Day Three - Pool and Downtown Disney

We took a break from the parks on our third day and hung out at the hotel. It had an awesome kids' pool complete with leaking "pipes" and fountains. Right next door was a little playground. Elle and Grady were beside themselves. They would jump in the pool for a minute and then say, "Let's go play on the playground!". They would be on the playground for about 10 seconds and say, "Let's go get in the pool!". And back and forth it went. The big pool had a really cool water slide that both kids went down with Steven. It was a nice day spent relaxing and catching up on some much needed nap time:).

This was Reese's first experience with the pool. He was not remotely impressed. I was sort of shocked because he absolutely loves the bath. I'm sure with time, he will grow in his love for all things water.

Since we were so well rested and we had to eat, we all headed to Downtown Disney for the night. I had tried about a month prior to our trip to get a reservation at TRex, but none were available for our size party and before 9 PM. We tried our luck just walking up and got a table within 5 minutes! This restaurant was a lot of fun. At times, the dinosaurs were a little loud for Grady. But then again, he did spend a great deal of the week like this:

Feast your eyes on "Chocolate Extinction"! An amazing dessert that seven of us could not finish!

After dinner, some walking around, browsing through the Lego store and the World of Disney, the attempts at a family picture began. The best one I put as the blog header, but I thought this one was funny. Mom said, "It looks like you are giving yourself an uppercut." Or I'm making up my own glamour photo shot?!

**Quick story so I can remember that my child do love each other: We were in the World of Disney and Elle found a Jessie doll from Toy Story that she wanted to buy. She had a good bit of birthday money to spend at Disney. Grady grabs the Woody doll and starts to throw a minor fit about wanting to buy him. Elle looks at me and says, "It's OK, I'll use my birthday money to buy it for him". Of course, we got both dolls and I didn't even take the money for Woody out of her stash:). Later in the week, Mom bought Bullseye for Reese. Now the family of cowboys/girls is complete!

Day Two - Animal Kingdom

Our second day at Disney we ventured to Animal Kingdom. We got a bit later start {which might or might not have been due to the other half of our party's length of preparation time} and we had an early lunch reservation at the Rainforest Cafe. We ran to DinoLand and hopped on the TriceraTop Spin before heading back to the restaurant.

After our fun lunch, we walked the trails around the Tree of Life. These pictures do not do it justice but this creation is amazing! It is 14 stories high and 50 feet wide, and there are 325 animals carved in to the bark. We spent a lot of time just looking and finding all the different animals... until the first short down pour!

Another favorite was the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. We timed it right and were on this safari vehicle when there was a 10 minute second downpour. It really felt like we were in Africa! The animals were very beautiful and healthy looking, not like at a lot of zoos I've been too. And it seemed like they had a lot more room to roam. Elle loved that the vehicle road through the water. Doesn't take much to amuse these kids. Several times, Grady would call out excitedly something like, "Hey, look there's a gate!" Yes, kids, we came all the way to Disney World to check out the gates:).

We came out of the safari just in time for Mickey's Jammin' Jungle parade. I didn't get any pictures of this, but the costumes and parade "animals" were incredible. We tried an almost all-dayer-no-napper and by the time the parade was over, the kids were done. And so were the adults:). We didn't make the Nemo show, which I was a little disappointed about {and the kids wanted to go}, but I learned quickly that it's pretty close to impossible to do everything you think you're going to do. The best part was when we got back to our car in the parking lot, my windshield was cracked basically the entire way across from the heat. At least we ended up making it all the way home without it shattering...

Day One - Birthday Party!

Wow. I am not sure I really feel like we just went on "vacation". I think it's safe to say that Disney World is not necessarily a relaxing and restoring vacation spot. I do know I couldn't possibly have gained any weight {no matter what I ate!} because I walked at least 25 miles per day and 90% of that time I was pushing a double stroller with 50+ pounds of children in it. But, despite going 90 to nothing five of the six days we were there, we had a wonderful time. The kids were amazing.

We left last Friday night headed down to Dothan to spend the night and take the first 2 1/2 hours off the drive. The rest of the trip on Saturday went well. Our kids are not car sleepers. I repeat: our kids are not car sleepers. A few Disney movies on our hand-me-down DVD player that only plays in black and white, one or two emergency bathroom breaks, and 6 1/2 hours later, we were there!

We stayed here and it was a really great place. The location was wonderful. Very close to the parks without being in the middle of a bunch of busyness and traffic. The hotel room was nice and we had excellent service every day. Awesome kids pool and playground and a not-too-scary water slide in the big pool. We got settled in Saturday night, went to get groceries for the week and made our attack plan for Disney!

Sunday was Elle's 5th birthday. It also happened to be my sister's 14th birthday. My mom, sister and one of her friends, Emily, met us down there for our celebration week. After a nutritious birthday breakfast of Lucky Charms (Elle's choice!) and fruit, we set out to conquer Magic Kingdom.

One of my favorites was the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party. We were able to catch it just before lunch at the castle. Steven and I sang the song for the rest of the week! "Hey, get up, get loud, we're pumping up the party now!"

The first "characters" we saw were Mary Poppins and Bert. Elle gave Mary Poppins the longest hug she's ever given anyone. So much so, that Mary had to physically remove her saying, "Oh, what a nice cuddle that was!", in her perfect English accent. Hilarious!

The highlight of the first day was definitely lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle. They called us in for our reservation and we got pictures with Cinderella. Then, Elle was chosen as the "Princess of the Day", given a special wand and pin, announced to the lunch crowd and got to lead everyone up the spiral staircase to the dining room! The food was incredible. The service was amazing. The dessert was quite possibly the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. Snow White, Belle, Princess Aurora and Jasmine all made it around to our table for pictures and autographs. Our two little knights also got swords:).

