Animal Kingdom and Bibbidi Bobbidi Hair Boutique 2/17

I have to mention that I purchased an awesome Disney guide by Birmbaum. I highly recommend doing this before making any concrete Disney plans. I lived by this book and followed every thing it told us to do. I, unfortunately left this book in a restaurant on Friday.

On Wed. morning I took Eden to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Hair Boutique in Downtown Disney. Kyle took the other three kids to Animal Kingdom where Eden and I caught up with them after lunch. The whole reason I was blessed with girls was for moments like this. At the boutique girls get a "princess makeover". Eden got her hair, make-up and nails done by a "fairy god mother." Eden enjoyed herself (as did I) thoroughly! We saw many, many little girls around the Disney parks all week with this same hair style wearing princess dresses. I offered to buy Eden a princess dress but she didn't want one. I don't know what was up with that...I think she thinks she is too old for the actual dress (this is what happens when you have an older sister). I also don't think she wanted to walk around in one all day. At Disney all employees (the nicest people in the world...it REALLY is the happiest place on earth) always called the girls "princess". Eden REALLY liked this. So after her hair is done and she is looking beautiful we were waiting for the bus and she starts feeling her hair (which is hard as a rock) and decided it hurts and wants it all taken out. UGH!!!!!!!! I begged her to keep it in so daddy could see but she reminded me that we had taken photos and that he could see those. We returned to our room and I washed out lots of gel, hairspray and glitter. I didn't want to listen to her complain about it all day...and she would have. I guess it was the experience that counts. She kept her make-up and nail polish on.

Animal Kingdom was also very enjoyable. The top ride (most popular at all the Disney parks) was "Everest". It was a VERY FUN roller coaster. They also had an awesome animaltronics (not sure if this is a word) dinosaur roller coaster with very realistic, scary dinosaurs that came out at you in the dark. Faith was the only one who would re ride this with me. Sawyer and Eden said "no way." Faith was even all cuddled up to me and hiding 1/2 the time. Lots of other good stuff too but these were the highlights. Also, I had made notes and marked all the stuff we did in my beloved book that I lost- so I know I am forgetting stuff. I also need to add how great Beckett did. He spent 90% of his time from our whole trip in the stroller and never complained.

Epcot on Tues. 2/16

We stayed in the Port Orleans Riverside Resort at Disney. It is a moderately priced resort and the grounds were beautiful. They had a great cafeteria with great food and a really nice store. We were stuffed in our room. I tried to talk Kyle into getting two rooms but it would have cost us double so he said "no". We had two double beds and this weird trundle that rolled out from underneath one of the beds. It was like an over sized crib mattress. We had to force the kids to take turns sleeping on it at night since it was not comfortable. However, it worked out fine and I actually looked forward to returning to our room every night in exhaustion. Overall, we barely spent any time in there and it was very clean. We quickly planned our trip over Christmas break-it was $1500 cheaper to go in Feb. than in May and we thought that it wouldn't be very crowded in Feb. Well, we were wrong...it was crowded-come to find out...President's week is one of the busiest weeks at the Disney parks. Everything still worked out great. Disney is VERY family friendly. They have a "Fast-Pass" option for all the popular rides. "Fast-Pass" is like getting a reservation for the ride. You get a ticket and the ticket tells you when to come back and then you don't have to wait in line. They also have a "Rider-Switch" option which allows the parent waiting with the baby/toddler to go on (without waiting in line) after the other parent and kids get off-they get to take 3 riders on with them. The best part about this was that we used these on all the "Fast-Pass" rides. Faith, Sawyer and Eden got to ride all the best rides twice without waiting in 90 min. lines. Without these options the trip wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable. The three oldest were able to ride every ride available-Eden couldn't ride one or two but she didn't care. My kids are daredevils...they will ride every single roller coaster and thrill ride without thinking twice. It is great...makes it a lot more fun for Kyle and I.

So, Tues. morning was Epcot. When we were all lying in bed just waking up I heard Sawyer say "my stomach hurts." I was screaming inside my head "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO"!!!! He was pale as a ghost through breakfast and would hardly eat. We went to the gift shop and bought him some Immodium, hoping that would help. Nothing was going to stop us on this trip. Well......we get on the bus that takes us to the park that is packed with people and a bad thing happened. He was sitting down and I was standing a few people away from him and I notice he is looking really bad. I always carry a zip-loc bag in my purse for emergencies and I was getting it out and he threw-up. We were standing next to a really nice guy from Louisiana (I think the whole state of Louisiana was there to escape Mardi Gras and celebrate their Super-bowl win). Anyways, he had a disabled daughter and carried hand towels around with them -he kindly gave us a hand towel to clean up Sawyer's vomit...plus I had a ton of baby wipes. Kyle, very efficiently, cleaned it all up. I think that bus floor was cleaner than it had ever been. I don't even think the bus driver even knew. After we got off the bus Sawyer felt 100%. He never got sick again and neither did anyone else...thank goodness. I don't know what his deal was but I was just so happy he felt better.

