Disney Part 2

I'm not quite sure where I left off with my last post.  But really it's of no consequence.  Each of our days at Disney was honestly filled with fun.  We discovered that Cooper was our dare devil.  He wanted to ride the big rides and the roller coasters.  He had no fear.

 Cooper and I rode Goofy's Roller Coaster at least three times.  He loved it.  This is a picture of our very first time. 

 And after McKenna braved Splash Mountain so did Cooper.  Suffice to say he loved it.  They even talked me into riding it.

 I love this picture.  It probably would have been better if we didn't have our shades on...but it still proves had a relaxing vacation.

 One of our favorite things this year was bike riding.  We were able to rent bikes and ride from our resort over to Fort Wilderness Campground.  It was such a pleasant and relaxing ride through the forest.   It was hard to believe we were in Florida. 

 Waiting for the light parade.   Kinley loved the parades - especially the light parade.

If you look closely, you can see Earl and McKenna in the last row.  This was her first time down Splash Mountain.

Cooper was excited that he got wet on his first trip down Splash Mountain.

 I had to include this one of Kinley.  She was so sweet.  She loved hanging out by the pool watching McKenna and Cooper swim.  Sometimes we joined them in the pool and sometimes she napped under the shade of the umberella.  Such a tough life!

 A trip to Disney is not complete unless you get your picture taken with Mickey and Minnie.  We lucked out and only had to wait 5 minutes!! to see them.

 I included this picture just because it's so special to me.  I love you guys!

 Character breakfast at the Cape May Cafe.  This is one of our favorite places to have breakfast.  The food is great and the the characters greeting you at your table is pretty special too.

 On our way to take our little Tinker Belle to see the real Tink we literally stumbled upon Peter Pan.  He suggested that Kinley was a pretty good Tink - she was pint sized and didn't smile much!    Peter Pan also referred to this as the "awkward family photo of the day".  It's wrong for so many reasons that I'm not even going to get into.

 Waiting to meet Tink!

 This one is for you, Joshua!  We promised you a picture of Captain Hook!  He can't wait to meet you in person some day.

The very last thing that we did on this trip was watch the afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom.   Honestly, I can't think of a better way to wrap up a trip.  We had a truely magical time.  So many great memories made and just time reconnecting as a family.    Earl and I had anticipated a grueling, tiring trip since this was the first year we were out numbered by kids.  But we were pleasantly surprised at how smooth our trip went.   

McKenna, Cooper and Kinley, I know you might not remember much from our 2012 trip to Disney World (especially you Kinley).  But I want you to know how much fun Daddy and I had with you.  We love experiencing places like Disney World through your eyes.   We are so thankful that we had this trip to spend time with you, reconnecting, laughing, and just hanging out and making memories.   

Field Day 2012

On Friday morning McKenna, Earl and I suited up in our red and headed to the annual field day event at McKenna's school.  We always look forward to this day.  For now, it's a day that we get to spend just with McKenna as coaches for her field day team.

 We started out the day with face painting.  The girls wanted to be cats.  That was the best I could do.  I signed up for field day...not for art! 

 Playground games were a big hit.  Look at McKenna's concentration.  The kids all held on to a tarp that had various holes cut in it.  They had to work as a team to get a ball through the right hole.  It was actually a lot of fun.  The best part was hearing the kids cheer when they got the ball through the right hold.

 Pass the Hula hoop without breaking the chain!

 Daddy couldn't wait to get in on the fun.

 We were sooooo....luck this year and got to do the field games before lunch and before it got to be 80 degrees.   What a welcome change from years past!

 Looks like McKenna is getting tired.

 Here's the same picture of McKenna and her friend a few hours later after water games and field events.  So much for the cat faces I painted.

 Daddy taking a much deserved break.   Keeping track of 49 kids is no joke.  This was Earl's second field day and my third.  We have definitely learned a thing or two over the years that makes it a little easier to keep track of everyone and shuttle all those kids and the other parent helpers from event to event.  But I will not lie - there is always a big sigh of relief at the end of the day when the attendance count comes out right!

 McKenna actually was a little chilly after water games.

