SeaWorld Luau



We ended last weekend with a special treat of going to the SeaWorld Luau.  This is not something that we normally would have done, due to the high cost of attending, but SeaWorld offered free preschool annual passes this year for any child 5 and under.  We had already purchased annual passes for the boys, so they gave us a refund of $140 (total) but the catch was that we had to either 1) get 2 free tickets to the park or 2) get Shamu bucks which had to be used in some form or fashion that very day.  As we all had annual passes already, we took the Shamu bucks and made a reservation for the Luau.

It was quite fun, and the boys really enjoyed it.  Both watched very intently but Kaleb REALLY got into it as we looked over at one point and he had his hands up in the air, waving them all around.  When Amy looked with a question to Karis, he informed her that this was Kaleb's form of "dancing" to the music! :)  Too cute!  Afterwards, Kaleb took his lei (and Mommy's) and would put it on his arms and legs, and then wave them in the air like the hula dancers - all the while shouting "Mommy, look at this!"  So, it seemed to be a hit! :)

We started the day that Sunday however celebrating Kohl and Maddie's 2nd birthday with a pool party.  The water was a bit cold, but the kids still got in and swam until they were shivering and blue - before heading to the playground to warm up on the swings.  Jennifer made a fantastic Dora and Diego cake - complete with little figurines.

Hanging out with his pal Aubree

The two birthday kiddos!

 We also had the pleasure of spending some time over at the Cochrans, where Zachary enjoyed helping Auntie Heather and Uncle William "make" the pizza.  It was quite spectacular when Uncle William threw the crust up in the air to thin it out! :)  Kaleb and Kieran of course as always are two little peas in a pod, and Grandma Linda even commented at one point how well they play together, and share toys back and forth.

The two peas warming up after swimming

Learning how to spread the pizza dough.

Phrase of the week:  Mommy, I think that you should have FOUR kids, not just three!  Now, if Zachary could figure out a way to actually not have Mommy give birth to the fourth, we'd have a "maybe" but Mommy is getting old to be pregnant AGAIN!  So no thank-you (although we're blessed to be having our Baby Girl Z).  Kaleb said very seriously to Amy this week "Mommy, I really wanted a baby brudder, but now I don't want a baby brudder anymore, I just want a baby sister.  I'm glad that we're having a baby sister!"  Whew - good thing! :)

Charlotte's Web

Last weekend was a busy one, but we ended it off with going to the play Charlotte's Web.  The boys had been before with Gram-Z and Papa-Z but Zachary had enjoyed it so much that he requested to go again.  It was a fun outing for Mommy and the boys, while Daddy did some errands and yard work.  Thankfully neither of the boys cried when Charlotte died! 

Waiting for the play to start.

Kaleb had his official Sabbath School celebration as well last week, and he was proud as punch to be sitting in the chair.  He couldn't blow out the candles to save his soul, but it was fun to watch him try!

Uncle William was the teacher this week.

We also had the final birthday hurrahs when we had Cochrans, Deiningers and Johnsons over for dinner to do the final gift exchange for Zachary, Luke and Kaleb.  The boys were super excited as always, and the games/Legos/toy animals have since been played with intensely over the week.  Zachary has actually come a long way in the last few months with Legos, and now can put them together with only the occasional "Daddy, can you come help me!"

The beloved hockey game - such a fancy table for the game, eh?!

Daniel Cochran (William's brother) had his 40th birthday celebration last weekend as well, and his wife threw a lovely birthday party for him.  Guests were invited to share special memories/stories about Daniel, and it was a really neat experience to see how he'd been a part of some really special times over the years and touched folks in meaningful ways (or funny, depending on the story!)

This has been a bit of a strange week - Zachary had his final MMR shot on Monday, and the Doctor told us that he may spike a fever within the following 2 weeks.  Well, sure enough - 2.5 days later he got the anticipated fever and he has had it ever since.  It has led to a 103-104 degree fever (even with taking medications!), and some sleepless nights for him and Mommy!  We had him sleep in our bed so that Amy could monitor him during the night (while Daddy slept in his room), which meant that he was happy as a clam in the morning when he could snuggle but Mommy only got a few hours sleep, so VERY TIRED! :)  Hopefully his fever leaves us soon....

