The Carltons!

Moody Gardens 2011

A few weeks ago we went to Moody Gardens for my B-day weekend!  I LOVED it last year.  So, I really wanted to go back again this year.  We had a busy December.  So, we were only able to go for one night.  But, it was still a blast.  

 

Love getting to spend my B-day with these 2!!

Kendall & I were both really excited to see the 4D show of the Polar Express again! I just love how the room smells of hot chocolate as they pour a glass. 

Then, we were off to see Santa!

Kendall told him that she wanted the Strawberry Shortcake Salon, Cafe, Handy Manny Talking Tools, & an Easy Bake Oven.......among a few other things. 

 

After chatting with Santa, we hit up the gift shop before watching a fun 3D Chrismtas movie.

Then, we walked through The Festival of Lights!!

It was such a great B-day.  Jimmy got me an Ipad..... which I LOVE!!  Then, after doing all of the fun festivities at Moody Gardens, we went back to our hotel room and ordered room service and ate dinner in our jammies......another favorite of mine! My Mom even surprised me with tulips......(Thanks Mom!)!  It was a great day!! 

Cookies & Letter from Santa!!

A few weeks ago, Kendall  & I decorated gingerbread cookies.  We didn't eat any of them.  But, they were still fun to decorate! ha!

When Kendall got home from school one day, her letter from Santa was waiting for her!

.......She got a package of reindeer food for Santa's reindeer, some little toys, beach ball snow globe, crayons, etc......and she got a special bell from Santa's sleigh! 

But, She was really excited to get her VERY OWN letter from Santa stating that she was on Santa's NICE list!

 

Breakfast with Santa!

A few weeks ago Kendall's school offered a breakfast with Santa. We got there early and were able to chat with Santa in the parking lot a bit.  Kendall was so excited! 

Once we got inside we grabbed some breakfast and Kendall got to color for a little bit. 

Santa stopped by to say "Hello" to everyone....

Then, we were off to see Santa.  These are BY FAR the best Santa pictures this year!

She was being shy....

Kendall had a nice little chat with Santa......

I loved all of the Santa pictures!  All of them were just TOO CUTE!!

Then, Kendall wanted to see if any of her friends had arrived.  Her friend, Santiago, was there.

It was a really fun morning with Santa!

Christmas Dance in the Park

Kendall's dance studio performed at a local Holiday Market earlier this month.  They had a little dress rehearsal/run thru at the studio first.  So, I snapped a bunch of pictures there! 

Kendall was excited to get to wear "Mommy make-up" and dance on the "Big Stage" again.  The girls all looked so cute together!

Kendall did a great job with their dance run thru!

Our little ballerina......

We quickly grabbed lunch and then went to the park for their big dance!  We had more than enough time to snap a ton of pictures first.

Poor planning on someone's part.  They had numerous performances go before the little ones.  So, this is what they did to stay busy.......pick up sticks and drop them down in the drain! ha!  All of the Mom's were so annoyed by having to stand around in the heat, and try to keep a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds entertained, we all didn't care if they were getting a little dirty!

Finally, the BIG dance!! 

Apparently Kendall was doing a little solo number here!

ADORABLE!! 

One Happy Little Performer!  Kendall clapped for herself when she was done!

Priceless!

Key West Day 9 & 10!

Day 9: Kendall, Nana, and I hit up the Owner's Beach in search of pretty shells!! 

We found a lot of really great ones.

Kendall & Nana LOVE, LOVE, LOVE looking for shells.

Then, we went and hit up the toy store.  Nana had promised to paint crafts there with Kendall.   There was a private b-day party going on.  So, we didn't get to paint.  But, Kendall did get to feed the pretty birds outside of the toy store.

Then, we went to the Key West Pirate Carnival that was going on.  To say the least, it was super shady!  I was scared to let Kendall ride or touch anything other than the carousel and the bumper cars!

We played one game............

Kendall won one big toy banana.......

.......and then we were done with the nasty germ fest/carnival! ha!

