin the tornado, but it did not take away from the success of riding solo.  

Shark bait

The next day we spent at Aquatica, Sea World's water park.  It is a wonderful place to be on a very hot day.  Unfortunately, we did not even bring the camera, but you will have to trust me that it is a great place, and we had a great time.  Our favorite part was floating down the "river" together (many times)...all five of us hanging on to each other getting carried along by the fast current.  It was exciting, yet relaxing (Will almost fell asleep), and a family moment that was unexplainably special...I will cherish it forever.  

Papa's visit

My dad was here a few weeks ago for a visit, and we had a FANTASTIC time with him!  It was great having his company, and the boys really enjoyed some special time with Papa.  He was here to witness Will's first steps, and he even got Will to say, "Papa"!  Henry and Sean enjoyed his lessons in how to be a "root'in-toot'in cowboys," and showing Papa all around Florida (at least the part we live in)!  

Josh and I were able to take advantage of the free babysitting, and we had a wonderful date night on our 6th anniversary.  Here we are before we left....and right after I fell down the stairs.  Needless to say, I don't wear heals much these days.  Luckily for me, my handsome date was there at the bottom attempting to catch me!  

Dad took a two day side trip to Alabama to visit EWTN headquarters, and The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.  On his way back to our house, he was kind enough to stop by Costco, and load us up with non-parishables.  We miss having a Costco nearby, but we miss you, Dad, even more.  Looking forward to your next visit....

Celebration Times

Here is an update:

Will's Birthday

Will got this far into his cake, and then just yelled until we cleaned him up

Will had a lot of help opening his gifts!

We celebrated Henry's feast day on July 13th

Dart guns!  They were pretty fun when we had a big empty house!  Josh especially enjoyed this toy!

and...milkshakes.  It was a good day of celebrating his patron saint

Our stuff is here!  No more of this:

We have a table and chairs!

It is so good to be settled.


The cast is off, and Henry is enjoying the water, sand, and he is back on his bike (no training wheels), and he is riding faster than ever....YIKES!

Sean's Birthday

Sean enjoyed the perks of celebrating a birthday very much!  He has never shied away from receiving attention, so it was natural for him to soak it in!  By the end of the day, he would be heard ending his sentences with, "...because it is my birthday."  

To help us celebrate, we invited two of Josh's fellow residence and their families over for some cake and play time.  The boys loved meeting their "new friends," and we adults enjoyed getting to know each other as well.

Here is a picture of the lion cake:

We got Sean a pair of cap guns, and the boys have been donning the cowboy gear and shooting all of the bad guys.  It is adorable watching them make the world a safer place! 

I was eager to get us unpacked and settled as quickly as I could, but I could only find one helper.  Turns out, he wasn't much help at all...

This last photo is from way back when we used to "live" in a hotel.  I am not sure how the boys managed this, because I had just straightened them out.  Anyway, I thought it was pretty cute...