Home Sweet Home

We're home!! Did you miss us? We went to Disney World for Adam's 3rd birthday!!! We had a FANTASTIC time! The kids are ready to go back and, I must admit, I wouldn't mind jumping right back on the plane for a repeat performance, however, since I'm not Oprah, we'll just have to relive the moments through video and pictures for a while.

THE RECAP:

As I mentioned, the trip was great. This was Adam's first time on a plane so,naturally, I wasn't able to book a non-stop flight to Florida. Instead, we had to catch a connecting flight in Atlanta. Now, this would have been fine except that David was already in Florida for his conference so I was traveling with the kids by myself. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal except that my curious little 2-yr old is going through a "gotta see-it, touch-it, poke-it, hit-it, jab-it, smell-it, taste-it, ride-it, throw-it, squish-it, kick-it" phase right now soooo, the pre-flight "what-if's" were stressin' me out like you wouldn't believe! That being said, like any good mother, I was packin' some heat ya'll - an entertainment arsenal loaded with coloring books, puzzles, the laptop, Skittles (I was desperate), and a deadbolt lock w/keys (Yes, they will actually let you on the plane with one of these, however, a toy pirate gun - umm, not so much, but we'll get to that later). When we arrived at the airport, oh, there were about 20+ people in line to check their bags and, of course, there was only ONE baggage clerk! What is up with that? It's just like that at the post office! Anyway, we sat in line for, no kidding, 30-minutes. After the first 10-minutes I was seriously considering loading everyone back into the car, calling David and telling him to give Mickey and Goofy our regards because we were stayin' home! When we DID finally make it to the counter and the agent asked, "At any point in your travels, has your bag been left unattended?", I wanted to crawl over the counter and strangle her! Are you kidding me?! Maybe just briefly during one of the one hundred times I had to jump out of line to chase Adam through the Terminal! FINALLY, we checked our bag, undressed and redressed for security and got on the plane without further incident.

One down, one to go.

In Atlanta, on our way to the bathroom, Adam decided to hop a ride on a flight attendant's bag as she was pulling it through the airport, much to her surprise. My first reaction is to look at Gracie for some sort of explanation as to why on earth her brother would do such a thing and she simply rolled her eyes as if to say, hey, don't ask me! Thankfully, the flight attendant was kind enough to accept all three of my apologies. People in Georgia are go nice! Anyway, we successfully boarded our next flight thus completing the 2nd leg of our trip. We were now in Florida! After a long wait for our bag, and bit of body surfing atop some random suitcase on the baggage carousel, we were finally reunited with Daddy and on our way to the hotel. Whew!

Most of that day was spent traveling so when we arrived at the hotel, it was dinner time. We hooked up with our friends, ate dinner in the hotel cafe' and hit the pool. We stayed at the Pop Century Resort. We love this hotel because not only do the kids love it but it's on Disney property so we have our own shuttle service to and from the parks.

This is a picture taken outside our hotel room.

Saturday

First thing Saturday, while Daddy was still working the conference, we headed for Magic Kingdom.

The kids had a blast! They rode the Dumbo ride, the race cars (Adam drove a car for the first time), Buzz Lightyear, Skyway, and the dreaded teacups! Does this ride make anyone else sick or is it just me? Gracie was laughing her fanny off at the fact that Mommy was about to heave!

After riding the Winnie the Pooh's Adventure, we spotted Pooh, Tigger and Darby. So, while Adam snoozed in his stroller, Gracie got some one-on-one time with storybook crew.

I'm sad that Adam was sleeping because the boy loves him some Tigger ya'll. Oh well, maybe next time buddy.

Around dinnertime, we headed back to the hotel to meet Daddy and tell him all about our day at Magic Kingdom.

Before our trip, I'd made reservations to have breakfast with some of the Disney characters and, boy, am I glad I did because we'd have never gotten in otherwise. Sooooo.....

Sunday Morning/Afternoon

Sunday, we headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios. It was a really big day for us because Daddy was finally finished with his conference!! Yay!

We started the day having breakfast at Hollywood & Vine with Jo-Jo, Goliath, and two of our Little Einstein friends, Leo and June.

The kids danced in the aisles, got their pictures taken with all the characters and had their autograph books signed; a big treat for everyone!

Then we were off to hit the rides! One of the coolest was Toy Story Mania. A huge hit with the kids because not only did you get to wear really cool 3-D glasses but you got to shoot things to score points during the ride. We rode this one twice!

Part of our group did manage to ride some of the adult rides. The Aerosmith roller coaster and Tower of Terror got the votes for biggest thrill rides......I wouldn't know because I was too chicken to get on either one of them.

