Speaking of Vacations

Here is a snapshot of the one and only big 'vacation' we took as a family. We hooked the pop-up trailer to the pick up truck, loaded the five kids in the back of the truck(no worries we had a CAMPER on the back!) and headed to good 'ol Branson, Missouri. That's right folks, SILVER DOLLAR CITY! Can you tell how excited we were?

My parents had the right idea of how to handle a long ride with five kids. Having the camper on the back of the truck we lounged around in our little beds the whole way as our parents sat in the front, oblivious to us knocking and yelling through the double plated glass windows. We KNEW they could hear us and it was very annoying. At the very beginning of the trip we had the last laugh as all five of us frantically beat on the window and screamed trying to let them know the trailer was coming off the hitch! Thank goodness they finally granted us a knowing look and pulled off the highway.

After that little incident we were putty in their hands as they would turn around to acknowledge us anytime we knocked on the window:)

This picture was one we took at the park where you get to dress up and pretend we lived "way back then" It was a fun trip and one I look back on with fond memories.

WDW Day Six; Departure & Final Thoughts

Today's weather was going to be perfect. Highs in the mid sixties and lots of sun! Too bad our flight was leaving at noonish and we had to be checked out and on our way to the airport by 10 AM. We had our last quick service meal in the hotel restaurant along with about ten million other people.

I let the boys browse around the gift shop while Brian checked our bags in and we waited for our charter bus to take us to the airport. Nice thing about staying in a Disney resort is they take care of all your baggage to and from the airport. We don't have to drag it around and check it in ourselves, which is great.

The boys were able to choose a toy for the long flight home. Their picks? Cooper wanted a Disney monorail and Wyatt wanted the three different charter buses we rode on to and from the parks and airport. No plush toys or silly characters for us:~)

Here are the boys at the Atlanta airport waiting for our connecting flight back to my parents house. I am very excited to be seeing my baby in a little over four hours. The boys are enjoying their Chick-Fil-A lunch and watching a movie on the laptop. It was a smooth ride home and the boys did great on all the flights.

Whew!

The best part about leaving Abram behind was seeing him again for the first time. He seemed to have grown and looked like such a big boy. He had the biggest grin on his face and gave me some great hugs. It was priceless! I appreciate my family stepping in to help us out with him. I owe them big time!!

I must admit I was a bit disappointed with the trip and I know that is because I had my high expectations set in my mind and nothing went according to me. A perfect lesson of learning to be flexible and to look for the positive in everything you do. It has now been two weeks since we arrived back home and I can see many funny moments of the trip. I know that is what we will remember years from now and can laugh at all the bumps of our Disney vacation.

The boys love their autograph books, especially since I have added all the character pictures they took. It is one of the first things they will grab when people come over along with their monorail and buses;)

Don't laugh. Promise?

Remember you promised.

We are wanting to take another short Disney vacation this fall. (stop LAUGHING) The military is offering a great package for 2009 and we will be celebrating two birthdays during that time. We also want to go when they are having the Star Wars Weekend and go about two to three days and bring along Abram. It isn't set in stone, only a thought we had to redeem Disney in our minds.

Anyone want to go with us?

The End.

WDW Day Three; Hollywood Studios

This day was my most favorite day of the entire trip! The weather was a bit on the cold side, but it was clear and SUNNY the entire day. Yeah! In my own opinion another reason it was such a good day was because Brian and I had been to this particular park last year. We knew what we wanted to see and how to get there. Our time wasn't spent looking at the map over and over again trying to figure out where we were headed. This made a huge difference in the day.

We were up and gone from the hotel by 9 AM because I was so excited to get to Hollywood Studios. The first order of business was to get our FastPasses for the main ride attraction, Toy Story Mania! This ride was still under construction this time last year and we had heard many good things about it. The wait time was just under 60 minutes this early in the day, but with our fast passes we could return at 2:30(!) in the afternoon with little to no waiting. The boys were disappointed we weren't able to ride until then, but we were coming back to get another FastPass around noon so we could ride it twice.


Thankfully there was much more to see and do and we were off to find the Jedi Training Camp and Star Wars ride. Along the way we found many different characters where we could get our picture and autographs. Notice all the pictures we took? Not all the characters we saw are here on this blog. We saw ALOT! I could not decide which to include because I loved so many of them. This park also seemed a bit less crowded so there was little to no wait time to get their pictures.