 I love this picture.  She may not be fast but distance is her thing!  Our team tied the record for the distance relay.

Ending the day with a Popsicle.

Thanks for a great day McKenna.  We love spending time with you and your friends.  And in case anyone is wondering between McKenna, Cooper and Kinley we only have 9 more years of field day! 

Happy 10th Anniversary to the man I would marry all over again!  Thanks for making so many of my dreams come true.  The past 10 years have been happy and sad and amazing and hard and I can't imagine having lived them with anyone else.   This past year probably encompasses all of them.  But I could not be happier.  Our family is finally complete and I have realized my dream of just being a mom for awhile.  I couldn't think of anything else I could want.   I cannot wait to see what the next 10 years has for us.  I love you.

Kinley, You're 9 Months Old!

Kinley, you're nine months old!  And you are definitely starting to show your personality.  You are so much fun to be around.   You're always, always in a good mood.   You're starting to eat some finger foods.  Mostly crackers and graham crackers or some small pieces of toast.  You can pick up other foods like cheerios and puffs but you haven't quite mastered getting them in your mouth.  Today to celebrate your 9 month birthday you had a grilled cheese.  You seemed to really like it but it took forever  to feed you all of those little pieces.  We are not sure how much you weigh right now but you have graduated to size four diapers.  You still fit nicely into your 6-12 month clothes.  And your hair, well it reaches into a complete pony tail now.  It's crazy - crazy cute!

Nine months!  You have now officially spent more time here with us than you did in my belly.  This past month continued to be a big one for you.  Lots and lots of firsts.  But also, some of your old favorites too - like spending some nap time in the Mamaroo!

 You started off this past month with your first air plane ride.  You're a great traveler.  You slept the whole way to and from Florida.  But boy did you get heavy!

 We couldn't have asked for a better baby to spend a week in Disney with.  You were super content in your stroller or being held.  You LOVED the shows at Disney, even Fantasmic, which can get pretty loud and scary.

 Okay, there was a little issue with you and the characters.  You didn't especially like them.

 But you did like your princess dress!  Tinkerbell is pretty cute - but you give her a run for her money.

 We celebrated our first Mother's Day together.   I felt so blessed to have you here in my arms this year.  

 Your biggest accomplishment has probably been learning to get around a little more.  You have managed to crawl backwards.   And look, you've backed yourself into a corner - literally!  It definitely will not be long until you are scooting all over the place.  

You've also spent some time in the water which you also LOVE!  It's a new thing for daddy and I.  We aren't used to having kids who like the water.   It doesn't even matter how cold it is...you don't seem to mind.

So happy 9 months Kinley.  All of us have loved watching you grow over the past 9 months.  McKenna and Cooper continue to delight in all the new things you are learning and doing.   Most mornings when I get out of the shower I can find them in your room hanging out and talking to you.  Sometimes I spend a quiet minute listening over the baby monitor to the "conversations" you share with them.  You are likely to be one spoiled little girl because the two of them dote on your constantly!  Of course, Daddy and I might do a little spoiling too!

We love you so much.  Thank you for the joy you continue to bring to our lives. 

Disney 2012 Part 1

I'm so behind in getting our Disney posts and pictures on the blog.  I had to break our trip into a couple of posts because we have SO.MANY. PICTURES. and we had such a wonderful time.

For prosperity sake I probably should tell the story of this trip from the very beginning.  It's a pretty fun story for our family and I want McKenna, Cooper and Kinley to remember it some day.

We had enjoyed many trips to Disney over the past 5 years.  One such trip was just a month before I got pregnant with Kinley.  Her birth in late August meant that we would not make our usual November trip and we Earl told the kids that we wouldn't be returning to Disney until Kinley was able to walk.   Anyone who knows me knows that there is no way I was waiting until Kinley could walk to get back to Disney.   It just so happened that Earl's vacation lined up perfectly with the end of my teaching commitment - a great incentive for me and for the kids.  And so, in early January we began planning a trip but we didn't tell the kids.   For months we planned and planned and planned and then we packed - all without McKenna or Cooper knowing a thing.  It was a bit of a challenge from time to time, especially near the end but entirely worth it.

