Thursday, January 31, 2013

Tongue biting

I want to remove the voice box of one of my neighbor's dogs.

He barks and whines the entire time he is left home alone.

He barks and whines for the extended length of time they leave him outside.

His barking is causing me quite a bit of anger.

My quiet time is being interrupted.






I no longer care for my neighbors and I am not going to be able to hold my tongue much longer.


Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Talking Tuesday - Hooker Edition

Kinsley was eating some Jake and the Neverland Pirate fruit snacks and pointing out what each snack was.
Kinsley:  "Mom, it's a hooker!!!"
Mommy:  Mouth dropping on the floor  "Huh?"
Kinsley:  "Yeah, it's Captain Hook's hooker."


Eligh playing with squinkie cars.
Eligh:  "Mom, Santa bought me these car squinkies, except the talking ones."
Mommy:  "I didn't know they talked."
Eligh:  "The CARS squinkies.  You know Holly Shitwell, those ones."


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Case of the non-pink eye zombie children

Last Tuesday Kinsley woke with a very red eye oozing yellow boogers.  Gross, huh?  I called right at 7:00 when the appointment line opens and was able to get her an appointment, all preparing for the doc to tell me she had pink eye.  WRONG!  The doc says drumroll please........


"IT'S A VIRUS!!!"

Anyone else sick and tired of the term "virus?"  I swear this is the same thing we hear over and over again and I think it is a cop out.

Doc said she was good to go to daycare if she was in daycare and that it was like any other virus and continue hand washing.

Each day the eye had more boogers and then spread to the other eye and then she looked like a dang zombie.  She did NOT act sick at all, but looked like crap.  Yesterday her eyes looked nearly normal and then today, bam both are red again (like if she had her eyes open when swimming in a chlorine treated pool red).

Add in that Thursday after nap, Eligh woke with a crusty red looking eye.  He, too did not look as bad yesterday and then today his eyes are blood shot in each corner of both eyes.

I don't know what to do!!!!  On Friday when I talked to the nurse about it now attacking Eligh she said the doc still believed it was a virus.  How many days with red eyes is considered ok?

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Motorcycles

Eligh:  "Mommy, if I get big you have to buy me a motorcycle."
Mommy:  "No, Eligh.  I will NOT buy you a motorcycle.  You will have to buy your own motorcycle when you get bigger."  
Eligh:  "How am I going to get it out of the store?"
Mommy:  "You will drive it."
Eligh:  "I can't wait to get a motorcycle.  I want to vroom it every where."  



**I really hope he NEVER buys a motorcycle.  They freak me out!  But, for now I'll let him dream, right?**

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

BMI

Last week I had to take the trio in for yearly sports physicals.  The twins were healthy and Addyson was battling a nasty flu bug.

The nurse seemed alarmed when reporting Eligh's BMI to the doctor.  A whopping....0%.  Thankfully, the doctor looked at his chart more thoroughly and saw that Eligh is simply on the smaller side and has been tested and screened for a variety of things.  He is well and healthy for him.

But, the past few days this boy has eaten seconds and thirds of many of his meals and when he asks for more I jump with excitement and load up his plate.  I am sure this will only be a phase, but I can only hope that he will have a growth spurt and pack on some weight.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Magic Kingdom - Goodbye

On our fifth day at the parks, we decided to head back to Magic Kingdom.  The kids can ride the most rides and still had not seen all of the characters they wanted.

We arrived at the park at opening time and headed straight to Tomorrowland.  We rode Astro Orbiter (way faster than I thought) and Buzz Lightyear.  We did the Laugh Floor and Stitch (waaaaay too scary - as it was pitch black for several minutes).  We then headed to Fantasyland and rode Ariel.  I went to go stand in line to see Merida nearly an hour early, and was the second person in line.  Cody took the kids on the tea cups while I waited and after about 15 minutes the photographer came out and said Merida would not be here at her scheduled time, but if we wanted to come back at 9:55 the lady and myself could skip the line and be the first two to see her, since we were the only ones already waiting for her.  I verified one more time before meeting back up with the family.  We went ahead and rode Ariel and then I decided to take the girls to meet Ariel (twenty minute wait) and Cody took Eligh to Tomorrowland Speedway. After meeting Ariel, my mom and younger sister met the girls and I and we went to go meet Merida.