At the back of the park was an interactive Jedi Training Camp. Children were chosen from the audience and led to the outside stage where they received a cloak and light saber to learn how to be good Jedi Knights. Both boys were at the front of the crowd. Cooper sat quietly and watched while Wyatt was jumping up and down to be chosen. Sadly neither were picked to go on stage. Right next door was the Star Wars ride so Brian took Wyatt while Cooper decided to stay and watch the show.


It was a really neat training camp. The Jedi Knight demonstrated different techniques of using the light saber and all students practiced their skills. Once finished Darth Vader appeared with two storm troopers and each child was given the opportunity to practice what they learned against Darth Vader. Cooper loved it and was watching intently. I wish Wyatt would have stayed around because of his love of all things Star Wars. Towards the end Brian and Wyatt showed back up, but had missed Darth Vader. I asked Cooper if he wanted to come back for the next training session later in the day to try and get picked to go on stage. He had no interest and liked being able to watch from the sidelines. I didn't even asked Wyatt because I knew he would want to come back, but there was much more to do around the park.

Wyatt was very excited about the Star Wars ride, although Brian looked sick to his stomach from the ride. Cooper wanted to ride so Brian reluctantly took them both again, but then swore he was done with the motion rides. His stomach couldn't take it.


In the power of commercialism they had a huge Star Wars store as you exit the ride. I must admit there were alot of cool toys and shirts and the boys were allowed to pick one toy each from the store. They had no problems making their selections and were then ready to go back to the hotel to play. The rest of day was spent telling Wyatt that their toys would be there and 'no' it was not time to leave yet. Next time we will wait until the end of the day to visit this store!

Lunch time was quickly approaching and we had reservations at the 50's Prime Time cafe restaurant. I think this was one of my favorite meals as it was home cooking at its finest and the atmosphere in the restaurant was like it was in the 50's complete with black and white TV shows. Poor Brian was still nauseous from the ride and didn't enjoy his meal as much as the rest of us. I'm getting hungry just thinking about the pot roast I had, YUM!




After lunch we went back to the Toy Story Mania to get our second FastPass. Sadly the rest of the tickets had already been given out for the rest of the day!!! Apparently it was a very popular ride. *Sigh* We would have to wait a couple of more hours until we could ride our one and only time.
















Next stop was the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular! We had seen this show last year, so we sat at the front for a good view. Brian also volunteered when the time came to be a part of the show! The boys were very excited to see their Dad on stage and acting like a goof! I had a hard time figuring out his iPhone so I didn't get very good pictures. Brian is quite the actor;)






Here we are waiting our turn for the Toy Story Mania ride. The lovely glasses were required for the 4D ride and we look cool! Notice the picture on my profile? Another picture of the glasses in action. It was a fantastic ride and it was disappointing we could only ride it one time. We could have taken our chances and waited in the normal line with a wait of an hour or more. Not wanting to waste time we continued on.

Other highlights from the day were the Extreme Car Stunt Show and the afternoon parade down Hollywood Boulevard. We took our snack and sat on the side of the 'road' and watched the parade in the warm sun. The day was very relaxing and we didn't hear any complaining of all the walking we did.

Hey! We found Buzz Lightyear again. After the dreadful memory of losing our camera/pictures from the first night we hoped to find Buzz again. Extra bonus? Woody was there too!

Look at the scary Queen! She looked like the real thing from the movies! Has anyone else noticed we are wearing the same thing in all our pictures? The poor boys only had one long sleeve jacket to wear and outside it was never warm enough to go without the jacket. I was growing tired of wearing the same thing day after day. I was hoping Brian would volunteer to do laundry again after our busy day.

We stayed at Hollywood Studios until way after sunset. We ate dinner at the ABC Commissary and enjoyed some burger and fries.

It was a long, but very eventful day. By far the best day of our week long trip. I smile everytime I think of our time at this particular park. Unfortunately our good luck is running out.

