The Happiest Place on Earth!

We had a FANTASTIC trip to Florida this past week, and as dog-tired, wiped-out, and burned-out as we are from 5 solid 16-hour days of theme parks, that darn vacation bug has bitten and we are already wanting to plan our next Disney vacation! And here's the sad thing-- with over 200 pictures taken I STILL feel like I didn't take enough and capture all of the magical, "first time" moments on camera! It's so hard to see and do everything, but Jonathan and I came to the conclusion that any good vacation should leave you wanting more-- and bottom line, the kids had the time of their lives. So, buckle up, keep your arms and legs inside the roller coaster, and enjoy a really loooong recap of our Orlando vacay! 

((!!CAUTION: PICTURE OVERLOAD AHEAD!!))

This happy face says it all! The vacation started Saturday night with a very sweet reunion with two cute Colorado cousins (Sophie and Isaac), and Grandpa and Grandma Cardon from Washington. Grandma Cardon handmade these gorgeous Elsa dresses for the girls' Halloween costumes, and this was Leah's first time trying it on. I don't know about you, but I think it was a hit!

 Singing "Let It Go" and twirling with the beautiful sparkly train.

I love this picture! Being the three female cousins, Lucy "big-sisters" both Leah and Sophie, and they are so sweet together. It was so fun to hang out the night before our vacation officially started-- kind of felt like Christmas Eve with all of the anticipation and excitement!

SUNDAY- Character Breakfast and Downtown Disney

Auntie Kylene reserved us a Character Breakfast at the Polynesian Resort at the restaurant Ohana for Sunday morning. So bright and early we got ready and out the door to meet Lilo and Stitch.

All ready for our breakfast at Ohana!

Mmmm! Chowin' down on some bacon! We had eggs, Mickey Mouse waffles, fresh fruit, homemade coconut pineapple bread, sausage, potatoes, and guava juice. It was delish!

 

Then the real fun began-- first up was meeting Stitch!

 Next was Mickey Mouse!

 Leah was always game for a high-five, if not a hug.

 Meeting Lilo!

 Last was Pluto, and then a parade with all the characters together. The kids loved it and it was a great way to kick off our vacay!

 Zach and Isaac are peas in a pod-- and Zach has no shame in admitting that he'd happily trade Leah to have Isaac as a little brother. The "mans" gotta stick together!

 We decided to take a peek at the Polynesian resort before we moved on, and took a nice little walk outside along the beach where they do their nightly luau.

 You can just barely see the castle from Magic Kingdom peeking out from the skyline in the background. We had BEAUTIFUL weather all week-- clear blue skies with temps in the lower 80's.

 We then moved on to Downtown Disney to look around at all the fun stores, relax back at the condo, and have a yummy dinner at Bahama Breeze. We got the kids to bed pretty early in anticipation of our first Disney day the next morning!

MONDAY- Magic Kingdom

Monday was like a whirlwind! We hit the ground running at 90 mph and didn't let up until the sun set behind Cinderella's castle. We got to the monorail bright and early and then immediately hurried over to Fantasyland to get some of the busier rides under our belt. We did the new Little Mermaid ride, Winnie the Pooh, Alice's Teacups, It's A Small World, and the carousel first. 

The fall decorations all over the park were so fun for Halloween!

 Next up was Adventureland and Frontierland-- where our old favorite, the Haunted Mansion resides. Leah rode that one with a half-hearted whimper the whole way. I think she was equal parts terrified and fascinated by the ghosties!

 While mom, Lucy, and Zach took turns riding Splash Mountain (Zach was a stud muffin and did every single ride he was tall enough for! I was SO proud of him), Leah got to meet Jessie and Woody, and afterwards Lu and Zach got her autograph. 

 About that time we headed over to the Pirates of the Caribbean and stopped for lunch and a little breather. Leah was as good as gold all morning which we were soooo thankful for! When it's you and your husband against three kids (and one who is in their terrible two's) plus a theme park jam-packed with people, you feel like you're holding on for dear life sometimes!

