Florida Getaway 2014!

School was closed for a few days, the "snow" in Atlanta was building up, so it was time to head south. First stop, Gatorland. Drew is currently obsessed with watching episodes of Gator Boys, which honestly we should probably not be letting him watch. He has been begging to see real live gators and to be able to wrestle one. :)

And here he is, full of smiles. Sitting on a real live alligator with absolutely no hesitation. And yes, we are not irresponsible parents, the mouth was taped shut. I am pretty sure between Monster Jam and wrestling and alligator Drew has already realized his dreams in life. One happy boy.

After Gatorland we headed to Tampa to see the Steinemann and Wikstrom family. I am feeling horrible as I a completely forgot to take any photos. We had a great time, enjoyed some time at the park and pizza for a our Valentines day dinner.   We are looking forward to being back in Florida in just a few weeks to be able to see them again, and I promise to take pictures!

Above was a great bonus on the trip. Our arrival to Siesta Key overlapped with my best friend from high school, Carey, and her family  leaving from their vacation. I got to meet her new baby girl, and her two little boys who have both grown up so much! After knowing her since about 3rd grade, it is fun to see we can always pick up where we left off and nothing has changed.

After Hannah and Drew begging, and begging, we headed to the beach for some quality time in the sun, sand and the waves. They were both in heaven just being able to play in the sun and relax as a family. We are so thankful that Grandma and Grandpa let us crash their vacation at the beach for a little while to spend time with them.

Oh and more begging. Drew got himself a snorkel. And guess what, this is what "paul" the gator rescuer on gator boys has when he is in icky swamps looking for gators. So, in Drew fashion, he played "gator boys" most of his time in the pool with Hannah and Todd.

And here is a great photo of Hannah, Drew and Grandma and Grandpa. We think they survived the few days we were there. Hopefully they had as much fun as we did!

This picture cracks me up. We went to the Fish House and there was a tiki bar. Drew was making all kinds of faces like the tiki statues. It was cracking us up.

Family Photo!!

Forgot to sneak this one in on the top. Another great moment for Drew ( and Hannah) was holding the baby gator!! Look at this smile. Hannah did a lot of eye rolling, but admitted later that she liked it.

And here are the two loves of my life. My sweet Hannah and Drew. Still can't get over how much they are growing up. Fast, too fast.

And Hannah, my adorable sweet little angel. I love her sweetness and graciousness so much. I am so lucky to be her mom. Todd and I are just about the luckiest parents out there. We have two wonderful kids that make us laugh so much. Their silliness is so contagious to everyone around them. They keep us on our toes and there is never a dull moment with these two around.

We are already counting down our next vacation, exactly 40 days to go we will be Siesta Key bound again!

Snowjam aka Snowpocalypse aka Snowlanta 2014

I think the nation has learned by now, one snowflake in Atlanta = Snowjam. Atlanta traffic isn't fun, add a little ice, sleet and snow to the steep hilly roads and well, traffic jam. People stuck in cars, hotels, walking down highways trying to get home. Not fun for the adults. But for the kids..... well, snow can equal just about the most fun day(s) of the year!   I was in Houston, TX for work and missed the whole thing. I can't even tell you about bummed I was to miss all the fun with the kids and families in the neighborhood. Todd made it home in just a few hours, and was able to spend quality time with the kids sledding and playing in the snow. Just look at Drews grin in the picture above. I think he was excited!

Here is our little Drew flying on down a neighbors hill full throttle

Hannah doubled up with her little buddy Lila. Hannah was a little less adventurous than Drew with the big hills, but she had her share of fun.

  Those are some genuine big smiles in the midst of a really fun day

And really, really? Could he be any happier in this photo. I am guessing this was during a bit of a snowball fight with dad.

I am so grateful that while I was traveling that we have such great neighbors that kept me updated with the weather and got Hannah off the bus. I am even more grateful Todd left work when he did and beat the snow jam. Had he left about another 30 minutes later, he would had been one of the cars you saw on the news while Drew would had been stuck at school. But, all ended well, and made a lot of time for the fun. My Tuesday return from Houston got delayed until Thursday with about 7 canceled flights and delays. I couldn't complain given everything all the Atlantans went through. Just happy everyone was safe!!

It has been one cold winter across the US, Atlanta has been no exception, but still, I can't really complain. We will gladly take a snow day here and there for the kids. Next time, at the hint of snow, we will just work from home though :)