zoo day!

We went to the zoo with Grandma while the weather was still nice.  It was such a fun time - and much less busy than the summer months had been.  Kate was on a major Grandma kick that day, and only wanted Grandma to hold her or give her piggy back rides.  If I remember right, she also only wanted Grandma to change her diaper when we got home - that one was fine with me:)

Baby Abigail

My best friend, Sarah, had her sweet baby girl! Abigail Elizabeth Molenkamp was 7 lb, 10 oz and 20 inches long - almost the same exact size as Kate:) We got to go meet her in the hospital and it was love at first sight.  Even Kate was smitten:)

hugs and kisses for Abigail

Sunday Fun Day

After Kate's nap we drove over to Orchard Hill Farm (68th and Hanna Lake Rd) for some fall fun.  They have a fun little farm stand, with lots of Michigan apples, and a free hayride for families.  The ride wasn't too far, but we got to see lots of fun stuff along the way.  They even had animals to check out at the end, which Kate really enjoyed.

bigs

Kate likes to be lots of big things lately...

big girl
big helper
big climber

And, most excitingly, big sister!

We're having another baby next February.  Now that I'm out of the first trimester and feeling much better, it's pretty exciting.  Kate knows where mommy's baby is (she points to my belly), and likes to give baby hugs and kisses:) Each time we ask her if the baby is a boy or a girl, she changes her mind.  I'm not sure how much she understands about the whole thing, but it's fun anyway.

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!