Five Favorites...Disney Magic!

Wow!  It is tough getting back into a groove after a vacation!  Add in two little ones with bad colds and getting even less sleep than usual and it isn't so pretty around here!  There is something going on every night this week as well which is adding to our chaos....Women of Grace meeting, Honor Society, Youth Group and a double duo on Friday with Andrew and Jon both invited to Andrew's girlfriend's prom(Courtney's best friend invited Jon) and a Spring Gala Fundraiser for the girls' school!  (I'm hoping Kate and Luke are better by then since I was really looking forward to having some grown-up time with Jay!)  Add in knee surgery for Jay's dad today and trying to figure out Mike's college plans for next year with the looming May 1st deadline and this week is full to the brim and starting to run over!

I'm linking up with five favorites today over at Moxie Wife!  I would love to start sharing some of the highlights of our family Disney vacation, made possible by the generosity of my parents sharing their love for Disney magic!  Many thanks, Mom and Dad!

#1 Pool Time!

My kids love to swim!  After months of winter weather, being in a pool every day for an hour or two each time is such a treat.  After landing around 430 and getting to our hotel a little after 5 and going out for dinner, the first place we headed was the pool!  With temps still near 80 degrees even after 8pm, the water felt great!

Two pretty girls ready to swim!

Peter especially loves the water!  I think he is part fish!

Jon and Luke:)

Mike and Luke:)

Kate liked wearing her bathing suit, but the pool was not her thing!

Andrew and Courtney deep in conversation....but always within view;)

#2  Meeting up with Friends!
Is there anything better than getting to hang out with friends on vacation?   Ummm...no!
Our close friends, Tony and Karen and their kids were going on a Disney Cruise, but we had a few hours that overlapped on Friday evening for a quick visit!
Sitting by the pool watching the kids, enjoying the warm weather, conversation with friends, a drink in our hands(thx, Tony!).....priceless!

Kate with Emma:)

Ahhh..grown-ups on vacation!(photo bomb courtesy of Mike)

Pretty girls!(Good thing they all have older brothers to keep the boys away!)

Group pic!

Silly group pic!

#3  Family Time!
The best part of being on vacation is being together and making family memories!  I love that there are no work or school or schedule interruptions!  Everything revolves around togetherness!
(Thankfully, there were very few moment of people feeling "too much togetherness!")

#4  Fun Photo Ops!
(These pics were at the Chef Mickey character breakfast at the Comtemporary Hotel)

#5  Great Food!
(and not cooking!)

If it seems like we have quite a few pictures revolving around food, well....we do!  There are so many incredible restaurants in Disney!
(Thankfully you do a lot of walking to help offset all the calories...at least a little!)
Some of my favorite meals were breakfast at Boma's Restaurant in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, our girls' night out dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant in the Beast's Castle, dinner at the Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club Hotel, and lunch at Le Celier in Epcot's Canada.

Andrew and Courtney at Boma's where she tried so hard to get Andrew to try the juice!

Be Our Guest Restaurant...it's beautiful and looks like the ballroom from Beauty and the Beast.
They even have a West Wing room with a glass enclosed magical rose!

Kate really enjoyed the chocolate cupcake!

I'm so thankful that Ellie was still excited to have her pic with the Beast!

Rainforest nachos and wings!  Yum!

Breakfast at Olivia's Cafe at our resort Old Key West before heading to the airport.

O' Canada!

More Boma's

and more Boma's

and more Boma's!

I have quite a few more funny memories to share...and more pictures if you can put up with me!  I will  share more soon!  One post I pre-wrote the day it happened because it was "one of those days" and best written with fresh sentiment!
Coming soon...stay tuned!

One Week

Sorry for the sporadic posts, but we were away on vacation!  We had a great time, although in the wake of the Boston Marathon tragedy I feel guilty about posting about our good time and favorite family memories.

My heart is still heavy for the hurt, loss, fear, and anger that happened one week ago today.  It seems wrong to go about my normal life when so many people will never have their "normal life" back again!  Figuring out a "new normal" is not easy...I know that from experience.  Healing takes time.

It feels almost disrespectful to post about fun things when there is so much hurt felt throughout our whole country.  Living only an hour away from Boston, everything happened right in my "backyard".  I had a couple of close friends that were at the Marathon but, thankfully, not at the finish line.

I can't wait to share my happy memories of the last 10 days with you!  

But, for today, my heart and prayers are with those that are hurting on this one week anniversary.  

The Mickey Cow Incident

I still have a heavy heart for those suffering in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.  It's hard to just go on as 'business as usual' when a tragedy hits close to home!  In about 30 seconds I will be settling into bed with 2 little munchkins, and I can't say that I mind so much right now!  Knowing they are safe and next to me makes me feel good right now!

 

 

 

This pic is a reminder of one of the most famous of Disney memories for our family.  The trip we took when Jon was 2, Andrew was 3, and Mike was 5, we went to Fort Wilderness to see their small farm set up and playground. 

 

Mike loved cows when he was little!  He always wanted to go for rides near our home to see the cows in the fields. 

