The Stoeckers Tackle Medical School

Boy... 2025 has not been my blogging year! I haven't intentionally neglected this awesome way to journal about this stage of life (and awesome way to give you all a glimpse into it!) but it's getting trickier to find the minutes to document each week.

Since we last chatted..

-- T had a work trip to Orlando that the kids and I tagged along for. We went a day early, used a "free night" hotel certificate to stay at the Conrad in Orlando which sits on the Evermore Lagoon - what a cool place! The Lagoon is acres of clear water with sandy beaches with activities, hammocks, and food stands scattered around. The kids LOVED the sandy beach but we also split our time with their pool. We had a fantastic meal to celebrate their birthday at one of their onsite restaurants and the following morning I had a facial at the spa for "Mother's Day". After the spa, we headed over to Sea World and had a blast. The kids loved the rides and the shows equally. It was HOT but we found shade and brought a double stroller with cold water. Callum's day was ruined when we ended the night with the Orca show. He picked out seats.. the last row of the soak zone halfway up the stadium.. but the show ended with one orca tail flopping to cause a tidal way to the far end of the stadium.. then the center.. and then at us! It was all giggles until we were soaked. Cal's tears weren't visible on his dripping wet clothes. T was the only one with a fast enough reaction to hold up the family back pack and dodge some of the cold water. Cal cried for a few minutes about the "big fish that got him wet!!" so we ran through the splash pad area at their Sesame Street section in our clothes to milk every last minute until park closing. We then hotel jumped over to the hotel with T's conference and the kids and I enjoyed plenty of pool time and a few other adventures. We spent one day at Legoland (we got right on/off our first rollercoaster 3 times in a row - so the rule all day was we rode everything 3 times!) and I had to pull the kids away from the minute world section kicking and screaming. We spent another day at the Crayola Experience which is an area at the mall where the kids get to name/make their own crayon, melt crayons into art, take pictures of themselves to turn into coloring sheets, and they had a decent indoor playground. We caught T for dinner most nights including Chickfila in the room after we were right behind a major accident on the busiest nearby highway that tripled our commute home. Elle was super bummed that we were "only on an airplane" on her actual birthday but we otherwise had a blast!

-- Elle finished first grade and is now back at the same daycare at Callum for the summer. Callum is potty trained as of 2 weeks ago - so he will move up to a new preschool class tomorrow and start joining her for some of the field trips. He's afraid he may "fall out of the bus" but he is otherwise okay with the change. There have been a lot of interesting conversations like "Mom, how do I know if it's just a toot or if it's poop with the toot?" I'm sure we had these same conversations with Elle but the memories have left my brain :)

-- this summer we have been to our local pool many times. Elle jumped off the diving board (with a life preserver) for the first time yesterday.. and then jumped another 10 or 15 times. We've been ordering burgers by the pool and grabbing ice cream bars after we showed in the locker room. Callum spends time everyday driving around our yard in his new ride-on vehicle. We upgrade the power from the Little Tike "Barbie Jeep" so it's faster and holds a decent charge. Sometimes the kids will ride in it together and take the back hill pretending their on a rollar coaster with hands up and "wheeees" to match.

-- T and I are both still steady with work. He is between youth summer camps so there are routine Zoom meetings and work has more catchup when he is in the office. We're adjusting to a new normal with Great Grandma at assisted living. Today is "Sundaes on Sunday" so we will be headed there shortly to spend some time with her. The kids are VERY comfortable running around the courtyard and exploring the fountain while the adults sit in the shade. Elle is invested in the hallway decorations and has strong opinions on how we should help her update her shelves for 4th of July.

I probably had a hundred more memories I could jot down but the minutes are short. I'll send with a quick photo dump of a few of these events and hope to get back into the weekly routine!

xo,

Krista