Sully up close...

Just love these pictures of Sully that Jordan captured...and I wish he'd stay little...most days...

Sully on the beach

Sully was in 'boy paradise' on the beach.

Lots to explore and plenty of sand to build with and dig in!

I just love these pictures of him...total joy!

One of the best parts of our trip was that Jordan got take each of the older kids out for 'daddy time'. I wish 'real life' allowed for that a little more often.

Here's Sully ready to head out for his afternoon with dad.

Walkin' to the beach...

They found some rocks to climb on and explore and found salamanders, snakes and turtles!

Looking for more treasures....

Tess on the beach - Part 1

Tess LOVED the beach.

Born for the sun...

A little lounge time.

She also loves her daddy.

Time with her thoughts...

'Jumping' over the waves was her FAVORITE. She just squealed.

And calling the seagulls...here she is giving the 'come here' signal and saying, 'Mere bird. Mere!'

Just adorable...

And we had spaghetti one night...she kind of liked that too.

And she liked spending time in the girls' bedroom...acting so grown up!

One of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.

Our digs...

And now for beach pictures.

We stayed in a condo on New Smyrna Beach.

And if it weren't for the piles of sand in everything we owned...I may never have left!

And if he weren't married to me, Jordan would have definetly stayed.

He is a beach bum if there ever was one.

It was a great time just relax, forget responsibility and

enjoy each other...and the amazing sand and sun!

Looking at the dining area and lvr from the kitchen.

The big girls bedroom. They loved having a tv in there.

And it reaffirmed that I will never let my kids have tv in their rooms!

The master suite.

And, the view from our patio.

Checking out the view.

Disney Dreams

After we saw the princesses we had a late supper and

started heading back for the lighted parade.

We had this perfect view of the castle.

And from beside me, Avery piped up,

"Mommy, look! The lights are on in the castle cause the princesses are in there

getting dressed for the parade!

And that precious/sweet/innocent comment right there made me really happy

we had come to Disney exactly when we did!

And this was how Tess and Sully watched part of the lighted parade. Completely unprompted.

(and to keep it real...they did this adorable unprompted thing after I had taken EACH of them to the bathroom TWICE in a 15 minute period...I think they knew they were wearing on me and that I needed to see something cute!)

Shortly after this Sully told me, "Mommy, this was the best day of my life!"

(That helped too!)

My 'big' girls.

As we walked into the park in the morning Avery said, "Mommy? Do dreams

really come true here?

And my answer, "Yes Avery, they most certainly do."

Good bye Disney!

And you knew there would be princesses...

Five years ago we took Avery (age 15 mo) and Lauren (almost 4) to Disney.

We waited in line for 1.5 hours to see 3 princesses.

And it was worth every. single. second.

And I think it was likely the most precious, special moment I've ever witnessed.

But this was a very close second.

And we waited in line 10 minutes!

The kids were in awe.

With the exception of Lauren they truly believed that the 'princesses' in front of them were the REAL princesses they read about and watch in movies.

And Tess.

Really, does it get sweeter than that?

These princesses NEVER break character. Never. Its quite amazing.

And the look on Avery's face in this picture brings tears to my

eyes every time I look at this picture.

I will never forget this moment...and I'm so happy its captured in picture.

And Sully was so sweet...they each had these autograph books.

Sully's had a strap on it that held it closed. He insisted that he be the one to take it off and hand it to Sleeping Beauty. But it was hard, and seriously, he was nervous and fumble fingers.

Cant wait to see how he acts on his first date!

Still working on it...She was so patient!

Ahhhh, dreams come true!

Toy Story!

Woody and Jessie have a special spot in our hearts.

Toy Story was the first movie that Lauren fell in love with at about age 18 months.

We are so excited for Toy Story THREE to come out soon.

Really, what kid doesn't love those movies?!

Parades and Shows

The parades at Disney are probably my favorite part.

They do it right and its awesome.

I was singing those songs all day.

We had front row seats for each parade...no small feat, but totally worth the effort.

(Lauren is old. Last time we were at Disney she was almost 4. Now look at her. ugh.)

Tess taking it all in...

Sully waving at a character...

The best part is how interactive the characters are with the crowd.

Wicked Step Sister Drizella came over to Lauren...took her bow out of her hair, and put it back in on the TOP of Lauren's head and said, "There, that's the right way for you to wear it, like me!" And she smugly stomped off like a wicked step sister would do. And thus making a little girl's day!

Avery was so into it all she didn't know where to look!

More character involvement...

This show at the castle was another of Avery's favorite parts.

And we were close enough to spit on the princesses...not that we'd do that! :)