Did I mention that Adam discovered the Power Rangers while we were at Disney? Oh my goodness!! My heart goes out to Gracie, who has since been dubbed "the bad guy" in many of Adam's fight scene re-enactments. In fact, he has scrapped the whole "I wanna be a fooo-ball player!" and now runs around the house in his new Red Power Ranger outfit (yes, we caved!!!) and has taken to power-punchin' Gracie every chance he gets, poor thing. : (

Sunday Night

Once we'd seen and experienced all there was to do at the Hollywood Studios theme park, we scrambled back to the hotel, ate a quick dinner and then got the kids dressed in their Halloween costumes for "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party". We had to buy special tickets for this event since its held "after hours" at Magic Kingdom. You basically have the whole park to yourselves.

The characters were all dressed up in their costumes and the kids got to trick-or-treat down Main Street. They had the best time!! The party lasted until midnight and there was SO much going on that neither of the kids slept a wink or even complained about being tired. I would do this event again in a heartbeat and recommend it to anyone that hasn't been to Disney World during the holidays. Gracie must have told me that she loved me about 20 times that night, which means she was having the most awesome time ever!!

At midnight we headed back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep!

Monday

I don't know what on earth possessed me to make an 8 am reservation for Monday morning but I just couldn't pass up the chance to have breakfast with Donald and ALL his Safari friends at Tuskers House in Animal Kingdom!! It was to be our last day of park fun so I wanted to go out with a bang! Needless to say, I wasn't the most popular person in our Party of 7 that morning. Everybody was so cranky! Dang!

Here are some cute pictures with Goofy and Daisy.

We spent breakfast and the first part of the day at Animal Kingdom. The kids played in the Boneyard, we went on a Safari and then tried to go on Mount Everest, the greatest Disney roller coaster ever made (I'm told) but it was "CLOSED FOR TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES". Guess we'll have to try again next trip.

We wrapped up our tour of Animal Kingdom and then left to spend the remainder of our day at Epcot. We rode Mission Space, Nemo, Test Track (super cool) and then, there it was, the most incredible ride I've ever been on in my ENTIRE LIFE..........Soaring!! I could have gone on that ride 50 times and never tired of it. Even Gracie, who was very skeptical at first, fell in love. For those of you that haven't been on it, you sit on what looks like a long bench swing that is perched in front of a giant IMAX-type movie screen and you "soar" all over the countryside as if you're on a hand glider. It was breathtaking!!! What a great way to end the trip! We truly saved the best for last.

Tuesday

We left very early for the airport and were homeward bound.

The End

Well, that about sums up our trip. Oh, there WAS that one incident that happened to us at the Orlando airport.....remember earlier when I mentioned the pirate gun and airport security thing? Well, turns out that when our carry-on bag went through the x-ray machine, one of the guards threw his hand up in the air, signaled the other guards nearby, ordered all of us to move away from the conveyor belt, whereupon he seized our bag, opened it up, and pulled out...............yes, you guessed it, our weapon of mass destruction - Adam's plastic toy pirate(s of the Caribbean) gun! I was instructed to remain still while our not-so-pleasant security guard checked with his supervisor to see if we were going to be allowed to "keep" the toy gun. Seriously?!!! After about a 5-minute discussion between the two men (again, seriously?!), the guard brought the gun back to us, put it in the bag, and told us (very sternly) that "Under NO circumstances are you to remove this item from your bag at ANY point during your flight! Do you understand, ma'am?"

And now, like they Annette and Cubby used to sing at the end of EVERY episode of the Mickey Mouse Club......

M-I-Ceeee

See ya real soon!

K-E-Yiiii

Why?

Because we like you!

Mmmmmm

Oooooooooo

Uuuuuuuuu

Ssssssssssss

Eeeeeeeeee

See ya back here real soon! Good-bye

Adam tee-tee'd in the potty this morning!!! Praise the Lord!! Can you hear the angels singing?

Goodbye Pampers, helloooo Spiderman underwear!!

I'm so proud of you little man.

'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

He spotted her across a crowded restaurant. Her long dark hair and big brown eyes were hypnotizing. He couldn't help but stare at her. She had a smile that lit up the room and she saw him watching her every move as she swayed and twirled around her table. She got up to try her luck at the quarter "toy grab" machine but walked away sad and empty-handed. Was she 5, maybe 6? He didn't know and it didn't matter, she was older and she was beautiful. As she was leaving, their eyes met....he knew at that moment, he was in love. She lingered outside the door. In desperation, he leapt from his chair and followed her. When he opened the door and saw her standing there, he was paralyzed by her beauty. He tried to say "hello"....to somehow find the courage to speak but he was silent. He stood at the doorway and watched at she was buckled into her booster chair and driven off into the night, never to be seen again. Sad and dejected, wondering if maybe it was the diaper that came between them, he returned to his table and ordered a double-shot of chocolate milk wondering if they'd ever cross paths again.

