Florida Fun!

Well, we're back from our vacation in Florida, and we had a great time!! The weather wasn't as warm as it usually is, but it was still upper 70's most of the days, which was perfect! Here are some highlights of our trip:

PLANE TRIP

• The kids did really well on the flights - Eli, as we were taking off said, "This is the best ride ever!" And when we landed he said that that was "a fun time we had up there." Matea slept the whole way down except for the first 10 minutes and last 10 minutes, so that was great. The ride home she was awake most of the time, but was content to eat Cheerios and talk to everyone around us and dance on my lap. Happy baby.

Little waif, Eli, ready for the flight with a blanket and his puppy.

Studying the emergency procedures, and pointing out to Mommy that there is a slide on the plane!

Fast asleep!!

PLAYGROUND!

• We found an AWESOME park, with a tiny train to ride (it wasn't working while we were there) and a train-themed main playground. Plus, water splash pads and a smaller playground that was bigger than our biggest playground here. Eli loved it!!

"I climbed the cowcatcher!"

This was Eli's favorite structure in the park.

Eli got really good at crossing these ropes.

Matea's first swing! She loved it!!!

Eli did too! He said this chair looked like a rocket ship.

Part of the other playground.

More swinging! (and look at those pigtails!) :)

SAND AND SURF!

• It was cooler than normal for Florida, so we only made it to the beach one time unfortunately. But it was nice and warm and a gorgeous day. The water was cold so we didn't swim, but instead spent our time looking for shells, playing in the sand, and walking the beach. The kids loved it!

We weren't sure if Matea was going to like the ocean, but she liked the waves and was all smiles!

Schneider family hard at play: Daddy dug a deep hole, Mommy made the sand castles, and Eli was in charge of road construction. We had a so much fun!

Checking out the hole.

Yep, it looks safe for my truck to play in.

Eli liked going in the hole himself too.

Matea did NOT like the hole. :)

Happy beach baby!

Jon and Eli . . . I love this picture!

AROUND TOWN!

• There were quite a bit of other things to do around Ft. Myers besides the beach and the pool and the park, so we went exploring around town too. We went to the Manatee Park hoping to find, you guessed it, manatees, but they had moved to other waters (I guess they didn't get the memo that they are supposed to stay at the park that's named for them so all the tourists can get pictures). And on Saturday, Jon and I successfully pawned off the kids so we could be by ourselves . . . wait, I mean, Grandpa and Grandma jumped at the chance to watch the kiddies so Jon and I could go to the places that the kids would find boring beyond belief. Jon and I went looking for pottery (my obsession) and found it (yay!!) and then visited the Thomas Edison Winter Estate which was extremely interesting, if not cheap. We really enjoyed ourselves - thanks Dad and Sherry for letting us get a vacation during our vacation!!

No manatees at the park, but Elijah successfully wrangled a crocodile for us.

We went to a Florida version of a cider mill - a juice factory! Eli loved this giant orange, the fresh-squeezed limitless orange juice samples, and the playground there. Oh, and they gave him free ice cream too. What a great place!

Lunch time view from our table Saturday at Bert's Bar and Grill in Matlacha. It looked like a shack, and pretty much was, but the food was really good and the view couldn't get much better!

Jon with a giant statue of Thomas Edison, in front of a Banyan tree on the estate that covers more than an acre!

Pretty palm tree in front of the Edison pier.

Pretty girl in a pretty garden.

Enjoying our solitary day together!

AROUND TOWN!

• Dad and Sherry have a swimming pool in their community (that's heated to a wonderful 90 degrees - heaven!), and we took full advantage of that! Eli was really excited to get back in the water and after getting his new floaties and swim vest on he was off and paddling. And Matea loved loved loved the water, and loved loved loved her starfish float. Elijah was insistent that he push Matea around the pool (even to the deep end), and he did a great job. I'm looking forward to more swimming this summer!

Swimming is fun! Come on in Mommy!

Matea loved the water right away!

I don't think she could get much happier!

Splish splash! Better watch the camera, Mom, I'm going to get you!

Eli in charge of Matea's float!

We're headed to the deep end!

I love Florida!!!

Screaming Match

Yep, they were both having a great time screeching and squealing and screaming at/with each other. Glad they could have such special bonding moments . . . now I just need to stock up on earplugs. The two of them make a ridiculous amount of noise! In the end Matea won though . . . girls are just louder and higher-pitched naturally I guess!

First ponytail!

I don't even think I need a story, the picture says it all.

Matea is ADORABLE!!!!

God's Presents

Missy called me at work on Wednesday afternoon just to relay this story: As they were driving home from BSF, Eli was telling Missy about the story that he had heard in class that day.  The story was about the end of Exodus, where the Isrealites complete the construction of God's tabernacle.

Eli said to Missy that "a cloud came down" when the tabernacle was completed.  Missy asked Eli, "what was in the cloud?" and Eli replied, "God's presence."  Missy asked, "God?" and Eli insisted "no, Mommy, God's presence." 

At this point, Missy figured out that Eli was actually saying "presents" -- not "presence"!  She asked him "Presents, like Christmas presents?" and Eli replied "Yes, God's presents.  They said, 'To Moses, From God.'"

Obviously the term "God's presence" in connection with the cloud has been used, and Eli had misunderstood it -- albeit in a cute way.  :-)

Beware the Tickle Words!

Following up on Eli's previous made-up word from earlier this winter, ponga, Eli (possibly in conjunction with cousins Lexi and Tori) has come up with an all-new made-up phrase.  The phrase is (are you ready for this?): "peagle schmagen haga heego!" 

Eli will whip that phrase out whenever he's feeling silly.  He pronounces it the same way every time, just as though the individual words had some actual meaning.  (Eli's vocabulary of real words continues to grow by leaps and bounds as well, so Missy and I don't mind him using his made-up words on occasion.  Plus it's super cute when he says them.)  :-)

At first the phrase "peagle schmagen haga heego" was meaningless, but somehow it has evolved to become the "tickle words."  If someone (including Mommy or Daddy) says the complete phrase, they get tickled!  This has led to silliness such as Mommy Daddy saying to Eli something along the lines of "peagle schmagen haga ... hmm, how did it go again?"  Eli will respond to this by reciting the full 4-word phrase -- at which point Mommy and Daddy proceed to tickle Eli, since he said the phrase!

Footnote: Regardless of whether the initial pronunciation was "punka" or "punga," Eli's original made-up word has since evolved to now have a pronunciation more like "ponga".  We wouldn't want any of our loyal readers out there to be working with an obsolete pronunciation, so we're pleased to bring to you this latest breaking news item!  :-)