Some of the Rides

One great thing about going to WDW when there are no lines is that you really get to do what everyone wants to do. So we went on every ride that Sophie could go on... even if it made her cry! We did the Triceratop Spin and like 3 others that are the same ride with different characters. Daphne got a kick out of those because she could make our car go up and down at will!



We got some cute pictures of Sophie on some of those rides but unfortunately, the cuter she looks in the picture, the weirder I look. I don't know how that happens to me!

Another thing that made this trip so cool is that Daphne was tall enough to ride almost every single roller coaster (she couldn't do the Rockin' Roller Coaster which made Josh very sad!) She was one yeti paw tall so she got to go on the new and exciting EXPEDITION EVEREST! Which she did over and over and over! It really is a great ride.



Daphne insists that she's not scared of the yeti because he's not real... but I don't know if I believe her!





Well, that's all for now. I'll probably get around to putting some more pictures up one of these days. I already feel guilty that it's taken me almost a month to get these up!

Kilimanjaro Safari

Our trip to Disney World was so great, it even exceeded our expectations. The week before Thanksgiving is definitely our designated time to go in the years to come. There was no one there. We didn't have to wait in line for any rides or any food places. And the weather was perfect, cool enough that we could wear pants and not sweat even though we walked all day.

You'd think that we'd have super photos of our great trip but alas, as I scan over them, we don't really have that many that are worth showing to other people. I think there are 2 main reasons for this: 1)Josh was the camera holder so only things he was interested in got photographed and 2)Sophie got a grip on the camera and changed settings without us realizing it for a few days.

As I was looking through our pictures, I determined that Josh must have really liked the Kilimanjaro Safari... 1/2 the pictures we have are of that one attraction! It really was cool. The animals were all out in the open and active. Last time we went we didn't see nearly as many animals and most of the ones we did see were sleeping. We also got to pass so closely to a train of rhinoceruses that we could have reached out and touched them. (I was too afraid!)

Here are a few of the photos we took:

My First Tag

So this is the first time I've ever been tagged. Which I suppose isn't really a surprise since I've only had a blog for a couple months. It's kind of exciting, really!

The rules are:
1. Link to the person the tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of you post, and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


Amanda is the one who tagged me. You can find her link on the right-hand side of my blog.

Facts about me:
1. I used to work for a cemetery.
2. My favorite color is pink.
3. I am taking belly dancing classes.
4. I have serious social anxiety issues.
5. I love to read sci-fi and fantasy novels.
6. I participated in 'the constitution bowl' in high school.
7. I really want to grow a talent where I can make something... music, kids stuff, crafts, food, clothing, beautiful art... I don't care what it is, I just need a talent!

As far as who I tag now that I'm 'it'... anyone who reads this and wants to do it.. I tag YOU!

Good Friends Make Good Times Better

A lot of people are nice. But sometimes you happen upon a really good friend who just starts making a difference in your life the moment they step into it. They're the kind of friends who go way beyond the call of duty or whatever. It just so happens that I have recently made a friend like this.

I'm going to call her J-Mo to keep her identity safe.

Recently my family was getting ready to go on a VERY long road trip. We were excited... but as parents, Josh and I were a little worried about how the kids would handle 20 hours in the car. (20 hours, we ARE crazy!) We did everything we could to gear up and prepare.

But the day before we left, my sweet friend Jenny stopped by our house and dropped off the "Roadtrip to Disney World Survival Box." Here's a picture of it:



This box was truly intended for princesses of the road! It had different kinds of beverages, sweet treats, salty treats, crowns, princess earrings, big jeweled rings, notebooks, wands that were also pens, stickers... all kinds of goodies and activities for our kids to do while they were in the car. When they saw the box, they could harldy wait to get on with the trip!

Who cares about your endless road trip and how your kids are going to handle it? Most people who are not going on the trip really don't care! But Jenny is just a great friend and wonderful person all around. And I don't think we can ever thank her enough for the hours of entertainment and happiness she brought to our house (and car) that day!

Ogres Galore!

This is sort of an extension of my Halloween post... my mother-in-law and her husband are fun and a little crazy! You can see them here as Fiona and Shrek. You just gotta love people who get so into holidays!

Happy Halloween!

This was my favorite Halloween in a long time. It is so much fun when you have kids that like it! Daphne has known for months that she wanted to be a bat. And I must say, she makes a pretty cute bat!





For Daphne's school Halloween party Sophie was a witch (which was pretty funny since it was her costume from LAST YEAR - size 0-6 months!)



But she ended up being a bat when we went trick-or-treating.





