Sunburned

Yesterday and today the weather has just been BEAUTIFUL.  Sunny, in the high 70s and no humidity, it doesnt get any better in my opinion.  Since Jed was with Jay in Daytona riding his new (new to him) motorcycle, checking out bike week and my sister will be heading back to Michigan in the next week I thought it was time to take a trip to the beach.   We went to New Smyrna which is south of Daytona and missed most of the biker stuff, phew!  It was Kanes first time at a beach and although he didnt like much about the experience (he fussed most of the time) he did love to stick his toes in the water and feel the waves wash over them!  It was so cute as he squealed with delight each time.   Evan had a blast jumping in the waves while Seth was a little less adventurous and played in the sand.   I didnt even bother putting on my bathing suit for this trip, its going to be at least June if not July before I'll be going anywhere near the ocean but I did really enjoy collecting shells with Becky.  She wants her bathroom back home to be beach themed so I thought we should try to go authentic. :)   To top off an absolutely lovely day we stopped to get Chinese food on the way home!   Food is always way better when A. I dont have to cook it and B. after a few hours at the beach. 

You're going the wrong way! :)

He LOVES it!

Beach bum?!

They stopped for a nutterbutter break.

Stomping in the water, waiting for another wave. 

He's such a cutie!

They're Here

Kane's diapers arrived on Monday.   Too cute!
So here are a few things going on around here, Tracy left for Australia on Monday.  She's in Sydney as I type, I'm so jealous! She'll be there for the next 5 weeks or possibly longer if she can get a job and a work visa.  I told her to find a rich Aussie to marry who has a big house and can fly our family of five out to visit.   A sister can hope right?! :) 
Jed bought an Iphone this weekend.  It was kind of his birthday present.  You see I dont know much about technology and my husband likes to shop so I gave him free reign to go out, find the best deal and buy it.  He was THRILLED!  I think I might be able to guess what I'm getting for my birthday...
Kane has had a rough week.  He hasnt been feeling good and he hasnt been sleeping which then translates into a rough week for Jed and I.  So we're all a a bit tired.
I've been reading three very good books that I highly recommend, Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Prodigal God by Timothy Keller and Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp.  So far all three are excellent!  We're going camping this weekend so I'm looking forward to the chance to focus on and finish at least one of them. 

Finally Ordered Them!

I finally buckled down and ordered cloth diapers.  I cant wait!  Thank goodness I waited until now to do it b/c Kane has grown so much since he was born and I would have had to go through 3 sets already which would have been very expensive.  Plus it would have been a nightmare trying to travel up north with a baby in cloth.  Anyway, they were shipped today and I should recieve them pretty soon.  I bought these, http://www.kellyscloset.com/-bumGenius_c_708.html.  Originally I was going to go with prefolds with a diaper cover but that just seems like a hassle even though its cheaper so instead I using all in ones (or AIO as the cloth diapering community would say).  I also decided to go with a "name brand" so I could sell them on ebay when I'm done (seriously its sounds gross but they sell like hotcakes on there).  Since I'm doing this mostly for economical reasons, although I appreciate the enviromental benefits as well, I'm glad that I'll have the chance to recoup most of my money.  I also bought cloth training pants for Evan and Seth to wear to bed at night.  The truth is that Evan doesnt really need it b/c most mornings he's dry but I still like to take precautions b/c the last thing I want to do in the morning is strip beds and wash everything.  I think in the next few months as Kane gets older and I feel more up to the challenge I will transition Evan to just underwear at night and I might even try Seth.  We'll see how ambitious I am.   I will keep you all updated on the challenges in cloth diapering, I'm sure I'll have some good stories about the experience! 

Last weekend was Jed's birthday, the big 3-0!  For the last couple of years I had been trying to figure out what I would do for this big birthday and I had some good ideas lined up, a cruise, a week in Europe, maybe even a second honeymoon to Australia but yeah, we have three kids and one I'm still breast feeding so all those things were out.  Instead we spent a night away in Orlando which was still good but not quite what I had hoped for his thirtieth, oh well, we still have the big 4-0 to look forward to.  So anyway we spent Friday and Saturday in Orlando and on Sunday went over to Jay's house to watch the Superbowl.  When we got there Jed was surprised to see his twin sister Jessie and her two kids!  She had called me on Friday night to let me know that she had found $9 tickets to Florida from Michigan.  She was only able to stay until Tuesday and it rained almost the entire time they were here but we still had fun going to the zoo and the mall.   This weekend should be a little more low key as we're going to dinner tonight with some friends and then Jed has some work to do around the house.  Apparently its a city code violation to park our camper on the side of our house if its not paved or something... we have a neighbor down the street that has this GIGANTIC boat parked out front, its ridiculous, but our little pop up camper is apparently a real eye sore.  Anyway we're going to either move it or build our fence around it or whatever we have to do to not be find $250 a day.  Stupid city codes. 

The kids loved the elephants even in the rain!

We went to the disney store and all their character stuffed animals were on sale so each of the big kids got to pick out one.  Our boys of course picked out Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story (currently their favorite movie) and Sofia through me a curve ball when she picked out Walle, I expect something a little more girly.  Man, even when I'm spoiling my neices I dont get to do girly stuff, oh well, she's happy and thats all that matters!