Lenten Reflection

FAMILY: Spend time with your children one-on-one. (I know that this is a recurring theme, already, but it is important for me to spend quality time with each of my children apart from the others).
FRIENDS: Do not gossip. No good ever comes of it. It makes you look bad and other feel bad.
FAITH:Loving God,
Sometimes my heart
turns in every direction
except towards you.
Please help me
to turn my heart toward you,
to gaze upon you in trust
and to seek your kingdom with all of my heart.
Soften my hardened heart
so that I might love others
as a way to glorify and worship you.
Grant me this
with the ever-present guidance of your spirit.

Mardi Gras Package and Scooting

Aunt Jeanne, Uncle Martin, Tripp and Ashton sent the kids a Mardi Gras package and the kids made a short video thanking them. I tried to e-mail the video to them, but it said that the file was too big. So I am going to attempt to post it here. Here's hoping I can get it to work!

Oh and while I am waiting for it to upload (is it supposed to take this long?), I will announce that Sam is officially scooting. He is not up on hands and knees but doing what I call the "army crawl." Wanna take bets on how long it will be until he crawls? Papa guessed three weeks. I am thinking that was a pretty conservative estimate. All the boy has gotta do is figure out how to get his knees underneath him and he will be off. He is bound and determined to start keeping up with Ward and Ann Park!

Recon Mission in Afghanistan

Ted forwarded the below in an email. Not sure where he got it and it is a bit crass, but I thought worth posting. We all get such a jaded view of the war from the television - just what they and the White House want us to know. But this is real. It is real. People are doing this every day.


From a Recon Marine in Afghanistan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the Sand Pit it's freezing here. I'm sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains , along the Dar 'yoi Pomir River , watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stake out, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.
I also glance at the area around my ass every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I've actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but the scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard.. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid, but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.
The one truth the Taliban cannot escape is that, believe it or not, they are human beings, which means they have to eat food and drink water. That requires couriers and that's where an old bounty hunter like me comes in handy. I track the couriers, locate the tunnel entrances and storage facilities, type the info into the handheld, shoot the coordinates up to the satellite link that tells the air commanders where to drop the hardware. We bash some heads for a while, then I track and record the new movement.
It's all about intelligence. We haven't even brought in the snipers yet. These scurrying rats have no idea what they're in for. We are but days away from cutting off supply lines and allowing the eradication to begin.
I dream of bin Laden waking up to find me standing over him with my boot on his throat as I spit into his face and plunge my nickel-plated Bowie knife through his frontal lobe. But you know me, I'm a romantic. I've said it before and I'll say it again: This country blows, man. It's not even a country. There are no roads, there's no infrastructure, there's no government. This is an inhospitable, rock pit shit hole ruled by eleventh century warring tribes. There are no jobs here like we know jobs.
Afghanistan offers two ways for a man to support his family: join the opium trade or join the army. That's it. Those are your options. Oh, I forgot, you can also live in a refugee camp and eat plum-sweetened, crushed beetle paste and squirt mud like a goose with stomach flu, if that's your idea of a party. But the smell alone of those 'tent cities of the walking dead' is enough to hurl you into the poppy fields to cheerfully scrape bulbs for eighteen hours a day.
I've been living with these Tajiks and Uzbeks, and Turkmen and even a couple of Pushtuns, for over a month-and-a-half now, and this much I can say for sure: These guys, all of 'em, are Huns... actual, living Huns.. They LIVE to fight. It's what they do. It's ALL they do. They have no respect for anything, not for their families, nor for each other, nor for themselves. They claw at one another as a way of life. They play polo with dead calves and force their five-year-old sons into human cockfights to defend the family honor. Huns, roaming packs of savage, heartless beasts who feed on each other's barbarism. Cavemen with AK-47's. Then again, maybe I'm just cranky.
I'm freezing my ass off on this stupid hill because my lap warmer is running out of juice, and I can't recharge it until the sun comes up in a few hours. Oh yeah! You like to write letters, right? Do me a favor, Bizarre. Write a letter to CNN and tell Wolf and Anderson and that awful, sneering, pompous Aaron Brown to stop calling the Taliban 'smart.' They are not smart. I suggest CNN invest in a dictionary because the word they are looking for is 'cunning.' The Taliban are cunning, like jackals and hyenas and wolverines. They are sneaky and ruthless, and when confronted, cowardly. They are hateful, malevolent parasites who create nothing and destroy everything else. Smart. Pfft. Yeah, they're real smart.
They've spent their entire lives reading only one book (and not a very good one, as books go) and consider hygiene and indoor plumbing to be products of the devil. They're still figuring out how to work a Bic lighter. Talking to a Taliban warrior about improving his quality of life is like trying to teach an ape how to hold a pen; eventually he just gets frustrated and sticks you in the eye with it.
OK, enough. Snuffle will be up soon, so I have to get back to my hole. Covering my tracks in the snow takes a lot of practice, but I'm good at it.
Please, I tell you and my fellow Americans to turn off the TV sets and move on with your lives. The story line you are getting from CNN and other news agencies is utter bullshit and designed not to deliver truth but rather to keep you glued to the screen through the commercials. We've got this one under control The worst thing you guys can do right now is sit around analyzing what we're doing over here, because you have no idea what we're doing, and really, you don't want to know. We are your military, and we are doing what you sent us here to do.

