Thanksgiving Part 1

My parents came down for Thanksgiving this year and the kiddos were able to spend a few days with them at the resorts. We all meet up for breakfast at O'Hana's on their first day. The kiddos are not huge character meet and greet fans, but they loved it.

I think Busia and Dzia Dzio may have enjoyed it just as much if not more than the kiddos. 

After our super yummy breakfast we spent the day at Animal Kingdom. Jill is a huge fan of the Wilderness Explorer program that they have there, so we had to participate. I think everyone enjoyed learning about the different animals. 

More posts coming with more visits from family!

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. 

Aunt Buddy's Animal Kingdom Adventure!

Yesterday we took Aunt Bettye, or as Aaron calls her, Aunt Buddy, to Animal Kingdom.  She has never been and it was her last full day in town, so we figured it would be perfect!

Naturally, if you know my kids, we had to go to Festival of the Lion King. Seriously, it's the best show on property and if you ever go to Disney check this show out.

After the show we grabbed some lunch to kill time before the safari. I'm like 99% whenever we all go to the park together this is our table. We've sat there almost every single time.

The safari was great as always. We had lots of up close views of the giraffe's, which basically made the kiddos (and Aunt Buddy's) day.  And seriously, how cute is the photo of Aaron holding Aunt Buddy's hand after the safari?

We were able to catch the Jammin' Jungle Parade, too.

I love that none of us are looking at the camera. Sigh. Oh well.  We were able to catch a bunch of trails and the dinosaur playground of course. Scott even tried to take Aaron on Dinosaur since they are now tall enough to ride, but he bailed as they got to the ride vehicle. I don't blame him, I don't even want to go on that ride.

We had a great day, and visit, with Aunt Buddy! Hopefully she'll come down again real soon and we can do it again!

Don't forget, today is Multiples Monday at Capri + 3

Disney Magic

 

The crowds have finally left, for the most part, so we took the kiddos to Animal Kingdom yesterday afternoon. Can you tell it's our favorite park? It's like we're always there.

We only waited 10 minutes for safari, which I was so not expecting. I was also not expecting to see as many animals as we did. We even saw the cheetahs up close, which in all our safaris, has never happened.

We also got some really good shots of the elephants, elands, and rhinos. But let me tell you about the woman sitting behind me. I swear you would have thought we were on safari in actual Africa. She was snapping photos on her DSLR like a photographer from National Geographic. At one point she was taking (and I swear) 20 photos of turkey buzzards. They are native birds, that's why they don't talk about them.

We caught the parade right after and then headed to our favorite show, The Festival of the Lion King. I give all credit to Scott for these amazing photos, but seriously whoever edited them is awesome.

The coolest part of this show was that one of the performers picked a child in a wheelchair at the end to participate. She wheeled him around the stage and he looked like he was having a blast. Moments like that totally make my day and remind me of just how magical Disney can be.

I hope you had an equally fabulous weekend!

I Love 3 Day Weekends

Scott had a three day weekend this past weekend and it was crazy amazing. He worked 12 days straight, so this was a welcomed break.

Friday we met up with my friend Andrea and her boys at Animal Kingdom. Our kids get along so well, and there may or may not be a blossoming love affair between Jill and both brothers.


Kudos again to the guy at the Kids Discovery area for really trying to teach the kids about rhino's and their poop. All they took away from that was that rhino's have big poop with grass in it. Excellent info that we all need to know.

Saturday we met up with Jenn and the boys for their opening day of Little League. Jill was thrilled that there were a bunch of booths set up for her to check out, and Aaron...well...he was pretty peeved that he did not get to go on the field. He actually tried to go into the dug out. Poor kid has to wait until the fall to sign up.

Jill walked away with two armfuls of silly band bracelets and about a dozen or so flyers. It was a success in her mind.

Sunday we went and saw The Lorax with Mimi and PawPaw. It's was their first movie with the kids, and their first 3D film. It was so cute!

I hope all of you had an enjoyable time as well!

Our week with Busia and Dzia Dzio

It has been a crazy week! We spent everyday with my parents while they were here and went to every park. The kids had a blast and have been sleeping wonderfully because they are so worn out.

I posted the photo collages the other day, but I'll post them again today, and this time I'll at least tell you about them.

