A Busy Few Weeks

We have welcomed summer break with a bang! We've been super busy around here. Chad was asked to attend a weeklong seminar in Orlando for his work and since it coincided closely with our wedding anniversary, we decided that I would go along for a few days and we'd make a mini-vacation out of it. We left last Saturday and had a great evening at Universal Studio's City Walk, had an excellent dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp House and caught a late movie before calling it a night. We spent Father's Day at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World (without Lauren, sadly enough). We felt badly not taking her with us, but with the heat index it was 105 degrees so she would've been miserable outdoors. On Monday Chad had to attend seminars so I sat by and in the pool...for 7 hours. I will proudly admit that I loved every second of it. I read a book, soaked up lots of sun, had a beverage and an ice cream at the pool bar and relaxed in a way that I haven't been able to since I had Lauren. We stayed at the Shingle Creek Resort and I highly recommend it if you're headed to Orlando anytime soon. It's very close to all the attractions and just a beautiful place. I hope Chad has to attend the seminar again next year too :)

While we were gone, Lauren had a wonderful time with her Grandma and Grandpa ("Boppa") Lucas at our house. We tried talking to her on the phone but she just cried and cried as soon as she heard our voices. My mom said they had tons of fun but she had to keep diverting her attention away from our pictures on the wall. She'd walk over to them, wave at us and start crying. Poor girl :( Lauren loves her new sunglasses from Grandma and Grandpa Steighner!

Yes, she picked out her own shoes today. I was proud of her for selecting a color that matched her outfit :)

Also in the last two weeks, Lauren was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever. I didn't think this illness existed nowadays but apparently it does. Unfortunately, she had a severe allergic reaction to the Amoxicillin and ended up with a bad case of hives all over her entire body for about 5 days. The poor thing itched like crazy! Today, they are finally almost gone.

This week, we are enjoying having my sister Holly visiting from Nashville. She's splitting her time between our house and staying with my parents but is trying to spend a ton of time with Lauren. We are hoping for nice weather so we can go to the zoo together on Wednesday. Back home in Nashville, Holly teaches turbo kickboxing (among other things). She had a new DVD that she had to watch/memorize the choreography, so she was practicing while Lauren watched and attempted to copy. Too cute!
Helping Mommy make muffins.Lauren began taking swimming lessons for the first time and is loving it! Grandma Lucas came along to watch and got a few cute pictures.

Showing her surprise at the Cinderella tea set we brought her.Enjoying her Disney Princess cup with fun twisty straw that we brought her from Disney World.

"What chocolate, Mommy?"Chad catching a few Zzzzz's in our yard.Working out her muscles with some of Mommy's family room decor.

Lauren said "Down!" before I even had a chance to. One final anecdote for you....a few nights ago I let Lauren help me bake cookies. We were watching them in the oven and she kept pointing and saying "Be, Momma, Be!" (That is her word for 'please'.) I told her that we had to wait a little longer until the oven beeps. She looked up at Chad and I and she said "Beep!". Now how cute is that?

Big Dinner Club news! Jason and Jackie welcomed a healthy baby boy on Sunday, June 14. Welcome to our Dinner Club, Braeden Allen!

Good night!

Love,

M & L