Saucy Jack
Recon Marine in Afghanistan
Semper Fi
"Freedom is not free...but the U.S. Marine Corps will
pay most of your share".

Lenten Reflection

FAMILY: Clean up the house today. Go through that stuff that has been sitting in a basket somewhere for weeks. Put up your kids toys (that they should have put away!). Don't complain or ask your husband to notice. Serve your family in that way today.
FRIENDS: Take a friend a flower today and tie a Bible verse to the stem. Tell her that you wanted to brighten her day.
FAITH: I have been thinking a lot about the meaning of Easter. Of course I know that it is to remind us that Jesus died to forgive my sins. But how can I apply that lesson to my life? I need to forgive others when they hurt me, fail me, don't live up to my expectations, etc. And I need to forgive not begrudgingly like I so often do, but with the same passion, love, patience and kindness of Jesus.

Love-Hate Relationships

I definitely have a love-hate relationship with working out, as I am sure most people do out there. Of course, my crazy friend Angela loves it all, but she is in the vast minority of my friends, I think. I have been using a personal trainer on and off since I had Ward. I started because I wanted to loose baby weight, but then got pregnant with Ann Park and the cycle started all over again. But after Ann Park I was able to lose all the weight and feel good about the way I looked.

Well, I am definitely not there yet after 9 months with my beloved Sam. I am close, but not there. I continued with the trainer after I had Sam, but I had just lost that spark. I dreaded going and then every time I had to write that fat check I was pissed. I mean, it wasn't like the whole workout thing was rocket science. So I decided to quit the trainer and just start back at the YMCA.

I have been doing that for about a month now with mixed results. I have good weeks and bad. One week didn't go at all. But today I went to my first class. I used to love going to exercises classes in law school, but I was in good shape then and knew that I would be able to totally keep up with the teacher and the rest of the class. That is NOT the position I am in today. But I didn't care. It is was a Muscle Works class. And it kicked my butt. Literally. I don't know if I will be able to go down stairs tomorrow we did so many lunges. And while I was hating it while I was doing it, I am loving it now. Love-hate, see?

5 Year Old's 911 Call

This is a clip from the Bonnie Hunt Show of a 5 year old girl who talked to the 911 Dispatcher while her daddy apparently was having a heart attack. She is so calm and collected, so concerned for her dad. But there are also some funny parts. I just pray that if I ever needed an ambulance Ward could be so with it. Not sure. Need to talk about that one.

Oh and a shout-out to Louisa for teaching me how to post You Tube videos on blogger!! Love ya girl!

Lenten Reflection

FAMILY:  Play a game with your children.  Ward chose t-ball and Ann Park soccer.  It is cold but beautiful outside.  How could a mom say no?
FRIENDS:  Do something nice for someone, like putting a word of encouragement on a sticky note or even putting more money in a a parking meter.  Don't let the person know that you did it.
FAITH:  Be quiet for 5 minutes.  Meditate and pray.  Listen.  (I know 5 minutes doesn't seem like a long time but it is an eternity to me when you are talking about being quiet and still.)

