Seriously, the LAST trip of the summer of 2013

After a few glorious days at the lake we loaded up and continued south to Gigi and Papa's house for one last visit before we had to settle back into the routine of work and school.

Gigi treated us to a trip to Busch Gardens and for the first time we ventured out to the big kid rides instead of hanging in the Sesame section only. Riley rode the tower, two roller coasters, and other crazy thrill rides. Camden upgraded to the swings, teacups, and bumper cars, though they wouldn't let him on the splash ride because he was just an inch too short which broke his heart. To this day he asks me if he is tall enough now for that ride. #scarredforlife

Waiting for the Verbolten, her first real roller coaster ride! It was cold in this part after being out in the heat!


Teacups!

Waiting for the pirate ship ride which they loved so much we rode it twice.

We spent the rest of our visit lounging by Gigi and Papa's pool and enjoying their company. The kids love to explore in their back yard. Riley found this fat guy just about ready for his cocoon!

She said "I will call you Caterpillar!  And you will be my Caterpillar!"  Indeed.

When we got home we had just over a week left of sweet summer time to enjoy those last minutes of sunshine with nothing really to do each day, but have adventures and fun together.  It was hard to "leave the paradise behind" but we were so fortunate to have the amazing summer we did and all the time together as a family.

LKA Time

After a week at home we hit the road again for Lake Anna. For the past three years we have spent part of each summer there and because of the generosity of our friends we can get away from the world for a few days and soak up the sun.  We love getting out on the water and just enjoy hanging out with these friends that are like family.

They take us tubing.


And wakeboarding.


They feed us delicious homemade food and let our kids take over and play in their amazing lake house.

They take us cruising around the lake and sometimes we stop for food lake side where flip flops are welcome and apparently shirts for kids are optional.

They let us on their jet skis even though this little driver has a scary need for speed.

Then they round out their day by endlessly circling the cove trying to get the water just right so TG can wake surf.


And when he gets it, which believe me, is not easy for the driver or the surfer, I get to see his boyish grin. Swoon.

9 Years Later

TG and I celebrated 9 years of marriage in 2013.  Not every day is perfect and magical, but I am thankful for him all the time.  I give thanks in prayer for this man daily and cannot adequately describe to you how blessed I feel to have married this man.  I often think that our life is simple, but it is so full of genuine love and laughter and happiness and I just can't imagine what else in this world could mean more than that.

We made 2013's celebration a family affair and finally gave into Riley's request for a fancy dinner out.  We let her put on a party dress and had dinner at Melting Pot.  It was not their first time eating fondue, but it was their first Melting Pot trip which is an experience.

The food was delicious as always and we had fun making little memories like fondue fork fighting over the cheese course and making marshmallow people when the chocolate course came out.

It's a horrible photo, but Camden thought the chocolate face we made on this marshmallow was hysterical.


Our little family of 4.

He came for the chocolate and marshmallows and lots of them.

Little Summer Moments, part 2

An exhausted "minja turtle", asleep but ready for battle.

Mall adventures with these two wildlings.

One of many, many park days.

Modeling our matching paracord bracelets from Gammy and Gampy.

Festival fun with friends.


Backyard shenanigans.


A birthday celebration.

Late night park dates with friends.

Random walmart trips.


And lazy mornings at home with a bunch of superheroes.

DMB 2013

We had tickets with our friends for Dave Matthews Band the night that the kids and I got home from Orlando.

TG picked us up from the airport at 6 pm, we got the kids tucked into bed and in the care of a babysitter, and we were on our way to the concert by 7 pm.  Just typing that reminds me that the summer of 2013 will be tough to beat.

We planned a quick pre game in the parking lot that consisted of mini shot bottles shoved into our bras and this tequila.  I LOVE tequila, but OUCH.  Jalapeño tequila is not for the faint of heart - or for anyone that dislikes liquor that burns like the fire of a thousand suns on the way down.  Still, we were ready to party.



Eventually the hubs hurried us along and we made it to our seats just in time for this.  Pardon my fangirl behavior, it was my first Dave concert.



