We caught the bug...

Chris and I knew it was a possibility. We could feel it coming on. You know, the feeling that starts in the pit of your stomach and gradually moves up? The one that makes your tummy flip flop...you break into a nervous sweat...you break out into chills and sweats at the same time? Your heart rate picks up and you just. can't. sit. still! Well, we caught it and I'm fairly certain we passed it on to the kids as well.

They were sleeping so hard...we just hated to wake them up...we knew they needed their energy


a nap in the car would help

Would a 15 minute power nap be enough?

What. is. THAT?

mesmerized!

DISNEY! We made it to Disney!

They were a bit unsure of the size of their favorite friends.

They really were so confused and unsure of it all

She was amazed by his tires?

Of all things...she LOVED the fountain!

I remember as we passed the Disney exit off the turnpike on our way to the beach. Everyone was asleep and I couldn't help but think "We're so close....I just wish we could stop in and say hello to Mickey. Seems like such a tease and waste to be this close and to keep driving."

Half way through our week Chris mentioned it might become a reality! On our way home we were planning to meet a friend from college for breakfast. He just happens to live minutes from Mickey's home AND used to work for Disney too!

Our symptoms started on our 4 hour drive to Orlando on Saturday. We knew it might be a possibility but it was not for sure. We kept the symptoms to ourselves as to not expose the kids needlessly:)

We had a great visit with Matt and the kids enjoyed getting out of the car and getting some energy out.

By the end of our chicken minis and chicken biscuits we got 2 phone calls that confirmed our suspicions. We were going to Disney!!!! Talk about a spontaneous last minute decision (which I am in no way good with)! Chris' grandfather called to tell us the turnpike was a parking lot. They were going no where fast. In fact they were sitting still and had been for an hour. The 2nd call came from Matt's friends. They could get us in at noon!

Lets think about our options:

1.) Load the kids in the car and continue up the turnpike....to sit

2.) Load the kids up in the car and head to Disney...sans naps

Clearly there were downsides to both.... we quickly decided that traveling at night would allow the kids to sleep and traffic to clear on the turnpike. No naps and Disney it is!!!!

We planned to take the kids to the Magic Kingdom for the day. Turns out that park was blacked out to employee guests for the week. Thankfully the kids didn't really know what they were missing. We changed plans and headed to Hollywood Studios (formally MGM) instead. It actually worked out perfectly. They know the characters at Hollywood Studios better and didn't know there were rides they were missing at Magic Kingdom. We got into the parks for free...we were not going to complain!

The boys were so excited to go see Lightening and Mater and all the Toy Story friends. That is until they actually SAW Lightening and Mater....they were a bit overwhelmed and unsure!

Miss Priss LOVED the parade and all the dancing girls!

It was HOT!!!!!

The boys taking it all in, they were much more reserved than Anna Claire

She did not think twice about heading out to dance with the girls when they invited the kids out

Clearly she takes after her daddy! LOVES the attention on her:)
Her mother would rather crawl in a hole!

See....LOVING it!

excited to see Buzz

Our Disney crew for the day

Not sure who was more excite about the double stroller...the kids or Matt and Chris. As soon as we walked in a family offered their stroller to us as they were leaving. Score! Up until this time Chris and Matt had been offering piggy back rides. Clearly this was going to get old as the day went on....the stroller was such a blessing!

We still got to see Mickey!

She was mesmerized...so so cute!

Such a fun day we will always remember!

Quote of the day by Parker: standing in line to meet Mickey, eyes big a saucers...deep, slow breath in "he iiiiis reeeeal!"

I think she is smitten:) Fine by me!

Next we headed over to see the Playhouse Disney show. Thankfully the boys had caught up on the show while we were at the beach since we don't have cable at home (by choice). Anna Claire was excited to see Rocket! The boys thought it was soooo cool that they were seeing "the show" in person:) Gotta love this age!

I didn't get any pictures as it was dark inside and I was wrangling a 2 year old. She took off running to the stage... "I go see Mickey...I go see Mickey" not to mention the strip show she began 1/2 way through the show. "I go potty." Clearly it's time to start the potty process! Yeah, I was a little busy!

I LOVED watching the kids excitement as the show went on. I've decided that taking kids to Disney is as much for the parents as it is for the kids!

By far the boys favorite part of the day!

Sleepy eyes!

He stood the WHOLE show!

Another favorite of the day. The maps!

Thanks Mr. Matt for the "1st time visitor" buttons. They boys still wear them with pride!

They are so into anything maps these days. They love to "read" them and draw them. It is not uncommon that I head to the car with a hand drawn map in hand to help me find my way to their school, the grocery store, daddy's store or church....whew, and I was worried about getting lost:) I love it! They found the stunt show by the "volcano" they saw on the map! Apparently the symbol of the cars crashing with smoke on the map looks like a volcano. Who knew?

I had such a fun day with the kids!

They were worn out! The boys look like they are going to fall over!

All in all they did really, really well without naps. So much excitement and so much to do! I really don't remember any meltdowns...epic in itself!

I hope to collect may more pictures like this one

Thank you so much Matt, Eric and Laura for a wonderful day! You took time out of your Saturday to take our family to Disney! We appreciate your generosity and free gift! We had a wonderful time. Thanks to you we did Disney for a day for a mere $6!!! The cost of 2 bottled waters:) Not bad at all!

We've caught the Disney bug for sure.

Eric and Laura we loved hearing about your jobs with Disney. It seems like such a dream. It is all really fasinating! Thank you again for providing a day at Disney for us.

