Florida Again

I love that Ben has to go to Florida for work so often.  I especially love it when he has to go during the winter.  It's so nice to get away from the cold and the snow.  It's so nice to be able to take take the kids swimming and let them play outside without all the layers.  This time, we stayed at the J.W. Marriott Great Lakes hotel and it was amazing.  The pool had a lazy river and the kids and I spent hours the first day floating around it. 

Hotel Lobby

We also took the kids to the Disney World Christmas party and had a great time there too.  They had fake snow falling on Main Street as you come it and lots of cookies and hot chocolate and fun Christmas decorations.  Cambria was finally tall enough to ride a few of the bigger rides and she liked some and was totally scared of others.  Magnus got to ride Space Mountain for the first time and he says it's his new favorite ride.  I can't believe how much he loves roller coasters considering how scared he is of a couple of the milder rides.  Afton loved everything and it was so fun to watch her take everything in.

                                               

Right After Splash Mountain



Football

We saw flyers for football signups all over town at the beginning of summer and decided to sign Magnus up and see if it was something he'd enjoy.  Ben always tells me that he wishes he'd had the chance to play football as a kid so he was especially excited that Magnus was getting the opportunity to start at such a young age.  Football is apparently a really big deal around here.  Seriously, every boy 5 and up seems to be involved.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but we've had a great experience so far  We have two hour practices two times a week and a game every Saturday.  Magnus loves being part of a team, he loves going to practice (he even begged all day to go when he was really sick and had a fever of 102 degrees).  Magnus really loves playing against other teams and the coaches make sure every kids gets lots of playing time and they all get to try several positions.  Magnus is on a team made up almost entirely of first year players so they haven't won a single game yet, but that doesn't discourage him at all.  He has such a great attitude, he tells me things like, "That team was really good!  If we practice even harder I bet we'll be that good next year!"  and,  "Did you see how close I got to pulling that flag?  I bet if I practice more, I'll be able to get it next time" 

Magnus has really great coaches and really great teammates.  His coaches don't tolerate any nonsense (the team often spends a good portion of each practice doing pushups because they aren't paying attention or they're messing around) but they never make the kids feel bad.  They're very encouraging and I've really noticed a huge difference in Magnus' attitude at home.  He's willing to work harder, he focuses better when we do schoolwork and he has gone from being the biggest complainer I've ever met to rarely having anything negative to say.  Who would have thought that football could do so much for a kid?  I know I didn't expect it!

Team picture

Getting ready to be announced at the first game

First game, I was surprised to see that even the flag teams have cheerleaders

First game

There was a huge rally at the beginning of the season for all the teams from flag to varsity

Magnus and his team at the rally

All the teams and cheerleaders



Picture Day

Every few months I try to take some pictures of the kids together. It generally doesn't go very well, but I always love the results!

Afton did not want to sit on the couch at first. Then she realized that Cambria was
there too

And she was happy!

I can't believe how big she is now

First attempt with all three

Second attempt

Third try

This is my favorite picture. Cambria and

Magnus were so concerned when Afton started crying

Best friends

Better Late Than Never

I've been meaning to put up this video of Afton for quite a while, but just never got around to it. She's 8 months old here and has only been walking for 3 or 4 days.

Fireworks

We weren't sure what we were going to do about fireworks this year since the 4th of July was on a Sunday, but Ben found out about a show at the lake near us that was happening on the 2nd. We decided to go and it was great! We went early and the kids had so much fun playing on the nice sandy beach and exploring up and down the shore. The fireworks were pretty impressive, but by the time they started, Cambria and Magnus were pretty tired so they didn't enjoy them as much as I had thought they would. Afton had a nice long nap later in the day than usual though so she was wide awake and loved it so much. She kept pointing and looking up at Ben and I with the cutest surprised expression. Ben and Magnus were able to have a great talk about what the 4th of July means and why we celebrate it.

We have a walker!

Afton is walking! She's not just taking steps, she's walking! She started just a few days after she turned 8 months. Cambria and Magnus started at 9 months and I thought that was early. So far, Afton has been doing everything earlier than usual; she's an amazing baby.

Spring is here!

The kids couldn't be happier about the warm weather we've had lately. The snow is completely gone and we've been spending lots of time outside. We've got lots of outside projects lined up and first on the list is raking up the leaves that didn't fall until after the snow came last year.

Does Every Little Girl Do This?

Does every little girl sneak away with scissors and give herself a haircut at some point? I did, and Cambria just did. I was so upset at first; all those beautiful curls, gone. She loves it though and it's so much easier to wash and keep tangle free. Unfortunately, she's got so many cowlicks that it's always going in several directions at once now that it's so much lighter.

Six Months

I can't believe Afton is six months old already! I also can't believe all the things she's capable of already. So far she can:

• Crawl on her hands and knees; she can get anywhere she wants to go (she's actually been doing this since 4 1/4 months!)


• Go from lying down to sitting up without help


• Pull herself up to standing on furniture, toys or whatever else she can reach (she started this at 5 months, I couldn't believe it the first time I looked over and saw her standing up like that)


• Stand completely unsupported for several seconds

She's loving solids and I've had to get used to making baby foods again. Her favorites are banana and avocado. Cambria and Magnus still absolutely adore her and it's such a blessing to have two such great little helpers. We're so happy to have this sweet, amazing little girl in our family. We can't wait to see what she'll start doing next