Getting Caught Up

Life lately:

Easter 2013

Easter party with our playgroup

First day of our Disney visit:

 

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground

 

Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster

 

 

 

This kid was not into the stroller while there at all. Finn rode so nicely but she didnt want anything to do with it most of the time.

 

Second day was our visit to Magic Kingdom

As I mentioned before, we invited Stephen's sister to join us. Well Lorelai, also thought this was a fabulous idea. Here on the monorail, you can see just how upset she was about that decision, haha.

Castle show going on.

 

Thursday night, as we were all getting ready for bed. The kids were sleeping after having showed signs of being completely exhausted from the trip so far. The park had been pretty hot that day and they spent a decent amount of the time in the stroller, even with getting out often to do activities. So as we prepared to go to bed, with the thought of getting up the next morning to hit EPCOT, I asked Stephen if we should take Friday off. Give the kids time to run around in their diaper and enjoy themselves in our suite a bit. After all, its their vacation too and thats their favorite thing. We had brought some new toys, that would be new and interesting to play with in the hotel, so we knew they would have fun. It would also give us a chance to go to the store like we needed Then in the evening we could clean up and go enjoy a nice relaxed dinner at Wildnerness Lodge. The nights before that had been grabbing quick dinner because we were on the road, or tired and ready to crash. He agreed to this idea, so we went to bed with the excitement of sleeping in and having a nice relaxed vacation day. After all, thats one of the reasons we had planned the number of days that we did.

 

We made the right decision, that Friday was the perfect day to the kids and even his sister, who had been dealing with some back pain herself, The kids and her relaxed while Stephen and I hit the store for breakfast food and some snacks for our room. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Once evening hit, we all got cleaned up and dressed and went to a delicious dinner. It was the perfect rest day.

 

On Saturday, feeling all refreshed we visited EPCOT. Which ended up being a great idea because, it was even less crowded than the others had been. I guess people depart on Fridays to be home by Monday.

It was a great day, with mellow lines. We knew we made the right decision.

 

On Sunday, his sister suggested instead of a date night that we spend the day together. Since a day isnt offered to us often we obviously took it. She had been awesome with the kids all week, so I had no issues with her watching them that long. We left her the stroller so they could go out to the playground at our hotel and went on our way. We decided to use the extra day on our ticket and go back to Magic Kingdom. We had missed a few attractions before because of rain, so we went and spent the day there.We got there early, had breakfast overlooking the castle and just had a fun day together. It was perfect!

 

Sunday night, when we returned to the hotel, we got things sorted and did the beginning stages of packing. Then Monday morning, we woke early packed everything up and checked out and went to Animal Kingdom, our final stop.

 

 

 

 

This is the train station I worked at when I did the college program. I drove the train.

Stopped for lunch, the backs of the chairs were butterfly wings, which made her look like one.

Getting tired.

We finished the day in Dinoland. Here they have a large playground they call the Boneyard. In this they have an area with trickling water that comes through the rock. Out of the entire week, this is the most fun they had. Since we were on our way out, I let them get as wet as they wanted. They loved it! It completed the super fun week we had just had.

 

We got to the van stripped the kids down and started the long drive home. On the last leg of our drive I started feeling symptoms of a cold. So once we were home and for the next 4-5 days I was stuck home with a full blown cold. It is not fun to try to unpack and get things back in order when you feel that miserable.

 

For those wondering, the road trip with our toddlers went surprisingly well. On the way there, we left late so they slept through it all. On the way back we left about 7 but they were so exhausted that they slept that direction too. They woke about 8am the next morning, so we stopped and had breakfast and let them stretch. Then we put them back in seats with their activity trays and finished the drive.

 

The couple of weeks since being home were mellow and boring. The kids and I have mostly been home with the occasional outings to play at the park and such. Today we are having some family visit, they have a little boy between their ages so they are gonna love it. I just wanted to come update this. I wanted to write daily while on vacation but the hotel charged for internet. So anything social was done on my phone but blog had to wait.