My parent's first day here we just went to Downtown Disney, had some lunch and the kiddos rode on the train and carousel. The next day we went to Epcot and had dinner at Garden Grill inside the Land. It is so yummy there, and the kids got to meet a bunch of the characters. The next day we went to Animal Kingdom and Aaron got to be in the Lion King show. Later that day we went to Magic Kingdom and the kids went on the teacups for the first time. I went on it for my last time I think. I was definitely green after getting off. We also took the kids on Astro Orbiter for the first time, that was an experience. Friday it rained pretty much all day, so we hung out at the house and then Busia and Dzia Dzio came out and we all went to dinner with Paw Paw. I think we all needed a day to chill out. Saturday we went back to Epcot and had lunch at the Biergarten in Germany. Aaron found himself a girlfriend (the hostess), he even blew her a kiss. Something we learned at Epcot was that Aaron is obsessed with the ride Living with the Land. I've never seen a child so into a ride like that in my life. I like to think it's because it's educational, but in reality it's probably because it's a boat ride. Sunday we went back to Magic Kingdom and had lunch at Tony's Town Square. The lines were actually pretty short at Magic Kingdom, even on Sunday. Monday we went to Hollywood Studios and sat one row up at the Beauty and the Beast show. I have a feeling that's where Jill will want to sit from now on. As a matter of fact, this morning when she woke up she had a lengthy discussion with me about how the girl behind us got the red flower and she didn't and that little girl didn't even look happy when she got it, but Jill would be happy to get it. Oh my. Yesterday we just went back to Downtown for lunch and then said good-bye. Jill asked Dzia Dzio if she could go back to Chicago with him.

Here are the photos of the kiddos (mainly Aaron) with all of the characters they met:

We lucked out the one day at Epcot because they were training their character greeters, so all of the characters were out with virtually no line. Aaron loved every second of this.

We had such a great time with my parents this past week. It definitely went by entirely too fast. I know the kiddos cannot wait to see them again! Ok....the kiddos and me ;)

Blonde no more...

I finally did it....I completely went brunette, no more blonde. I've been talking about doing it again for a while, but have never had the guts. I was not a fan of the last time my hair was dark, it just wasn't the right color, but this time I think it's perfect. Whatcha think?

The kids seemed to like the new hair color as well. The last time I went this dark they weren't too sure about it. Granted, they were a lot younger then.

This afternoon we popped over to Animal Kingdom to let the kiddos run around in the dino playground. We both have to be there because the area is just so big and both kids go in opposite directions. I am always amazed at how daring the kids are in here. For the longest time Aaron was petrified of our slide but he has zero problems going down the HUGE enclosed slide in this playground. Plus, they both climb the cargo nets like it's their job, it's really impressive.

I'm hoping all of that fresh air and running around has worn their little rear ends out, I know it wore us out!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Fun at Animal Kingdom!

The kiddos and I went to Animal Kingdom today and met up with my friend Andrea and her twins Carter and Cameron. It was a little chilly first thing this morning, but it quickly warmed up and was a perfect day to be out seeing the animals.

We did a lot of the nature trails first and the kiddos got to see two tigers close up, as well as bats, turtles, gorillas and kangaroos.

The kids all got along really well. Aaron had two other boys to be silly with, and Jill...Jill had (cue a high pitched girly voice) Carter:

They held hands most of the day and she has spent most of her afternoon/evening talking about Carter. I think we had a budding romance on our hands, it's so adorable!


After we got off the safari all of the kids decided to hold hands and walk down the path, I am so glad I was able to catch the moment.

Is that not the cutest thing ever?!

So glad we had a chance to meet up with Andrea and the boys! Can't wait to do it again!

The gorilla was thisclose

Since the weather was so crappy this week, I decided to take the kiddos to Animal Kingdom yesterday. It was a little crazy since Spring Break is still going on, and I think a lot of people had the same idea that I had.

We didn't make it on to any of the rides, but we hit a lot of the trails and got to see the parade. Jill LOVES this parade, Aaron is pretty neutral.


The kiddos were most excited about the gorillas yesterday. We saw four of them really close, too close for my comfort actually. We even had a chance to have some "one on one" time if you will. We were the only ones that found where the one gorilla was hiding, so we got to watch him without anyone around us, it was pure perfection.

Don't forget to enter the Greener Good and Frito-Lay giveaways, they end at 9pm EST tonight. Hope you're having a great weekend!

Mommy and Me Monday and the Weekend that is Finally Over

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Normally I am not excited about the weekend being over, but I'll tell ya what, I am so glad it's Monday. Our weekend started out perfect, maybe too perfect? We got our new stroller on Friday and were ready to break it in on Saturday at Animal Kingdom. The kids had runny noses, but nothing severe, no fevers, no coughs, we were golden. So off we went to Animal Kingdom.

