Orlando Vacation 2013

Matt's parents gifted us with a week at a timeshare in Florida last week.  We got to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary while we were away, and had a really fun time, just the three of us.  Truthfully, we didn't do all that much, but relaxing and having time together was a huge blessing.  Here's our week, in pictures:)

Saturday, we flew down to Orlando.  The flight was during Kate's nap time, which is NOT ideal, but the tickets were really cheap on Southwest, we were hoping she'd fall asleep for at least part of the flight.  She didn't.  Well, ok, she did, but it wasn't until we had landed and were taxi-ing to the gate.  She then proceeded to sleep on Matt's shoulder while we deplaned, made our way through the Orlando airport, and got our luggage.

checking out the safety features (aka counting the airplanes)

zonked!

Sunday morning, bright and early, Kate informed us it was 'swimming time'.  She LOVED the pools and being outside so much. 

our home for the week

snacks by the pool

After swimming all morning, we went for a paddle boat ride on the lake before heading in for lunch.  It was really fun to see everything from the water, and Kate liked going by the fountains. That night, we listened to live music over at the main pool.  Kate entertained everyone with her dance moves:)

our dancing queen

such a cute picture - these smiles don't come easily lately

We spent Wednesday at Sea World.  It was awesome.  As we were walking in, Matt was mocking me for being so excited, but by the end of the day, he was pretty happy too.  We watched the dolphin show and the Shamu show.  We also got to see sea lions, baby dolphins, sting rays, sharks, tons of fish, beluga whales, a polar bear, and a walrus.  What a fun day! After dinner, there was live music again, so we walked over.  There was a family from Virginia with two little girls that we kept running into all week.  The three little ones loved holding hands and playing together.  They danced the night away!

kisses for the penguins:)

checking out the sting rays

lionfish

you walk right under the sharks!

Shamu!

"hi babies" (baby dolphins in the nursery)

it was a little chilly in the Wild Arctic

Back to the pool on Thursday!

running under the fountains was so much fun!

Kate loved these lizards

Friday, we hung out at the pools most of the day (it was our nicest weather day), and took a long walk around the resort in the evening.

Once we finally got checked in and through security on Saturday morning, the Orland airport was great for plane watching.  We got home just in time for Kate's nap and she slept like a dream (finally!).

We are so grateful for family time!

22 months

Kate is 22 months old.  Almost 2.  That is craziness.  Mostly for my own benefit and memory, here's a bit about our little lovebug right now...

• she loves to play hide & seek with daddy, especially the part where he yells out "surprise" when she finds him
• we're working on numbers and letters, and when Kate counts to ten, she says, "1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 4"...we're getting there:)
• when you ask her where daddy works, she says "hostable" and it's adorable (she also tells you that daddy helps the kids feel better)
• she likes to give hugs AND kisses, the two always go together
• anytime you ask her about doing her hair, she chooses 2 ponytails over 1
• she loves to hold hands and walk
• she calls the park 'swing, slide, steps' because that's what she likes to do there
• cutest things Kate says right now: "love you" "bless you" and "excuse you"
• she loves her rhyme book from story time at the library 
• she's a big fan of ducks and 'geeses'
• we took the gates down from the top and bottom of the stairs because Kate can do them herself - yay!
• she's not quite ready to potty train yet (at least I'm not!), but she comes to tell you once she's gone poopy and asks you to change her
• she's slow to wake up from naps and needs a little snuggle time
• speaking of naps, she's really struggling with naps lately.  let's hope that changes soon!
• when she wakes up, she yells "mommy, open door!"
• Kate loves dogs
• instead of music, Kate says micus; and instead of Caleb, she says cable
• she knows all of the primary colors
• loves to dance and sing, and she sings about whatever is going on around her, so her songs are quite funny!
• her favorite toy is her Little People Farm
• she likes to color with crayons and sidewalk chalk
• she's a really great helper
• she knows lots of animal noises and body parts
• she loves to run around in circles, especially around our kitchen! she thinks getting dizzy is fun!
• when you ask her who her buddies are, she tells you "Greg (Matt's co-chief), Sarah (my best friend), Lincoln, or Graham."
• she's in size 4 shoes and 18 month clothes

Labor Day weekend and 'Lyssa Party'

Matt's cousin, Alyssa, got married over Labor Day weekend, so we spent the long weekend at the Farm.  Kate loves to play the piano with uncle Brian.

Kate was very excited to go along to 'Lyssa Party' with mommy and daddy and she did great.

The ceremony was outside at Grandpa Dean's house, which was really special.  Kate was mostly entertained by the crayons and paper we brought for her, but she's such a talker, it was hard to keep her totally quiet.  For example, an Amish buggy passed by and she said 'horsey, neigh, neigh' until it was out of sight:) She called out 'Bri Guy' to uncle Brian when he went up to do a reading:) And when he said Bible, she repeated the word loud enough for most everyone to hear:)

Of course, Kate's favorite part of the night was the reception - the dancing to be exact.  She was hilarious and so much fun.  It was sad to take her home because she was having such a great time.

When we saw Joe and Alyssa on Monday morning for brunch, she told Alyssa, 'Lyssa party fun'. I agree.  We had a great time celebrating!

date night!

It doesn't happen very often, but Matt and I went out on a date a few Fridays ago.  We had dinner at The Winchester in GR and then went to the final home game of the West Michigan Whitecaps.  We both had awesome food; I would totally recommend The Winchester if you're looking for a low-key night out.  Thanks mom and dad for babysitting Kate!