Going Home

We are on our way home. It was not too hard for Dawson to wheel her own bag and carry along her shopping bag. I am so in trouble when she's a teenager!

Taking a long needed rest on the airplane! It got very quiet for a moment and I turned around and here she was....crashed! It's been a lot of fun and a lot of play for the past week. Time to get home and recover!

Still hanging out at the beach

Just one more day left but, today we were still......

Talking to the alligator telling him to come over...she was trying to avoid the waves that kept moving him out into the water.

digging....

Making sand castles...

Just one more day of this relaxing beach vacation. We are looking forward to coming home to coloring our eggs and seeing our friends for an Easter egg hunt.

More beach fun...

Our third day consisted of.......

We started out our day at the beach burying our feet....

Running in and out of the water....

Wrapping up in towels.....

Going to the pool to swim like a mermaid..... Dawson was in the water for four straight hours. She did not even get out to eat!

Just walking around in the water and loving life!

My Castle:

Yesterday was our first full day at the beach and pool. When I say full, I mean we were there from 10-4 without ever leaving. When it was time to leave the beach, we left kicking and screaming! We took shifts for lunch so that she could stay and play! (I brought her lunch to the beach since she has been so excited I can hardly get her to eat anything at all!)

We spent hours running in and out of the water. Dawson was laughing and wanting everyone to chase her all around. I think she wore about 4 adults out by the end of the day!

Next, comes castle building. These two were hard at work building a deep and large castle for Dawson. If you look carefully, you can see she is in the middle trying to help. I like how focused everyone is...and if they knew I put this picture in, I would be in trouble!

This girl did not stop helping until the castle was done! I made her take break and smile for a picture!

And finally a quick lunch break! She was starving after all that hard work! Off to bed so we can hit the beach again tomorrow!

From cold snow to warm sun...

It's springbreak and we needed to get away from the snow and head south. We were beach bound! Off to Florida we went. We were there last year but, this year was much different. I have a child that is running in and out of the water shouting, "I'm so happy mom!" She has endless energy and loves, loves, loves the sand, the water, the pool and life! She's going to wear me out before this trip is over!

Maple Sugaring

It was a beautiful day to head out for some maple sugaring. We hooked up with our good friends Mayna and Grace for some pancakes, sausage and real maple syrup this morning. We live close to an old village that has demonstrations of how times "used to be." We really just walked around, discovered and explored. The girls really did show an interest in what was going on. I really enjoyed watching the three girls interact, play and love life on a beautiful spring day! We are looking forward to the warm days to come!

Mayna and Dawson peeking in on the maple sap. I didn't know it looked like water with some dead bugs floating in it. I'm thinking I prefer Mrs. Butterworths!

I took the bucket down off the tree so Dawson, Grace and Mayna could really see! The other two had no problem! I better get used to that or start carrying a step stool with me! Haha!

Taking a closer look.

The three girls spent a lot of time running up this ramp and jumping down. I love the the way Mayna and Dawson are laughing at Grace's jump. They were so happy for her!

Next comes a Dawson jump!!!!

Three friends just hanging out...you can almost tell how unique each of their personalities are from this shot.

Did some one hear Madonna singing, "Strike a Pose?" This made me laugh!

Having a short chat on the park bench...wonder what they are talking about?

The three girls kept running up to the church door to see if anyone would answer. No luck!

Amy took this picture of Dawson looking at the cow and sheep in the fields. This is one I'm going to frame!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! With a name like Dawson O'Hara, one couldn't be more Irish! (not really but, we will always pretend she is a little!) After work today, we came home and went right to the garage to get out our toys. Dawson was like a kid in a candy store. She looked in and said, "my bike, my scooter, my water table, my wagon, my stroller!" You should have seen the smile on her face! So what did we do? We did everything you could imagine with all of the toys. Here are a few of our afternoon activities.....

By far the most used toy in our life...the water table. She has used this since the day she came home! A great investment for us!!!

Time to take Strawberry Shortcake for a ride!

Time for a scooter ride! I had someone cut the handle bars down and reconstruct this scooter so she could reach! Works perfectly!!!

She can really make herself go on this scooter!

Rock climbing....

And a little ride on turtle...What a fun afternoon. We are anxiously awaiting more of these beautiful spring days!