 Enjoying the Tiki Room with the singing birds. Leah loved it!

 Waiting to for Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride which definitely became a favorite of Leah's (we did it at least 4 times throughout the trip). She'd say "Wheeee!" the whole way.

 Next we headed over to the kiddie rides near Fantastyland and did Goofy's roller coaster and Dumbo. Always a classic!

 About this time the heat and the excitement of the day finally caught up to Leah and she zonked out for a super long nap while everybody else continued on our ride extravaganza! Gotta be grateful for nap time!

 We headed over to Thunder Mountain Rail Road which we hadn't hit yet, and took turns with Grandma and Grandpa Cardon. Zach decided to put himself in the stocks on the way over. 

 The Pirates ride (which is one of my personal favs) had been broken down earlier in the afternoon when we'd tried to do it, so we decided to swing by on our way out of the park to see if it was back up and running. By a pure stroke of luck it had just re-opened, so we literally got to walk right on! It was a great high note to end the day with. 

TUESDAY- Epcot

 Oh my. I love, love, love Epcot. I love the World Showcase!! With the kids rested and refreshed (Zach fell asleep about 30 seconds after we made it to the car the night before!) we were ready to hit it hard.

 My kids had purchased autograph books as part of their "souvenir allotment" and had really gotten enthusiastic about it! Unfortunately we hadn't really had time at Magic Kingdom to wait for many, so we decided to get in line first thing for the Character Meet and Greet which we knew would get busier throughout the day. I should have known better! The "wait time" posted out front had said 20 minutes, but it was actually more like a 60 minutes, but my kids were so dedicated and patient I didn't dare bail on them! We finally got to meet Mickey and have him sign their books.

 Goofy was next, and out of all the many, many characters we met, he was the only one Leah was truly afraid of. Ha! See her cowering behind Zach?

 Minnie on the other hand was totally non-scary and Leah ran right up and gave her a huge hug. Cutest thing ever!

 Although it was a long wait and kind of ate up that glorious block of time when the lines to rides are short, it was worth it to get a few autographs and some fun pictures. By then we were ready for a little excitement and went straight to the Finding Nemo ride, and the Figment Imagination ride.

 Thus began our tour of the World Showcase, starting with England and the one and only Mary Poppins. Epcot was having its annual Food and Wine Festival, so all along the way in each country were little food stands to try samples of authentic food (for money of course), so we got to try fish n' chips, too.

 Alice in Wonderland came along next and was so cute talking to Leah.

 Leah just kept hugging her and giving her high-fives-- she is a sucker for anyone in a princess dress! This is always one of my favorite parts of the trip.

 Crossing the bridge from England to France! Beautiful Lucy! She and Zach loved trading pins-- and any time we saw a worker who had pins we absolutely HAD to stop and trade with them. It's a fun tradition Grandma Joanie taught us about.

 Princess Aurora in France.

 And a big good-bye hug from a very enamored Leah!

 I'm telling you-- Leah just LOVED meeting all these princesses! Anytime I would ask, "Do you want to meet a princess?" She'd quickly hop back in the stroller and wait patiently in line for her turn. It's amazing what almost-2-year-olds are capable of with the right incentive!

 Aladdin and Jasmine in Morocco

 I think Morocco is one of the more beautifully done and more interesting countries. I could spend so much more time just looking around at the shops and peeking in all of the restaurants! So cool!

 Leah loved the belly dancing costumes with all of the sparklies. Oh yeah!

 As we made our way around to each country we realized we'd better head back to France for our pastries before we got too far away. The chocolate mousse was to die for, and I'm scared to think back on what we spent at that little patisserie, but it was soooo yummy!

 Lucy and Zach in China. Unfortunately we didn't catch Mulan that afternoon. 

 And same with Snow White in Germany. So little time and so many things to see! While Leah napped, we headed over to the Test Track and Soarin' to take turns riding with the kids.

