The Best 30th Birthday EVER!!!

Well, it all started Friday morning, the day before my 30th birthday. Andy woke me up at about 4:30 am and told me to pack a suitcase. I was like "whatever" and kept rolling over. He finally started jumping on me and I could see how excited he was, so I got up. I asked him what I should pack and he kept giving me answers like "nice outfits, regular stuff" etc. Nothing specific. So I threw a bunch of stuff into the suitcase and took a 5 minute shower since he said we needed to hurry. By 5:30ish, Uncle Perry was sleeping on the couch to be there when the boys woke up and we were on our way. I kept asking where we were going and he wouldn't give me an answer. I figured since it was so early, we must be going to the airport. I knew something was going on for the weekend, but I was thinking something local or maybe a short cruise, something like that. So now that the airport is in my head, I started thinking Vegas or New York City. Andy's not usually very creative, so I figured he would go with old reliable or whatever.


Anyways, at the airport, he made me stand on the side at the ticket counter. So I didn't find out anything there either. It's pretty fun knowing you are going somewhere, but have no idea where it's going to be. So, he did finally let me see the boarding passes which said Buffalo. I was like "What the heck is in Buffalo???" My thoughts were that he got a cheaper deal outside of NYC and went that route, but I figured we were still going to NYC. (Keep in mind, I had NO idea where Buffalo was in New York.) So I think I said something about Niagara Falls once, but I had NO clue where Niagara Falls was in relation to anything. We were on the plane, and I was still clueless. Then I ordered my diet coke and the fight attendent gave me a napkin too. The napkin had a map of the US and all of their destination cities marked. Well, Buffalo had Niagara Falls underneath it in parentheses, so that's when I figured it out. Andy was pretty mad -- he wanted me to find out by seeing the Niagara Falls sign once we were there. I still can't believe he pulled it off. He didn't even let me look around the bookstore at the TPA airport because he was afraid I'd find a map and figure it out.


Aunt Nikki, Uncle Perry, Nana, Granny and Papaw all helped with watching the boys over the weekend. Knowing they were well taken care of was such a great birthday present from them. (Oh, and thanks P for watching Miller and Skipper -- sorry about the mess!)


So for the trip... It was absolutely amazing. Everyone should go at some point in their life. I want to take the boys back when they are 10ish. They would have so much fun!!! I always thought it was this little romantic place, but it wasn't like that at all. Downtown Niagara Falls -- the Canadian side -- is kind of a mix between the fair, ybor city during gasparilla, and Vegas. It's really weird. Tons of kids and people had their kids out at all hours of the night.

So here's pretty much the jist of it...

So excited to rent an economy car (that only had 700 miles on it and later it got a flat tire!!!)...

We saw these rapids and stopped just for fun... we had no idea this was the top of the American Falls...
We were so oblivious -- still didn't know this was the top of the falls...
This is about where we started realizing where we were...
The Horseshoe Falls...

The brink of the falls -- this was probably my favorite view...
My birthday fireworks...


On the big Niagara Skywheel...

The Maid of the Mist boat headed into the falls...This is while we were on The Maid of the Mist -- this must be similar to what it's like in a hurricane...
The Maid of the Mist was my favorite!!!
I was soaked through -- the poncho DID NOT keep me dry...

We saw lots of rainbows...
This is "The Journey Behind the Falls"...
At the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls...

This is above the Whirlpool that's down the Niagara River a ways...
The Whirlpool Jet that we rode on later that day...
Andy wanted to stop at a winery and check it out...




This is when we climbed down into the gorge to see the rapids we went on while riding the Whirlpool Jet (notice my flip flops -- not appropriate cause it was a steep and long hike!!)...

The bottom of the gorge...
The Whirlpool Jet going through the rapids...

The top of the gorge (I was about to collapse)...


I love you Anj!!!!!!!

Carter and Conner Gymnastics

I can't remember if I told y'all about the New Tampa Rec Center that recently opened near us. I signed up all of the boys because it was so cheap and I figured it would give them something to do. So Canyon loves it and has a great time with it. The twins -- that's a different story. I'm allowed to drop Canyon off and he goes with his teacher, but for the twins, it is a parent and tot class. So while all the other parents are playing with their ONE child, I'm trying to keep up with my two. They did have fun, but I just couldn't sign them up for another 7 week session. So they had fun while it lasted, but I'll get them signed up again when they turn 3 -- actually, I can't wait for that!!!

Every Drain Leads to the Ocean...

This story starts with the plush Nemos that the twins fell in love with today at the Disney Store. They LOVE Nemo and call every single fish Nemo and when I took Canyon into the Disney Store to start getting ideas about his birthday, I knew once they spotted Nemo, we wouldn't be able to leave without him (trust me, I'm not usually a pushover like that). So, they've pretty much been completely attached their Nemos all day. Anyways, tonight after dinner, they all went upstairs to play. Andy and I were downstairs cleaning up. We usually don't worry about them, because Canyon is always so quick to tattle on them. But tonight Canyon was playing in his room with cousin Macie and wasn't paying any attention to the twins. Now here's the funny part. Andy goes up to check on them and he yells at me to come up. We found both boys in a puddle of water in our bathroom and guess who was "swimming" in the toilet?? You guessed it, both Nemos. Andy said that when he walked in, that they both were just so happy playing with their Nemo in the water. So is this something that you laugh at or something that you get angry at??? I couldn't stop laughing because I knew that they thought Nemo should go in the toilet. I had to share, even though it makes me look like a horrible parent. I know this will be one of the stories we tell for a long time. UGH!!!

Here is them after Andy scared the crap out of them...

This is the mess in the floor (we are just waiting for the water spots to show up on the ceiling downstairs)... And here are the responsible parties...

Swimming

Canyon just suddenly figured out the whole swimming thing while we were on vacation. Here he is swimming across the pool...

Anna Maria Island

All of the Andersons (yep, that's me, Andy, Canyon, Carter, Conner, Nikki, Perry, Whitnee, Macie, and Sid) went to Anna Maria Island last week. We had a really good time considering there were 5 kids 3 and under. We pretty much just stayed at the hotel and went to the beach and pool everyday. The kids were exhausted and so were the parents!!!

It rained some, but we still had pretty good weather...

Everyone is bathed and ready for bed...
Perry borrowed jet skis from a friend and he and Andy, Canyon, and Whit had a great time riding them.

My little bug catcher is showing me a giant sand flea he caught. EWWWWWWWWWW!!!!


We buried Conner in the sand and he thought it was hilarious!!!!!!

Notice the rain... Then noticed the twins down the beach... They loved running away!!!!! We had to worry a little about Carter going in the water, but Conner would not go in unless someone was holding him. For the most part, the were sitting on me or Daddy the whole time we were at the beach!!!!

Sweet boys...

Hug your brother...

They fought over the two Macks all week...



That jet ski wore him out...