We had a great time at Epcot...but not enough time. We chose to use a Disney Photo pass while we were there for most of our photos. This is where a Disney employee takes most of your photos and then you have to order the photos or the disk. I don't have access to those photos yet so I can only post the ones we took. I could go on FOREVER about each of the parks but I am just going to try and touch on the highlights. The most popular ride at Epcot is "Soarin"-it was also our favorite. We were all standing in a 40 min. line for a different ride when an employee came up to our family, asked how many there were of us and then handed us 6 Fast Passes. I often wonder if people feel sorry for us with 4 kids or if we look frazzled or something. I felt bad for all the people standing around us but we took them and ran! We were also standing around deliberating on riding "Test Track" when some strangers came up and handed us their 4 Fast Passes that they weren't going to use. We felt really fortunate and were actually able to "pay it forward" a couple of times ourselves throughout our trip. In the country of "Norway" we ate dinner with the princesses-very fun! Kyle, Faith and Sawyer went close to closing to catch "Mission Space" while Eden, Beckett and ran into the Disney characters. They were all lined up and you could get your photo with them. I think the longest we waited in line was to get pictures with the various characters. Despite the vomiting on the bus, it ended up being a great day!

Naples and Disney Trip

We went to Florida Feb. 14th-21st. Despite the cold Florida temps. we had an amzing time. I voted this our best vacation EVER-even better than our European travels...yep I said it. We flew into Ft. Myers on Sunday to visit with Kyle's very loved grandparents in Naples. We visited with them Sunday and Monday. To back track briefly...our flights went well. We had a short layoever in Atlanta. Since Bex is "2" we were forced to buy him his own seat-although he sat on my lap most of the time. We left the house around 4:30 am on Sunday and I just swept Bex out of bed in his P.J.'s and packed his clothes. Well, on the first leg of our flight I changed him into his "day clothing" and almost immediately after he had a HUGE blowout. He is "2"...he never had blowouts anymore. It was disgusting. Getting him cleaned up was a challenge in such a confined place and it was stinky. He had to go back into his P.J.'s. Thank goodness I didn't get him dressed before we left the house because I wouldn't have had anything to change him back into. Beckett also didn't want to sit in his seat-he flat out refused and fortunately the flight attendants didn't really care (on the way home was a different story though-will get to that later).

We had a great visit with Dale and June. They remind me of an older version of Kyle and I. They are 90'ish and still quite active. June has friends over to play Wii bowling pretty regularly-how great it that???? Kyle really adores his grandparents. They lived where he grew up until he was 15 or so and then moved to Floriday permanently. He tries his best to visit once a year. I am always worried about the kids ramsacking their home but they did really well. The Wii helped a lot. Late Monday afternoon, we took off for Orlando. Everyone was really excited. This was the kids' first trip to Disney. We decided to go all out and stay at one of the Disney Resorts and take advantage of the character dinners and everything else "Disney". We arrived safe and sound to a very small hotel room but were ready to start out at Epcot on Tues. morning.

Pinewood Derby

Sawyer participated in his first Pinewood Derby last night for scouts. I am not the biggest fan of scouts. Growing up I thought it was for nerds. I think it was the shirt and ascot. Anyways, scouting is the program for 8+ year old boys in our church and of course we wanted Sawyer to participate and be able to build a stronger relationship with the boys in our church. We are behind on all the stuff he needs to get passed off...the patches he has earned are sewn on crooked by his mother...he never wants to wear his ascot (and I don't make him) and his shirt is never tucked in. We are a disgrace to all the scouting die hards out there. Sawyer really enjoys scouts. I think he was sold last summer when they had day camp. He really liked that. Plus, he really enjoys any chance he has to be with boys instead of at home with his mother and sisters and a too young Beckett. I have had to change my attitude by chanting "I love scouts, I really do love scouts, I love scouts."

I had no idea what the Pinewood Derby was. I honestly thought that the boys had to make life-size cars to race around in. Imagine my surprise when several weeks ago Sawyer brought home his small car kit. This was a job for Kyle who happily helped him with his car. Sawyer chose his car style and helped with sanding, painting and whatever else his 8 year old self could possibly help with. Kyle went to the scout store and bought a book, paint and weights...he also looked up some info. on the Internet. We honestly had no idea about how to put this thing together so that it even had a chance to win. I wanted to enlist help from my dad and Kyle's engineering coworkers at CAT. Kyle convinced me that everything would be fine (like he often has to). I honestly didn't care if Sawyer won or not...I just didn't want him to be last. Kyle and I warned Sawyer that his car might not do well because we are inexperienced at this and it is our first year, etc...etc... To make a very long story short Sawyer's car (aka "The Destroyer") came in 2nd place out of 20 some other cars!!! It was very exciting. Sawyer was so happy!! All the boys did a great job...there were no tears shed. They were all very proud of their cars. Sawyer also got an award for "Most Courteous Driver"-we were most proud of this. I couldn't believe what a production this was. They even served hot dogs and nachos-everything was computerized. I have now been educated on Pinewood Derby's. Next year I am going to try and talk Sawyer into a little fancier paint job.