Time for some ice cream before catching the boat!

While we were out running around, the guys were busy fishing on Grandy's boat......

We ended up heading back to the toy store that night to paint crafts. Then, we had a fish fry at the house.  We were up early to fly home the next day. 

It was another Fun Key West Vacation!

Key West Day 8!- Happy Birthday Grandy!

Day 8 started off with the beach, playing in the sand......

......then the pool!  Kendall was cracking me up with her goggles!

Then, Kendall & Nana made some cupcakes for a neighbor and a cake for Grandy's B-day!! 

Nana was excited to finally get to use her cute little aprons from her "Granddaughter's Apron collection"

Later that night, they iced everything!! 

More cute aprons from the collection!!

Then, we took Grandy out for a special B-day Dinner!  It was a fun night!!

Happy Birthday Grandy!!!

Key West Day 7

The next day we hit up the beach.  Kendall was having beach withdrawls!!  So Kendall, Nana, and I played on the beach all morning!! 

 

I just love taking beach photos.  I could take a million!!  I think they are all just so precious!!

 

We had a great time making princess castles...........

..........and finding shells! 

........and Splashing around!!

We met up with Daddy for lunch at the pool.  Then, naptime! 

 

Later that evening.........

.......we headed over to Turtle Krawls for the turtle races & dinner!!!

Kendall LOVES the turtle races! 

.....watching closely!

We had the winning number again.  So, Kendall got to pick a key!  Our key didn't win the big jackpot.  But, it's still fun to try!

Then, I had another celebrity spotting....Billy Currington.  I took a picture of him from afar.  He was having dinner with family/friends. So, I was trying to not disturb them.   Apparently he wasn't thrilled with the attention and got up from the table and left.  he he! 

Another fun day in Key West!!

Key West Day 6: Thanksgiving Day!!

Kendall wanted to run around and take more pictures in front of statues again!  So, that's what we did. 

Kendall & Mommy on Turkey Day!!

Then, we grabbed lunch before picking up Nana & Grandy from the airport. 

Getting ready for our Thanksgiving dinner!  My sweet family of three!!

That night we had a really nice dinner at Lattitudes, on the island.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving with our sweet family!

Key West Day 5

Day 5 was another relaxing, low-key day in Key West.  We got dressed and grabbed lunch at Turtle Crawl. 

Kendall LOVES posing in the front of the restaurant. 

Then, we walked around  a little and hit up the toy store. 

Kendall could stay in there all day if we'd let her! 

We spent that evening on the island just hanging out and relaxing!  Another great day!

Key West Day 4!

Day 4 was much better than Day 3.  We hung out, walked around Key West, and shopped! Kendall had a blast at the Margaritaville gift shop.

Later that day we took the golf cart out for a little spin.

Then, we were back to Key West.  We snapped some cute pics on the boat.

Watching for the pirate ships!! 

Then, we were off to Mallory Square to enjoy the Sunset Celebration.....and the crazy cat man.  Yes, that's a cat jumping through a ring of fire!

Then, we were off to Margaritaville to eat dinner! 

It was a great, relaxing day in Key West!

Key West Day 3

As if our trip hadn't been a load of excitement already, on our third day there Kendall woke up with a nasty cough.   We were really worried that she would get worse and being stuck on an island with a sick kid, didn't sound like a lot of fun.  So,we decided to take her to a local clinic.  (A little side note: For those of you that don't know, you can only leave the island every hr or 1/2 hour.  So, if you miss the boat, you have to wait another 30 minutes to catch the next one. ) So, after searching online we found a local clinic.   I look at the time and I have all of 5 minutes to catch the boat.  So, I grab shoes, goldfish, a video game, and car keys.  Then, I pick up Kendall and run, carrying my little 30 lb. princess.  ha!  I'm sure it was an interesting site for all!! We get there as the boat was about to pull away and they stopped for us!  Thank goodness!!  Here's a picture of just how pathedic we looked!  No make up, hair's not done!  But, we made the boat! ha!