Phrase of the week:  "This kid is killing me, he doesn't know his ABCs!" -  Mommy and Daddy have decided that we were very intentional about teaching Zachary his ABCs, but have been much more (aka "too") laid back with Kaleb.  So, we've set out to rectify this and we were playing with an ABC train puzzle this week.  Kaleb's typical phrase (for many life situations) when asked a question is a shrug of the shoulders and a "I don't know."  Zachary was in the other room playing with Legos, when apparently he couldn't handle it anymore! :)  Kaleb's phrase this week was "Mommy, I'm wrapped in this blanket because I have a baby in my tummy, just like you.  Don't hurt my baby when we snuggle!"  It's hard to hurt an imaginary baby, but we'll do our best Kaleb! :)

Random picture of Kaleb shucking corn - such a big helper!

Egg Hunts Galore

We had a lovely Easter weekend, which began with the family get-together to celebrate the boys' birthdays.  This was the final 'formal' celebration that we had, and it was a fun time with Gram-Z and Papa-Z, Grandma, Aunt Louise, Kelsey, and Jeff and Niesha.  It had been a while since we'd had Jeff and Niesha over, so it was really a special treat.  The boys were out of their minds with excitement, and the kids along with Jeff and Kelsey played Zachary's new table hockey (birthday gift!) until Zachary's cheeks were pink with excitement.

Intense competition! :)

The next day, we had a special treat at church with the annual Easter program, which was very well done.  Zachary had his special time in the birthday chair at Sabbath School, but afterwards he started to feel a little puny and we later realized that he'd come down with a fever and a rash that was spreading over his body.  That put a damper on the evening's activities for Zachary as Daddy took him to the Nite Light Pediatrics clinic to check it out - while Kaleb and Mommy went to the Bergherm's Easter get-together.  The Easter get-together was complete with an Easter egg Resurrection hunt, where the eggs are numbered 1-12 and each includes a piece of paper that has a picture/word about the resurrection story.  It was a neat way to remember what Easter was all about, and to reinforce the story for the kids. 

When asked what they were doing, Kaleb's response was "playing Jesus on the cross!"

 The next day we laid low as we had another Easter egg hunt that afternoon, and as it was 100% outside, we brought Zachary along this time (with doctor's permission of course). It was lovely as always, and the Easter bunny was very "fascinating" (his words!) for Kaleb! They had fun in the bounce house and then hunting for eggs.

Daddy pushing Kaleb very high on the Hilliard tree swing!

Cuddle time with Auntie Kelli

On Tuesday, we headed over to Kobe's for Kaleb's birthday (he'd been asking to go to the "fire" restaurant for several weeks at this point), and he had a blast.  We all stuffed ourselves silly (it is not possible to finish all of the food that they give you!) and he enjoyed watching all of the chef's antics and 'fire' tricks.

Wednesday found Amy and Karis silently celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary (where did the years go!?) and then Gram-Z and Papa-Z flew out on Thursday, much to the boys' disappointment.

All in all, it was a very happy week with a lot of fun activities for all of us to enjoy!

Phrase of the week:  Gram-Z and Papa-Z gave a very generous cash gift to the boys before they left as the final gift for their birthdays.  During the ensuing moments, Amy had the "best of parent moments" and the "worst of parent moments."  Zachary took her to proud heights by exciting proclaiming that he was going to give the entire amount of cash (again, a very generous amount had been given) to the church as offering!  While proud of him, she did think that perhaps the grandparents hadn't intended for ALL of the money to go to the church, so it provided a moment for us to discuss what tithing and offering etc meant.  Then, a short while later, Kaleb and Gram-Z were discussing the present and she asked what would have happened if she hadn't brought any gifts for his birthday.  He very seriously looked up at her and said "I would NOT have been very happy with you!"  UGH, definitely not a Top 5 moment as a parent!

Party Animals

Bummer - this whole post was created yesterday, but somehow Blogspot didn't save the post so when we tried to post it today complete with pictures, it was a blank slate.  Who knows if the magic of yesterday's post can be recreated?  The blank slate is full of pressure now!  UGH!

Anyway, enough complaining.  Last weekend, we had a fun Saturday evening when the Isidros and Johnsons came over for some Italian fare.  We stuffed ourselves silly between all of the options (including Allen's eggplant extraordinaire in clay pots!) and the Italian Gelato.  The kids had a fun time playing in the pool as well - complete with back flips!