On the morning of April 27th we got the kids up and ready for school just like a normal day.   However, it was anything but a normal morning.  A few feet away in the garage sat our packed suitcases ready to be loaded into the car.   With their backpacks on we ushered them out the door at our usual hurried pace.  McKenna was the first one to spot the suitcases and it didn't take her long to start asking questions.  She wanted to know what they were there for.  I told her I thought we would go somewhere and asked the kids where  they wanted to go.  McKenna wasn't sure and Cooper said he wanted to go to Mimi's!   I eventually told them that we were loading up the car and flying to Disney that morning.   We had anticipated for weeks that there would be cheering and yelling and hugs for us.  But, we were wrong.  The kids didn't believe us.  We actually had to open the suitcases to prove to them that we really were going on a trip.   Even now McKenna will tell you that she thought we were joking.  And Cooper, well, we're pretty sure he was in complete shock for the first 2 days we were there.

This was Kinley's first plane ride and our first time traveling with three kids.  We debated for a long time whether or not to purchase a seat for Kinley.  At the last minute we decided we would hold her on the 2 hour plane ride.  She was an angel all the way down and all the way back.  However, this was the last time we will hold anyone on any flight!  It wasn't a problem to hold her but she slept most of the time and dead weight gets heavy!

McKenna and Cooper do so well flying anymore.  They are pro's!

We stayed at Disney's Wilderness Lodge this year.  This was our first time staying at this resort and we LOVED it.  We especially like the Whispering Canyon Cafe, the bike trails and the pools!

One of our best memories is from the first time we asked for ketchup at the Cafe.  No one warned us that if you needed ketchup you had to yell your request across the restaurant.  Or that your request would be me with 32 bottles of the red stuff!

We spent our first day at Animal Kingdom.  It was a very hot day but we enjoyed a few shows, the safari and meeting lots of characters.

Kinley's first picture with Mickey Mouse!  She didn't mind the characters as long as they didn't try to talk to her.

We took time to take lots of pictures together.  I want to remember everything about our family vacations.

So many people think we are a bit crazy for taking a baby to Disney.  However, this cute little baby was amazing.  She did not fuss, cry or whine the entire time we were there.  For as many times as we got her in and out of the stroller she never made a peep or protested.   And she got to go on lots of rides!

These People Call Me Mom

It's 12:18am as I sit beside Kinley's crib and write this.  It's our evening ritual of sorts.  Well, the sitting or standing by the crib - not necessarily the blogging.  But I've finally decided that if I'm going to be up between the hours of midnight and 4am I might as well get something accomplished.   It hasn't been a particularly restful week as she furiously working on cutting 5 teeth.  But, let's be honest, it is a well documented fact that none of my children have ever been great at sleeping at least in their early years.  Now, however, as I type and shhh and pat a cute little tush from time to time in attempts to get Kinley safely back to dreamland, McKenna and Cooper are sound asleep on my bedroom floor.  They like to have "camp outs" some weekends and it feels like a small price to pay for a little cooperation throughout the week.  I have to admit that while I never have allowed babies to sleep in my bed, I do also enjoy the occassional "camp out".   For some reason, having just about everyone (sorry Kinley) asleep in one room makes me feel a little safer.   Maybe it's some kind of motherly instinct or something.  Maybe it's just that I love having them around me.Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I have been adequately celebrated with tea parties and craft projects, coupon books and cards.  They are wonderful gifts.  But nothing can quite compare to the unsolicited hugs and "I love you's" or watching all three of my blessings playing and laughing together.  This is as hard a job as I ever imagined having.  But truthfully, I would freeze all of my kiddos and my life exactly how it is right now.   I am so blessed by them every single difficult and sometimes draining day, just as much as I am on the days that seem to float by.
I really have no idea where this all is leading but it's what was in my heart and on my mind tonight.   I am so blessed.  Maybe I just needed to remind myself of that.  Maybe I will need to read this post at some point down the line.  Maybe it will be tomorrow night as I stand over the crib bleary eyed  and pat, pat, pat while I sshh, sshh, sshh.  What an awesome responsibility and an awesome honor that these little people call me mom.