The Taylor Family: March 2010

Out and about

This morning we all decided to sleep in so we got off to a later start than usual but the sleep was very much needed after our last couple of late nights. Tina and Noah made egg, ham, and cheese sandwiches for breakfast with sliced bananas on the side. After our bellies were full and we were all clean and ready to head out we drove to a nearby town to check out the gaming store that we always visit. Tina and Noah got some new games (one that the guy running the store showed us how to play and we actually sat and played it while at the store) and Peter found some tools (that the store sells for War Hammer character painting and sculpting) that he can use for his guitar stuff. We headed to lunch at a really nice outdoor mall and then walked around and

window shopped for a while. After food was digested we headed back the house for a pit stop and then we were off to The Nation Museum of the United States Air Force which Peter thoroughly enjoyed. We didn't have much time there because they were closing but Peter got to see his favorite plane and read about a few things and we were able to pick up a couple things for Javan.

We will probably be back in the next couple of days to watch one of the IMAX movies they show. When we got home Tina and I played a few games and Wii while the boys played on their computers and did geek stuff. ;) For dinner we enjoyed a wonderful cheese fondue with ham and fruits for dipping and later followed it up with chocolate fondue.

Lazying around

This morning Peter and I woke up in Ohio and were excited to just hang out and enjoy Tina and Noah's company. We had a great breakfast (I always eat really well up here). Tina had homemade whole wheat cinnamon rolls ready for us. Noah set up the grill outside to smoke pulled pork for dinner, it was predicted to take all day. Once things were set up we started to play some board games.

For lunch Tina and I went out to grab some smoothies and wraps and then we came home to play some video games on the Wii and then some more board games. Before we knew it dinner was ready and it was Delicious! We had pulled pork sandwiches with green beans (I must have eaten 100 of those), pasta salad, rolls, and coleslaw. For dessert we are having homemade strawberry ice cream that Noah has already made. I think we are going to end our lazy day with some more laying around while we watch a movie or maybe play some more games. Now that we have settled in, we will be going out to do some touristy things tomorrow. I don't mind this vegging and eating all day though, I don't think I could ever get tired of this.

Time for a vacation

Every year for my birthday I go to Ohio to see my best friend. Last year when I went up I took Javan because he was just a baby. Tina and Noah said that this year Peter should come with us too. I talked to my mom about it and she was excited to watch the kids for a week to let us go on a vacation. We were going to take Javan with us because he flies free but my mom wanted to have him at home too. Peter and I have been looking forward to this trip for a LONG time. The last time we spent time alone with each other for more than 2 days was 6 years ago when we went to Italy and left Bresa with mom and I was pregnant with Abbi. Finally today was the day. During the day we finished packing and did the laundry and chores so that things would be pretty much taken care of when we returned. My mom was actually coming over to our house for the week, we thought it would be easier for the kids to be in their own rooms with all of their own things rather than move all their things to Grandma's house for the week.

We left the keys for Oscar and kissed all the kids good-bye and then took one last family photo before our trip. Peter's dad picked us up to take us to the airport around 4:30 and we left closer to 5:00. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 7:15 pm but when we got to the airport we found out we would be waiting an extra hour. After waiting a bit we finally got on our flight and arrived in Dayton just after 10pm. We went back to Tina and Noah's house and actually played some Mariokart before heading to bed. Tomorrow will officially start our vacation...

LOVE IT!!

Beautiful Day to Hunt for Eggs

Bresa and Abbi

started their spring break yesterday and have all next week off. I was going through Bresa's papers in her folder when I found a little flyer about an egg hunt at a local park for kids of all ages. They were going to have an egg hunt for different age groups, face painting, a bounce house, and lunch for the kids too. I invited Kelli to come with her kids and after she met me this morning we headed over to the park. We got there in time to grab a good spot before the hunts started and then when they said "go" the girls took off and I showed Javan how to get the eggs and put them in his basket. He wasn't really interested in that he just liked to shake them up. He sat right down with about 4 eggs around him and just took turns shaking each one. The girls came back with their eggs and then opened them all up to see what they got. After all the eggs were all opened we got in line and got the kids some food. We ate in the shade of a nice tree and then decided we would get in line for the face painting.

