Fire Station Visit

Josh's last requirement for his Wolf Badge was to visit a fire station, so I set up a visit and invited the Rich's to go with us. The kids' favorite part was getting to get up inside the truck.

Raingutter Regatta

Josh got to do his first raingutter regatta on Saturday. They held the pack meeting outside and had an awards ceremony first. Josh received some progress beads and three belt loops.

 Josh had a lot of fun putting his boat together this week, and did great racing it. 

Great job Josh!

It's a girl!

 So it looks like things are going to be a bit more balanced around here. We found out yesterday that we're having another little girl! That was definitely what we were thinking, so it was good to know for sure. And Hannah will have a little sister close in age! It's amazing how life goes sometimes- we know the Lord is in charge because we couldn't have planned it better ourselves.

I'm expanding already! That's okay with number five, right? I'm 19 1/2 weeks along and doing well. I'm grateful that the morning sickness is over, my energy level is almost back to normal and that I'm not so big yet that I was still able to enjoy our trip to Florida without being uncomfortable. I'm grateful that even though I'm pregnant during the summer, that it's during the middle trimester.

Florida Trip: The Trip Home

The kids did much better than expected on the trip (especially Hannah) which made the whole thing a lot more enjoyable. We love going on road trips and seeing new places, and on this trip we got to add four more states to our list of states that we've driven through as a family. Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina

This sign is of South Carolina, but the bridge we were on was to bouncy for the camera to focus.

One of the kids favorite things are the pools at the hotels. As  long as our hotel  has a pool, the kids are happy!

Josh has really improved his skills this summer.

Just like his dad!

Florida Trip: Sea World Day Two

On our last day in Orlando, we slept in, let the kids go swimming, packed up and headed over to Sea World to take advantage of a free second day. We found a great kids area behind the Shamu stadium that we hadn't seen the first day so we were glad we went back.

There was this amazing playground with tons of nets the kids could climb on.

It was a great way to let the boys get some energy out before we got on the road again.

We enjoyed some shows again. Josh wanted to sit on the front row in the splash zone, and I sacrificed and took Hannah up to the dry area up higher. ;) After the first few waves, Nathan and Isaac came  up to sit with me, while Sean and Josh stayed down and got even more soaked. They loved it!

All wet!

They enjoyed some rides before we left.

Florida Trip: Disney World

We had a great time at Disney World! We decided to go to Magic Kingdom, having never been to Disney World, and knowing that our kids don't like big roller coasters. It ended up being a great fit for us, except for the fact that it's so hard to get to. They built it back behind a lake so that it would be secluded from everything, but there's also no parking lots, so you have to take the monorail. It was having problems that morning, so it took over an hour to get into the park. We were grateful to our friend Julia, whose husband works for Disney, for guiding us there, getting us free parking, three free passes and an extra stroller for the day. 

Once we got in we had a fun time. The fast pass system is awesome, and except for some rain in the morning, we had a beautiful day. We were grateful for a lot of rides that we could take Hannah on, so we could go as a family and not have to be waiting a lot for others to go. I think I only waited with her twice all day. We enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear, Winnie-the-Pooh, the Carousel, Aladdin, It's a Small World, Jungle Cruise, and more.

I can't believe we were all looking at the camera!

Sean took the boys on the speedway. Isaac took it very seriously.

Nathan and Josh loved it as well.

It's a small world!

Aladdin's carpet ride was great, with a lot shorter line than Dumbo.

We ended the day at the Jungle Cruise. Here's Hannah having a great time with Daddy.

We avoided the monorail on the way back and took the ferry. The kids really enjoyed it.

Happy kids with their souvenirs!

The view of the castle as we left.