Winter Break in sunny FLORIDA!

We left Feb 15th for our first family vacation to Florida. It was the girls' first time flying.

We stayed in Kissimmee for two nights, and went to the Magic Kingdom for 1 day. It was a great time. We got to go on all the rides we wanted to go on, and the kids got to meet all their favorite characters.

After our Disney adventure, we headed north 6.5 hours to where my parents were staying, in the town of Seagrove Beach, FL. Seagrove and Seaside are very picturesque beach towns with a lot of character and charm. The sand is a pure white powder that actually squeaks when you walk on it, the water is crystal blue, and there's a great mix of upscale and hole-in-the-wall dives. The Red Bar is reason enough to go back, plus they had a cool record store and book shop.

Eden Gardens state park. Gorgeous property - 600 yr old trees with spanish moss!

We had a fabulous time!!

We're back!

Sorry for the hiatus. I seem to post most things to Facebook these days. I took hundreds of pics over the summer and we did a ton of stuff, so it's kind of sad, here's a handful of pics from the past 6 months:

Elsa and Lila at my friend Sheri's family cabin. We stayed there for a week with her and her kids. Had perfect hot weather and had a blast!

 Elsa jumping off the dock at my uncle Jim's cabin.

 Riding on the golf cart at Jim's cabin.

 Boat ride!

 Me and my girls on my birthday.

 Two Harbors.

 Taylor's Falls.

 First day of school! Kindergarten and Second Grade.

 Happy Halloween!

I AM A LEOPARD.

Lila! This kid cracks me up.

Happy Spring and Easter

Tim reads to the kids before they go to bed in their playroom fort.

Elsa, looking sassy in a hairdo inspired by auntie Melinda!

Last weekend we took a walk down the road and Elsa loved to play in the melting snow (bubbling brooks) that flowed down the ditches. You can't see it, but it's cruising by like a little stream, making irresistible splashing sounds along the way.

Dying Easter eggs.

Reading with Dad on Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Elsa and Lila listen to Melinda tell a story while sitting at their cute kid table.

Tonight the kids played outside for two hours. For the first time in months, they went on their swing set and played around the whole yard. We can't wait for summer. Melt snow, melt!

Merry Christmas, Happy 2013, Happy Valentine's, etc. etc., Spring Break!

This is probably a record number of weeks that I've left the blog. There won't be much writing, mostly pictures. Here we go:

Christmas! Woke up Christmas Eve day to Lila throwing up, and our Beta fish dead. Classic. Elsa made her a little paper bouquet and gave her a xmas card to hold onto. Must've done the trick - she was fine by evening and ready for a candy cane.

 Elsa in her new outfit with must-have toy of the year, a Kendama.

New Year's eve day:

 Took the kids on a snowmobile ride in the sleigh.

 You can see our house in the background.

 Had a "romantic" New Year's eve dinner date with the kids at the Cornerstone. :) They thought it was neat to get NA champagne in fancy glasses. Cheers!

Didn't take too many photos after the New Year -- Tim and I were too busy getting ready for our big trip to Cabo San Lucas for John and Melinda's wedding! Here are just a few of the many:

 View from the infinity pool. Ahhh........

 The whole gang.

 The happy couple!! My bro-in-law John with my friend/new sister-in-law Melinda!

After we got back they had their reception in WBL. A fun time had by all, especially by me. :)

Spring Break started out pretty cool. A nice stranger bought the kids toys at Wal-Mart! The next day we went to the Edgewater water park in Duluth. We all had a lot of fun.

I hope to get better about blogging, especially with spring/summertime activities coming up. We did an Easter photo shoot already, so here's a preview in case I miss it.