Catching Up

So I am definitely playing catch up. We have been so busy this month I can't believe May starts tomorrow and in 23 days Gabby will be 2! She is growing into little miss do it herself. She is testing her limits and seeing how much she can get away with. The other day Bella was in time out and Gabby had just gotten up and she started picking on Bella. I told her she should be nice or she was going to be in time out and she threw out her hip and pointed her finger at me and said "no no no" and then giggled. Her little attitude was so funny I had to turn around so she couldn't see me grinning. She also has her sweet moments…the other day after her breathing treatment she proceeded to say "I need a kiss", walked into Bella room gave them both a kiss and then said "I Love You Daddy" and "I Love You Bella" Then she went in again for "one more kiss".

Bella is growing taller and taller. I can't believe she is in a size 5 and some of those are getting too short on her. She is doing really well in gymnastics and she did a backwards somersault the other day after only a few tries. She's also getting to be a pretty good swimmer. She is now working on lifting her head to breathe. She has figured out that kicking and using her arms gets her moving forward, but now she is working on turning her head to catch a breath. I was amazed after swimming in Florida how far she could swim to the side in one breath by herself. I have no doubt by the end of summer she'll be a little fish.

Anyway here are the pictures from Easter and Florida...they are long so here's my apology in advance. We head to Indiana next weekend to watch Joel, Auntie and Shawn run in the mini, so we are excited for that.

Disneyworld

After dropping Joel off at the airport we headed to Orlando. Both girls napped, but after 3 ½ hours we were ready to eat and head to bed. We got up early the next morning and headed to Epcot where we had breakfast with the princesses. Before we got to the restaurant we got front row to the opening of the park. Goofy, Donald Duck, Pluto, Mickey and Minnie were saying hi to everyone before the park opened. Bella was so excited she got to high-five Mickey and Minnie Mouse, but Gabby was scared to death. Once it was opened we headed to breakfast. The girls first got to meet Belle and she called Gabby a "teacup".
Then we ate a little breakfast, but they were so excited to see all the princesses they hardly touch their food. Poor Gabby's eye had started watering, we were sure if it was the sunscreen or allergies but her poor eye was so puffy, red and teary in all the pictures. Sleeping Beauty was the first one around the tables, she asked the girls if they had fairies that helped them get ready in the morning too. The girls were so excited having the princesses sign autographs. Gabby and Bella gave them all hugs and would wave to them.
It was so funny that once Aurora came through Gabby wouldn't sit still until they came over to our table. She would wave from across the room. Snow White and Jasmine were next. Gabby and Bella would introduce each other to each princess. Gabby was so excited once she saw Ariel that was all she would talk about. She even asked Princess Jasmine where Ariel was.
Once Ariel came to the table the girls were elated. Gabby was touching her all over and Bella kept playing with her necklace. OK, so honestly Gabby grabbed Ariel's boobies. I'm not sure if she was looking for her seashells under her dress or what, but it was pretty funny (probably not to Ariel). Ariel kept calling Gabby a "little starfish". The girls were so preoccupied meeting the princesses Bella just kept staring and not smiling for the pictures. Once breakfast was done we did a little shopping and Gabby made a huge decision on which princess to buy. I thought for sure she would go straight for Ariel, but after going back and forth for about 15 minutes she chose Jasmine and would not put it down unless she was on a ride. Bella bought a light up crown. We headed for the Starship ride in the big golf ball at Epcot. The girls loved the stars. Nothing else opened until 11, so we headed to Disneyworld. Nana was great and stood in line to meet Daisy, while Bella and I went and got Chip and Dale's autographs. They were the only characters that Bella wasn't sure of. Once she petted them and felt how soft and nice they were she was all about them. Then we headed to see Daisy...this was the only one Gabby got close too because Nana was holding her.
We finally left Main Street and went on the teacups. The girls had so much fun. Then we ran into Cinderella's step-sisters and mom. They were so cute holding their books waiting for autographs. We also ran into the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit.
We headed for the Winnie the Pooh ride and Gabby fell asleep in line and slept for about an hour and all through the ride. We then went on Dumbo and they both loved it! Gabby kept going "Dumbo, bye bye Dumbo".
We waited for Peter Pan because they wanted to go on a pirate boat, but Bella fell asleep right before we got on and I held her for her hour nap. When she woke up we all headed to It's a Small World. Both girls loved the music and seeing all the different people and animals. Bella asked me how I knew the song, so I got to tell her that I had gone on the ride when I was her age. It was starting to rain a little bit so we headed to the Haunted Mansion and once the lights turned off Gabby was out again. It was funny because she was talking and then I looked down and she was out. After that nap we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. We were all a little disappointed compared to the one in California but the girls loved it however, Bella did tell Ryan to stop singing the song. We went on the Jungle Cruise and Gabby loved seeing all the animals, including a "Li-Li". The last ride was the Aladdin Flying Carpets. Bella loved making it go up and down. We ended the day back at Epcot and we watched their Illuminations Show. Gabby didn't like the fireworks and buried her head in Ryan's shoulder but Bella loved it. We finally got back to the hotel exhausted.

