A Magical Month

We had a very busy and exciting month! It was exhausting, but for all good reasons. I’ll just get right into it…

Meet Evie!

We got a new pup!! As you know, we lost our beloved Koda last September, and our home just hasn’t been the same since. Ryan and the kids would have gotten a new pup immediately, but with the chaos of life, and upcoming winter, and my wild toddler, I knew it was best to wait a little while. After about 6 months (the longest Ryan and I have ever been without a dog), we were ready. We had intense puppy fever, so we started the search of adopting a pup. After several weeks of watching on the Pet Finder website, we came across this precious little Shepard mix about an hour away. We planned to meet up with her foster, and we pretty much knew we’d be coming home with a puppy! We fell in love with her immediately and brought her home that day!

Love at first sight!

Evie has adjusted very well to our home. She is still getting the hang of potty training and learning what is or isn’t an appropriate thing to chew on or bite, but she’s definitely making progress. She is very smart, sweet, energetic, and mischievous. She knows the commands of sit, come, lay down, and with me (heal). Her favorite things to chew on are shoes, socks, and Brody (don’t worry…just his pants. She is a Shepard mix, so we think she is trying to “herd” him!) She loves being outside and finding anything in nature to eat…rocks, leaves, sticks, mulch, you name it. She is an exhausting little thing (especially combined with my already crazy toddler), but we absolutely adore her!

 

Take me out to the Ballgame!

Baseball and softball season are officially underway. Kinsie and Brax have both had their first games, and their season is off to a great start. Brax had a serious case of the jitters before his first game, but once he started playing, he loosened up and had a great time. Kinsie started out strong and received the game ball at her first game! She was so excited, and she had a whole fan club of family members there to see!

 

Brody tags along to each game happily…but he’s mainly in it for the snacks!

My parents love coming to the kids’ games, and they try to bring along their cousins whenever they can. The kids loved getting to play together on the playground after one of Brax’s games!

Easter

Easter snuck up on us quickly. Between having a new puppy to care for, and preparing for our upcoming vacation, we had to squeeze in all of our Easter festivities into one weekend.

We baked and decorated our Easter cookies…

and we dyed Easter eggs…

On Easter Sunday, we spent the entire day with both of our families. We watched church online in the morning with my parents, then we headed over to Ryan’s aunt’s house for Easter fun. They had an awesome Easter egg hunt, and lots of food and treats. The kids had SO much fun with ALL of their cousins!

Kinsie and her cousins Kerigan and Emery are all the same age. Their birthdays are in September, November and December of the same year, so they have always been very close. When they were only 3 years old, before we moved to Arkansas for residency, they were all on the same soccer team, and their dads were the coaches. This picture comes up on our Timehop every year, and we thought it would be a great opportunity to reenact it! We even all still had their jerseys! So the pictures below are 5 years apart!

The kids had so much fun riding on cars and ATVs and exploring the creek. It was a wonderful Easter!

The Great Outdoors

We are still going strong on our 1,000 Hours Outside goal. Now that it isn’t winter, we try to spend at least a little time outside every single day…and having Evie helps us with that. We have to take her out to go potty often, and she LOVES being outside so she motivates us to be outside more. We love taking her on walks, and the kids love running around with her in the yard. 

 

And I love spending time with my sweet boys while their sis is at school!

Rainy Days

We had a LOT of rain this month. It definitely made it tough to potty train a puppy. But whenever we couldn’t be outside, we tried to find things to keep us busy inside.

Like puzzles…

And drawing the family tree of the Madrigal family from Encanto…

And organizing craft time,

And even making nugget slides on the stairs!

There’s never a dull moment in our house!

DISNEY/UNIVERSAL TRIP

We were so excited to get the opportunity to travel back to Disney World and Universal Studios! The last time we went on a week-long trip there was in 2019…pre-pandemic and pre-Brody. In fact, I was about 12 weeks pregnant with Brody, so I wasn’t able to ride a lot of the rides that I love. Now that Brody is old enough to really enjoy it, and the pandemic has improved significantly, we couldn’t wait to go back! When Ryan’s mom sent the whole family a text message asking if we would want to use their time share and make a trip in April, we were all in!

For those of you who have been to Disney lately, you know that you can’t just show up and start riding rides anymore. It takes months of planning…like trying to snag popular dining reservations, syncing up your entire party together on the My Disney Experience app, learning how Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes work, mapping out your general strategy for park days, and making shirts for each park day…ok that last part isn’t 100% necessary, but I’m obsessed with making shirts with my Cricut, so it was necessary for me! But it’s a LOT of work, but definitely worth it! Ryan’s sister Megan and I tag-teamed to prepare for the best trip possible!

