Logan's party

Logan's extended birthday party finally came to a close today. He turned four on the 11th and we had dinner that evening at Steak and Shake (see picture far below). Today we had his PIRATE birthday party with friends at a community pool. He had a pirate birthday cake, pirate pinata, eye patches, and swimming in a pool (cuz we all know pirates hang around water). It was fun, and he made us laugh when he sang "Yo Ho Yo Ho a pirate's life for me" unsolicited when we brought out his cake. What a kid...

Shuttle

We were lucky enough to go with a friend who works at NASA to see the last launch of shuttle Atlantis. It was truly amazing to watch it that close. It was so bright it hurt your eyes to look at it. The rumble that came about 5 seconds later was the best part. My video doesn't quite do it justice. It brought tears to my eyes it was such a neat experience! The weather even was bearable because we had a nice bay breeze. What a great experience for my kids. Logan was upset because he wanted to go with them and I said you needed to be an astronaut and he said, well I can be one!!! Maybe later buddy!


A few things I learned while I was with my NASA store of knowledge (our friend, Michelle). ~The space shuttle is what goes into space (booster rockets and all) and the orbital is what comes back from space (the airplane looking piece) ~ The orbital can lap the earth in 90 minutes ~ The space shuttle leaves the earth going at least 17,000mph with no traffic, we left the site going 5 mph and tons of traffic ~ If a bird is on the shuttle before take off, the launch will be delayed because you can't shew it off, throw rocks or yell for it to move. (I wonder if those environmentalists wait for bugs, birds to fly off their car before they leave or get in it?) ~The landing strip for the orbital is the longest runway is the US and maybe the world. They have to deploy a parachute just to slow down ~ If the crew can't land in Florida because of weather, they land in California and pay $1 million to piggy back on a 757 back to Florida. ~Kennedy Space center deals with manned missions and Cape Canaveral deals with unmanned missions~ Pretty interesting stuff to me.

We had a wonderful day and are grateful we had the opportunity

Pirates, princesses and strawberries

The local theatre sent free tickets to us for their pirates and princess ballet. I decided to take Raegan and Logan (yes Logan too) He is crazy about pirates and so I hoped he would like it. I packed treats and we set off with our friend Mayra. It turned out to be okay. I read Logan the synopsis beforehand so he would understand and he did pretty well. The treats came in very handy at certain times. Overall it was a fun evening going to something new.

We finally made it out to Pappy's strawberry patch to pick strawberries. They have the best strawberries around! We picked a TON! Then we came home and made the delicious strawberry jam. I think we ended up making close to 10 batches, that is a lot of jam. Thankfully a few friends came over and helped and took some home. I am not sure I would have had enough room in my freezer. It is the best jam and I have been gaining weight eating white bread and jam as much as I can. It is scrumptious!

Bucs Field

Pictures of us at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (where the Buccaneers play, and site of the Super Bowl 2 years ago). Raegan's school has a local chapter of "All Pro Dads", which is an organization that meets monthly at her school and is designed to strengthen Dad/Child relationships. The capstone activity each year is the night at the stadium w/ about 3,000 other people from Central Florida. Kids get to play games and hear speakers at 6 different stations, and Tony Dungy briefly addresses the masses. It was a fun evening- great temperature and fairly fun activities (see Logan running into the blocking pad below). Logan was extremely bummed we didn't get to go on the Pirate ship in the North endzone, but we'll probably go again next year anyway...

Grandpa Zundel would be proud

The pirate ship in the back was the highlight of the night

Brielle's tantrum

By the time I got the video, she had almost stopped but nothing like a rolling on the ground trantrum because mom makes you pick up your drink cup!

Cute pics of Brielle Ruby

Brielle's 2-year old pictures. We just can't stop smiling at our little butterfly Minnie stinker...

Beautiful Savannah

For spring break we went to Savannah GA with Jake's family. It was one of the most beautiful, full of character and old stories, cities I have ever been to. They have a great river walk, amazing squares with huge oaks and gorgeous flowers. I recommend it to everyone!Brielle eating with her hands my taco salad. That girl learns manners from her dad ;)Rocking chairs at Hilton Head. Not my favorite place. Too many yacht resorts for me but it has a great lighthouse.Many of the houses had these cool stairways leading up to them. I want to retire to one of these one of these days. They were beautiful!Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!Waiting in line for 2 hours to eat at Mrs. Wilkes boarding house. The best fried chicken I have ever tasted and many other southern dishes I have never heard of. Who eats rudabaga? One of the old stone walls next to river walk. The streets were all paved in stones brought over from Europe on the boats.

Enjoying the sun and some quiet time.

One of the many squares

A cool statue on river walk.

The beach on Brielle's birthday. We didn't plan on going there that is why Brielle still has her Minnie Dress on.

Brielle's birthday

Brielle turned 2 last week! She is getting so big and her vocabulary increases exponentially every day. She uses words I don't even use. She is a very sweet girl who loves Minnie Mouse and she loves to pester her "broder". Her and Raegan often team up against him, but Logan seems to hold his own still. We are happy she is part of our family! We were in Savannah for her birthday.

We went to a very southern restaurant and they came out to sing "Happy Birthday" and she just lit up like a light. She loved every minute of the attention they gave her.

She wore a Minnie dress and when ever someone commented on it she always said very accusingly "It's my birday!" She carried a mickey balloon around most of the day because she told me that is what she wanted. Easy to please!

The Big 6!

Our little Raegan isn't so little any more. She turned SIX!!! Has it been six years since I met her for the first time? I feel like I have never been without her. She is a wonderful little adult who is a great artist, loves to sing and dance and LOVES school! She is just like a sponge and soaks up everything.

She had a birthday party with a few friends

She wanted to see "How to train your Dragon" It was a great movie! Thanks everyone for sharing her birthday with us!

Jake's birthday

Jake turned the big 33! We had a little party with his friends and ate way too much cake and ice cream. We had a very competetive volleyball tournament where I think the kids won. In case you all didn't know, I have the best husband in the world! I know it is cheesy, but there is no one better out there.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to visit with one of my old roommates from Ricks. She was in Florida visiting her brother so we met in the middle and our kids had a chance to meet each other and play. Andrea is a great person who I am so glad I have been able to stay in touch. We met at a historical park and the kids had a great time playing in all the old houses with all the old farm equipment. This was an old school house where they all tried to be the teacher.

This last picture was fun because when we were at Ricks we had the same car, color and all. When I pulled up in the van we discovered we had the same van, color and all. Hers was just in Indiana so we had to take a picture like the one below with our twin cars.

This was us 13 years ago!

Grandma's and Disney

My mom and grandma came to visit and it was wonderful! They helped out so much so that Jake and I could repaint the rooms in our house. It is amazing how much Jake and I can get done with no kids running under our feet! We did fit some time in to play! We had wonderful weather and enjoyed ourselves immensely!

Birthday's came a little early for the kids with grandmas here!