I guess we took too long to eat because when we got in line the lady told us they weren't accepting any more people. Oh well, we couldn't get their faces painted but we could take them to the play ground. All the kids had a blast playing and running around and Javan and baby Emily loved swinging on the swings. I took a bunch of pictures of all the kids getting the eggs and eating and then playing but somehow every image on my card got corrupted and this is all I could salvage. I am pretty disappointed in that but at least I was able to salvage something. The first photo is Joshua and Javan with their eggs and another friend of ours, Rebecca, that happened to be at the park too. The picture of Abbi on the red thing also had Bresa in it on the right spinning her around but Bresa was in the part of the photo that got chopped. :(

Happy Birthday to me!!

I am officially 28 today! I started off the day like usual and got up and went to work. A couple people knew it was my birthday already but it didn't take long for the word to spread. My sergeant took me out to lunch at Panera where a bunch of people from CID (Criminal Investigations Division, where I work) at work joined us. My friend, Radley, brought me chocolate and a Dunkin Donuts giftcard (which I am pretty sure will be used up in no time) and later Peter delivered beautiful Gerber Daisies

(my favorite) to me. I am taking the next 11 days off of work so I wanted to make sure to finish up everything and get the officers squared away with their evidence needs and make sure that I didn't leave any loose ends. I had a volunteer help me all day and we got through 4 boxes of tapes I wasn't expecting to touch so that was nice. I sent in my tech logs and numbers and set up my voicemail and email away alert and then I was on my way home. When I got home Peter was cleaning up the house. He had bought stuff to make dinner and invited our friends, Kelli and Woody, over to hang out. I was excited about that as I love to be around friends. They came over and the kids all played together and then we had our dinner and played some Mariokart and we taught them how to play Mexican Train. The babies went down earlier in the evening and at some point both of the girls put themselves to bed (Abbi even missed out on my ice cream cake) and poor Joshua didn't know what to do with himself. He was a good boy though and played quietly until we finished up. I had a great time and enjoyed my whole day, even if I did have to work. Only two more years and then I will hit 30, I guess I should enjoy my 20's while I still have them.

Blue Oyster Cult

Our friends, Dan and Val, wanted to go the a Blue Oyster Cult concert and bought Peter and I tickets so we could go along. Peter knew a little bit about the band but I had never heard the name before. I thought it would be fun though to have a night out and do something different than our usual. We dropped the kids off at Grandma's house on the way to the concert at Hard Rock Hotel

at Universal. We met up with Dan and Val and hung out for a while before the band came on. I am pretty confident in saying that Peter and I were easily half the age of everyone else there. The band came on and they were really fun to watch, especially the bass player he was really into it, but I didn't recognize any of the songs. We didn't stay for the whole show because we still had to get the kids, drive home, and I have to work early tomorrow morning. We had a good time with Dan and Val but the music wasn't really my taste, I do like getting to get out with my husband from time to time though.

Completely Unexpected

For the second year in a row Peter has totally surprised me. We were at home around 5:00 and I was just relaxing in my sweats and t-shirt thinking about starting dinner when Peter came over and said, "Okay, you have an hour. Go get ready." I was thoroughly confused by this so I asked him what he was talking about. He repeated his previous comment and then added, "I'm taking you to dinner. I will make the kids something; my dad is on his way to watch them." Even with the extra information I still didn't understand because I knew that Peter had Worship Team practice at church tonight so I was thinking we were going to go out for something quick like Chik-Fil-A, but when I asked him where we were going he told me The Melting Pot, apparently he was skipping practice this week. As you should know, The Melting Pot is my favorite place to go (other than Bill and Lisa's house) and we hadn't been since last year for my birthday so I was very excited that we were returning. I got showered and dressed and Mike came to watch the kids and Peter and I headed out.

Dinner was delicious, we did each of the four courses and were extremely full when we left. I wanted to take a picture of the food or at least of the dessert but I was too excited about eating it so I only remembered once everything was gone. :) We tried a new chocolate fondue this time called Bananas Foster. It was delicious but it's hard to go wrong with chocolate.