Yes, this was the scene at dinner last night. While it was the cutest thing that I've ever seen, I must admit that deep down inside, I felt his little heart break as we stood at the door and watched her leave. Our precious little 2-year old, our budding Casanova, in a span of 30 minutes, fell head-over-heels-hook-line-and-sinker for this little girl. Now, Adam can be quite the love-em-and-leave-em little flirt but this time it was different. After a few sympathetic, "Aww, that's so sweet!" and "Look, he's really sad that she's gone, aww!" comments from the hostess and two waitresses, I realized at that moment that I'm going to be an absolute wreck when my kids start dating! As a parent, naturally, you want to shield your kids from heartache, rejection, bullying, etc and if I wouldn't have been, most likely, arrested for doing so, I would have chased that little girl's car down and made them stop so Adam could say "hello" and gaze upon her sweet face one last time. No wonder your kids want nothing to do with you when they're teenagers. : )

First Day of School

Yesterday, as many of you know, was Gracie's first day of 1st Grade so Sunday we girls left the boys at home and went out for a back to school manicure and pedicure. This was to be her very first nail spa experience and I must say, she behaved just like a little lady until they started scrubbing her feet ......she couldn't stop giggling. "It tickles, Mommy!" She had all the ladies next to us laughing hysterically. She LOVED that she got to pick out her polish, sit in a big cushy massage chair, have someone bring her bottled water and pamper her like a princess for the next 45 minutes. The girlfriend had NO trouble acclimating, let me tell you! It was truly a sight to see. : )

She wanted all of you to see her toes so, without further ado, here they are:




The center of the flower is actually a rhinestone!

The remainder of Sunday evening was spent preparing lunches, doing laundry, laying out clothes, loading the backpacks.....all the many preparations that go into getting ready for that first day of school. Thankfully, we knew what to expect this year and were, emotionally, ready for the send-off. It helped that she has REALLY been looking forward to seeing all her friends again so she was totally excited about going back. She's so grown up!!! : (

I know, I know, she has tennis shoes on! Trust me, it was a big disappointment when we discovered that she has P.E. on Mondays (no flip-flops allowed on gym days). She didn't let it get her down too much though.

When I picked her up from school she told me all about her teacher, Miss Buckles. "She has 3 sisters and 2 brothers. She has a REALLY big family, just like Daddy's! Her favorite color is blue. I know that's a boy color but that's okay, I still like her. She is 23 years old! How old are you, Mommy? (....moving right along.) She was born in Sugarland. I want to move to Sugarland because they make sugar there. She likes cheese, cheese on hamburgers, cheese on crackers, cheese sandwiches, cheese on chips, cheese dip, cheese, cheese, cheese and, you know what, she is VERY smart! She is going to teach us how to spell things!"

That about sums up Gracie's first day! I'm so proud of her for being so brave and I have no doubt that she'll have a wonderful year. Well, I'm off to fill-out the mountains of paperwork that came home in her backpack yesterday. Apparently, this "homework" is due Friday! Does it ever end?

PS - Good news about Adam! Remember, I told you that he was moving up to Miss Barbara's class and she is an expert at potty-training? Well, Miss B said he tee-tee'd in the potty yesterday!! Woooohooooo!

Way to go lil buddy!!!!

The Countdown Begins

I can't believe I'm actually posting twice in one week! I really enjoy sharing these stories, photos and family activities with everyone, it's just finding the time to sit down at the computer and actually type it all out that is tough but, hey, so far so good, right?

We're all gearing up for school to start on the 25th. We'll be attending Gracie's "Back to School Night" Thursday evening where we'll get to meet her teacher and tour her classroom. She is so excited about going into the 1st grade. Ask her, she'll tell you ALL about it! : ) Adam will be going to the same daycare/school but will be moving up to Ms. Barbara's class (I love her!), where they'll begin potty-training boot camp baby!! Can't wait for the day when diapers no longer appear on my weekly grocery list.

