Disney Day 3

Things that could go wrong at the Animal Kingdom:

You can just miss the bus to the park thinking its ok, there should be another one just behind it! 45 minutes later you realize that you miss your highly anticipated character breakfast.

Once you FINALLY arrive at the park you realize you forgot your entry ticket in the hotel room.

Your 2 year old son can kick off his shoe somewhere in the park and it might take you over an hour to find it.

Your mom can break her sunglasses and be forced to buy a highly overpriced pair at Disney.

Good things:

Trinity rode the roller coaster Expedition Everest which features the Yeti and a twisting, backwards and turning track. She had her hands up and then demanded to ride it several more times. I am still shocked by her courage especially since I was a bit scared.

We saw many up close animals in the jungle safari including the lions and a big rhino butt.

I screamed my head off on Dinosaur.

We saw the 4D show "It's Tough To Be a Bug" where Everett freaked out at the spiders coming down from the ceiling and Trinity was a little bit scared at the bee stings and ants running under her seat. Reeve was not thrilled about any of it really.

We ended our day at the Tusker House Restaurant where we feasted on middle eastern food. delicious.

This park really should stay open past 5.

Disney Day 2

Things that could go wrong at The Magic Kingdom:

The first moments after arriving in the most magical place of earth (literally 2 minutes into our adventure) your 5-1/2 year old daughter can be so excited to see Daisy Duck that she goes running...trips...and lands face first. Gashed face and 8 bloody teeth later, we continue on our journey...

Or...try this. You can be sleeping peacefully with your one year old son until he falls head first off the bed at 12:30am and gets wedged/stuck under it. Perhaps you wonder how he didn't get hurt??!!??

There is the potential for a lot of right/good things. Our hope was that Trinity would try one roller coaster and maybe Splash Mountain on our vacation. Her first "big" ride was Thunder Mountain, the roller coaster. Not only did she ride it twice, and love it, but rode it hands in the air. Who is this child?? Splash Mountain was another success as she rode it twice... hands up.

Everett loved Pirates of the Caribbean and loved even more the sword Eddie bought him. He spent the rest of the trip with sword in hand saying he was Captain Jack. Trinity refused to go on the ride. I figured out she isn't scared of speed so much as dark places and scary people.

However, I thought she would like Space Mountain. We went on without testing it out first. My first clue should have been the one person per seat rule. She had to sit by herself which she didn't like. A couple moments into the ride she was screaming to get off. After the ride all she kept saying was "I totally freaked out. I didn't like that ride, I totally freaked out!" I felt like a horrible mother.

A hit among the kids were the Peter Pan ride, the Teacups, Dumbo ride, Magic Carpet ride, Jungle Cruise and the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride...although Trinity wouldn't go on this first day because she was too scared of Zurg. Instead, we rode the People Mover twice with Reeve while everyone else did Buzz. The PM is her favorite ride and won't stop talking about how cool it is.

Reeve was just happy to get out of the stroller and some points an explore the 100 degree asphalt. Man was it *hot*.

We had a buffet dinner, timed perfectly with the rain, at the Crystal Palace with the Winne the Pooh characters. We quickly learned that Reeve hated anyone looking non-human and walking upright. Can you see the terror on his face?
Here Everett is showing Peter Pan that he does a mean Captain Hook...with his index finger
We ended the day with the electrical light parade and fireworks. Everyone finally retired and got to bed about 11:30pm.

Disney Day 1

We officially did not arrive in Disney the first day but we did fly there which was the big event for me. I was dreading getting on an airplane but thanks to some good prayer and Xanax I did quite well. It was Reeve's first plane ride and he did spectacular and even took a great nap. Trinity and Everett were angels. The help of Auntie Abby and my mom were priceless.

We arrived at our hotel in Disney at about 5pm. We grabbed a delicious meal at the hotel, the kids got balloons and we headed to bed after rearranging the room for the evening.

Things I learned this day:

Staying at a Disney hotel may be close to the parks but you may have a 12 minute walk to your lobby/food.

Checking your luggage through Disney and having them pick it up at the airport and transporting to the hotel was *super* convenient and nice.

The meal plan is totally worth it. Dinner was crazy expensive and if it weren't for the meal plan we would have seriously underestimated cost of food.

Still loving Southwest Airlines. They totally rock!

Happy Birthday Eddie.

