Pictures

So I need to play with the settings on blogger or BlogPress. My pictures all look blurry on my blog but if you click on it and pull it up in a new window it looks fantastic......hmmm, what to do?? I hope I figure it out soon all my blog readers so the pics look better.


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Trip to Florida

Day 1: Travel Day
Nothing to report from here. Flights were on time and uneventful, a rarity if you are flying with me. We also took a test ride on our hotel's lazy river, ate some awesome sea food and wandered Downtown Disney.

Day 2: Animal Kingdom
We woke up early, ate breakfast, and headed over to Animal Kingdom. Tanner wasn't sure what lay ahead but he seemed pretty excited. The day ended up being very very hot and humid but that was pretty much the whole story across most of the nation.

We went on a safari and saw tons of cool animals up close, Nate, Angeline, and I rode Mount Everest a pretty AWESOME roller coaster that goes forwards and backwards in the dark, took a well deserved afternoon nap, went to the Rain Forest Cafe for dinner, and went shopping at the biggest and coolest Disney Store.

As you can see Tanner was not digging the heat or the animals, the look on his face said it all........"get me outta here"











Here are some of the cool animals we saw.

















































And more of Tanner, Nate, and Grandma Coleman being hot and miserable.












Eventually he just went to sleep.












Day 3: Magic Kingdom

On the third day we went to The Magic Kingdom which is by far my most favorite park at Walt Disney World. There we ate breakfast with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eyore, and Tigger, rode some rides, watched a parade, avoided as many lines as possible, and enjoyed anything that was air conditioned.

The kids were all dressed for the day. Emma all dressed like Cinderella, Tal in all is Mickey and Lightening McQueen gear, and Tanner in his Mickey Mouse Shirt (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Thornley).
























Tanner didn't seem too interested in any of the characters at breakfast until Tigger should up. As many of you know he is Tanner's favorite stuffed animal, so when he came over Tanner was all smiles, wanted to touch him, and was so distracted I don't think we got one picture of him looking at the camera. Oh well, it is a memory that will stay with me forever.































































We rode Pirates of the Caribbean twice, Haunted Mansion, Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride, and It's A Small World. I think Tanner's favorite was Small World because by the end he was singing along with his own la-la-las.

The day ended at the Phillar Magic show. Tanner seemed fine with the music and lights until he got sprayed in the face with water. It pretty much was the straw that broke the camels back.....at that point he had had enough. Since I was stuck in the middle of a row I couldn't decided if I try to get out or stay put through the rest of the show. I opted to stay put and Tanner proceeded to scream through the rest of the show, walking out of the show, and all the way to his stroller. Poor kid was hot, tired, and over stimulated so Nate, Julie, and I called it a day. We went back to the hotel for a nap and some pool time.

Later that night Tanner stayed with his Grandparents and Nate and I went back to hit up some big kid rides like Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain.







































Day 4: Aquatica
Matt and Angeline had heard from friends who live in Orlando that Sea World's water Park, Aquatica, was the place to go. So we went. There were tons of cool water slides, two lazy rivers, wave pool, and kid playgrounds. Tanner seemed undecided about the whole thing and eventually fell asleep. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures because I was nervous about my camera and all the water.

Day 5: Relax Day
On the final full day on vacation we shopped at Downtown Disney and the boys made stop at the Orlando Harley Shop. We then relaxed in the hotel.....we were going to go to the pool but that afternoon it rained.

This day was also our three year wedding anniversary so that night Julie and Denny were so sweet to take Tanner so Nate and I could go to dinner.
We ate a Maggiano's a family favorite and finished the night drinking our traditional Coca-Cola from glass bottles, just like the night we met.

Happy 3 Years!










Day 6: Homeward Bound
We flew home to St. Louis after surviving one of the longest waits through security and a flight delayed by thirty minutes. Still a pretty uneventful travel day.

We definitely enjoyed our Coleman Family Summer Vacation! It has left us with lots of great memories :)

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Quick Hello

Just wanted to say hello from our vacation in Florida.

This morning Tanner was all
ready to go: super excited and full of energy. It is almost like he knew what was coming.....kids can just sense the excitement of Disney and it is so contagious.





We spent today at Animal Kingdom and finished the day with dinner and wandering at Downtown Disney.





As you can see Tanner was pretty tired by the end of the day. It was a lot of stimulation, activity, and noise for a little guy. He was such a trooper and very well behaved.....only got a little antsy at dinner and couldn't stand to sit in his high chair another minute. And he gets mad now when you take things away he shouldn't be playing with but that is a whole other story :)

I have to throw in a funny story about the stuffed animals in the picture above. Tanner loves his Tigger and so he goes lots of places with us. So when I knew we were coming to Florida/Disney I knew the one thing I wanted to get him was a Mickey Mouse. Tonight we found the perfect one but while wandering the stuffed toys section at the biggest Disney Store I have ever seen Nate saw the super cute Donald Duck (a childhood, long time favorite) and decided Tanner probably need him too. Well, Tanner loves them both and was giggling with such excitement as Nate was taking them out of the bag and removing tags when we got back to the hotel.


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Nate's Birthday

Nate hit the jackpot on his birthday with a pretty awesome acoustic guitar from yours truly and second row tickets to the Cardinals vs Diamondbacks game from his mom and dad.

He loved the guitar and has since bought a set of harmonicas and a neck harmonica holder. His plan is to be able to play songs that have harmonica and guitar parts. He is a self taught harmonica player and is getting better every day. He is so musically talented that some days I get pretty jealous.