Day 1- Traveling and Disney Springs

Our flight was in the morning and was a direct flight, which was really nice not to have to switch planes with 3 kids. We were on the same flight as Ryan’s parents and his brother Nate and his fiance, Kendyl, so it was nice having lots of help with carrying luggage and keeping track of kids! The kids were great on the plane, and we overall had a very smooth traveling experience.

We headed straight to Disney Springs, where we met up with Ryan’s sister Megan, and her husband Tim and son Griffin. I had been trying to get a reservation at the T-Rex Cafe for months, but none became available. After learning some tips and tricks from friends and Facebook groups, I was able to snag 2 tables for all of us on the spot! We loved the experience! It was such a fun environment, and the kids loved watching the dinosaurs come to life and watch the meteor showers on the ceiling.

After eating, we walked around Disney Springs, shopped at the stores, and ate ice cream. Then we went to our condo, unpacked and prepared for our first park day.

Day 2- Disney’s Animal Kingdom

To be honest, I’ve never been THAT crazy about Animal Kingdom…it seemed like a glorified zoo to me. But Ryan and the kids love it so I always went for them. HOWEVER…my opinion on it has changed over the last few visits, and now I absolutely love it! This was our first experience using Genie+ and it worked SO well. We rode all of the main rides we wanted to ride early on, and then got to just relax and explore and try fun foods and drinks, and even ride a few rides for the second time in the afternoon

We loved all of the animals!

Avatar’s Pandora is our FAVORITE area of Animal Kingdom!

We loved the Night Blossom drink in Pandora.

One dining reservation we were able to get early on was lunch at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom, which is a character meal. Disney just changed their policy within the last few weeks so that guests can now get close to and hug the characters again! Brody was in a weird mood after his stroller nap, and didn’t love the idea of getting super close to the characters, but he liked watching them and waving to them. The food was wonderful and we had a great meal!

We even got to do a few rides more than once. The kids loved the Triceratops Spin! Kinsie and Brax were both big enough to ride Avatar’s Flight of Passage, which is my favorite! They loved it just as much as I do.This ride is the most popular ride at this park, so we had to buy an Individual Lightning Lane pass for it, but it was worth it! And right before park close, we decided to run back over to Pandora to get in line to ride it again! It was a great way to end the day! 

Day 3- Universal Studios Islands of Adventure

Whenever we do an Orlando trip, we always make time for Universal Studios as well. For me, it is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter that always brings me back!

Kinsie and Brax are both more into Harry Potter now than they were a few years ago, and have even read the first few books with us, so I loved getting to share these experiences with them. They loved drinking butter beer and getting candy at Honeydukes. Kinsie was tall enough to ride Forbidden Journey, which she loved, and we rode it 3 times! Brax got to ride Flight of the Hippogriff and he was obsessed! Brody wasn’t quite big enough to ride those rides yet, but he was happy as can be with a “chocolate frog” lollipop that Grandma bought him from Honeydukes!

Universal Studios was crowded, and does not have a system like Disney for avoiding lines (unless you get an Express pass which costs an arm and a leg), so we just had to kick it the old fashioned way and wait to ride the rides with lower wait times. We were very efficient with our time, and were able to ride everything we wanted to, and never had to wait more than 30-40 minutes. We even got to ride Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure, which usually has a wait time of well over an hour. Ryan got to go on this ride in 2019, but I didn’t because I was pregnant. This time, Kinsie and I both got to ride on it together and we loved it!!

The kids enjoyed seeing characters, and Brax loved the Jurassic Park area! And I am so thankful for Ryan’s parents for hanging out with Brody while Ryan and I went on bigger rides with the big kids!

Day 4- Disney’s Hollywood Studios

This is where we went in February, and where Brody had his first Disney experience, so we were excited to go back! Since February, the kids have gotten more into Star Wars, so Ryan was especially excited to explore more of Galaxy’s Edge with them. Right away, when we got to the gate, we could tell it was going to be a crowded day. Somehow, after lots of persistence and constant refreshing of my app, I still managed to snag some Individual Lightning Lane passes for Rise of the Resistance, which is the hardest ride to get into in all of Disney right now! Because the park was so crowded, and everyone was booking their Genie+ passes, ALL of our Genie+ windows weren’t until the afternoon. And all of the rides had way too long of waits to stand in with little kids. So we wandered around a lot and saw some characters and shows.

Brody was hit or miss with characters this trip. He LOVED seeing Olaf, and continuously hugged him and even tried to take him with us as we left the room. He also loved watching Chip and Dale in the courtyard. But he didn’t want to hug Pluto, he was more comfortable keeping his distance!

