Disney World 2011

I love going to Disney. I’m really not sure who likes going to Disney more…me or the kids. So this week, while Jonathan was on vacation we were able to go with my parents thanks to some wonderful friends.

This was Charlotte’s first trip to Disney. At 9 months, she is older than both Rosemary and Ben were on their first trip. Rosemary was just 7 months old and Ben was a mere 4 months.

Riding the tram to the Transportation and Ticket Center. The trams now have doors! (Which were a bit difficult to navigate with a baby and diaper bag).

One happy baby girl! Welcome to Disney World, Charlotte!

Once we were in, we stopped by to see the princesses and Mickey and Minnie first.

Meeting Cinderella in their matching outfits. The outfits turned out okay, but I about tore them up when I was making them. I decided to make them on Wednesday since I had almost all of the supplies I needed (well, I decided to make Charlotte one and Rosemary asked for a matching one) and we were leaving on Friday. They *should* have been super easy, but the elastic on the skirt nearly killed me.

Cinderella asked to get a pic with just Charlotte. I thought that was sweet of her.

Meeting Mickey and Minnie. Minnie gave Charlotte a sweet little kiss on our way out. So cute.

Charlotte got her first set of ears. She kindly shared them with Jonathan. We bought ears for the other two their first trips and they still wear the same ones. Soon they’ll need bigger ones, but they’ve lasted a long time for us.

Next, Ben requested a ride on the train. It’s the thing that he requests first every time we go to the Magic Kingdom.

Waiting for the train to arrive.

Holding hands. Right now, these two really are great friends. I pray that it stays that way.

We headed over to eat at the Columbia Harbor House. Rosemary wanted a Lobster Roll when we saw that it was on the menu. We’d read about Lobster Rolls in Night of the Moonjellies. So we got one for her and Ben to share. She devoured it. In fact, after the trip she said it was one of the highlights. She cracks me up.

After lunch, Jonathan and I took Rosemary and Ben over to Tom Sawyer’s Island. They’d never been there before so it was fun. Charlotte stayed with my parents and got to see the Hall of Presidents. She fell asleep. :-)

On the raft over to the island.

Climbing around in the fort.

We met up with my parents for the parade and Charlotte snoozed a bit more in the stroller. Dad and Jonathan took Rosemary and Ben on the paddle boat while mom and I saved our spots for the parade.

Right before things were about to start, we moved the stroller and sat down to watch the parade.

Once the parade was over, we headed to Tomorrowland. On our way, Rosemary, Benjamin, Jonathan, and I rode the Tomorrowland Speedway.

Charlotte rode the People Mover. I considered this her first ride. Jonathan didn’t. He classifies it in the same way he classifies the train.

After this, we all rode Buzz Lightyear (my dad put us all to shame!) then the Carousel of Progress. Rosemary and Ben were mesmerized.

I finally got my pic with Charlotte in front of the castle (really to the side of it) late in the day. I was looking rough, but at least we got it. It was super crowded on Saturday so taking a photo on Main Street early in the day just wasn’t going to happen.

Finally, after dinner we headed over to Fantasyland. The lines were super long (Peter Pan was 70 minutes). We got a FastPass for Winnie-the-Pooh then waited for it’s a small world. The 20 minute wait wasn’t normal for us, but I didn’t want to leave without riding small world. That ride is the quintessential Magic Kingdom ride for me.

Finally in our boat and on our way.

It was fun to ride with Rosemary. In each room she kept asking, “Where are we now, Mommy?” She was very excited to go by the France section and see an Eiffel Tower. And in most of the rooms we’d studied about one of the countries represented.

Charlotte’s first small world ride. She was awake the whole time.

After small world, we met up again with my parents to watch the 8pm Electric Light parade. On our way to meet them though, I was pretty sure we were going to witness a fight. It was pretty crowded and people were trying to get through throngs of other people and no one wanted to move. Finally, we found them and watched the parade, then the light show on the castle, then the fireworks. Well, we watched the parade, Ben fell asleep. Rosemary put her arm around him the stroller so he could lean against her. It was very sweet. He woke up at the end of the parade.

Just before the fireworks began Ben said he had to go to the bathroom. I was holding him. There was no way we were going to be able to get through the crowd and get back before they started. I asked him if he could wait and prepared myself to have pee all over me by the end of the night. Amazingly, he made it and Jonathan ran off with him as soon as the show was over and he made it to the bathroom. Thankfully, Jonathan was there. If I’d taken him to a ladies restroom, we’d probably still be there.

Cinderella’s Castle was so beautiful at night.

We had a great time. The day flew by and it was packed full. There were some rides we didn’t make it on, but then we also did things that we’d never done before with the kids like Tom Sawyer’s Island, the paddle boat, and the Carousel of Progress. And we saw both parades and the evening shows. We came home exhausted, but all had a wonderful time. I think I’m still recovering. :-)

Ben’s Preschool Parade

After 3 years of watching them, Ben finally got to be in the dress up parade at preschool.

We don’t make a huge deal out of Halloween, but we do let the kids get dressed up for this parade. I didn’t want to make anything this year, but Ben was insistent upon dressing up like Woody from Toy Story. I had some leftover cow print fabric from when Rosemary was Jessie (see that post here) so I was considering trying to whip something together the week of the parade. Then I saw that Big Lots had their Disney licensed costumes for less than $10. The last Woody costume they had was a size 4-6 and the hat was bent, but I didn’t have to sew a stitch. That $10 was so worth it.

Such a great looking Woody. He said he was, “Rock Star Woody” when he had his sunglasses on.

