Penny Jane Wall

My sister had her baby today, on Memorial Day! Penny Jane Wall was born shortly after 10 am this morning. Her nicknames are already PJ and Pia. (Pia because big sis Ruby can not say Penny, and says Pia.)I went up to the hospital to see Cathy and Dave around 8:30 this morning, along with my mom. Dave's mom arrived not long after.

Every thing went well, and Cathy and Penny are doing great. When we left the hospital around 3 (my family arrived around 2:15) we took Ruby with us. She hasn't been to our house in about 2 weeks, which is a long time for us. I plan on taking her to the zoo tomorrow with Gwyn, even if it is supposed to rain. We will just bring towels.

She looks so much like her big sister, Ruby!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2017 was celebrated on May 21st, because May 14th is a very important date in our family that shouldn't be shared with other holidays.

Colin

Favorite thing about Mommy:  She is a good snuggler.

Favorite things to do with Mommy:  Read or snuggle while watching TV.

How Mommy takes care of me:  She drives me some places.  She talks to my friends moms so I can play with them.

Why is Mommy Special:  Because she is the best mom.

Favorite memory:  Going to Universal Studios and riding some of the rides.  Daddy, Kevin, and Gwyn were on another ride and the park was about to close at night and we rode Buckbeak over and over and over again.

Final thought: She is very nice to me.

Kevin

Favorite thing about Mommy:  She is fun.

Favorite thing to do with Mommy:  Read.

How Mommy takes care of me:  She helps me when I need help with stuff.  Like homework questions I don't really understand.

Why is Mommy special:  Because she is the one Momma I'll ever have.

Favorite Memory of Mommy:  Reading with Mommy while I'm reading my book and she is reading her book and we are snuggling.

Final thought:  Nothing.

Gwyneth

Favorite thing about Mommy:  That she snuggles with me.

Favorite thing to do with Mommy:  Build my Guardians of the Galaxy Lego set.

How Mommy takes care of me:  She made me be alive.  She helps me get dressed.  Nothing else.

Why is Mommy special:  Because she is my Mommy.

Favorite memory of Mommy:  When she brushes my hair or building my lego set.

Final thought:  Nothing.

Spring Mornings

I just want to remember how mornings have been over the past few weeks.

I started snuggling with Gwyn a while ago to wake her up. She used to be grumpy, but now she demands it. We talk about our day and I play with her hair. I love it.

Colin has taken to having time in the morning now as well. He will get in our bed sometimes when he hears Kevin get in the shower. He is so wide awake and happy, so we get to talk before I get in the shower. Sometimes he is even in there when we get home from running!

I love it, and just want to remember these moments.

Happy Birthday Colin!

This past Sunday was Colin's 9th birthday. (Mother's Day will be a week late for us.) I hope he had fun. Last weekend, we had three friends stay the night. This weekend he had his family party. Today (Sunday, his actual birthday) we went to Kokomo Joes for a bit and he chose Uncle Bill's Pancake House for dinner.

 

Favorite part about this year's birthday: dinner at Uncle Bill's, presents, playing outside with family

He is so amazing and sweet. He is so much kinder than people give him credit for! And if you are quiet enough, you will hear him be a great brother. I love him so much!

Spring Break Day 5 - Universal Studios

On Day 2, we had purchased shirts to wear on our last day. We decided for everyone to choose their Hogwarts house. Daddy was Ravenclaw, the boys were Slytherin, and I was Hufflepuff. Gwyn was almost Slytherin, but changed to match Daddy. It was fun. A few people said they liked our shirts. I got picked on a bit being Hufflepuff. It was pretty funny. Staff members would see me running and yell "Hufflepuff's don't run!" Once I left my phone in my pocket and had to go back through the line, and the staff at the entrance said said "Hufflepuffs don't break the rules!" It was entertaining.

We decided our last day would be at the park. We wanted to go back to all our favorites, or ride the things we missed. (The boys were too scared to ride The Mummy, but otherwise everything was ridden at least once.)

Once afternoon hit, Gwyn wanted to swim, so she returned to the hotel with Daddy. Gwyn had so much fun jumping on the pool. She kept talking about it once we met back up for dinner. The boys and I jumped from park to park riding our favorites. 

The kids got chocolate frogs with money from Aunts Betsy and Pat. They ate them while waiting to ride the train.

We decided to use our God passes on the Hogwarts train. Right after we got in line, one of the trains stopped working, and everything paused while they fixed things. This meant that as soon as things started moving, the line would move slow. So we showed our passes and we instructed to take the elevator up to the platform. Once there, we were asked to wait for a few minutes, and told we would get on the next train. But they never took the tickets! Bonus!

So we all decided to ride the Escape From Gringotts one last time. At first Colin said he didn't want to ride, and we were going to have him wait for us, but that started an argument with park employees. After a few minutes, he decided he wanted to ride (YES)! This is where we used our god passes in the end. Totally worth it.

A picture of the Escape From Gringotts dragon.

This is in line for Flight of the Hippgriff. I think I rode this close to 20 times.

Dinner at The Leaky Cauldron! Colin is showing off his Chocolate Frog card. It is Dumbledore.

Kevin spent so much time just trying to get pictures of the dragon breathing fire. So on his last night he stayed until it happened. Here are a few of the pictures. (The kids and I walked around doing spells with the interactive wand.)

We stayed until the park closed, and then walked home.

The next morning, we got our rental car, and went to the airport. Thankfully we were able to send Colin's wand with our luggage. Here is one of Gwyn's last times sucking her thumb! She and Kevin sat by Daddy. (We had a direct flight home.)

Colin and I talked and played on Snapchat.

Kevin was one of the first ones on the plane, and got to meet the pilot! He even got to sit in the cockpit!

It was one of the best trips of my life. I hope the kids have wonderful memories!