Aunt Kiersten's visit

  The last person from the Williams side came to visit last month.  Yay for Aunt Kiersten!  It was her spring break and she graciously gave up a cool week by herself to spend it in the sun with us Floridians. Ha, kidding. But really, we were glad to have her visit us.
  On our way home from picking Kiersten up at the airport, we stopped by the brand new park on Hurlburt field.  The girls had a blast and Kiersten's delicate skin got sunburned right off the bat. Once we got home Kiersten was at the point of exhaustion due to being up all night flying.  So, as much as Kate wanted Kiersten to stay awake, she couldn't.  :)

  We went to the Zoo the next day and showed Kiersten the girls favorite exhibits:  the alligator and parakeet cove. Jared and Kristen came over for dinner that night and told us all about their awesome trip to Harry Potter World. They also brought large lolly pops for the girls. After eating her dinner, Kate chomped down on her lolly pop and a minute later came to me showing me a hole in her mouth. Uhh, ya. Her tooth came out! I was totally shocked but tried to keep my freaking out to a minimum so as to not make Kate cry. We never found her tooth, most likely swallowed, so we put a kernel of corn under Kate's pillow in hopes to fool the tooth fairy. She was fooled and generously gave Kate one dollar. Kate was so excited the next morning, she asked me if we could put three kernels of corn under her pillow the next night. Ha! Clever girl! 

  Saturday we went to the Pensacola Air Museum.  We ventured to the other side of the museum with all the WWII paraphernalia which I had not seen before. The girls got distracted by the propaganda playing on a tv. The majority of the time there we were chasing the girls around trying to prevent them from touching or climbing on certain things.  Once we came upon the tv they were hooked.

  About a month ago at Abby's last check up, her pediatrician was concerned with her heartbeat and had an EKG ordered. I figured I would take advantage of Kiersten being around to help and so on Monday we took all the girls with us to the hospital in Pensacola to get her checked out.  I was blown away with how quickly we were in and out of the hospital, and with no appointment scheduled either!  Like, less than an hour.  It was amazing.  Abby did great.  They stuck a bunch of stickers on her chest and arms, hooked them up to some wires, let the machine do its thing, and then we were on our way.  And, I did just hear back from Abby's doctor; everything is normal.  We went to Sams Club afterwards for lunch... and a few other things, and then headed home. 

  Tuesday we went to the Recreation Center's Pool.  I remembered the girls life jackets this time and they were elated to be able to swim about by themselves.  It did take Abby a little bit of coaxing to figure out she didn't need help if she had her life jacket on.  Once that obstacle was hurdled she was giddy and unstoppable.

  Wednesday was Kiersten's last day and it was also the hottest. Naturally, we decided to go to the beach. Kiersten was thoughtful enough to bring kites for the girls. One worked better than the other but both the girls had fun and that's all that matters! That night Aunt Kristen came over for dinner as did the sister missionaries. It was a great time and a great way to end Kiersten's visit with us.   

  Thursday morning the girls and I dropped Kiersten off at the airport. Since then the girls have gotten older and bigger and smarter. Time doesn't stand still for no one. Ellie is up on all fours, preparing to crawl. Also, her first tooth appeared a couple weeks after Kiersten left. Abby has become a pro at swinging by herself. And Kate is my little master gardener, helping me grow some veggies in the garden Andrew built me while Kiersten was here. And dang, those seeds are growing like weeds!