Jungle Gardens

For her birthday, Aunt Wendy wanted to go to Jungle Gardens in Sarasota. We had not been there in probably twenty years and it was amazing how little it has changed. Trey had a great time and Wesley was once again just happy to be outside exploring the world.

All smiles as always

Anyone who knows me well knows that my biggest fear is of snakes so when Trey was chosen out of the audience at the reptile show to help bring out Lucy you can imagine my fear when Lucy turned out to be a huge snake. Trey however had no fear and was so proud of himself holding that snake up for everyone to see. I seriously thought that I would have a heart attack.

Posing with a baby alligator

Our future photographer

My favorite part of Jungle Gardens was always the birds and the bird show

Happy Third Birthday Belle!!

It is so hard to believe that Trey's girl, Belle, is now three years old. Her princess themed birthday was so much fun and included a princess bounce house and a huge water slide. Belle is one lucky lady as Chris and Erika threw her the perfect third birthday party.

Chris and Belle flying down the slide

Trey was a little afraid of the big slide but Chris took him down and after the first time he just kept begging Chris to take him again and again

Wes spent the first part of the party asleep :o)

But Wes woke up in time to play with his friend Noah

Belle showing Trey all of her new toys

Month Three for Wesley

Being a Mom of two has taught me many things but one thing I know for sure is when your kids are babies you should treasure every small moment as time goes by so quickly and before you know it you have a toddler instead of a baby. Those quiet moments of cuddling with Wesley are so precious and I cannot believe how big he is getting. On his third month birthday on October 1 we estimated that Wesley was weighing in at around 16 pounds. His baby chunk is just too precious. He truly is the happiest baby I have ever met and wakes up every morning with a huge smile on his face. He is always checking out his surroundings and loves to be outside.

Orlando Trip with Nana

Nana and Papa Steve have a time share and so when they got an e-mail offering a week in Orlando for $200 we could not pass it up. So on a whim, Nana and I packed up the kids and headed to Orlando for the week. Papa Steve and Jimmy joined us for Saturday and Sunday. We spent most of the week in the pool but were able to fit in a few days out in Orlando.

Playing at the pool with Daddy and Papa Steve

Wesley spent most of his time at the pool sleeping under a net as the love bugs were out in full force but he was just happy to be outside.

Trey made Jimmy get his work out every day running around the pool. The week made us realize that Trey really needs swimming lessons as he loves the water.

Watching the Gator game

Big Bro and Little Bro in their matching monkey PJs.
Trey loves taking pictures with Wesley.

Wesley is getting too big for the boppy pillow that he used to fit on no problem.

One afternoon we headed out to take the boys to Downtown Disney. Trey was overwhelmed by all of the things to look at and all of the people but once he warmed up he had a great time riding with Nana on her scooter and checking it all out.

Playing on the playground at the Lego store

Trey the Pirate of course had to get some pirate Mickey ears, a telescope and a sword. He had so much fun walking around with them and he was the hit if Downtown Disney.

Riding the train all by himself - it is amazing what a little man he has become - so independent. His favorite words these days are "I can do it myself Mommy."

One of Trey's favorite things to do is to take pictures with our camera - this is Trey's point of view as we were sitting down to eat at the Rainforest Cafe.

Outside the Rainforest Cafe - Wes was asleep in the stroller so we did not want to disturb him.

Trey and Nana played with his mateys in the big tub every night and the laughs coming from the bathroom were contagious.

Ready for bedtime again

On our last day in Orlando Eric, Allison and Owen came to meet us as Jimmy and Eric were flying out of town on business the next day. We decided to take the kids to the Green Meadows Farm. For anyone with kids I highly recommend an outing to this farm. It was absolutely amazing how much they let the kids do. Above is Owen petting a goat.

Feeding the goats

Holding a duck

Riding on the hayride

Trey trying to catch a Turkey but man those birds were fast

Riding on a pony ride

Petting a chicken

Showing Owen his chicken

Riding on a train

Milking a cow - we were amazed that he did it

Petting a guinea pig

Holding a baby duck - it was so adorable to watch him as Trey was so careful with the baby

Holding a baby chicken - what a great way to end the day at the farm.

Fun, Fun and More Fun with Friends in September

Fall is always a busy time of the year with gator football, birthday parties and outings with friends and this year has been no different. September was a busy month starting with Claire's third birthday party at Sprouts (a local place in Brandon similar to Gymboree). Trey had such a great time playing with Claire and the other kids and especially loved the Yo Gabba Gabba theme.

Puppet Time

Time to blow out the candle

The birthday girl all tuckered out at the end of the day.

A great new bowling alley opened up in the Apollo Beach area and since that is about the half way point to Bradenton, we met Chris, Erika and Isabelle there on weekend in order to introduce the kids to bowling. I am not sure whether they enjoyed the bowling or the arcade more but it was a great time and I think Trey had a better bowling score than his Mommy.

The Ellis boys

Isabelle carrying her bowling ball - pretty impressive since it weighed 8 pounds.

Jimmy teaching Trey how to bowl

Another outing was to take Wes to the Tampa Aquarium for the first time with Allison and Owen. Wesley loved looking around at all of the tanks and Trey had a great time as always - he kept asking to go and see the scuba divers at the shark show and was so excited when he finally got to see them.

Labor Day on Elberon Street

To celebrate Labor Day we of course had to have a BBQ with the Elberon gang. Jimmy got some great pictures of the kids.

Brad, Ava, Maia and Trey enjoying their lollipops

The girls

Maia and her silly face :o)

Ava and her blue teeth

Mr. Bradley

Mr. Bodhi

Mr. Wesley who cannot wait to be old enough to hang with the other kids