Our Week of Firsts

The week of back to school. It was different for everyone. I went back first, then Brooklynn, then Autumn. We might've all had different  start times, but we made it work!

Brooklynn had "Meet the Teacher" on Monday of my preplanning. Ron was working, so during my lunch, I went to get her from Mimi's so she could meet her teacher, then took her back to Mimi's.

That night, I decorated her bag for school. They have to use canvas totes instead of backpacks, so I vinyl them. Brooklynn got Tinkerbell, because, well, Brooklynn IS Tinkerbell. ha! Autumn got a pink mermaid, of course!

Brooklynn's first day of Preschool was on Thursday. Her school started on Wednesday, but she's only going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

That was also the first day of Gymnastics for the semester.  

Let me tell you about that day.

Ron worked that day. I didn't want Brooklynn to have to spend her first day of school at before care, all day at school, and then go to aftercare.  So my mom picked her up from school and kept her. I picked up Autumn and Caroline from Mimi's and then met my parents at the gas station down the road on the way to gymnastics. 

It was a crazy day. We went to our favorite "after gymnastics dinner" place where life could calm down...and I realized that day. It takes a village to raise children. I'm okay with that. Because we are lucky to have people in our lives that love my girls and are happy to help! That means more to me than trying to do everything on my own. 

Can I do it all? Yes, but why should I when there's a village? And look how happy they are! Are they suffering because I don't do it all? Nope. They are feeling more loved, I think, because they can see and feel the love of the people around them!

That weekend, the sun was shining and of course we headed to the beach! 

Then Monday was Autumn's first day of Kindergarten!  She's coming to my school now.

I really like having her at my school. I get to see her all the time. She goes to activity right before us, so I see her in the transition. And she goes to lunch right after we do, so when I walk in to get my kids, she's sitting right there for me to hug and kiss and yell at if she hasn't eaten her food before her snacks. haha! 

And she happens to have one of the best teachers, Mrs. Jones. She already loves her! I can't wait to see what she learns from her this year!

It has definitely been a crazy few weeks, but it has been great!! Here's to a great year for us all!

Caroline - 9 months!

So Caroline... Sweet Caroline, is 9 months old.

3/4 of a year old. Holy cow.

By this point, she's had MANY photo sessions. haha!  Even Autumn is getting behind the camera to photograph her now. I get it. I like taking lots of pictures too!

Caroline and the other baby... 

Her sisters like that she's older now and they can make her get in on all of their shenanigans - haha! Oh boy!

We've had a lot of fun beach days too.

And hanging out with the family some more!

Oh. This is big.

Caroline has learned to CRAWL.

How did she learn to crawl?? We put food in front of her! haha! Will crawl for food.

She continues to melt my heart every day.

Another trip to Disney!

This time we went to Epcot - this is her eating a croissant - yum!!

And she got to meet some princesses.

What a hard life... falling asleep and being carried around.

More fun at the beach.

More sister shenanigans. I mean honestly - she is their personal baby doll. ha!

Caroline is less than thrilled when I mention that it's family clean the house day!

More beach days. haha

And yes, I still bathe her in the baby tub. It's because I HATE bath time.. I hate bending over the tub and dealing with all that water. If I have her in the sink, it's at my level and it's BOOM quick, we're done!  I know. I'm weird, but I KNOW I'm not the only one out there that hates bath time.

But I DO love snuggle times!  She's just sooo sweet!

My Birthday Week!

Yes, you heard that right. My birthday week.

Ha! I just love my birthday!  And boy, do I know how to milk it! haha!

I started the celebration week off with my {big pool party} over the weekend.

Monday (or Tuesday? I can't remember), I met up with the girls to go shopping. I don't shop. Most people know that about me. ESPECIALLY at the mall. But I went. But mostly I went for the Chipotle lunch! Yum!! They brought me cupcakes. I felt so special! And loved. <3

Since Ron was working ON my birthday, they gave my birthday present early... mermaid measuring spoons! yes, please!! 

Then my actual birthday came!!  I'm usually on vacation for my birthday, but if I'm in town, I WILL be at the beach. And so I was.

With my sandy baby!

And our friends.

Then we headed to Cantina's for $0.99 margaritas! yes, please!

This is probably one of my favorite pictures!

Happy birthday to meeee!

The girls' section

Then it was off to Moo's for some birthday ice cream!

Seriously. This picture of Autumn. She's so pretty in this picture!

Soo glad I got to spend my birthday with some of my favorite people, even if my husband was working - ha!  And look at Caroline's face - she's so annoyed that I won't give her any! haha! 

 Thursday was another day of pampering...this was a must have pretty toes for back to school AND more birthday fun! haha...of course.

Thursday, it was family birthday dinner time! My grandma's birthday is the day after mine, so we always get together for our birthdays.

We have to do a 4 Generations of Women picture EVERY time we get together!

One of my favorite presents I got was my new mermaid slider Alex & Ani!

OH! and my new Tervis Cups!!  No, that is not a Harry Potter cup, it's my Flagler College emblem.

They just added to my Tervis addiction! These are all the 24 oz cups. I also have 5 or 6 16 oz cups and a sports bottle...oh and the girls each have a Tervis too! haha!

Then, on Friday, we headed to Disney...because we always head to Disney for birthdays.

This time we headed to Epcot.

I ALMOST bought this hat. I mean.... everyone could wear it. It would get lots of use, right!? haha

Instead, I just opted to don my birthday button.  Let me tell you, if you love to have your birthday noticed, head to Disney and wear something that says it's your birthday! All day long, I heard people saying or yelling across the walkway "happy birthday!"  It was nice. I liked it. haha!

I just love Epcot. It's usually less crowded than Disney, for obvious reasons, but I really like it. It's so beautiful and the countries are done up so perfectly!

Oh, Canada!

A little visit in England!

Where we met Mary Poppins! We have already gotten our pictures with her, but it was by a gate, and even Autumn goes "But this is where she lives!"  haha. 

Then we headed to Paris, 

where we had a "snack" at a little cafe that's hidden around the corner. 

 I had a brie and apple sandwich, Ron had a croque monsieur, and then we had a chocolate croissant.

Caroline LOVED the croissant! I took out the chocolate and just gave her the bread. She kept screaming for it- haha!

While we were there, we got to see this amazing acrobat waiters. I mean, seriously. Look at this! I'm amazed. 

Then we headed to our storybook Dining in Norway!

Where we finally got to meet Belle!

The girls got to be in a parade with the princesses and Aurora came to get them!

And Cinderella came around to say hi...

Then my girl, Ariel (bad picture...darn photographer!)

And Snow White

After lunch we headed over to talk with Crush. Caroline finally fell asleep!

Hi Nemo!

After talking with Crsuh, we headed onto the ride. It reminds me a lot of The Little Mermaid ride with the clam shells - ha!

And finally, the girls hung out with Bruce.

And now my birthday week has come to an end. I must say, I really did enjoy this week. Some people don't like their birthday.

I, on the other hand, am NOT one of those people! Here's to another fun year of life!