After our pictures, we headed to ride Peter Pan and then hit up Frontierland.  We rode Aladdin, saw the super long line for Thundermountain, walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (not that exciting), and let them pick one more ride before leaving for the day.  And, they chose It's a Small World.  I dug out three pennies and as we rode our last boat ride through Small World, the kiddos all made a wish and threw their pennies in the water.


We let all the families know we were leaving and headed back to the campground.  We grabbed lunch, ate at the campground, and the twins went down for naps.  Addyson stayed up and worked on her newest Lego purchase.

Around 3:30, I decided to hit up Downtown Disney one more time, as I still had not found a zip up sweatshirt that grabbed my attention.  I browsed the store for a while before my mom and younger sister met up with me.  We all finished our shopping, grabbed some hot dog buns and chips and headed back to the campground to have an easy dinner.

The visit ended perfectly.

We left bright and early the next day, got stuck in some traffic, met up with my some long time friends/family for lunch, and finished our drive to Tennessee where we met up with my parents at a hotel.  The next morning we left around 7:30 and finished our road trip back to Missouri.



It simply could not have gone any better than it did.  The kids still ask weeks later when we can go back.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Magic Kingdom - 2nd Visit and the day of the picture

Our main goal today was to ride as many rides as we possibly could before the rush of people would hit the park (typically right after lunch).  Since the night before was New Years Eve, the park was not nearly as packed as it had been the previous visit.  We again let the kiddos wake up on their own and made it to the park just as they were opening for the day.  Our first stop was to hit up the new Ariel ride at Fantasyland.  The rest of the day is somewhat of a blur, but I know we rode the following rides:  Ariel, Dumbo, Tea Cups, Barn Stormer, Small World, Peter Pan (another ride that you need to ride early or get a fast pass for early) and Winnie the Pooh.  



Around 10 a.m. we met up with my parents, younger sister and husband and grabbed the train and took it to Frontierland.  We asked all the kiddos if they wanted to ride Thunder Mountain, which Addyson said she did not.  My mom opted to sit out with Addyson and took her to meet Jessie while my dad, Cody, younger sister, brother in law, the twins, and I all headed for a thirty minute wait to ride Thunder Mountain.  Eligh wanted to sit between me and daddy and held our hand the entire time.  Kinsley declared that she LOVED the ride and wanted to ride it again, which we did the rider swap and my mom and dad took her again and were able to bypass the line and went through the fast pass line.  

Since there was a short wait for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, we all went on that ride together as well.  Addyson cried and did not care for the ride (mostly because it was dark).  Since it was now lunch time, we hit up a Mexican quick order spot, and everyone really enjoyed their meals.  After lunch we went on the Aladdin ride, and then had to meet up with the rest of the families to take our massive family picture with our matching shirts (pictures to come as soon as I have the cd).  After the picture, Cody and the kids swapped their pants out for shorts and we caught a show at the castle before going back on It's a Small World.  After the ride, we decided our day was done.  The kids got to ride all the rides geared toward them and a relaxing afternoon sounded perfect.  


My older sister and her family also left (but they had to head back to Illinois the next day).  I cooked up some leftover spaghetti for our two families and had my niece over to play with the girls.  Soon after dinner, the kiddos were in bed, and I worked on some packing knowing the next day was our last and I did not want to have to be running around worrying about packing.  

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Disney - Hollywood Studios

Today the kiddos "slept" in, as in we did not wake them up.  Hollywood Studios did not open until 9 a.m. so we were going to take advantage of letting the kids get up when they please.  We still, made it to the park about 20 minutes early and met my older sister and crew at the gate.

We all raced towards Toy Story Mania, as it is a ride that smaller kiddos can ride and typically has a long line.  Just as we whipped through the maze to get to the actual ride, they informed us that it was having technical difficulties.  We left the ride and went to see what time other shows were starting and ended up heading to "The Great Movie Ride."

"The Great Movie Ride" was pretty neat for Cody and I, but Addyson cried and held onto her daddy the entire time and declared she never wanted to ride it again.

We headed back towards the Disney Live show to find out that they would not be showing the first show due to difficulties.  We went ahead and waited in a one person line to see Jake and Handy Manny.  Eligh had to switch his Mickey ears for his Jake hair before meeting these guys.  While we were waiting and taking pictures Cody went back to Toy Story to get fast pass tickets for later.

Since there wasn't a line, us girls headed for the Ariel show and I sent Cody off to a pirate show.  My sister and niece met us at the show and we were able to sit together and the girls had so much fun seeing the show.