Then the real party began.  We had great seats, under the covered section out of the pouring rain, mini bottles of tequila and needless to say we enjoyed ourselves.  #Tequila


The whole concert we sang and danced and were pretty smug about our grown up selves with actual seats instead of lawn tickets because it was pouring and the lawn people were drenched.  Then we realized that we were going to have to walk back to the car, in the very last lot, in the pouring rain.  However, we were still warmed by the tequila and riding the Dave Matthews high as we danced through the rain out of the theater.

Then this happened.  The sky opened up and unleashed a deluge of rain and we soon realized that we had no idea where the car was.  For 20 minutes we got soaked to our skin, in white dresses no less, wading through the swimming pool of a parking lot, looking for the car.


Still the most fun I've ever had at a concert.

Last of the Florida Trip

We got home from Disney World close to 1 am and everyone had to shower before we got in bed so we were still sound asleep the next morning by 9:30 am.   We would have missed our continental breakfast routine if not for Gammy who somehow woke up spry at 7.  So everyone got up and ate, hung out for a bit and then went right back to bed to take huge naps before waking up again somewhat more rested from the exertions of Disney.



We had to make a quick trip to the area mall so Tata could get her phone fixed.  My kids were pretty excited about the M&M store there.  I love the rainbow wall of M&M colors.  It makes my creative side so happy.  The chocolate made my kids happy even though it was seriously marked up.



That night was Tata and Rylan's last night before they had to make the drive back to Charlotte solo to catch their flight home.  So we hung out at the pool and Tata, the amazing aunt, played with all three of them in the water.











It was dark by the time they were finally worn out.  The next day, in an effort to cheer ourselves up after Tata and Rylan left, we went with Gammy to Sea World's water park Aquatica.  We rode water slides, visited the wave pools, played in the huge water playground, cruised the lazy river and raced around the rapids.  The rapids were our favorite activity of the day and had all of us giggling as we whirled around and around.

The next day we visited the halau convention and saw some awesome performances before it was time for Gammy to take us to the airport.  My amazing husband knew I would be exhausted from the trip and insisted on flying us home instead of me making the long drive back with our kiddos by myself.  I was so thankful he convinced me to do that.  So we bid our tearful farewells to Gammy at the Orlando airport and took the quick flight home to be reunited with TG.

 

A Magical and Very Long Day at Disney World

I have a free and quiet hour today and thought I would pop on here and blog Camden's birthday and then I realized that I left off blogging four months ago in the middle of our Florida trip.

TG and I had discussed the possibility of going to Disney World while we were down there. Part of me was so excited about the idea of a day there with my mom. sister and nephew, and the other part of me was sad that TG would miss their first Disney trip. However, after he assured me multiple times that he wanted us to go we decided to take advantage of our proximity to "The Happiest Place On Earth"!

Our first stop of the day was at a store near our hotel in Orlando to get Disney tees for all the kids. Tutu gave them all a bit of money for that and a souvenir in the park.  After a quick drive we caught the monorail into the park and this happened. She's curtsying among all the commoners.

We walked in just in time for a show in front of the castle with princesses and the Disney crew of favorites. Aunt Tata is the best aunt in the world and lifted Riley up for a better view. You might be able to tell from this photo, it was blazing hot - all day.

Since this was an impromptu trip we had no plans on how to best navigate the park at all.  So we just headed left into Adventure land.  Once there we signed up for fast passes for the Jungle Book ride and then took a ride on the Magic Carpet, climbed the Swiss Family Robinson tree house, waved to Aladdin and Jasmine, and ate our picnic lunch.  Then we used our Jungle Book fast passes.  Camden absolutely hated it and was terrified of all the fake animals - this elephant popping up was the beginning of the end for him.



From there we moved into Frontierland. We got fast passes for Splash Mountain and waited in the regular line for Thunder Mountain during the time lapse. While we were in line a massive thunderstorm moved through and they shut down the park.  This worked in our favor as we were able to move way up in the roller coaster line after it cleared. The kids loved all the diversions in the line like the gold that sparkled. Though the tame Jungle Book ride scared him senseless Camden loved Thunder Mountain, go figure. Both my kids hated the "scary" animals in Splash Mountain, but it was one of the rides I remembered well from our visit there when I was younger and I loved it.


