Ready for a brother? Lice anyone?

We babysat a little baby the other day and the kids just loved having him around.

 Jo holding Logan after eating chocolate chips.

Dani got her haircut over a week ago.  Yesterday we found lice in her hair.  Not sure if that is how she got it, but Stacey got it too.  We spent all day washing hair and laundry.  Not a fun experience, but hope to have it behind us.

February slump

I don't have a lot to post about, but I have taken a few random pictures.

 Sam and Jo were playing with an old camera and when Sam asked Jo for a picture - this is what Jo did for him.  I of course I had him do it again for me and then Sam had to get in on a picture too.

 Sam's new thing is to tell us stories of things that happened to him before we were born.  I think he's getting tired of all the stories, pictures and videos he sees where he gets told that it happened before he was born, so now he's trying to make us feel the same way.

 On a few of these colder days we've gone to the church with some friends to ride bikes and play.  This is how I found Jo trying to ride the 4 wheeler.

 We've had a lot of snow recently (none of which has stuck around).  This picture, however, is all hail that came down within 3 minutes.  The kids thought it would be fun to play in until they heard thunder and came running inside.

 With a five day weekend, I felt the kids needed to get out of the house and we ended up at another jump house.  There are so many around here, that we have to try them all out.  This one, called Bounce didn't keep them interested for even an hour (although it was lunch time and they were hungry).  They have been asking to go back, but will they be done in an hour again?

Swamps and Rainforests

 On an airboat alligator tour.

 Alligator spotting.  I couldn't believe how close he got us to these alligators with stories of them charging the boat on previous trips.  The captain, however, kept telling us there was no threat.  They are used to the boats, sleep during the day, are only active at night, and usually mind their own business.  He said he even brings his kids to swim out in this same lake during daylight.  Supposedly it's the snakes and spiders you have to worry about.

 Baby alligator trying to stay still.

 Out on the lake.

Yeah, I can't believe it either. I'm actually holding a baby alligator.

 Yes, the mouth is taped.

 At the Rainforest Cafe.   Not a real alligator, but real birds.

Islands of Adventure

Day 2 found us at Islands of Adventure.  It was more busy than Universal Studios, but the weather was nicer and I think everyone was there to see Harry Potter's Wizarding World.  We opted to start elsewhere and again had no waiting

We started here on the Incredible Hulk and loved it.  Since there was no wait we went again.  We came back later and did it two more times.  Our favorite by far.

 The one ride Mark wanted to go on (Pteranadon Flyers) we found out was for children and their accompanying parents only.  Too bad the kids were at home.

 We watched a water ride and decided it was too chilly to do that early in the morning.  No need to be uncomfortable the rest of the day.  As we walked on we saw a ride with no wait and decided to try it.  Unbeknownst to us it was the very ride.  We opted not to turn back simply because the people we saw didn't get real wet.  Unfortunately for us, we ended up soaked and were uncomfortable for the rest of the morning until the sun decided to come out.

 The Weaslys flying car.

 I couldn't believe all the Harry Potter merchandise for sale.  Anything from this chocolate frog, to extendable ears, quaffles, wands, sneakoscopes and anything else you can think of.

 And we couldn't come and not try the Butterbeer. (Don't worry, it's non-alcoholic).  We tried the frozen variety, but it's like a cream soda with butterscotch foam on top.  Not too bad.

 Posiedon.  This was for Taylor as she is into Percy Jackson.

Cat in the hat for the boys.

Universal Studios

I know what you're thinking.  Orlando again?  It's a story.  We had about a month's notice that Mark was invited to another all expense paid conference.  But who wants to go alone?  I found a discounted way to get their by prepaying for my own trip. The day before Mark was to leave, the conference was canceled due to all the blizzards around the country.  That left us with two options - go anyway and pay for all of Mark's expenses, or stay home and lose out on the money I had paid.  We would have saved money by staying, but if we're going to lose money anyway, we might as well have fun doing it.  Unfortunately we couldn't get on the same flights, so the two days of travel were extremely long by ourselves. 

The weather had forcasted thunderstorms for our first day in Orlando, but we opted to try the park anyway.  Maybe it was due to the forecast, or maybe the time of year, but it seemed as though we had Universal Studios all to ourselves.  We hardly waited in any lines and got the majority of the park done in 2 hours.  The weather cooperated as well and it didn't rain until the evening after we had already left.

 We had both been to Universal Studios in California when we were kids and it wasn't like we remembered it.  Even Jaws was different being in a boat as opposed to the tram ride.  We still had a good time though.

 Woody Woodpecker seemed so lonely with no line, so I made an effort to get a picture with him.

 We got this one for Sam and Jo so we could amaze them with our story of meeting Curious George.

 So did we go to Florida or California?  It is trick photography.  The street and half of the buildings are really at Universal, but the top half is a picture in front of us.

 This picture was for my brother Matt.  Maybe someday he can meet one of his idols.

Sorry Mark!  He did not appreciate me asking him to pose in so many pictures, but it will always be fun to look back on.

Bowling

Mark was scheduled to attend a conference this week in Orlando, but due to all the blizzards in a good portion of the country, the conference was canceled.  After much debate, we decided to go anyway and just have fun.  Mark had a few days off and one evening he took us bowling.  The kids loved it and Dani even tied my score, breaking 100.  In my defense she was using a ramp and bumpers.