he can see clearly now...

the week before we went to florida, we noticed that thing 1 was having some trouble with his left eye crossing.  he's always had a little bit of eye crossing here and there, but this was more - and it was bugging him.  so, we took him in and learned that he's very far-sighted.  his poor lil eye muscles were just getting tired from straining to see.

he was a trooper!  no complaints about getting his eyes dilated, and the doc was super with him too.  the disposable sunglasses they gave us as we left were a hit as was the treat from cherry berry:

we got the glasses from eyemart, and so far we're really happy with them.  1 yr warranty on anything that happens, other than losing them.  and, they can have them ready in a couple of hours.  we got there late enough in the day that we ended up going back the next day, but it still seemed pretty fast to us!

he can see TONS better, and we're so glad.  he spent the first couple of days checking everything out, and it was so fun to watch.  of course, it would've been more fun to avoid the whole thing, but we're so impressed with how much the glasses have helped.  no crossed eyes, and a boy who is willing to try lots of things he drug his feet on before - putting his shoes on, buttoning his pants, reading books by himself.

sea world

dolphins and false killer whales

enjoying the show and some cotton candy!

 

feeding the stingrays:

where we watched the real killer whales:

 

r & a, n8, and e are in the front row:

the L's!  ta-da!!

the fishy carousel, and 2 sweet cousins

the whole family on friday evening after an AMAZING cirque du soleil show - la nouba.

it's always so nice to spend days on vacation with our family!

the kiddos are still asking every day "today, can we go to mickey mouse's house?"

disney world - animal kingdom

the whole gang, except for gram since she's behind the camera

 

lunch with the characters at the tusker house restaurant in animal kingdom:

the food was amazing, and the kids loved the characters. =)

a most delicious mickey mouse ice cream treat!

back at the villa, dinner all together and stories with papa!

disney world - magic kingdom

a happy boy with his gram on the way into "mickey mouse's house"

our lil fam, featuring cool dude and miss diva mouse

love this pic of my 3 cuties!!

waiting at the 'it's a small world ride' where someone was sooooo sleepy, and someone else was sooooo sweaty.  ick.  actually, we were both a little slimy from sunscreen, but i wouldn't trade those snuggles for anything.  :)

goofy! and his girl

meeting mickey and minnie...

love the excited face!

a realllllly fun ride in a racecar with uncle goofy, even if it was raining.

a great big fun magical day!

relaxing in florida

the group after a deeeeelicious lunch at outback

sweet sibs playing so nicely together

SO proud of swimming "all by self"

cousins!

daddy took mama to one of her favorite restaurants in the whole world - the chart house.

the next pictures (and the rest of the ones taken on our camera) will now be sporting a buttery glaze.  that's what happens when the camera gets dropped in the plate...  oops.

this place makes crab cakes like they should be.  mostly crab and a teeny bit of other stuff.

and, chocolate lava cake.  the fudgy stuff fills the plate when you cut into it.  nothing else quite like it!  followed up our meal with a little stroll along the beach.  perfect evening :)

who can spot a faker?  just the lil guy!  i thought it looked like all 3, but daddy explains it better in the comments.

hurry up and wait

we're florida bound!!

but, as usual, there was rushing to get everyone and everything out the door. hurry to get lunch, hurry to get gas, hurry to the airport, and then wait. and wait. 

and play choo-choo trains while we wait.  and watch the sunset.  and get into jammies.  and drink the bestest chocolate milk ever from starbucks (3 squirts of chocolate into a teensy cup of milk).

and get vouchers because the flight was so delayed - a decent start towards another trip!  hmmm....where should we go?

something that i've learned about myself is that i've gotta keep busy to keep from going crazy crazier.  i knew i'd probably be flying solo last week while daddy was on a business trip, so what else could i do besides make a list?  i'd already called pretty much everyone i know to invite them for a visit.

the latter didn't work out, so i have a pretty completed list.  wahoooo!!!
the kids and i spent a lot of time out doing things - little errands, meals out, garage sales, shopping, playing with our buddies.  and, we spent a lot of time at home - reading books, playing, getting dirty, and helping cross things off the list.  our week was different than usual, but keeping busy helped us all stay friendly.  :)

here's how the list ended up:
oil change
swimsuit for mama
shorts for thing 1
sandals for thing 2
t-shirts for thing 1
summer shirts for thing 2
finish continuing education
renew RN license
order thing 2's 2 yr pictures for the family
birthday thank-you's
add a few more plants to the front beds
mulch front beds
ironing
make 7 greeting cards for card club

send cards for card club
place stampin up order
make baby shower invites

trim the broken tree in the front yard

turn in form for pre-k enrollment

get the bank to fix the duplicate charge
figure out a good place to do 12x12 prints
start on pages for albums for the kids to have
finish unpacking boxes (there were 20!)
clean the garage

for those of you who have not been to our house, you have NO idea what a job the garage was.  i didn't take before pictures because it was just too embarrassing.  this pic is from the house looking out, and it was completely obstructed by boxes.  still a ways to go, but progress has been made!