Florida Trip 2018 (Part 2)

Legoland is always on the agenda when we go to Florida. We have annual passes and we go as many times as we can each year. The boys love Legoland. This year was a bit odd-- both boys were really moody and temperamental on our first day at Legoland. There were a lot of tears and a lot of just unusually difficult moments that we don't normally have to deal with when we are at a place like Legoland :) But we survived-- and our second day at Legoland Water Park went much more smoothly.

Carson refused to ride the boats.

Grumpy,

Lego Master Builder class at the hotel.

Getting his face painted!

A couple of smiles.

The hotel!!

Dance party.

New pajamas for the evening activities at the hotel.

We really do love this hotel. It's pricey and a little crazy for us to pay to stay there when we are so close to my parents' house-- but they boys love it every bit as much as they love the actual theme park.

Day 2: At the Water Park

This was our second time at the water park and it was a truly perfect day. Not too crowded. Not too terribly hot. The boys were in much better moods and overall we just had a really smooth, easy, fun day.

After the water park we headed back to the hotel for one more master builder class before heading home.

Florida Trip 2018 (Part 1)

One of our favorite weeks of the year is our annual summer trip to Florida! Our trip this year was pretty close to perfect-- even though traveling with a puppy added another element of stress to the road trip :)

We stopped halfway in Walterboro, South Carolina before finishing the drive into Bartow. On our first full day in Florida we went to Dinosaur World, then the boys played in the pool and slip n' slide at my parents' house, then dinner at Carrabba's.

Bentley LOVED Dinosaur World!

Swimming at the hotel.

He did great in the car!

Dinosaur World!

Both boys have a new found love of steak. 

When we travel Carver does really odd things, like want to take his teddy bear everywhere with him...
He doesn't do this at home.

Camp Ridgecrest for Boys

This summer we dropped the boys off at Camp Ridgecrest for their very first time as campers there. It was sort of a big deal-- I have a long history at Crestridge, and Daniel and I met through our jobs at the summer camps so having the boys finally old enough to attend camp there definitely felt a bit like things were coming full circle. 

The boys went to starter camp this year. Carver was in Apache 5, and Carson was in Apache 1. Dropping them off was a fun experience, we ran into a lot of old camp friends and acquaintances that we hadn't seen in years-- friends whose kids were in cabins with our boys. Such a sweet step of life. 

The boys LOVED camp. We were a bit worried. Carver was worried about being at camp without Julia (who has always been at Strong Rock while he was there). Carson really had no fears or worries :) Since we live very close to camp, we were well aware that it rained most of every single day while they were at camp and we were stressed. But the staff did a great job making camp amazing and the boys had the BEST time. 

Ridgecrest camps are just so strong. They just are. Their program is so solid. They have the history and tradition and resources to just do things very well. I think I had forgotten that after being away for so long. There are always going to be some bittersweet feeling associated with Ridgecrest camps for me. But I am glad that the boys went this summer, and I am glad that they want to go back next year.  For TWO WEEKS. 

I hope they love this place as much as I once did.