Family Fun at Disney!

Earlier this year we took advantage of buying the FL resident discount for a 4 Day Dream Pass. We decided that we would go to each of the Disney parks. We had been to Magic Kingdom before when S was 18 months, but we'd never been to Epcot, Hollywood Studios, or Animal Kingdom. Even though the boys are young (and free until 3 yrs old) it was well worth it. S had the best time!

So let's start our adventure with our trip to Epcot in March. The picture above is Spaceship Earth. We went during the Flower and Garden Festival, which is held in the spring time, and I'd definitely recommend people go during that event because it was amazing to see all of the character sculpted topiaries. As you can guess I took many pictures of these beautiful creations as we wandered the park. That Lady and the Tramp topiary was in Italy. Obviously someone had a sense of humor because this next one made us laugh.

While we were there we wandered through each country, taking pictures and smelling the fantastic food. Epcot is known for its great food! It's not the most kid friendly park just because there is a lot of wandering through the different countries with less flashy fun stuff for kids than say Magic Kingdom. There are movie type rides that let you explore the different cultures, which is not that interesting for a 2 year old. When the boys are older I hope to take them back so they can experience and appreciate the performances and movies. It's still fun to do with kids, but they won't be as entertained throughout the day. If you want to go just adults, I imagine it would be fantastic... I'd have plenty of money available though because all the different foods available are very tempting!

Before you wander the countries there is a section that's more kid friendly. This was where S had the most fun. In particular he loved the Finding Nemo ride. After that ride you can spend some time in the building looking at the aquariums. I knew that would be S's favorite because he is obsessed with Sea World. His fascination with marine life is unbounded. He would have gone on that ride all day if we had let him. He also enjoyed the 3 Caballeros boat ride in Mexico, but not as much as Nemo.

Of course, we met multiple characters. The first ones we saw were Chip N' Dale. We even waited in line to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy. Z was asleep for all but the picture with Goofy, and S was real tired by that point too so he didn't even smile.

Overall, it was a good day. It was worth the experience, but I doubt I would do it again with young children.

I'm a Blog Slacker, I Know!

I have not been keeping up with this as much as I planned. You can't really blame me though (well, technically you can).

We live in Florida and the weather has been fabulous so we have not been spending as much time in the house, and if we are in the house we've been doing fun preschool activities. S is really interested in school, so I just decided to go ahead and home preschool him and he loves it! No need to send him somewhere and pay for someone else to teach him things when I can teach him myself and cater more to his desires. I love that he's like a sponge and wants to learn any and everything so we can do a variety of fun educational things. I have discovered that while he enjoys uninhibited play learning, he does far better with a little structure. Also, with the structure his behavior improves so he's not as much of a rambunctious little boy. I can get him to channel his energy on a specific task and he just gets enthralled in what he is doing. It's pretty fantastic to watch the little wheels turn in his head as he figures new things out. I love it!

Aside from that Z has been a cling-on lately. And God forbid I attempt to sit at the computer for more than 5 minutes! He is most definitely teething and handles it almost the complete opposite of S. S had a much higher pain tolerance, well I guess he still has a very high pain tolerance. Z, no so much! This teething business bothers him greatly! Lately he has only wanted me and has not wanted to be put down. I feel extra bad on the days where he is so bothered that he doesn't even want me to hold him. Of course, I still do because if I put him down he screams more. Those days are definitely a lose lose situation for all involved. Those are the days I feel bad for the husband who is trying to sleep before work. I have no idea how he sleeps through the noise!

With all of this I have definitely not been thinking of blogging, and I've barely been keeping up with twitter, which you'd assume would be easier, but there are so many people I find interesting that I can't seem to keep up with it all! How do some of you do it?!

I'll be updating again soon. I think...

So until then, happy blogging to you!

Playroom!

So we've recently been creating a playroom for the boys. We have a small house so we decided to do a partial conversion of the garage. I wanted to create an inviting creative play area for them. S is a budding artist (his new fascination is painting) so I really wanted a room that would help spark his already big imagination. This is what the garage looked like when we first moved in... it was gross!



The garage was eventually full of boxes, pet items, and basically lots of junk. Sorting through everything and getting rid of unnecessary items was the biggest task, but we did it! We primed and painted it and then I started to decorate it! There was still quite a bit of stuff that needed a new home though... as you can see.


Of course, once that was accomplished I needed to mop the floor to prepare for the new rugs! Z helped...

The final decorative items came in the mail, along with the rugs, on Friday. Then I was able to get everything set up! I moved toys and creative play items into the room in preparation for the big unveiling!


Here is the final product! Needless to say, the boys love it! Well, S does and I'm sure Z will when he gets bigger. One of S's favorite parts is the chalkboard wall decals!



I'll end this post with a picture of the boys playing. Z loves to watch everything S does!

Beach Days!

This past week has been quite busy! We've been converting the garage into a play room, I made a couple big dinners for a friend who recently had her second child, and had tons of cleaning to get done. Despite all of that we managed to have some fun by going to the beach for a day! It was Z's first trip to a beach, aside from when he was in the womb.

The trip was initially just going to be the boys and I, plus my mother. Then my mother invited my grandmother. I love that woman to pieces, but she can be a real downer most of the time. The inevitable happened with her bringing down the fun until she left early, but we still managed to have a fantastic time!

S became a sand monster. I kid you not, he was covered. I think the massive amounts of sun block I put on him made the sand stick to him like glue! There was a giant hole that someone had created that S felt needed his attention. He was jumping in and out of it, rolling around in it, and just, in general, having a good time in the sand. He built some sand castles and a sand turtle, complete with sea shells to make up the turtle shell. It was very cute. He refused to go in the water though. That was something new since he used to love going in the ocean. Instead we just filled pails of water and dumped them on each other. He really enjoyed collecting sea shells this time around. He took a couple walks with Grandma and Great Grandma to find lots of shells while I sat with the sleepy little Z man.

I think Z enjoyed himself too. It was his first time at the beach. We had the blanket and towel laid out, a basket for him to nap in, the big umbrella to block the sun, and toys for him to play with too. He even took a nap. I didn't expect him to actually nap while we were there but he did! It was amazing! He had on his little iplay swim outfit too. Super cute!

Of course both boys caught the attention of the people all around us. Z was smiling at random people from the blanket and S hardly noticed anyone else because he was so busy playing. He even found a hidden treasure... It's the second time he has found a toy car buried in the sand. This time, though, he lost it before we left.


Of course while we were there I forgot to take care of myself. That's right... I forgot to put sunblock on. I don't turn red when I burn, just end up looking dark, but I could definitely feel the burn. Not too pleasant! I'll have to take mental note to remember myself too! Overall, the trip was great! For the past few days S has asked me if we can go to the beach to eat lunch again and play in the sand. It's hard to say no to him when he is being so sweet. If we lived closer to the beach we'd be there more often. Some day he'll understand, I hope!

The Beginning...

This is the first official post to my new blog. I'll be talking about a wide array of things, some of which include: parenting, homeschooling, vacation ideas and tips, cooking/ baking, craft ideas, and whatever else hits me in the moment. So please feel free to check back for future posts.