My sister and her kids came to our house to go trick-or-treating. Chloe was a bat (what a surprise for our family!) and Phoebe was a pumpkin (albeit a crazy pumpkin!).

Here are a few (okay, more than a few!) pre-candy pix:













This was the first house that Sophie ever trick-or-treated at... she was pretty much set from then on. She got in the wagon and ate her Skittles! Then she just ate whatever candy she could get from the other girls (she ate right through the wrappers!) and she actually visited about 5 houses total. Some of the people were so nice, they actually walked down to the road to bring candy to Sophie. She loved it. But she didn't say 'thank you' until we were about 10 feet away from people!



Here are a few pictures of the trick-or-treating. The older girls RAN from house to house without a break for the first hour. Then they totally wiped out and all 3 of them wanted to ride in the wagon (Thanks again to Grandma and Grandpa Merrill for the great wagon!). Poor Sophie had to give up her spot and walk home!







Overall, the girls had a blast. We came home to find that Josh had already given away ALL 700 PIECES of candy away in the first hour so we turned out the light, kicked off our shoes, and ate some candy!

Little Sneaks and Magic Candy

For the past 3 years our family has this silly little tradition... we sneak around the neighborhood at the beginning of October and "BOO" people. Daphne really gets into the sneaky part of it. We tiptoe up to someone's door and then we carefully place the treats down. Then we ring the doorbell and bolt for the getaway car. Seriously, she thinks being sneaky is one of the most fun things to do. Ever. We even sing the Laurie Berkner song "I'm a Little Sneak" because it helps pump us up.

This year was even cooler than the past 2 years though. Apparently we were giving away magic candy because we created new relationships with our neighbors by boo-ing them. I'm not kidding. Some of our neighbors have 3 kids and none of them have ever spoken to us. But they boo-ed us back the very next day and they were so cute at the bus stop. They could hardly stand still - they were looking at us all trying to be sly but they had the cutest, biggest smiles on their faces. It was adorable. And now every time we walk by their house, the kids wave and say 'hi.' (They were pretty clever when they spooked us too, they gave us some fake lottery tickets that tricked us into thinking we won $5000! I was pretty impressed and I might have to try those next year.) We spooked 3 other families too and I'm not kidding, it's crazy, but because we did this silly little trick and handed out the magic candy, we have all these new friends. I think it's great.

So if you need to reach out to your neighbors but you're not sure what to do, give them candy!!

Here's a link where you can find the poem and a BOO picture if you want to try this too:
BOO!!

Painting is the New Carving

Daphne loves to paint (something she inherited from both grandmas). And I'm kind of lazy. So when she wanted to paint her pumpkin, I thought it was a great idea. Instead of having to spend forever thinking of something to carve, then carving it, then having a big mess to clean up I simply pulled out some paints and watched the kids go!

Here's a picture of Daphne making her pumpkin. You can see the serious concentration it takes!



Here's Sophie painting hers. I was kind of surprised by how involved Sophie was with the painting. I guess I have two little artists!



Since our activity, the pumpkins have become close friends... Sophie hid hers in her room (which only happens to special things)and Daphne takes hers outside to play in the leaf pile.

Where Did I Come From?

Please note: There is a naughty word in this post. I never swear and I'm kind of embarassed to have a bad word on here. But this is a true story.

My two nieces were watching tv the other night when a commercial came on showing a fetus in utero. There were pictures of aging babies and voice overs saying things like "4 weeks, brain waves are recorded," and "10 weeks, heart beats." I don't actualy know what the voice overs were, but something like that. My nieces were totally entranced by the photos. They've asked plenty of questions about where they came from and they were old enough to grill me about my last pregnancy. But here is a very interesting conversation that my brother-in-law had with my niece Chloe:

Dave: You were just like that when you were in your mommy's tummy.

Chloe: Yeah, I know that. I remember.

Dave: Oh, really?

Chloe (with a totally straight, but kind of confused face and her hands up): Yeah, I opened my eyes and I was like, 'What the hell am I doing in here?'

Family Road Trip

I decided to sift through some pictures on my computer to see if I had anything worth posting because I have a blog now and I'm excited to post something!!

Back in March my family went to the north woods of Wisconsin to visit my dad's family. We had fun. The kids practically lived in the pool. Here are some pictures from our trip. (Okay, I might have used this as an excuse to try out a slideshow!

Long time reader, first time blogger

So I have been reading my friend's blog for a very long time and I've always wanted to be just like her so I finally decided I would do a blog too. Sadly, not nearly as much exciting stuff happens to me. Maybe if I have a blog I will be cool and so cool stuff will happen to me!