We went to Universal the next day. Most of the day we spent at Adventure Island and in Seuss Land. We rode the Cat and the Hat ride and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish and got soaked. We met the Cat and the Hat and the Grinch. He was funny playing with Bella's hair.
We grabbed some lunch and ice cream and headed over to the Universal Lot. We ran into Dora when we first got there. Bella was so excited and Gabby of course wasn't too sure, but she warmed up and almost touched her bracelet. Once we started to walk away, Gabby started saying "Bye Bye Dora, Hi Dora".
We watch Shrek 4-D and once the lights went out Gabby was asleep again. We went on the Disaster Ride and Gabby wasn't too sure of all the effects, but she clapped at the end. The girls got to pick a clam and both had a large pearl in each. Papa put them in a heart necklace for both girls, just like when I was little.
Both girls had a giant lollipop and got it everywhere. We closed out the day with Ryan taking Bella on the Simpson's Ride. It was a virtual ride but it went upside down and she loved it.
We got back to the hotel and got some room service. The girls put on their new princess pjs, Gabby was Cinderella and Bella was Minnie Mouse and we watched the Princess and the Frog again and about halfway through both girls were out. Actually Gabby crawled up and was out in a few seconds. They had so many animals to sleep with: monkey, Gabby, flamingo, Thing 1, Jasmine, Rabbit, Li-Li, Bella, Bolt (aka White Puppy), Thing 2 & Pinkalicious It was such a fabulous trip. The last day we played all morning at the hotel pool. They had a great shallow area for the girls to run around in. I almost couldn't get them out. We left and headed back home.

Florida Beach

As we go to eat dinner after a long day of flying, Bella said "Whoa that a big hamgumburger and it's hot" when her dinner came. We got up to the room and unpacked. Finally got into bed about 10 and they were both out; however, about 2 hours later they were up and ready to play. I think they were confused that it wasn't a nap but time to stay in bed.
When we got to the hotel there was a wedding. Bella LOVED the white dress and purple flowers the bride had. When we got to the room she asked if I had brought my wedding dress with me, because she had hers. We have since seen several weddings at the hotel and Bella just loves all the white dresses, she asked Nana if she had hers too. Then going to dinner she said her blue dress with white flowers was her wedding dress. I said if I can get away with a $29.50 wedding dress then we're set!

Our first day at the beach. The three of us got up and had breakfast in the room. Bella devoured my bagel and Gabby did pretty good with her banana and rice krispies. Then we got ready and headed down to the beach. We got there right when Papa did, so we walked out and found some lounge chairs. Gabby didn't like the sand on her feet. She kept trying to wipe it off, so I took her into the water and she didn't like that either. We finally started digging and filling up buckets with sand. Bella kept tip toeing around the seaweed, when I asked her what she was doing she said "stepping over the spiders." She thought that was pretty fun…although she didn't want Papa to bury her. After building sand castles and a sand turtle, Bella and Papa headed into the water. It was nice and calm and cold. Bella and Papa ran away from the waves and Bella thought that was a lot of fun. Gabby wasn't too sure still so I kept picking her up when a wave came so she could "jump" it. Finally I plopped her down in one and she made a big splash. After that she loved the water. Of course it soon turned into "myself". Bella decided it was time to head to the pool, but once she started picking up the sand toys, she started playing again for another hour. We finally got rinsed off and headed to the pool. There was sand in every part of the their swim suits. We got some chairs and blew up Gabby's floaties and Bella's fish tube and we headed in. Gabby thought she could swim and kept trying to get away from me. She'd sit on the step and say "myself, myself". Nana finally came down and we convinced the girls to get out of the pool and to get more "hamgumburgers". While waiting for the burgers Gabby just about fell asleep. We kept her awake long enough to eat and head back to the room. The girls then proceeded to take a 2 ½ hour nap.

