Conversating

Liam: [walks into the bathroom] I love your home.
Dash: This IS my home. It's very clean. [spins to admire]

Dash: I want to sing a song about juice. I like juice, I love juice, Santa loves juice, ho ho ho.

Liam: [Sweetly, sing-songy] We are married. [hugs me, burying face in my neck]
Me: How did we get married?
Liam: For love!

Liam: I showed Dash this.
Me: Did he think it was funny?
Liam: [looks out window] Yes it's still sunny!

Liam: Hey fiddle fiddle the cat ran away with the spoon.

Dash: I'm Mrs. Sockilow and I have two boys and one girl. You're the girl, mommy.

Dash and Liam: Be escalent together! [Sean was teaching them "Be excellent to each other"]

Dash: What does Iron Man says?
Me: I am Iron Man.
Dash: What does Iron Man says still?
Me: He says, "Help me Jarvis!"
Dash: What does Iron Man says still?
Me: [not remembering his girlfriends name]... I love you, Penny.
[Dash and Liam giggle and find a coin, then hold it in a hand, stroking it]
Liam: I love you, penny.
Dash: I love you, penny.

Liam: [toots] I made a song with my toots!

Dash: [quickly] abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyznowiknowmyabcsnexttimewontyousingwithme
Liam: abcde ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh z!

Dash: Do you know... H A... P P Y?

Liam: There are bad guys in my mouth.

Dash: Dear Henly Fadder, thank thee for oranges, milk, peanut butter sandwich, meat, that's all. Jesus Christ amen. [a very typical prayer. They are very grateful for food. Milk is rarely left off the list.]

Liam: There's Best Buy!
Dash: We went there last night! [It was three months ago. Anything that has happened in the past is referenced as "last night"]

Liam: [Sees a church member's photo] I know her! She helped me! I love her.

Dash: What are they doing, daddy?
Sean: Playing hockey.
Dash: I want to do that! Look, mom, they're hockeying!

Dash: [talking to a toy phone] 'lo? I need some envelopes at my home. [hangs up]

[Grey sneezes twice]
Dash: Bless you bless you.

Dash: Stay up there, friend!
Liam: I'm going to win.
Dash: Don't bump your bottom! STAY UP THERE, FRIEND!

Liam: Ready go.
Dash: I going.
Liam: Stop!
Dash: I will stop!

Dash: I win! Your turn.
Liam: You need to say "your turn, purple horse" [They like to have alter egos]

[Watching a little train video]
Dash: Color color purple color!
Liam: Color color green color! Red color!
Dash: Gray color gray color gray color!

Liam: There's a bird out there. Do you see? I'll  point and you will look.
Dash: I don't see.
Liam: Put your head down, put your head down. [pushes Dash's head down]
Dash: I'm looking for other birds.

Liam: Everyfing is awesome. Everyfing is awesome. Everyfing is awesome. Everyfing is awesome. Everyfing is awesome. Everyfing is awesome. [We may have just seen the Lego movie...]

Liam: [tapping his chest] Jesus is right here. In my heart. Is right here.

Grey: Ah da da da RAR! [to me it sounds like he's saying, "the lion says RAR!"]

Dash: I'm the first one! I win!
Liam: I'm the last one! I win!

Liam: Grey's sitting on his potty! When he is a boy he can use the big potty. [whispers] Grey, you need to grow up and get old.

Liam: [using playdoh] Mommy I made a tree! It's falling! The Holy Ghost did that. With ropes. [??]

[I'm making dinner while Liam and Dash keep hurting each other]
Me: Okay, Liam, you stay in this room. Dash you stay in the living room. Dash? Where are you?
Dash: I'm in time out! [I did not send him there. A couple minutes later he comes out and hugs Liam]

Dash: Can you spell "black"?
Me: B L A C K
Dash: Liam! B L C O K!

Dash: Ho ho ho, I'm Santa. Come sit on my lap. [I put Grey on his lap] What is your Christmas wish?
Grey: Ho ho ho.
Dash: My Christmas wish is to love Grey! Get off my lap.

