Ahoy Mates!

Today we celebrated cousin Isaac's 5th Birthday as pirates at the Firestation!

It was a fun experience and the kids LOVED it!!Riley wanted to dress up as a princess but finally allowed me to convince her that being a pirate at a pirate party would be a good idea!

After games and snacks, the kids t00k a tour of the firestation.

The birthday boy all suited up for fire fighting!!We ended the day with a yummy treasure chest cake made by cousin Keely! Happy Birthday Isaac!!

Holiday Road Trip

The morning after Christmas, we picked up Mom Husted at 5am and blazed through the Michigan snow toward sunny FLORIDA!!! Lucas looks a bit concerned that we left him in the hands of his big sis Malia...We drove 13 hours, spent the night in Georgia and after a total of 22 driving hours we made it to Florida for a sweet reunion with Dad!! We had 2 nice days to enjoy the pool and sunshine. The girls were the first and last kids in the pool each day and spent the whole day in the water!

A cold front came in and the temps dropped to the 50s & 60s so we skipped the pool and visited a Citrus Farm and Wildlife Rescue. Malia was the smallest person on the tour yet the most eager to hold/touch every animal. Riley, Nana and I stayed far away but Malia suckered me in to one yucky experience with a 40lb python!!

She surprised all of us as she volunteered to pet an alligator and took a ride on a giant turtle.We celebrated New Years Eve with Papa, Nana, Aunt Val and Uncle Doug doing fireworks and riding bicycles around the park to see all the pretty lights!
After a week with Papa and Nana, we were off to Nashville for a Family Ministry Conference.

The girls were thrilled to meet Kai from Little K!!

While I attended sessions, Ryan and the girls enjoyed fun activities at the mall

and around the area.

At the rainforest cafe, the entire restaurant turns to night and the animals "go wild"!! The girls freaked out, jumped into dad's lap and cried through the whole show. They really didn't like the gorillas for some reason. The server saw the whole meltdown and moved everyone to the butterfly/fishtank section where the girls enjoyed a HAPPY meal.

Finally, after 2 weeks, we are ready to go HOME!!