 

This particular cow, dubbed "the mickey cow" because of his unique black spot that looks like Mickey's head(and made his owner quite a bit of $ since he was wanted by Disney!), was something Mike was excited to see.  We all stood at the fence while Mike was standing on the fence with his head leaning over and was mooing to it. 

 

At one point it started walking over to us which got Mike really excited and had him mooing even louder.

 

Well....I guess the cow did not like Mike and/or his cow imitation because he walked right up to him and head butted him.  Poor Mike started crying...cows have big heads!  Fortunately, Mike only ended up with a scratch low on his forehead.(We called it his third eyebrow for the rest of the trip!)

 

After that, cows weren't as special to Mike!  Poor little guy! 

When Things Just Don't Make Sense

Why does our world have to be so full of violence?  How can someone (or a group of people?) be so heartless and cruel as to find joy in causing pain, injury and even death to others!

It's hard to process what happened at the marathon yesterday!  So many people hurt...some with life changing injuries...and a few losing their lives.  I don't think any parent can overlook the grief of the family that lost their 8 year old son!  Not to mention that their 6 year old lost her leg and the mom is still in grave condition.  That poor father!  To go from elation that he finished the Boston Marathon to shock, pain, grief and anger that his family will never, ever be the same again.... All the what ifs that will go through his head.."what if I had run 5 minutes faster or 5 minutes slower?"  "what if I hadn't run today?"  "what if my family had only cheered me on at another mile marker?"

He has a lot to work through:(  That is such an understatement!

As a mom, it's hard enough to worry about my children's health and everyday safety from the "normal" things...crossing the street, drowning in a pool, getting lost, choking, toys with lead paint, etc.  Now we have to add random bombings at historic sporting events, too?

It's times like this that make me want to live in a bubble or an island to keep my family safe!

I'm thankful that my family is together and safe...even as my heart bleeds for the families that are suffering from this senseless tragedy! 

Sea World

                                         

We have been to Sea World a couple of times.  Peter really likes it!  As you can see, the older boys like it, too!  Here they are sitting in the 'soak zone' waiting for the Shamu show to start.  It was a little cold that day, so we came up with the compromise that they could sit in the soak zone if they wore ponchos.

(I especially love the pics of Andrew from this vacation because it was pre-high school when it was still cool to smile!)

Excrement Day

So this pic is a funny memory from Mike's first trip to Disney!  (Mike was 23 months old.)  As you can see from the picture, Jay is none too pleased!  We had been in line at the Pirates of the Caribbean line with Jay holding Mike when, all of a sudden, he felt something warm all over his arm and chest!  Yep...a diaper malfunction!

Jay went into the men's room to wash, and my dad headed over to a kiosk to buy Jay a new shirt.  In the few minutes that Jay was waiting shirtless, three different Disney employees came up to him telling him he needed to wear a shirt in the park.  Three different times Jay had to explain that his son had peed on him and his father-in-law was buying him a new shirt!

Three different times the Disney workers walked off laughing:)

The fun continued on the Disney bus on the way home at the end of the day when Mike had diarrhea and it leaked out of his diaper and onto...you guessed it...Jay's arm!

This day has been dubbed "excrement day" in our family Disney memories!

Rolling with "It"!

Having a bunch of kids has taught me over the years to be more of a flexible, go with the flow kind of person.  (I have also had a lot of experience with meltdowns(my own) when my need to control things crashes up against this 'normal chaos' life we live!  Yeah..those aren't pretty!)

This pic is one of those 'go with the flow' opportunities!  Mike and Jon are soaked after riding the Kali River Rapids in the Animal Kingdom Park.  (Ellie is the little girl in the blue princess dress looking confused:)

As you can see, Jon is in a wheelchair and sporting crutches!  

So...the story goes that the night before we left for Disney, Andrew and Jon had a CYO basketball game.  During the game, Jon was involved with a play that ended up with him hurting his ankle.  Seeing the immediate swelling, Jay knew a trip to the E.R. was in order.

Jay and Jon headed to the hospital around 8:30pm.  It was, of course, a very busy night there.  After waiting, and x-rays, and more waiting, they diagnosed him with an avulsion fracture.  (An avulsion fracture is an injury to the bone in a place where a tendon or ligament attaches to the bone. When an avulsion fracture occurs, the tendon or ligament pulls off a piece of the bone....thank-you about.com Orthopedics!)  

Jay's definition is easier to understand..."A sprained ankle that actually pulls off a piece of the ankle bone."  Thank-you Mr. Physical Therapist!:)

The hospital gave him crutches, told him not to put any weight on it and to follow-up with an ortho, and sent him home.  They got back from the hospital around midnight.

Our flight the next morning was bright and early!  Our ride to the airport arrived at 5:30 am!  My parents were pretty shocked to see Jon come out of the house on crutches.  But we rolled with it!  Jon was wheel-chair bound for most of the trip.  Towards the end, it turned out his ankle wasn't as bad as the dr. at the er had thought.  By the time we got home a week later Jon could put weight on it and was walking with barely a limp!

Jon also milked getting pushed around for all it was worth!  I'm sure there were a few moments that his brothers were ready to push him down a hill for his own personalized Disney ride!