Rosemary decided to dress up like a “Fairy Princess”

The girls waiting for the parade to start.

One very handsome Woody!

With some of his class.

We also saw a couple friends from church:

Megan

Evan

Pumpkin Patch 2011

October was almost over by the time I remembered to bring my camera to Ben’s preschool to get photos in the pumpkin patch.

The best group shot I could get on my own. Ben insisted on being in the back.

Thankfully, Rosemary did not drop Charlotte down the hole in the hay.

The day we took pictures was also the day of Ben’s class trip to the pumpkin patch. We just stuck around the school and then joined him and his class. Rosemary got to go on the hayride with Ben.

After the hayride, the kids got pics and then got to jump in the bounce house. Rosemary and Ben had a blast. The teachers were so kind to include Rosemary in the activities too.

10 Years Later

I know exactly where I was ten years ago today.

It was a Sunday and a group of us from Campus House spent the afternoon at Lake Wauberg. I remember canoeing with Matt Brandenburg and getting way too close to an alligator. I remember getting a phone call from a friend from UCF who was driving through Gainesville letting me know he was on his way. And I remember getting in Dan’s car to head back to my apartment. Jonathan was in the back seat. Savage Garden’s Crash and Burn was on the radio.

We were driving through Payne’s Prairie and a black SUV started to come over into our lane. Dan swerved. I remember heading towards the oncoming traffic then heading towards the drop into the prairie. The car went over the wall, the airbags deployed and the car finally stopped upside down in the prairie. Dan and Jonathan went into escape mode. I went into ‘make sure everyone is okay’ mode. We were. Miraculously. Jonathan hadn’t even been wearing a seatbelt. Jonathan and I crawled out the back window which had shattered and Dan made it out the driver’s window.

We got up from the prairie and made it to the side of the road. By then, some of the others were driving by. Chris and Matt pulled over and ran to us. I didn’t realize that I was even bleeding until Chris pointed it out to me. I was fine, I’d just cut myself getting out through the broken glass. Jonathan did the same. And we still have the matching scars.

In the end, all of us were completely okay. Super sore. Very shaken. But okay physically. It took me a little while to work through the ‘oh-my-goodness, we almost died’ but I did. And it probably paid a big part in Jonathan and me ever dating.

I lost the necklace I’d been wearing during the crash. When I turned 18, my Aunt Edith gave me her diamond necklace. I wore it all the time and it was my most treasured possession. During the crash, the seatbelt had pulled so tight that it cut the chain around my neck and it came off. I realized it was missing at the hospital.

A few days after the accident, Dan went back to the car. He found the diamond. Amazing. In the middle of all the broken glass, he found something so small but so precious to me. And it is still one of the most treasured things I have. I will forever be grateful to him for finding that for me.

Back then Jonathan and I were friends. A year later we were engaged. And now, ten years later, we have three beautiful children. Hard to believe it’s been that long.

Lunch at UF

Ben just started speech therapy this week through our school system. Because the school year is already underway, we just had to go with the time slot that they had available. Unfortunately, the time slot that is available for them conflicts four times (out of eight sessions) a month for us with MOPS meetings, preschool, and co-op days. But thankfully, we have wonderful family and friends who are willing to help me get everyone where they need to go so Ben can make all eight sessions each month.

This past Thursday, Janice was in town to take Ben to speech from his school while I was with Rosemary at co-op. Afterwards we headed down to pick Jonathan up from his work and grab a quick bite to eat. When we pulled into his parking lot, there were two open metered spaces (something that never happens!) so we took one and went inside to see Jonathan’s office then walked over to eat lunch at the Hub. It was an impromptu campus visit, but was so much fun.

We found a table outside while Jonathan got our Chick-fil-a…no kids meals on campus though!

It was a perfect day to eat outside. And when we were walking over to lunch, it was in between classes so it was fun to be a part of the hustle and bustle.

From where we ate lunch we could see the French Fries so the kids wanted to climb all over those.

Ben couldn’t get quite as high, but it won’t be long.

As we headed back to the car, the carillon was chiming. They thought it was so loud.

And they loved seeing the alligator beside the University Auditorium

Such a fun, quick visit back to campus. It’s been a long time since I walked through the heart of campus on a school day. Some things had changed (like the Krishna’s now have chairs???), but a lot was the same. It was fun to share it with our kids.

School at the library

One day when Ben was at preschool, the girls and I spent the morning at our library. Rosemary and I worked through all of her school work and had time for a snack and playground break and time to get books for the next few weeks.

Getting her bottle during our break outside.

Swinging during break.

Reading in the little armchair.

We had a great morning and I think we’ll try to go once a month or so for a morning at the library.

Pipe Organ Demonstration

A couple weekends ago, Jonathan and Rosemary went on a date at the University Auditorium for a pipe organ demonstration. I know it sounds strange, but I think they both really enjoyed it. They walked around campus a bit too and got some photos around the auditorium and the plaza.

Giveaway Baskets and a New Blog

This weekend, another MOPS Discussion Group Leader is hosting fundraiser. She has some pretty amazing door prizes lined up…like photography sessions, Gator Homecoming tickets, and gift certificates for local restaurants. I wanted to help out somehow so I put together a couple gift baskets. Not nearly as exciting as football tickets, but I had fun making them!

Here’s the info card for each of the items in the baskets:

Getting these together inspired me to finally get my act together and start a blog just for craft items that I’ve made extras of and am offering for sale. So…if you’re interested, you can check out Honeysuckle Sundries to see a few things that I have up for now.

I still plan on primarily crafting just for fun and as gifts, but it will be nice to have a place to share the ‘extras.’