An Outing with Nana and Aunt Brenda

Recently I went with my mom, Aunt and Riley to Park Avenue in downtown Winter Park to do some shopping, walking around, eating and ice skating! We didn't get nearly all that done but we did have a really nice day despite the couple hiccups that occurred with Riley :-)

For starters, Brenda was getting her hair done on Park Avenue so Riley and I went and picked up my mom and drove to meet her. After we parked, we called her and since she still had about 30 minutes left, we decided to hit the Starbucks nearby and bring some back for Brenda.

On the way out, we passed a small fountain and Riley stopped to look :-)

She got a plain, shortbread cookie at Starbucks cause that's all they had that day apparently. She still ate it though! :-)

After we dropped the coffee off with Brenda, my mom wanted to run into Gap Kids and look around for Riley. That store is probably my FAVORITE store to shop in for her so I had a ball looking at all the cute stuff :-)

The most awesome part was that since it was so close to Black Friday, they were putting up all the Black Friday signs and well, there was some confusion about prices so the lady gave us the clothing my mom picked out for dirt cheap!...Black Friday prices! She got Riley 2 pairs of soft pants (kind of like sweat pants but much softer..velor I think) and she got a matching velor jacket to match one of the pairs of pants! She also got Riley a really warm hat that's sooooo adorable since she doesn't have one for this winter and lastly, Riley decided to put on this cute pink headband with diamonds so Nana bought that for her too :-) Here she is modeling her new headband...with cookie still in hand :-)

Aunt Brenda then finished and we made a quick stop at the outdoor atm. She let Riley push a bunch of the buttons on the keypad so Riley was thrilled :-)

Looking at something? Not sure :-)

Then we walked around cause it was SO gorgeous outside and Riley found another fountain! So of course, she asked for more pennies (she had already wiped me out at the previous fountain). So Aunt Brenda gave her a bunch of pennies and Riley chucked them all in!

Checking the temperature of the water :-) I really think she would have climbed right in if we let her!

Next we made a stop at the train station to use their bathroom since we were right there and Brenda came running in to get Riley because the train was coming! Well let me tell you, that thing was LOUD. SUPER loud. And Riley does NOT do loud noises...at ALL. I mean, here's an example for you. If we're in a public bathroom and I get ready to flush, Riley will immediately get a worried look on her face and ask me, "Mommy, will it be loud?" And I'll always reply with, "I don't think so honey." But if it IS loud, she will scream and flip out.

So I say all that to say that the train coming TOWARD Brenda and Riley was okay and not too scary. But once it got there....WOW. It was NOT good. Here are Brenda and Riley waiting for the train to approach! Brenda is waving at the conductor :-)

Then as soon as it hit the train station right about there, Riley started to scream because the conductor blew the horn and rang the bell and then the brakes were squealing and well, it was just a huge combination of loud sounds that freaked Riley out. So this is the last picture of her by the train because she wanted me and was screaming, "Go bye bye now! Go bye bye now!" Brenda came over and clamped her hands down over Riley's ears and I think that helped but she still cried so we started walking away.

Once we got to about here she let me put her down and then turned back to look at the train. She still wanted all of us to walk in the other direction but she kept turning around and taking peaks at the train as she walked :-)

Ice skating! Park Avenue has a HUGE professional tent set up with an enormous indoor ice skating rink inside so we were going to ice skate but then a bunch of factors led us to just LOOK at the ice and then leave. For starters, it didn't open for another 30 minutes when we go there. Second, Riley was still winy when we got inside the tent (from the train) and when we approached the ice, I think she was still on edge and not wanting to see or do anything NEW. So looking at the ice made her worried and anxious and she started saying, "No ice skate mommy...no ice skate."

Then I went over to the lady and asked her if I could just walk behind Riley and hold her hands while she tried to ice skate (I didn't want to fall and take any chances, ya know). The place was COMPLETELY empty so I didn't think it would be a problem and I was worried about busting my own tailbone while trying to help Riley. The last time I ice skated was on a cruise ship for Bob and I's anniversary and let me tell you, I fell about 18 thousand times while Bob glided smoothly around the ice :-) So I'm definitely a HUGE clutz on ice. But the lady said I HAD to wear ice skates on the ice and well, we just decided it was more fun to look at the ice and then leave with Riley's emotional state and the other factors. It was beautiful to see though :-)

This is a picture of Brenda and Riley walking into the tent. Brenda asked Riley if she wanted to hold her hand. See next picture :-)

Riley told Brenda a very clear and definite "no." She was NOT in happy spirits at this point!

After we left the ice skating tent, we walked around some more and Riley and my mom decided to pursue a crazy squirrel on the ground. Riley LOVES to chase those little guys!