The first half of the day was tough. It was unbelievably hot and crowded, and it was hard to get anywhere or do anything with the crowds and the long lines. I still am thankful for Genie+ though, because even though our passes weren’t until the afternoon, we were able to ride all the rides we wanted to because of it…just later in the day. Slinky Dog Dash was still a favorite, along with Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Toy Story Mania. We enjoyed spending more time exploring Galaxy’s Edge, and got to ride all of the Star Wars rides.

One dining reservation I worked really hard to get was at Oga’s Cantina. It’s a bar-type hangout in Galaxy’s Edge with really fun drinks. We always like to try something different every time we go, and we’re never disappointed! Brody fell asleep right before our reservation, so we carried him in and he napped in the booth while we enjoyed our drinks. We also loved the famous blue milk at Galaxy’s Edge!

One of the highlights of the day for the big kids was building their own droids. Kinsie learned about this during our February trip, and it was all she talked about since! So I made sure to make reservations as soon as I could so she could experience it. And Brax loves all the droids on Star Wars, so I knew he would love it too. It was such a neat experience!

We love Toy Story Land. It is one of our favorite parts of Hollywood Studios. However, it was unbearably crowded during the day. We didn’t get to enjoy it at all…until evening! After droid building and a quick dinner, we had a Genie+ pass for Alien Swirling Saucers, and then we were able to jump in line for Slinky Dog Dash five minutes before park close. It was AWESOME at night! By the time we were off the ride, the park was closed, so we got to walk through Toy Story Land and finally admire it with the beautiful lights and empty walkways. It was glorious!

Day 5- Break Day

After 3 park days in a row, we were ready for our “rest” day. We slept in (as much as my kids do), relaxed in the condo for a while, then went out for a small adventure. I really wanted to see some of the other Disney resorts, and the kids wanted to ride the skyliner. We went to the bus station at Disney Springs, where Brody was in heaven!! He LOVES any and all buses…but Disney buses are his favorite! He was awestruck when he actually got to ride on a Disney bus to the resort!

We went to the Art of Animation resort because I’d seen pictures of it and I knew my kids would love it. Brody LOVED all the Cars statues! 

After exploring the resort for a while, the kids were getting hungry and wanting to swim at the resort, so we hopped on the skyliner and took a quick ride to another resort. From there, we took a bus back to Disney Springs, ate lunch, then headed back to our resort.

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, playing in the splash pad and floating down the lazy river. It was exactly what we needed! We ate dinner at a restaurant at the resort, then walked around watching ducks, fish, and the sunset. It was a relaxing evening, and gave us the rest we needed before another park day!

Day 6- Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom has always been my favorite. It doesn’t necessarily have my favorite rides, and it is always super crowded and overwhelming, but it is the most magical. I love all the parades, random shows, and the fireworks. I especially love when I get to bring one of my kids for their first trip and seeing the magic through their eyes!

We booked Genie+ passes for the rides we knew would have long waits, but we still had plenty of rides that we were able to just walk right on, or have very short waits. We started our morning riding Small World, Dumbo, The Little Mermaid, and eventually made our way over to watch the Country Bear Jamboree and the Enchanted Tiki Room, which Brody was obsessed with! Magic Kingdom definitely has the most rides that Brody could actually ride, so he loved every minute! We got an Individual Lightning Lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and I’m so glad we did because it was really cute! (It’s usually over an hour wait) We fit in SO many rides in one day…and we were able to ride on rides that we haven’t done in years because they usually have too long of a wait. Thank you Genie+!

We were so excited that the Festival of Fantasy parade was back! Watching it with Kinsie and Brax when they were little are some of my favorite memories, and I couldn’t wait to watch it with Brody too. He absolutely loved it…especially Chip and Dale!

We didn’t see a ton of characters outside of the parade and calvacades…mainly because we were so busy hopping on and off rides. We did run into Stitch though and snapped a quick pic! 

We ended up using a Genie+ pass on meeting Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater because there was a long line for it all day, and we never got to see him at Hollywood Studios for that same reason. Brody was being really shy again and didn’t want me to put him down, but he enjoyed saying hi to him while in my arms.

Another priority for me this trip was trying more of the unique snacks that Disney has to offer. That was part of all the prep work I did…finding the best snacks! The dole whip was a classic that turned out to still be our favorite!

We watched the fireworks show, and it was absolutely amazing. There are no fireworks like Disney fireworks! This is always the most crowded part of the day, and can often get frustrating…but I tried to stay in the moment and not let rude people get to me and ruin the magic. I will admit, I shed a few tears as I watched the fireworks over Cinderella castle for the first time with my little Brody while he rested his head on my shoulder!