The boys are still talking about that day and "when we go back to Disney...." We can't wait to take them back! Even though we didn't get to meet the Disney princesses this day...somehow Anna Claire came away knowing they exsisted...those Disney people are good! Everything is now princess this and princess that. We even have princess wipes for potty training...that SHE picked out. Since James Dobson pointed out the positves of the Disney princesses in his book "Bringing up Girls"...we're sticking to them:) Better them than Barbie:)

There is so much we didn't get to see and do! We are going back for sure! Even a week dosen't seem like long enough to fit it all in! Ironically though, it seems like we did do so much in the 8 hours we were there!

Mickey, you better watch out....looks like baby girl is smitten for another fellow out there!

See! She is still talking about "Mr. Matt"

2 Great Friends!

Not much has changed since thier boy band days at Clemson....

"boy band you say?"

Oh yes...boy band:)

Now if I could just find video and pictures!

a future post for sure:)

Final Farewell: Day 6

Alas, our last day at the beach arrived. We made sure to make the best of it as they were calling for afternoon showers. Lucky for us, there were none to be found! The kids were more brave by this point and wanted to venture further into the water. My sand and trucks plan was slipping away! Surely the FREEZING temperature of the water would detour them I thought. Not so much. Soon Parker and I retreated back to the sand with our trucks:) I claimed him as my charge for the day:)



"I'll watch Parker....you know, keep him out of harms way...make sure he doesn't dig too deep...make sure I can see him over the pages of my book:)"

This was as far as I ventured in this week

Preparing her "tea" for our tea party


this girl has no fear...she kept right on going, right up to her chin!

Peyton loving the water today

Thankfully Gi Gi and Daddy took turns taking her in...it was much too cold for Mommy!

I just love sand covered little baby tushes at the beach!

I told Chris I would like a family picture like this every spring break! We can't really call this a vacation picture...'cause well, it wasn't really a vacation. Chris has decided that anytime we take kids on a trip...it's not really a vacation...it's called "making memories"! Either way, we love our "making memories" trips and I look forward to many more spring breaks like this one!

Thanks for playing on the beach with us Gi Gi. We had a great time!

The boys are getting to the age where they really look up to older boys/guys. It's really cute to watch but makes me ever so careful as to who these older boys/guys are. They were super excited when cousin Josh and cousin Shane showed up at the beach to play. Josh and Shane, thank you for letting the little guys play with you. I know it's not the football game you envisioned. It meant a lot that you included the boys. They thought it was "super cool"!

The above pics and the ones below were actually taken last that day. I have no idea why they are so hazy. It was the middle of the day and the light was so harsh...no matter what mode I put the camera in, I could not get the pics to come out right. Any thoughts out there? I tried changing the ISO...shooting mainly in manual too. It didn't matter what I put the aperture or shutter speed on. Nothing was working. I couldn't figure out the right combo:(

Sara, I think we need a workshop on the beach!!!! Tell Drew that weekend in Charleston can be a "working" weekend. You can give me all sorts of pointers while we lounge on the beach:) We can even take some little models with us if that will help him out:) The boys would love it....the 2 year old will have other plans:) I learned so much at the first workshop...just think what I could learn on the beach:)

I just love watching the kids play on the beach. It really is one of my favorite things!

The highlight of their day! A tractor ON the beach!

We had such a wonderful time this week. I'm so glad having kids has given us a reason to reclaim spring break again! I remember what a shock it was that first year out of college and working! What do you mean there is no spring break or summer break? You mean the children's hospital doesn't close its doors for either? Who knew!

Even though the car ride down was a bit long (11 hours). The kids did really well. We left super early in the morning and they slept the first 4 1/2 hours of the trip! Going that far south in Florida ensured warm weather!!!! What fun is the beach if it's cold?! We were in Pompano Beach, just outside of Ft. Lauderdale. It was still the Atlantic but I guess we were close enough to the tip of FL that some of the gulf waters were mixed in. The water was beautiful and very unlike the Atlantic up our way.

Funny "not my child" moments of the trip:

We had not made it to the interstate yet and we hear "I have to go pee". Mind you, the boys went potty when we woke them up and we were not 12 minutes into our trip. Really? So Chris pulls over into a parking lot (cause no one is open at this hour) and Parker takes care of business right there from the side of the van.

5 minutes later....."are we at the beach yet? How much longer?"....Oh boy, this is going to be a loooong drive! "Uh, buddy....about 10 more hours and 45 minuets to go"

2 minutes later..."I not see the beach daddy"...a cute 2 year old in the backseat. "kids, Go. To. Sleep!"

We stopped at a Chick-fil-A (where else!) for breakfast on the drive down there. Us and apparently everyone else from Cobb County and the Atlanta area. I guess everyone had the same idea for the week...head south! We were 4 1/2 hours from home and saw many folks we knew.

Chris was at the back of the van digging for shoes

GiGi was helping Peyton in the backseat

I was changing AC's diaper up front

The lady in the car beside us was looking our way...hand over mouth...laughing hysterically

Someone Chris knew from Chick-fil-A home office was talking with Chris while pointing our way

The van door was open....in slow motion as I gather all of the above information and wonder why he is pointing and just what is so funny....out of the corner of my eye I see.....a white hiney!

Ummm.....noooooooo! As I run to the other side of the car and find Parker standing in the van....peeing out the side of the door...IN. THE. CHICK-FIL-A. parking lot!

Where is that hole when I need it? Mor.ti.fied!!!!

By this time the lady is laughing so hard she is crying! So do I wish this was our store instead? Or maybe it's OK since it's not like we are regulars around these parts and we won't see these people again....well, except for the guy from the home office....dang it!

So at this point...I laugh! What else can you do! We have a little chat and head inside to get some food.

It may or may not have been the same kid seen peeing at the shower area at the beach...pants on the ground! I mean really....who are this kids parents?

Stay tuned for our final Spring Break Post. We had a super fun surprise on the trip home!