Lenten Reflection

Okay so I just realized I have been spelling Lenten incorrectly.  Not a big deal but it just shows how attached I have gotten to spell check and that little red line that appears under a word when Word thinks that I have misspelled it!  But back to the post:

FAMILY:  Pray with your children today.  Talk to them about the meaning and significance of prayer, even if you don't think that they really understand you.
FRIENDS:  Do you know anyone who has a loved one in the military who is deployed?  Send that person a special note today thanking them for what they do for us.  (This is a friends and family one for me since my first cousin's husband is in Afghanistan.  We are sending him a package this week!)
FAITH:  I love this prayer that I found today.  It really hit me this morning.
Dear Lord,
I know you receive what is in my heart.
Let me be inspired by your words
and by the actions of your son, Jesus.
Guide me to make sacrifices this Lent
in the spirit of self-denial
and with greater attention to you
and to those around me.
Help me to believe that you will grant me this
because of the sacrifice Jesus made for me.

Lenton Reflection

FAMILY: Be patient with a child today who needs a little extra patience.

FRIENDS:  Smile at a stranger today.  It may be the only smile s/he sees all day.

FAITH:  Try to be more selfless in all that you do.
Father of my soul,
Mother of my heart,
I know your love for me is limitless beyond imagining.
You care for me as a loving parent.
Through my smallest Lenten sacrifices,
help me to become less selfish
and more aware of your ways.
Fan the flame of my desire
to draw ever closer to you.
Guide me to seek your love.

Snow

It has snowed in Birmingham more this winter than it did all myyears of growing up here.  I think that my kids think that it always snows here . . . they have a lot to learn!  The latest snow occurred on Friday, February 12.  It was my kind of snow since it didn't get icy, hinder any driving, and we didn't loose power.  The kids were out of school, but they had a blast.  I have been meaning to post the pictures.  They had the best time!

The couldn't wait to get into the snow as soon as they saw it!

Ward decided that he was going to make a snowman . . . all by himself!

STRONG MAN!

Ward's snowman - made without any adult help!

Once Ted got home, he took Ward sledding

The sunset was beautiful that afternoon.

Lenton Reflection

FAMILY:  Our church is collecting money in baby bottles for "Her Choice" a Catholic crisis pregnancy cetner in Birmingham.  I am going to challenge my kids to dig into their piggy banks and to do some chores around the house to fill the baby bottle with money.
FRIENDS:  Think of a friend who may be struggling.  Call her and ask her if you can bring her a meal this week.
FAITH:  Last night at Mass, the Gospel was one of my favorite readings.  It is when Jesus goes into the desert and fasts for 40 days and then is tempted by the Devil.  With each temptation, Jesus refuses the Devil by quoting the Bible.  Father Bob told us that it is always the Gospel reading the first Sunday during Lent.  It always challenges me to resist temptation by focusing on the Word.  Becuase if I don't know what God thinks about something, how can I adequately resist the Devil??

Lent Day 2

Before I do my Lenton reflection fr the day, I have to say Happy Birthday to Ted!  He is 36 years young today.  We are heading to Grey Rocks this morning to spend his birthday weekend at his favorite place.  Should be a great time.

FAMILY:  Be aware of your husband's needs.  Do something for him unexpected.

FRIENDS:  Show compassion to someone who needs it, whether it is a friend, co-worker or stranger.

FAITH:  Lord, 

               I know how much you love me.
               It’s hard for me to feel it sometimes,
               but I know your love is always with me.

               Help me to use your love as a way
               to persevere in my Lenten intentions.
               I am weak, but I know with your help,
               I can use these small sacrifices in my life to draw closer to you.

I found this prayer at a website called "Praying Lent 2010" from Creighton University.  It lists the readings for each day as well as giving some small prayers and meditations.  I will be citing from it regularly in my Lenton relfections.  The website is http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent if you want to check it out.

Lenton reflections

So the past couple of years I have done a daily Lenton reflection.  I am going to try to remember to do that each day this Lent as well.  I usually don't get to it on the weekends, especially when we are at Grey Rocks (like this weekend).  I have used different formats (I can't really remember what I did last year), but I like this one.  Here goes:

FAMILY:   Spend a little extra time with one child, whether it be reading an extra bedtime story, or taking him/her to run errands with you by themselves.  Make them feel special.
FRIENDS:  Call or e-mail a friend you have lost touch with.
FAITH:  Send five extra minutes in prayer.

I challenge all to do these three little things today (or tomorrow since it is now late and all kids should be asleep!!)

