Random pictures from our summer

I know I have not been good at updating the blog this summer, I do apologize. Here are some pictures we have taken throughout the summer. The girls are happy and healthy … what more can we ask for!

My Florida Visit

Thanks to my mother in law, I got to spend four days in Florida with Scott, kid free! The girls stayed at Grandma’s house and off I went, on a 5 hour flight to Florida.
All in all, Florida was nice. The weather was pretty, humid and hot, but still nice. Scott’s hotel was beautiful, right on the water to the Tampa Bay. We ate some yummy food, learned about some St Petersburg history, and saw lots of the beautiful downtown area. I was floored by the beautiful trees. I love trees, and miss them very much here in Arizona.
We spent all day Friday house hunting. We looked at 13 houses, all ones Scott had seen before. We have a list of houses that are possibilities, and hope that one of them will work out for us.
Sunday was such a nice day. We spent the day together, relaxing, listening to the rain. There was a big thunderstorm off and on all day long, it is really was kind of nice. We got massages at the hotel (a late birthday present to me) and ordered some yummy pizza to eat in bed after the massages.
I had a relaxing and quiet weekend, a much needed escape.

Here are some pictures of St Petersburg, Florida.

Marriott Renaissance Vinoy Resort

The view from our room, to the left … Tampa Bay. To the right, downtown St Pete

A Banyan Tree … such a cool tree. The roots grow from the branches to the ground, where they form more and more trunks … making the tree cover a huge area. This tree is 200 years old. It was so beautiful.

A Kapok Tree … this tree took my breath away. It is so massive and so beautiful. This picture is for perspective on just how big it is. That is me at the bottom.

This is The Pier … it is a building at the end of the pier in downtown St Pete. It has shopping, an aquarium, and on the top floor, a wonderful Cuban restaurant, Columbia, where we went and ate dinner overlooking the water. There we saw dolphins jumping in the water. It was so cool.

I’m A Big Girl Now …

We are one step closer to no longer having a baby in the house. Riley has graduated from her crib to a toddler bed. Her crib converts to a toddler bed, then to a full size bed. She transitioned very well. Once I laid my foot down on the rule that she has to stay in her bed until it is time to get up, she did great. She climbs into her bed, rolls over and goes to sleep. When she wakes up, she calls me until I come in there to tell her it is time to get up. What a good kid!

Once we move, maybe we will get her a real “big girl bed” for her new room. We will see how the move sits with her.

OH WHOA … Mom’s 30!

The Fourth of July weekend was a bittersweet time for the Posti Family. Not only was Mom turning 30, but it was also our last weekend together before Daddy left for Florida.

We made the most of our weekend by starting out July 3rd with some local fireworks. Now remember, we live in Arizona where it is so stinkin’ hot, so sitting out on a golf course waiting for fireworks was not easy. And of course, it never rains here in Arizona, but we sure did have a good storm blow through that night. Notice the dark sky behind us!

We had our blanket on a little hill next to the roped off green. A great spot right under where the fireworks were going to be set off.

We ate hot dogs, nachos, Indian fry bread, and of course, snow cones.

The sunset over the mountains was so pretty … made for some nice shots.

We were a little nervous sitting out there, seeing the lightening through the clouds. Daddy assured us we were not even going to get rained on, not to worry. He was right, we got about two drops the entire time we were out there.

We bought some glow necklaces, which the girls thought were great!

Then, after three hours of dealing with the heat, the fireworks started. This was the first time the girls have seen a true fireworks show. Riley was not impressed, at first. She laid there with her face covered, screaming “I don’t want to see it”. After a few minutes, she calmed down and enjoyed the rest of the show. She kept asking, “where did they go?”. We had a good night watching fireworks and went home for some sleep before Mom’s big day on July 4th!

Saturday morning, Mom woke up to balloons and singing cards. They girls were so excited to get to pick out a card that sings, and I got a Scooby Doo balloon. Daddy took us to breakfast a a yummy local place. We came back home for some much needed down time, since we had a late night the night before, we had a grumpy 2 year old on our hands. We hung out at the house, played some video games, and packed up Daddy’s car for his big road trip the next day.
After nap, we went to Grandma’s house for a family cookout and birthday cake. The girls got to swim a little bit and we hung out with family and ate way too much food. After we ate, Scott & I and his sister and her husband went to the movies to see the Hangover (which was our 2nd time seeing it, but still just as funny the 2nd time). Then it was off to bed. All in all, it was a good day.

Sunday morning was sad for all of us, but worth it in the end. Once everyone was awake, we ate breakfast together and sent Daddy on his way to Florida. Riley was saying goodbye, like he was just going to play golf or something … like it was not big deal. Reagan was not as carefree though. She hugged and kissed Daddy and said goodbye. As soon as he was out of the driveway, she broke down. She was so sad, knowing it was going to be a long time before she saw him again. I reminded her that he was going to find us a new home, one with grass in the backyard (per her request). She seemed to be satisfied with that for now. Let’s hope the rest of the month does not pose to be an emotional one for all of us … it will make it drag on even longer.
Mom gets to go to Florida for a long weekend in a few weeks, then we will finally move out there sometime in August. We will see how our timeline goes as Daddy starts house hunting. We hope to be able to move straight into our new home, without having to live in a hotel for a while. We will see how it all turns out, and I will be sure to keep everyone posted.