Florida 2019- Ocean and pool fun.

We had such a fun time enjoying the beach and pool. What a treat! So nice to spend time with family and enjoy nice weather. The girls thoroughly enjoy having grandparents and aunts/uncles around to play with and entertain them, and thankful for family who will happily oblige that!

The girls love having daddy around a lot too!

Trying to surf on Uncle Zack's back.

The house we stayed in had a private pool, which was awesome and we definitely utilized it!

Seeing the ocean everyday is the best.

Sun hats and rash guards are the cutest. (I am all for rash guards- more sun protection and less sunscreen to put on!)

Checking out the waves!

It's fun to watch Norah grow more and more comfortable in the water- practicing her back float!

Watching my parents be grandparents is pretty special!

Daddy and his girls!

Practicing our jumps!

Lucy is an absolute fish. She is the most adventurous/fearless of the girls- she loves to jump in over and over, doesn't care if a wave hits her in the face, and loves to be thrown in the air in the pool. Fun to watch her love it, but you also have to keep close tabs on her at all times because she thinks she can do more than she really can.

Norah is getting great at being brave to jump, put her face under, and swim short distances (with floaties still, but good progress)!

Grandma even got in the pool to play! Ellory is getting more and more comfortable in the water too.

This is one of the most hilarious pictures ever and will be a forever favorite I think. Lucy loved to be thrown up, and the whole week she struggled to keep her swim bottoms up! It was so funny. She has the tiniest booty! If you look closely, you can see that I even put a hair tie on one side to make it tighter, ha!

Another example of Lucy being thrown!

Very grateful for a wonderful week!

Our favorite/frequently used toddler and preschool items.

Hello! Hope you are having a great summer and enjoying some family time outside. (And now that I'm finally getting this published, summer is over. Oops.) I thought I would do a little update/refresher on some of our favorite and most frequently used kids items right now. Here goes! (Not a sponsored post, just things that we like.) In case you were wondering, Norah is 3.5 and Lucy and Ellory are 17 months.

Bumkins Bibs- These are my favorite bibs. They are soft, stay on well, the pocket on the bottom catches a surprising amount of food, and the best part is they are so easy to throw in the wash afterwards. Sometimes I just feed my girls in their diaper if it's super messy, but when we use bibs, we always use these.

The First Years Insulated Hard Spout Sippy Cup- These are my favorite sippy cups for older kids. Lucy and Ellory are still using a soft spout cup; Norah has been using these for a long time. They have lasted forever despite being dropped a lot, wash in the dishwasher well, and don't leak. (Norah is able to drink from a regular cup, but I still like her to use a sippy cup when she gets her drink out independently because she still spills fairly easily.)

Step2 Naturally Playful Sand Table- We've had this table for three summers now and love it. Just last week the string on the sides of the lid (that attach underneath to keep it on), got really worn out and snapped, but it's easily replaceable and pretty good for lasting that long with tiny hands pulling on it often. I love that it's above ground, so they are standing and don't get as dirty as they would if they were sitting in it. It's sturdy enough that it stays in one place during storms and such (and the lid is nice for keeping animals/bugs/water out), but light enough to move around to where the shade is. We've gotten tons of use out of this!

Step2 Duck Pond Water Table- We've had this for three summers as well and loved it. It's a great option for when you don't want to get the whole pool out. Lucy and Ellory basically love just filling up small buckets and dumping the water out of it onto the ground. Keeps them entertained for a long time!

Trek Precaliber Girls 12 inch bike- Norah got this for her 3rd birthday and she loves to ride it. We've practiced a couple times with the training wheels off, but she has a ways to go with that yet. Next summer probably! She rides bike almost every time we go outside.

YBike Pewi Elite Bike Walking Ride On Toy- Lucy and Ellory love these little bikes. Norah had gotten one for Christmas awhile back, and I found another one on our local swap site for $5 last year! They can be used as a walker from the front and then ride on it on the back later.

Little Tikes Gas N Go Mower- We got this when Norah went through a phase where she was obsessed with people mowing their lawn. It still gets a lot of use and one of the three girls is usually pushing it when we're outside!

Swing N Slide Child Swing- I don't know is this is the exact one we have, but it's very similar. We have two of these on our swing set!

Fawn Design Blush Original Diaper Bag- I got this for Christmas and it's been my favorite diaper bag so far! It has held up so nicely and is the perfect size, and I love that it has backpack and messenger straps. I would highly recommend it!

American Girl Bitty Baby Doll- We technically have four Bitty Baby dolls, but they are used all the time! Lucy and Ellory love to carry them around, and Norah loves to play with them and all the accessories. My mom gave each of the girls one for their first birthday, plus Norah got another one when I was pregnant, so she could practice having her own twins. 

Baby Jogger City Select Double Stroller with Second Seat- This stroller is expensive, but oh how I love it. I use it all the time. Basically every single day. One of my favorite baby items by far.