Our crew took a break in the middle of the day and went back to the hotel for naps. We went back to Magic Kingdom that night for a few more rides and the Wishes fireworks show. I was not, in any way, wanting to force the kids to ride anything. Or even try to talk them in to riding something they weren't totally sure about. We had some time to kill and the line for Pirates of the Caribbean was very short, so I suggested to Steven that we ride it. The kids were all for it. Mom and the girls were elsewhere so I went to check with an employee if it would be okay for our whole family to ride and if it was scary for a "not quite 3 year old". "No, not at all", she reassures me. Let me assure you: it is scary for young children! As we were in pitch darkness, descending down a steep slope, I prayed my kids would not be scarred from me taking them on this ride?! So far, there doesn't seem to be any harm done:).

We crashed close to midnight that night, but it was an awesome way to spend a 5th (or a 14th) birthday! Next up: Animal Kingdom...

Vacation

We just got home from our vacation week here

celebrating this!

I'll be working on some summary posts this week for our memories so check back if you are interested in how our tremendously fun {but not remotely relaxing:)} vacation went!

Jesus is the Rock

Patiently waiting for the show to begin

"See how clear my eye is? I'll open them really wide so you can see!"

Straight out of the 50's

Three amazing blessings have come out of our 10 year marriage!

Today's been about the family. But this weekend will be about us! Happy Anniversary Steven!

Miracle and Musings

Reese is walking. He was 11 months old yesterday.

He is also NOT having surgery Friday. We have ourselves a miracle. God healed his eye! For eight days, there has not been a single solitary thing in his eye. Clear as clear can be. I cannot begin to explain to you what a miracle this is. I am not exaggerating when I say that I cannot remember a day since he's been here, that I haven't wiped goop out of his eyes. I have been so excited all week every time I thought about it... which was a lot.

I just wanted to put this in the records books, and let those of you who might have been praying, start praising.

It's been a busy month.

I haven't taken a single picture of anybody or anything.

I have participated in two yard sales, one at my house, the other at a friend's.

I had the carpet cleaned.

We've painted a few closets.

I've read several books that have encouraged me greatly.

Elle and Grady had their first sleep over. A friend's husband had surgery and needed some help with her kids. I had five kids 5 and under. It was awesome.

Elle's last day of school is this week. Followed by her end of the year musical. Which happens to be on mine and Steven's 10 year anniversary.

We always said we'd go to Hawaii on our 5th. Elle was born 10 days after our 5th anniversary.

Then we said we'd go on our 10th.

We have 12 days until we leave for a week at Disney World. Close to Hawaii, don't you think?

Maybe it will happen on our 15th.

We've told Grady Mickey won't let him in if he continues to pick his nose.

Elle made a paper chain to count down the days.

I ordered some swimsuits 14 days ago and after talking with several people on the phone, I'm convinced they are lost. The question is, will I get a refund or will the company send me more suits?

I already sent some back that I ordered from Land's End. They fit terribly. But let's face it, after having three kids and nursing all three, swimsuits just aren't what they used to be... or maybe it's my body in them:).

I've seen a lot of dead snakes in the neighborhood lately. At least they are dead.

There's only one more episode of Lost and then the finale. Sad times for me. Possibly my all time favorite TV show. At least, it's the only one I currently watch.

That's all for now. Maybe I'll have some pictures next and not as many words.

Happy Nurses Day

I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I used to envy those kids who were passionate about a profession and confident they would become an airline pilot and then they actually did. {my friend Courtney comes to mind!}

I entertained multiple job fantasies throughout childhood. There were dreams of becoming a landscape architect, a pilot, a doctor, an Olympic gymnast, a teacher, even a florist. When I started at Troy my freshman year, it was no surprise that I did not declare a major. Only four quarters later, when I ran out of general classes, and the counselor told me I could not come back to them anymore, did I chose a major. The Biology Program. I still had no clue, but knew I really liked science, especially biology. The possibility of medical school loomed in the back of my mind. Two and a half years later, I graduated. Eight days later, I got married. My first job after graduating was as a Pharmacy Technician at a brand new Target in Daphne, Alabama. Circumstances brought us back to Troy within a few months. Steven got his scholarship back and was going to finish his degree. I got my old job back, one I'd had part time during college, working as a teller at Southtrust Bank.

Then I got the bright idea to go back to school. I've often told Steven that if a university would pay me to go to school, I would be a professional student. I've always loved school, learning, reading, even studying. But since I couldn't find that university, I took out loans and entered nursing school. It would take me only two and a half years.

I reasoned that I loved science, biology, medicine even. I liked the idea of helping people and caring for them. I also knew the flexibility of the field, mainly that I could get a job anywhere we were. I tried not to dwell on the time and money that would have been spared had I "reasoned" this stuff sooner and chosen nursing as my major instead of biology. And we were going to be in Troy for another couple of years anyway.

And here I am, seven years later. I have been employed a total of 10 months as a nurse. I have made less as a nurse than it cost me to legally become one. If fact, I'm still paying for it:). But my license is still current. And after I'm mostly done raising these precious babies of ours, I plan to work as a nurse again. I'm grateful to be here, at home with my kids, for this time. But I do look forward to caring for patients again. Patients that aren't my own flesh and blood:). Happy Nurses Day to all you wonderful nurses out there! I'm proud to be counted among you!

"Whatever you are, be a good one." - Abraham Lincoln