Ashley's back with all of her stories about White Pines, including one about a girl from a different troop that got bucked off of her horse yesterday after screaming at a rabbit that jumped out of the woods on their trail ride. I am so glad she's back in one piece.
We really wore Mitchell out on our walk through the woods surrounding the park area. He was walking pretty slow by the time we were back in sight of the parking lot.
It's been Ryan's mission to turn Mitchell into a fellow Jedi. Must also be Bret's intention since he went out and bought Mitchell his own light sabre while he was napping.
After dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood and found that our neightbors were having a bon fire in their backyard. It seems there were backyard parties everywhere throughout the neighborhood tonight - a definate sign that the weather has gotten nice again. The boys had a blast having light sabre fights in the dark and sitting around the camp fire. The funny thing is that Mitchell is with us because his parents and sister went camping for the weekend, and here we are kind of doing the same thing.
Ashley is off and on her way to her horseback riding trip and Ryan will soon be over at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Bret and I are going to see The Bob & Tom Show down at the Civic Center with some friends and I'm not really sure what to expect. I've heard some of their stuff when Bret's alarm clock goes off in the morning, but still couldn't tell you anything about it. I have been warned that I will probably pee my pants from laughing so hard, so we'll see. It should be a good time, especially since we're meeting for drinks before hand.
The big weekend is finally here. Ashley leaves tonight for her weekend horse back riding trip with her Girl Scout troop. She's excited, but her mother is a nervous wreck. I've packed her bag this morning and I think it's heavier than she is - and all that's in there is everything on her packing list. And maybe (shhh) my forbidden cell phone tucked away discreetly in her bag in case she wants to call us at bedtime. (Shhh, don't tell.) This will be her first trip away from home without us. Sure, she's been to day camp and overnights before, but this is 2 1/2 hours away for three days! And we're not even going to talk about the vacation curse, so don't even think about it!
So, out with one kid and in with a new one. In Ashley's place, Mitchell will be staying with us over the weekend while his family goes camping in Iowa. Bret and Ryan are saying that they're going to turn him into a Star Wars buff so that we can have two little Jedi's in the family...lol. If Mitchell's mommy and daddy are reading this: This is your last chance to change your mind...lol.
Over in the xray department we learned that his toe was not broken. Thank God for some things!
Guess what came in the mail today with perfect timing? His new GameBoy and Star Wars games. Could that not have worked out any better? He was so excited about it that he hasn't once complained about his toe.
I never thought my kids would need or be interested in video games. Boy, was I wrong. This year Ashley discovered the iPod and the Nintendo DS, which means Ryan has now discovered it, too - and wants his own. Sigh.
We've been looking into the whole handheld video game thing for Ryan and have decided on the Gameboy Advance since it's a bit more simple than the DS. He did pretty well with it when we had borrowed Skyler's.
So, today I found an awesome deal on Ebay. It was for the cobalt blue Gameboy Advance, carrying case, home and car chargers and 4 games for what you would pay for 2 brand new games. I probably would have kept on looking, except that two of the games were Star Wars I and Star Wars II. Duh! (We all know how addicted Bret and Ryan have been to the Star Wars games on the PlayStation downstairs.) I spent 4 hours keeping tabs on the bidding until it ended late this afternoon. I watched and then swooped it up in the last minute of bidding out from under everyone's noses.
Oh, you didn't think we were going to wait for his birthday in August, did you? Nope, we're going to give it to him before we go to Disney World so that we'll have a peaceful flight there and back. Little man is going to freak out when he sees it - but not as much as he will when he sees this and this - the two things he's most excited about this Disney World vacation for.
I had to buy my daughter a pair of sliding shorts and a sliding leg shield for her softball practice tonight. They're expected to slide into home plate every time they run home. Every time. They're 11 years old. Fifth graders. Shall we guess how many girls are going to be out for the first game due to injuries after tonight? I'm just a wee bit nervous.
Ashley's turn to serve.
A view of the whole game. (Ashley is circled in yellow. Click on picture to enlarge.)
She really wanted that one.
Today was the last official day of Spring Break for the kids. I wish I could say it was as much fun as last year, but in all reality it was kind of a disappointment. Last year we spent the whole week outside from sunup to sundown, enjoying warm and sunny days. This year it rained. It snowed. It was cold and we were pretty much stuck inside all week, getting over not so much fun colds. The kids are getting stir crazy and we all need to get out of the house, hence meaning that it's time to go back to school. The days have felt really long and it always seems like it should be bedtime when it's only 7pm.
It's never hard to get Ryan to go to bed at night because when he's tired, he'll let you know that he's ready. He has this ritual at night, though, and can't go to sleep without it. Usually it's Bret that goes through the motions with him while I'm picking up the house or falling into bed myself. However, tonight Bret is out with his friends seeing some comedian downtown at the Civic Center and it's me who put the kids to bed.
After spending quite some time listening to Ryan tell me all of his thoughts and answering all of the questions that were rolling around in his head, he told me I had to lay with him for 5 minutes before I could leave. The only problem is that he tells you minute by minute just how many minutes are left - and his minutes are pretty long. The last one I remembered hearing is two. By zero he had to wake me up and tell me to leave. No wonder Bret seems to stay in there forever. He's probably out cold, too.