Next up: WDW Day Four; Epcot Center

WDW Day Two; Animal Kingdom

We were up and ready to go around 10 AM to visit Animal Kingdom. It was hard to explain the four different parks to them so we said Animal Kingdom was Disney's big zoo and we would see lots of animals. They were excited and so were we as it was another park we had not been to yet.

The clouds were looming in the sky and Brian's (stupid) iPhone gave the gloomy forecast of low temperatures(50's) and rain. We were optimistic because we were in Florida(!) with SUNshine and WARM weather always-right? I put on my sandals and cropped pants for me and shorts for the boys and off we went.

The rest of the photos seen in the WDW chronicles are taken with Brian's iPhone. Not the best quality, but our options were limited.




We set out to do the Safari Ride first. Entering Africa was really cool to Cooper as it was his favorite continent to study during history this year. Pretending we were in Africa we made out way up in line. We only had a certain amount of time before our lunch reservation at the Rainforest Cafe. I ask the man how long the ride was because I didn't want to wait too long. His reply? "Two weeks, but it will feel like twenty minutes!" Now HE was in the moment;) It was a neat ride through the jungle and we were able to see some neat animals along the way. About this time the rain began to fall.

Tip #2 from friends? ALWAYS bring a rain poncho. No matter if it says it will be sunny all week, it WILL rain. Good thing about Florida? It is only for a small time and will pass quickly.

We pulled out our ponchos and paraded around looking like the blue smurf family.

The Rainforest Cafe lunch did not disappoint as the atmosphere is awesome and the food was good. Happy to get out of the rain we took our time looking around and not taking one picture.

Unfortunately the rain had not stopped and we continued on with our day with POURING down rain. It was beyond miserable and cold. I wish I had more pleasant things to write about this day, but it was a blur.

We did see an awesome Nemo musical where the boys were able to take off their tennis shoes and socks to WRING out the WATER and hang to dry on the seats. I was grateful I had on my flip flops because at least I wasn't walking in wet socks. Although a terrible blister was forming on my toe. Not good.

Surprise, Surprise as we were leaving Nemo it was still raining and we walked around like lost souls trying to find the joy in the day. The best part was the Safari Ride and lunch and that was three hours ago. . .

There was much walking going on and I must admit I was amazed with their walking skills. The six days we were there we did not rent a stroller one time. They were troopers I tell 'ya! Plus they slept like angels at night time too;)

Back to the rain . . .we were exhausted and not enjoying our time with the monsoon that had hit the Animal Kingdom. I wanted to catch the Lion King show so we made our way across the huge park and found our seats inside. We again took the boy's shoes and socks off to try and dry them. The show was fantastic and was very loud with many different actions going on. We were right at the front of the entire show. We saw hilarious acrobats, dancers, stilt walkers with huge hair and flame throwers. Cooper and I were enthralled with the whole show. Wyatt? He feel ASLEEP! I was shocked.

Pay no attention to my hair. Have I mentioned the RAIN? It didn't stop. Sheets of rain. Lots and Lots and Lots of rain. There is Wyatt sleeping. Does he realize the money we spent on him. Why was it raining so much?

After this show we put on our wet socks and blue smurf ponchos and headed for the bus, across on the other side of the park. At this point we were all in great moods and wanted to exit the park as quickly as possible. Other people must have gotten the memo of the rain and had made their way to Walmart for the ugly blue ponchos. It was a sea of blue and you couldn't tell who was who. This was the first of two times we lost Wyatt. We were walking quickly when I looked back at Brian who had no child with him. Cooper was holding my hand, but no Wyatt. The look of horror crossed my face and we frantically looked around at all the blue people. In the pouring rain Brian is yelling his name and time freezes and I am looking in every direction. It is then I see his little black tennis shoes ahead of me. He is following another blue woman who is moving quickly to the front of the park. I yell at Brian and we take off in a full sprint trying to catch up with him. Finally he hears us yelling and turns around. A moment I do not want to repeat.

I am now barefooted. The blister is killing me, the rain won't stop and I have no reason to care who sees me. We are making our way to the bus when we realize a group of about 500(that may be a slight exaggeration)teenagers are also heading for our bus. I do not want to be stuck out here waiting any longer than is possible so we take off running.

Barefoot, running like it is my last moment, with two children and our HUGE blue ponchos. It was a shining moment in the day. I am glad we have no pictures.

