Where Have We Been? Disney, of course!

To say we have been busy the last week would be an understatement. Why have we been busy? Well, for starters, these two crazy kids are here:

It's awesome having my folks in town and I've been able to take some time off to spend it with them. Last Saturday us ladies went to the afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian. None of us had been and I couldn't wait to make some memories. 

The tea was wonderful! They even brought out a small tea pot for Jillian. I hope to make this a tradition for us ladies. 

That night we went to Maggiano's to celebrate my new job. 

Aaron decided to have family style with us and ate until he almost burst. 

My parents checked in to their Disney hotel on Tuesday and my brother Kevin and his family joined them. We all met up on Thursday at EPCOT and had a beyond delicious lunch at Via Napoli. 

I promise my nephew smiles, just not in photos. I guess the same could be said about my Dad. Hmmm....

The next day we started our morning at Chef Mickey's. Now, let me tell you what happened and how much my life has changed in the 6 years since I have had these kiddos. I was walking back from the buffet, plate in hand, and the child in front of me blew chunks everywhere. I sidestepped the mess and my first thought was, "Oh crap, I didn't grab any eggs..."

Aside from that display, the breakfast was awesome and the kiddos were able to see all of the characters. 

We headed out to Animal Kingdom after breakfast and I was able to snag this photo on the way to the buses:

Animal Kingdom was fun...hot...but fun. We headed back before the storms hit and then headed out to dinner with my cousin Mike and his son. While we were waiting for them, my niece and nephew were hanging with Jill. My nephew was busy teaching Jill how to spit over the railing. Memories, people, memories. 

The next day we all headed out to Hollywood Studios. I'm not totally sure what my most favorite part of the day was, lunch at Sci Fi, riding Tower of Terror with my Mom and niece, riding Tower of Terror with my nephew, niece and cousin or the moment we found my Dad sitting on a bench at the front of the park because, you know, we would have to walk by at some point. 

The kiddos spent the night at the hotel with their grandparents and all I know is they stayed up later than Scott and I. 

We all met up for breakfast this morning at Kona Cafe and then spent the day poolside. We ended it on a pontoon cruising the lakes. 

The visit has been awesome and unfortunately, really fast! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to catch up on some sleep. 

You Could See Them From a Mile Away

My niece Lorren and her friend Maggie got into town yesterday. I think they've been planning this girls trip since they were in grade school, so you can only imagine how excited they were to actually be here on that trip. They even made matching shirts...yup matching hot pink shirts.


As you can see Jill loved Maggie right off the bat, and Aaron called her "that one", we're working on fixing that. I cannot wait to spend some of the week with them!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Congrats to Mandy for winning The Greener Good giveaway!

I'm still here!

I promise I have not fallen off the Earth or anything, we've just been super busy!

On the kids birthday we went to EPCOT with my parents and had an amazing lunch at Le Cellier. They're where I got the recipe for the cheddar cheese soup. Naturally, theirs is better. The weather was pretty muggy again so we called it quits after a little while and went back to the hotel to meet up with Scott and have some dinner. Dzia Dzio gave the kids cookies though before dinner. I mean it is their birthday after all ;)



Thursday we went back to EPCOT to have dinner at Coral Reef in The Seas. I always forget this restaurant is there, even though we had our rehearsal dinner in the VIP room above the restaurant. The food was amazing, even though it's a little morbid to be eating fish while watching fish swim around in a tank. The kids ate really well too, mainly bread, but a lot of it.



It rained while we were at dinner so the park had started to clear out and we were able to walk right on Journey into Imagination and then let the kids play afterward without it being crazy.



Of course this caused all of us to work up an appetite and therefore we need to stop at the bakery in France for dessert. We got the kids palmiers (elephant ears, sounds so much better in French) and Jill ate almost the whole thing. Aaron was *gasp* too tired to eat.

Friday the kids had their 2 year appointment at the pediatrician. Aaron weighs 31 lbs and is 35 inches long. They estimate he will be around 5'11" when he is an adult. That puts him in the 75% percentile in both height and weight. Jillian weighs 28 lbs and is 34 3/4 inches long. They estimate that she will be between 5'8" and 5'9" when she is an adult. She is in the 75% percentile for height and 50% percentile for weight. Hopefully we don't have to go back until their birthday next year.

Today has been pretty chill so far. My parents are back at our house for the rest of the week, so we played outside for a little bit before the heat got out of control.



Jill almost fell asleep in her swing, poor kids are so tired!

Our garden is doing insanely well! We have 2 tomatoes that have popped through, a few strawberries and any day now we should have green peppers and zucchini!



Hope you're having a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all of you mama's out there!

Just don't touch the walls!