I don't know how Peter managed to surprise me, I am usually on to his plans or I make him feel so guilty about not doing anything that he spills the beans ahead of time. Not that I don't like surprises, I just usually have it all figured out before they happen. Anyhow, I have the best husband there is and even if he never surprised me again I would be content to just live the rest of my life in his arms.

Our Favorite Restaurant

One of Peter and I's favorite places to eat is at Lisa and Bill's house. Bill is an awesome cook and is always making up something delicious. The first time we went over they were having enchiladas but I really don't care for Mexican food. I took a little bit because I didn't want to be rude but now I am hooked. I think I could eat his enchiladas everyday. Yesterday at church we saw Bill and Lisa and decided we all needed to hang out again (we hadn't been over since last weekend) so we made plans for dinner.

Bill had recently invested in a smoker and had all sorts of meats he was trying out in it. When we arrived we found out that Bill and Brenda were also coming over, the more the merrier (both couples are in our Life Group). Peter and I always have a great time with everyone and the girls play with Lisa and Bill's son, Brogan, who is 6 like Bresa. After dinner last night we brought out the dominoes and played some Mexican Train before calling it a night. Lisa is a teacher so usually during her breaks we all get together just about every night. However, this coming spring break Peter and won't be available, I guess we will just have to make up for it over summer vacation.

A Trip to Tampa

We had such a great time last year when we went to Tampa for my birthday that Peter and I decided that we should do it again. We headed out yesterday after work and school and drove over to meet Reba at work. We picked up some pizza for dinner and went back to Reba's place to hangout and eat. After we put the kids to bed us adults just sat up and talked. It is always good to catch up with Reba so we really enjoyed ourselves. We wanted Reba to come with us to the zoo since she missed last year but she had previous engagements. This morning we woke up bright (well not so bright since the sun was still down) and early and got all ready to go. After cleaning up all our stuff everywhere and packing the car back up we said good bye to Reba and headed out to breakfast. We were meeting some friends at

Panera Bread and weren't sure how long it would take us to get there. We had a wonderful breakfast and once our bellies were full we drove to the Lowry Park Zoo to spend the day. All the kids had a great time and love how interactive the zoo is. They fed the birds and giraffes and got to pet the stingrays just like last year. Javan

tried to eat the giraffe cracker and really didn't know what to think when the giraffe stuck out his long tongue and ate it himself. Javan just stared and stared at him, maybe he thought he would give it back. We went to the petting zoo and groomed the animals and then cleaned up to go view some more. We saw lots of birds in the aviaries and lots of fish in the aquarium.

We visited Asia and the FL wetlands and saw the animals of Africa.

We skipped over the primates once again as they really don't interest us. Bresa didn't know what her favorite part of the day was but Abbi liked feeding the giraffes and I liked feeding the budgies (small Australian parrots). Javan really wasn't

sure of the animals but he was very interested in them all. I think Peter's favorite part was back-tracing his steps in search of Javan's lost blanket (he found it!). After all the excitement at the zoo the girls each picked out a gift from the shop and we loaded up the car once again. We drove about 45 minutes to Lakeland where we stopped to meet Peter's Aunt, Uncle, and cousin for dinner.On our

way home we made one more stop. Our friend, Rena, just happened to be in Lake Mary as we were going home so we stopped to see her for about an hour and catch up a bit. Our long day was coming to end so we packed up one more time and went home. The kids were happy to see their beds and I was happy to get everything unloaded and unpacked. Tomorrow will be a day of housework and chores but our great weekend full of family and friends will definitely be worth it!!
(photos: 1. Bresa and Abbi watching the zebras and giraffes before we went to feed them, 2. Abbi feeding three budgies, 3. Javan giving up his cracker to the giraffe, 4. The girls watching the sharks (they probably would have sat there all day), 5. African Penguin viewing, 6. Javan watching the meerkats, 7. Bresa being the tour guide and telling us where we needed to go next.)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I don't know about the rest of you but St. Patrick's Day is starting to become a headache for me. Last year Bresa set up a trap and almost caught a leprechaun in the house but got away and left a large mess of glitter on his way out. This year Bresa made a

