Pumpkin Carving Party

Our small group got together for a pumpkin carving party. We had a yummy dinner and then headed outside to work on our master pieces. Well in the Lin family...Kevin worked on the master piece. I don't like touching all the goo!

Ayda deciding what design to carve! ha!

Helping daddy scoop. Or pretending actually...she doesn't like the goo either! That's my girl!

The girls enjoyed watching all the adults carve the pumpkin!

Helping Daddy again

The finished products!

All the carvers!!

It was a great night with our small group! We have really been blessed with a great group of people to share life with.

Sea World

The same weekend our husbands were out of town, Taunya and I decided to head to Sea World as well. We both have annual passes and she has a free parking pass so it would be a fun, cheap outing for the kids. And of course Ayda and Easton loved seeing all the fish and animals.

Ayda loves to walk around when we are places but she gets tired very randomly and will just sit down. Sometimes on a curb, sometimes in the middle of the sidewalk. Wherever will suit her just fine to rest her legs.

Ayda and Easton checking out the fish!

Giving high five after a fun day at the park!!

Stanley Pond Farm

With it being so hot down here still, I have a hard time getting in the "fall" spirit. This time of year I really miss Georgia! But we headed out to a farm near by with some good friends of ours and that definitely helped! Kevin was out of town and so was my friend, Taunya's, husband. So we loaded up the kids for a fun morning out. There were tons for the kids to do and they had a blast. Ayda and Easton are good buds so they had fun running around the farm together. There was a pumpkin patch, miniature horse, tractor ride, "cow barrel" ride, fish to feed, a kids play area (as if the farm was not enough), and lots of land to run around!

Trying to get two toddlers to sit still, look at the camera, and smile is impossible. I know, Duh! But at least it's still pretty cute.

Ayda picked out her pumpkin all by herself. She loves it! Every time we walk by it on the stairs outside she says "That Ayda pumpkin!!". Yes that is her pumpkin!

Notice the look on Ayda's face...she LOVED the mini horse! She didn't want to leave him at all!

On the tractor ride around the farm. Ayda was talking about something.

The cow barrel ride. I had to ride with her which was quite a bumpy ride. My hips were really sore afterward.

Beach Fun

Kevin's dad took the whole family (all 10 of us) to Hammock Beach Resort for a long weekend. It was SO much fun and I actually came home relaxed. There were so many of us to chase Ayda that I felt like I got a little bit of a break while we were there. And she had an absolute blast playing in the pool, sand, and beach.

Playing with Agong (Grandpa)! They had lots of fun playing in the water!

Kevin's mom and grandparents relaxing on the beach. It was late afternoon so it was getting a little chilly but the rest of us were running around still and keeping warm. The water was actually really warm!

Ayda playing with her Great Aunt.

Kevin and Ayda loved going out in the ocean and splashing in the waves. She loved for them to hit her in the face (she did not get that from me!). She's such a dare devil out there. I wouldn't go by myself so that was their thing!

Weeeee!

About to dig into all the sand! Last year she was terrified to even stand in the sand...what a different a year makes!

The pool had a No Entry section which was great for Ayda. She could play in the shallow water or go deeper if she wanted to. She, George, and Grace played with those funnels for quite a while!

George coming down the water slide at the pool. I went down a few times and then saw the signs saying pregnant women should not ride. Oops! Luckily I didn't let myself go too fast and baby didn't seem phased by it!

We checked out of the hotel on Monday and headed north to spend the day in St. Augustine. We went to the fort first. Ayda loved playing on all the canons. There were no ropes or rails anywhere so Kevin and I were a nervous wreck chasing Ayda around. After the fort we headed to some shops and grabbed some lunch. Then we made our way back home!

It was a fun weekend! Kevin's grandparents are heading back to Taiwan the first of November so this was sort of our last big family thing with them. I think it's safe to say we all had a lot of of.

Thanks again Baba for a great few days!

Anniversary Weekend!

So I'm kind of going backwards a little. I forgot I never posted about our anniversary celebration. Kevin and I celebrated 3 years of marriage on Sept. 29. It was a wednesday so we just had lunch and waited for the weekend to really celebrate. He took me to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a night. I had requested one night for us to get away. I have only been away from Ayda one other night (other than all my night shifts which I don't really count). Of course as soon as we checked into the lodge we immediately were missing her. She would have LOVED the pool, animals, everything. But we had so much fun together too! We went on a safari around the lodges and saw some of the animals really close up. Afterwards we had dinner at a nice restaurant with some very good food. Our hotel room overlook a "savannah" so when we got back to our room we looked outside and there were two zebras hanging out. It was really neat.

On the safari! They had an ostrich egg (hollowed out!) to show how big they are. Pretty cool!

Kevin and a giraffe getting to know each other. This giraffe was super friendly. She was only about 2 years old and super cute!

On Saturday we decided to get Ayda down to the park because we knew she would love seeing all the animals. And we missed her quite a bit by then!!! Kevin's brother, George, works at Disney and can get us in for free. He and his girlfriend brought Ayda down to us and we all enjoyed the day at Animal Kingdom. And, we were right, Ayda had a BLAST!!

George and Grace

On the Park safari. Ayda said hi and bye to most of the animals! She was into the whole thing.

Taking a break from all the walking! We did have her stroller but she enjoyed walking around and seeing the animals herself!

All in all it was a very FUN 24 hours. We were only about 45 minutes from home but it was a great get away. It has been a crazy three years for Kevin and me. We listed off all that has happened...

On our first anniversary I was 7 months pregnant with Ayda

On our Second Anniversary we had just moved to Florida for Kevin to start his practice

And on our third anniversary I was 12 weeks pregnant with baby #2!!

In between the anniversaries we had Ayda, Kevin graduated, I worked night shift (ahhh!), his office was built and his doors opened, we got pregnant with our second little one, and one or both of us have been to dominican republic (k), ATL countless times, Connecticut (me and A), NYC, and all around Florida. It has been busy and fun and I would not change a day of it all! I still know with everything in me that I married the man I was supposed to and I am more in love with him now as I was when we said our vows! We said we wanted to do life together and I'd say we are doing just that!

Happy 3rd Anniversary to an amazing man, husband, and father!

16 weeks!

I am 16 weeks already! I feel like this pregnancy is going by really fast! Here's the latest:

Morning Sickness: Almost no nausea at all! Only if I get really hungry or I don't drink enough water.

Cravings: I have actually not had many cravings this month. Cherry pie was one that I finally gave into and was very happy I did!

Movements: I felt the baby move on Oct. 3! Since then it is getting stronger and more frequent by the day! I love feeling those little thumps in there.

Energy: It's definitely coming back. I have been able to exercise again a few times a week and I can keep up with Ayda much better again. Very thankful for that!

Clothing: I'm in maternity clothes 100% now. I like the extra room and love having a rather large wardrobe. My SIL and a good friend of mine let me borrow their stuff so I have lots of options!

What I miss: Dr. Pepper. I had pretty much gotten to where I never drank it but I still miss the occasional splurge!!!

Hammock Beach Resort

Pictures of Ayda

The weather this morning was perfect. It was actually cool with a lovely breeze. So we headed outside to play and Ayda made it so fun to get some pictures of her. It has been forever since I took some so it was much needed. I hope this FL fall sticks around! I love it!!