The point is we made it and didn't have to wait.

Arriving back early to our hotel we are beyond tired. Guess what? It is still raining. We decide we want to go no where for dinner and order from our hotel restaurant. Brian and Wyatt try to swim in the heated pool, but only last about ten minutes.

We are asleep by 9:30 PM. We are not seeing the magic yet. Brian was my hero this night. I had not packed properly for this trip as we each had only one pair of pants and one zipped hoodie. Our clothes were soaked so he stayed up late to wait on our laundry to finish so we could wear the exact same clothes tomorrow. Another chilly day was waiting.

Quote of the day: by Wyatt age 4; "This isn't Disney World, this is RAIN World!!!"

Favorite Parts

Cooper: "I had fun running in the rain. Oh! I know! The spaghetti at that Animal Restaurant was awesome! Can we eat there tomorrow?"

Wyatt: "Swimming in the pool!"

Do they realize we could do these things in Oklahoma?

Next Up: WDW Day Three; Hollywood Studios

WDW Day One; Scene Two

We have arrived with two uneventful plane rides to our destination. We had booked our vacation with a great travel company that included a full meal plan, our hotel, tickets to the four parks and complimentary bus rides to and from the airport. We made our way to the first floor check in desk and waited for our bus to take us to the hotel.

We didn't even have to wait on our luggage. Our WDW hotel was responsible for getting our luggage to our ROOM(!) and all we needed to worry about was getting on the right bus. We felt like rock stars! An hour later we were walking into our WDW resort with wide eyes. We wanted to take a quick look at our room then headed to Magic Kingdom for some sightseeing and dinner with Cinderella in her castle.

With all WDW resorts bus transportation is included to take you to and from all the four different parks and Downtown Disney. We boarded the bus to travel to Magic Kingdom for the evening. I wasn't anticipating how many people would be here at this time of year. It was crowded! It was our first time to this particular park and we had our noses buried in the map trying to get a feel for where we wanted to go.

Waiting in line for our first ride was exciting! I had taken my smaller camera so I could keep it in my pocket for quick pictures throughout the trip. Brian was taking charge of the camera and had gotten some of our hotel, the plane trip, initial entry into Magic Kingdom and others. After waiting in line for twenty minutes for our first Buzz Lightyear ride we exited the ride wanting to ride it again. It was then we saw the REAL Buzz Lightyear across the street and made a bee line to quickly to get a picture with him.

Sidenote: Our first order of business upon entering Magic Kingdom was to buy an autograph book for each of the boys. Friends had told us this would be a fun activity to do as a family as there are MANY characters throughout the park whom we got pictures with and an autograph. Once back home I developed all the pictures with each character the boys had met. When signing autographs I had the characters only sign one side so that I could attach the picture with the boys on the other side. The boys love looking at the pictures and seeing who signed what page. It is a favorite keepsake for both of them.

As we waited our turn for the autograph Brian went to get the camera out of his pocket. Searching, searching and more searching lead to NO camera. Somehow on the first ride at the first park we were visiting . . . the camera was gone! Brian went back to look around to no avail and the only camera we brought was lost. Great!

We then made our way to an over-priced booth to buy a disposable camera. I have yet to take it to be developed, as I know the pictures are horrible. Needless to say I do not have many pictures from our first half day at Magic Kingdom. *Sigh*

At 6:50 we had reservation to eat dinner with Cinderella in the beautiful castle in the center of the park. Unfortunately we had reservations for the same time as a performance was being held and it was packed with people. We walked around and around looking for the entrance into the grand castle and was growing more hungry with each second. Finally we found the place to be and were on our way.

The boys were less than thrilled to be around all the princesses. They did not want them to get to close and would cower behind me if the princesses dared talk to them! Everyone was addressed as prince or princess and I had a great time. We were also seated right by the windows, so we had the best view of the night time fireworks show.

After our long travel day and the drama of losing the camera we were ready to head back to our hotel. Everyone was asleep by 10 PM.

Another sidenote: I was hoping to have access to the Internet while we were gone. No such luck and I was a bit disappointed and had withdraw symptoms the first couple days we were gone. Nonetheless each day I asked Cooper and Wyatt their favorite parts of the day. I will include those at the end of each posts.