August is also the time when we register for all the "extras" in our weekly schedule, i.e. piano, tae kwondo, dance, little gym and, possibly, soccer tots....whew, I'm worn out just thinking about it. These are the many activities we "consider" in the Fall. Gracie has been pretty adamant this year that she does NOT want to take piano (boo) so we're thinking about letting her take a little break from it. Instead she wants to try a Musical Theater class, which she says "if I don't like then I'll just switch to a Hip Hop or Jazz dance class." She told me that she might be too shy to take the theater class.....riiiight, that child doesn't have a shy bone in her body! Oh, and how could I forget Girl Scouts! Did I mention that I volunteered to be an Assistant Troop Leader? Ugh, what was I thinking? Now, I'll be attending the Kick-Off Training Seminar for Girl Scouts this weekend. By the way, I'm putting the word out early......Gracie is happy to be your GS Cookie Connection this year so get ready to place your order for Thin Mints, Somoas, Tag-alongs or whatever tickles your taste buds. Cookies go on sale in January (I think). : )

As for Adam, he has been in Little Gym all summer and LOVES it! He's a maniac on the uneven bars! The only "issue" we have is when they bring out the bouncy BALLS. While other kids are innocently trying to learn how to throw and catch with their parents, our son is PUNTING the balls into the rafters! It's a parent participation class so we spend most of "ball time" running interference between the ball and some poor unsuspecting victim's face. When the new fall semester begins, he'll be moved up to the older class and, guess what, no parents are allowed. We have to sit and watch the fun from the designated "waiting area". Oh, I can already see it now.........one of us (either me or David) is going to get chewed out by another parent when their child is smacked in the face by a 90-mile per hour ball flying across the gym. Hence the need to sign him up for Soccer Tots. Hopefully, this activity will provide the "sports" outlet he craves.
Gracie will test at the end of September for her Junior Black Belt!! We're so so so proud of her! Once she earns that belt, she'll no longer be a "Little Ninja". She'll earn her "whites" (white uniform) and join the older class. A Junior Black Belt is the same as a Senior Yellow Belt.

Well, that about wraps up the latest news. Here are a few pictures we've taken over the past couple of months.


Thanks for hangin' in on this lengthy post.


Our trip to the museum:









What IS this thing?











I want to be a fireman.....














....no, maybe an astronaut




















Bobbi the Builder









Rubber ducky you're the one!













Okay, first you go like this and,
Voila!, you've got your bottle of milk!







The Dinosaur Dig!!!








Look what I found!








She does all the work, I take all the credit!!










Trip home from the museum! : )







A few more of my favorites!


The Build-Up....





Okay, there's a stick of gum.....









I don't know, why DID the stick of gum cross the road?










because it was stuck to the chicken's foot.....ha ha ha ha, now
that's funny!!!




Just goofin' around:




Dadda Montana!

The Lesser-Known Marx Twins

Monsters Under the Bed

Well, thanks to Uncle Brian, the kids now have bunk beds! Yea!!! Since we do not yet have sheets or a bedspread for Adams bunk beds, they are both sleeping in one room. Gracie is sleeping on the top bunk and Adam, who is finally in a "big boy bed", is on the bottom bunk.

Of course, as fun as the new sleeping arrangements are, they still offer NO protection from whatever imaginary monster lurks in the darkness of the night. Therefore, our typical evening routine consists of conducting a thorough "monster sweep" of the room, turning on the two night-lights and the closet light, tucking in and giving kisses, prayers and......I'm ashamed to say it......turning on the TV. Yes, we choked under the pressure of our precious 6-year old. "But Mommy, it will make me not scared if I watch a movie before bed!" (Insert the sad puppy look here.) No one is safe from "the look" I tell you, no one!! Of course, the TV doesn't stay on all night but for the first week or so I must admit, we did find ourselves trekking up and down the stairs in the wee hours of the morning to appease the frightened cries of our child by turning the TV back on. Oui, that was a looooooong week.

Thankfully, we have moved past THAT phase and will soon be able to, hopefully, inch the TV out of her room altogether. Wish us luck!

I love this video.....rest assured, we recite a newer version of this "oldie but goodie".

It's been a while!

Wow, has it really been four months since my last post? My how times flies!

It's been very hectic around our house, as usual. Gracie completed Kindergarten and is VERY excited about going to the first grade. She's growing up so fast!! As a matter of fact, yesterday, she lost both her first and second tooth all in the same day. I got an excited call from the daycare director saying that her "two loose teeth came out", however, one of them fell out and went straight down the drain. :( The only problem with this statement was that there was actually only one tooth that was loose so I was immediately curious as to how she ended up with two missing teeth. The now worried director put Gracie on the phone to find out just what happened. As Gracie explained it, "Mommy, I hit the wall with my face and they fell out. I'm okay but it feels very weird having no teeth there anymore." She was concerned that the Toothfairy would not be happy that she'd lost her lost tooth. I told her that a quick note explaining the accident would make everthing right with the world again....no worries. When she got home last night, she wanted to show EVERYONE (within a 5-mile radius of our house) her missing teeth. I promised I'd post a picture for all to see on our blog today so, here she is in all her toothless glory. : )