Welcome to Orlando!

I swear the first week we were here it rained every day! Cameron and Melia got to experience their first real thunder storm. They thought it was great...well until bed time and then Cameron was a little scared. We were all out on the front porch watching the rain & lightning.

Our first couple of weeks were consumed with cleaning the house, work, and finding a new nanny. We interviewed a few people in person after we arrived. Cameron picked Haley. She seemed to connect best with the kids. He has been completely on board because it was his choice. They have had a great time going for walks, swimming, and playing. Getting into a routine with her has been easy.

We had to wait a couple of weeks until our stuff arrived. Sleeping on air mattresses and sitting on the floor is only fun for so long...by this point we were way past that fun stage! Unpacking their stuff was like Christmas!

We sent Laurie a memory book of some of their favorites! Here are a couple of Cameron's highlights:



She taught him to play checkers - he got good and was able to beat her!

Learned how to spell & write his name.

She was helping him learn to match his clothes.

Those last couple of weeks before Halloween were spent at home getting settled. We have a great patio that the house kind of wraps around. At first David thought it was a total waste and wished we just had a big yard. It didn't take long to change his mind! I know Florida is full of bugs & reptiles. We literally had a dozen or more lizards all over our screened in patio! To top it off, we had a snake that got in around the pool. He was quite feisty! Took quite a bit to get him out. Based on what we saw, we think he was a black racer. Not my idea of fun! Now that we've been here a month or so we seem to have more control over keeping everything outside of the screens.

On the patio in a potted plant.

And they've been spending a lot of time perfecting the art of dance.



Then Cameron wanted to go back to T-Rex for lunch. This was the dinosaur themed restaurant we took him to our first visit. He was so excited and thought this time he could conquer it (last time he was terrified). He was still quite freaked out...Melia on the other hand was totally fine with it. We went to take a picture by one of the dinosaurs before we left and Cameron didn't want Melia to get too close. At least this time he got in and did some digging for dinosaur bones. Last time he couldn't cope with the sand/rocks being in his shoes.

This was a great picture of them having fun in a bubble bath.

Bubble beards!

We also went "color golfing" as Cameron refers to it here. He remembers the first time we went mini golfing here and that he got to use a colored golf ball. This photo is almost identical to the one we have of him on that first trip.

And he had fun getting ready for Halloween by trying on his costume from a couple of years ago. Can't believe it still fit!

On the road to Orlando.

We had planned to get on the road by 2 PM. As always, it took much longer than expected to get everything packed up. We got on the road about 5 PM. Drove straight through to Albuquerque. We thought traveling at night would be easier as the kids should sleep most of the time. This worked really well! The first night they were occupied with snacks and a dvd. We had rented a van for the drive and it had a built in dvd player. Then they both crashed around 8. This was the best night of the entire trip.

Cameron actually did really well on the drive. Mostly because we let him play games on David's old iphone. He would have ridden in the car forever! It actually ruined him because for our first couple of weeks in Orlando every time we got in the car he would ask what he could do...then suggest playing games.

We stopped in Albuquerque that first night because we were so tired! The hotel was pretty nasty and with 2 kids we couldn't wait to get out of there. It delayed us getting to David's parents a bit. We were never so happy to have a shower and get out of the car.

While in Dallas, we celebrated Cameron's birthday (his real birthday was the weekend we were there). We went to Chucky Cheese and he got a birthday cake!

While there we had to update all the family photos.

 



We made the rest of the trip to Orlando with one more overnight stop...just a few hours from town.

Leaving Las Vegas

One of the last nights we were in Vegas, we planned a night down on the strip. Cameron really wanted to see the Luxor and go up in the Stratosphere before we left. It was something we had talked about for a while and never made it down. We also stopped by the sign to take some pictures. Michael, Monica & Ava met us down there to play photographer.

Best friends!

Our favorite shot!!

Our next stop was the Luxor. This was a quick trip. We literally valet parked and made it back out to the car before they moved it...awesome! We went in the front to see the pyramid all the way to the top. Of course we douldn't get out without a ride up and down the escalators. This was always one of his favorites casinos to pick out when we drove past the strip.

Our last stop on the trip was the Stratosphere. Another one that intrigued him because of the rides on top. He and Melia loved the view from the top. We also walked out to the top deck to watch some of the rides go. He was fairly concerned at one point that one of the rides was going to fall off the top...and couldn't figure out why someone would jump off the side. That's my boy!

And his last day with Laurie was a sad one! We had to have a pic with her so he can always remember her. They had lots of fun times!

Catch up after the party.

After Cameron's party we were focused completely on packing up the house.

My packing helpers!

It's tough entertaining 2 kids without anything in the house!

Being goofy! This was tough to get.

Thanks to Fresh Beat Band I got 10 minutes of peace and quiet.

4th Birthday Party! Mario!

Since we are moving to Orlando the same weekend Cameron turns 4, we decided to move up his birthday party so he could have his party here with his friends! We went with a Mario theme because this kid is obsessed (understatement)!! We went all out with a Mario obstacle course in the back yard.

The kids made their own pizzas.

Then they ran off their lunch through the obstacle course. The video is Cameron's (slow) trip through the course. I don't think he liked that everyone was watching him. :)

 

Then we sang happy birthday and had Pick your Poison cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

Some other random birthday fun shots...

 

 

Then opening presents.

 

He loves his musical cards...