Lauren's 12ht Birthday

We all had a good time for Lauren's big day. She is really into the Asian theme right now so we decided to surprise her with some great Chinese food. I am not sure which impressed her more the food or the big yummy cookie cake. It was wonderful for us all to be able to just hang out and enjoy some close family time. You sometimes get so busy with sports, dance, violin, piano, guitar, etc... to just sit down and talk. It was a great night. Happy Birthday baby here's hoping twelve will be a great year for you.

Lauren giving P.F. Chang's a big thumbs up.

Who knew that the crab wantons would be Lauren's favorite appetizer. She liked them so much we had to order seconds. Yummy

Tyler is always making some kind of funny face in pictures these days. Chloe' was just thrilled to cuddle up next to her brother.

What a beautiful cake. I was very pleased with how it looked. They kid's were very pleased with how it tasted.

Field Day 2009

We had a great time at Field Day. It was a two for one day Lauren's birthday and no work at school day. Just hanging with friends and playing a few games. I was even able to get a few shots of the older kids. Which is a big deal because I am anything but cool to them anymore. Chloe' however still lights up at the sight of me. I am going to take full advantage of the time I have left because I am horrible at letting go.

The Magic

Well as everyone can see I didn't post any pictures. After a lose like we had I really didn't see the reason. Hopefully tomorrow's game will have a better outcome. I am still on the fence about if I should let the older kids go or not. They are doing their SAT tests this week and I want to make sure they get plenty of rest. Chris is pushing for me to let them go though. He is afraid if the Magic lose another game they won't get to see any play off games. Chances are I am going to give in. They are probably old enough to stay up until 10:00 and still do well. I am having such a hard time excepting that they are not babies anymore. Hopefully next post will be talking about a huge victory party.

Heading Out For The Big Game

Tonight is our first playoff game of the season and Chris and our both really looking forward to it. We are going with all grown ups tonight. We will be taking the kids on Wednesday. I am looking forward to a great game and some adult conversation. I hope The Magic win tonight and we get started off with a bang. I am going to take my camera so hopefully I will be able to post the score and some fun pictures tomorrow.

We were able to enjoy some great family time with Chris's brother's family. We had not seen them in about nine years and it was amazing to see how much all of the kids had grown up. We spent Wednesday night cooking out and watching all of the kids ride the four wheelers around the house. Jack followed right behind them and needless to say he is still resting from his big night. Their boys played piano and guitar and fit right in with our music loving kids. They spent a lot of time showing one another all of their talents. We had a huge jam session going on in the Mahnken house.

Thursday night we got together for the last time before they had to head back to California. We went to Gators for dinner and chowed down on endless varieties off wings. After that we came back to the house and gave everyone a little more time to get to know each other. We are really going to miss them. I think we have changed the destination of our next vacation. It looks as if our kids are going to force us to California to hang out some more. We are all looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Easter 2009

This was a very special Easter. All of Chris's brothers and sisters were together for the first time in 12 years. My kids met cousins that they had not seen since they were 2,3 and 4 and Chloe' had never even met them. We decided to have a brunch theme so we all got together around 10:30 in the morning on Easter. Chris and I spent all day on Friday preparing for the big day. The older kids went and saw a movie by themselves (which I never do because I am to over protective at least that is what my kids tell me). Chris worked around outside and Chloe' and I spent some quality time putting up all of the Easter decorations. I am so amazed at her creativity. She came up with some wonderful ideas and we were both very proud of how well the house turned out when it was done.
On Saturday we all enjoyed a family day around the house. Chris and I spent most of the day preparing food for Easter. I made French toast casseroles and many other types. My personal favorite was the potato, egg and bacon. Yummy!! Chris baked the ham and went ahead and cooked the bacon and sausage so all we had to do was warm it up on Sunday morning. We all ended up eating most of the bacon and cookies for dinner that night. I can honestly say this holiday has done nothing for my figure. After we were all done with the food preparation I became the Easter Bunny and got started putting my baskets together. It was the first time I let Tyler and Chelsea come in and help me with them (Lauren fell asleep laying on Tyler's bed listening to him practise his guitar). I had so much fun with the two of them. Tyler wanted to make sure that Chloe' would believe the Bunny had really been there so he cut off some fuzz from one of my old pillows to sit by the baskets in the morning. The three of us filled up on jelly beans while Chris downloaded some music for us all to listen on Easter day. We ended the night by watching a couple of George Lopez reruns and were off to sleep by 10:30
On Easter morning everything went great. Sure enough Tyler's' idea of the fur worked perfectly. Chloe' thought the bunny lost some fur while he was dropping off their baskets and we put it in a little baggy and then we placed it in her baby book. What a great big brother! The entire family arrived on time and we enjoyed lots and lots of great food and wonderful company. The kids spent most of their time playing Rock Band and burning off their sugar rush by swimming and playing some ping pong. Chris had to take Tyler and Lauren back to Donna's by 4:00 so that is when we ended our day.
After Chris returned home we watched Bolt ( an Easter present for Chloe') with the girls and took advantage of getting some much needed down time. It was the perfect family weekend. I feel so blessed to have been able to have so many of the people that I love around me. Even my Dad made a stop in to see everyone. My mom had to work ( I hate her job) though so I did really miss having her here. All and all though it was a wonderful time.

Spring Break St. Augustine

We started our trip out with just the four of us hanging out on the beach. It was the perfect sunny and breezy day. We collected shells and even saw some small starfish along the way. We relaxed and had a great time taking in the St. Augustine beaches and piers. We ate dinner at this great little restaurant named Osteens we had the best fried shrimp any of us had ever had. We made sure to take advantage of the evening beach strolls every night we were there. The only bad thing was that we really missed having Tyler and Lauren there with us. We would have loved for them to be able to enjoy everything with us. Tyler did call us and said that while he was in the Keys with Donna that he caught a huge Tarp. We are excited to see the pictures.

We started our day by having breakfast at the Dunes Cracker House. It was named that because it was a local hang out spot for cowboys in the late 1800's. The cowboys were called crackers because of the sound their whips made.

This was the first time we were albe to see a live crocodile. These are from Australia and they are huge. Maximo is largest living one in the park and we got to see him up close from the underwater viewing windows. Feeding time is pretty grisly though so don't watch that on a full stomache. Maximo is 15 feet long and weighs in at 1,250 pounds.

Gomek was another crocodile that used to live on the farm but he has passed away. Now they have him on display and he is the largest crocodilians on display. He was 18 feet long and almost 2,000 pounds. He was killing so many villagers that he had to be captured.