UPDATE

Wow! Has it seriously been 4 months since I last journaled? This summer was so crazy and it seemed to just sort of carry on into the fall. I really felt like we were only home a few days out of the whole summer. I know that's not true, but it just left like we were gone a LOT. Of course doing fun things, so no complaints.
First we headed to West Palm Beach with Jimmy's family. It was a bittersweet change from Marco Island. It was nice to experience the waves and sand of the east coast, but I think we all were missing our familiar Marco. We had a great time, though and the kids did SO good.

From there we headed straight to Anna Maria Island to spend a week with the Gordon family. I always look so much forward to spending time with my family (ALL packed into ONE house). Let's just say we have lots of memories. Ha. It is also so neat to see J.D. and Mady with their cousins. We get to see them a lot, but it's a totally different thing living with them for a week. We had such a good time and made memories we'll never forget.

Lastly, we decided to do one last trip to Orlando to take the kids to Disney. They had never been, and we actually vowed to not take them until they were bigger. However, someone gave us some tickets, so of course off we went. And I'm SO glad we did. I wasn't sure how they were going to do, but they did amazing. They were a little overwhelmed at first, not sure what to think of everything and probably not sure why Jimmy & I were so excited?! But after awhile, they warmed up and then it was no stopping them. We had planned to go half a day, take naps and then come back, but they were having such a good time, and attitudes were good, so we pressed on. They did fall asleep in the stroller, which gave them energy to last through the night parade (at 12:00). It was a great day and it exceeded ALL of our expectations. J.D. keeps asking when we are going to take him to drive the cars again, and Mady keeps telling us that she "misses the princesses". All in all, a GREAT summer!!

Since then, it has just been busy, busy, busy. J.D. went back to preschool. It's a long story, but after some last minute decision making on our part, we decided to hold him back because of his summer birthday. Being a few months ahead, we definitely think it was the right decision. He is doing so good and can tell he is more confident. He is such a good boy and is so sweet with Mady. He really is a great big brother and she's a lucky girl to have him.

Mady is still crazy Mady. I started her in a mommy & me gymnastics class. There's not much instruction, but she loves to just run around and jump on the trampoline. At the second class, she told me to go sit down, "I do by self!!" Guess she didn't realize it was a MOMMY & ME class?? The coaches have commented on how coordinated she is and that she's ready for a "real" class. We also just celebrated her birthday. I can NOT believe she is 3! Although, we say that it feels like she should be older than three...it's been a long 3yrs! Ha. Just kidding, it's been a wonderful ride. She keeps us laughing and keeps us on our toes. We had a strawberry shortcake birthday party (which was the 3rd theme she had picked in 2wks) and she is already talking about what she wants next year. Ha.

We have also been trying to sell our house the last two months. No offers yet, but we'll just keep trying. Well, I'm sure I'm missing some amazing story, but I'm getting tired of typing. Hopefully I'll be a little better about updating??