Baby Jogger Glider Board- This is perfect for Norah. She was old enough/didn't want to sit in the stroller enough to make getting a triple stroller worth it, so this is the best alternative! It clips to the back bottom stroller bar and she can stand on it and hold into the handle bar with me. We use it regularly!

Halo Sleepsack- I didn't discover these until Norah was about one, and wish I had sooner. Norah wore them until she moved into her big girl bed, and Lucy and Ellory have worn then since birth. Such a nice way to ensure that they are warm enough, yet also safe without a blanket accidentally covering their face.

Keen Sandals- These sandals are expensive, but worth it. (And really, what shoe is cheap? Baby shoes are all really expensive I think for how fast their feet grow and how short they wear them.) My MIL has given these to my girls as a birthday gift the last two years, and they wear them almost everyday (when the weather is nice). They wear really well, they actually stay on their feet, and I love that it's closed so they don't scrape their little toes. I've had other moms ask me about them at the park! I also like that they have holes so their feet don't get so hot, yet they aren't big enough for wood chips to get stuck in them at the park. The slight downfall is that they get smelly if they wear them when it's really hot, but I just throw them in the wash and they are good as new. 

Date night movies.

The times where Kley and I get to sit and watch an entire movie are quite rare. We stay pretty caught up on our favorite TV shows after the girls go to sleep, but to have 2+ hours for a movie is rare. Then, when we finally get a date night or time to watch a movie, we are so behind on the times of what's good that we waste the precious time trying to decide what to watch.

So, to prevent this conundrum from happening to other people, here are some movies we've enjoyed that are actually worth watching. (Because it's so disappointing when you finally get time to watch a movie and then it's not even good!)

Seven Pounds (Drama, Romance)- A man with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.

Deja Vu (Action, Crime, Sci-Fi)- After a ferry is bombed in New Orleans, an A.T.F. agent joins a unique investigation using experimental surveillance technology to find the bomber, but soon finds himself becoming obsessed with one of the victims.

About Time (Comedy, Drama, Fantasy)- At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.

                                        

Date Night (Comedy, Crime, Romance)- In New York City, a case of mistaken identity turns a bored married couple's attempt at a glamorous and romantic evening into something more thrilling and dangerous.

The Blind Side (Biography, Drama, Sport)- The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.

The Proposal (Comedy, Drama, Romance)- A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Comedy, Romance)- Benjamin Barry is an advertising executive and ladies' man who, to win a big campaign, bets that he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. Andie Anderson covers the "How To" beat for "Composure" magazine and is assigned to write an article on "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days." They meet in a bar shortly after the bet is made.

Patch Adams (Biography, Comedy, Drama)- The true story of a heroic man, Hunter "Patch" Adams, determined to become a medical doctor because he enjoys helping people. He ventured where no doctor had ventured before, using humor and pathos.

 Forrest Gump (Drama, Romance)- The presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, Vietnam, Watergate, and other history unfold through the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75.

The Guardian (Action, Adventure, Drama)- A high school swim champion with a troubled past enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard's "A" School, where legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall teaches him some hard lessons about loss, love, and self-sacrifice.

Flightplan (Drama, Mystery, Thriller)- A bereaved woman and her daughter are flying home from Berlin to America. At 30,000 feet, the child vanishes, and nobody will admit she was ever on the plane.

Red Eye (Mystery, Thriller)-  A woman is kidnapped by a stranger on a routine flight. Threatened by the potential murder of her father, she is pulled into a plot to assist her captor in offing a politician.

My Sassy Girl (Comedy, Drama, Romance)- A sweet Midwestern guy with his life planned out for himself is wooed, groomed, and ultimately dumped by a complicated, elusive gal.

*This is a movie Kley and I randomly picked off the shelf in the movie store back when we were dating. We loved it, but I will forewarn you that the beginning is very odd- it gets better!

Hitch (Comedy, Romance) - While helping his latest client woo the fine lady of his dreams, a professional "date doctor" finds that his game doesn't quite work on the gossip columnist with whom he's smitten.

Notting Hill (Comedy, Drama, Romance)- The life of a simple bookshop owner changes when he meets the most famous film star in the world.

McFarland, USA (Biography, Drama, Sport)- Jim White moves his family after losing his last job as a football coach. He sees that some of the students are worth starting a cross-country team and turns seven students with no hope into one of the best cross-country teams.

People Like Us (Comedy, Drama)- While settling his recently deceased father's estate, a salesman discovers he has a sister whom he never knew about, leading both siblings to re-examine their perceptions about family and life choices.

The Greatest Showman (Biography, Drama, Musical)- Celebrates the birth of show business, and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

Chef (Adventure, Comedy, Drama)- A head chef quits his restaurant job and buys a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.

Take Me Home (Comedy, Romance)- Soon after Thom starts operating as an illegal taxi driver in New York City, Claire hires him to drive her to California after her estranged father suffers a heart attack.