Aaron was pretty much content when we rode the tram. This kid loves Disney transportation and would ride it all day. It's a boy thing, right? Anyway, we literally walked right on to the safari and saw all of the animals. After that we grabbed some lunch and the kiddos were excited to sit like big kids at the table.


We did some of the nature walks and went on a the dinosaur ride in Dinoland. Jill loves that ride, Aaron could care less. After that we stopped by to see Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger.


Both of the kids were so excited in line and kept talking about them. They could barely contain their excitement until we actually got face to face with them. Then it was like they wanted nothing to do with them. Naturally, as we were leaving Jill started waving, blowing kisses and yelling "Bye! See you soon!!!". Awesome.

Since it was still early in the day and the kids were holding up really well we decided to go to EPCOT to see Mulan, who is Jill's favorite princess of the moment. Aaron wanted nothing to do with her when we got there so he opted out of the photo. Jill was so excited when she saw her in line and then became extremely shy when it was our turn. She gave Mulan her figurine to show her and then they talked about how in person Mulan wears a flower in her hair but the figurine doesn't have one. It was pure perfection. (And also the most perfect Mommy and Me Monday photo, ever!)


Then after we got home from our fun day we noticed Jill was running a fever. It came literally out of nowhere. One minute she was cool and the next she had a temp of 102.7. We gave her some Motrin, stripped her to her diaper and hoped it would go down. I knew something was up, I felt it in the pit of my stomach. Somehow Mom always knows. Scott was sitting next to her and Aaron and when I looked over she was seizing. This is the third time she's had a febrile seizure, this time she vomited which threw me for a loop. We went through our routine, Scott called his parents, went next door to get the neighbors (who by the way are awesome and I am so thankful to have such amazing neighbors!) and I called 911. Normally I'm pretty calm with the 911 operator, but this one.....if I had to confirm my street name by spelling one more time I was going to jump through the phone. So I calmly told her I wasn't going to confirm for the 4th time and that she needed to dispatch someone 2 minutes ago 'k thanks.

I cannot express how great Lake/Sumter fire rescue is. They are really good about keeping you calm and reassuring you about everything. It was nice we could even sit and joke outside before leaving for the hospital.

What we ended up finding out is that Jill has the beginning of an ear infection and that's what caused the fever, and since it spiked that's why she had the seizure again. Thankfully this is not something that is contagious so Aaron should be good. It's definitely been a long tiring weekend and I'm so glad Jill is on the mend (no fever as of this morning!) and that we can get back to normal.

Play along with Mommy and Me Monday hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

The Family Reunion Day....I have no idea

Yesterday we spent the day with my family. We started by hanging with my parents, sister and niece at the hotel, the kids even got to see Daddy since he was doing a training class there. Then we all piled on the bus to go to Animal Kingdom to meet up with my brother Art and his family. I think Aaron was more excited about getting to ride the bus than anything else. The kid loves the bus, and monorail, and train and anything that seems to be a mode of transportation.

We got to see the Festival of the Lion King Show. I have to say this is hands down one of the best shows on property. I'm fairly certain that Jill did not blink the entire time and Aaron....well he fell asleep.

After a fun morning at Animal Kingdom we headed home to change into some warmer clothes, meet up with Scott and then headed back out to Hollywood Studios. I love the Studios during this time of the year. I think the Osbourne Family lights are so great and are definitely one of my favorite holiday traditions.


See how excited everyone is to be there??? And can we talk about how pink my niece's camera is? No need for a flash there.

There are definitely a lot of memories at the Osbourne lights. One of my favorite is being there when our friends Matt and Bonnie got engaged a few years ago. It was so cool to be apart of that moment.
Now that the kids are older I cannot wait to keep the memories going and create new ones with them.

Thanksgiving Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

• Scott and his awesome coffee skills, especially on a day like today when Aaron thought it would be a good idea to wake up at 5:45.

• Scott's support in everything.

• Aaron being such a big helper! He helps us pick up the playroom every night. I completely plan to use this to my advantage until he doesn't think it's a game or begins to demand an allowance.

• Jill's dramatics, sometimes. Example: We were watching Beauty and the Beast and after any musical number she would clap and yell (seriously) "Bravo! Bravo!" Where she learned that, I have no idea but it's hilarious.

• Mitch reminding me that Jill is not a snob because she says "Bravo!", she would be a snob if she said "Bravissimo!".
  

• Small inflatable pools in the backyard. Seriously, it's too hot for anything else.

• Amazing family all around us.

