Amidst the stares

Picture this...10-12 kids, their parents and siblings packed into a pizza joint after the final soccer game of the season. This was the stage for the experience we had last night.

Little J has been playing soccer on the same team for a few seasons now, and the kids have become rather close. We've really enjoyed watching him and have enjoyed the community of parents, coaches, and kids. While Dillon has accompanied us to every game and practice most of the kids haven't "seen" him outside of a baby carrier. As I've mentioned before, he lives in the Ergo carrier. Love that thing. Anyway, we had him out and about at the dinner party as it's become pretty normal for us to do. And of course it didn't take too long before we started to notice a few stares. After a little while two of the kids on Little J's team came right over to our table and pretty much planted themselves right in front of me, as I was holding Dillon. Their mouths were agape and eyes were fixed on him. It was a bit odd...both of them just standing, not saying a thing, staring at my baby, for what was probably a few minutes but seemed like an hour. Right when I was about to say something to them (ya know, something like "shark attack") Little J excitedly ran up to his baby brother and kissed him on the face, laughing and hugging him saying, "Hi Dillon!" It was amazing to see the faces of his two friends completely transform from astonishment and confusion to relative acceptance. They, in turn, smiled, said hi to Dillon, and walked away with Little J, as if nothing had happened and it was now the most normal thing in the world. Our little six year old had completely transformed the moment from one of innocent awkwardness...into happiness and normalcy. His love for his brother set his friends at ease. What a blessing it was to watch our son be used by God to influence.

Vacation

We just went to Florida on vacation and it was awesome. Our kids had an amazing time! We went to Orlando...but no, we did not go to Disney. Sorry all you Disney fanatics, but the price of that place is just ri-dic-u-lous! We had an excellent time around Disney (ie, downtown Disney, riding the monorail and boats to the Disney hotels - which is free, by the way), went to an alligator show, drove to the beach for a day, and hung out at the water park at our hotel daily. It was wonderful, and was a blessing to just be together. Our kids were pros on the airplane - a first for D and basically a first for B as the last plane she was on she was an infant herself. I think if we could just do the airport travel experience alone our kids would think it was a vacation - I mean, who wouldn't be excited about riding a bus from the parking lot to the airport, riding a train at the airport, and then getting on a plane! Transportation mania. Anyway, we greatly enjoyed our time and wanted to show a few of our favorite pics. Smile away :).

 B riding in style

 Soaking wet kids from the splash fountain

 Treasures!

 Our little spot...thanks to John and Cindy (love you!) we were all decked out!

 Does my little girl's face scream excitement or what!?

 Grandma and B enjoying the waves

 Paddle boating. Be warned: ridiculously hot and sweaty when in Florida.

 Loving the gator.

 Rainforest cafe volcano 

 Riding the boat

 Lounging with dad.

 If you know our children you know that this=heaven.

 Completely addicted to water slides.

Can't wait to go on vacation again!

Oh, and to end with a very funny encounter today which has absolutely nothing to do with our vacation: Jason was holding D and a gal at church looked at him then asked "so are his legs just all tucked up in his outfit?" J had to then tell her "well, no, he doesn't have any." We just laugh at these hilarious comments sometimes. I don't think a five month olds' legs could be tucked up in his little onesie outfit :).