Copsey TIme

This week we have had the pleasure of spending time with our aunt, uncle, and cousins.  The whole 15-person Copsey clan made their way to Central Florida on Tuesday.  Granted, the reason was sad.  Uncle Terry's mom, Lenora (aka, Nanny), passed away on Christmas Eve and although they had a funeral service in New Hampshire last month, they wanted to bury her ashes in Avon Park next to her husband.  They are staying in a rental house and have 15-person van so that they can get around.

They did Epcot on Wednesday and will do Magic Kingdom next week but we, of course, didn't want to pony up for those attractions.  Instead, we were happy to join them at Legoland yesterday since we can get in for the homeschool rate.  Remember how a few short weeks ago I was talking about how cold it is was and how I loved my fire so much?  Yeah, well, those days disappeared in the blink of an eye.  It's already like 85 every day now including yesterday at the park.  I've been there when it's worse but you can't help but marvel at how quickly Florida winter came and went.

Ron and Elaine also joined us and we had a terrific time.  The Copsey kids, other than 16-year old Mia, range in ages from 2-7 so it's really a perfect park for them.  The crowds weren't too bad although we had to wait about 15 minutes for a few rides.  The park is only open from 10:00 - 5:00 and we didn't quite make it to everything but a great time was had by all, including Colby who just squeaked by on the height chart to go on his first "big kid" roller coaster, the Dragon.

Heath being a good sport.

Colby was upset because he didn't get any points.  I'm a horrible mom because I cared more about my own points (competing with others) than showing him how to use it. I am ashamed!

Uncle Terry eating an ice cream at like 11:00 am.  We all gave him a hard time.

In all the times I've been to Legoland, this was the first time we ever went to a show.

My kids were so funny.  They kept begging to go with other people on rides besides their siblings.  So Aubree scored a boat ride with Shannon and Hudson.

At long last, Colby is four and can go on this ride.  The requirement is four and there's no being sneaky!

If you paid $5 and could hang from this bar for two minutes, you'd win one of those giant stuffed animals.  Devin paid the money, grabbed the bar, and then realized it turns.  So sneaky!!  Needless to say, he only made it a little over a minute.

So then Sean had to try it but his time was basically the exact same (clock was ticking down from two minutes) Who would want to carry a giant stuffed animal around for the rest of the day anyway?

Had to get the usual apple fries at the end.

Today, we turned around and made pretty much the same trip back to Legoland except we kept going all the way to Avon Park (an hour and forty-five minutes) for Nanny's burial.  It was an honor for us to be there.  She was quite a character and we loved her like a grandmother even though we weren't related by blood.

Photo from last May on her 89th birthday.  This is Shannon, Devin, Uncle Terry, Nanny, Alison, and Aunt Toni.

After the burial, we had a little lunch at the Avon Park church and the kids were getting silly.

Earlier in the week, we "celebrated" Valentine's Day with a homeschool get together at a nearby park.  We had a potluck lunch, the kids ran around and played football and soccer, and exchanged Valentine's.  I invited friends/former neighbors, Lupita and Nathan, to join us and I think they enjoyed themselves.  Since Nathan is homeschooling now, she is looking for stuff for him to be involved in.  This is my only regret about moving.  Not being next door to them anymore right as they start to homeschool.

Going through their goodies.

Sunday we spent the afternoon going through a bunch of model homes in Winter Garden.  They are building so much out there and we love going in the models to get ideas about what we want to do with our kitchen, great room, bathroom, etc.  Some of the houses were really lovely but about all of them had something in common...no yards.  It just confirmed in our minds that we are glad we moved to where we did!

We were excited to stop by and see David and Yully's new digs in Winter Garden.

Not much else to report so I'll end with a few more pictures.

My lovelies last Sabbath

I chuckled because as I prepared hot dogs one day this week for lunch, I realized that all five of us have it a different way: Calleigh (nothing), Brady (mayo), Colby (mayo, ketchup), me (mayo, ketchup, mustard), Aubree (mayo, ketchup, mustard, relish).  If Duncan were around, he'd have onion on his with everything else but so would Aubree so I guess they are the only two that are the same.

Spring has sprung.  Or really, summer has sprung. A pretty tree in our backyard.

Our pool is up to 78 and the kids are back to it almost daily now.

Duncan and I went out Saturday night for a date night while Ron and Elaine came over to be with the kids.  This is something that we got Ron for Christmas and it happened to come that day. Every month they send you a box of snacks from another country.  As soon as the girls saw the flag, they knew it was from France.

Have a happy Sabbath!