After the show Cody, Eligh, my parents, and younger sister met us and Cody let me know he took Eligh on Toy Story since he couldn't find the new pirate show/ride (good thing, because we found out it was just a standing room movie).  Addyson did not want to go on the Toy Story ride, so I offered the fast pass to my mom.  I took Kinsley on the ride, while my mom took my niece, and my sister went with her son and her fiance and his boys on the ride.

Once we finished the ride, the families split up again.  Our family went to Muppets 3D, took pictures with Lightning and Mater, and let the kids play at Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.  At this time, we headed back to Disney Live and were able to get in to the show.  The kids had a blast at this show and after we finished, we decided we had seen everything we wanted to at Hollywood Studios and decided to head back to the camp ground for lunch and naps.



Kinsley fell asleep before we made it to the campground, so we put her straight to bed and Addyson and Eligh had a quick lunch before heading for a nap as well.

While the kiddos napped, my older sister, fiance, Cody, and I had lunch outside and relaxed.

We made sure the kids were up by 3:00 so we could grab Subway to take with to Hollywood Studios.  We headed back to Hollywood Studios and nearly sprinted to catch the Cars Stunt Show.  My parents saved us seats, and we made it with 10 minutes to spare.  At first Addyson was scared to even watch the show but eventually relaxed and enjoyed it.  Eligh was most excited when he saw Lightning McQueen.  We planned on going to a later show of Fantasmic, but since we finished the Cars show and had an hour to spare, we decided to head there early.  We got our seats, gave the kids their sandwiches and waited for the show to start.  Addyson spent about ten minutes hiding under her daddy, while Kinsley attached happily to my younger sister, and Eligh and I cheered.  Finally, Addyson realized that the show was not scary and joined the rest of us to watch the show.  Eligh declared that the Mickey Mouse fireworks was his favorite part.

After the show, we met up with my brother and his family (as they had come to the same show) and we all decided to head to the Star Wars ride.  My nephew is older than the twins by four months, but is much shorter than them and did not make it to go on the ride, and he is a HUGE fan of Star Wars.  So.....we came up with a plan.  We took Eligh's stocking hat and stuffed it under Jake's wig and put it on my nephew and with a 15 minute wait we stood in line.  Kinsley had a blast on the ride and went immediately after my sister in law and my two nieces as there was no wait.  Addyson nearly threw up on the ride and Eligh was in the middle.  I, on the other hand, thought it was awesome and I do NOT care for Star Wars.

Once Kinsley finished we decided to head to see the Osborne Lights Display and exit the park.  My parents and my younger sister and husband joined us and let me tell you, it was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.  The lights danced along to music and it was snowing!!!!  It was the perfect end to another great day at Disney.


Sunday, January 13, 2013

Disney - Magic Kingdom #1

Day two at the parks and we had a full day planned at Magic Kingdom.  Since we knew we were going to visit Magic Kingdom at least twice during our stay, we went ahead and booked all of our experiences on one day and would accomplish the rides on the next day.

We started the morning with the entire family and had to be there super early to make it to our Chef Mickey reservations at 7:20 a.m.  On this particular day it was frigid (30 - 40 degrees).  Thankfully, I had brought the kids' hats and gloves with as  they needed them on this particular morning.  My parents, younger sister and husband, and my older sister and niece headed to the monorail to the park as they were having a princess breakfast while the rest of us hit up Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary Resort.

We made it with about five minutes to spare at the restaurant and had a fabulous time.  Everyone (adults included) enjoyed the food and the kids' really enjoyed seeing the characters.  Upon choking down our bill, we all grabbed fruit for the day to go.



Upon leaving we met my parents near the front of the resort.  My parents took my three kiddos and my brother's son.  Cody and I, my brother, his two daughters, and my younger sister and husband headed to Space Mountain.  I was not a fan of all the dark, but it was great to actually go on a ride geared more towards the older kids.

After finishing the ride we met back up with our three kiddos and got to see them riding on the Speedway with Grandma and Grandpa.  While we waited at Space Mountain, Grandma and Grandpa took the four little ones on Buzz Lightyear and the People Mover (which they all enjoyed both rides).