Lent

As I am sure that you are all aware, Lent begins tomorrow.  I have always observed Lent, but it is a very big deal in the Catholic Church.  For instance, I will fast tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, and I will not eat meat on Fridays during Lent.  Since I was pregnant last year, I forgot what the definition of fasting was in the Catholic Church (it is NOT not eating all day).  Here is a pretty good explanation from EWTN's website:

Fasting The law of fasting requires a Catholic from the 18th Birthday [Canon 97] to the 59th Birthday [i.e. the beginning of the 60th year, a year which will be completed on the 60th birthday] to reduce the amount of food eaten from normal. The Church defines this as one meal a day, and two smaller meals which if added together would not exceed the main meal in quantity. Such fasting is obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The fast is broken by eating between meals and by drinks which could be considered food (milk shakes, but not milk). Alcoholic beverages do not break the fast; however, they seem contrary to the spirit of doing penance.

The same website also describes the reasoning behind fasting and abstaining from meat.  It also talked about the traditional "giving something up for Lent" idea:


It is a traditional doctrine of Christian spirituality that a constituent part of repentance, of turning away from sin and back to God, includes some form of penance, without which the Christian is unlikely to remain on the narrow path and be saved (Jer. 18:11, 25:5; Ez.  18:30, 33:11-15; Joel 2:12; Mt. 3:2; Mt. 4:17; Acts 2:38). Christ Himself said that His disciples would fast once He had departed (Lk. 5:35). The general law of penance, therefore, is part of the law of God for man.
Aside from these minimum penitential requirements Catholics are encouraged to impose some personal penance on themselves at other times. It could be modeled after abstinence and fasting. A person could, for example, multiply the number of days they abstain. Some people give up meat entirely for religious motives (as opposed to those who give it up for health or other motives). Some religious orders, as a penance, never eat meat. Similarly, one could multiply the number of days that one fasted. The early Church had a practice of a Wednesday and Saturday fast. This fast could be the same as the Church's law (one main meal and two smaller ones) or stricter, even bread and water. Such freely chosen fasting could also consist in giving up something one enjoys - candy, soft drinks, smoking, that cocktail before supper, and so on. This is left to the individual.
One final consideration. Before all else we are obliged to perform the duties of our state in life. When considering stricter practices than the norm, it is prudent to discuss the matter with one's confessor or director. Any deprivation that would seriously hinder us in carrying out our work, as students, employees or parents would be contrary to the will of God.

So the question becomes, what should I do in honor of Lent.  In the past I have done the typical things like give up chocolate, caffeine, and the like.  And that was definitely a sacrifice - especially considering that my birthday is during Lent so some years I didn't even have a cake!  But this year, I wanted to do something different.  I always go to Stations of the Cross on Fridays during Lent.  It is one of my favorite things in the Catholic Church.  They go through all the stages of Christ being convicted, carrying the cross, and finally dying.  It is very powerful and a perfect reminder of what Lent is all about.  So I will definitely do that again.  But my cousin Louisa challenged me even more - to do something "spiritual" for Lent that will last far longer than giving up chocolate.  She suggested that I try to read the Bible every day for 30 minutes.  So I am going to try.  My time is very precious and it may be late each night that I do it, but I will try.  That is all I can ask of myself.

Valentine's Day

I am not really into Valentine's Day.  I know that everyone says that, and a lot of people don't mean it, but I really do.  You are supposed to love every day and show the people you love that you love them every day.  I don't always live up to that standard, but I try . . . usually.  So today was really no different than any other Sunday in our house - except Ted ran the Mercedes Half Marathon this morning and left the house at the crack of dawn so I have the daunting task of getting myself and all the kids ready for 8:30 AM Mass, surviving with them all during Mass, and getting them home in one piece - which I did - rather well, if I may say so myself, especially considering the fact that I got a last-minute ticket to see Black Eyed Peas last night (AMAZING, by the way - go if you have the chance) and had a little too much fun.

All that being said, Ted always does something for me on Valentine's Day.  He usually sends me flowers at work, which I love.  I know that they hike up the prices (he usually doesn't do roses), but flowers are the best.  They make me happy. I am the type of girl who buys flowers at Publix just to have some in the house.  But this year there was no flowers.  He definitely upped the anty (sp?) and got me this amazing necklace from one of my favorite jewelry stores in town.  It is a rosary-type necklace with a beautiful green stone on the end.  Instead of having Mary on it, however, it has Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is the protector of children.  I adore it.  It is gorgeous and really different.  I wore it all day and got tons of compliments on it.  He is the best.  Makes the Izod shirt I got him look pretty bad.  Oh well.  I got him a really funny card!

