Florida Vacation Photos!

It has been so long since

I have written anything meaningful...

and I still don't have time...

I thought I had better

put some of these vacation photos

 on the blog...

Before Christmas arrives!

(we left home on Sept 15th and arrived home on Sept 27th)

These are totally mixed up

and I'm not taking the time to try

to arrange them chronologically... : p

(This is one thing that drives me crazy about blogger)

This is one of the "Jesus" players at the Holy Land Experience...

Notice Snorkie is very happy!

 

Also at the Holy Land...

Of course, my kids were playing "Narnia"

with "Aslan"

Here we are at the Magic Kingdom...

Notice Snorkie is NOT thrilled to meet Mickey & Minnie!

Here is Lumpy with his sweet Uncle ...

He liked the crutches.

Uncle Silly-Man is my "Biggest" brother who lives in Florida...

He and His wife came to the Townhouse we were renting

for dinner...

And Birthday Cake!

His Birthday was the month before...

We stopped in St. Augustine

on the way to Kissimmee from Jacksonville Beach...

We did the Trolley Tour and stopped at the little shrine to

Our Lady of La Leche...I thought it was appropriate

since Lumpy nursed any time he had a chance!

(the ENTIRE vacation)

This is the little church we attended

in Orlando on Sunday morning.

Sacred Heart Parish...

Traditional Latin Mass...so Lovely

This is the site in St.Augustine where the

first Mass was celebrated in the "New World" !

(it was the first thing that they did)

With Lovey's Aunt & Uncle in Jacksonville Beach...

On their Balcony right on the ocean.

Snorkie got a stuffed snake at the gift shop

at th Jacksonville zoo...

Tilly got an Ostrich...adorable!

The Jacksonville Zoo!

I LOVE those critters!

Mine & the others...

The kids sitting on Minnie Mouse's couch...

PapPap's 80th Birthday celebration at Red Lobster...

(Lovey's Dad and Step Mom live in Bradenton and

came to stay with us for three days while we were down there)

...turns out the waitress was from Doylestown, Pa...

about 20 minutes from my house...Small World.

Snorkie is totally into Red Lobster now...

He doesn't realize that you can get

Mozzarella Sticks just about anywhere...LOL.

Sea World...the Manta roller coaster...

my first roller coaster ride in 13 years...WOW that was fun!

(Scooter and I rode it together...twice)

We had some drizzle and rain this day but not enough

to dampen our spirits!

Scooter rode the Journey to Atlantis ride TWICE...

once all by herself...

it was the last run of the day and our last ride of the Vacation.

After Sea World, we went to Downtown Disney for dinner.

This was a Dinosaur themed restaurant with a

meteor shower every 20 minutes and moving

lifesized dinos!  WOW!

(Ha! Hadn't noticed that Scooter looks so thrilled...LOL

Tilly is happy with her tall bone shaped slurpee).

Back at the Jacsonville Zoo...baby Manta Rays to pet!

Stopped in Washington, DC on the way home...

This is Amelia Earhart's airplane...

at the Air & Space Museum!

This is a cool experimental room in the

Museum of American History.

It just re-opened...they did a great job renovating.

If you are close enough...it is well worth the visit

if only to see the original

"Star Spangled Banner".

The Family Photo on the Mall

(with the Capitol in the background)

This was our only really rainy day of the

whole 12 day adventure!

We got home around 9 that night...whew!

Now my yearly Marathon starts...

Halloween / Holy-Ween costumes...

November Birthdays Tilly (10) and Lumpy (1)!

(yikes, that was fast)

Thankgiving trip to my sisters in Illinois

(we celebrate 5 birthdays ((three of hers, two of mine)),

Thanksgiving and Christmas)

Christmas at home

Followed by February birthdays...

Snorkie (6) and Scooter (12).

I get to breathe again around Ash Wednesday.

I LOVE Lent : )

Late Summer Craziness

Chewba as:  SUPER BABY

Late Summer is often a lovely time, but this week has been yucky.

60's overnight and overcast or rainy days make lousy weather

for getting in a few more pool adventures.