Favorite Part?

Cooper: "The only ride we got to do, that Buzz Lightyear thing. Oh! and playing on Dad's iPhone on the plane!"

Wyatt: "Um . . . the Buzz Lightyear ride and the sword I got at dinner!"

Tomorrow: WDW Day Two; Animal Kingdom

WDW Day One; Scene One

On Sunday morning; February 1, 2009 we were up at 3:45 AM getting the last of our shorts, T-shirts and flip flops packed for our trip to Walt Disney World in sunny, warm Florida.

We had made our plans to go after Brian and I returned from our own trip in January of 2008 and were excited to take the boys to see all the wonders WDW has to offer.

Our plane was initially planned to leave around 7:30 AM on that Sunday, but due to changes out of our control the plane was now leaving at 5:45 AM. Yuck! We had drove to my parent's house the evening before to get Abram situated and to put my mind at ease that he would be FINE while we were away. I had a huge list of everything he would need/want and had packed a box from our pantry of his favorite foods. He was going to stay with my parents from Sunday until Tuesday afternoon and then head to my SIL and brother's house for the rest of the week.

The early morning wake up call was like Christmas morning. We had the boys already dressed and ready to go before they had went to bed. You never know what you will get in the morning attitude of those two and I didn't want to take any chances. Brian and I were ready in no time and Amy was driving us to the airport. As she pulls up in the dark, early morning Wyatt looks around and says . . .

"THIS is Disneyworld?"

We board our plane with no problems and our on our way to Atlanta for the next 2 hours. The boys are set and are already playing their Leapsters quietly. It is practically the first plane ride for both(Cooper went when he was 11 months)and they seemed unfazed by the whole thing. It is a mostly quiet ride, except for Wyatt's consistent "are we there yet?" replay over and over again.

Once in Atlanta we maneuver our way through the huge airport for our three hour layover. We find a TGI Friday's that is serving a yummy breakfast and take our time. The boys are exhausted already and need about two more hours of sleep.

I am busy getting them situated as the waiter heads over to our table. I hear him mumble something. The excitement of warm weather overtakes me as I look at him with my big, stupid smile.

"We're from Oklahoma!!!!" I blurt out, thinking I was answering his question of where we are from.

"um, that's nice. I was asking what you would like to drink . . . " he says. As he was thinking about how annoying travelers are and why he decided to trade his buddy shifts today.

We lazily eat our breakfast and continue on to wait at our gate by watching movies on the laptop and me stretching out on the seats to take a snooze.

Plane #2 is another easy ride as both boys fall asleep right at take off and have to be woken up upon arrival. Maybe this early morning flight wasn't such a bad thing after all!

We have arrived. The long winter is but a dream as we look forward to soaking in the sun and sharing the magic with the kids.

Why no pictures? The first plane ride, the excited faces, the beautiful palm trees, the goofy Atlanta waiter, sleeping boys on the plane, walking through security(that was fun!).

Stay tuned. Day One; Scene Two: Welcome to Disney World!

One Trip Wasn't Enough

Wyatt looks like he wants to eat Joel.

Silly Faces!

We had such a great time we had to take another trip to Great Wolf and brought along some friends! We left on Thursday morning and arrived just after lunch and were able to immediately check into our rooms. Thanks to a great friend who suggested we ask for an upgrade we were bumped from our family suite to a kids cabin suite which included a balcony, score! We had an even number of kids which was perfect to break into groups according to age so they could go to different parts of the park. I was talked into going down the Tornado slide which was super fast and I must admit my eyes were closed the entire way down. They tried to get me to go again and it was a firm "NO!" Around dinner time we changed into dry clothes and enjoy a good dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. The kids went to the lobby to hear a bedtime story then it was off to bed. They were all exhausted and went to sleep very easily!

The next morning we were up and ready to swim again. We made it home this evening safe and sound and are already planning for our next trip. I love midweek refresher vacations!

Be Jealous, Very Jealous

Memorial Day camping did not go as well as I had planned and I was less than thrilled to try again for Labor Day. Babies and camping do not go well together for me. My mom had the grand idea of camping at her house, fun! My brother's family set out a tent, my parents have a camper they set up in the driveway and we brought our tent to add to the display. I give you 'white trash weekend.'

