Leaps and Bounds

Charlie was 18 months old the first week of January. Since then we have seen all sorts of growth and change. He is broadening his toy horizons from just balls to now army guys, action figures, baby dolls, trucks, and dinos. Also his vocabulary is doubling before our eyes. He started saying baby a lot and pointing to every baby he saw ( he has a hey-day at church), then he said cheese when I took his picture. Now he is associating it with the food. He says juice (joooose) and makes this cute pucker face that I can't resist kissing. Then in Florida he learned "grandpa" and on our trip home when we stayed in a hotel he walked the halls calling "grandpa, grandpa?" Also in Florida he learned Noah! It was when I was calling for Noah while he was in the distance and Charlie mimicked me saying "woa-wa!"

He did it again!

I'm so proud of Josh! He just had a meeting yesterday with some big shots in his program. It went really well and they agreed that he is on track to graduate in 2011!! All his condensing of class schedules and long hours+weekends and short holidays are paying off. To get a phd from Harvard in only four years is unheard of. The average is at least 6! Way to go JJP!

Vacation Memories

So many things I think back on from our trip totally crack me up. I always feel like I am living in a bloopers segment of a movie!

So we started our drive heading to Delaware to visit some dear friends who were our neighbors in Cambridge. As you can see below, the Plants have no problem making themselves at home while visiting the Komendas. Love these guys!



One of the bloopers here was me waking up in the morning and falling down the entire flight of their stairs! I just sat there stunned as everyone waited for me to get to the bottom. Then Josh and I made eye contact and it was nothing but laughter! Thanks hun. :)

Also while in Delaware we woke up to mass amounts of snow, a snow emergency, and all freeways closed! The street our car was originally parked on had no chance of getting plowed. The snow was up to our knees, but Josh was determined to get our car to a main, plowed road so he shoveled half the street while I rocked our car back and forth over pile upon pile of snow. At one point while Michael and Josh were pushing the car and I was driving, I forgot I left the rear wipers on so they were going back and forth whipping snow into the guys' faces! Oops. It was way fun to get to spend an extra day with our friends. They went above and beyond to take care of us.

When we finally got back on the road the bumpy snow rattled loose a piece of metal on the bottom of our car. While idling our car made this horrid noise. Luckily the metal piece wasn't important so we had it removed when we got to FL.

This sight was what I had been waiting for. Heaven (even in 60 degrees).





My dad and Josh got plenty of guy time in. We spent our nights watching olympics and chatting. It reminded me of my high school days plopping next to dad on the couch while he watched sports.



Those sea gulls didn't know what they were up against.

Florida Highlights

We had such a wonderful trip to Florida. I have so many pictures to share and they are not by any means going to be in order. That would just make things too simple! I love how after a trip you go home and that's when you really absorb all the events that occurred. We made the 22+ hour drive and survived! Noah and Presley did really well. Charlie was pretty much the one in charge of when we needed a break. Homeboy really has a great set of lungs when he needs to voice his opinion! Luckily he is a pretty good car sleeper.

We visited my dad and Ruth in North Port on the west side of Florida. The weather was in the high 50's for the bulk of the trip so we had lots of chilly grandparents! More photos to come of the kids braving the ocean in their swim suits.


Ripley's museum really freaked Presley out! We learned where the term "Saved By the Bell" came from. People were often accidentally buried alive in the early 1900's so they used to have a bell on the coffins that the person inside would ring if they were alive!


Arghhh... pirate souveiers from Disneyland. Thanks Grandpa & Grandma!
"How much does it cost for a pirate to get his ears pierced?...a Buck-an-ear!" ha ha


Did you know that adding liquid soap to a jetted tub makes crazy out of control bubble bath? Fun stuff!

Grandpa Plant got some tough shoulders on the trip. Presley wanted up there all the time to see the action. I loved watching Al and TK rock out with Pres during the parade.




Hollywod Disney was like Universal. That is where Star Tours is in Orlando so we HAD to go there to show Noah. They had some great little boy action entertainment there. I was loving the Hollywood sets.

More photos to come, I have a husband waiting for me to catch up on the episodes of LOST that we missed. Gotta love Hulu.

Counting Down

Till we get to spend our days in the sun!

We are prepping for a long awaited vacay to Florida to get out of this COLD!! I hate getting ready for bed at night because my bedroom gets so freezing. It will be so nice to escape for a while.