After the fireworks, we still had around 2 hours before the park closed. We had a Lightning Lane pass to use for Splash Mountain since the ride closed down earlier in the day while we were in line. Kinsie opted out of that one, but Brax loved it. Kinsie and Brax also both rode Space Mountain. Brody soon fell asleep so Grandma Bev stayed with him while we did a few more rides with the big kids. We finished the night with Mickey’s PhilarMagic, a 3D show that we all love. When the show was over, the park was closed and everyone was heading out of the park. So I had to snap one more pic in front of the castle since it wasn’t crowded anymore!

14 hours and 30,000 steps later, Braxton was out! Brody and Griffin were already asleep for a little while, so Kinsie was the last kid standing as we left the park around midnight! It was SUCH a busy, exhausting day, but it was absolutely amazing!

Day 7- Universal Studios

Last park day. We were up really late the night before from Magic Kingdom, and Universal Studios was our last stop…and it opened at 8am. So we started our day tired already, but we powered through since it was our last day!

On our first Universal day, the Hogwarts Express broke down right before we were about to ride it to the other park. So we made sure we started our morning at Diagon Alley…my absolute favorite!

The kids also enjoyed seeing the Knight Bus, and seeing Creacher the house elf peek out of the curtains of Number 12 Grimwald Place.

Since the kids are really into Harry Potter, we decided to do the Wand Experience at Olivander’s Wand Shop. Kinsie was chosen to do some spells to find the perfect wand match! A special wand chose her, and she was over the moon! It was such a special experience that she’ll never forget!

We also ate lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, drank more butter beer, and had ice cream at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour.

Afterwards, we finally got to ride the Hogwarts Express. Brody is obsessed with cars, trucks, buses and trains right now so he was SO excited to ride the choo-choo! He seriously could not contain his excitement, and he danced and squealed around happily as he waited to ride, and during the entire ride!

We spent the rest of the day riding all of the rides that we hadn’t done yet, and we were completely exhausted by around 4pm. The park closed at 6pm that evening anyway, so we called it an early evening and went back to the condo to relax and get ready to head home the next day. 

Disney vacations are always so busy and tiring, but so amazing. We always make so many wonderful memories, and I love experiencing it with my kids at their different ages. 

And that was our April! It is hard to believe that it is already May and the kids will be done with another school year soon. Life has seemed a lot more normal for us lately since Covid numbers have been so low, and I’m not going to lie…it feels so nice. Praying that things continue to move in the right direction!

Enjoy our April 1 Second Everyday!

 

Feelin’ Good in February

February is usually one of my least favorite months. We usually have the worst snow storms in February, and even though it is a shorter month, it always just seems like it takes forever to get to March. But this time, it was better…probably because we went on our first real vacation since October 2019! But before I get to that, I’ll discuss the rest of our month.

Spending Time Outside (Before the Snow)

The first day of February was amazing – it was in the 60’s and sunny. Brody and I spent most of the day outside. And when we did go inside to eat lunch, he didn’t want to take off his hat and boots! The funniest part is that is was warm enough that he didn’t even need a hat or boots – but that’s what he wanted!

Once the kids got home from school, we went to the walking trail. Kinsie and Brax brought their bikes and Brody rode in his little car. It was a perfect day to ride on the trail and let Brax practice his new no-training wheels bike skills! There was a huge snow and ice storm coming the next day – so we savored the amazing day. (Also, don’t judge Brody’s crazy hair – he was getting a haircut in a few days!)

Snow Days

As I said, the very next day we were due for ice and then snow. Kinsie’s school went ahead and called in for e-Learning days for the next few days since the ice was supposed to start that afternoon. Kinsie had a class meeting on her iPad, and she brought a friend to class! When she was doing her school work, Brody wanted to do some too!

We didn’t get much snow the first day, just some ice. But the next day, it snowed. And snowed. And snowed. It snowed heavily for the entire day. Luckily Ryan was off for a few days, so he got to enjoy being snowed in with us. Once Kinsie was done with her schoolwork, we all bundled up and went outside. The kids loved sledding, catching snowflakes, and playing “arctic animals.” However, it was REALLY cold and windy so we didn’t spend as much time outside as we could have liked.

The next few days were much more bearable. The snow stayed but it was a tad warmer, no wind, and the sun was out…so we ventured outside for several hours each day. We enjoyed LOTS of snow activities including sledding, making a snowman, snow painting, snow volcanoes, following animal tracks and more!

And of course we had to make snow ice cream!

Even when the kids went back to school, Brody and I still tried to venture outside whenever we could. He’s always in a better mood outside!

One day after school, Brax had a sledding playdate with his best friend from school. They had a wonderful time together!