• A super fun day at Animal Kingdom on Sunday with our friends Bob and Vanessa!

• Starbucks Tazo Passion Tea Lemonade, in the words of Kai-Lan, you make my heart feel super happy!

• The kind people at Education.com for promoting my post on Tuesday, it was totally unexpected!
  

What are you thankful for this week?

Mommy and Me Monday, the Animal Kingdom Edition

Yesterday we met up with our friends Bob and Vanessa at Animal Kingdom (yeah remember that I said I don't go there in the summer....I remember why now). Bob has been in Aaron and Jill's life since the day they were born. He took two days off of work to stay at the hospital with us and offered to run any errands he could or feed any of the babies, just not change diapers, he doesn't do that.

Our first stop of the morning was the safari. I don't know who was more excited, Bob or the kids. Aaron was a very good safari guide and pointed out animals and more importantly trees to Vanessa.
We walked a lot of the nature paths and because of the heat it was hard to see most of the animals. At one point Jill informed us it was time to eat and gave us that look like "Seriously how could you forget?". We ate at one of our favorite places, Yak and Yeti (if you ever go to Animal Kingdom, eat here it's delicious and inside, therefore you are in the ac). They have a Kobe beef burger that apparently is like a religious experience. Scott has always said it is amazing, but after witnessing Bob eat it, well, it was religious. Ha ha!

All the adults were able to go on Expedition Everest courtesy of the single rider line (5 minutes as opposed to 35). I even got to go twice! The kids were content watching the train hit the drop and would wave to all the people as they went screaming by. Our next ride was the triceratops spin and only because Jill started screaming "Oh yay!!!!" when she saw it. I forgot how much she likes that ride. The entire time in line she was yelling "blast off!!!". We then took the kids to It's Tough to be a Bug. I've been waiting on this show because well, a)I hate it and b)it scares me. The kids did really well though, Jill only cried once and Aaron just never put on his 3D glasses. The best moment was Bob's reaction to the bugs running under the seats. I wish I could have gotten my camera, it would have been a Youtube sensation!

After a quick snack (ice cream cone shaped rice krispies) we went to the Finding Nemo show. Aaron was fast asleep within the first 10 minutes of the show and Jill was clapping along. She quickly passed out once we got her back in the stroller. I was surprised that they didn't crash earlier, I know I was ready for a nap earlier!

We really had a great time with Bob and Vanessa and cannot wait for them to come back this way or to head back out to Sarasota for another beach day!
Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Since it's Mommy and Me Monday I had to make sure I got a photo of the kids and I enjoying our day:

Play along with Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Mommy and Me Monday

Hosted by Krystyn

This really is my favorite blog post each week. I love that I have a weekly photo of the kids and I, but it has made me notice that there are less photos of Scott and the kids. We shall work on that.

I think I already posted this photo on Saturday, but oh well, you get to enjoy it again! We all went to Animal Kingdom to enjoy the park, probably for the last time until the weather cools off. I think this is the kids favorite park, and this trail that we were on is their favorite as well. I worked on this trail right before Scott and I got married, it was one of the coolest jobs I've ever had.

Play along with Krystyn at Really, Are you Serious?

Are you ready?

The Lowe's repairman finally came yesterday, and no not at 8 am like they said, it was more like 10-10:15 am. Regardless, we still have to wait 3-10 (I'm hoping not BUSINESS) days for the part to come in and then we have to schedule an appointment to have it installed. Basically they said the motherboard blew on the dishwasher and it never should have (not something I really wanted to hear). It should have blown a fuse first, but it didn't. Hopefully this fixes it and I don't have to call Lowe's for a very very long time. In other news the microwave is making weird noises, totally awesome.After all the "repairing" in the morning we decided to take the kids to Animal Kingdom later in the afternoon, 1) in hopes it wouldn't be as hot and 2) the crowds would be heading home. We were right about the crowds at least.

We skipped the parade and headed straight back to see the tigers, which seem to be the kids favorite (mine too).
I used to work on this trail, so it's always neat to go back and see the animals that I used to see everyday and see how much they've changed. On this trail (which is supposed to be mirrored after areas in Thailand and India) there is a prayer tree. We were told that in Southeast Asia they believed that if they tied a scarf, or prayer flag on this tree that by the time it completely unraveled it had gone to heaven and your prayer would be answered.

I'm pretty sure the "real" ones don't have "Do Not Climb" signs in front of them.

We really lucked out with the tigers yesterday, they all seemed to be in a very good viewing area. We saw too at the overlook area and then too more at the glass area. The kids even got a pretty up close view of the tiger just as she was waking up.