Winter Carnival

The Twin Cities have an annual Winter Carnival. Kind of like a "take that, winter! We're going to have fun outside even if it is -8 degrees."


We missed the first week of it while on vacation, then we were sick for the second week. Even though we were all still sniffly and gross, I pretty much forced us to get out and see the snow sculptures. I just wanted a little bit of the fun.


Impressive stuff! I wonder if I'd have the thermal stamina to do something like that.


Most fun of all was the big slide!


Oh so hard to wait your turn. The anticipation!


Whee! Next year we'll be sure to see the ice sculptures and a parade or two.

And that's that

And that wraps up our Florida vacation, which I've taken my darn time to document here on the blog.


Is was a brilliant trip, we had loads and loads of fun.


Obviously the cousins enjoy each other.


Daughters enjoyed their parents.


The former Zechiel girls enjoyed each other.


And since we're taking photos, why not take more. Jenny with her boys.


Speaking of boys, they treated us to some football on Saturday.


Make that grab, Ethan!


Nice throw Noah!


Now back to pictures, adding in a daughter (Josh was busy working that day. I guess somebody had to work that week)


Now take away a couple boys.


And add in a few hugs. Until next time, Florida! Thank you mom and dad for a fantastic week!

P.S. A couple videos:

Grey + balls + pool


Ethan desperately trying to get Grey to dance for the camera.

Lanai

The real hit of Grandma and Grandpa's house (with a close second of the box tunnel Grandpa engineered) was the lanai. Anytime anyone went out there, they all wanted to go out there. MUST PLAY WITH WATER.


Grey thinks he'll just toddle all around that pool. Oh how we hovered.


You bet your bottom dollar he got a slam dunk!


Swish!


A little pool-side reading.


All Elledge and Bradley children were mesmerized by the hot water bottle. Which is funny, because I remember being mesmerized by it when I was growing up too. Something about the malleable plastic.


Everyone loves the place.


My parents loved that they could provide a fun place to be.


And Grey's ready to get back in the water.

Animal Kingdom

Friday was another busy day- we went to the Animal Kingdom! It was so great for Grey, who takes great pride in pointing things out, particularly birds. He's a little animal enthusiast.


Oh, and this time we rented strollers! Such a good decision, our arms were thanking us. They let strollers go through much more of the line in this park. It was just plain less busy, really.


We all got to experience life as a bug. Mom was rather giggly at the end after experiencing the "bugs" crawling through the seats.


Sean got his dance on! (and he wants to make sure you know that his borrowed jacket is giving him the tummy pooch, not his own tummy). Let's see him in action:


Make sure you see the frantic arms at the end, best part!


Then the safari! Easily the best part of the park.


If such as a baby translator existed, I'm sure Grey's long grunt would have become, "ooooh my goodness gracious that's a bunch of birds all together and they're all pink and there's so many and they're standing there all together and it's so many birds oh my oh my oh my!"


So much muscle and strength but so gentle looking.
Sean and I snuck off to ride Everest while the kids watched a bird show with grandma and grandpa. The beauty of another set of adults!

Grey slept the entire way through...


the Finding Nemo musical. I really enjoyed that, it seemed like a mini-broadway production.


Trying to get a peak of the magic behind the scenes before saying good bye. Thanks Disney, it's been real.

Harry and the Rocket

Wednesday, Sean and I had a full day date! How often do you get that? The three kiddos enjoyed their day with Grandma and Grandpa. My mom said Grey would get sad often through the day, obviously missing his parents. Really, Grey has had very little time away from me in his life, so this was a big thing for him. My mom has a recording of the bedtime song we always sing- she said when it began playing, Grey watched intently with tears rolling out his eyes. That is the most sad and precious thing in the world.

What did we do with our day away? Well...

We went to Hogwarts! Honestly, I might have been most excited about this part of our Florida trip. Seriously, it really did feel magical. Although, the butterbeer left much to be desired. The first sip was good because all the butterscotch flavor is in the foam. But after a couple minutes, it just tastes of cream soda. But OTHERWISE, it was awesome.