I still have to make my own swim Skort...

Chewba loves the water and wants me to take

him in whenever I can...

I desperately need to order books...

today...

actually, now would be good : )

Chewba is almost exactly 9 months old RIGHT NOW

(it's 9:55am and he was born 10:12 am)

He needs me soon...

He has been eating everything he is given lately...

doesn't like baby food, just the real stuff.

Oh, and nursing...though those teeth are becoming

rather....painful : (

(for me)

We started back to school last week.

I like to do 2 or 3 weeks of half days before the

BIG SHOW...

Our Co-Op starts to meet next Thursday!

Looking forward to regular time with all of our friends.

We have TONS of new families joining us this year.

Yippee!

We will be heading South in Sept. for our first trip to Florida

since Scooter was a baby...yikes, 11 years!

Trying to get Chewba to spend some time in his own bed at night...

not easy...

it would be easier to just leave him in my bed...

It is nice to be able to cuddle with the Hubby

once in a while, though...

Without a baby between us!

Another playdate today...three this week...eek!

Trying to catch up for an August that slipped by me...

Pax Christi!

Morningstar Camp & the Benedictine Abbey & Modest Swimwear!

WARNING:

This post is a mess

and I don't have the energy to figure out how to fix it...

it IS similar to a 7 quick takes, but I don't have

the umph to link up there, either...

The last few weeks have been pretty interesting...

Scooter planned all year to go

to Morningstar Camp in New Hampshire

with her best friend...The camp is run by

the Sisters Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary...

in FULL Habit. 

They are amazing.

She developed a cough in the week before camp started...

it wasn't too bad...

until I dropped her off on Sunday : (

Thankfully we were staying at

a Benedictine Abbey in Still River, Mass-

just two hour south of camp...

Tuesday night I had to drive up and pick her up.

She loved the camp and wants to go back next year.

hmmmm.

Not sure Mom has the energy for a repeat...

"Chewba Grabowski" in the Kelty backpack ....

He loves ridin' high!

Tilly and Snorkie at the Lake in Harvard, Massachusetts.

Lovey weather ALL week...only needed the AC two days.

Spent Tuesday afternoon at the lake.

I made it to evening prayer several times

and morning Mass Mon, Wed, and Fri...

Chewba is a high energy guy...

it is like wrestling a baby crocodile during Mass-

trying to keep him quiet!

Compline was easier because he would nurse

and the Monks chanted the prayers so I didn't need

to worry about following along...

The Monks were SO gracious...

I'll be going back again, I'm sure.

Louisa May Alcott's house in Concord, Mass.

The fee was WAY too high to tour the inside

with four small children and two adults,

it would have cost $35.00....eeek.

It sure was pretty on the outside : )

Minute Man Statue at the Old North Bridge...

The "shot heard 'round the world"

was fired here...

Good thing we are all studying American History this year...

we actually got a field trip done in July!

I could not have gone a week away from my husband

without my friend "J".

Chewba just loves her and she made it possible

for me to actually EAT a meal once in a while.

This is Chewby visiting with a gal named "L" who lives

at the Abbey.  They had SOOOOOO much fun

making faces at each other!

I have to send a copy of this photo to her!

As soon as we got home Chewba started crawling "for real"

He had been scootching around and cruising a little,

but now he is officially ON THE GO!

And away he goes...

LOCK UP THE VALUABLES!!!

Both Scooter and Tilly needed new swim dresses...

I got these put together the week before we left.

They are comfy, cute and easy to swim in...

the dresses each have a full swimsuit sewn inside

so that they wont fly up over their heads in the water.

The leggings stay down because they are cut very slim.

If I wasn't nursing, I'd make one like this for myself!

Actually, I AM going to make a swim skort for myself

out of the blue floral fabric : )

The first night that we arrived at the Abbey

we made it to evening prayer before dinner

in the guest dining room.

It had been threatening rain for hours...

as the kids and I headed back to our rooms,

this sight greeted  us...

It was so big, I couldn't get the whole rainbow in one photo!

Blessings, all!