Taxes

I am sure that everyone out there hates tax season . . . accountants more so than us common folks, to be sure.  All year long I have a file labeled "income taxes" and I diligently place all our receipts and the like in there like a good little girl.  And then February comes.  And I know that I have to go through it all and get it all organized.  And, no, I don't do our taxes.  I know that I am a lawyer and I took a course on tax, but that does not make me qualified to do our taxes.  I still can't believe that there are people out there who do their own taxes . . . you amaze me.  I don't understand it all and I went to 3 years of law school.  Congress, that should say something to you people.

But anyway, what was I saying?  Oh yeah. Dreading putting everything together for our accountant.  See, he sends us this big package in January with this long questionnaire that you have to fill out and attach every document imaginable.  Some that I know I don't have.  Others that Ted has, but never gives me.  And, no, Ted does not help with this tax chore.  Oh, I am sure that he would if I asked.  He might even do it himself.  But I handle all the money around here so this kinda landed in my lap.  Plus he would procrastinate or not do it the way I would and that would stress me out.  So instead I stress myself out by doing it all by myself.  Make sense?  Well, it does to me.  So I will complain about filling it out.  I may even be a little bit bitchier to Ted because I have to fill it out.  But it will get done.  My way.  The right way.  And I won't worry about it once it is done.

Wrapping up Disney

Okay, enough procrastinating.  Time to wrap up the Disney review.  We met John and Emily Holmes and their twin boys, Sam and Turner. (they left their baby, Bennett, at home as well) on Saturday morning for Animal Kingdom.  The boys are in Ann Park's grade but just turned 4, so they are really right between Ward and Ann Park.  Turner is our godson. They both really love Ward, especially Sam.  The weather was kinda cold and rainy but it definitely didn't damper the spirits.  Here is the group waiting to get into the park:

As advised, we headed straight to Africa, for the safari.  There was a tiny wait (5 minutes at the most) and the kids couldn't wait.  I had heard mixed reviews about the safari but it definitely didn't disappoint.  We saw every animal they had out there and some very close up.  It was a great experience and Ward, my animal-lover, really enjoyed it.  Ted took some pretty good shots of the animals as well, but I won't post those since there are a ton.

daddy and Ann Park waiting for the safari

After the safari, we walked through a zoo-type area and then headed to Camp Mickey and Minnie where they have a live Lion King show.  It is very similar to the Broadway show and pretty impressive.  I loved it, although Ann Park started screaming towards the end because it was too loud and I had to leave with her.  For some reason she has very sensitive ears.  Not sure why that is.  But we saw Pochahontis on our way out (didn't get a picture, unfortunately) which made it worth her while.

We then headed to the Dinosaur area of the park.  Here, they have lots of fun rides as well as a massive playground and a place to dig for dinosaur bones.  I think that we probably spent about 3 hours playing around here and the kids loved it.  It was also nice not to have to stroll the kids around the park all day like we did in Magic Kingdom and Epcot.  

 

After lunch John, Emily and Ted decided they wanted to ride Everest, the big rollercoaster in Animal Kingdom.  They had to get a fastpass since the line was so long and we had about an hour to kill.  The kids decided that was a good time to get their goodies and we had fun seeing all the strange creatures about Animal Kingdom.  I took the kids to a really cool live bird show while the not-so-scarypants adults rode the rollercoaster.  I had a great time with the kids, but it was getting colder and starting to rain.  

goodies

 

tree lady - she was kinda scary!

The day was far from over when we left, however, as the kids decided they wanted to swim in the cold (65 degrees probably) rain.  Thank goodness the pool was heated and John got in with them.  Ward had a great time and with a little peer pressure, he did the big slide about 10 times.  We broke from the Holmes clan at that point and went back to our room to bathe and dress.  We then headed back to the Magic Kingdom for dinner and to hit our favorite rides one more time.  Home on Sunday never looked better!

daddy and Ann Park on Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride

after Buzz Light Year, Ward's favorite ride

Bye Disney!  See you next time . . . in about 3 years!

Epcot

Back to the land of Disney.