Once we got the kiddos back I sent Cody back to the vehicle to get the girls' princess dresses and our packed lunches.  This was a huge mistake.  While Cody ran back to the van, we headed to ride Dumbo.  Three years ago there was one Dumbo ride, now there are two and while you are waiting to actually ride the ride, they have an indoor playground for the kids to play on and the adults are given a buzzer to let them know when it is time to ride.  After about ten minutes, Kinsley and my youngest nephew have to go to the bathroom.  I decide that I will take them, thinking the bathroom was in the playground area.  WRONG!  The Disney worker gave me directions to the closest bathroom along with a fast pass ticket to meet back up with the rest of my group.  The fast pass for Dumbo, though, does not meet back up with the play area, and I ended up having to take Kinsley and my nephew on Dumbo.  The two of them were not happy that their planned seating with their cousins did not work out due to their bathroom break.

Just as we finished Dumbo, I met up with my mom and younger sister who let me know that Cody brought the lunches back but forgot the girls' dresses and had to head back to the van all during one of the many parades Magic Kingdom puts on (which makes it extremely hard to get around the park).  I had to send Eligh with my younger sister, my dad, brother, and nephew along with his lunch to the Pirate experience and us girls headed toward the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

About five minutes before I had to check in, Cody showed back up with the dresses and then had to race across the park to meet up with Eligh.

The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is breath taking.  All the girls were in complete amazement of their magical transformations.  Soon after, the boys (who now became pirates) met up and loved seeing everyone all dressed up.  Eligh chose to be dressed like Jake but refused any make up on his face declaring that it would make his skin burn.



Everyone split up at this point, and we caught a parade and then a quick bite.  Since the line was about thirty minutes long we decided to hit up "Small World" and then met up with my older sister and her family to get situated for the Light Parade.

The light parade was a huge hit with the kids and the castle with the added Christmas lights was a sight I am glad we all got to see and experience.

We skipped the fireworks as they were not planned for another hour.  The girls were very tired and ready to get home and warm.  The monorail ended up breaking down so everyone had to take the ferry.  As soon as we got on the ferry, both girls fell asleep on the stroller and by the time we got to the van and everyone loaded up we saw the fireworks through the trees.

Another straight to bed night knowing that we had another early morning ahead of us. 

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Disney - Animal Kingdom/Epcot

My older sister purchased this massive book explaining the ins, outs, and in betweens of mastering Disney.  The two days she took to travel to Disney she read, noted, and shared loads of information.

Day 1 at the parks we tried out her plan.

We (my family, my older sister's family, my parents, and my younger sister and husband - my brother's family slept in and arrived hours later) arrived at Animal Kingdom one hour before opening.  This allowed us time to unload kids, snacks, strollers, take pictures and walk to the park (we skipped the buses and trams each day).  We got to the gates about 20 minutes early.

After taking some pictures, checking out the Christmas tree, daddy surprised the girls with their favorite animal themed ears (which they wore every single day).  When the gates opened we sent Cody and my brother in law with our tickets to get fast pass tickets for the safari and the rest of us headed straight to Expedition Everest.  I took Addyson on her first roller coaster, with my dad, and younger sister, while my mom hung out with the twins.  This roller coaster was way too intense for what I found out to be a very skittish child.  As soon as it went dark she was begging to get off the ride.  By the time we finished the ride, Cody and my brother in law arrived back and headed on the roller coaster with my nephew for a few trips.  My dad's stomach was upset for hours after that ride (he claims that an ice cream sandwich cured him).

After the roller coaster we headed to Dinoland where all the kids rode Triceratop spin several times (basically Dumbo but a dinosaur).  The older kids hit up the much faster spinning whirl.  As we were on the ride, it started pouring rain.  I left soaked and met the family under a building and quickly got everyone into their ponchos.  The rain that day was off and on and was mostly a light drizzle that ended by lunch.

Once we finished up at Dinoland we hit up Camp Minnie and Mickey to meet some characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, The Chipmunks, and Jungle Book characters).  After we had all our autographs and pictures we headed for the safari.  I think the safari is a must.  You get up close to the animals, it's an enjoyable covered ride.  After the safari my parents and younger sister and husband went their own way, my sister's fiance took the older boys back for the roller coaster, and my family and my older sister and niece sat down to watch "The Lion King."  After watching the show (which is so much fun), we sat down for lunch and then headed to Epcot to finis the day.


