it's officially a tradition...

it's officially a tradition when you've done it at least twice...right? well, j & i took the girls over to the orlando world marriot for the weeekend...for the 2nd summer in a row...and we had a great time. it was, of course, ella's 1st time - i was pregnant with her last year. she totally loved the water and being in the pool. we only stayed one night but made our money stretch by going over saturday, early afternoon. we didn't think we'd be able to check-in early but it worked out to our advantage. so, the girls got a good portion of the day on saturday to swim and play. We then stayed the night saturday night and had most all of sunday to hang at the pool(s) again. we had a GREAT time. we even continued the "gotta order hot fudge sundaes from room service right before bed" tradition. (the girls were inquiring about whether they could do that again this year before we ever even GOT to the marriot - and i won't tell you the pretty little price tag that came with that special order).

here are the pics from our stay:

ella in her new swimming/floaty thingy j & the girls picked up for her

swimming with a fashionable headband...of course. *wink*

what a super cute smile.

this is where we had dinner in the hotel saturday night. the girls enjoyed a couple of games of pool...

em even scooted ella over from the dinner table to be part of the action

quick shot in the restaurant - em, ella & i

another quick shot, compliments of em

me and the girls on our way out of the restaurant

a shot from the cool glass elevator that we rode up & down all 28 floors, several times -

it was pretty fast moving. actually, we rode in one elevator and then switched to the "fast" elevator - which made you lose your stomach - even ella got a bit sketchy. the elevator started out being "inside the building" but once you got to like the 5th floor the elevator is attached to the outside of the building. it was simultaneously creepy and cool to be riding all the way up 28 floors at night - attached to the side of a resort.

giving ella a bath in the hotel room sink...she's so stinkin' cute

(another pic by ema)

em enjoying the mushroom-type water fall over at the "spa" pool

clara's standing behind her, in the background

clara had me take a picture of this large snail.

she wanted to document it's size in comparison to her big toe.

here are the girls getting ready to ride down the cool slide - em is holding onto clara's arm

& that's the lifeguard sitting under the yellow umbrella.

i almost missed this shot of clara coming down the slide because

a kid walked right in front of me. (those darn kids).

and here's ema coming down the slide - i like the "thumbs up" pose

& the puckered lips. that's soooo totally "ema".

and so we were finishing up our wonderful stay when things kind of took a different turn. j had proposed we leave by 2p.m. so he and the girls were finishing up a game they play every time the girls can get j in the pool. he stands with his legs open - like a tunnel - and they have to swim through. each time they make it through without touching his legs AT ALL - not even swimsuits or hair, he makes the tunnel smaller...and smaller...and therefore more challenging. anyway - they were heavily involved in reaching level "22" of the tunnel game while i took ella out of the pool to dry off and get her into warm clothes. i had her laying on her back on the lounge chair, (a really comfy one i might add because we were over in the "spa pool" area for most of the day on sunday). so i turn my head to watch ema's last attempt at beating level 22 and i turn back around only to see ella face first on the concrete. OH MY GOODness...thankfully she wasn't seriously injured...she escaped the traumatic fall with a few scratches on her cheek and a good-sized bump on her head. i was so embarrassed and ashamed and of course everyone at the pool - or in the hotel for that matter - had their eyes glued on the situation because ella was, of course, screaming at the top of her lungs. needless to say, we left immediately after that.

and for the icing on the cake...as i'm carrying ella towards the bathrooms to get her completely dressed & calmed down, (all while feeling like the worst mom in the world), j went to start the car & gave clara my big bag to carry. well, unfortunately, as the girls and i enter the back lobby of the building, clara slings the bag to reposition it from her side to her back. (it's a pretty big bag and i'm sure it was a bit heavy). next thing i know i hear a crash. yep! my camera! it had been resting on top of the items in the bag and the bag wasn't zipped. the camera hits the ground and little pieces of shutter release button and view finder fragments are scattered across the floor. clara felt terrible. the camera was the least of my worries at that moment but that just added to the trauma and the drama. i'd done a good job at holding back the tears until j gave me a hug as i got in the car - then i lost it for a minute. (he wasn't even aware of the camera situation at that point). he did a good job at not making me feel worse than i already did.

other than that...it was a perfect weekend. *smile*

(and no, i cannot use my camera at this point. and yes...i'm pretty devastated). *sigh* but i have recovered completely from the "ella incident" and i'm happy to report, so has she.

hope all is well for everyone else. i know it had been awhile since i'd been able to post. things should get back to "normal" - school started back today!

enjoy your week. i have to catch you up on the cute cookies i made for nate's surprise b/day party this past weekend.

happy monday!