Gulfarium

  Hearts Apart is a program the Air Force has to help the families of those who are or have deployed within the past year.  They sponsor activities to benefit those families.  We have taken advantage of a few of their events and have had so much fun at each one.  This past weekend Hearts Apart sponsored animal encounters at the Gulfarium down in Fort Walton Beach.  Because of age restrictions only Kate and Andrew were able to take part in the animal encounter but we all got to enjoy walking around and seeing some of the animal shows. 

  The first show we got to see was the dolphin show.  Kate and Abby have talked about the dolphins often since Saturday.  They could do flips and jumps in the air and speak on command.  It was very cool seeing all that they could do.

 The animal encounter Kate and Andrew got to do was Snorkel with Stingrays.  At first I was a bit nervous about the possibility of Kate or Andrew getting stung.  Like, I don't care how harmless these creatures usually are - they've killed people.  We were told that the end of their tails, where the barbs are, can be clipped off.  Similar to clipping your fingernails.  So these stingrays literally could not sting anyone. That put my worrying momma heart at ease.

Abby and Ellie did great waiting patiently and watching.  The age requirement was 5 years or older so lucky Kate was able to go with her lucky Daddy.

  We were also able to watch the Sea Lions perform but I regrettably did not take any pictures.  Abby especially loved the seals.  They "lost their heads" by bending them all the way back which Abby thought was so funny.  The whole day was just so much fun and I'm glad we finally got to go. 

Waiting for Daddy to Come Home, Part 2

Kate and Abby were proud of themselves for helping clean the toy room. Like I always tell them, it's so much nicer playing in a clean room than a messy one,

 Me and my little cutie

 Abby working on her 50 States Puzzle

 Chillin' at the beach

 My feelings a lot of days

 Kate will often let Ellie sit in her lap to read books or play a game.  I barely caught this sweetness before Ellie was onto her next distraction.

 We have a fun new game we like to play called Cover Your Assets. Kate is really good at it already and royally beats me often.

Sweet sister Kate giving Ellie a push. 

 And then onto the slide for more fun.

 Andrew and I have talked a lot about upgrading to a king bed. I decided to pull the trigger and buy the new bed set a couple of weeks before Andrew got home.  He saw the credit card bill but pretended he didn't know what was going on.  However, I totally surprised him by having it all set up by the time he got home.  He was not expecting that at all.

 Abby was my little helper with getting it all set up.

 Tadah!

 The girls enjoyed sleeping with me often while their Daddy was gone, especially in the new bed.

 Fast and easy dinner.  And yummy.  Win, win, win.

This little cutie loves ketchup just like her daddy.  Her fries are like an edible spoon.

 All tuckered out

 Riding her new scooter from Santa

 Ellie started to like broccoli while Andrew was gone, but only the tops.  This picture was sent to her Daddy as proof that her momma wasn't only feeding her goldfish while he was gone. 

 It's always hot enough in Florida for a popsicle.

 Dying eggs for Easter

 The girls did a good job.

 The Easter Bunny came late in the afternoon this year so Uncle Jared and Aunt Kristen could watch the hunt.  The girls were delighted to peek outside and see eggs after watching an episode of My Little Pony.

 Kate and Abby were so happy to help Ellie find some eggs.  I feel so much joy when I see them be kind to each other.

 The Easter Egg Hunt went well. All the girls got plenty of candy and were happy to share with everyone afterwards.  The Easter Bunny mistakenly put all the eggs with coins in them up on the playground so Ellie couldn't reach them. Also thinking both Kate and Abby would get a somewhat equal share in the money.  Wrong.  Kate got all the money, but her sweet self was happy to share a little with Abby.
Below are Abby and Ellie playing together on the swings.  Ellie had barely learned how to swing a couple weeks prior and so Abby was very careful as she pushed Ellie. 

 Ellie also learned how to swing on the playground like a monkey, almost making my heart stop the first few times I watched her do it.  

 And here is Andrew somewhere in Afghanistan.  Almost on his way home!