We headed to Epcot on Friday morning, which was a very nice and welcome change from the pace of the Magic Kingdom.  When we first got there, we headed to Nemo ride which the kids loved and then we went to talk to Crush.  For those of you who don't know, Crush is a sea turtle in Nemo.  He is hysterical and in this exhibit, Crush talks to the kids and really responds to their questions, etc.  It is set-up like he is in a fish tank and can see the kids.  They loved it.

After Nemo, we went over to "the Land" and saw a Lion King-inspired movie that I thought was really cool, but the kids were a little bored and they were hungry for a morning snack.  So we decided to start the trek through all the countries.  I was a little worried that they wouldn't like it, but I was so wrong - they LOVED it.  In each country they had an activity called "Kidcot."  We started in Mexico (after riding the boat ride inside the Incan ruins) and they each got a mask that they could color.  In each country another little tag representing that country was added.  And in China, Japan and Morrocco, they got their names written in Chinese, Japanese and Arabic on the back.  They loved them.  

After Mexico we headed to Norway.  Ward loved the boat ride in Norway - he rode it twice in a row!  It was a viking ship that gets caught in a storm and has a fun drop-off in the end.  Ann Park and I were supposed to go to a Princess lunch in Norway, but she decided against it, which was fine with me as I was not looking forward to the food!  And we got to see plenty of princesses in Epcot!  

After Norway, was China.  Ann Park was in a picture-taking mood and posed for me all around China!

Next, we stopped at the Outpost and the kids played drums and then they got their faces painted!!!  Ann Park got cherry blossoms on her face and Ward transformed into an Asian tiger.  As you can see from some of the pictures later in the day, he really got into the role!

Ann Park loved seeing the princesses.  In Epcot, we saw Snow White, Aladdin and Jasmine, Mary Poppins, Alice, and others.  We got picture with some but didn't have the patience for all the lines.  Here are a few shots.

On the way out, we hit England, France and Canada and decided to go back to the hotel and go swimming at around 4.  It was by far our prettiest day, and the weather got not so pretty for the next day when we met the Holmes twins and hit Animal Kingdom!!!

being silly in Morocco

Baby books

This morning Ted got out Ward's baby book to show Ward how much Sam looked like he did when he was a little boy.  And then Ann Park wanted to see her book so Ted got it out as well.  And then the guilt really started to hit me.  To be sure, I went WAY overboard on the baby books.  They are Creative Memories masterpieces - no I am not too humble about them.  I spent well over 100 hours on each of them and they cover the first year of each child's life.  But I have barely started on Sam's book.  I don't think that I am even to month 2.  Pathetic.  I will not be the mom who doesn't give her youngest a baby book because I don't have time. We don't even have a picture of Ted until his 4th birthday.  Of course I don't blame Jean - he is the youngest of 7.  But I do have time.  It just need to make it a priority.  And I will.  He deserves at least that!  I mean, he is my best baby!

And those of you who don't blog haven't seen these ads but blogger just got really smart.  You can now get your blog turned into a book.  Great idea for those of us who put baby milestones and other funny tidbits about the kids on our blogs.  Can't believe they haven't done this sooner.  They will make a fortune!

Tooth #2

Tooth #2 popped today (bottom right) and you think that it would have given him relief, but still refused to sleep more than 45 minutes this afternoon.  I am sure that he will crash and burn tonight, but he is happily jumping in the johnny jump-up right now so I am not complaining.  Of course, I didn't get my afternoon nap as I had planned, but I will live.  More on Disney tomorrow, maybe.

Disney II

Okay, so here is some of "the more" as promised . . .

After Chef Mickey breakfast, we packed our bags for a day at Magic Kingdom.  When we entered the park, we decided to go clockwise around the place and that meant we started at Adventureland, which turned out to be Ward's favorite place.  It started with an amazing Swiss Family Robinson tree house.  Ward led the way through the tree and we had a hard time keeping up!

Also in Adventureland there is a safari boat ride that I took the kids on while Ted had to take a call for work.  It was a nice break and it was pretty silly.  We met up with Ted and went on another ride in a boat, but this one was a little scary (esp. for Ann Park) - Pirates of the Caribbean.  There is a little fast part at the end and there are times in the dark that she didn't like.  Ward loved it, of course.