Yesterday seemed to have a ton of field trips, I think I saw at least 5 different schools, but one in particular stands out to me and not in a good way. I can't remember what school it was but as we were walking out of the trail a group of kids from this school were walking and as we approached the Gibbons (monkeys) a girl from this school said "That's what I was sayin' about". It hurt to type that. Maybe some children should be left behind? Just sayin'....

Our next stop was the safari because it only had a 10 minute (if that) wait. I couldn't believe how fast we got on the ride. My kiddos are old pros at the safari now and will narrate it for you. If you happen to be in a safari truck with us, you are in for a treat. As we pulled away from the loading dock and were being held for clearance, Aaron looked around and asked "Are you ready? Are you ready?" and when the horn beeped he declared "Here we go!". Aaron then proceeded to point out every tree ("there it is!") and animal he could see. We saw a ton of animals yesterday, the most I think we've ever seen.


I think that might be our last trip until the fall (I think I said that last time we went too). It's just getting too hot, and that park always seems to be at least 10-15 degrees hotter.

Hope you're having a great start to your weekend!

There it is!!!!

Yesterday we went to Animal Kingdom with the kids. With the way the weather has been heating up, we know this is probably one of the last trips before the fall. This park, unlike the others, gets insanely hot in the summer because of all the vegetation. You truly feel like you are in the middle of Africa.

Our first stop was the Triceratops Spin, which is just like Dumbo. Jill has learned how to move the joystick and all I can say is I'm glad we hadn't had lunch yet.


Aren't her pigtails cute? We shed several tears while putting them in. She hates when you touch her hair, even if it's just to move it out of her eyes.
We had lunch at, by far, our favorite restaurant Yak and Yeti. They specialize in Asian style dishes and have egg rolls that are out of this world. The kids did really well at lunch too, Jill even licked the ketchup off her plate (I am so not kidding). Aaron was half asleep before lunch came out and then he perked right up when he saw his chicken. The boy does not pass up a meal for anything.


We went to see the tigers after lunch, they weren't too active though. I finally let the kids go into aviary back in Asia too. I used to work in there and have an intense fear of two of the birds, they're Victoria Crowned Pigeons and weigh 10 lbs. Seriously, 10 lbs. They also have a killer wing span and will hit you if you get too close. I've been told it feels similar to having the rim of a tennis racket hit you. Scott thought they had been taken out, so we went in. Much to our surprise there they were, the red eyed (seriously) devil birds. I hauled out of there so fast, I was not taking any chances. Obviously I do not have a photo, it would have been blurry anyway.

At some point between the walk from Asia to Africa the kids passed out, so Scott and I got fast passes for the safari and decided to chill out and watch the African drummers. Scott was worried the kids would wake up, but I had a feeling we would do just fine. The kids didn't even flinch until after the performance, it was awesome!

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On the safari Aaron narrated the entire ride. Thank goodness, because our safari guide bit the big one. Anytime she would say an animal Aaron would yell "Where?!" pause "There it is!!!!". He also made animal noises for each animal, not necessarily the correct ones, but animal noises nonetheless.


Hopefully the weather won't get too hot and we can enjoy the park a few more times before summer.

Are you on Blogher and participating in today's scavenger hunt? I may just be one of the clues ;) Happy hunting!

Mommy and Me Monday

Hosted by Krystyn

I actually remembered to take a picture this week! Woo hoo!

We went to Animal Kingdom yesterday with our friend Jenn. We hadn't been in a while, plus the weather was gorgeous! The kids love this park! We took them back into the affection section where they could brush the goats. Aaron ran around with his brush but had zero desire to actually touch or brush any of the animals. Jill was more content sitting on the benches and letting the animals come to her (diva what?). We also got to go on the safari, which Jill slept through. How she managed to do that is mind boggling.

We also got to catch the parade, which is really cute, and Aaron almost lost his mind when he saw Chip and Dale. I think those two crazy chipmunks have become his favorites. I'll have to see if I can find some videos of their cartoons for him.

In semi-related news, I would like to educate everyone on this thing called weather and how it relates to Florida. I understand, we are the "sunshine state" and are known for amazing year round weather. However, that does not mean that we have 90+ degree weather everyday and maybe you should check this site called weather.com prior to your vacation. That way you can pack more than short shorts and tank tops (that's for you cheerleading team, like OMG). Glad we cleared that up....hope you had a great weekend and be sure to stop by Really, are you serious? to play along with Mommy and Me Monday!