Baba's back!!

As some of you might remember, I mentioned a while back that my MIL had left on a world cruise for 4 months.  She was so thrilled to go but knew that she would miss us all terribly.  She did and we missed her a lot too but she had an amazing trip.

She is back now and had a fabulous time!  Her visited so many cool places and took thousands of pics (literally)...Chile, Easter Island, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, United Arab Emirants, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, and Spain to name a few. 

Here is the map we used at home to follow her along on this journey.  You can't make out all the specifics but you get a great perspective.  

She made some new friends, saw many amazing sights she had always wanted to see, and got 4 months to put her life and our world into a whole new perspective.

As always, she brought home lots of treasures for us to enjoy.  As she put it, shopping for these things helped her think of us while she was so far away.  The kids loved all their stuff!

Belly dancer outfits for the girls!  Halloween costumes-check!

Baba must be telling them some amazing story...L's face is hilarious!

She is such a great MIL and I am so very thankful that she took the time to do this for herself. 

You deserved every minute of it Carolyn!  Love!   

What a life!!!

We love visiting Baba in Florida...the only option is to have fun!

...a huge bonus is the beach just down the road about 10 min!

Anna Maria Island, FL
It was late afternoon and so hot and humid...it felt great to be soaking my feet and looking for those stray shells. 

The kiddos did more than soak their feet...they always do?!  It always more fun to get in!

Zander and Katia were not hesitant at all...jumped right in head first and immediatly were too deep for my liking...ah, mom! 
Lili stayed a bit closer to me and enjoyed the waves crashing into her and not her into them. 

As you can see, we were not the only ones...we were surprised how busy it was.  I guess we weren't the only ones with a brilliant idea on how to spend an hour or two.  Lili did become a lot more comfortable...mom, not so much. 

A very nice welcome to Florida! 

More later...I am off to read my book, enjoy the sunshine and watch the kids jump in the pool over and over, again and again.  Gotta love it! 

"Mom, look at my CANNONBALL!!!!"

Baba is visiting!

We all love when Baba comes to visit...especially the kids...she is way more fun than Mom but that is her job!  She does anything and everything they ask her to do...literally...everything and they love it!  Baba loves it too but I imagine she is exhausted when she leaves us.  They have played Uno about a gazillion times, tried to teach Baba the Wii, crosswords, toilet tag in the field behind the house, played Shoot the Moon and Sorry, watched the seeds grow, raked the yard, rode 5 miles to school, invented a great recipe for pork chops, visited all the kiddos classrooms and teachers and it's only been 2.5 days that she got here.  It's been a bit crazy and lots of fun!

Singing songs!

Dancing!

Zander's a little busy...I am surprised he hasn't talked her into learning to play the DSi!

It's a no-school day and we are busy being incredibly silly...maybe I will run away...now that sounds like fun!

We all love Baba's visits!