trap but she took it to school for the classroom. I didn't expect to see anything happen around here since there was nothing to tempt a leprechaun to come. I guess the leprechaun from last year told his friends or came back himself because this morning there was a rather large green mess in the girls bathroom. There were little green footprints all over the tile and toilet and then green smudges all over the mirrors and sink. He must have been looking for money because he left a large $ in his mess on one of the mirrors. I was pretty upset about this big mess because I just scrubbed the bathroom down not two days ago. Guess I need to do it again. Bresa wanted to see if the milk was green again like last year and sure enough when she opened the fridge the rest of the open gallon was a green instead of white. I

was trying to get ready to head off to work and figured I would make the girls some quick oatmeal for breakfast. I mixed it up just fine and put it in the microwave to cook. Once the beeper went off I pulled it out and somehow it had turned green too!! I am still puzzled at that one because, as the girls saw, the oatmeal was perfectly normal when it when in. This morning the girls and Javan had a very green breakfast which they thoroughly enjoyed. I thought we were through with that leprechaun, hopefully since he didn't find anything this year he won't return next year. As for me, I have some green dishes and a green bathroom to tend to.

Rainy Days at Disney World

My mom and I had been planning to take the kids to Disney for a couple weeks now and I had already gotten the time off and the Bresa finished all her school work that was in her incomplete folder so that she could go. We saw the forecast called for rain most of the day but we figured we would go anyhow. We have been many times so there was no rush or need to see the whole park in one day. We came prepared with ponchos and umbrellas and warm clothes and headed into The Magic Kingdom. Peter stayed at home to get some work done with a day with no kids. Although the rain didn't let up much until about 7 we got to do a lot of things. We shopped around and traded pins, we rode on Pirates and then took the train

to Mickey's Toon-Town. We ended up riding the train 3-4 times around the park before we actually got off because the rain picked up and we were dry on the train. We got off and the girls and I rode the Barn-Stormer which Bresa loved and Abbi wouldn't

admit that she liked this time. We did more shopping and Grandma let the girls fill up a box of pony things for their ponies at home. They have a huge assortment of accessories and ponies and you can pay a flat fee for a small box so they all crammed as much as they could and I think Disney may be reconsidering that flat fee thing now. I took the girls to see some princesses and get pictures and autographs while mom walked Javan around the store some more. The girls were so cute with each of the princesses they met. They told the princesses all about their dress up clothes and how they were different from the princesses dresses. They both had princess shirts

on so they had to show them all that. Abbi talked and talked and she is usually my shy one. They both told each of them about the last time they had seen them and what they did at the last meeting. They got hugs and got to see Cinderella's hidden Mickey on her dress and show off their wonderful princess waves. After we left there Abbi wanted to ride on the People Mover so we did that a couple times during the heavier

rain and followed it up with a ride on the Buzz Light Year ride. We all got some dinner and I took the girls to Cinderella's Carousal while mom and Javan finished eating. Then we all rode Small World twice before heading over to Haunted Mansion. It was dark by the time we got out of there and just about time for the Electro Magic Parade. Bresa really wanted to see it so we did some local pin trading and some more shopping and came out when we heard the parade starting. The good thing about going to Disney in the rain is that no body else goes so there was about 10 people (a slight exaggeration) in the whole park and we didn't have to wait for anything or try and claim good seats for the parade

an hour before it started because no one was standing at the ropes. After the parade and more trading we decided it was time to head home. On the way towards the front we heard the announcement that the fireworks were going to start in five minutes. We decided to stay for that and even though it was all wet and damp outside Tinker-Bell still flew. I haven't seen that in years so that was a nice treat! The rain had stopped hours beforehand but I still thought she wouldn't fly. The fireworks were great and the girls really enjoyed the show but now it was time to leave. We headed back to the car and saw a cool water light parade thing on the way out that I had never seen before. Javan finally fell asleep after all the excitement was over and the girls didn't make it off Disney property before they were asleep in the van.

I dropped Grandma and the girls off at Grandma's house and then headed home with my little sleeping baby. It may have been rainy but we still had a great time and I can't every complain when there are so few people at the park.

Can the girls come out and play?

It was about 5:00 when we got a knock on the door. We were expecting some friends but not until a little later so we figured they were just early. I opened the door and instead of our friends I found our next door neighbor, Gary. Gary is an awesome neighbor, the kind that sees you getting your mower out so he gets his out too and says, "I got this side!" We came home from vacation once and he said, "I hope you don't mind but I pressure washed my driveway and figured I would do yours too."