Haircut for Bro

This handsome boy was LONG overdue for a haircut…he hadn’t gotten one since September! But between the Omicron surge, the holidays, and the fact that Brody HATES haircuts, it just wasn’t a priority. But since we were going on vacation soon, I knew we had to get it done. He definitely didn’t enjoy it, but it’s Ryan’s cousin who cuts his hair and she was patient with him and loves him so she didn’t mind – and he looked SO handsome when he was done!

Gym Ninjas

Kinsie is still loving gymnastics, and recently I signed Brax up for a class called Gym Ninjas at the same place and time. He’s had one class so far and he LOVED it! One of his best friends from school is in his class too so he was so happy!

Valentine’s Day

We got to squeeze in some fun Valentine’s Day activities before we went on vacation. We always love making cookies, and we even got to enjoy making some with the kids’ cousin Griffin!

And here are the cookies we made at home!

Brax’s class needed an extra parent volunteer for their Valentine’s party, so his teacher asked me to step in. I love getting to volunteer for his class! I love seeing him in the school environment and with his friends.

And here’s just a picture of my cute boys in their matching Valentine’s shirts!

A tradition we started a few years ago includes a heart for each kid every day starting February 1 until Valentine’s Day with a reason why we love them.

Another tradition includes a scavenger hunt around the house that leads to their Valentines gifts!

We love our sweet valentines!!

VACATION

We finally went on a real vacation for the first time in over 2 years! We didn’t feel comfortable traveling with our unvaccinated, unmasked infant for a while, but also…life kept us very busy the last 2 years. We finished residency, moved to a new state, started a new job, had a baby, and built a house all during a global pandemic…so vacation wasn’t exactly at the top of our priority list for a while. But now that we’ve settled into our new lives, and 2/3 kids are fully vaccinated, and cases are dropping significantly, we were ready for a vacation. My parents were going to our condo in Siesta Key for 3 weeks, and they invited us to join at the tail end of the trip. I was so excited to get my babies on the beach!

Brody’s First Flight

I really haven’t taken Brody many places in his life, so this trip was a whole new world for him – starting with the airport. He was so nervous with all the people and new things to see. He clung on me like a koala bear all through the airport, including through security. Once we were on the plane, he got more comfortable and acted like his crazy self.

Our flights were later in the evening, and we had to stop in Atlanta for a connecting flight. Brody was a wild man on the flights! He just didn’t want to sit still. Ryan and I took turns throughout the first flight passing him back and forth. Kinsie and Brax were absolute traveling champs, making it much easier on us. The second flight was better because it wasn’t a full flight, so we found an empty row and Brody was able to have his own seat and more room to wiggle. I was hoping he would sleep on this flight since it was well past 10pm at this point…but nope. There was too much to do and see! Overall, he was a great traveler!

The Beach

We were all SO excited to get to the beach the next morning. It had been at least 3 years since we’d been to the beach, so Kinsie and Brax didn’t remember much about it either and were so excited. Brody wasn’t sure what to think about the sand between his toes at first, but he quickly learned to love it and was a happy little beach baby! He especially loved the ocean…but we had to watch him like a hawk because he kept wanting to run straight into the ocean!

Around lunchtime, my sister’s family flew in also and met us at the condo. The kids were so excited to have their cousins to play with on the beach! They spent the next few days digging holes, building castles, boogie-boarding, and finding sea shells.

The pure joy on this sweet boy’s face while he experienced so many new things made my heart so happy!

Enjoying the sunset with my girl

Big Cat Habitat

After a couple days on the beach, our family needed a little bit of a break (we all had sunburns!), and my dad had told us about a cat sanctuary nearby, so we decided to check it out. It was called the Big Cat Habitat, and it was really neat! Kinsie and Brax both got to feed a bear and a liger (a lion mixed with a tiger).

There was also a fun petting zoo area.

Eventually, Brody conked out in the stroller with his hand in the goldfish bag!

Kinsie and Brax showed off their stickers proving that they fed the animals. It was a fun day!

Other Florida Fun

Our time in Siesta Key also included sitting on the dock waving to the boats passing by, shopping at the village and sharing snacks and smoothies with cousins, swimming at the pool, and lots and lots of crazy cousin fun!

DISNEY

I’ve been dying to take Brody to Disney World since he LOVES Mickey Mouse and all his friends. When we decided to go to Florida, we really wanted to make it happen. We planned on driving to Orlando and spending the last 2 nights of our vacation there, including 1 day at a Disney Park.

Fun at the Resort

It was my sister’s idea to stay at a Disney resort, and I am so glad we did. Not only are the resorts amazing, but you get extra perks at the Disney parks when you stay there. We left Siesta Key Saturday morning and headed to Orlando. We got there around lunch time, and got to spend a few hours by the pool. The kids loved the slides and splash pad area!