Looking up in the tree :-)

Christmas lights on the trees outside one of the shops :-)

Another tree to look at! See that next shop? Downeast? Well that's where Riley fell next. She was following my aunt inside a store and missed the step up and then crashed onto her elbow that already had a scab on it. So this was the other hiccup in our day. She skinned the scab off and had a huge meltdown outside. Her elbow actually bled quite a bit and it dripped all over my shirt. No biggie but I felt so bad for Riley. I could tell that was the icing on the cake for her.

Okay so these next two pictures were literally RIGHT before her fall so she's still happy here :-)

Then my sister Katie called and told us to meet her at Panera for lunch on the corner of Park Avenue so we walked there and I PRAYED that Riley would last. She pretty much refused to sit anywhere except my lap for the first 30 minutes.

Once the food came I was able to distract her a bit and pull her away to look at her boo boo and see that it had clotted using my shirt. So then we grabbed a high chair and I slipped her in before she could complain. She ate maybe 5 small noodles and a few of my mom's croutons and then didn't want to touch anything else. Then the crying and everything else started and I'll be honest. I resorted to a last extreme so that I wouldn't have to wolf down my food. I gave her a dum dum pop! I know...awful. But I knew her arm stung and she was on a downward slope fast so this pacified her for 5 minutes so I could chow down!

I didn't thank Brenda for the yummy lunch at the time either so I had to call and leave her a message later thanking her. I was just totally stressed with my daughter and trying to ignore all the looks we were getting! This picture is basically right after the lolipop. She is temporarily happy here...whew!

My mom and aunt :-) Love em!

Overall a fun day with family (despite the few small bumps in the road, hee-hee)! Thank you for the cute outfits and hot chocolate Nana and for the yummy lunch Brenda!

Thanksgiving with Nana, Pa, Aunt Brenda and Family!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving day together! I posted pictures today of our first celebration with my side of the family at my aunt Brenda's house. I think the first picture very befitting of my aunt's crazy, hillarious personality, so I put it first, hee-hee :-)

Brenda was in the kitchen with my mom working most of the morning and day so who knows...maybe she really was going crazy by this point! Ha-ha, just kidding :-) These two are 2 peas in a pod!!

My beautiful sister! She was up half the night the night before doing a job delivery for one of her two jobs but she still looks amazing!

So I laughed as soon as this picture was taken cause I realized that I was trying to suck my stomach in like I normally do when I have pictures taken! Once the picture was snapped, I turned to my sister and said, "Why on earth was I sucking my stomach in? It's not going ANYWHERE anymore!" What a goober I am!

Riley and Auntie Katie being silly :-)

This is a picture of Chuck's dad, also named Chuck. He is 80-something years old and as sharp as a whip! Great conversationalist :-)

My cousin Derek came with his new girlfriend Katelyn :-) Well, she is new to me but I think they have been dating a few months. They met at church in the singles department!

Brenda had to make an extra side breast of just white turkey meat cause pretty much everyone in my family eats white meat!

This picture was taken seconds after Jonathan briefly teased Bob about his Gator shirt (Jonathan is a huge Seminole!) All in good jest though cause these guys are good buddies :-)

Sweet cousins! I am so proud of Jonathan cause just a few months ago he landed a job as the new choir director of a small baptist church in Winter Springs, Florida. Since he is a music major and has the most amazing voice in the world, this was RIGHT up his alley! And guess who he recruited to start singing in his very small choir? My sister Katie! Her passion has ALWAYS been singing and performing (she has an amazing voice too) so she recently started in the choir and has been singing these last couple months there. They both LOVE it and are excited about what the future holds!

I was complimenting Brenda on the pretty flowers that she bought and my mom was silently telling me that she was the one that got them :-)

The turkey!

I took a shot from back a ways so you could see Brenda's new kitchen. She had a German guy come in and do the entire thing and what's so cool about it is the STORAGE! It's unbelievable how much these cabinets hold. For example, behind Brenda is a long, white cabinet that is actually a HUGE rolling thing that you can pull all the way out. It has like 7 shelves, is incredibly deep and holds TONS of stuff! And she's got 2 of those!

The whole key is to be able to see everything that you've got and not have to dig for anything. So all the cabinets are deep and have dividers and it's just so clean and organized...unlike anything I've ever seen before. I wish I had taken a picture of this one cabinet that you open. There are these twisty shelves that slide out and hold SO MUCH. Then you can slide them right back in and they twist back VERY DEEP into the cabinet.

All of it is super deep and huge and holds SO MUCH! I think that must be the thing in Germany cause they are short on space. Very organized and very talented as far as the organization of items goes!

