Lily's fourth birthday party!

I made that!  Lily requested a "rainbow" cake b/c there was a cake at the store with rainbow frosting.  I asked her if she wanted me to make it or buy it from the store, and she said make it!  I was so happy!  (Jack got his cake from the store this year, our first time ever to do so, and he was so disappointed in the way it tasted!  I think he was expecting it to taste as good as it looked.  So sad.)  It was a whole-wheat strawberry cake with whipped-cream-cream-cheese frosting.  QUITE tasty :D

Well, Charlotte WAS happy, until her sister knocked her down.  Jack started that trend.  He gently knocks Charlotte down while laughing maniacally, and she laughs too.  Then Lily knocks her down not-so-gently, and laughs maniacally, but Charlotte cries.  Again, so sad.

Unwrapping her present from her Daddy.

A real, pink, toolbag, complete with real, pink, tools.  Tim's dad says we're braver than he is.  We reply with "Now she'll stop taking our tools!"

Her very own hammer!

Now opening a present from Tim's parents.

Art supplies!

And Charlotte is being cute again!

A dress from her friend!

A Play-Doh set from her brother!

Jack had a lot of fun handing her the presents to unwrap!

Such cute kids!

Sidewalk chalk from her Mommy!

More gifts from friends who know her very well!

A box of goodies from her Aunt Lauren!

Happy girl!

Charlotte got a set of these bristle blocks from her GGMa (Tim's dad's mom) for her birthday, but her brother and sister kept playing with them and not letting Charlotte play.  So GGMa got Lily her own set!

We had a great time, and really enjoyed playing with our friends that came over. Birthday Season 2013 is now closed!

"Vacation" in Florida!

Playing frisbee on the beach!  I would have loved to play with them but I was making sure my children didn't get swept away in the sea :D

Charlotte wasn't sure about ALL THAT SAND at first but she warmed up to it :D

And she really love carrying that water bottle around!

Jack was never unsure of the sand.  He also, to my surprise, was never unsure of ALL THAT WATER!  He had a lot of fun letting the water lap at his feet and jumping over the waves as they came rushing up!

Lily had a blast, and was a little afraid of the rushing waves but loved to challenge herself.  She would stand just shivering and giggling as the wave came rushing up, trying to be brave like Jack and jump over it, but would instead run shrieking away, only to come running right back to try again!  She did succeed several times in conquering her fear, and especially loved to hold my or Lauren's hand :D

Somebody dug a hole and it filled with water.  Before I could tell her not to, Lily was soaked!

Charlotte was terrified of the water at first, but I helped her get over it.  By the time we went to bed, she was giggling at the water just like Lily :D

Right before they woke up this morning.  So sweet :D

The view from our room!

We're here for JS Conference US 2013.  This is the 5th year of this conference and Tim has been to every one; kids and I have been to a few but not all.  The organizer of this conference is a married man with 2 kids and he purposely made this conference family-friendly, with activities for the family members and an unscheduled day in the middle of the conference for families to do fun things together.  And, of course, putting the conference on an island resort doesn't hurt either!  He has also gotten corporate sponsors to pay for a lot of the food and activities so that we don't have to spend a fortune.  

Tim gets to network with some of his business contacts, reconnect with friends, and promote his business, and Lauren and the kids and I get to have fun on the beach and in the pool.  As I type this, I'm in the hotel room with a sleeping Charlotte while Lauren and the kids are at the pool.  I forgot to warn Lauren before we got here that vacationing with small children is not the same as vacationing by yourself or with teenagers!  They wake up with the sun and they have their own ideas about what they want to do.  To make sure everybody gets a fair chance to choose activities, we have designated days: today is mine, tomorrow is Lauren's, Friday is Jack's.  Saturday would be Lily's but we leave at noon, so she won't get much time to choose anything; she won't mind b/c she's having a blast on my day!  When Charlotte wakes up I think we might rent a golf cart and go check out the playground over on the marsh side of the island.  Or just spend the rest of the day swimming.  Or go to the beach again.