Beach time

The summer is heating up in Florida and the beaches are calling my name.

Time to take off the boots and play in the water. 
Being a 5th generation Floridian, my summers growing up were full of hanging out at the beach- swimming, tanning, boating, jet skiing, and just relaxing.  I think my boys will follow me in my footsteps.  They love the white sandy beaches and playing in the water all day.  My (Michigan raised) husband has adjusted to this warmer climate and more relaxed lifestyle.

Here we are at Honeymoon Island State Park, or Dunedin beach.  It is about 30 minutes from our house.  It is a few miles north of the well known popular beach Clearwater.  It is an awesome local beach that is not overcrowded by tourists or real beach “bums”.  It is very family friendly and it has a HUGE area for kids to play in that is not very deep.  Fun sand bars, not too many shells, lots of soft sand.

Come check out our Beach Bums Facebook page if you like beaches!

Goal this summer.  Go to a new beach every other weekend.

I want to take my husband here:

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I think he will love it! The Florida Keys.

Daddy Day

I received an early Mother's Day present.  John took the two boys to Disney for the day and I was just able to relax at home (which really meant clean and do laundry, but at least it was quiet).  I had a very nice day.  I enjoyed every minute of it because my own quiet time happens rarely.  I knew the boys would be partying and they sure did.  John knows how to have a good time.  

  

We went to grammy's annual easter party on Saturday.  The boys had a lot of fun.  Grant was very competitive when it came to the egg hunt and the egg throwing contest.  It is funny to see how much more the little boys care about these sorts of contests as they get older.  Garrett just had fun running around and watching Grant.  I love the picture of Garrett's fat hand counting the eggs.  He is still my baby in my eyes, but when I see these pictures I see how BIG he really is.  I love his fat rolls- he still has them even though he is 2! After the big party we headed over to Sea World.  I felt like a true Wirthlin....party, party, party~ no rest :) The boys loved all the sharks, whales, and fun sea creatures.  The shamu show was amazing.  It was worth the whole trip.  I think Grant wants to work at Sea World when he grows up.  It is his new favorite.  Fun weekend with the family.  Now back to work Daddy goes!

my new niece

Here she is.  She is perfect and we love her so much!  I just wish I didn't have two crazy boys that are really loud, bc then I could stay and hold her ALL day.

Holding sweet babies like Addie makes me want to have another ~ oh no!!!!

Garrett and truck

Garrett is going thru an obsessive- compulsive phase about trucks, trains, and cars. There are certain cars he has to carry around and trucks he has to play with. This is one big reason I like getting him outside. To distract him away from his toys. And look what we found...a life size truck to obsess over. Perfect for Garrett!

Guacamole Salsa for the Young Women

We had a little afternoon pool party the other day and we just had to make Jenny's famous guacamole salsa. It was so good. And pretty much disappeared in about 30 minutes. I made it again the next day for the Miamaids. One of my Miamaids moved up to Laurels and gave me a special request for food. Of course I obliged. We had a nice little party on Sunday.

Boys Bouncing

Thank goodness for daddy. Mommy could never do this sort of thing. I would be a sitting duck going against these crazy boys. Just happy that no one broke a bone (including John). He is surprisingly very bouncy!

Grant peeling corn

This is Grant having fun with corn. He peeled them and then lined them up. Such a Grant move. He is very precise and organized. So funny. He loves helping in the kitchen and this is a great way to play with food and not make a big MESS!. Kids love playing and I try to let my boys do it as much as possible.

Back to my roots...

I decided to dye my hair dark again. It has a little red in it too. I really like it. I like having darker hair for the summer bc we go swimming a lot and it can really dry out my hair. I know that bleaching can make that even worse. It is great for now. It fits my personality better I think. Now I just need to get a good tan.

Oma and Opa visit

Oma and Opa came to visit a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. We did lots of things: trips to Busch Gardens, eating stone crab, cooking, cleaning, Oma redoing my garden beds, and late night couch snoozing. We were lucky to have Brian come down for 2 days during the Romney Rally. The boys loved playing with Brian. He is a lot like John and likes to wrestle them. I think Grant thought he was John a few times- it was funny. We got to ride the cheetah (fastest roller coaster at Busch Gardens) while Oma and Opa watched the kiddies. Luckily there was no line! It has been years since I have been on a roller coaster...that was fun! The boys had so much fun spending time with Oma, she gave me lots of tips on how to raise spunky little boys. She is the expert, so I welcomed any new ideas. I will take all the help I can get! Here are some pics from the trip. I love Garrett's face with Oma, he is such a stinker! And he really does love her I promise :)

Virtual card...

This is my Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays card for the year.

These 2 little guys are the best part of our family! They make the days fun and wonderful. Sometimes the nights long, but not lonely :) They are quite the little pair of mischief makers around the house. If there is ever a quite period longer than 2 minutes I know that I am in trouble! Thanks goodness for mommy instinct :) Garrett is catching up to Grant in size pretty quickly, so Grant can no longer body slam him that easily. If he is not careful, Garrett will run up to him, roll him onto the ground and lay on him laughing. Grant can be stuck for awhile. That is until Mommy comes to the rescue! They love to wrestle. They are the sweetest little stinkers around.

Grant has just turned 4 and Garrett will be turning 2 on Christmas! We love our Grant and Garrett! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Santa has some great things coming our way. Better check back in a week to see!

a little more

We have been enjoying the nice outdoor weather as much as possible. It is great that the Florida heat is finally gone. Here is grant flying an airplane at the Science Center- MOSI. He loved it!

lately...

Things around here

We have been very busy around here. We bought a little puppy for the boys. Her name is Panda and she is a small pug. She is a lot of fun and so cute! The boys love her and I think I may be turning into a dog person :) Garrett jumped out of his crib to play with the pup and fractured his foot. It took him about 2 weeks of limping and he is finally starting to walk normal again. I am happy to have him back to his old self. We have him sleeping in a kids tent on the floor for now. He loves it :) We are staying busy and enjoying the nicer weather. December is my busy month. All 3 boys bdays- so I am gearing up for a long one! It should be fun though!

new blog

I have just started up a new blog. It is more geared towards my own passions and interests, not our family as a whole! I am excited to be branching out a little and do something new. I will keep updating this blog too! We have taken lots of pics lately- they are just all on my phone!!!

http://betterwithorganics.blogspot.com

Future Flipz...

The boys love open gym. I love it more :)

2nd try

Not sure why the first video didn't upload. He is the one in the middle lane.

grant swimming update

Grant is getting better and better at swimming. We have him signed up for one more month before we take the next few off. I am excited about his progress. He is a little fish. We are putting him in some tumbling classes for the Fall so that should be fun. The boys love going to Open Gym and so we try to go once or twice a week. The funny thing - I love it too!!!

The little muchkins

The kiddies playing outside in Inverness.

Grant and Caydon swimming

I guess the swimming lessons were worth it after all. This was a proud moment for me!