I finally let the kids try out their finger paints yesterday. I'm not a big "hey let's make a mess!" kind of a person and could instantly see my angels taking off down the hallway with their paint covered hands touching the ivory walls. *shudder* They did really well though and there was minimal paint in places that it shouldn't be, like their bedroom door, thankfully though the paint is really washable. Jill was really into it and didn't want to stop, Aaron could care less. He's kind of like me and not a big fan of squishy stuff in his hands, or messes.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Looks like they had fun, huh? I think they had more fun in the tub afterward. They thought it was cool that the water changed colors and that they could paint the walls of the tub (and possibly the toilet seat).

We're getting ready for our staycation this week. I cannot wait! We're just going to Disney, but actually staying at one of their hotels which is a nice change! Speaking of Disney, did you see the "How to do Magic Kingdom with Multiples" post on Multiples and More? You should check it out!
Hope you're having a great start to your week!

"I can't even go to the bathroom....."

Yesterday my parents came to the house to hang out since the parks were out of control! Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom both closed because they hit capacity (trust me you don't want to know what those magical numbers are) and there were crazy lines to get into EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. It was nice to just sit around and talk about the "old days". I'm into genealogy so all of these stories and pretty awesome to hear. My Dad was telling me that my Great-Grandma Bednarek used to bake every single day and would make her rye bread out of day old rye bread from the bakery. How does one do that?

Later we met up with Mimi and PawPaw at Houlihan's for dinner. I love this place! They have an ahi-tuna appetizer that is to die for! Anyway at one point my Dad got up to use the restroom and Jill about lost her mind. She cupped her hand around her mouth and started yelling "DZIA DZIO!!!!" It was hilarious! They are best buds right now, they even talked the entire ride from Old Key West to our house. Who knows what he agreed to this time!

Hope you had a great start to your week!

Way back When-esday: We're engaged!

Dateline: Summer 2005
Where: EPCOT

Since Scott and I planned on marrying at Disney since that is where we met, we also had our engagement photos there. Fun fact, the photographer who took these photos also took our wedding photos.
We had to arrive at the park right at opening and had to be escorted into World Showcase since it opens later than the front of the park. We totally felt like rockstars!
All I really remember about this day was it was one of the hottest days that summer and I was really wishing that we had photos done inside!

Play along with Cheryl at Twinfatuation!

Thanksgiving Thursday and our day at Magic Kingdom

Well there's a lot to be thankful for today, so let's get right into it! I'm thankful for...

• My parents deciding that one more kid wasn't so crazy! See, 26 years later and I'm still keeping you young! You're welcome :)

• The awesome birthday I had today with my husband and the kids at Magic Kingdom!

• Disney giving annual passholders gift cards instead of a day free (yahoo $75!) for their birthday!

• Peter Pan giving the kids an extra special magical moment! He totally sat and played with the kids for like 5 minutes, it was awesome!

• The dancer at the parade that stopped and talked to the kids (in the middle of the parade!). You are cool lady in the yellow dress!

• All the birthday wishes from everyone today! You all are so sweet!

• The wonderful gifts I got today! Most especially the Bryan Adams CD's and photo printer from my darling Scott (don't laugh about the CD he rocks!).

• The bottle of Barefoot Chardonnay that Lani and I had the other night. Wine giggles are the best!

• My parents coming down here in like 8 days! They should move here right? I think so!

Like I said in my list today was awesome at Magic Kingdom! Disney is doing this thing this year where you can go in on your birthday for free, but if you have an annual pass you can get a gift card, fastpass thingy or free admission next year on your birthday. Yeah we went with the gift card, for sure. I got the kids some cute t-shirts (organic too, go Disney!) and one for myself. Yup, that came to $74.50. But anyway, we took the kids on Snow White, It's a Small World, Cinderella's Carousel, and The Laugh Floor. Plus the kids got to meet Peter Pan and all the citizens of Main Street! Peter Pan spent like 5 minutes with them just playing and making them laugh. That totally made my day! It's cheesy but there is nothing like watching something special happen to your kids at such a big place like Disney. Even though I used to work there and do know that they do this, a lot, it's still awesome! Then we watched the parade, Snow White waved at the kids, so did Donald, Dale, a ton of the dancers and Ariel. One of the dancers even stopped and talked to the kids for a minute, yeah during the parade! Here's some photos from the day, I'm waiting on the video to upload, it's taking longer than normal so I will post it tomorrow. Hope you had an awesome day!Scott and Jilly waiting to go on Snow WhiteMe and Aaron waiting to go on Snow WhiteMe and the kids on Cinderella's CarouselAaron and I on It's a Small WorldJill and Scott on It's a Small WorldPeter Pan, Aaron and JillHow sweet is this?Thanks Peter!All tuckered outMe and the kiddos waiting for the parade

