bare with me on this one

Every Monday me, Danny and the kids meet our good friend Julie at Moe's for $5 burritos. It's something we all look forward to, especially Owen who has a HUGE crush on Julie! Thankfully for us, Julie loves our kids almost as much as we do. She made this hat for Owen and Ben; it was too cute!

Ben had received his shots earlier in the day and was a little fussy, which is not like him at all. He started feeling even worse the next day and I ended up taking him to the doctor on Wednesday for Croup and Strider cough. Thankfully the doctor prescribed a steroid that he took for three days. We were a little concerned since we were planning to leave for Florida on Thursday morning to attend our friend Jenny's wedding.

Mom and Chip made it to our house late Wednesday night to watch Owen for us. We decided to not take Owen in order to avoid having him in the car for so long (9 hours). I think it was good for ALL of us!

We got a late start on Thursday and left for Orlando just a little after lunch. We made it a few exits and realized I had left my make-up and we had to turn around and go home to get it. Once we finally got on the road, we only had to stop a few times to eat, get gas and calm Ben. He was still fussy and had only taken one dose of the steroid at this point. Poor little guy! We almost didn't go, but Jenny is one of our BEST friends and we had been looking forward to her wedding for so long!

We had planned on driving to Orlando and staying with Julie's parents, but we decided around 9pm that we would stay in Jacksonville and get a good nights rest and then make the final drive to Orlando in the morning.

We really wanted to stay somewhere with comfy beds, so we searched for a Hampton Inn on the Navigation System. When we got there, their rate was $149 and the guy would only go down to $129 for me. I so should have sent Danny back in; the guy looked as if he might have been persuaded more by the male gender... There was a Marriott next door and I went in to ask there rates and the lady gave me the same as the Hampton. I told her our budget was $100 and if she was going to charge the same, I was staying next door since I knew they had really comfy beds. As I was leaving, she yelled "I'll give it to you for $99." Deal!


Danny got us some snacks (bugles and donut holes) to enjoy...


We made it to Orlando mid day on Friday and headed to the Mall near Julie's parents. It was HUGE!!!! We had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and walked around for FOUR hours and only spent $9. Julie's mom calls it the Gucci mall. I am almost positive we weren't dressed appropriate for most stores!

That night we stayed with the Wunder's and they treated us to a great dinner at a really cool little cafe near their house. After dinner, me, Danny, Julie and Chris went to get Jenny's wedding gift at Potterybarn and then came back to play gestures. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time!!!

On Saturday, Danny and I checked in to the Grand Bohemian, had lunch at a place called Urban Flats and then began getting ready for the wedding. And guess what????? I had left my make-up in the car, which was valet parked for us when we got there. Good lord, Crystal!!!!

Here's Danny on our way to the wedding...
and little Ben...
the beautiful Church in Winter Park...
The BEAUTIFUL couple, Mr. and Mrs. Seaburg :) I can't wait to see those babies!!!!!
The reception was at our hotel, which was really nice!!! There was a cocktail hour by the pool and then a dinner and DANCING reception in the ballroom. Everything was just perfect and Danny and I, although we have been to many wonderful weddings, rate this one as one of our favorites!


Poor Ben was struggling to hang in there. Here he is with Jenny. He would get totally freaked out every time there was loud clapping, and there was a lot of loud clapping!
and Julie and Chris. Danny and Chris hit it off REALLY well. We had no idea. Perhaps they should have went as dates to the wedding (just kidding).
a very clean cake exchange. Jenny is actually saying, "Please don't" as Matt teases her.
Sweet Ben, still hangin in there a little after 10pm.

We had to leave Sunday morning to head back, so it was a short trip with a long drive, but very worth it and we are so glad we went!

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Yesterday, I gave Ben his first puree. He did really well and is really taking to eating with a spoon. His diaper that evening, well... I won't go there!

Ben's first puree... green beans

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We also had a little snow last night, so we bundled Owen up and let him play for a few minutes. It was cute, but way too cold for us!

Snow Day

(I promise he had on mittens, he had just taken them off.)