Yesterday was the big outing to the baseball game. We left Tanner with friends and had a night with just the two of us. The seats Nate's parents had given him were amazing. We were so close to the action, in fact, Nate became part of the action during the 9th Inning going for a foul ball. Unfortunately he didn't end up with it but he made quite the show for the tv cameras hanging upside down over a railing down the center of the stairs. He did at least touch the ball for a split second, a moment he is proud of. We were also so close and right behind home plate that we could be seen on Fox Sports Midwest during the entire game and you could see us when they showed clips of the game on ESPN. That's right, Nate and I are famous..... :)

I apologize for the quality of pictures, Nate didn't think I should take my camera but we soon discovered hoe bad an idea that was. So, all the pics were taken by my phone and therefore not a great quality.


Nate and I before the game






Nate with the view from our seats






Fred Bird






Pic from the game

I think that even though Nate is a little bummed that he is getting closer and closer to thirty with each passing year he would say that this was one of the best birthdays ever.

4th of July Weekend

The festivities for the 4th of July weekend started Friday night with dinner with our friends Katie and Andrew and their sweet three month old daughter Olivia. We followed up dinner by roaming through Walmart trying to find and get last minute supplies for our big boat trip planned for the next morning. While at Walmart Nate and Andrew decided the boat trip would be more fun with out the kiddos so a call was made into the grandparents. I was kind of sad that Tanner wouldn't be with us the next day but with the forecasted high temperatures I agreed it was probably best if he spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa Coleman.

We parted ways and Nate, Tanner, and I headed into St. Louis to our favorite ice cream place, Ted Drewes. It was there that we met up with one of my dear friends from back in Utah; Jeneca and he husband Kyle. Kyle is working this summer as an intern for Walmart in Arkansas so they decided to tour St Louis for the holiday weekend. It was so fun to see her and meet her husband and introduce her to the two men in my life. It was super funny to reminisce about all the years we danced and went to school together and talk about our future dreams.

The next morning we woke early to take Tanner to his Grandparents and then head up to Lake Carlyle. We spent the day with Andrew, Katie, Jed, Becky, are their two kids riding in tubes, swimming, and attempting to wakeboard. Jed is a pro at wake boarding but I am pleased to report that Nate and I both got up for our first time. Nate could cruise longer once up but I still got up for a few seconds. I also attempted to ride the tube for the first time with Katie, it was a crazy experience and many of the things that happened will remain between me and Katie but I can assure you that we had a blast!






Nate up and cruising like a pro






One time I got up







Jed showing off his mad skills







Jed was a mad man on the tube and Nate was a brutal driver







Katie trying to capture Andrew's attempt at wake boarding







Jed and Trey. Trey loved the tube, he would go out all by himself.







Our fearless leader and driver for the day. Thanks honey!!







Brooklyn and Trey loved Andrew


The next day was Sunday and after church we played games with Katie and Andrew. Since we played late into the night Tanner and Olivia were put to bed together in Tanner's crib. He is much more mobile than Olivia since he is three months older, so the sleepover ended early when he had scooted down and was kicking her and they both woke up.

The 4th started with the ward pancake breakfast. Tanner and I then went to the city pool with Katie and Olivia while Andrew and Nate went to hit balls at the driving range. The boys then met up with us for a bit before we all headed our separate ways for BBQ's. We headed off to Matt and Angeline's were we had lots of yummy food and burgers with Kasey, Molly, and their two daughters, Derek, and Grandma and Grandpa Coleman.

We finished off the day with the Washington City Fireworks. Nate always seems to get a great parking spot at the crowded park for this event and I managed to scope out a perfect spot to lay out the blankets. Tanner loved the 30 minute show and was mesmerized by all the bright colors. The finale startled him but after a reassuring glance up at mom and over at dad he was just fine. Since he loved the fireworks so much I have added that to my list of things to do with Tanner while in Florida in two weeks.

I think all parties here at the Coleman house had a super fun and wonderful weekend.


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Sometimes

Sometimes after a long morning of running errands and jumping like a kangaroo in his jumper Tanner decides he needs a nap.








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Landscaping

So when we bought our house in January 2010 we knew we wanted to redo the landscaping because it looked like this:




Over grown bushes, no flowers to be seen, and you couldn't see all the beautiful rock work around the chimney.

The plan was to attack it that spring but the plan changed when we found out we were expecting Tanner. Our focus turned back into fixing up and painting the remaining rooms in our home before the baby arrived. We also wanted to spend our money on baby things. We did manage however to change out the screen door, paint the front door white, and change the light fixture over the door.

Since the inside of our home is finished, this spring we were determined to fix the landscaping. It started in March with Nate and some guys from working pulling out everything. Mind you the bushes were 60+ years old and had deep roots so they had to bring out the big guns.....a bobcat. After all their hard work the yard looked like this:





Then several weeks later after the spring rain had let up for a few days we roto-tilled and then made a plan with plants and planted. After all our hard work the house now looks like this:




Everything has taken well to their new home and is growing like crazy. Watering out here is so different than Utah, you hardly have to water with all the rain and the humidity in the air. My front yard is in the shade about 80% of the day so I water once a week if it hasn't rained. And I have to admit I don't miss dragging the hose around our yard in Layton watering the lawn; I don't have to be bothered with that here.

Here are a few more close ups.














We are trying to decided what kind of iron railing to put up on the front stoop and if we should paint/stain or recover with stone the concrete. Hopefully by next summer we will have made a decision.

We also fixed up the landscaping in the backyard and are toying with the idea of building a deck and perhaps a parking pad on the west side of the garage. I guess we will see.


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