Caroline is engaged, Moscow, Russia and Dolphin Tale...

After a few months of no international travel, it was time for me to hit the road and head to Moscow for our Board meeting. This trip had not even started and I was exhausted. This was by far the MOST complex meeting we had ever planned due to visa requirements, travel issues, language barriers and the fact that Russia is VERY expensive. I left for Russia on a Friday night and flew from Tampa to New York, JFK where I met a friend. I talked to my sister before I left for Russia and she told me she was headed to Houston to see Chris and that they were going to San Antonio for the weekend...I KNEW IT!!! I knew in my mind that San Antonio was a super romantic city (my best friend got engaged there) and that she was about to get engaged...then it occurred to me...she was going to get engaged while I was on the flipping flight to Russia...urgh!!!! Oh well, it was what it was...I told Jena what was going to happen and as soon as we landed in Moscow, I turned on my blackberry and there it was on Facebook...my sister was engaged!!! I tried calling but there was an 8 hour time difference so I didn't get her...I was SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for her and couldn't wait to hear the news of how he did it..

She has never been happier and I am thrilled for her and for our family to gain a new member...hope he knows what he is in for :)

The happy couple!!

So back to Russia...We always arrive a few days before the start of the meeting to print, meet the hotel staff, go through the agenda, etc...This time we did the same and thank goodness we did as we had plenty of items to work through...On the very first day in the office, this was already our motto...

The meeting went very well and we had an amazing team...My goal of loosing a few pounds didn't happen due to my alcohol consumption but it was well worth it :)

When I do these trips, I am fortunate to get to see some amazing things as well. We had a tour of the Kremlin and had a short performance at the Bolshoi...I don't know if I would ever do Russia on my own so I was very fortunate for the opportunity!

The colors were amazing!

Just for Gabe!

Do you think Russians like gold? 

No...I have no idea what this says...

After it was all said and done, I was glad that I went but I was beyond ready to go home...I was exhausted and can sure tell I am getting older...

I was on the flight back and before we took off, I hunched over and fell asleep on my blanket and pillow covered in plastic...I woke up to a flight attendant shaking me to wake up as he was concerned I was going to suffocate myself on the plastic because I was in that deep of a sleep! I ended up sleeping the entire flight home and came home nice and rested for my boys...

The morning after I got home the boys were ready to go and have fun...our good friends were in town on the way down to Miami so we met them at the Dolphin Tale Aquarium so the kids could get a few hours in together...These have been Landon and Dylan's friends since the day they were born!

Holding Winter's prosthetic tail...

Being silly!

Dylan's first visit to the dentist and water fun...

Dylan went to the dentist for the first time in May...I was a bit nervous since it was another doctor that we had to try out again and I was very hopeful that I would like him...and we did. the facility was great and the people that worked there were absolutely lovely...I was very happy!

We had talked to Dylan all week about going to the dentist and he wanted NOTHING to do with it and every time we talked about it he got upset, so needless to say I was worried. However, when the day came, he did amazing!!! Not one tear and was such a great listener for the cleaning! I was so proud of him and he was super proud of himself which was ever cuter!

I was a bit worried to see what the dentist had to say about Dylan's teeth because they are super spread out and Landon's are so close and already all together...turns out the dentist has less concerns about Dylan and more about Landon because his teeth are so close together. I had to have 4 permanent teeth and wisdom teeth taken out because I didn't have enough room and Landon may have the same issue. However, instead of removing teeth now, they put a spacer in the roof of his mouth to make more room...they said this won't happen for a few more years so only time will tell!

Such a big boy!

Can't forget about my other big boy!!!

Most important...no cavities :)

For the weekend, we decided to just stay at home and take it easy in our own backyard...who knew an over-sized kiddie pool and some water guns could turn into hours of fun!

Can't forget about my other boy... :)

This may now be one of my all time favorites!!!

Insisted on eating with his goggles on!!!

ADULT beach trip with friends :)...and Gabe's birthday!

Ok...so I have to back trip a bit to before Dylan's birthday party. The week before his party we went to the beach with our close friends, Michael and Maya. They invited us to join them on their babymoon to a house they have access to in Water Color, Florida. We were so excited to spend some time with Atlanta friends as well as have an adult get away.

We flew from Orlando to Panama City and rented a car and met them at the house which was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!! The weekend was spent spending some time in the sun, becoming addicted to Jersey Shore (what else can you watch all day when it is raining), getting an awesome massage and of course eating WAY too much :) But it was great to just be with friends and be ourselves and hang out!

Now that I write this (shows you how far behind I am), Michael and Maya have a beautiful 2 month old baby boy, Ethan!!!

Thanks so much for letting us join...Love and miss you guys!!!

Me and Maya

Gabe and Michael

LOVE our friends!

On the last day we were there, it was Gabe's birthday!!! Michael and Maya had to leave in the morning because of the drive home and our flight was not until that night. So we spent the day together shopping, riding bikes and having a great birthday lunch!!! It is so crazy to look back on our birthday pictures together. The first birthday I celebrated with Gabe was when he turned 21...and this was taken on his 36th...time flies when you are having fun! Love you Babe!!!

The Birthday Boy!!

Having fun at home....

One of the things Gabe loves most about the house we are staying in is that it is on the water. We don't have a real boat...YET as he likes to tell people, so in the interim he uses his canoe. He has been trying to find a trolling motor forever it seems like and he finally found one he liked. So after he got it all set up, he loaded up the boys to go for a short ride...and of course Puggles had to go as well! :)

Landon with his trusty companion!

I finally got a shot of the hawk that comes and visits us everyday!!!

Dylan turns 3!

So as most of you know, I LOVE to throw big birthday parties...one of the things I had to wrap my mind around when we moved to Florida is that Dylan's birthday would probably not be very big or over the top, since we just moved there and didn't know that many people. Well, it wasn't over the top but we did end up having a good turn out for at that time only being there 4 months...

Mid week before the birthday, my family came down including my sister and her now fiance, Chris. I had planned for the boys to go out fishing for the day (Friday) for Gabe's birthday...they had an absolute blast and caught a good amount of fish...unfortunately it is still sitting frozen in my freezer but they had a great time nonetheless!

Saturday was the day of the big party...the weather was great and as always, thanks to my amazing sister, I got everything done before people arrived :)

The theme was Batman...Dylan is obsessed with Batman...he even has me pin a cape to his back when he is around the house because he thinks he can fly like him...so we had the Batman themed house with yellow and black, Batman bouncy house, Batman cupcakes and of course it wouldn't be a Batman party unless Batman himself made an appearance..

What made this party even better was that for the first time in any of our kids lives, their great-grandfather could come because we were now only an hour away opposed to 6...we loved being surrounded by family and enjoying the new friends!

Dylan on his actual 3rd birthday!

Bouncy House

Dylan just having fun!

Batman playing with the kids!

He wanted cupcakes so that is what he got...3 different flavors!

He loves to share!

Happy Birthday to my baby boy!!

He wasn't so sure about this picture!

Can't forget about my sweet Landon, who has enjoyed some cupcakes as well!

Dad, Caroline and Mr. Chris!

Landon and Nona!

The Abbott Family!

The Jonas Family!

Our family of 4...I could not get the cookie out of D's hand :)

Aunt Cee Cee and her boys!

The cupcakes...yummmmmm!!!!!!!!

All Dylan wanted for his birthday was a big boy bike, so thanks Nona!! He loves it...and loves scaring me to death!!