Spring Break

We spent Spring Break down in Florida with the Grotenhuis clan for the week. We had such a great time spending time with the family. Here are just a few pics of the week. The weather was perfect, so a lot of time was spent in the pool.

One night was spent at Downtown Disney

As you can tell from Chad's expression, he had as much fun (if not more) as Brielle did on the train ride.

We spent some time at Sea World. One would think I would have pictures of dolphins, or walruses, or whales...yep not a one...sorry about that! I think this is the only pic I took!

We also spent an entire day at Busch Gardens. Oh so much fun! Brielle LOVED the Elmo show(as long as the characters kept their distance from her!)

We tried to get a pic with Abby from Sesame Street, but Brielle really wasn't having it. She always put on such a brave front when they were 20 feet away and she would be waving and saying hi and all that. But the minute we got close...she would bury herself in our arms. Silly girl!

This pic basically sums up the day. The kids played so hard. The minute we put them in their strollers to leave they zonked out.

Last minute family pic. (Big thank you to Grant for perfectly placing himself in front of the pregnant belly!)

The plane rides to and from Florida were a little less than ideal. This pic of Brielle basically sums up how we all were feeling after the flights. Just to give an idea...envision a 2 year old throwing a tantrum screaming and crying, trying to be restrained by her 7 month pregnant mother who's hormones have kicked in and for whatever reason is crying uncontrollably while trying to tend to a bleeding nose. Not a pretty sight.

Bedtime

So this is what Brielle wanted to take to bed with her tonight. I'll give you one guess what Chad said yes to...yep BOTH basketballs. She is making him so proud already!

Our Little Helper...

Brielle has really been quite the little helper around the house lately...

She loves "helping" to wash the dishes She helps unload the groceries (can you see the fruit snacks and potato chips she put in the fridge?)

She's working on enhancing her baking skills

She helps me get those "hard to reach" places for dusting and has taken over as my fashion coordinator.

This house would fall apart if it weren't for our little helper!

Spring Break

We headed north to Michigan for Chad's Spring Break a couple of weeks ago. Here are some pics of the fun we had.

Brielle LOVED hanging out with her cousins. Here they are in their fort. This picture just cracks me up because you can see Brielle's smiling face peering through the two blankets at the top of the fort.

Thanks to Brookie, Brielle is starting to find her feminine side as they are sporting their little tutus and dancing all around.

Brielle had a great time at the Children's Museum playing with the bubbles...

...and playing in the car by the drive thru bank window...

...and going grocery shopping

The following night Kim and I thought it would be fun to have a "girls night out" and take Brooke and Brielle to the Disney Princesses on ice (my emphasis is on THOUGHT here). Well...do you all recall the blog post where I had mentioned Brielle was afraid of the grass? She has since overcome that fear, but we must now add Disney Princesses on the list of scary and horrendous things. Yes, you read correctly...Jasmine, Belle, Ariel, Snow White, Cinderella...all of them...scary.

Here we are before the show begins...Brielle is having a good time checking things out...but then

...out skates Tinkerbell and this is Brielle for the ENTIRE first half of the show (I am not exaggerating!) She had her head in my shoulders the whole time!

And here we are at intermission...sweet thing eating her Smarties...having a good time.

And the 2nd half of the show...this time she even got bored with the girls sitting behind us and decided to take a snoozer!
Needless to say, we still had a great evening. It was so fun watching Brookie enjoy the show and screaming hello at Snow White from 20 seats up. Brielle just made it a little more memorable for us. (As you can see, this picture was taken while the show was still going on...she wouldn't turn around for anything!)

Thanks for all the fun...we had a great time!

We Love Spring

Does anybody else get the sense that Brielle has a little bit of cabin fever?

We are loving this warm weather and being able to be outside!

Friday Night

Some of my really good friends from State College came over this past Friday night for a little girls night. We ate a little food, painted a few wine glasses, ate a little more food, had great conversation and just enjoyed each others company. Thank you ladies...it was a much-needed night for me! I had a great time!

As you can see...there was definitely eating involved...but I promise... you can see some very nicely painted wine glasses too!

While I had my girls night, Chad so graciously agreed to take Brielle for a night out on the town. Prior to leaving, Chad pulled his Penn State hat out of the closet to wear...and after seeing what her Daddy was wearing, Brielle then proceeded to pull her pink Penn State hat out of her closet. I just couldn't resist the photo op!

Like Mommy, like Daughter

Looks like someone else in the family is trying to sport the "pants up to the boobs" look!