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