School Stuff

A few things we’ve done school-wise and otherwise in the last month or so…

We read A New Coat for Anna and did a dye experiment with cotton balls in cranberry juice, yellow food coloring, and crushed blueberries. In the book, Anna’s coat is dyed with lingonberries, which made me think of IKEA. Since we were fresh out of lingonberries, we worked with what we had.

We got out the Legos and the kids have really enjoyed them. Rosemary made “princesses.” From the left you have Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, and Tiana. Not sure what the thing on the right is…

We read Mrs. Katz and Tush and talked about Passover. So we made bread last week. One batch with yeast, one without. Rosemary chose to make hers without.

Rosemary with her two loaves of unleavened bread.

A bit closer. I should have weighed them. They were like bricks, but tasted okay. The kids really liked it actually.

The no-yeast and the yeast bread.

While Ben’s bread was still a bit dense, I found it to be much more appetizing.

Along with our bread, we had some tea and jam. Then we had to listen to the song from The Sound of Music. The kids got a kick out of that.

Charlotte is Walking

Our baby is walking. We knew it would be soon and on Friday, March 2 (my mom’s birthday) Charlotte officially became a walker. She started walking at a younger age than either Ben or Rosemary…by one day if you consider that this year is a leap year…just 8 days shy of being 14 months old.

Standing on her own on March 2.

A few tentative steps

Through the weekend she was taking more and more steps. And now, a week and half later, she’s walking up a storm. It was like flipping a switch with her. While she’d taken a tentative step here and there for the last few weeks, she really started last week.

Here comes toddlerhood!

Girl Scout Cookies

I’ve mentioned before that Rosemary is a Daisy Scout. Well, this spring was her first foray into the world of selling Girl Scout cookies. To kick things off, her troop had an info meeting for parents and for the girls. In the girls’ meeting, they each set their goal. Rosemary decided she wanted to sell 1,000 boxes of cookies because she wanted to get the digital camera that was the 1,000 box incentive. She aims high.

Well, she didn’t hit 1,000, but she did sell 226! I thought that was amazing. And as a result, she was one of the top three sellers and gets to see the Peking Acrobats and go to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse with the other two top sellers and her troop leaders.

Cookie boxes took over the living room. As you can see, Thin Mints are the clear winners. Samoas came in second (they’re the purple boxes that are in two separate columns). We bought at least one box of each kind. We’ve learned which ones we won’t need to buy again.

Getting ready to deliver some of our neighbor’s cookies.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure

At the end of February, Jonathan and I met up with Janey and Dwayne at Islands of Adventure. We hadn’t had a chance to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter yet. The timing just hadn’t worked out. When it first opened I was pregnant with Charlotte and I didn’t want to go when I couldn’t ride anything. Then we had a nursing newborn, then it was hot, then we we had the holidays…you get the picture. It just hadn’t worked out. Well, finally it did! But by the time we were able to go, Janey was pregnant so she didn’t get to ride all of the stuff (although she kindly waited through the lines with us).

We left the kids with my parents for the day. IoA isn’t really geared towards really young kids. It was crazy going to a theme park without a kid, stroller, or even a purse! We hadn’t done that in over six years. We moved so fast.

We got there before the park opened and got to see the opening ‘ceremony’ they did. Once inside, we headed straight for Hogsmeade. I was so happy that it was a little bit cold that day. It just seemed more appropriate to experience with a bit of chill in the air.

So exciting!

Zonko’s and Honeydukes (Hogsmeade meets Diagon Alley, which was kinda the story of the entire area). This was just after 9am. We came back around noon and this place was packed. We were thinking about eating lunch at the Three Broomsticks and there was a line just to get in! We think that’s why people were eating lunch at like 9:45…just to be able to find a table!

Outside Hogwarts (aka the Forbidden Journey ride) there was pram parking. Obviously, not a lot of strollers were here.