Although it didn't turn out how I had imagined it would. Friday night we met at the lake where at the last minute my brother's family had a camper for the night. We grilled out and watch the kid's "ooohhh" and "aaahhh" over the fire. It was very relaxing to sit around and talk while the kids enjoyed each other's company.

Saturday morning my mom, sister and I went to JBF's 50% off sale and found some great bargains! Much to my sister's dismay we stayed for THREE hours browsing around at everything they had. That evening the boys headed over to my brother's house for the OU game while the girls hung out with all the kids. I was hit with the worse head cold known to man. I couldn't think well or breathe and all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep. I refused to sleep outside in a tent. Cooper & Wyatt slept in the trailer with Papa and Grandma.

Sunday I was still feeling miserable and broke down and took some medicine. It made for a much more enjoyable day as we played a game together in the living room. Here is my SIL Jessica wondering how in the world THIS was her family. The first picture above is all of us playing Imagine If. It was a great who-knows-you-best-game and surprise, surprise my mom won it all.

That night we had a grill off as my step dad made burgers, my brother made shrimp and Brian made corn on the cob. We topped it off with home made ice cream. Yum!

Next year I look forward to heading back to the Lake!

Outside pool opened from 10-7
Kiddie Area for ages 0-6 with slides!

Lobby area where nightly bedtime story is read

Cooper thought it was AWESOME to have a TV in his room!

Outside our room

Huge bucket of water tipping over every minute or so

The past three days were spent at Great Wolf Lodge and we had a blast! Our room was called the 'wolf den' and it had a separate area for the boys with bunk beds and their own TV. We arrived Monday afternoon and headed straight for the water park while we waited for our rooms to become open. It is very overwhelming on where to begin and what to do first. We had the boys stay in the kiddie area so we could keep an eye on them and so Abram could take his afternoon nap on my shoulder. Cooper took his first ride down a VERY curvy slide and it wasn't the best experience . . . he was too small for the tube and fell through the middle of it . . . as Brian tried to hold on to him with his legs he ended up flipping the tube over. Cooper was NOT HAPPY about the ride, but thankfully was willing to try again later that evening, on a SLOWER slide. We parked our car on Monday and didn't get back into it until we left on Wednesday afternoon. They have EVERYTHING you could possible need there, including Children's Tylenol when Cooper's ear was hurting. The favorite of both boys was the outside pool which had tube slides, waterfalls, wade pool, lily pad jumping and a lagoon. The second favorite was the wave pool which sent me into heart failure as I tried to keep an eye on them as the waves were splashing over them. Cooper is a dare devil, but thankfully Wyatt is a bit more cautious.

The second day we swam during the morning but after lunch we headed to the Kid's Area where the boys were able to participate in their first game of BINGO. Cooper won the second game and instead of yelling 'BINGO!' they had to 'hhhoooowwwlll' I was surprised Cooper did it, but was glad he did participate. The past three days I have witnessed the biggest smiles coming from him. He REALLY had a good time.

The first evening we had dinner in the fancy restaurant and headed down to the lobby to hear the bedtime story. The second night we ordered pizza and ate that in our room and ordered Kung Fu Panda on Pay-Per-View. The boys LOVED the movie so much that Brian had to take them to the lobby so they could practice their new kung fu moves in wide open spaces and so I could lay Abram down to sleep in peace. Abram wasn't the best traveler for the water park. The first day was the worse as I think he was WAY overstimulated and couldn't relax enough to sleep as much as he needed too. Abram NEEDS his sleep or else there is paybacks for EVERYONE involved. Thankfully both nights were fine and once he fell asleep for the evening he was out until 7:30 the next morning. The second day was MUCH smoother as he was able to have both of his naps in the hotel room.

The third day we were all EXHAUSTED and only swam about 30 minutes before we were finished. We ended up playing arcade games until lunchtime, had lunch on the balcony and then headed home. A great vacation indeed.

We are heading back in October . . . anyone want to join us?

Details to Come!

Lessons Learned

The pool, a lifesaver with four energetic boys!
That is my mom 'acting natural'

I always buy sand from WalMart to bring camping. The kids love it.

Purple sand too, I rock!

He is mad because I won't let him go inside the tent with sand all over him.

