lazy. {or a post about my vacation with 30 photos}

between vacation and house stuff...i am still not in reality.
i am getting very little done besides keeping my house clean between visits.
so i'm going to document my vacation, okay?
can you hang in there for a lot of photos?
just some thoughts and moments i don't want to forget.
above is hoho's first look at the ocean.
he loved it.  and it's sand.

 

no fear of it whatsoever. 

totally the opposite of moses last year.

but this year, moses totally kicked that fear to the curb.

he loved the ocean and waves.  

going in as far as his chest.

 his first day there he found the worlds smallest hermit crab.
we kept it for the day and then released him to find his mommy.

 hoho played shuffle board.

a short drive from where we stay in florida is the worlds best playground.
enormous. fun.  family friendly.  and FREE.
there are all the normal playground stuff...plus tunnels and activites and loads of fun things.
it's one of our favorite places in boca.

 more playground.

more playground.
see doug?

across the street from where we stay is an inlet to the inter-coastal water way.
we would go there every day to see the tropical fish.
it's like this huge aquarium right there for you.

the best part of our vacation this year was the boys LOVE of the water.
both boys were fearless and loved jumping in and swimming around.
without us.
they didn't seem to care if we were in or out of the water.
they had their floaties on and did their thing.
some days we spent more the four hours at the pool.
it was wonderful.
i love vacation with older kids.

this was taken with the boys IN the pool.
this is how relaxing it was.
seriously laid back and wonderful.

 like my enormous $1 sunglasses?

 imagine this 1oo's of times. :)

many afternoons were spent at the beach.
then we would shower off the sand and go back to the pool.

 lots of digging in the sand.

 lots of jumping in the waves.

on our last day we went to our most favorite zoo ever.
moses got to pet a two year old alligator.
the zoo was our big outing.
we really didn't want or need more than the pool and the beach.
and our condo was stationed right between the two.
perfect.

some asked where we went.
every year we go to boca raton in florida.
doug's grandparents own a condo down there that they are gracious enough to bless us with the use of.
and doug's mom goes with us.
and i love my mother in law so it is a wonderful, good, blessing.
we are a block (maybe) from the beach and even closer to the pool.

it is wonderful and heavenly.
we got to go on dates alone (thanks to the wonderful mother in law).
we went for walks everyday.

i learned that i LOVE vacation with older children.
next year we won't have to bring DIAPERS OR A STROLLER.
imagine it?!
convinced me even more that i am perfectly content with two OLDER kids and that i am more than ok being done with babies.
the boys were old enough to make vacation enjoyable and relaxing again.
i loved it.

we had a great vacation and we plan to go back every single year for as many years as we can.

we are thankful for grandparents who are generous.
we are super thankful for my fabulous mom (in law) in NJ who goes with us and lets us enjoy some time together.
and we like being with her too.

we are blessed and spoiled.

and i can't wait to go back next year with my three and five year old.

:)

recovering.

i'm trying to regroup back here in reality. 
we've been gone for nine wonderful happy days.
we had THE best vacation ever.  EVER.
we are so so spoiled.

we came home and IMMEDIATELY had to get our house "show" ready.
immediately.
like we got home at 7:45pm.
put the kids in bed.
and doug was cutting grass by 8pm. 
we cleaned until 11:30pm.
and then woke up and cleaned for two more hours.

but we are prayerful that it will all be worth it.

we are ready for big changes.
because, if i am being honest, i did NOT want to come home.

i am FINALLY sitting down.
and i am exhausted.

so i hope you can understand if i'm a little lazy for a while.

and pray for me as i recover from my husband going back to work.

:)

an all in one {vacation} post.

hang in there for one long post...just figured I would get it all out there. :)

we are blessed that Doug's grandparents own a condo in Boca Raton that they live in during the winter.  even more blessed that our in-laws could be there so that Doug and I could experience vacation and not just childcare in another state. :) 

we got to the airport with TONS of time to spare.  
good thing because Aaron kicked off our trip by throwing up in the back of the car. 

and for some reason moms are cursed with the instinct of throwing their hands out to CATCH it...so we had a lot of cleaning up to do.  and praying.

with that past us the worst was over.  the boys loved the airport. 

aaron slept for 1 1/2 hours of a 2 and 1/2hour flight.  

sweet.  three of my limbs slept too.

upon arriving in florida aaron commenced eating every fifteen minutes.  that is not an exaggeration, just ask doug or my mother in law.  no sooner did we feed him did we hear "nom?" which is his word for eat. :)  Moses was the same way the last time we went. 

we swam every single day.  it was wonderful.  Moses is a champ...completely fearless.

one of my favorite parts of Florida is the grass...this grass was just mowed...and Aaron is knee deep.

