Where in the (Disney) World did we go?

It has been a bit more than a week since I posted something, but I had a good reason. I always like to post pictures and I just couldn't until I got home to my "big" camera. We got some great shots and had a great time.  We went on vacation (yes, with kids) for our 10th anniversary. We had planned on doing something "big" for the 10th anniversary because we felt a decade was worth celebrating. Then once I got sick several years ago, Disney came on the radar. We had always kind of planned on going there simply because rumor had it that they could feed me. Gasp. And feed me they were able to do! We got to talk to a chef at every restaurant or buffet (yes, buffet) that we went to. I got to talk and after the first couple even didn't get lists of ingredients and just trusted (gasp!) the chef to know what was in the food. Know the derivatives from the allergens, etc. I didn't think about it and managed to only have one minor issue in six days. I got to eat Mickey waffles like the kids, I got to have options (as in more than one thing off of the menu), and even heard, "Oh, that is easy" once explaining that I couldn't have "the list." So yes, doing Disney was a great thing. Since we had kids, and couldn't convince anyone to watch them for us, we just packed them in the car and drove to Florida. We did Star Wars Weekend at Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom. Every day had its highlights, and I'll post a few captioned pictures in a minute. Or you can simply scroll down and see them now. Both kids LOVED meeting the characters, though G was much more hesitant (with everyone except Ariel -- he couldn't wait to climb up on the shell with her). Both kids also seemed to love the shows (we got to see a Frozen Sing-Along, A Star Wars Rebels and the Lion King Adventure) more than the rides, with the exceptions being the teacups and the Ariel "under the sea" ride.  And we got Mickey waffles, did I mention that? They were Carolyn-free and we did that multiple times. The best were Mickey waffles with a espresso marscapone that I'm definitely going to work on when I can find marscapone in this little town (maybe a costco trip will net some). 

Being Anna and Elsa before entering Hollywood Studios

The first princess we got to meet and it was a jumping up and down can't stand still excitement

Lego R2D2, need I say more?

The coach from the new Cinderella, a movie that A and I both really liked

Getting on the Midway Mania Ride that was a lot of fun

Jim Henson's muppets keep appearing in our life, so why not a picture of us in front of some more?

Ready to twirl on the teacups

Dad and his princess in the princess hall, waiting on Elsa and Anna

Got to see Elsa first, as we rounded the corner we started shouting, waving and jumping up and down. Worth the 1.5 hour wait for the excitement shown.

With Anna

Character dinner with Pooh and friends

G slept through the first bit of it

But woke up in time for tigger

One last hug for tigger

Yes, excited kids on the shell with Ariel

Dad, Princess, Huge Sucker, Castle. What else is there?

Breakfast with Adventure Mickey, Goofey, Donald and Daisy.

G signing, "Again" because he wanted to do a lot of things again.

May wrap-up

Not much has happened this past week. I have a rare moment when I can sit and blog though so I should at least let everyone know that. Chris is showering off screaming children as they've lost the privilege of baths for bathing. The bath water kept ending up outside the bath so for the next week or so they get showers.  We are literally hosing them off with the showerhead and going from there.  They aren't to thrilled about it, but maybe they will learn to keep water in the bath.

School is school right now and work is work.  A is slowly becoming a bit better about minding, though not always. She is still the strong willed child, and we desperately want her to keep that will because in 10 years we want her to not be easily persuaded by friends, but now, accepting a "No" or "Eat" once a day would be nice. She does remarkably for a 4 year old though. G continues to be a fun toddler that toddles about and toddles into everyone.  He loves to walk around the church in the morning before stopping in front of the band and staring at the drummer. Then he starts a beat with a foot, his whole body, some hands, etc. and mostly they are all in time with the beat, sub-beats, etc. Because of this everyone at church knows him, and thinks he's the best.  Tonight at church (we had a congregational meeting) I met a few new people and they were like, "Hey, your boy is the one that watches the drums right?! He's so precious!"

Miss A is in a new classroom at school. She is having to make new friends, and rekindle some friendships from kids that were in different classes this past year since they were all over 3. (The school they go to has 1 room for 2-3 year olds, then around six for 3-5 year olds.) Her latest "new" old friend is "R." It was rather sweet when A and I went for ice cream yesterday and were talking about her week. She wants to tell R about God, and all the other new friends in her class as well. I find this to be a fantastic idea as she taught them all "Jesus Loves Me" in the 2 year old classroom. 

Chris made it through week 1 of summer term. Hopefully this week will be straightforward. Pray for him though as he is rather dis-illusioned with academia right now. Pray for guidance and what comes next for him.

Both May birthdays went off without much ado.  Now for a 10th anniversary next week! Hard to believe that Chris and I have been married for 10 years, but have and are excited about it.

Pray for us and our church as well.  There are some issues we are working through that will be trying in the next year or so. It will all work out according to God's plan, but hopefully all the people realize this and are at peace with that fact, despite what they personally think. 