You can't argue with talent. Especially her little "shaking of the head no" move.
Reason #4:
Am I wrong to change it back and break his heart? LoL
While signing us and Teri's family up for the Magic Express transportation and luggage service for our upcoming trip to Disney World in June, I came across a huge mistake. Some how I accidentally booked them on a flight leaving Bloomington at 6am in the morning, instead of the 11:27am flight that I had booked for our family. Oops. I swear that's not the flight I selected when I booked their trip for them, but that's what it says they've got now.
Turns out they prefer their earlier time (at least that's what they're telling me...ha ha) since they are now arriving in Orlando at 10:55am instead of 4:26pm like us. They'll be able to stay with a friend of theirs that lives in Bloomington the night before and will now have a more full day of going to the theme parks, but will probably already be passed out by the time our flight arrives. I'm sure they're looking forward to getting up at 4am in the morning to catch their flight, too. It would definately have been more fun to fly in with them, but we'll still meet up when we get there - fully rested. Ha.
I did try to call Orbitz to change our flight to the same one as theirs (even though that would have meant that we'd have to get up at 3am to get to Bloomington in time) but they wanted to charge me all kinds of fees to do it, so I left it alone. We'll still have a great time - I just wish it would get here sooner!
"I found two, Mom!"
Check out the t-shirt I got for Ryan on Ebay. He's totally ready to meet his favorite Star Wars characters at Disney World now. Is this not perfect?This is Kelly, Cece's mommy, not Lynda. So, at about 5 pm, my husband and I decided to see if any neighbors wanted to come over to have a few adult beverages. The W********'s were out because a new Lego Star Wars video game was at their house. However, Scott called them over... all attended initally but Lynda. However, Bret called her a few hours later and Lynda, in a medicine "coma" showed up. From about 8:30 pm to 11:00 pm, Auntie Lynda, as we call her, had ONLY 3 drinks. In this time, she went from the normal, jovial Lynda to a woman who was laughing hysterically as she twirled back and forth on a bar stool! I love this lady... because she just shared a beer with me... I praised her long before this little glass of beer appeared before me though! For those who have never watched others' children... Lynda, as I am sure Chloe's mommy would agree, is an amazing woman who truly makes working moms feel blessed for the opportunity to ""have it all!" How one woman can be the matriach of a family of 4 and still find time to be the caretaker of 2 young infants is well beyond my scope of imagination. Thanks for all who read about my little treasure... and thanks to you, Lynda! You always make going to work a pleasure instead of a guilt trip!
Here are the links for all that requested them:
Pop Century Disney Resort
This one has a virtual tour.
Resort Map. 3 Pools!!!!
I've also just read in a new guide book that I picked up that once you check your luggage at your home airport, you don't have to deal with it again. Disney delivers them right to your room. Then when you check out of your hotel, they check your bags right there and print your boarding pass, all before you even leave for the airport. Sweet!
My brother is in Tampa, FL right now visiting a friend and my aunt. He's already emailed pictures of the ocean. An ocean that I'm not going to get to see! Maybe my aunt will drive to Orlando to get me and take me to see the ocean. Sigh, like we're really going to have time for that.
Guess what the Easter Bunny is going to stuff the kids' Easter baskets with this year? Disney Dollars. They will also have the chance to earn more by actually making their beds and getting their clothes into the hamper instead of on the floor right in front of the hamper. Then they can take their Disney dollars to Disney World with them and spend them where ever they want. (With in reason, of course. We don't need a 5 foot tall stuffed Mickey Mouse hanging around our house like a 3rd child.) It's possible that I might be just a teeny tiny bit more excited about this trip than anyone else in this family. Two days ago I was sitting outside in the sun with the kids, enjoying the mid 70 degree weather. My checks and chest were a bit red when I went inside for the day with the faint glow of an unmistakable sunburn approaching. Now, it's 40 degrees outside and snow flurries are blowing around like little annoying white flecks of nothing good to come in the next week. Will someone please bring spring back to me?
Well, it's all booked. It took us until 2am this morning, but it's decided. We're going to Disney World in June with Teri and her family. We'll be staying in one of the Disney resorts for 5 nights and 6 days. I think I might be the most excited out of any of us. I've never been to the state of Florida before. Never been to Disney, nor have I ever seen an ocean. I guess the ocean will have to wait, but at least I'll get to finally say that I've been to Florida. I only have one concern, though. What if a hurricane wipes out Disney World before we get there? Then what?!
I have been submerged in the endless digging of Disney World Family Vacation deals for a 5 night, 6 day vacation.
Why? Because of this awesome special event at MGM. Ryan will truly pass out from the excitement when he finds out. It will definately be a moment of awe for him when he sees the storm troopers marching down the street.
I'm not sure how our kids will do on their first airplane flight, but it will definately be an experience to remember. Teri and her family are considering going with us. Which means we'll all get a chance to go out at night without the kiddos if we're still able to function after putting full days in at the theme parks.
I'm pretty excited my self since it's only taken me 30 years to get to the state of Florida.
On a sadder note, I'm losing one of my babies. Kelly, Dan and Cecelia are moving to Ohio this summer. I've already told them that she can't go with them, but I don't think they'll go for that.