After Adventureland, Ann Park and I skipped Frontierland (that is where Splash Mountain is loacted, but it was closed for repair and WAY too cold to think about getting wet) and headed back to Fantasyland for Peter Pan (her favorite ride).  Ward and Ted stayed in Frontierland for a little while without us girls and took Tom Sawyer's riverboat ride.  (As an aside, any ride that had a boat, Ward wanted in - funny how boring something could seem to us and he just loved it - more on that in Epcot.)  They stopped in a cool frontier town where Ward found a shooting house and guns.  He was in heaven.

Ward and Ann Park met us in Fantasyland for lunch and more rides - Peter Pan (we did this twice thanks to the FastPass - the line was 55 minutes!), It's a Small World, Dumbo, the carousel, and Mickey's Philharmonic.  Then it was off to Toon Town, where Mickey and Minnie live and where there is a baby rollercoaster, Goofy's Barnyard Adventure.  Ann Park was too scared to ride, but Ward braved it, even if he was a little scared at some points.  The picture of a fast part didn't really turn out but it still shows how serious he got!

 (this was going up the rollercoaster)

 (and this was going down!)

Finally, we headed to the last part of the Magic Kingdom, Futureland.  Ward's favorite ride was here - Buzz Lightyear.  They also both got to drive cars on a race track which they both really liked.  

By this point in the afternoon, it was pretty warm and they were pretty tired.  It was about 4 and we decided to head back to the hotel for a swim in the pool and a little rest before dinner.  But on the way out, we had to go back and get their prizes for the day.  We headed back to Adventureland for Ward to get a pirate's gun from Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and we splurged on Main Street for Ann Park and got her a princess dress.  I just could not resist - Ariel!

Friday we headed to Epcot.  But that is for another post . . . I am tired, aren't you?

Disney!

I have finally found some time to sit down, away from the kids (well, not really away - they are painting about 7 feet from me) and tell everyone about Disney.  To say that we had an amazing trip would be an understatement.  Although Ted and I probably walked about 10 miles, alternating pushing a double stroller and/or holding at least one of them, we loved every minute of it.  Well, not every minute as there was the usual whining and some fighting, but you get the picture.  The kids were great and I loved seeing the "magic" in their eyes.  It was the perfect time for their first trip - no need to go back to the room for naps, but they were in bed by 8 at the latest so Ted and I did have some time to ourselves.

I will probably have to break up all the pictures as I don't want this post to be too long.  Here are some shots from our first day.  We left Bham at 7:30 in the morning, which was exhausting, but gave us a full half day in the Magic Kingdom which was nice.  We were checked in, unpacked and on the monorail by 12:30 Eastern time.  When we first got into the Magic Kingdom, the show that plays on and off all day in front of Cinderella's castle was playing - a great way to start!

The kids watched from our shoulders and really got into the spirit!  Next, we headed straight to "It's A Small World" which was one of our favorites.  On the way, they stopped to pull the sword from the stone - just like the movie, as Ward repeatedly told me!

After riding "It's A Small World" we got a FastPass (best invention at Disney) for Pooh's Ride and played in Pooh's playground while we waited.  The kids loved this area as well and Ted got some really cute pictures.

As I am sure all of you are aware, Disney is a marketing genius.  There are toys everywhere and at the end of each ride, you have to walk through a store to get back into the mix of things.  We knew we were in for 4 full days of "I want this" and "I want that" so Ted came up with a rule that they could get one thing a day (and we had veto power if it was too expensive).  This worked well and we didn't end up spending a fortune (except for Ann Park's Ariel dress, but it was just too good to pass up).  Here is the loot from the first day:

(I know, I know, Ted is such a great actor!)

Thursday morning we had our one and only character meal.  (As an aside, we stayed in a villa at Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary and it was GREAT.  You don't go to Disney to eat - the food is awful - so it was so nice to have a place to eat our own food.  We had a driver from the airport to Disney and he took us to Publix on our way in.)  On the recommendation of my friend from college, Erin, we went to breakfast at Chef Mickey.  The food was pretty good (you can't really screw up breakfast food) and all the classic characters come to your table.  Ann Park was scared and wouldn't get near them, but she warmed up by the end of our time there.  Ward was in hog heaven!

After breakfast we headed to a full day of fun at the Magic Kindgom.  I will have to do that in another post.  Lots of pictures and my time is up with the kids!  More to come, I promise!