Forida trip: Disney

Here is some photos of our two days at Disney - they are in no particular order

Mulu with "Mickeys hat" on at MGM

Aaliyah in front of some of Disney's festive bushes - here is Snow White and Dopey

Mulu and Aaliyah with their 3D glasses on

all of us at the Dinosaur dig

Watching fireworks at the end of the 1st night. It had rained for about 4 hours in the afternoon while we were there - which was actually wonderful b/c it was MUCH cooler and most people went home so we were walking on rides

The 3 Johnson kiddos in front of Cinderella's castle - my favorite picture of the whole trip

Mulu and Aria "in jail" with the bad guy from the Buzz Lightyear ride

Aria watching something wonderful - she loved looking at all the marvelous things at Disney

Aaliyah sitting for tea at Minnie's House

Daddy, Aaliyah and Aria on the Dumbo ride

Mulu and I on Dumbo

Aria sleeping after a long day 1.

After arriving at Disney

Florida trip: at the beach

Just a couple blocks from the lovely house we stayed at was a fabulous and unending beach. Venice is actually an island and the majority of the beach is public - so each day we went we found a new section. We would pack up the van with sand toys, food, boogy boards and other beach gear and head out. All three kiddos loved the sand and water. They all did ok (salt water can be rough in the mouth and in the eyes) - but there was no complaining from them. Here are some of our favorite pictures . . .

All 5 of us on a land pier on Venice Island



Just some cute shots overlooking the beautiful Gulf



Daddy and the kiddos watching a manatee that was right off the shore

Brian and Mulu under the umbrella on the beach

Aaliyah and I out in the water

Working hard on sand projects


Aria loving the sand and waves


Mulu buried in the sand - we worked a long time on this and he was really proud of it


After Mulu crawled out being buried there was a big whole that Aria crawled into - wanting to be just like her big brother!



On a pier at the restaurant we went to on Mother's Day


A shot of the beautiful sunset.

Florida trip: at the house

Here was one of our favorite spots at the house - on the outdoor patio furniture by the pool. We breakfast out here every morning as well as most lunches and dinners. Here is Brian and the kiddos eating Chinese delivery on our first day there (hence the broccoli hanging out of Mulu's mouth).



The girls relaxing for a bit watching an episode of the Muppet Show



Mulu in the pool - not sure if he is on his way up or down at this moment. He loved spending so much time in the water. Trying new things out - swimming completely unassisted - never getting enough. We don't think he would have even gotten out of the water to eat if we didn't make him.



Aria making a basket (with the help of Daddy). She really enjoyed the water - although much of the time she chose the hot tub rather than the pool.



Aaliyah in the water. She gained the most from spending so much time swimming - gaining a lot of confidence and even jumping in over her head without her life vest on and swimming to the side.



Here is a video clip of Mulu and Aaliyah doing their new trick. Aaliyah actually figured out how to do this first - totally by accident. I think she was attempting to dive in, but bent too far forward and flipped. When she popped up her eyes were bugging out of he head really spooked - and we were all cheering because it was so great. So Mulu found himself standing with his toes on the edge bound and determined to do a flip himself (especially if his little sister could do it) but scared out of his mind - he finally tried and there was no stopping either of them the rest of the trip.



Here is superhero daddy and the kids having fun




and Aria's turn . . .

Family vacation.

In the middle of June, the Johnson family took our first family vacation together to Florida. We started the trip staying at friends' vacation home on the island of Venice (south of Tampa), visited some friends in Orlando for a day, did the "crazy, energy, thrilling Disney World thing" for two days and ended back relaxing in Venice before heading home. It was really a perfect and amazing trip overall - all three kiddos had a great time and we had fabulous time just being a family of 5.

At our days at the house we were in our swim gear during most of our waking hours - sometimes swimming for an hour and a half even before breakfast (we had a swimming pool and hot tub right at the house). We were real laid back - eating when we were hungry - Mama enjoying a fabulous latte every morning thanks to a fancy kitchen gadget - taking long naps in the afternoon - swimming some more and going to the beach almost each day. We were only a couple blocks from the gulf and had a lot fun packing up beach gear and playing in the waves!

Here is the whole gang ready to get on the airplane to start our trip!

Mulu and Aaliyah looking out the window during the flight. They were so cute on take off - as the plane started gathering speed they began to get excited - looking at each other, looking out the window and back at each other - and as the plane took off they were giggling so loud that all the people around us were smiling and laughing too - pure kid joy.



Here is a shot of Aria and I on the plane - she took a nice long nap and this is right after she woke up (her cheeks are still pink) with a piece of her snack in her mouth and smiling, of coarse.



We have way too many photos to put in one post - so I am going to break them up into multiple topics. They will not necessarily be in chronological order - but you'll get the gist.

Easter pictures - finally

So here are some photos of the Johnson Kiddos on Easter - finally - I know. I cam down with strep and was out of commission for almost a week - and am finally feeling caught up.

Here they are all dressed up (thank you for the outfits Auntie Kiara) -



Going through their "Easter bunny stash" after finding their baskets


snuggling on Mama and Daddy's bed watching one of the videos from the Easter Bunny!