Mystery Night at Aguille

Our latest Mystery Night took us to Aguille Rock Climbing Center up in Longwood and then to the Mellow Mushroom for a little late night snack & drink. Our group had to take a short course on how to harness, tie knots in our ropes and "belay" before we were able to climb a few of the many walls in the room. It was late at night, so we didn't stay too long, but Roger & I really enjoyed it and plan to take the boys there at some point to let them climb too.

Our group during our "belay" course (taken by Terri's iphone)

Me & Rog

Rog racing Erec to the top

I made it to the top of a higher wall!

Me with my flight of beer at the Mellow Mushroom

Carly with Characters

This was Carly's first real experience with standing in line to take pictures with some of the Disney characters at Animal Kingdom. We had just come out of the Lion King show and the lines were fairly short so we saw Donald, Minnie, Goofy and Thumper. She was so excited!

Pinewood Derby

The Cub Scout's Pinewood Derby race was double the fun this year since we worked on two "cars" instead of one. We thought both would win trophies, but only Justin came home with one for "best block of wood". Chase's looked pretty good though and he was a very good sport about not winning anything. Guess we'll try a different approach next year.

Roger working the track

Ryan, Owen, Justin & William all win trophies

Grant & Chase excited about their race

Chase's "winner"

Justin's Geico money

Carly's First Haircut

Haircut you say? How can you cut hair from a head that doesn't have much to begin with? Well, Ashley told me that if I got Carly's hair cut, it would grow faster. So, when the boys were getting their haircut at the local Great Clips, we just plopped her in a chair too. She was very cooperative and happy when they gave her a piece of her hair taped inside a panda bear card. :)

Up in Smoke

Yet another successful Christmas tree burning at Roger & Sharon's house, this time with lots of trees & lots of friends. Love this annual tradition!

Sea Turtle Rescue

Roger & Sharon truly have a passion for nature and wildlife... and it showed when they drove out to Merritt Island two days in a row during Central Florida's coldest days to help rescue over 2000 sea turtles. They are an inspiration!

On the Court

It's hard to get good pictures (on my camera anyway) of the boys' basketball games, but here are a few shots of them on the court.

Princess Breakfast with Addison

Carly was invited to her best friend Addison's birthday princess breakfast at Norway in Epcot. The girls were so happy to be together, dining on Mickey waffles, fresh fruit, muffins and orange juice. They were a little apprehensive when the princesses came around to greet them, but enjoyed it nonetheless. Addison was enamored with Ariel and I think Carly's favorite was Belle. I personally like Snow White's dress the best. Thanks Kristen & Jimmy for including us in her special morning!

Winter in Florida

We've had some record cold temperatures this winter in central Florida, with a few of our overnight temperatures bottoming out in the upper 20s. Gosh, that's actually freezing! That being said, if we know the temperature is going to dip below 32, we set the sprinklers to go off in the night so our kids can play with icicles in the morning. They also put out cups & pans of water the night before to see if they'll freeze. What fun for Florida kids!

Brrrr, 28 degrees when we woke up!

Icicles from the sprinklers

Chase with a tiny icicle

Justin & Owen with ice from the alley

Justin with a big sheet of ice from the alley

Carly & Daddy with their sheet of ice

Cutie Carly with her new hat & gloves

Honor Roll and the Dean's List

I know I'm trying to catch up on my blog posts, but I have to interject this current post before returning to early January...

A big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Justin for making Honor Roll again (straight A's this time), to Chase for getting the 1st grade equivalent of straight A's and to Blake for making the Dean's List at the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine at UCF. You guys rock and we are so proud of you all!

Upward Basketball, Here We Come!

The boys are both playing Upward Basketball, a Christian Sports League hosted by Celebrate Church, for the first time. They were really excited when they got their reversible uniforms that they put them on every day after school! Here they are in Justin's favorite "orange" and Chase's favorite "blue", with Carly wearing Roger's coach shirt. She yelled at them "hustle" as they dribbled up and down our hallway :)

New Year's Eve

I think I will always remember this past New Year's Eve, not for how exciting it was, but for how I dragged the Erickson & us on a walking/biking tour of Celebration to visit friends at 10 pm and then made them stay awake until the midnight hour. Everyone was a good sport!

Carly fell asleep around 11:30 pm on the couch

The men after our walk/bike ride, but before fireworks

We did some fireworks, thanks to "Uncle John"

Erin & I shortly before they left to walk the few blocks home

Backyard camping

I told the boys they could each have a friend spend the night (Owen & Grant) and then proceeded to go out with my friends to the movies and left Roger "in charge". When I came home shortly after midnight, they were all still awake (except Carly) and watching a movie on the flat screen in the tent in the backyard. Dad is so cool! Here's what it looked like out there...

Christmas Day

This past Christmas was one of the most relaxing for me - free of stress, hurriedness and worry and full of joy, happiness and peace. Not exactly sure why, but I'm going to chalk it up to the Holy Spirit! I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few from our day hanging out at home.

Dad & Chase checking out the new ant farm

Nami & Popi with the kids after opening gifts

Carly snuggling up with her gift from Santa at the table

Us (minus Popi) at the "Christmas dinner" table

Me & Nami wearing our casual Christmas outfits - not planned!