i love the smell of orange blossoms!

Today, we headed out to Hancock Orange Grove for MOMs Club.  As soon as I stepped out of the car, the sweet aroma hit me ... mmmmmm .... orange blossoms!  The smell was intoxicating.  I wish my house could smell like that ... so fresh and sweet without being too perfumy.  Lovely!

We went into the store, and I saw just what I was looking for ... orange blossom honey ... key lime juice ... and jams, jams, jams!  I bought some honey and key lime juice ... then we went picking!  We picked a quarter of a pound of oranges/grapefruit/tangerines.  We, also, ate a few strawberries that were growing nearby!  Delish!  Koki LOVES strawberries, and I could barely get her away from the rows.  She finds as many as she can reach and she eats them ... greenery and all!  It's pretty funny to see her spitting out a leaf or two here and there.

Colton trying to pick oranges. 

Sweet baby girl ...

Mmmmmm ... tasty!

"CHEESE!" she says. 

Two fister ...

Cole with his bounty of oranges.

Colton had a blast using the orange picking pole to grab oranges out of the trees!  He would pick them and then put them in the bag.  He thought that was pretty awesome!  After running around the orchards for a few hours, we bought our goods and headed to lunch with some of our favorite friends, the Adams.

We finally tried out the new Panera Bread they built at Wiregrass Mall.  I'm so happy they put one close to our house.  Then we headed over to Wiregrass to check out some stores and, of course, to let the kiddos ride the train!  Koki is so cute!  She loves to ride things so much now ... or at least she is really good at vocalizing it now.  She said, "Choo-choo! Choo-choo!" Then she said, "RIDE! RIDE!"  She loves to ride the train.  She didn't want to get off of it.  I guess we'll have to make sure to ride it more often.

It reminds me of the other day when she wanted to ride Colton's tricycle.  Colton put it away, and she was having a fit over it!  "RIDE! RIDE!" she yelled.  So, Mom H put her in their car while they were packing it up.  She had a blast sitting in the front seat.  When it was time to get out, she cried and yelled, "RIDE! RIDE! RIDE!" all while she was pointing to the car and trying desperately to get back in.  She was so funny!  However, she pretty much hates the rides at Busch Gardens ... and don't even get me started at the swings in the park!  She will cry and doesn't want to ride those ... she seems to dislike the up and down, but the car ... the train ... the bike ... she loves those!  Maybe because they go straight and smoothly.

Koki loves this thing!

Riding the train at Wiregrass! By this time, they were both pretty tuckered out and ready for a nap!

Speaking of Busch Gardens, we went again this week.  We went on Sunday for Brenda's birthday, but then we bought a year pass (pay for a day, play all year for Florida residents).  So, we went again with Mom and Dad H on Wednesday.  Cole LOVES it!  He rode every kid ride all by himself!  (Except for one he rode with Khloe and me).  He loves to ride the rides ... which is so funny, because he dislikes the swing at the park, too!  But he even rode the swing ride at Busch Gardens.  I don't know about that kid! Ha, ha!  Khloe, on the other hand, rode one ride ... this egg ferris wheel type ride.  She rode it with me and Colton, but she disliked every minute of it!  I think she prefers smooth straight rides and doesn't want to go up and down quite yet.  She's still pretty little ... I think that will change over the next year.  Especially since she yelled, "Ride, ride!" at the car ride and only started crying once she sat down in the ride.  When I got her back out of the car, she pointed to it again and yelled, "Ride, ride!"  So, it seems like she wants to like it ... maybe next time.

Dad H with Colton looking at the Cheetahs.

Riding the Hang Glider ride. 

Riding the "egg ride" with Mom and Koki (it was like a ferris wheel).

Riding the Swing ride ... nut! He won't go on the swings at the park, but this ... he rode with a HUGE smile! 

Carousel!

Koki riding the carousel with me ... the only ride she liked!

Carousel! 

Hippo water ride! 

Flying elephant ride ... he learned to pull that lever that his hand is on ... and the ride moves up and down!  Pretty cool!

It was great to have Mom and Dad H here all week.  After Brenda's birthday weekend (which I have yet to blog about), they stayed all week at our house.  It was fun to play games at night.  Dad H completed some projects for me, and Mom helped watch the kids.  It was great!  We will miss them, but they will be back in a week and a half for one more visit, so we have that to look forward to!

Colton asked Grandma if she would read him this story.  "Grandma, would you read this story to me?  It's my VERY FAVORITE!" (It's My Bible Friends: Noah)  I don't know how many times she read it!  A lot, that's for sure!

My new spice cabinet courtesy of Dad H!  I love it!

Sissy enjoying one of her many "rides".

Grandpa H reads Sissy her bedtime story.

So, in big boy news ... we moved Colton into his big boy bed on Monday.  I changed his crib over to a to a toddler bed before nap time, and he did pretty well.  He got up 3 times ... but ultimately slept for 3 hours ... so that was good.  He has been napping and sleeping well at night.  The only issue I have is morning.  So far ... and it's only been a week, in the morning, he wakes up and comes into our room to tell me that he's poopy (because this kid is too scared to poop on the toilet! He doesn't want to fall in ... we're working on that!  The hazards of teaching him to pee standing up! UGH!) ... then he's ready for the day.  That's usually sometime between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.--TOO EARLY for me!  I've had 3 years of 8:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. sleep time ... now, he wants to change that!  I would like to insert a "dislike" button here.  Seriously.  I guess things will still change as he learns to poop in the toilet and can go to the bathroom without feeling the need to tell me about it.  But right now, there's a change in our house--and although I know it's a change for the better, sometimes it feels like a change for the worse (even though I know that's not true).  I guess being a Mom is like being a teacher, flexibility is a must ... and you can never rely on the way things are going at the moment, because in a drop of a hat, things will change!

Cole in his big boy bed! 

I am so ready for this weekend!  We are going to have a relaxing weekend.  I can't wait!  We've been so busy lately with family in town (which we LOVE), but it will be nice to not think about entertaining others for a few days.  REST sounds lovely.

Happy Sabbath!