 Once Leah woke up, we did Nemo's ride one more time since it was easily her favorite of the day, and then called it a night!

 The big "Golf Ball" (as Zachy calls it) is so beautiful all lit up at night. Nobody does it quite like Disney! That's for sure.

WEDNESDAY- Hollywood Studios

We also really love Hollywood Studios! It has such a fun, upbeat vibe, and we knew Leah would love all of the various shows!

 We'd learned our lesson the day before at Epcot and wasted no time getting in line for the really big rides before they got too busy. I started with the Hollywood Tower of Terror with Zach and Lucy-- and we were the first ones on it for the morning! Oh yeah! Zach was SO freaked out but he loved it!

 While Jon went on the Aerosmith roller coaster with the older kids, Leah and I walked around for a bit. We then met everyone for the Indiana Jones stunt show.

 The highlight of Leah's life came when we went to the Frozen Sing-Along right before lunch. She loved seeing Elsa and Anna live, and getting to sing along to "Let It Go"-- they even had real snow fall from the ceiling during the finale which was awesome.

 Just around the corner from the Frozen theater were Mike and Sully, and since Leah LOVES Monsters Inc. we knew she needed to meet them! She even gave Mike Wazowski a high-five!

We finally made it to lunch at the Sci-Fi Diner, which is a really fun eatery decorated to look just like an old-fashioned drive-in movie theater. And the food was SO good!

 Zachary ate his entire hamburger and all of his chocolate milkshake, the lucky duck-- all while coloring and watching kooky sci-fi movies from the 1950's.

 We finished our rounds of Hollywood Studios including the Star Tours ride, the Great Movie Ride, and finishing with the awesome nighttime show Fantasmic which includes special effects, fireworks, water, and all the characters singing and dancing. It was an awesome day!

 THURSDAY- Animal Kingdom and back to Magic Kingdom

 Our final day at Disney began at Animal Kingdom, which is one of our favorites because generally it's less busy, and I think it's really uniquely designed.

 We headed straight to Africa to hop on the safari ride where we saw tons of wild and exotic animals including lions, elephants, zebras, hippos, and alligators. Here are Lucy and Zach beating the African bongos! 

 On our way out of Africa we saw King Louie and Baloo the Bear. More autographs? Check!

 We made it to Asia to ride the yeti roller coaster. When we visited 2 years ago, Zach was too short to ride this one and he really, really wanted to-- so he patiently waited all week to finally get a chance to ride this one! It didn't disappoint! It became his "new favorite." 

 We took the kids to the "Bugs Life" 3D show inside the Tree of Life at the center of the park. Leah loved all the buggies even though she was maybe the tiniest bit scared, too.

 We decided to check out Dinoland USA before heading to lunch, trying to squeeze as many rides as possible in before we planned on park-hopping over to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon. Since most of the rides were too big for Leah, it was nice for her to get a chance to have some fun!

We met Donald Duck on our way out of Animal Kingdom, which was the perfect send off to the Magic Kingdom for the last time!

 We loved getting the chance to see all of the awesome fall decorations on Main Street USA. 

 Pumpkin scarecrows in the pumpkin patch!

 We totally lucked out with the amount of people there Thursday afternoon-- it was way better than Monday and we were able to do most rides in under a 15 minute wait. We hit Thunder Mountain RR, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Autotopia, Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride, Alice's Teacups, and then finally finishing with It's A Small World. We knocked it out!   

 I always feel so sad and nostalgic when it's time to say good-bye to Disney-- it's truly such a magical, special place and there's nowhere else like it in the whole world. We had so much fun revisiting our favorite rides and introducing Leah to our favorite Disney traditions. I guess what made it sadder this time was knowing we won't live within driving distance next time-- so who knows when we'll ever make it back? At least we had Harry Potter World to look forward to the next day...

Trunk or Treat Elementary Style!