When they got up Joel had arrived from his flight. We headed to find something to eat and ended up driving to a great restaurant that had boats come in and bring people to eat there. We saw a school of flying fish too. Bella had calamari for the second night in a row…and devoured her chicken strips and chocolate cake. Gabby was funny making her kissy face poses and showing everyone her muscles.

She kept sneaking her French fries during dinner, we would say "eat some more chicken" and she would grab a piece put it in her mouth and then when she thought we weren't looking she'd put it down and grab a French fry. The next day we headed to the beach before the rain came in. It didn't take long and it was pouring outside

so we headed to the children's museum. They had a great aquarium exhibit and then a huge exhibit upstairs about the body. Bella like playing the different notes to see how sound waves work

Gabby liked the little slideOne night the girls and I went down to the beach to listen to the waves.

Finally our last beach day the sun was out in full force. Once we told the girls it was sunny, Gabby grabbed her swimsuit, floaties and fish. I have never seen the girls get ready so fast.

The last night in Fort Lauderdale we ate at an old landmark – Cap's Place. We felt a little like we were camping, but the restaurant that started in the 1920 was an old rum running establishment. Al Capone used to visit as well as the Rockefeller's. Churchill used to meet with Roosevelt to strategize during the war. The food was good, but the history made it worth the little boat ride to the "Island."

Easter

We had a great time at Easter. The girls were so pretty in their flower dresses. Bella was excited that the Easter bunny knew what size flip flop she wore and that she got a pink and purple ones with glitter on them. She was also excited about her "Pocamahamous" doll although she was a little upset about Gabby getting Jasmine.
After church and naps we headed to Papa T and Nana's house for brunch. The girls loved touching the ice bunny.

Then we had an Easter egg hunt. Bella was on a mission to find eggsGabby shared with Reese.Then after Gabby had found a few eggs she plopped down and started eating her candy.

Pappa & Granna Visit

I don't think we could have squeezed any more into one week. It was crafts galore. We started with coloring the Easter eggs the afternoon Granna and Pappa came to visit. First we dyed, then painted, then glittered, or as Gabby called it "more sparkleys" The next day we went to the zoo. We got there when it opened and had so much fun. We only lasted 3 hours, but it was long enough.

Gabby looking at the rattlesnakes.

We got to feed the giraffes...Bella and Gabby got to feed them lettuce and everyone else fed them pellets. This was Bella favorite part of the day.

We also saw the Manta Rays. Gabby just wanted to play with the water...we had to keep her from climbing and going for a swim. Bella got brave and put her hands in but was the first to say "I didn't touch it". They didn't want to leave, but once they got splashed with a fin they were scared to put their hands back in and ready to move on.Bella got to ride the camel with Daddy and then again with Pappa.

We had fun looking at the monkeys. Gabby loved them and would say "look Mommy, monkey". When we went by the lions the male lion had just laid down and she said, "Shhh, Mommy the LiLi is sleeping...shhhh".

The girls stayed home all week and had so much fun. They played Don't Break the Ice. Gabby now LOVES this game. She kept saying "again, again"

Pappa read to both girls the Easter story. Bella understands the empty egg now. It was so cute the first thing she said to Pappa when they came in from the airport was that they needed to do the eggs. She got them down and went through all of them. When they got to the end she told Pappa that it was empty because the stone (in the previous egg) was rolled away and the tomb was empty because Jesus was alive. Then she told Granna the cloth was not a Kleenex and we can't blow our nose with it.Everyone's nails got painted, including Pappa.They made and decorated construction paper Easter baskets and cards for everyone.They made candy to fill the basketsThey tie dyed shirtsMade sock bunniesGot tattoosBaked cupcakesMade blankets

Making CardsHad running races and played hide and seekGabby's new way of doing a somersault.

Gabby has always been a talker with a large vocabulary, but this week she started with sentences and doing everything herself. She puts her shoes on and doing great with her cup and silverware. She gets so excited and says "I did it myself". She also loves to show off and says, "Look at me, Mommy" "Look at me, Daddy". Tonight after baths Joel was reading to Bella and I was reading to Gabby while doing her breathing treatment. When we were done, she said "I need a kiss" and then opened Bella's door and gave both a kiss. Then for the first time she said "I love you Daddy...I love you Bella". It was so cute. She ran to get her monkey and then went back into the room and said "one more kiss". She is so funny. She dances around right now by skipping and hopping and is just as independent and bossy as her sister...even though she said today "Bella's bossy". Through gaining her independence we have quite a few tantrums, but she is also a little actress just like her sister and will pout or make sure you're looking at her. Oh she is a character.