Again, with no plan or idea of the character schedules we got really lucky when we stumbled on the Toy Story meet and greet. Toy Story was big in my house last summer and I happily waited an hour in that line while the kids played in the shade nearby. No autographs, but we got some cute pictures and Riley and Camden were thrilled to see Woody and Jessie.

We backtracked through Frontierland after an ice cream treat and caught a parade. While they danced Gammy tracked down one of the big double strollers. By this point we had been there 5 hours at least with 7 more to go so I was thankful that she did.

We moved into Fantasyland next and got fast passes for the Peter Pan before getting in line for It's a Small World. This was an oldie but goodie ride that we all enjoyed.

Sadly, my little princess didn't get to enjoy much of the princess themed things in Fantasyland. She saw Belle's castle and Ariel's grotto, but we skipped most of the rides and activities in this area. We did ride Prince Charming's carousel though before moving onto Tomorrowland where we discovered the Merida meet and greet. This was another hour long wait at least, but it was well worth it. Gammy cooled off and rested in a restaurant nearby while Tata and I took the kids in. Merida was so cute and did such fun poses with them. The best pictures were of them pretending to roar like the bears in the movie.




After meeting Merida they had other activities like coloring and shooting with a faux bow and arrow. The girls on staff were very patient and made sure all the kids hit the target.



We met Gammy in the restaurant for dinner and then continued on into Tomorrowland.  We found a large dance party with characters and a jumbo screen that you could see yourself on.  They loved it and were super excited to find Stitch to dance with.  We were not as thrilled with the Stitch Experience though - if you ever go to Disney that's one I would bypass if foul smelling "burps" in your face in a dark room are not high on your list of fun.


At this point it was becoming evening so we got fast passes for Buzz Lightyear and used the time lapse to get souvenirs.  We had made them wait all day to choose one thing from all that they saw (in hindsight this might have been a mistake).  My nephew chose a pirate sword on the other side of the park and Riley specifically wanted the princess Minnie ears also on the other side of the park.  Cam the man thankfully chose a Buzz Lightyear action figure right where we were.  Tata and I made an executive decision to take my nephew with us and leave Riley and Camden with Gammy to ride the People Mover.

After we found the sword we split up so I could backtrack in search of the ears and they could ride the Pirates of the Caribbean.  Little did we know that they were getting ready to shut down the paths through the park for the big Magic Light parade.  Tata and I ended up sprinting through the crowds from Frontierland to make it back over to Tomorrowland where Gammy was.

By sheer luck and a dash of just not caring about the ropes we all met up on the bridge in front of Cinderella's castle.


Next up was Buzz Lightyear.  It's an interactive black light ride where you use cannons on your car to shoot the bad guys with laser beams and score points.


So. Much. Fun.

You'll be relieved to know that we defeated Zurg.

From there we hopped on the Speedway with no wait, and then on our way to ride Peter Pan with our fast passes we happened upon Tinkerbell flying down from Cinderella's castle and the fireworks show. I have always loved fireworks, but the ones at Disney put all the other shows I've ever seen to shame.  They were pretty incredible.


At the conclusion of the fireworks we hopped to the front of Peter Pan via our fast passes and then decided to ride It's a Small World one last time since there was no line to wait in.  (Keeping in mind at this point it was 10 pm).   On our way out of the park we once again had luck on our side and discovered that they have a second showing of the Magic Light parade and we were able to see all the floats coming around Liberty Square without a crowd to deal with and perfect front row seats.


Cinderella, Pete's Dragon and Tinkerbell were some of our favorite floats.

By the time we made it out of the park and onto the ferry back to the parking lot it was 11 pm and we had been at the park 12 hours with a 5, 4 and 3 year old.  We had walked several miles in the heat and all of us were exhausted.  I had underestimated how difficult it would be to carry two kids who were both on the brink of passing out completely!  Honestly that was the most stressful part of what was otherwise an amazing, amazing day at the Magic Kingdom.  I'm already looking forward to next time and a bit more planning, but I think for an impromptu all day trip we saw most of what I consider iconic Disney World.  I wouldn't trade my kids first Disney experience for anything.