#310 - June 2014 (and Crescent Beach!)

This year, Owen started swim team.  He was in the U6 division, and had a fantastic first season.  He swam freestyle and back stroke and despite being the smallest kid on the team, he swam very well, and made us very proud!

Little guy

The great swimmer - Owen Saez

Getting ready for his first swim

This summer, we returned to Crescent Beach, Florida.  We were joined by lots of friends and family - in fact, I think we had a total of 7 individual units rented at the Crescent Sandpiper, and that did not include the family members that came down for the day.  It was a wonderful family vacation where fantastic memories were made.  Looking back at these pictures, I just can't wait to return next year.  There were 6 grandchildren, lots of cousins, spouses of cousins, grandparents, and even great-grandfather Papa came down for the day.  It was a special week, and one that I'll never forget.  Here's a recap in pictures.

Owen (almost 6) and Benjamin (3)

Katie, Jenifer, Mom, Benjamin, Owen and Kaylin

A family shot

Owen caught a flounder

Owen and Kaylin throwing the cast net

Lou and Benjamin in the surf

Lou and Owen

Playing in the kiddie pool

Another favorite spot

Surfing in the pool

Relaxicating

Dinner under the stars

Loved having Nana and Pop Pop there too!

My beautiful sister and Kaylin

Love these three men

It doesn't get much better than this

Dinner at the Colombia

Cousins

More cousins

My handsome son

Nana and her little buddy

My mom!

This sums it up

#297 - Crescent Beach, HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN!

Wednesday was an extra special day at the beach because it was Owen's BIRTHDAY!

Owen Luis Saez turned 5 years old.  Our big boy is 43 inches tall, and weighs 39.5 pounds.  He's a happy, outgoing child, who loves life.  He is a Daddy's boy;  he absolutely adores his father, looks up to him, and wants to do and be everything that Lou is.  He loves fishing, crabbing, soccer, and anything that involves water.  His favorite TV shows are Gator Boys, Call of the Wildman, Off the Hook and Top Hooker (a fishing competition, just to be clear).

Owen is the best big brother.  Although he can be a little rough with Benjamin, he just loves being with his little brother, or "buddy" as Owen likes to call him.  It's heartwarming to watch them play together and to see how Owen teaches his little buddy how to do things and also get into mischief.

Owen will be entering Kindergarten in a few weeks.  At school, he is more quiet and reserved, and very respectful of his teachers and classmates.  He's smart and patient, and has a real love of learning.  We can't wait to see how he grows and develops this year at Blessed Sacrament.

On Wednesday morning, Owen got an extra special treat - Grandfather, Grandmother, Nana and Pop Pop were all at the beach to wish him a happy birthday.  And, Kaylin had spent the night so she was there too.  (It was so cute to see their first sleepover together - they slept great on the pullout couch!)

Owen got to open his presents from Grandfather and Grandmother before they left to catch a plane back to Atlanta.  He was thrilled with his new boogy board and fish net!

In honor of Owen's birthday, we all went to the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.  The Alligator Farm is a wonderful zoo, full of you guessed it - alligators, but also crocodiles, snakes, birds and monkeys.  This was a perfect activity for our little Gator Boy!

Owen, Kaylin and Benjamin

Our two Gator Boys

The gators were everywhere

The Saez Family circa 2013

Owen got to meet a real gator wrestler

Checking out the gators

Feeding the alligators

Daddy and his boys

After the Alligator Farm, we went back to the condo for lunch and birthday cake!  The cake was appropriately "fishing" themed, complete with a lake, boat, fisherman, and large mouthed bass.  Little guy was pretty excited when he saw it!

Nana and the birthday boy

Blowing out five candles!

Mommy and the boys

And, the entire family!

Time to open presents!  Here's a BSS jacket for school

Bocce Ball and Croquet set

He got a lot of other fun things like an alligator tooth necklace (which he hasn't stopped wearing), a book on reptiles, a box of dinosaurs, beach toys, a gym bag for school, candy and movie tickets (thanks Tita!).  But, the BIG gift was his very own cast net!  Owen has been asking for a cast net all summer long.  He's been watching videos on how to cast a net and catch bait or shrimp. The kid was pretty obsessed with it!  So, Lou got him a small cast net, and it absolutely amazed me how quickly he learned to throw it and catch things.  More pictures and a video on that coming soon!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Owen.  You bring so much joy to our lives, and we love you so very much.  

#160 - Walt Disney World!

We just got back from our first family vacation to Walt Disney World! We had a wonderful time! Before we left, I was beginning to get worried about the trip because so many people were giving us a hard time about going when Owen was 2 1/2 and I was nearly seven months pregnant. But, it was a blast and the perfect family trip.

We met my mom and Leighton there, as well as Jenifer and Kaylin, all of whom stayed for the first two days. It was so nice spending this time with them. Owen and Kaylin are so good around each other, and Mom and Leighton were a big help, as always!

On Sunday, after checking into our hotel room at the Wilderness Lodge (beautiful!), we headed over to Animal Kingdom. The weather was really nice - not too hot - and we got to see a lot of the park. Because I'm pregnant, I didn't go on the Safari ride, but went on pretty much everything else. Owen's favorite was the elephant ride in Dinoland:

Jenifer and Lou braved the Mount Everest ride. Somehow I was able to time the camera just right to get this hilarious picture of them coming down the mountain!

That night, we went to Boma for dinner, which is a really great African restaurant located inside the Animal Kingdom lodge. We stuffed ourselves full, but were pretty exhausted at the end of the day.

Monday morning, bright and early, we took the boat from our hotel to the Magic Kingdom. Before we left, we snapped these two pictures at our hotel.

Once at Magic Kingdom, we headed straight to Fantasyland, were we rode Dumbo, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, the Tea Cups, Buzz Lightyear and Winnie the Pooh. Winnie was definitely Owen's favorite. Aunt Jen and Kaylin met up with us mid-morning, and Owen and Kaylin loved riding the Tea Cups together.

That afternoon, after attempting to get in a quick afternoon nap, we headed over to Epcot, where Owen rode the Nemo ride and met a ton of Disney characters. We had dinner at the Coral Reef restaurant and had a great table where we overlooked the big aquarium. We saw all kinds of sharks, fish and string rays during dinner. We were able to catch the Epcot fireworks on our way out too.

Tuesday morning, we went back to Magic Kingdom.

We got there early enough to ride six rides in about an hour. Owen loved the Magic Carpets of Aladdin so much that we had to ride it three times in a row.

We caught another one of the parades on Main Street, and Owen got out there in the street and danced with the characters. I have a video of this too, and will post it soon.

That afternoon, we went back to the hotel for naps, then had dinner at the Whispering Canyon, then headed back over to Magic Kingdom.

Owen got to ride the race cars with Lou and even drove his! Such a big boy!

After another ride on the Tea Cups, we tried to catch the Electrical Parade and Fireworks, but Owen ended up getting an ear infection and begged to go back to the hotel. Poor little guy!

Wednesday morning, he felt better, so we stopped at the Animal Kingdom on our way out for a few hours. It was so much hotter and more crowded on Wednesday versus Sunday.

Overall, a really, really fun vacation! There's very little that we would do differently or eliminate. We kept talking about what we want to do and where we want to stay at our next Disney trip.

Many thanks to Nana, Pop Pop, Aunt Jen and Kaylin for making it extra special!

I'll post pictures of Owen with all the Disney characters soon.

Love,

The Saez Family