June Update

Since the end of the school year, we have been going non-stop.
I know lots of people love summer because of the slower pace, but personally, summer throws my schedule  so far out of whack, that it is harder to keep up.

Julien is away for a few weeks, which means that not only do we miss him terribly, but it has thrown Addie's world completely off its axis.
Addie has been sleeping in Julien's shirts, setting up camp with her babies in his bed, going into his room to listen to his radio and asking about him - constantly.
Every day when we pick her up from Summer Camp, she always asks about Julien, hoping he is home.
The first week after he left, she came running through the door each afternoon, calling his name.

Addie is keeping us quite busy.
She is loving Summer Camp and we are beyond blessed to have aides with Addie that she already knows.
Addie absolutely loves the opportunity to go on field trips and asks me every single day, "Bus?"!
In addition to Summer Camp, our social calendar is so full that I alone we managed to miss two social engagements last weekend.
Sure I felt horrible about it, but I am known for not being perfect, and I am at peace with that.

Chris has once again found his way to the golf courses spread out amidst the southern states.
He not only spent several days volunteering for a great cause, but he also managed to fit in his annual "Father's Day Golf Trip" and enjoyed several days away from our busy lives.
That in itself added much more confusion for Addie and I spent days trying to let her know that Julien and her Daddy would be home soon.
On the brighter side, she has now firmly mastered the ability to say the word, "Golf" - perfectly.

As for me, I'm happy to have an ear infection that went away, and an amazing job that I am blessed to return to each day.

Now...if we can just make it through the rest of summer without anymore ear infections, somehow manage to avoid the snake infestation taking place seemingly everywhere, and get Julien back home before Addie asks about him 300 more times, life will continue to be just fine.

Disney - Day Six

Julien and Addie were too exhausted to want to get up to go to the parks.

They were too exhausted to walk the ten feet to the pool.

Instead, they lounged around while we packed up.

We decided it was time to move on to destination number two.

Addie slept until after 8:00 and when we left the hotel and got in the car, she promptly proceeded to fall asleep again - into a very, very deep sleep.

(a temporary car restraint system purchased for the Monkus specifically for the trip, in an effort to maintain sanity levels)

We took the scenic drive north and Julien tried his best to show interest as we passed the Daytona Speedway.

What he really wanted was to be sleeping as peacefully as Monkey.

Addie slept almost the entire way to Saint Augustine, which meant that by the time we got settled at the hotel, she was perked back up enough for us to head out to explore the city and to eat something other than Disney food.

Yummy Italian food = happy boys.

Day Five

Day five started off at our own pace. 

We took our time eating breakfast and let Addie sit for a while and color before we even made our way to the bus.

Test Track was one of Chris and Julien's favorite rides. 

Julien even enjoyed designing and testing his new car.

I somehow managed to get talked into buying Addie another hat.

She couldn't have cared less and did not ask for one single thing.

However, Julien said she had to have it.

She was absolutely thrilled to have the camera in her face - yet again.

The day was quite beautiful, but so extremely hot.

We took advantage of every opportunity to stay out of the direct sunlight.

There was a cave right besides the gardens where we stayed and colored and cooled off.

It was yet another day where we had to head back to the room to shower and change.

I will take 32 degree temperatures over this - any day.

Did I mention that I got talked into buying two hats....?

On the way back out for the afternoon, we got caught in the only rain of our trip.

It lasted only a short time and other than Julien dropping his Invisalign into a puddle of dirty water - of all things! - we were otherwise unscathed.

Since Addie had so much fun at the dance party the night before, we planned our evening so that she could go back to the party.

She rocked The Chicken Dance!

It made us all so happy to see her having a good time!

We stayed late and made sure we rode every ride on our list.

It was five days in at the parks and I finally got a picture of the Iron Man Monorail Train - how cool!

Day Four - Part Two

After washing off the sweat accumulated in the streets of Disney, it was time to rest and there was no place she would rather be.

The bus ride back gave everyone time to relax before going full speed ahead for the next several hours.

Addie decided to ride the elephants with Julien, and she could barely see over the top.

These elephants were way too dramatic in their descent and Addie exited the ride refusing another turn. 

However, the rest of the night was so much fun!

Any time we encountered music, Addie started dancing and managed to keep us entertained.

9:00 p.m. and we could have used a nice long nap!

We even ran across a dance party

and that

couldn't have been more perfect for Addie!

She danced and danced

and her sweet little spirit was out in full force!

It was - by far - Addie's favorite part of the entire Orlando stay.

Day Four

We lucked out on room location.  

We were just steps from one of the quiet pools - and the laundry facilities.

We took advantage of the proximity to the pool on several occasion's and Addie absolutely loved it!

She adores swimming and playing in water and I try to take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way.

Day four started out perfect, with smiles on both of their faces.

I couldn't have asked for anything more.

The day was incredibly hot, but that didn't keep Addie from still acting like a little lady.

Since Addie was most happy on trains and buses, we made a point of going on them whenever possible.

As long as she had a clear view of all the surroundings so she could be as nosy as possible, life was good.

Julien managed to get her to go on the Buzz Lightyear ride a few times - tear free.

He even took time out from executing his own space aliens to help Addie attack hers.

It was day four - we finally broke down and visited the chocolate shop, right before heading back to shower and change in order to be ready for the second half of our day.