Anyhow, Gary asked me what the girls were doing and wanted to know if they could come out and play with a new remote control car that his wife picked up. It is the kind that flips over and keeps going and can go through water too. There were some substantial puddles in our street so he figured the girls would have a blast making the car go through them. He was right about that. The girls went out and had the best time driving this car around! They were giggling and squealing and the whole time and doing everything they could to flip the car over and make it do tricks. They splashed through the puddles and drove in circles and tried to run things over. It was great to watch them have a blast with something that seems so simple!

Every cat has her day

And today is Lucy's! Happy 10th Birthday Lucy-Goose! Since it's her birthday she got her favorite present: to run around all day without her collar on. She loves to have her collar taken off and then she attacks it, for hugging her all year long I suppose. I make sure to give her lots of scratches under her neck where her

collar usually is, she loves it and purrs very loudly. We all love Lucy in this house though the kids have more of a love from a distance thing going on. Goose isn't too fond of little hands getting too close. She loves me and is starting to give Daddy a little more love lately too. Happy Birthday Lucy, you are a crazy Greek kitty...but we love you for it!

Zoo Fun

Peter and I want to go to Tampa and take the girls to the Lowery Park Zoo like we did last year so we decided to get the Central FL Annual Zoo pass that will give us half off in Tampa and then free admission here in Sanford for a year from today. Since the weather was warming up and there was no rain in the forecast I figured this weekend would be a great one. Peter was helping friends move so I packed up the kids and we headed to the Central FL Zoo (in Sanford). The zoo is pretty small but they have a cool splash pad that you can use in the summer and nice little petting zoo that the kids love. We walked all around and saw all the animals and talked about how far Cougars can jump (30 feet) and where all the different kinds of snakes live.

There were a few zoo workers out that had animals that the kids could touch and learn about. We went to all of those and then headed to the petting zoo. The girls got to feed the billy goats, cows, and sheep but ran out of food before they got to the llama. Javan was a great little boy and loved the snake and frog exhibits and he also enjoyed the billy goats because they jumped up on the fence when they wanted you to feed them. I tried to get Javan to feed one but he tried to eat the food himself instead. On the way out of the zoo they had a big poster set up with pictures of Mary the Elephant that passed away last week.

The girls went and wrote, "I love you" on the board and looked at all the pictures that were posted. We had a good time here but I am looking forward to Lowery Park where they have the big animals like lions, tigers, and bears, oh my.

Saying Goodbye

I am sad to report the loss of a wonderful friend, Cecilia. I got word last night that while she was in Panama visiting her family Cecilia became suddenly ill and after two days in shock her body gave up. Cecilia was a wonderful person who was always so sincere and caring, giving to everyone she knew even though she didn't have much for herself. She will be deeply missed.

Cheese!

Buddy (that's what we call Javan) just loves the camera! Whenever I pull it out he stops what he is doing and flashes me a huge

smile. Here, he is at the refrigerator playing with the magnets, one of his favorite pastimes. He just likes to pull them off and put them back up or carry them around the house and leave them places for me to find. :) You can see his nice drool outline on his shirt, lately he has been working pretty hard on couple more teeth. This boy is such a blessing! I could just eat him up!

Daddy's best friend

His name is Mac.

Wednesday, March 31

Out and about

Tuesday, March 30

Lazying around

Monday, March 29

Time for a vacation

Sunday, March 28

LOVE IT!!

Saturday, March 27

Beautiful Day to Hunt for Eggs

Friday, March 26

Happy Birthday to me!!

Thursday, March 25

Blue Oyster Cult

Tuesday, March 23

Completely Unexpected

Sunday, March 21

Our Favorite Restaurant

Saturday, March 20

A Trip to Tampa

Wednesday, March 17

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Friday, March 12

Rainy Days at Disney World

Thursday, March 11

Can the girls come out and play?

Wednesday, March 10

Every cat has her day

Saturday, March 6

Zoo Fun

Friday, March 5

Saying Goodbye

Wednesday, March 3

Cheese!

Monday, March 1

Daddy's best friend

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