Lucy and Zach's elementary school celebrated Halloween with its annual Trunk or Treat, Friday October 17th, the night before we left for Disney World. Jon was gone once again moonlighting at Day and Night (that was 3x that week for those who are counting, and I certainly was!), so I was left alone to wrangle three very, very excited kiddos for one last part-ay before we were Mickey Mouse bound early the next morning!

 Grandma Cardon had made the girls' costumes and was bringing them to Florida with her, so we scrounged around in the dress-up box for a back-up and found this cheerleader outfit which was good enough for Lucy, and good enough for me, and Zach decided to go as Optimus Prime. I love how he's so camouflaged you barely even see him staring you down back there! 

 Please take a moment and look at Leah's face... This was about the second car into the whole trunk or treating process, and it was about now that it dawned on her that she was collecting candy. CANDY!! You can just see the wheels turning...from this point on she let nothing and no one get in the way of said candy. No matter how scary the car, or how many kids were clustered up between her and the proffered bowl, she hugged that little bucket tight and demanded her candy. Atta girl!

 She refused to dress up like a chicken-- our plan B costume from when Lucy was her age, and since we really like to keep Mt. Leah from erupting, we just rolled with it. Nobody seemed to mind, and in fact she'd get handfuls from people. Oh goody.

 There was an awesome Harry Potter trunk with a quidditch pitch off to one side and the candy part all decorated like Honeydukes. It was just what Lucy needed to get excited for Harry Potter World!

 My brave little Zach-O was determined to go on the "Haunted School Bus" by himself, and luckily met up with his buddy JB from Kindergarten, so together they walked through it. It was haunted by junior high students who were dressed like zombies and were supposed to scare the kids, but I guess one girl touched Zach on the back (they weren't supposed to-- and I had told him nobody would touch him, they'd just pop out and scare him), and he was appalled. He asked me about a million times "Why did she do that?!? We should kick her out!!" I think he still had fun though.

Well, with all three kids sugared up, pumped up, and up late we were ready for a magical Disney experience and a 9 hour car ride the next morning. Disney here we come. Wohoo!

Happy Fall Y'all!

Zach's class kicked off fall in style by celebrating Johnny Appleseed Day. Each day that week they got to taste-test the very best apple concoctions-- like apple juice, applesauce, different varieties of apples, and even apple pie with ice cream. Friday afternoon he wore his Johnny Appleseed hat home from school and begged me to make an apple dessert! I happily obliged him that Sunday with my mom's apple crisp recipe. Yum!  

Here's a picture his teacher sent of his whole class on Johnny Appleseed Day. He is LOVING kindergarten so much this year, and I could not be more relieved! He took a little while to get warmed up, but he is thriving, and just jumps off the bus bubbling with excitement about everything he did and saw that day. It's the best!

We got Leah some sweet new Minnie Mouse Halloween jammies in honor of our upcoming trip to Disney World next week! The kids can't wait to show Leah all of their favorite rides and Disney characters, and since she is obsessed with all things Frozen, princesses, and fairies, the timing couldn't be better.

Lucy and Zach both started playing baseball on the same coach-pitch baseball team, and they have had a lot of fun. It's for 5-7 year olds, so Lucy barely made the cut off and as a result of being a little older, dominates at hitting the ball. She is a regular old Babe Ruth when it comes to batting! Zach-O takes his shots too, and they both enjoy getting to be outside to play in the nice fall evenings.

Since we're staying on the topic of fall, I hit the jackpot at Trader Joe's the other day with all of their amazing fall treats and pumpkin-flavored items! Leah was my grocery buddy that day and she helped me stock up on some can't-miss items.

Indeed, that very weekend we celebrated General Conference by putting the pumpkin pancake mix and pumpkin-spiced hot chocolate to good use by making a big breakfast and lounging around in our pajamas all morning! They were a big hit!