Eddie and I are separated by birth by 19 days. For those short 19 days, he is older than me. We celebrated the occasion by heading to Navy Pier to see the Tall Ships. Did I mention yet how hot is was? Man, was it hot. Did I mention how crowded it was? Man, was it crowded.

We waited 1 hour to get on 1 ship and after that we were about done. We did manage to sneak on a boat with a short line but after that we were really done.

We failed to realize that they have quite a variety of tall ships docked at Navy Pier everyday. You can even sail on one. See here.

Next year we will do a little more research or, in the least, come on a weekday morning.

Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and a good photo opp always makes my day.

Doesn't this "pirate" really look like Johnny Deep in Pirates of the Caribbean?
We ended the day at Joy Yee's for dinner but the adventure did not stop there. Everett was in crazy toddler form and all I could do was laugh at how insane he was acting.

Trinity's Candle Commerical

If you want to crack up, watch Trinity show you her extroverted side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC9vj8jk5i8

Shrek the Musical

Have you seen it? It was so good! Trinity, Eddie and I had a little matinee date to see it. It was loved by all! I am starting to see the career path Trinity might take. Every show, movie, play, etc. we see she is always asking:
"Is that real?"
"How did they do that?"
"Is he flying on cords?
"Is that a puppet?"
on and on and on and on and on.
She is so interested in the behind the scenes of e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.
Thank goodness we sat by understanding people at Shrek because she asked 54 questions in Act 1. I missed a lot of the show because I had a lot of explaining to do.

School Starts....booooo hooooo

On her way to school via bus. Tears in my eyes!

Home safely. phew!

Trinity has been very excited to start school, I have not been so excited. I was leaning toward homeschooling (I never thought I would say that). I really wanted to be on the forefront of her education and at the same time avoid the unnecessary right-of-passage drama that public school often has (private school too, I knoooooow). However, Eddie is not totally on board with that choice and Trinity was really wanting the school experience so we decided to send her to Kindergarten knowing we can always change our minds if problems arise. We are not married to it just as I am not married to homeschooling if we choose that route. For now we are taking it year by year.

As of right now I am not thrilled with her school experience. Although a great school, she is not being challenged, given any homework or even being corrected on the things she is not doing correctly. I am hoping when her teacher returns from maternity leave this will change.

She is taking the bus...again not thrilled about it but we are also on a will-do-it-until-there-is-a-problem basis. In the morning she takes the bus with k through 4th grade kids. You see the problem? In the afternoon it is only K kids...no problem. I do drive her when she requests or when she needs to sleep in an extra half hour.

3 weeks into the school year and my anxiety is under control. :)

Aviator

Diggin' his new shades

BZ & MA

We had lots of ideas of things we wanted to do and places we wanted to go this summer. The weather has been so stinkin' hot that we did not get a lot accomplished. Therefore, the week before school started (Kindergarten for Trinity) we started to cram some fun stuff in.
We met the Mouse family for the day at Brrokfield Zoo. They headed home around lunch and we stayed for an extra 3 hours to pet sting rays, visit the butterfly house, chase the peacocks and hang out with the lions and watch them eat lunch. Here is a picture of us at the new dolphin show. Shortly after we headed over to bears where we got the see a close up of a brown bear in a cave digging thru some brush. chasing butterflies and trying not to step on them.

A few days later we spent several hours at Morton Arboretum. I can never get enough of their kids' area. It is truly fun and hands on. Everett's favorite part was splashing around the ponds which turned into my least favorite. I am not a fan of soaking wet clothes in the car.

Trinity really loved the maze and Reeve especially liked the toddler maze. Trinity and Everett also enjoyed doing log rolls down a steep grassy hill. It brings great joy to my heart to see them play with each other and enjoy being siblings instead of fighting within the confines of our walls. I love the great outdoors!

Jonas Brothers Rock!

Most of you may not agree with that title but I happen to enjoy them. I think they are a solid group of kids who do have talent. Their music is a bit catchy and I do find myself singing a jingle every now and then.

They were in town recently and for $11 you can get a seat on the lawn. So, I thought Trinity might pass out if she saw them in person (she has had a crush on Kevin for 2 years now) so I took her. Eddie's sisters, cousin and niece joined us as well.

At first Trinity was pretty upset we were so far away but we managed to catch a closer peek as we walked back and forth to the potty. If she were in an actual seat she would have missed dancing around the grass. She demanded she be closer next time but then complained it was too loud and wanted to go home.All in all, I think every girl in that place had a great time, young and old.