After swimming, we went to Disney Springs for a little while, but it was insanely crowded. We went to the big Disney Store and walked around a little, but it was honestly hard to maneuver around so many people and trying to stay distanced. As we walked around, Brody took a little stroller catnap…which made him wired later on at bedtime! But eventually we all went to sleep and prepared for our big Disney day!

A Magical Day at Hollywood Studios

We chose to spend our 1 Disney park day at Hollywood Studios because it has some of the most sought after rides that are often hard to get into unless you get lightning lane passes for them, and you can often only get lightning lane passes for them by staying at a Disney resort. It was also great because it was so close to our resort, so we were able to take the skyliner to the park!

Here’s our whole crew with our neon tie-dye shirts (that I helped make with my Cricut!)

The best part about the entire day for me was Brody’s reactions to Mickey and Minnie. He loved them SO much, just like I knew he would! He could have stayed there with them all day if we let him. All the other kids enjoyed seeing the characters too, but mostly everyone loved watching Brody’s interactions with them!

We also met Olaf, Chip and Dale, Pluto, and Doc McStuffins. Character interactions certainly aren’t what they used to be before Covid, but they were still magical…especially through the eyes of a toddler!

We also had some fun dining reservations throughout our day…including lunch at the Sci-Fi drive-in theater…

And drinks and snacks at Oga’s Cantina. The girls particularly enjoyed the limes that came with the drinks!

Papa and Yaya were in the happy place with all their babies!

We had a blast on all the rides. This was Brax’s first time riding Slinky Dog Dash and he LOVED it! Thanks to lightning lane passes and child swap, Kinsie and Brax were both able to ride it 3 times…and Brody loved watching us all ride the “Doggy!” We also loved Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Toy Story Mania, Aliens Swirling Saucers, and Rise of the Resistance (Ryan’s fave!) 

The sweetest cousin crew!

For dinner, we had reservations at Hollywood & Vine, which is a character meal. We were excited for Brody to get to see more characters! Before dinner, he dozed off for a nap, but we woke him up in time to see the characters.

It was truly a wonderful day. It was crowded, but very manageable. Having Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes were SO helpful and let us ride almost everything. My sister did an amazing job planning and booking everything, and now I’m learning everything I can from her so I can do it when we return to Disney in April!

Heading Home

The next morning, we were able to sleep in and have a nice breakfast. The kids enjoyed Mickey waffles with a view! Afterwards, we packed up and headed back to Sarasota for our afternoon flight home.

My parents were on our flight this time, which was nice to help with the kids. It was also a direct flight which was very helpful too. We were all exhausted so it was nice to finally relax on the plane. The kids watched shows on our iPads and Brody actually slept most of the flight! It was a quiet, relaxing way to end our wonderful vacation.

Bookends of Nice Weather

We started February with beautiful weather, and ended it with more beautiful weather. When we got back from Florida, it was freezing, raining, or freezing rain for about a week. So when it finally was warm enough to be outside again, the kids were ready! 

It was a great month, and I don’t usually say that about February! We may have to plan more February Florida trips in the future because it definitely helped break up the dreadful winter months. Now we are ready for SPRING!

Here is our February 1 Second Everyday. Enjoy!

 

Pumpkins, Weddings, and Theme Parks

Pumpkins, weddings and theme parks…that was basically the gist of our month! We spent the month of October in 3 (kind of 4) different states between a family wedding and vacation…and still managed to fit in all of our favorite fall and Halloween traditions! Like I expected, it was a very busy month…but we made lots of memories!

Here’s how our month went down…

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Between traveling, school, and Ryan’s schedule, we had ONE day of the entire month that we could actually take our annual visit to the Pumpkin Patch…so luckily it worked out! It was hot and crowded, but we had a great visit. We enjoyed picking out pumpkins, taking a hay ride, playing in the corn pit and climbing on the hay playground. We love this farm and will miss it next year…but Indiana knows a thing or two about farms so I have no doubt we’ll find another one to continue our fall traditions next year!

Kinsie Rocking Kindergarten

Kinsie is still doing great in school! She still loves it more than ever and I know she’s learning a lot. Lately, she received a few awards…a responsibility citizen of the month from the school counselor, perfect attendance for the quarter, and Super Falcon for her class! We are so proud of her!

             Kinsie’s Writing

I LOVE when Kinsie brings home her writing from school…it melts my heart! I love watching her using her phonics skills to sound out her words. Here are a few of my favorite fall writings this month.

               Red Ribbon Week

The week after Fall Break, Kinsie’s school celebrated Red Ribbon Week to promote living drug free. I used to be the Student Council sponsor for my school, and I loved planning the dress up days for Red Ribbon Week, so of course I also enjoyed dressing Kinsie up!