Riley is obsessed with tiny little pieces of things these days. For example, this little Hello Kitty house that my mom brought has tons of little tiny pieces that she just loves to stick in the house and pull back out. If it's small and tiny and can fit inside something, it's right up Riley's alley!

My sweet hubby who will be 33 on Wednesday!

Everyone hanging out and watching tv :-)

Katie is always ready for the camera :-)

Sweet Nana and Pa!

Oh boy! Auntie Katie brought Riley into the living room to play the piano and Riley had a ball smacking those keys!

All of us playing!

Riley and her Pa!

She was being a ham and making Pa laugh :-)

I absolutely love that Riley loves books as much as I do :-) These days you can find her sitting in front of her bookshelf with an open book in her lap and if you ask her if she wants to read a book, she will totally jump on it! At Brenda's house, Riley decided at one point to plop down and start reading one of the books that Nana brought for her :-)

Sweet little Toby :-) He is blind in both eyes now and every time I see him I just have to love on him. He and Elmo are still best buddies and when Elmo comes over, he still tries to run after him and chase him, but isn't able to nearly as much without his eyesight. He got Glaucoma in one eye and although the vet operated on it, he still lost his sight. Then shortly after he got Glaucoma in his other eye and lost that eye too! His right eye is still there but VERY recessed and his left eye just has a thick layer over it. Poor doggie. Still love him to death though :-)

Now Katie's turn to love on Toby :-)

Riley wanted to come sit in my lap and get a kiss :-) Such a sweetie.

Love my girl :-)

As soon as we ate, this is where you could find Brenda, hee-hee :-) She wasn't entirely asleep so I think partially on to me snapping a pic of her :-) Notice her 2 dogs though. Toby and Emma were SO HAPPY to have their mommy back after Brenda did her marathon cooking/standing for 2 days!

Katie loves it when Bob takes her for a quick spin on the motorcycle so here they are getting ready to take off!

I think Bob is smiling but it's hard to tell cause the helmet basically covers the entire bottom half of his face!

My lil sis looks so pretty on the back of the bike!

So my mom called me earlier that day practically in tears with LAUGHTER. Basically what happened was she called Baskin Robbins to order a small vanilla cake with cookies and cream ice cream for my cousin Jonathan's birthday (on the 27th of November) and Bob's birthday (on the 1st of December). The lady was Indian and had a hard time understanding my mom so my mom had to tell her 3 separate times to write, "Happy Birthday Bob and John" on the cake. It was too small to fit "Jonathan" so she went with "John." Okay so then my mom went in to pick it up and this is what it said!! "Happy Birthday Bob and Joan!" Oh my goodness I have NEVER heard my mom laughing so hard. I seriously think she must have taken some happy pills or something. It was really just funny for ME cause my MOM thought it was so hillarious! She told me to not say anything to anyone cause she couldn't wait to see Jonathan's face and wanted it to be a surprise! Such a goofball she is, hee-hee :-)

Riley took her little, "Hello Kitty" pieces all over Brenda's house...including on Toby and Emma's dog crate :-)

Jonathan chillin with his phone :-)

Love this little munchkin face! I could just pinch those little cheeks right now :-)

These dogs are inseparable!

Riley was starting to get a bit sleepy here.

Brenda was busy making homemade whipped creme (the absolute BEST) and gave Riley a beater. And oh BOY did she love that! At first she just stared at it and then notice the progression of pictures below :-)

Ha-ha! Caught in the act! It was so funny :-) I think we were both sticky after this!

Here comes my mom with the bday cake (and I can already tell she's laughing inside and excited to see Jonathan's face), hee-hee :-)

This was taken as soon as Jonathan and the guys saw what was on the cake! They all thought it was hysterical so went over well :-)

Riley did a great a job of blowing out the candles...and without even spitting!

Awe :-) Birthday kiss for her daddy :-)

Auntie Katie entertained Riley while everyone else dove in to one of Brenda's 4 homemade pies, the bday cake or the fruit/pudding/angel food cake trifle that was made! I had a piece of bday cake and a piece of chocolate pie with whipped creme and Bob had a piece of pumpkin pie and a piece of birthday cake. Riley absolutely LOVED the bday cake and devoured every last bite of hers :-)

Overall a wonderful Thanksgiving at Aunt Brenda's and MUCH to be thankful for this year :-) A wonderful, thoughtful and loving husband, a sweet, sensitive and smart daughter and a healthy pregnancy so far! And that's just to name a few! I've got tons more things I could say here but suffice it to say that I am very thankful and blessed :-)

Stay tuned for Thanksgiving pictures at Grandma and Grandpa's house later this week. I don't have the pictures yet but when I get them, I'll post those as well :-)

Have a wonderful week!