Way back When-esday: Rehearsal Dinner

Date: May 26th, 2006
Where: Disney's Living Seas in EPCOT

This photo is of Scott and I the night before our wedding :) We were married at Disney's Wedding Pavilion on May 27th, 2006 and had our rehearsal at Disney's Boardwalk followed by the dinner at The Living Seas in EPCOT. You know how they say it is good luck to have rain on your wedding day? Well, I don't know what they say about torrential downpours at rehearsal dinners, but it seems to have the same effect! Disney event cast members were trying to keep up dry with ponchos and umbrellas, but let's face it once your hair hits rain/humidity there is no poncho that can save that. The night was really good (kind of seems like yesterday) though and there were plenty of surprises! Scott's grooms cake was changed last minute by me and our wedding planner (he was supposed to have a Seminoles cake but since he worked for Security at the time we had his badge replicated on the cake, it was wonderful!), my Dad got an entire plate of carrots (which he hates), my brother made sure I as well had a full plate of carrots (not a fan) and both of my brothers provided fishing hats and poles for everyone so they could "catch their own dinner". I can't believe it's almost been 3 years, and so much has changed since then (especially our looks, pretend we still look like that!)

Play along with Cheryl (yesterdays featured blogger!) at Twinfatuation
Also, check out Multiples and More to learn about Signing Time and enter for a chance to win "My First Signs".

I love a parade!

We went to Magic Kingdom today with Lani, Lily, Ben and Cameron. Another reason I love the annual pass and being 15 minutes from Disney, we decided at noon we were going and were there in time for the parade! It would never be a trip to Disney though if a) we didn't cause a scene (there was a car accident between the car next to me and the car next to them) b) lose a hat in the parking lot and c) be compared to Octomom. It was awesome though, and we had a really great time, here are some photos of our day...In the parking lot looking for Cameron's hat
On the monorail heading over
Waiting for the parade
Hey Ben!
Jill having a pre-parade snack
Aaron having his snack
Our friend Belle :)
On the way back to the car
All tuckered out

That's it for the day, hope you had a great one!

Thanksgiving Thursday

>>

Time for another installment of Thanksgiving Thursday. This week, I am thankful for...

• My parents being in town for the past week. It was an awesome time, especially when my Dad called that lady a b-yotch, only in my family.
• Scott taking the week off to be with us and for taking an extra day today so I could go to my doctor's appointment in peace (it's all about the little things).
  
• This Saturday...Melting Pot....d-lish! I think maybe I won't eat until then, because it is going to be so yummy that I have to eat it all.
  
• Ghiradelli still having peppermint bark and for it being 50% off. 2 for 1!!!
• The garlic mashed potatoes at Crystal Palace they were so yummy, and that's about all that was yummy.
• My Dad being Scott's sponsor for R.C.I.A since I can't be.
  
• Everyone who made Sunday's mass such a nice event. Especially the ushers who told the mean snow birds that the word "reserved" means you can't sit there.
• Lani's family getting over the plague that has swept their home and that it has not (knock on wood) hit our home.
  

That's all I can think of right now, I'm super tired, it's been a long week. I think tomorrow is going to be a regroup day. Hope you have had a great week and have had tons of things to be thankful for!

More of the Disney trip

Our first meeting with Mickey!

Jill riding on her Daddy's shoulders (Only long enough for the photo)

All of us waiting to get on Dumbo

Aaron on Cinderella's Carousel

Jill and I on the Carousel

The rest of our time at Disney was AWESOME!!! We had dinner at Chef Mickey's and the kids met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy. I'll admit I was nervous about how they would handle meeting them, ok, honestly I had nightmares about them screaming and me having to find the greeter to ask them to not allow the characters anywhere near us. But luckily they loved the characters and were excited each time they came around! Jill even played with Goofy's whiskers. We went to EPCOT and the kids loved Nemo and friends. There are a ton of bright colors and lots of movement so it really kept them interested. They loved looking at the tanks after, which makes Scott want to get a fish tank again. Magic Kingdom was a success as well. They went on Small World, Dumbo, Cinderella's Carousel, Haunted Mansion, Tomorrowland Transit Authority (the blue line), Pirates of the Caribbean and we went to Toon Town to see the fairies (not the one we wanted to see though, sorry Lauren). Just to see how excited they were the entire time was so worth the price of admission. I cannot wait until they are older, I just know it will be a blast!

We are getting ready for the big trip to Chicago. We fly out next Wednesday and get back the following Wednesday. My sister Cathy kindly reminded me that the forecast for next week is 12 degrees.....yuck, now I remember why I moved!

Hope all is well with all of you! Sorry it was short, but I'm still wiped from Disney!