Day 1: “Tell Drugs to Take a Hike!” (top left – dress like you’re going camping)

Day 2: “Make it a GOAL to stay drug free!” (top right – dress in a team jersey)

Day 3: “Don’t let drugs be the villain in the story of your life!” (bottom left – dress like a Disney character)

Day 4: “Bubble Bubble, Witches Brew…we’re drug free…how about you?” (bottom right – dress in Halloween costume)

Wedding Weekend in Indiana

Ryan’s cousin Nicole got married in October, and we were excited that the kids were asked to be the flower girl and one of the ring bearers, along with their baby cousin Griffin. Unfortunately with Kinsie’s school and Ryan’s work, we were only able to visit Indiana for the weekend. We left on Thursday after school and returned home Sunday evening. We were really only there for 2 days, but we made the most of it!

On Friday, my sister took Kinsie to have lunch with her cousins at their school. She loved getting to see them and their school!

The wedding took place in a beautiful barn, and fall (and practically winter) weather decided to show up for the occasion…it was cold! Kinsie loved dressing up like a princess, and Brax decided to make things as difficult as possible while putting on his nice clothes. He goes through waves, where he’ll be super laid back and sweet for a few months, and then an absolutely stubborn terror for a few months (remember when I said he’s a sour patch kid?!) Unfortunately, right now he’s in a sour phase so everything is a battle. We won every battle except him wearing the bow tie and suspenders…so we called it a win. The kids looked great and did their job well, and Griffin was the absolute sweetest, smiling away in his wagon! We loved getting to see all of family at the wedding and the kids loved dancing the night away!

Vacation in Orlando

We were so excited for this vacation, not just for where we were going, but the fact that Ryan got to spend an entire week with us! With the wedding and this vacation somewhat back to back, he had to use all of his days off for those trips, so when we were home, he was working every day. We all definitely needed this week of vacation!

Day 1 and 2: Traveling and Disney Springs

Our trip there was overall non-eventful, which was nice after some of the stressful airport experiences we’ve had in the past! We had to drive the 2 hours to Memphis for our flight, which wasn’t too bad considering how much cheaper it was. My saint of a husband even offered to sit with the kids on the plane and let me sit across the aisle from them. It was lovely!

We got to Orlando around 2pm, so we wanted to use our time wisely! We spent the evening at Disney Springs. The kids love digging for dino fossils at the T-Rex Cafe and looking at giant LEGO statues. We also loved the Marvel store and shopping at the Rainforest Cafe!

On Day 2, the original plan was to go to Universal Studios with the whole family, but there was a huge tropical storm and it poured all morning! Luckily we had a built in “off” day the next day, so we just switched and went the next day. The storm was over by early evening on Saturday, so we all went back to Disney Springs again that night!

Day 3: Universal Studios part 1

The whole crew (us, my sister’s family, my parents, Ryan’s parents, and my aunt Stella and her husband Andre) went to Universal Studios together. They all hadn’t been in a really long time, but Ryan and I went a few years ago so we helped lead the way. I could have spent all day just in Harry Potter world, but I knew not everyone knew and loved the wizarding world like I do, so we just visited there for a little while and made time for other activities too. My sister recently read the HP series though, so I was excited for her to share the magic with me! We enjoyed the castle, some rides, the butter beer, and meeting some characters.

Day 4: Disney’s Hollywood Studios

We worked it out so that my family stayed in a Disney resort one night so we could all take advantage of the “Extra Magic Hours” at Hollywood Studios. I hadn’t been to this park since I was really young, and the kids had never been. They are obsessed with Toy Story right now, we we were really excited to experience the new Toy Story Land! Extra Magic Hours started at 6am, and the park didn’t open to the public until 9am…so we got a LOT in during those 3 hours! It was tough waking up at 5am and getting to the park before the sun even came up, but totally worth it!

I was so proud of Kinsie because she rode her first roller coasters on this trip! She started with the Slinky Dog Dash and absolutely loved it! She even rode it a second time with Uncle Ry Ry since the lines were so short so early in the morning! She also had fun riding with Aunt Tita on the Alien Saucer Spin.

The kids loved meeting Woody, Bo Peep and Jessie!

Toy Story Land was amazing! And it looked a little different from 6am to later in the day…like I said, I’m so glad we were able to take advantage of those extra hours!

We spent a good part of our day in Toy Story Land, but also made time for the new Star Wars land, and meeting lots of other characters! We ended up leaving the park around 8pm…we were all tired after a 14 hour day!