It was really fun to feel like we were in the harry potter world. And the rides were fun too. Even if we felt woozy after the one inside Hogwarts castle. And we did see the rest of Universal Studios, too. There were some cool coasters. It's been a while since I've been on new rides, not knowing what to expect. I most liked the initial launch of The Hulk and the sheer drop of Rip Ride Rockit. The backwards parts of The Mummy were great. And, did you know? Going to a theme park without kids is much easier than with kids. It was nice to have a break from the kids. For my sanity, you know?

Thursday, we finally took an easy day and just played the day away at my parent's house. But we did do something special that night!

That's a rocket, you guys! We went out near Kennedy Space Center and got to see this SpaceX rocket launch. It was breathtaking.


Sean had a NASA app that showed the launch up close but with a delay- that's what he's showing on the video. You could pay for tickets and sit closer to the launch, but you know, free is nicer. Maybe Sean and I will splurge in a subsequent Florida visit. Probably, since Sean is a lover of all things space (as am I, just not to Sean's degree). The kids weren't really into it until they actually saw the rocket take off. Then they were captivated, all three of 'em. Go space!

A Disney Birthday

Tuesday was my birthday so to celebrate we went to DISNEY WORLD! What girl doesn't dream of such a celebration? It was actually pretty busy there, likely because it was the day after a holiday. Yet fun was still had!


It started off interestingly. I was letting the boys run around the Gaston fountain (admittedly not the best idea) while waiting for Sean to grab fast passes (they're trying this new system and it's terrible. We couldn't get fast passes for anything good. Couldn't work the system). Well, there was a gentleman taking a photo, not paying attention and... bumped dash right into the water.

Oy.

I hurried him to bathroom, attempting to dry off his soaked clothing in one of those fast drying hand dryers which are terrible for drying clothing, while Dash whimpers and shivers in the corner. After ten minutes of little progress, a lady comes over and offers us her spare clothing (should have thought to pack that too!). I could NOT believe that. What a generous and kind offer. I got her address so I could mail them back later on. The shorts were a bit large but with pinning and the use of my mom's purse strap, we got them to stay up.

But I tell you, I think of that generous woman all the time. What a magnificent gift to receive on my birthday- I'm touched by her kindness.


I think Grey got to ride on everything we went on. His favorite was probably the Jungle Cruise (though that was his least favorite to wait for. He was one impatient little boy in that line)- he grunted with delight at every bird and every waterfall.


I believe Dash told me his favorite ride was the Pirates of the Caribbean. Afterward, he kept saying "arr, I'm a pirate!"


Liam most enjoyed the Swiss Family Treehouse that you can walk all around. "We're really high, mommy!"


We bought one stroller, which was helpful. Though you always had to park it before getting in line, which meant we didn't get a whole lot of use out of it. All of the adults' arms were really sore by the end of the day- we all did a lot of holding of all the kids.


Here we are on lunch break, having consumed $8 hot dogs that were not worth half that. The kids are just glad not to be in a line.


A Disney employee was blowing bubbles, Dash is on the hunt.


Grey electing to watch his silly brothers instead of giving up his tasty apple to join them.


Everyone loved the Buzz Lightyear game. Dash and Liam got to "stop some aliens!" and Grey deftly steered his parents' car. It should be noted, Sean beat my score bad.


Grey got a little nap in the afternoon. How many can say "I napped at Disney World!"?


During his nap, we went on It's A Small World, which I think Grey would have really liked. We'll just have to go again someday. My parents stayed out with Grey, so they missed the ride as well, which I think my dad was happy about.


After cramming as much as we could into the day, we took our leave. We missed the parade (the one in which I marched once while on a high school trip, la tee da) but, gosh, we needed some dinner!


We had some tasty pizza with a fun balloon guy until Liam drifted off, food in hand. A couple minutes later, Dash sprawled himself over two chairs and closed his eyes. We took that as our sign to go. Now that's a good birthday, party until your kids pass out!