Finishing up June

After our wonderful vacation, the rest of June went by in a blur...but we did get out to do some fun things!  We went to the Denver Children's Museum with Aunt Annie.  They have a new outdoor area that the kids really enjoyed.  It has zip lines, hay bales, a sand pit, and stream.  

These are my creative girls. I love watching them play "imaginative play" because they both are so good at it!  Here Cate was in a wheelchair and Ev was her caretaker. 

Drew played Softpitch baseball this summer and loved it. He played all positions at sometime through out the summer, but I only got pics of him as catcher.  He makes his Aunt Ashley proud!  His team the Yankees finished well and he had a blast!  

Evelyn played t-ball for the 1st time this summer.  Here she is with her friend, Teddy, who was on her t-ball team.  I think she enjoyed it.  They don't play games and a lot of the kids could not catch the ball, but she did very well.  

 

Florida, Part 3

The rest of the Kahler/Bushnell family flew back to Iowa on my birthday and I did not want to be on an airplane for my birthday, so we stayed an extra day in Orlando (well, actually two days due to the debacle at the airport, but that is another story) and treated our kids to a day at Nickelodeon Suites Hotel!  Cate was under the weather, so it would have been even more fun if she had been 100%, but I still think they had a blast.  They still tell people there favorite things about Florida were the ocean and eating pizza with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  

Cate at the pool before we determined she had a fever.  

Tim, Ev (underwater in front of Tim), and Drew in the pool

Slime Factory (sorry no pics of the sliming because I was in the room with Cate while she napped).  

Ev-atella

D-Rafael

 

Cate-angelo

 

Showing our muscles with Michaelagelo

 

Tough stuff with Rafael

 

Donatello (Cate did not like him touching her)

 

The next morning we had breakfast with some other Nickelodeon characters.  It was early for these kids, but they enjoyed seeing all the characters and their performances. 

 

Sponge Bob

 

Marshall from Paw Patrol

 

Patrick from Sponge Bob

St. Augustine, Florida Part 2

The evening after the boys golfed, we went back to St Augustine for a walk on the pier.  My favorite part of the evening was watching Cate pick up shells and put them in her "pocket", which happened to be her diaper, cause she had no pockets.  My kids would say their favorite part of the evening was seeing the fisherman catch a baby hammerhead shark right on the pier!  Where was the mama??  Swimming with all the crazies in the ocean!
 

 

Our girls day was so much fun!  We went to breakfast early in St Augustine.  Then we toured the St Augustine Lighthouse.  What amazing views from the top and wonderful history in this cute town.  We took a trolley tour around town to see all the historical sights.  I took so many photos to hopefully preserve my memories.  It was very cool!  We ate Dole Whip (YUM), bought chocolate at a local chocolate factory, took a tour of a winery, and had a late lunch sitting on the porch of a cool seafood restaurant.  

 

 

 

 

That afternoon we took the kids to dinner at the Caddyshack restaurant on the World Golf Village grounds.  

 

The next day some of us went to the World Golf Hall of Fame.  It was a very interesting museum and I learned a lot about golfers and the game.  The most fun was getting to hit balls in a simulator and attempting a shot over the pond (which resembles a world famous golf course hole).  A few of the men made it on the green!  

 

Drew boy

 

Grandpa Jim

 

Uncle Troy

 

Aunt Laura

 

Me

 

Uncle Adam

 

Tim

The last night we were all together in FL we celebrated my birthday dinner at a Caribbean restaurant.  It was not the best experience (bad service and a hot sunshiny spot on the patio), but we went to the beach afterwards one last time.  We made lots of great memories in FL.  I am so grateful for my parents who organized the place for us to stay.  It was so much fun to vacation with my whole family.  I look forward to what next summer brings!  

St. Augustine, Florida Part 1

We went to the alligator farm our first morning in Florida.  None of us were ready for the heat and humidity that Florida is known for, so we all melted!  But what an amazing experience to see these creatures, that look pre-historic, up close and personal.  I had no idea there were so many varieties of alligators and crocodiles.  It truly was a great experience, despite the sweaty everything.  

Drew and Cael standing in front of the alligator 

Evelyn and Lainie being cute girls

After the farm we went to a restaurant called Salt Life on the St. Augustine beach.  It was a nice restaurant (terrible service), but delicious food, and it was refreshing to be in the air conditioning for a while!  

After lunch, we took the kids to the beach. Poor Owen did not last long, but he was such a "trooper" the whole vacation.  

Cate absolutely loved the sand and the ocean.  Very different than Evelyn was at this age.  

Lainie, or "Blanche" from the Golden Girls (that is who she reminds me of in this swimsuit) enjoyed the water too.  

Lainie and Cate, how cute are they!  

These two are "trouble makers".  If we lived closer, we could have our hands full with these two when they get older.  

Only missing Drew.  He was having too much fun jumping in the waves with Tim.  He really loved the ocean, but was cautious too, when we explained all the dangers.  

The next day was "Guys Day".  The men got up early and went golfing at the King and Bear Course, which was near where we stayed at the World Golf Village.  This is the only photo I have from the day.  Thanks for sharing it with me Adam.