Princess Party

Yesterday we had a princess party at our house. It was fun to see A with a few of her friends, mostly girls from church and one little girl from school. The party confirmed our fears that we don't have to worry about A being bullied, as she is the "mean girl." Really this means she is a super sensitive, sweet person and just doesn't want people to know. We recently got into "Sophia!" and are adapting to adding a princess to our Elsa world. Sophia seems to be holding her own though, and the idea behind Sophia is pretty good. We had some Elsa stuff and Sophia plates. We also wore Sophia like tiaras since they didn't have any crowns for the Elsa party stuff.  Fun was had by all and the kids entertained themselves quite nicely.  For the cupcakes I made the standard chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. We got some tips from a friend though and did some designs on the cupcakes (A and me before the party) and I hope to get to try and decorate more cupcakes sometime.

In other non-A news, G is going to hit a growth spurt soon. At least that's what we expect with all the eating he's done this weekend. He ate 4 (yes, 4) pieces of pizza -- so half of the medium sized pizza we got for the party, had a cupcake (the whole thing, not just the icing) during the party. Then he ate a good dinner. For breakfast this morning he ate a bowl of oatmeal, a banana muffin, a pancake and had some Kix. He's eaten Kix off an on all day for the past two days, as well as oatmeal. We are going to be in a ton of trouble when he gets bigger. For the picture above, he was super hungry and Chris had instructed him to go sit and eat his pizza. Chris was expecting G to go over to the girls and eat, but G just sat down and started shoving food in his face. 

Summer classes start for Chris tomorrow. We have a rare day off, so we are going to do some mom and kid stuff and possibly end up at the pool. We shall see.

Yearly Stats

We went on our annual check for A, and the 18 month check for G. She weighs in at an astonishing 32 lbs and 38". He weighs in at 22 lbs and 32".  Both are doing well and remaining in their respective percentiles. The doctor did well with both kids as always. We are going to a Pediatric ENT specialist in a near by town in the next month or so for G's ears. Hopefully we can get some answers.

Biltmore 15k

For our birthday girl we woke up super early and went to Biltmore. We spent last night in a hotel, something that A LOVES to do. Then woke up around normal time and got on the Biltmore grounds by 630. It was a good race and A had a fun time telling everyone it was her birthday. The last selling older shirts when gave her one to sleep in. She enjoyed wearing her tiara and is excited to wear it for her birthday party next week. 

Cheer squad that is ecstatic to be up a bit early

Ready to go run a few miles around the Biltmore Estate

Best signs on the route

Now that the race is run, can celebrate with the birthday girl!

Me Tarzan, you, Jane.

Our neighbours are trying to trans the wilderness that is encroaching on their backyard. This wilderness has many vines from trees and invasive plants. This past weekend we kind of had an impromptu block party as we helped them attempt to get rid of some vines. After swinging on them and attempting to chop them down the neighbours have it all up and just said have fun to all the kids. I mean, if it will hold all the grown people and not budge what will a 10 or 4 year old so to it?  A had a blast after she figured out she could go really fast. We would give her a push but since she is so small she goes really far. She went again today though the vines today goes in circles. She fell off, and we are working on teaching her the "get back up and try again philosophy."

Work is work for both Chris and me. The semester is basically over for him though so he has a few weeks with no students.  Work for me continues to be crazy with no end in sight for that.

Church is going well and A had decided she is going to learn to play guitar while G plays drums. The kids love to stand and stare the band during the services.

Past few weeks in pictures

Showing up catching frog eggs on a stick

On a fantastic ramp at a park in Lexington, KY

Big sister pushing baby brother

Ready to go

A still not so sure about people dressed up in foam costumes

At the giraffes! See the one between us?

NJ and A in a bee hive at the zoo

Chimpanzee exhibit with a bronze chimp

Trying on Daddy's hat!

Mudcafe. Yes, G's eye is dripping mud in this picture

Dressed and ready for church

Swirling the chalk

Well, if you made it this far then you can see that we've been busy. We've managed to make it to Lexington, KY and back. We also went to the NC Zoo with our wonderful cousin, NJ the following weekend. We had a blast seeing the animals, not riding in the wagon, and playing in the mud. We hope to go back sooner rather than later because both A and G did wonders in the "Mud Cafe." A played executive chef with her sous chef G. She would stir things and have him "help," very similarly to how we do things here in our kitchen.

On the Sunday after Easter, we did dress up like Easter since NJ was here. We had fun and just played outside most of the day.

It rained and on Monday we went and played inside since it was raining. After the rain stopped though, we went outside and drew on the wet pavement with sidewalk chalk. NJ showed A how to "swirl" the colors and make a right mess.  A has since used this technique more as we've had kind of a rainy week. G refuses to be inside if he can help it. He is working on getting his shoes on himself and will go outside the instant you let him. His favorite toys are sticks, and we've recently discovered the mud and it is also tasty I think.  :)