So, we get to the clinic and walk in.......  It was dirty and there were some not-so-nice looking clients there.  It was shady, to say the least!  (Is that awful of me to say?) So, we quickly left and found a good, clean clinic. We waited for almost 2 hours.  Thank goodness for video games and goldfish crackers!  Once we saw a Dr, she was great.  Kendall's ear was red and it looked as if she was beginning to get an ear infection.  So, they prescribed an antibiotic and cough meds.  Needless to say, our morning  in Key West was an interesting one, for sure!

 

After naps, we were ready to get out and do something.  So, we got showered and headed off to Key West.

We got to see the beautiful sunset.......

Kendall sure wasn't acting like she felt bad.  She wanted to pose in front of more statues!

Her and her Daddy were having too much fun!

Miss Priss!

We just grabbed dinner and walked around a little bit.  It was nice to get out and do something fun! :)

Key West Day 2!

Kendall & I both slept in a little, had breakfast, and then were ready to hit up the beach!! It was a nice and breezy out.......great day to be at the beach!

I think Kendall was trying to make a lake, on the beach.  She filled up her pail a million times!

Happy Girl!!

We played in the sand for a good while, looked for shells, and then went to the pool for a while. 

Kendall & I got dressed and grabbed lunch at my favorite place, Sloppy Joes. 

Then, we were back to the island for naptime!!  After naps, we spent 2 hours going from boat, to car, to grocery store, shopped, back to the car, to the boat, and back to the island.  Hauling groceries onto an island is quite the ordeal.  ha!  Maybe It just felt that way since I had Kendall with me. ha! 

 

Then, we were back on the boat to wait for Jimmy!!!  His flight was a little late.  Kendall wanted to take pictures with anything and everything that would stand still.  So, that's what we did while we waited for him!

Kendall was all cuddled up with the statues.   She insisted on taking a picture with all of them.  :). 

My little, sweet, and innocent child had no idea where she was putting her hands. ha! 

Just hanging out........waiting on Daddy! 

Once Jimmy arrived, we grabbed dinner and headed back to Nana's. We were all tired and ready for bed!  But, really glad to have Jimmy with us!  Vacation just isn't the same without Daddy there!!  :)

Key West Advendtures!!

Our Key West trip turned out to be quite the adventure this year!  First off, Kendall started running a 103 fever 2 days before our trip.  So, a quick trip to the Dr. was a must!  Her Dr. seemed to think that it was nothing and that she'd be fine.  Then, Jimmy's Uncle was admitted into the hospital.   So, Jimmy flew out Friday night, to Mississippi, to spend time with his Uncle and family.  So, that meant that Kendall & I were Key West bound alone.  Jimmy was WONDERFUL and hired us a driver.  The driver picked us up at 5:30 Am and took us to the airport. From there, the curbside attendant took my suitcase & carseat.  So, that meant that I only had to tote around the stroller, backpack (with laptop & Dvd player), My big purse, camer bag, and Kendall.  It was still a lot.  But, totally manageable!  Kendall & I wizzed through security (We travel enough that we have it down to a science now!) and were on our way........

When we landed in Tampa, Kendall was more than ready to burn off some steam in the playroom!  We had a 4 hour lay over.  But, were able to get on an earlier flight, luckily!! Woo Hoo!

Once we got to Key West, we got a taxi immediately and headed over to the boat.  From there, I guess I looked totally helpless with a suitcase, stroller, carseat, 3 other bags, and a cranky toddler because everyone was more than willing to offer a hand!  Ha! 

Kendall & I finally got everything to Nana's house. While I was unpacking,   She was entertained with some of Nana's Fantasy Fest beads.........

It was getting late, so we headed over to Key West in search of  Toys &  Pizza......Kendall's request!

After some pizza & ice cream we were both ready to crash!  What a busy day! 

Key West, Day 2 agenda..........

1. Take pictures with something other than my phone

2.  Enjoy the BEACH!!!