 

Hope everyone is doing well, and getting geared up for their summer fun. It's approaching quickly!

 

 

Goody Box for our 16hr Road Trip!

It's 2am, so it's officially the day we leave for our trip! I am up finishing laundry and things around the house that needed done before we leave. Im on here right now because I decided I would share the "goody box" I made my kids. I haven't even added snacks yet, as that will be a stop we make on the way out of town. So right now, it's just toys.

This is what I've put together to occupy a 2 year old and 1 year old. Now keep in mind our van is also stocked with dual dvd players and movies!

A nice little stack of their favorite board books. Finn isnt much for books but Lorelai can be read to all day. She also loves to sit in the floor for many minutes and just look at them even herself.

Two coloring books, there is also a third hotwheels one. In addition to a big box of color wonder stuff. That is already packed in the van, since it was bought for the trip, I didnt bother to bring it upstairs.

Self contained fun!

My box of crayons!

I made this by cutting pieces of fabric and knotting them together. they can pull out the "wipes" all they want and just stuff them back in!

Unopened McDonald's toys. I've managed to keep these to act as "new toys" on our trip.

I bought them each small baking pans and made some magnets to use on them. I actually found this pack of 4 soldiers at Dollar Tree. I happen to love them better than the brand ones. They are made a lot bigger and less of a choke hazard!

Pipe cleaners!

A new book that's in the shape of a butterfly! Adorable!

Another self made magnet.

A little Jake and the Neverland Pirates zippered pouch. Just fun and cute.

I made magnets out of a box of alphabet flash cards. This box is actually a game. You mach upper case and lower case to complete the picture.

And of course, it is all self contained for convenience.

 

As I said previously I bought trays that attach around their seats for them to do their activities on.

I bought this at ltdcommodities for one of the best prices I found anywhere. It has plenty of pockets and will make it easy to play and not drop everything. Having to pick up toys every 5 minutes for 16 hours would be, well, balls(sorry best word I could think of for something that annoying.)

 

Just thought you guys would like to see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ridiculously Early Day

Woke at 4am today, 30 minutes before everyone else is getting up. I've got my Keurig going because Im not a morning person at my usual 8am wake time, forget this early.

Why are we getting up so early? All because of the work oppurtunity that Stephen has, that is pushing back our vacation. Being awake right now, has me wishing more than ever we were leaving today for said vacation! Getting away from day to day life for a while will be a very welcome break. We are getting up because we have to take Daddy all the way to Plano, from midcities area of Fort Worth. Yep, long drive and we have to stop and pick up a couple of his associates along the way. The kids and I have our playgroup Easter party today which is why we have to take him in the first place. A HUGE  downfall to the many perks of having one vehicle. The party is at a friend's house in Dallas so we wont be travelling far once we drop him off, so getting up is the hardest part for sure.

Im dreading waking the kids right now. I dont think they have been up at this time since they were each newborns, ha! I was so excited when they learned to sleep past it. I just hope waking them at this time today doesnt somehow mess up their normal schedule..I would go crazy if they decided to start waking at this time everyday! Im kinda worried that by the party they will be ready to go back to sleep, since its not that uncommon for them to sleep til then at home! They ususally wake at 8 on the days Stephen works, because they hear him up getting ready and leaving. However, on the days that he is off and continues sleeping, they usually do as well. We are just not an early rising household. When they start school in a few years, should we choose public school, it gonna be a big change. A necessary one obviously and we will cope but I know it wont be easy. It was never easy on me when I went to school. I always wished school was offered in shifts. I function so much better in the afternoon/evening time frame.

So that's what our day looks like. Drop off Daddy, attend party, hang out until he gets off at 4, pick up him and associates, drop them off, come home, eat a quick dinner, then hopefully early to bed. I really hope they are ready for bed when we get home! I know Im gonna be low functioning by then!
On the plus side, the Easter party should be tons of fun!