Moses, of course, was in love with the palm trees.  He hugged more of them than I can count.  Everywhere we went we heard "There's a palm tree!".   

Hoho wasn't much of a swimmer.  He didn't mind to get in the pool...it just interfered with his eating schedule.  I could get him to stay in longer if I fed him blueberries while floating in his ring. :)

This is the view from the condo...that is the ocean out there.  On ONE walk and within 30 minutes Doug and I saw two 5-6ft nurse sharks, one moray eel and two barracuda.  Pretty much ensured that I will never swim in the ocean again.

LOVE these little boys.

Both boys loved getting some good grandparent time.  Doug's parents are the best and the boys just eat them up.  Doug and I got to spend time alone EVERY day thanks to his parents. :)

 We went to this awesome park one day.  Aaron decided this was the best time to poop.  And I failed to bring a diaper bag.  The park was close...but far enough away that I couldn't just run back to the condo to get a diaper...so I scoured the park for another baby...hoping to beg a diaper and some wipes from some mom who might take pity on me.  I was just about to give up when I spotted a little girl who looked just young enough to be in diapers...and spotted her mom...who offered me a princess pull-up and some handi wipes (which I rinsed out thoroughly).  Lucky for me Aaron does not discriminate and the day was saved by Ariel, Cinderella and Belle. :)

We went on dates.  And celebrated his birthday.  He is the best.  I love him.

  Moses took to his grandparents right away and had no problem going off on adventures with them.  Doug's grandparents are all from Norway...in the condo is a photo of a large group of their friends who get together every year...picture a photo of 50-60 Norwegians sitting together.  One day Moses looks at the photo and asks "Are these all the people that love Moses?". :)  

 

Which is made even more precious by the fact that every night when we pray with him we end with "Thank you for all the people that Moses loves, and all the people that love Moses".  

At least now he has a visual. :)

After nearly recovering from our previous shark sighting...we decided to be brave and try to snorkel.  I worked up every ounce of courage I could...and convinced myself that it was no big deal.  We were knee deep with our masks and whatnot...ready to jump in and go for it...and what do we see? ANOTHER shark...close enough to step on.  I ran screaming from the water exited calmly and decided to take that as a sign from God that I was not to snorkel that day.

Did I mention that I loved the grass?

Florida agreed with Aaron's hair...ensuring that it will be even longer before I am willing to cut it.

Moses was in boy heaven...he rode a plane, train and a bus.  Saw tons of animals...played in sand, ran, played and had a blast.

We went to the West Palm Zoo...which may be one of my favorite zoo's ever.  Moses, again, loved it.

The boys were boys...eating up all the attention and fun.

I walked by the ocean every single day...never. ever. get tired of that.

love.

Along the inlet was a favorite place to walk...most days it was like looking into a huge aquarium...you could see all sorts of bright fish...yellow, red, turquoise, etc.  Of course...Moses loved it. :)

We had a great time...we relaxed.  We spent time together.  We caught up with ourselves. 

I read a real book in five days...that didn't rhyme or have pictures.  I caught up in my One Year Bible.  

Then we came home...plane ride was OK...bus to the lot was OK...then it started to pour rain...buckets and buckets...so the boys and I huddled in a leaky bus stop while Doug went to get the car.  Which didn't start.  Because during the crazy of cleaning up the vomit from the beginning of the trip...someone with little fingers turned on the interior light...draining the battery.  Thankfully, Dulles has a free jump service...and the car started right up.  Then a trip that took us two hours to...took us 4 1/2 hours from...but other than that....

The best part of this wonderful vacation ending...was knowing that I had a pretty lovely life to come home to. :) ...and there is always next year. :)  

:)