Oh, yeah...

Tonight Trinity was "putting herself to bed" and was saying her prayers. She had a lot of requests but no thank yous. When I suggested she thank God for the great day at the zoo she replied, "but I already said Amen!". I responded with, "that is okay, God likes a thank you even after the amen. You can even say oh yeah God, I forgot to say...blah blah blah."
She said, "But if I say oh yeah, it will sound like I am at a disco party!"
In the hopes of her going to sleep within minutes I really had to pray not not laugh.

My First 1/2 Marathon

It all started with a 5k I didn't want to run in the first place several months back. Completely out of shape, I finished the 3 miles and thought to myself that maybe I should start running again. My neighbor/friend, Dana, (who talked me into the 5k) did a half marathon shortly after and I thought it sounded like something I could do. In May I joined a training program to get me ready for the August 1st race. Four weeks into my training, I badly injured my ankle and had to take 4 weeks off from running. With four weeks left until the race, I will powered my way to get miles in and get ready for the race.
The weeks I was running, I ran 110-1/2 miles, went through one pair of shoes and drank countless ounces of water and Gatorade. I set my goal at 2 hours and 30 minutes hoping that my minimal training could get me there. I am happy to report that I finished in 2 painful hours, 26 minutes and 25 seconds. The pain was from the intense heat, inconsistent pace (from a crowded course and harsh conditions) not the previous ankle injury which thankfully was a non-issue. "Jake the Bachelor" only beat me by 3 minutes. I almost had him!
I am continuing my training in hopes of running a strong race in the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10! I am very excited to run for the Ronald McDonald House charity and am hoping to inspire and serve some kids with my mad running skills. ha! Stay tuned...

Pre-race smiles and support.
In my corral ready to go...

I think this was somewhere about mile 2.Me and Dana (see above) happy to be finished.

There I am about the cross the finish line with my arms up in victory!

Suzy and I post race. Me and Suzy ran in high school on competing teams. I am happy to say she whooped my time with a 1:56. She is an animal!

Kid's Fest

We went to a kid's fest by my mom's house this month much like we did last year. I left my camera at home on purpose so I would just enjoy the kids having fun and not view their enjoyment through the world of a camera lens and a blogging mind. Of course, I regretted it and had to delete some pictures on my blackberry to make room for these. This ride was a big hit last year and again this year. They loved going round and round. I sat Reeve on the floor of the car so he could enjoy the ride too. He did until 2/3 into it and then he had to be removed.

87

We all came together and celebrated Grandma Marie's 87th birthday. We all enjoyed a little BBQ at their house and their new, sweet deck. It was the perfect day to be outside and celebrate an amazing woman!

Everett was happy to score a lighthouse while he was there.
This picture of Everett cracks me up. Love this picture of Abby!

Professor Campins

Beach Day 2010

I put "2010" in the title because I seriously only go to the beach once a year when all the moms from Park Community Church go. It is a day to let the kids get sandy and I get to catch up with the mamas. I also go for good beach pictures since they are very rare in my house.

This year I was very proud of myself. Not only did I last for 3-1/2 hours, and mostly avoid a sunburn, but I actually did enjoy myself. I did not think 3 kids at the beach would be fun but it actually was. So fun in fact that I may even do it again. I will have to recruit my sister-in-law Abby again because she joined us this time and was a HUGE help. Everett insisted that Santa Claus and Snowman come to the beach. We changed S.C.'s name to Sandy Claus for the occasion.

Reeve did amazing walking in the sand. It was a definite concern of mine before we got there.

Millennium Park

I have been trying to do at least one fun thing a week with the kids. A couple weeks ago I took the kids to Millennium Park to meet my friend Veronica and her boys.

We started with some crafts, got the kids' names written in Chinese, had some lunch, splashed in the fountain, did some shopping and then ended with some ice cream.

Trinity and Luca had a great time running around, then they started to wrestle. Everett took off his shirt to use it as a weapon to defend Trinity while Rocco lunged for her ankles to knock her down - - slick move.

Everett was very hesitant to get wet in Crown Fountain, which surprised me. He said it was too cold which didn't surprise me. His mama is the same way. Reeve wanted very little to do with the water at all. Trinity had a great time splashing and ran from one end to the other making it difficult for me to keep track of her. I am happy I didn't lose her and she is still with us.