It's our Conference tradition to make a big breakfast Sunday morning, and Zach is my big pancake eater. It was a great way to start off a fabulous day of listening to some great messages from our church leaders, interspersed with many, many, Halloween crafts made by the kids while they were "listening."

This weekend we realized would be our last chance before Halloween to hit up a local pumpkin patch, so we squeezed it in between teaching Body Pump at the gym, and a super hero birthday party for one of Zach's primary friends. We let the kids ride the barrel train first!

Lucy Lou was all decked out ready for Halloween in her festive clothes! Apparently Leah started screaming bloody murder about halfway through the ride, so Lucy had to keep turning around to wave at her. It was HOT-- like 85 degrees and humid out on that farm. We were sweating buckets.

All ready for take-off! I like how they let that 10 year old kid drive them, ha, ha!

Next we hopped on the hayride to take us out to the pumpkin patch. It was a bumpy, dusty, hot ride but it was all part of our fall festivities. I'm so lucky!

Mom and Lucy riding out to pick pumpkins...and melting in the hot sun. It made me wonder where we'd be picking pumpkins next year at this time. That's certainly the question of the hour!

Leah loves pumpkins-- she treats them like her little babies, so she quickly picked a little guy and claimed him as her own. She's almost 2!

Zachary also opted for one of the little guys laying out in the pumpkin patch, but his had one side that was still green-- so that was how his was unique. He liked stepping in all the old moldy pumpkin guts. Typical!

Lucy however spent a lot of time trying to find the biggest, roundest, orangest pumpkin perfect for carving. She finally succeeded and could barely lift it up because it was all muddy and covered in bugs, but she loved it.

Afterwards we headed straight for the homemade ice cream, which was cold and refreshing. and also counted as our very healthy lunch. Although it was a quick trip. our pumpkins will be safe and sound waiting on the front porch for us to carve as soon as we get back from Disney World. Mission: Accomplished! So, as they say here in the South, Happy Fall Y'all!

Pik 'N Pig BBQ!

Last night we ventured forth to the neatest little BBQ joint I've yet to find in three years of living in the deep South! I caught wind of this little dive through a friend on Facebook, and we finally checked it our for ourselves, being in the mood for some pulled pork and all.

I'm not sure how we've missed out on this place for so long! It's totally up our alley-- a quirky, cheap, hole-in-the-wall eatery with TONS of personality! It's about 15 minutes north of us in a little town called Carthage, and when we arrived it had two major factors in its favor, a) you could SMELL the barbeque before you even got out of the car, and b) for being in the middle of nowhere, it was PACKED.

It's located right on an airstrip where private planes land and take off (which only adds to the excitement), and they had some nice indoor and outdoor seating available. It was a PERFECT night temperature-wise, so we opted for the outdoor seating.

 You can see part of the air field in the background, and the cornhole boards for the kiddos to play with while you wait for your food!

 They also have some old WWII planes you can walk around and look at (I'm telling you, this place is SO random!), and Zach-O loved them.

 We'd been out playing tennis earlier that afternoon and the kids had brought their scooters to ride with at the park. Lucy apparently tried a "jump," and not being the most coordinated of children, she took a nose-dive and scraped up her poor little face! Again. Poor Luce. 

 Anyway, the barbeque finally arrived and we were treated to some tasty pulled pork, coleslaw, potato salad, and hush puppies, which is all very standard Southern fare.

 I got a yummy pork butt sandwich with coleslaw and Wisconsin cheddar which was very good. We didn't know that they only accepted cash, so we didn't have enough on hand to try the desserts, but with peanut butter pie and banana puddin' on the menu I have very high hopes the next time we go back!

We were treated to a very lovely sunset on the drive home and with nice full bellies ended our Saturday on a very Southern, very tasty note. Definitely a place to bring our favorite visitors!

The Scoop for September!