The adults doing the kids experiement on making ice cream in ziploc bags (which wasn't entirely successful!)

The kids table....

The next day was the boys' (aka Party Animals!) birthday party which we held at the Pinnochio Marionnette theater.  It was a play of Peter Pan, which seemed to keep the kids interest.  Afterwards, we had the party room where we ate and played with the puppet craft and the party favor, a plush animal puppet of course! :) Jenn, of Sweet Expectations Bakery, made fantastic circus-like cakes for the boys to celebrate this milestone, which were fabulous of course!

The party animals.....6,6, and 4!

Gram-Z and Papa-Z arrived on Monday, much to the boys' delight.  They have run them ragged with all of the play activities (complete with balloon launching episodes!).  On Wednesday, they joined Bergherms and Grodacks at Charlotte's Web play at the Orlando Shakespearean theater, where Zachary declared it so wonderful that he might have to go again! :)

No rest for the weary Papa-Z!

Phrase of the week:  Zachary, in an offhanded manner, informed us that Kaleb was a girl because he had long hair.  Poor Kaleb - hopefully he is man enough to take these comments, because we're just not sure that Kaleb would seem like "Kaleb" if he didn't have the surfer look!  Watch, when he grows up he'll shave his head in protest! :)  The other funny comment was last week at the birthday party when Zachary took his Auntie Kelli's hand and inquired "Would you like to sit down with me and chat?"  So grown-up, and so like his Mommy! :)

Flurry of Activity

Last weekend was another example of what has been a very busy spring for the Z-family!  We aren't used to such busy calendars, so this is taking some getting used to, but it is fun to have the events - that's for sure. 

We started off the weekend with a visit with friends from college - Jeff and Kim McFadden and their three kids.  It was great fun to catch up with them, as we haven't seen them now for several years.  They were friends with the whole group (Deiningers, Cochrans and Karis), so we had a group dinner over at Deiningers.  We are very happy to report that the kids behaved themselves as well, which is a major feat as Zachary and Luke tend to get themselves over-excited when they're together.  Perhaps this is one step towards a new reality!? :)

Kaleb, Kieran and Gavin McFadden - the three youngest boys.

The next day, we started off the day with witnessing Erik J's baby dedication at church.  He did swimmingly with no embarrassing moves, reminiscent of Zachary's dedication.  The church has a new "mass" dedication service, so there was 10-11 families up on stage at once, but thankfully the Johnsons were standing right in the middle which made for a good viewing spot!  Later that day, the adults had a lovely night out when we joined William and Heather, Rob and Lisa, and Daniel and Jamie (William's brother) for a dinner out at SoNapa.  It is a new wine restaurant (as you might guess from the name), so the waiter was probably VERY disappointed when no-one ordered the wine!  The food and conversation though was wonderful, and we enjoyed the time very much.

The next day, we headed off for our annual family photo shoot.  We did a shorter shoot this year (1 1/2 hours vs 3) and the boys actually maintained a happy demeanor for most of the time - the bribe of going to SeaWorld later in the day helped as well! :)  As the boys did so well, we did head off to SeaWorld after their naps.  SeaWorld has introduced a new "Preschool Pass" that is free for all kids below 6 years old for the rest of the year.  As Zachary was turning 6 this coming Wednesday, time was of the essence for us to get there.  We had already purchased passes for the boys before, so we received $70 credit for each boy!  The only catch is that you have to use the money THAT DAY, so we made/paid for reservations at the Luau dinner later in April (apparently just paying for the reservation counts!), which we're looking forward to.

On an unrelated note, the spring has been especially warm here in Orlando, and we never really had a winter.  This has resulted in a very high pollen count, for an extended amount of time.  Amy has been suffering GREATLY from the pollen (which is unusual as Karis is usually the one who suffers with spring allergies).  The netti-pot (the self-inflicted drowning) is helping tremendously but we'll be so glad when this spring is over!

Phrase of the week:  Kaleb is really sowing his wild oats lately (hopefully he'll get it out of his system before the new baby arrives!), and has tried out the old phrase "Whatever" a few times on Mom and Dad.  He received a quick response for this, so here's fingers crossed that it won't crop up again! :)

Kaleb learning to drive - once they get into our subdivision, he sits on Daddy's lap to "drive" home