Airing Our Dirty Laundry

Ohhhhh do we have dirty laundry, and now that the boys are getting potty trained we have even more.  Most of the time I don't know why we own a hamper because the clothes are always overflowing and there are more on the floor than in the hamper.  Not to mention the fact that the clothes that ended up at the bottom would be there for weeks because I always just take stuff off of the top.  So when I came across these plans I knew that I needed to figure out how I could get this thing built.  I thought that building it would be easy but I am terrified of the circular saw:)  Luckily, Jeff was on board with the idea so he was willing to do all the cutting, and then I did all of the assembly and painting.  And what we ended up with is this awesome laundry sorter...

And within minutes of it being completed it was full, I guess it is time to wash some clothes..

We do feel bad about handing the old hamper his pink slip, he has been with us for years.  But, we are all about improving the efficiency of our home.  So, if anyone is in need of a dependable hamper he is looking for work.

Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking & More Scrapbooking

Pretty much all of my free time lately has been consumed by scrapbooking.  This evening I uploaded and ordered 60 pages for the boys' toddler albums.  I am far from caught up but at least I have most of the major events covered, I can add in all the other stuff later.

In honor of father's day I am posting one of my favorites.  The layout itself is not something I am in love with, but I love that when I look at the pictures I can't help but smile.  Those three boys have so much fun together:) 

The boys' albums can be viewed at shutterfly here.  There is one for each boy, and yes they are almost identical...one of the many, many awesome things about having twins is that I can cheat and make the same layouts for both boys.  All I have to do is swap out a couple of pictures and within minutes I have pages for two albums done:)

Ha...I was just testing the link to the albums and noticed a typo on one of the pages (in both books).  Too bad I didn't notice that before I ordered them...oops!

For anyone into digital scrapbooking my newest favorite site is Manda Girl.  She makes awesome templates and the best part is that she offers most of them for free for a few weeks before she puts them in her store.  So...not only am I cheating by making the same layout for both boys, but the layout itself is not original either:)

Getting Ready to Campout

On June 25 we'll be spending a night under the stars to help American children lead longer, healthier, happier lives. National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout will provide an opportunity for us to open the door and sleep under the stars for our nation's kids!

If your family is anything like mine, you probably find yourselves spending more and more time in front of the computer or TV, and less and less time outdoors. We tend to forget the incredible opportunities that await us just by stepping outside our back door.

My goal is to raise $100 for the National Wildlife Federation. Part of NWF's mission is to create healthier families by reacquainting us with nature, whether that means spending time in our backyards and neighborhoods, or a nearby campground. By participating in the Great American Backyard Campout I'm hoping to remind my kids and myself that we can have a great time without the TV, without the video games and even without a roof over our heads! Funds raised from this event support vital programs like Green Hour, Nature Find, Trees for the 21st Century, Certified Wildlife and Schoolyard Habitats that get kids outside, for a healthier generation.

Please take a moment to visit my personal fundraising webpage and make a donation today. You can go to http://www.backyardcampout.org/ and search for my name, or just click HERE. Donating online is easy, fast and safe. Plus you'll be making a big difference for a good cause.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Lowry Park Zoo

To be honest, for the first half of our trip to Lowry Park Zoo I could not figure out how it was named the #1 zoo by Parents Magazine.  I personally thought that the animal exhibits were only so-so.  However, toward the end of our day my opinion changed quite a bit.

The boys fed a giraffe...

They had a few rides that the boys LOVED!!!

But the best part of the whole day was getting to play in the water...

Not too sure about the water, yet.

 

Getting brave

 

It's fun to get...





...soaking wet!!!

We didn't know to bring a change of clothes with so they had to ride from Tampa to Orlando in just a diaper:)

We had so much fun on our vacation that I've already started planning our vacation for next year.



Cocoa Beach

I love it when I have a plan that doesn't turn out.  If we got to the beach and everything was fine we would have played in the water for a while, built a sand castle or two and been on our merry way.  However, instead we got to the beach and couldn't go in the water because there were literally thousands of jellyfish that had washed up.  Obviously we were disappointed, but if the water was fine Jeff would have never asked the lifeguard about other beaches and we would have never found Taco City.

All I have to say is if you are anywhere near Cocoa Beach (within a couple hour drive) go to Taco City.  Then, take your tacos a few blocks away to a free parking area and eat on the beach.  That is what we did and then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the water and building sand castles:)

The boys excited to get to the beach and play



They only sat there for a minute before those things washed up next to them.



Having fun at our new location

Magic Kingdom

We went to Magic Kingdom our first day and our last day of vacation and even after 6 days on vacation with 90+ degree weather and toddlers that had been missing out on their naps, it was still the happiest place on earth.  I know I felt like a little kid when we walked through the entrance, so excited to be there and I couldn't wait to get on some rides and see the shows and parades!

How can a person not be happy when they see Mickey and Minnie dancing....

....or someone holding this many balloons?  We were so tempted to buy one:)

The boys' favorite ride was the Tomorrowland Speedway, we rode it twice.  The first time through we didn't realize that they could steer and that the gas petal was in the middle so the passenger could control it.  So, the second time through the boys "drove"  they both bounced back and forth off the rail nonstop the entire time they were steering so both of them gave up about half way through the ride:)

We lucked out with wait times and were able to do all of the classic rides in Fantasyland...Tea Cups, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, and Dumbo. 

The best part for me was meeting up with my sister, brother, and their families our first day in Florida.  We all met at Magic Kingdom and rode a couple of rides together, my sister even watched the boys for us so that Jeff and I could go on Splash Mountain.

A couple of my favorite pictures...you can see that the boys don't like to pose for pictures:)



Animal Kingdom

Our favorite day of the whole trip was the day we spent at Animal Kingdom, this is definitely a park for little guys.  The boys were barely tall enough to go on the Kali River Rapids, but they were able to go and as they would tell you, they got "soaking wet". 

The best part of the park was the safari ride, we timed it perfectly and were able to walk right on without waiting in line.  Once we were on the ride we got stopped by rhinos crossing the road, not so much crossing the road, more standing in the middle of the road. 

It was so cool to be that close to them, but even better...while we were waiting, the sleeping lion woke up and we were able to get some pretty cool pictures of him and the lioness that came over to mess with him.

Another great part of of our day was the petting zoo, the boys loved petting and brushing the sheep and goats.

It was such an awesome day, we were disappointed that the park closes at 6:00.  We could have spent a couple more hours there for sure.

I almost forgot...we got to meet these guys too!

What a nice looking plaid family:)

Hollywood Studios

I LOVE the props!!!  11 years ago Jeff and I went to Disney World and Hollywood Studios was my favorite park.  This time it was our least favorite...The boys couldn't ride any of the rides and they were scared of the shows because they were all loud and/or 3D.  For some reason they weren't fans of the silly 3D glasses or the fact that they were just sittin' there minding their own business watching tv and all of a sudden they are getting splashed with water:)   But, we still found a few things that the boys could do and that they liked.  Their favorite part was the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area.

Jeff and I liked the Lights Motors Action stunt show.  Colby liked all of the cars and motorcycles, but Jacob did not like how loud the show was with all the gunfire, explosions, etc.

Here we are at the end of our day, the boys look they are about to crash:)

Vacation...

We just got back from our trip to Florida...what a blast!!!  The boys were so excited to fly in an airplane for the first time.  They had a hard time sitting still on the way there and Jacob was not a big fan of the taking off or the landing (I don't think anyone ever is into the landing part of the flight).   Here we are getting ready to take off and start our vacation....

The rest of the pictures will take me a bit of time to go through....