Happy 4th Birthday!

So I'm a little late in posting this (by exactly a week), but I'm still going to re-date the post to match with Ed's actual birthday.

Eddie turned four years old. All sorts of things were going to change in his mind when he turned four, or at least he told us so. He does mention being four a lot now. It's cute.

Last year he didn't want a party at all, so this year we thought we'd see if we could invite a couple neighborhood friends he plays with on a nearly-daily basis and he surprised us by wanting to include his entire preschool class as well.

I guess the birthday parties we've been taking him too in the last couple months have paid off. He knows the drill about the cake. I've been told that most kids Eddie's age change their mind, and change their mind again until you are ready to scream.

Eddie makes up his mind and sticks to it--just like his dad. He wanted to have a dog party from the first time we talked about his birthday. So we made dog invites complete with little dog ears (in blue, his favorite color). Den copied a dog cake out of a book (Den's looks better than the one in the book). We bought white icing and with the miracle that is food coloring, it became a blue dog.

When Eddie was a blue dog for Halloween 2 years ago, everyone thought he was Blu from Blue's Clues. I don't think he's ever even seen the show (maybe we should try and rent a couple episodes?).

We then had the kids make either cat or dog hats and provided crayons, stickers and such to decorate. Of course Eddie was a cat to shake things up a bit. They then made cat/dog collars out of candy (needless to say, they were happy to do this one for a while).

The only dud was a modified pin the dog part on the dog body--have the kids draw a dog part out of a bag, and then stick said part on the dog with their eyes closed.

I think a version of Simon says might have been more fun for them.

In all, it was a great sucess and despite that Eddie was not smiling a big toothy grin below, he was grinning the whole time (except when we had the camera out).

Everyone says the time goes quickly with kids, but man I can't believe how fast it goes. I know I have memories of my fourth birthday, I wonder what Ed's will be?

The Orange Grove, Part 1

This is still on the first day...It was so cold outside that we wanted to go somewhere we could be inside. Que the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Science and Discovery. I am not a museum person -- but we were there a full 3 hours--and Eddie would have stayed much longer had we let him.

J fell asleep en route, so g'pa napped with her whilst we took Eddie inside. Once we actually got him inside, that is. There is a giant gravity fed clock out front (he said it was his favorite part of the musuem) and he didn't want to go inside to see anything. As far as he was concerned, this was the purpose of the trip.

Then we got him inside and he didn't want to leave their Orange Grove. They have a great toddler/preschool area full of hands-on experiences.

More pictures in the next post, but you 'pick' the oranges by pulling them out of the trees and if they get overloaded with oranges, they tend to pop right out of the trees.

You then put them in a bin (the glass part behind Eddie), the bicycle moves them up a lift and overhead to fall back down into crates. A kid then takes the crates loaded with oranges over to the conveyor belt and they go into another life that pushes them into the 'orange trees'.

FLA Day 1 part 2

We also discovered a great b-fast place right across the street from the hotel and Kirsten and her mom hauled all the way out to us (at least a 40 min. drive). We had a great b-fast. The waitress was incredulous that Josie and Eddie would each eat an adult portion of french toast and pancakes respectively, yet that's just what they did (or nearly). Poor Den ordered a stack of pancakes thinking he'd give Eddie a bit. Den got 1 of the 4 and only 1 (or was it 2) of the 4 pieces of french toast from J's plate. We had to supplement from the side dish column.
Kirsten and I are actually second cousins, as her dad and I are the cousins. In our family, the cousins are spread all over the country (and always have been), yet when we get together, we waste no time and pick up where we left off last time.

So I know Ed's head is chopped off here, but I don't usually carry either kid on my shoulders, so I thought it funny that she was covering my eyes...

FLA--Day 1 part 1 :)

I wish Blogger had a way to create an album off to the side so I could just upload all the photos with mini-captions and write a brief synopsis of the trip. If someone knows of a way, just let me know. At some point I'll read the instructions on how to upload a video...(which clearly didn't work).

We met g'parents Wisc in FLA for the second time (last year being the first) and for all my relatives we saw, it probably should have been g'parents Ohio, yet G'parents Wisc. gamely came along to see everyone.
It was soooo cold in FLA. I was cold standing outside in long pants, long sleeves and fleece jacket. We went this year to the exact same place, down to the same hotel (different rooms). It's called 'High Noon Resort' and it's wonderful, not to mention extremely difficult to get into. People come back each year the same weeks and book 1-2 weeks, including taking their kids out of school. They book months, if not an entire year in advance.

Den and I are not the 'go the same place twice' kind of people--unless it involves Mickey Mouse. Much as we loved it, this is likely the last time we'll go there for at least a couple years, as there are just too many other places in the world to see. However, last year we discovered this park on our last day, so were happy to start the trip out by taking the kids there after b-fast with E's cousins.
This is Kirsten, who was captivated by Josie and Eddie--and likewise.

I'm with Eddie--what the heck is this thing?

Pre-FLA poses

Den had to go out West right before FLA. He was slated to get back to town 9pm on Wed. and we were to leave 9am on Thurs. I tried to convince him that I could get us three to the airport and even make it to ATL to meet him, but he said he wanted to come home. Secretly I think he was trying to get flight segments and earn miles (which is fine with me), but a little crazy too. He could have stayed at his meeting an extra day.

I will admist that it was nice to grab the kids and run inside, leaving Den in the 16 degree weather to curb-check our luggage.

Below pic is the kids horsing around on Tuesday. Oh and the week was all changed around because our nanny's daughter had her first child on Tuesday, so we gave her the day off, so she could be with her during the birth--she assured us her daughter wanted her there...

Orange Eddie Video

First time ever trying to upload a video, we'll see if it works...explaination in video. This is in FLA.