A glimpse of Hogwarts as we made our way to the Forbidden Journey. That ride is unlike anything I’ve ever ridden. But is it wrong that my favorite part was the line? Don’t get me wrong, the ride was amazing, but the line was incredible. I would have been fine if we’d had a longer wait just to watch the talking portraits more, see a bit more of Dumbledore, and see more of Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Amazing.

After the Forbidden Journey we rode Flight of the Hippogriff then went through a couple of the shops. The line for Ollivanders Wand Shop was really long so we skipped that. The guys then went and rode Dragon Challenge…both sides…while Janey and I grabbed some butterbeer. Wow, it was sweet. But such a fun touch!

I was so cold…but having so much fun!

After finishing up there, we headed over to The Cat in the Hat ride, where Jonathan worked during the summers and breaks when he was in college.

Getting ready to ride Cat in the Hat

After that, we rode the High in the Sky Trolley which we’d never ridden before. From there, we headed over to The Hulk. I don’t know what’s changed, but I get way more freaked out on rollercoasters than I used to. As soon as the ride started (which starts fast!) I just kept thinking, thank goodness we won’t slow down until it’s over! Whew.

We wrapped up all that we wanted to do by lunchtime. Since the Three Broomsticks was so full, we headed over to CityWalk and got a bite to eat at Margaritaville, where Dwayne works. All the food was so good. I probably could have had three meals out of my bbq sandwich. But I didn’t. :-)

We had such a great time with friends that day! It was great to spend the time in the park and at lunch just catching up and spending time together. I’m just so thankful that Janey and I have kept up through the years. It was a great day!

Icicles

A few weeks ago we had an overnight freeze. Jonathan set up the sprinkler and in the morning the kids woke up to bit of a winter wonderland.

The branches on the maple and loquat were sagging under the weight of the ice. We lost one of the loquat branches.

Ben and Rosemary bundled up in their heavy coats and pajamas to go outside and play with Jonathan. Charlotte and I stayed inside. Ben didn’t last too long before he came inside to get warm.

Rosemary enjoyed examining the icicles on the trees.

Disney for Rosemary’s Birthday

This past weekend we headed down to Orlando to spend the weekend at the condo with my parents. It also worked out for Jonathan and I to go to the Magic Kingdom with Rosemary to celebrate her 6th birthday (thank you, Steve!).

We needed to be at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom by 8:30am. The park didn’t open until 9am so when we parked, we parked close enough that we didn’t even need a tram to get to the Transportation Center. We caught the first monorail of the day (with about only 20 other people) and rode over to the entrance.

So excited about the day!

We double checked about riding in the front of the monorail on the way over, but like we thought, it’s not allowed anymore. The last time we rode in the front Rosemary was 2, so she won’t remember it.

We were there early enough to see the opening show. In all the times I’ve been to Disney, I had never seen the opening show so that was very fun.

Once in, we basically made a beeline for Fantasyland. It’s also nice getting there early because then you can walk through the middle of the castle. I don’t know why, but I love doing that.

Since it was early, we managed to ride all of the Fantasyland rides except the tea cups in 40 minutes. It was amazing. By the time we were finishing up, lines had gone up to 20 minute waits. We rode Peter Pan, Snow White, Winnie-the-Pooh, the carrousel, and it’s a small world. It’s amazing how fast you can move without a stroller!

Riding the carrousel.

Walking onto it’s a small world. No line at all!!

Riding with her dad. Every time we ride this we talk about how Rosemary fell asleep in her daddy’s arms the first time she ever rode it.

In the stocks

After Fantasyland, Jonathan grabbed a bite of breakfast and we headed over to Adventureland to meet Tinker Bell (which did not go well), ride the magic carpets, see the Tiki birds, and ride the Jungle Cruise. Rosemary did not want to ride pirates this time.

After Adventureland, we went to Frontierland and rode Splash Mountain for the first time with Rosemary. I’ve ridden that ride quite a bit and never gotten as wet as we got on Saturday. And it was chilly! Thunder Mountain was closed so we didn’t get a chance to ride it. Next we headed to Tom Sawyer’s Island.

