Florida Reunion - Part 2

We've clearly been traveling too much recently. We've done so much and I haven't even blogged about any of it! I guess I need to stop being a slacker.

This spring has just been flying by! It's been over a month since we were in Orlando to visit Jeremy and Maggie. We've been crazy busy during that time, but we definitely miss hanging out... and experiencing The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Needless to say, these Harry Potter fans were VERY excited to see it in person!

Good thing we brought our camera!

There it is!

Then we really started acting like fans...

We loved waiting to go on the ride... 

It was just like being in Hogwarts!

And while waiting in line for the Despicable Me ride, 
we learned something interesting.
Who would've thought that Minions have dentures?
It makes us love them even more!
(And yes, I know we're dental nerds.)

No trip to Florida is complete without a trip to the beach! On our last full day we headed to the coast to enjoy the sun, sand, and surf! Man, do we miss living near the beach!

We got a lot of Vitamin D, before the storm rolled in.

It was such a great weekend with some very great friends. Even though it's starting to warm up in NY, we're ready for our next trip! Grayson grows up way too much while we're gone!

Florida Reunion - Part 1

This was the third year we went down to visit Jeremy and Maggie in Florida, but the first year that they're in Orlando. Harry Potter and Florida's warm weather? How could we turn that down? We had a great time! Ray was able to come down from Chicago, so the five of us had a great time! We have been blessed with some great friends!

It was an action-packed five days, and we had such a great time! Surprisingly, Maggie and I were both having such a good time, we really didn't take as many pictures as we should have... Lucky for all of you, I got a few great ones!

We flew down on Wednesday and spent the afternoon hanging out with Maggie and Grayson while Jeremy was at work. We had an awesome BBQ dinner at Four Rivers, since all BBQ really is better in the south. 

This little one has grown so much since our last visit!

The boys had so much fun with her!

She loves to read already!

Dinner at Four Rivers was DELICIOUS!

On Thursday we hung out with our favorite toddler a little more, before heading to drop her off with her grandparents and enjoy a lazy afternoon tubing down a river. 

Isn't she seriously the cutest??

Thursday night we walked around I-Drive, the tourist strip.

Maggie and Ray went on the Human Slingshot.

They're nuts.

Check out the fear on Ray's face.

Maybe sometime I'll figure out how to post the video Amit took. 

Hilarious!

And those two days weren't even our busiest! Maggie's parents were great and watched Grayson for them, so that we could have two whole days to get a ton of sightseeing done... Up next, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Cocoa Beach!

Meeting Halfway

It's been three weeks since I was back in NY to spend some quality time with Amit. It just so happened that Kirsten's baby shower was in Albany on Saturday. Since Albany is basically the halfway point between Rochester and Boston, we decided to spend the weekend hiking and hanging out there. Thanks to Sandy - today has given me one completed lesson plan and a finished blog post!

On Friday night, we ate dinner at Athos. Everyone knows how much Amit loves Greek food and man, did this place deliver! Our dinner was fantastic - we highly recommend this place. On top of the delicious food, we managed to be there for their weekly live Greek band. Amit was in heaven. Thankfully, we were planning to walk off all that delicious (and very Primal) food on Saturday. We drove to Thacher Park and had a great time exploring.

Don't forget - if you click on the picture, you can see a bigger version!

We had no idea what to expect from this...

...but the colors looked good!

Hiking along the cliffs made for some really great photos...

We were just walking along and found...

WATERFALLS?

Since we hadn't really researched the park and had no idea what to expect,

we were excited!

  

We kept hiking and found another one!

 We did a little exploring...

Then climbed up and looked at the view from above the waterfalls.

The morning hike was great! Our weekend hikes together are the one thing I miss the most. We missed having Emma with us, but she probably would have freaked out if she had to walk that close to falling water. Maybe one day we'll bring her back there.

I had a fun time at the shower. 

Kirsten was glowing! 

We're all very excited to meet this little guy!

After the shower, I met up with Amit.

The only thing more annoying than a 5 year-old begging for a balloon animal?

A 25 year-old asking when the balloon guy would stop at our table.

Thankfully he did.

(I think he knocked a glass over after this picture... Luckily, it was empty.)

It was a great Saturday in Albany. Next up, a trip to the Catskills!

Pensacola Adventures

In addition to totally spoiling Grayson, we were able to see some of the other attractions in Pensacola. On Monday, we explored the National Museum of Naval Aviation. We loved seeing all of the old planes and exploring the giant museum.

He loves his planes!

After the museum, 

we stopped by the Pensacola Lighthouse.

You can't climb the lighthouse in flip flops...

so I went barefoot!

On Tuesday morning, we woke up early and drove back to the base so we could watch the Blue Angels practice session.

After watching them fly all around, we went to spend another day at the beach. It was a beautiful day!

She is the cutest beach baby! 

We had such a great time in Florida. We miss those three so much already! We can't wait to visit them in their new home in Orlando - and have some new adventures!

Meeting Grayson

Last Friday was our last day of school, so it was the perfect opportunity for us to take a much needed vacation. We left for Schaumburg as soon as I got off work. Since we needed to be able to drive the truck back east, we decided to drop Emma off with Uncle Nathan and drive the rest of the way to Pensacola.

On Sunday, we went to church and then decided to spend the day at the beach. It was great to celebrate Jeremy's first Father's Day with him! 

In our Sunday finest.

Beach baby!

 This is one of the cutest pics ever!!

After the beach, we got to spend 
some quality time with Graysie!

Our favorite little family!
(All Grayson wants to do is sit up on her own!)

Just relaxing at home!
(With one of my blocks!)

We always love going to visit Jeremy and Maggie in Florida, now Grayson is an added bonus! Even with the baby, it ended up being a very relaxing vacation. We were happy just hanging out at home and playing with her, but we managed to fit in a few fun things in between playtime.