Kid picnic table, another necessity

The look they both have is priceless. My parents came back from WalMart with Joe having this HUGE patch on the side of his arm. It's a Icy-Hot patch for pain. We decided it looked like a patch people wear to quit smoking and we joked the rest of the weekend about how high his addiction must have been to have a patch that big;~)

ALSO . . . I cannot leave this picture without pointing out the crocs with socks. My husband pulled the same look a couple of weeks ago at Life Group, must to my dismay. Joe came out of the camper with the same look and my husband was thrilled. It is a fashion no-no.

Here is what our family learned this weekend camping.

1. Tent camping is no longer fun when you have a baby, I will NEVER do that again and I didn't even sleep in the tent.

2. Sharing a camper with your parents isn't fun either. I know, I know it is a control issue. Mom was great to even 'let me in.' Nope. Didn't sleep with them either.

3. It is great to have a family that you can have a total melt down with and they don't hang it over your head the rest of the weekend. That would be MY melt down. Quite embarrassing and it lead me to the local hotel around 10 p.m. the first night we were there. That is where I slept and Abram tagged along for the ride.

4. You can never pack enough when going camping. If your husband complains about how much stuff he is loading remind him of this when the children are happily playing with it all.

5. Kid toys attract other kids, which can be annoying. The boys love it and I am not sure what my problem with it is.

6. Actually tent camping isn't fun for anyone in our family anymore. We are spoiled. ESPECIALLY when you wake at 6 a.m. to the sound of throwing up. As I was sleeping somewhat peacefully at the hotel I received a call around six in the morning. Cooper had thrown up all over Wyatt. He was wet from head to toe. Wyatt is a good sport. He covered his nose with his hand and turned the other way. I rolled out of bed drove back to the lake to pick them up and take them with me to the hotel to clean up. A beautiful, clean, air conditioned with free breakfast hotel.
7. Contrary to what my husband has told me since our marriage began he does NOT like to be hot and let me know this over and over and over again. Okay! I get it. You can come back to the hotel then.

8. Memories whether good or bad make Memorial Day what it is. Overall I enjoyed the weekend spent with my family. We have ALOT to talk about next year and to laugh over all again. It was alot of work getting to the lake and the first day is not one of my best moments, but I am glad I went and I can't wait until next year!

Biten by the bug, er Mouse

I hate traveling. The thought of flying can send my blood pressure through the roof where I either need to be on medication or take up drinking to calm me down. Being away from the boys sends my head spinning as I worry about what could happen. The most we have been away from each other is a weekend and that has always been more than enough. I know, I have a problem;~) I have always been this way and it is who I am. I deal with it and always seem to be okay.



With that being said, an opportunity came up for me to join Brian in Florida at a conference he was attending. The plan was for him to fly out first on Sunday and then me joining him on Thursday when the conference was over and extend the weekend, just the two of us. We decided on this plan two days before he was to leave, so everything was last minute and I didn't have time to think through all the plans of the boys being away from us for FOUR days and me flying ALONE. Two of my greatest battles. I was excited about visiting Florida(where I had never been)and spending loads of time with Brian. The next two days was spent nailing in the details of where the boys would be and what to pack along with packing myself and all the necessities I would need to survive the airplane ride.

Wednesday I drove to the parents house so I could attend my sister's first baby shower. I bought groceries for Aunt Amy's house and took the boys over to unload all the toys they had to have since Aunt Amy didn't have any kids. We all slept at my parents house that night and then Thursday morning I was up at 4:30 AM to get ready and head to my sister's, who had the privilege of dropping me off at the airport for my 7 AM flight.

Florida was more beautiful than I could have anticipated. The military paid for our hotel, which was gorgeous. People were SWIMMING in the outside pool that had a cascading waterfall in the middle. We ordered way to much room service. I took a shower when I wanted, went to the bathroom without anyone wanting to come in and watch or talk to me and woke up when I was ready. It was great!

Thursday night Brian had reservations at a fancy restaurant where you pay a huge price for a small amount of food and it was all excellent. Right before our meal was brought to us they had us eat a teaspoon amount of sorbet to "cleanse our pa let" Fancy, I know!