Post Poned Trip(but not by much)

Aargh. So even though I have been mentally checked out to vacation, already, we arent getting to leave tomorrow. We are pushing it back and leaving Monday night. My husband came home yesterday with awesome news of a possible promotion/raise. In order for it to be something that happened, he had to work at the location that would give him the position for today-Monday. On Monday, he will be getting off at 4, at which point we will be able to leave.

So, while Im dissapointed we arent leaving tomorrow, Im excited for him and this oppurtunity. He works too hard to pass it up. We will still get the same number of vacation days just shifted some. It'll change our daily schedule there but will be equally fun. Since our days in Orlando will now be Wed-Mon. it means we will be there over the weekend. This is something we were trying to avoid in our original plans. We chose this week for shorter lines and less crowds. With two littles, we need it to take as little patience as possible. Due to our change we are changing our plans a bit. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we will play in the first 3 parks(one each day). On Saturday and Sunday, we will have rest days. Which I think will be a great change and give kids time to rest. It also means that Saturday afternoon, Stephen and I will have plenty of time for a date afternoon/night. Then on Monday we will check out and play at Animal Kingdom before heading home. It closes the earliest, so it will work out well to be the last park we visit.

So even though it's a significant change, its totally workable and hopefully will result in coming back to and awesome raise and position for Stephen! Im just glad we arent flying! Changing that would have been a nightmare. I called and changed hotels with no issue at all! At least I have a couple more days to take care of some stuff that I need to around here! We also have our playdates Easter party tomorrow, which we would have made before hand and left after, but now we will be able to spend the day with our friends and enjoy it. So all and all it works out. I will probably be posting daily on our trip. I will use the posts as my memory bank. There will be a lot to remember so putting it here will make it easier to make scrapbooks and such. So look out for those posts!

4 More Days!!!

Wow! This week, I am like a kid at Christmas time. Im so excited, I cant even focus half the time! I feel totally like a big kid. I cant believe in just 4 days we will be on our road trip to Disney World! Im so anxious and excited at the same time! Anxious because of the 16 hour drive we will have with kids. I know in the end it will all be worth it, though! This week is all about last minute preparation. Making sure all of my To Buy list is checked off, the van is maintained and ready and getting our suitcases out of their usual storage spot. I recently finally replaced my glasses, so tomorrow morning, I must go renew my expired license. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Stephen works. I will be spending that time doing some cleaning around here, washing all things that must go on the trip with us and just prepping it all. Friday, a friend has graciously invited my 2 littles over to play so that I can buckle down and do all of our packing. We have to have everything packed and ready to go Friday night. Saturday, we will be attending our playgroup's Easter party. It was the only convenient time for all in the group, so we will have all of our packing done in order to attend. I'm actually happy to do this before we head our of town. That means we can hang out a while, let the kids play and eat. Then at the end of the day, we can load up and start our trip. They will be worn out and ready to sleep! Woohoo! It's all falling perfect! I have a box packed currently with all their car activities. I do need to make them some magnets for their small baking pans I bought for them. They each have trays that attach safely to their seats. They can eat on them or play on them without stuff just falling on the floor, requiring us to have to constantly pick it all up. I bought 2 small baking pans at the dollar store. I went in search of magnets to play on them. Surprisingly, they are kind of hard to come by! So I bought some little fun things to manipulate and look at. I also bought magnet dots, and am gonna make my own! Right before we leave town on Saturday, we will load our cooler and van with snacks and drinks. Everything seems to be planned and ready. I honestly feel like getting our 2 young kids through this drive is causing more stress than anything else on the trip. Once we make it there, it will be smooth sailing for me. I can handle them great when they dont have to stay confined safely. So wish us luck!

Our Easter Day Fun!

Today, our Easter consisted of cooking turkey, taking it for lunch at our friends' house, egg hunt, water fun and movie evening. Im exhausted!

Please note this is red popsicle, not blood! Haha