Heading to Epcot, for our family, was something we did not feel was important.  We mostly went to see characters, as this is where you can find quite a bit.  Upon entering the park we took some pictures and headed to see Daisy Duck and Goofy.  After visiting with them, we grabbed the character spotting time slots and booked it to France to see Princess Belle.  I stuck with the girls to see the princesses while Eligh and dad walked around, picked up a sword (Eligh's money), and eventually brought back ice cream for a snack).  

We ended up seeing the following characters at Epcot:  Daisy Duck, Goofy, Princess Belle, Jasmine and Aladdin, and Alice.  The girls are not that interested in Sleeping Beauty or Snow White, so we skipped that.  

My dad and brother in law ended up leaving the park early afternoon and we picked up my younger sister and mom to finish the day with a quick ride on Nemo, a stop at a gift shop, and then we left the park before 6 pm.  We weren't able to do the Crush show following Nemo, as Addyson was worked up and just ready to leave, and with that we did.  We knew tomorrow would be a long day at Magic Kingdom, and going into Disney we said we would follow the kids' lead as to when we would leave each day.  

After leaving the park, my mom called my dad and had him start up the noodles for our homemade spaghetti (my mom had made sauce and brought it with and cooked it in the crock pot all day).  We ate dinner with my parents, older sister and her family, and my younger sister and husband.  Once the kiddos ate and played for a few, we got them to bed, waited till they were asleep, and visited with my parents and around 8/9 my brother and his family came back to the camp site and we helped get their four kiddos fed.  



*****For us, splitting Animal Kingdom and Epcot was perfect.  It gave us more time to spend at the parks our kids could and would enjoy the most.*****




Thursday, January 10, 2013

Spooked

First an apology for teasing you with one Disney post. We had an all day appointment and CT for Kinsley this week and then, bam, Eligh is sick with vomitting, fever, and throat pain.

I have to share this event, as it still has me spooked hours later.

Tonight, leaving dance class Addyson wanted to walk in front of the van on the side walk, while I wanted to walk behind the van. All of a sudden, Addyson is bawling her eyes out (scared, not a temper tantrum type crying). I ask her what is wrong and in between her sobs she explains she does not want to get run over and wants to walk on the sidewalk. I decide to take her route vs mine, and she is soon catching her breath and calming down when I hear a loud crunching noise. I turn my head and the car I wanted to walk behind to get to the van just backed into a parked car. I was and am still spooked about the whole series of events and am extremely grateful that Addyson was insistent on walking a different route, as that car could have backed into us .


All individuals involved were unharmed.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Not enough hours

There simply is not enough time in the day to catch up from a vacation.  
  • Unpacking from Disney
  • Taking down Christmas decorations
  • Reorganizing to make room for new toys
  • Two days of non-stop laundry
  • Grocery shopping
  • Four hours worth of driving to a doctor
  • Four hour doctor appointment
  •  Catching up as fast as I can while still adding more to my list

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Roadtrip to Disney

We left the day after Christmas at dark thirty, and got stuck in a blizzard for three hours.  Yes, three hours of sitting on highways waiting for snow plows to clear a path way.  With that said, the kids were AAAAAAAAMAZING!!!!

We planned on traveling further, but due to the blizzard, we stopped in Murfreesboro, TN.  My parents, sister, and brother in law also stopped in Murfreesboro.  Kiddos were super excited to see them at the hotel and stayed up until almost 10 p.m. that evening.

We woke up, ate our free breakfast and headed towards Florida.  We stopped in Gainsville, Florida enjoyed a presidential suite and a sit down dinner.

The next morning we slept in since we were only a couple hours away from Disney and could not check in until 1 p.m.  After breakfast, we packed up and headed straight for Downtown Disney.


The kiddos all had their own money to spend, so we hit up the Lego store and the main gift shop.  Lego displays were awesome.  Woody, Buzz, Snow White, and more.  

After some shopping and walking around, we picked up lunch for 16 of our 22 family members and headed to our campground just a couple miles away.  My parents had their camper all set up, my brother was able to check into his cabin, but my older sister and I had to wait until 4 p.m. to get checked in.  The 11 kiddos spent the afternoon visiting, running around, and being crazy.  

After checking in, 16 of us headed back to Downtown Disney for our reservation at the T-Rex restaurant.  

These pictures do NOT do it any justice.  GIANT dinosaurs move, lights dim, and the food was extremely good and had a good variety.  At first, Eligh and his closest boy cousin were scared of the giant dinosaurs, but once we were seated they both were in complete amazement.  This is definitely a restaurant we would visit again.