Beckett's Party

I think Beckett's week long b-day extravaganza is finally over. We had a little party with just the grandparents on Sat. Beckett LOVES Blue's Clues so I was able to order him an appropriate cake. None of the party stores carry Blue's Clues decorations...I guess it is considered "vintage". That is what happens when you are the youngest of four. You get to still watch all the "old" stuff. We got Bex an art easel that took Kyle over an hour to put together. I am happy to say that Beckett loves it although I think Eden loves it more. The in-laws got Beckett a pillow pet (no picture) and a Bilibo-I had never heard of one but it is the blue bowl looking thing in the photos. You can do anything with it...you have to use your imagination. Once again, Beckett enjoys it but not quite as much as the other kids...namely, Sawyer. We keep joking with Sawyer that we are going to get him a Bilibo for his upcoming b-day but he doesn't like that idea so much. My parents got him a golf club, DVD and a paint with water book (we are going to try it today). I only spent $16 (it was 1/2 off) on the art easel. It is, by far, the cheapest I have ever been for a b-day. I was very proud of myself. But, lets face it...we have so many toys it is ridiculous. Plus, Bex barely likes to play with toys-he just likes to climb all over everything. In fact just last night he was doing somersaults all over the place for the first time and he jumped off the couch. Just when I think things are calming down with him. Kyle joked that what he lacks in speech he makes up for in physical ability.

Some random stuff that makes me happy.

I took Beckett in for his rescheduled "2" year photos today. He was totally uncooperative and it took a lot of work to get this one good photo. He told the lady "NO" like 50 times and would barely get off my lap. In this photo he is about 6 inches from me and I was giving him a ball and then stealing it from him to make him laugh. The photographer was almost on top of me. I need to make record of this so I can remember a year from now. He is always suspicious of being left. I guess the close to 24/7 we are together isn't enough. This is a photo I took of the actual photo. The other one is one I took right before we left the house.

Some people are aware of my Zhu Zhu obsession. I don't know what it is but when something is hard to find and then easy to find I still feel like I have to fight for it and buy it when I see it. The girls (well actually me) have been waiting for the Zhu Zhu clothes to come out. When I was at Walmart shopping yesterday they had the clothes. I was excited and had to get some of the outfits. In all honesty..the girls enjoyed dressing them up. Kyle makes fun of me but I don't care.

Finally, last Friday the kids received progress reports for the 2nd trimester. This is the note that Faith's teacher wrote on the bottom of hers. She has such a loving teacher this year. Faith has told me that she tells her class all the time how wonderful they are and how much she enjoys them and being their teacher. I love that she writes these notes on their reports. Also, Sawyer was telling me that the 3rd grade watched a movie about Martin Luther King on Friday. We were in the van driving and he was relating to me what he had learned about MLK and about his assassination. He was pretty tuned in to this part and had some questions and then told me, in a very sincere way, that he would have stood in front of MLK and taken the bullet. I realize that he is only "8" and doesn't probably understand the ramifications of what that would REALLY mean. However, it did convince me that he was touched by what he had learned that day and that he has compassion. Sometimes I wonder about his level of compassion when he fights with and picks on Eden.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Bex....a day in the life....

My Beckett is "2" today. Where oh where has the time gone?? I had an appt. to get his pictures taken today but on Tues. he face planted on the carpet and got this lovely rug burn on his nose (see picture taken today). We are rescheduled for next Friday. Beckett is a huge blessing to our family. He is adored by all and keeps ME hopping. Just when I think he is getting easier he will find a new skill (like just this week being able to open shut doors and waking at 5:30 am). He is now sleeping through the night...finally. Beckett is very affectionate. He isn't saying very many words yet but we know what he wants by his "grunts" and "whines." He loves to dance and watch T.V. His favorite show is "Blue's Clue's" but also enjoys "Barney", "Yo Gabba Gabba," and "Oobi." He watches more T.V. than I would like because if he isn't he is climbing on the kitchen table and getting into things in the kids' rooms. Since he can open doors now we have started locking all the doors that can be locked. He loves to look at books but doesn't want them read to him. He knows where all his body parts are and is always concerned if someone is crying. He loves food and sitting in his high chair. He can climb in it himself (of course) and say "eat." He also likes to fall asleep in it. He loves to shop. He never makes one peep at Walmart or the mall and is always ready to go somewhere. Beckett loves to color and draw. He is getting an art easel for his b-day. We are having his party with the grandparents next weekend. I will post pics. from it after. I still need to order his cake and decide on a theme. Here are some photos I took of his daily routine. We LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!! Happy Birthday!!!