Then it was time for some lunch. Lobster rolls for Rosemary from Columbia Harbor House. She loves those.

After lunch we went over to Tomorrowland, but stopped and watched Dream Along with Mickey at the castle. We rode the People Mover, Carousel of Progress, and Buzz Lightyear.

It was almost time for the parade so we found a seat near the riverboat, which Rosemary wanted to ride next. By the time the parade was over though, the riverboat was closed for maintenance so instead we went over to the train and rode from Frontierland to Main Street.

From there we stopped by the Emporium to pick out a souvenir (a Minnie little doll set) then since we did everything Rosemary wanted to do (or at least didn’t want to wait to do) we caught the monorail back to the Transportation Center and then over to EPCOT. First we picked up our heavy coats…the temperature was definitely dropping!

We got to EPCOT around 5pm and got Soarin’ Fastpasses (the ride Rosemary REALLY wanted to ride) and then rode the Nemo ride. It was getting close to dinner so we decided to see how long the wait for dinner would be at the Rose and Crown. It was only 15 minutes so we waited.

Enjoying a roll.

Still daylight at this point. Dinner took a REALLY long time, we were there for about an hour an a half, and by the time we headed out it was dark. We did a quick tour of the World Showcase and stopped in Japan, Italy, and Mexico to look around a bit. Then we headed over to Soarin’. I think Rosemary liked it as much as she had hoped to.

Our last ride of the day was Spaceship Earth. By the time we were heading out, it was after 9pm, over 12 hours after we’d arrived. We took the monorail back to the Transportation Center and on our way out to the car, Rosemary asked to be carried. At first I said she needed to walk, but then I realized just how tired she had to be. I picked her up and she fell asleep in my arms. Jonathan carried her the rest of the way and she stayed asleep until we were back at the condo. It was such a full, wonderful, and special day. Even if Rosemary doesn’t remember it, I know I will.

Morningside Nature Center Field Trip

Rosemary’s co-op went on a field trip to Morningside last week. I thought that it was going to be about farm animals, but it was actually about animals and their natural habitats.

Rosemary was hesitant to participate and engage in things at first, but once the guides started talking about animals, she perked up. I was very proud of her for being able to identify a great horned owl when the group was asked.

One part of the trip involved the kids building a habitat in a sand box and then identifying and placing animals in the habitat and as part of a food chain. The kids loved this part.

Adding trees to the habitat

More trees

The finished habitat, just need to add the animals!

Rosemary is 6!

At the end of last month, Rosemary celebrated her sixth birthday.

Jonathan took the day off and we spent it relaxing and enjoying our family. Ben went to school that morning and while he was there, Jonathan stayed at the house while Charlotte napped and Rosemary and I headed to Toys R Us. She had a couple of gift cards and birthday money to use. After picking out some mermaids for her and a toy fly for Ben, we headed home.

We picked Ben up from school then went to Chick-fil-a for lunch.

Our big 6 year old enjoyed some nuggets before heading into the play area.

The older two kids feasted on some ice cream too.

Charlotte is our little ham. She enjoyed this year’s Chick-fil-a lunch a bit more than last year’s.

After lunch the younger ones slept and Rosemary watched her Fashion Fairy Tale movie then rode her new bike. I need to get some pics of her riding her bike because she’s been riding it without training wheels since November (maybe longer?) and I haven’t snapped a photo of it yet. After that, it was time to get ready for ballet.

Rosemary requested to go on a date with me to Five Guys after ballet. So we did. While we were there, she told me a lot of different things.

1. If she could go anywhere in the world, she would go to Hawaii to see the hula girls.
2. When she grows up she wants to be either a farmer, a dress designer, or a gymnastics or ballet teacher.
3. Her best friend is Hannah.
4. Her favorite subject in school is snack time.
5. Her favorite color is pink.
6. Her favorite food is peanut butter and honey sandwiches and drink is orange soda.

Then we stopped by Publix to pick up some cupcakes and came home and enjoyed those.

Making her wish.

Happy birthday, sweet girl! How special you are.