Friday we ventured to Walt Disney World where we decided to go to the MGM/Hollywood Park for the day. WOW! As we were driving into the park I was amazed at the organization of it all. With so many people you expect delays and cranky idiots, but I found the opposite to be true. Parking cars was like a well rehearsed dance. People flowed in and out and were in the best moods! With highs in the mid 70's to low 80's it was perfect to walk around and not break a sweat, even being 8 months pregnant. We saw every show that was offered, ate delicious food and marveled at how well put together the park was. A "magical experience" for sure.

Saturday we debated about going to Universal Studios and were at the gate to purchase the tickets. I wasn't feeling as energetic as the day before and the thought was walking all day was sending my body into shock. We decided not to go in and it turned out to be the best decision. We found a great outlet mall and shopped to our hearts content and then found a salon/spa where I treated myself to a new 'do and pedicure. It was a very relaxing day and one that I am grateful we took. That evening we decided to head to Downtown Disney to eat at the RainForest Cafe. As we made our way to the restaurant and saw all the people that had the same idea as we had I knew we would be waiting for some time. We took our place in line to give the hostess our name. Fifteen minutes later we were in ear shot of the hostess stand where we find out it would be an hour and a half wait. Since there was alot more to look at downtown we still decided to eat there. As we stepped up to give our name and announce our "party of two" the awesome hostess informed the head honcho to our table! No waiting necessary! Now that is a definite benefit of being a party of two! It was a neat restaurant with lots of larger than life animals and we enjoyed the good food and people watching.

Sunday we headed back on our separate planes as Brian flew straight home and myself back to my parents house to pick the boys up. The best part of flying was that on the longest leg of my trip, both there and back, was that I was upgraded to FIRST CLASS. It is the definite way to fly and made my trip just a little less stressful as I tried not to think of dying. Thank you God for upgrades and being pregnant;~)

I'm glad I faced my fears and made myself go. It was much needed as the countdown to baby begins. Cooper had a hard weekend as we found out today he has an ear infection and strep of the . . . butt?!?! I didn't know that even existed. Upon my return I expected all the whining, fighting, crying and crankiness. It shows me how loved I am and the boys have laid it on me times ten. For the past four days they bottled up all emotions and now that I am back they have let me have it. I was ready for it all and am glad to be back home.

The Rest of the Story

The biggest challenge of the ice storm wasn't just losing electricity, being cooped up for days on end or trying to entertain the boys. It was doing it all alone. Brian left Sunday morning when the storm was just beginning. We had dropped him off at the office right before church and so began the most stressful week of the year.

I made it until Wednesday morning when I decided to packed us up and head to my parents for the night. I was warned upon arriving that they had been without electricity since Sunday afternoon, but I didn't care. I was staying with them Wednesday then leaving again on Thursday to met Brian in Branson for a little vacation before the holidays.

Staying at the parents house was a nightmare. I HATE living in the dark, smelling like fire wood as the temperature in the house reached a balmy 48 degrees. I was happy to be on the road to meet my husband.

It was nice to settle into the hotel with an indoor pool, room service and lots of entertainment for everyone. The boys enjoyed the indoor heated pool as we looked outside at the howling wind and blowing snow and I was glad to all be back together.

We spent three days in Branson enjoying the sights and eating LOTS of good food. Saturday we headed to Silver Dollar City to have lunch with Santa. The boys were very excited and we enjoyed a tasty lunch of corndogs, spaghetti and many desserts. Santa made his grand entrance and the boys were first in line to speak to the big guy. Neither one were scared to see him and had no problem telling him what they wanted for Christmas. They each received a little gift bag with stickers, cards and a whistle, Wyatt's favorite gift.

After lunch we headed outside to check out the sights. Bad idea! It was very cold and snow was beginning to fall. We braved the weather as long as we could. The warmest part was the train ride we took around the city. Wyatt was on cloud 9 as he held on to the whistle given to him by Santa and took in all he could with the snow hitting him in the face. We only lasted about an hour at the park and then we were ready to head back to the hotel for more swimming and eating. "My favorite part!" as Cooper announced on more than one occasion.

It was nice to get away for a little and forget about all the limbs waiting for us to clean up and the Christmas shopping left to do. A nice, relaxing, extended break as we gear up for the Christmas festivities!