School and the fall season are well under way here in the Land of the Pines. My kids are loving school so far, which makes me a very happy mama! While the new, earlier schedule (we leave the house by 7:15 a.m. every morning) has been the biggest adjustment for Lucy and Zach so far, bigger by far has been the adjustment Leah has had to make of being home alone with just mommy all day! Admittedly, I am not nearly as much fun to play with as Lucy and Zach. The kids are all SO excited to see each other when they finally get home; it's very sweet!

Lucy and Zach got invited to play over at Josh and Luke's house one Saturday afternoon, and to their delight their mom invited them to stay for lunch. She texted me this cute picture of them. It is SO convenient and nice to have friends live right next door!

The other night I was making black bean soup to take for dinner to my visiting teachee, who'd just had her second baby. I was supposed to have it there by 4:30 p.m., which is kind of early for us since the kids don't get home until about 3:15 p.m., and she lives about 25 minutes away. Anyway, I'd doubled the recipe so we'd have some too, and was pureeing the soup in batches in my new blender. I finished one batch and lifted the pitcher off the blender and the bottom part that screws on, completely FELL OFF. Boiling hot soup dumped all over me, the counter, the cupboards, the floor, my iPad, and worst of all Leah who was standing right next to me!! The splatter even reached to the living room! It was CrAzY. The picture just doesn't do it justice. I had to change my clothes as well as Leah's, quickly mop up the floor enough so I didn't keep sliding in it, finish making dinner with the leftover soup, pack it up, and get out the door. Needless to say, we did not make it by 4:30 p.m. but got there sometime around 5 p.m., and it was one of those laugh-or-cry moments. I was so glad I'd doubled it! It took me about an hour to finish scrubbing off all that dried, stuck-on soup when we got back home, and the greatest irony of all was after all that mess I didn't even want to eat it! 

 We've had a family of deer walk through our backyard the last couple of nights right around twilight. It's been so cool because there are two babies and a mom and a dad, and they just graze along the back part of the yard, which isn't fenced in. I tried to get a picture of all four of them, but spooked the babies and they're hiding behind that tree to the left.

 Recently our dryer stopped working, which is kind of a big deal when you do laundry for five people. Our rental agreement was such that the owners would leave their personal washer and dryer (which were both very old but worked fine) for us to have, but if at any point they stopped working, they wouldn't replace or fix them. So, for the first time in our 10 year marriage, we had to purchase a new washer and dryer! And I LOVE them! They've been a ridiculously entertaining purchase for me, made possible by the money Jon's been making at his moonlighting gig (which has been a total answer to prayers). Yet another unexpected expense that job has helped us bounce back from! 

The last couple of weekends has found us heading north to Cary, which is a suburb of Raleigh about 45 minutes away. I love Cary. I think we would have lived in Cary had I known more about this area 4 years ago, but hind-sight is 20/20. Regardless, it's a great family friendly area with tons of shopping and restaurants-- including the "Jasmin Bistro," which is where we've discovered an authentic  chicken shawarma joint. So good!

 We then checked out REI and Old Navy, and headed over to Waverly Place, which is a brand new shopping center with a playground and splash pad. 

 There are tons of restaurants and shops, and tons of families with kids (Whoa! You never see that in Pinehurst!) and it was super pretty all lit up at night.

 Lucy hanging out at the splash pad and by the big water fountains.

We capped the night off by stopping at Gigi's for some pretty tasty cupcakes. They offer a hefty military discount which makes them only cost about a $1 per cupcake, so it's an even sweeter reason to indulge!

 We got the Strawberry Banana Sundae cupcake, Salted Caramel Turtle, Kentucky Bourbon, Flourless Chocolate, Cookie Dough, and Pretty Princess.  

Yesterday at Costco we bought Zach-O this $15 Optimus Prime costume. He was SO super excited! Leah wasn't sure what to think--she kept trying to take off his gloves--but I thought he looked kind of scary. He can't wait for October and Halloween and has a list of about 10 things he wants to dress up as. And with the way September is flying by, it'll be October before you know it!