Grumpy

That about sums it up.

 

A third Braceface

Well, we knew it was coming.

Mom and Dad needed braces.

Jack had braces.

Weston had braces.

I was doomed.

But I took it like a champ!

Check out the zigzag of that wire!

All this experience--

Mom says ONE of us has to go into orthodontics!

A little bit of cold, a little bit of warm

A whole weekend off?

What will we do?

Leave it to Mom to keep us entertained

with some Maverick's hockey

(who lost in a shootout!)

and some pool time

(because we needed to get in some laps!)

Never a dull moment

More snow!

We got another snowstorm this week--

and this time we were home to enjoy it!

We made the most of the 4 inches

making tunnels

and caves

It was great for lounging

We played all afternoon

  making sled ramps and flying all over the place

Gonna sleep well tonight!

Sharp shooters

We headed to the cabin this weekend.

It was pretty cold,

but we entertained ourselves with

plenty of food, a little yoga, lots of games

and a bit of tromping.

We hadn't been shooting for quite a while

so we decided to combine a good hike

with some time with our BB guns

Not sure if this is a Mother's Dream

or Nightmare...

The funny thing is

Mom is better than any of us!

The littlest snowman

They had a huge snowstorm while we were

living it up in Orlando

(they were actually out of school 3 of the 5 days

we were gone!).

The snow is nearly gone now

but I still scraped together enough

to make a little friend!

 

Catching love

There may have been only of 2 of us this year

(bittersweet for Mom and Dad)

but regardless,

it was another epic year of Valentine's boxes!

Beck made a claw machine all by himself

and Mom and I worked together on my dragon--

and I actually did most of it

for the first time ever!

We're sure to attract some love with these!

 

Universal (actually Sea World!) Day 5: Fulfilling Dad's Dream

We learned that Dad has wanted to go to Sea World

to see the killer whales

his whole life.

Well, guess what?

Today is the day!

We started out with a quick flamingo visit--

apparently, they aren't morning birds.

Can you see them?

They are all asleep with their heads tucked

under their wings!

(and on 1 leg, of course)

The first show of the day

were the dolphins.

Now we have seen a lot of dolphin shows

but this was definitely the best.

They did all the tricks

and also in pairs

and even as an entire POD!

We had to stop by the dolphin nursery

after the show to admire the little guys

We didn't have to wait long

to get to the main event:

the orcas!

They were so cool

The way they jumped

and begged for their treat

They did things together

like wave

and splash!

We could have watched all day

They could have jumped all day!

Cross one off Dad's bucket list!

We saw beluga whales

and seals

Mom was especially excited about the walrus!

None of us had seen a walrus up close before!

It was a really cool pool

Up close and personal!

Sea World had some rides too--

unfortunately, Beckett was LITERALLY a millimeter too short

to ride any of the roller coasters

(we didn't think about stuffing his shoes until it was too late)

and the water rides were down for maintenance.

That really bummed us out.

Mom, Wes and Dad rode them all--

the Manta, where you lie down on your belly to ride; 

the Kracken, which was fast and wild, going underground at one point--

and Jack braved the Mako with them, which was a pretty standard coaster.

Beck and I were pretty disappointed to not be able to ride.

Our consolation prize was Sesame Street Land,

which turned out to be pretty good.

It was a lot like Snoopy Land at Worlds of Fun.

Too. Much. Spinning.

We all squished into the caboose

and the spinning flower pots

We all got a kick out of the Cookie Monster ride

After all the rides we could take and some lunch,

we headed to see a few more animals

and the sea lion and otter show

before finishing up with the last of the animals.

Can you see them?

There were A LOT of alligators in that pond!

Mom found her favorite part of the part back here--

the manatees (even some baby ones!!!)

and the turtles

It was a really cool tank

with some REALLY cool turtles

We rode everything we could,

saw every show,

and visited every animal exhibit.

Sea World--done.

We didn't feel like waiting for our hotel shuttle,

so we decided to trek out from Sea World

for a final walk in Florida.

We strolled to Mellow Mushroom

to introduce Mema and Pappo to one of Mom and Dad's

favorite pizza restaurants.

It was delicious.

There's no WAY we're going to bed early

on the last night on vacation!

Hello, heated hotel pool!

By the amount of horsing around,

hard to guess we saw an entire theme park today!

Sadly,

morning came too soon

and we had to polish off our drinks and snacks

that wouldn't fit in our bags

and say goodbye to Orlando.

We ate, we drank, we rode, we played.

Lots of stories and memories.

Universal & Sea World,

you didn't disappoint!