Day 5: Universal Studios part 2

The next day, we came back to Universal Studios, while the rest of my family went to Epcot. Ryan and I love Universal and we knew there was more we would want to do than what we’d be able to do in one day, so we chose to spend another day there. Ryan’s mom came along while his dad had to travel to Tampa for work. We had another great day exploring Hogsmeade, riding the Hogwarts Express, and doing magic with our wand. We didn’t really have time last time to explore the Marvel Superhero Land, so we made sure to spend time there this time. The kids got to meet Captain America and Spiderman and loved it!

Day 6: Disney’s Magic Kingdom

When you make a trip to Orlando, it’s a requirement to spend at least one day at Magic Kingdom…at least for our family! We met back up with my family and everyone for a day at the most magical place on earth. The kids all had so much fun together. They loved the “It’s a small world” ride, the Dumbo ride, the parade, and the fireworks.

Best attempt at a full group selfie on Small World!

Lots of castle pics are a must!

It took way too long to find a spot to watch the fireworks, (I won’t get into too many details, but Ryan just about fought with the Disney employees for not letting us stand anywhere to watch!) but by the time we actually found a spot, Brax was asleep in the stroller! He stayed asleep until we left the park! Kinsie however, enjoyed the fireworks, then finally also passed out while we were waiting (for over an hour) for the ferry boat home.

Our Disney days almost always end in two passed out kids…that’s how you know it was a fun and successful day!

Day 7: Last day at Universal Studios – part 3

Our original plan was to spend 2 days at Disney and 2 days at Universal, but when we bought our tickets, our 2-day ticket to Universal came with a third day free…so we were happy to take advantage!

We had the kids write down the things they definitely wanted to do on their last day there, so we made sure we hit up those things, then added a few fun extras. The kids could have spent the entire day at Dr. Seuss Land. They loved all the rides and characters! We also met Branch and Poppy from Trolls, and King Julien from Madagascar.

There was a fun Curious George splash pad area that the kids loved. I stayed there with them while Ryan caught a few of the rides he wanted to do by hopping in the quick single rider line. We also rode a few rides that they loved the days before again, like Storm Force (similar to the tea cup ride at Disney), the “If I Ran the Zoo” interactive playground, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, and the Dr. Suess sky train. We had a great last day, and even finished in time to go meet our family for dinner since it was our last night together.

It was exhausting, but such a great trip! We were so glad Ryan was able to join us, and that we were able to spend some time with our Indiana family as well.

Fitting in all the Halloween Activities

We got back from our trip with less than a week until Halloween. We have lots of fun Halloween traditions that we do every year, so we had to do work once we were back!

The kids and I baked and decorated Halloween cookies the weekend we returned.

We also painted our smaller pumpkins (Unicorn, dinosaur, Forky)

Ryan worked a few evenings in a row once we got back, so we had to split up our pumpkin carving into 2 separate days. The first round, the kids helped clean out their pumpkins and collect the pumpkin seeds so I could bake them. Then the kids did as much as they could to help carve, but like usual, they get bored easily so Ryan and I finished them up.

The kids pumpkins are on the left… Ariel and King Kong. Ryan and I had to do ours a few days later when the kids were in school, and we did Groot and Dobby.

Halloween Night

Ryan made sure he got Halloween night off so he could come trick-or-treating with us. I made the kids jack-o-lantern pizzas for dinner.

Kinsie wore her costume all day since her Red Ribbon Week day was for her to wear her costume anyway, but Brax is a weirdo and didn’t want to wear his to school. He is extremely particular about what he wears lately, so I worked hard to make sure his costume was as basic as possible. And with Brax being in a “sour” phase of his sour patch kid lifestyle, when it was time to put on his costume, he threw an absolute fit. He was still excited to be Forky, but he just really enjoys being stubborn and didn’t want to do what we asked of him. After a short intense battle, we won, and he was Forky. Once his fit was over, he was as happy as can be and had a great time trick-or-treating!

The whole family… Woody, the alien, Jessie and Forky

Once Brax’s fit was over, we all really had a great night. It was colder than usual, but the kids did great trick-or-treating and had a great time!

October went by in a flash, and now we’re ready to take on November. My birthday is this month, and my family is coming to visit for Thanksgiving, so we have more to look forward to!

Enjoy our 1 Second Everyday for the month of October!

Falling for October

October seemed to fly by! We stayed incredibly busy this month between t-ball, school, ballet, church, vacation, and lots of fall fun. Some of our favorite yearly traditions take place in October, and even with Ryan’s busy schedule, we try really hard to still fit it all in and create fun memories. Here is a recap of our October.

T-ball Season

Kinsie’s t-ball games started this month, and she has been rocking it! Softball has come more naturally to her than any other sport she has tried so far. She still needs to work on her throwing skills, but she has been hitting the ball incredibly well, and being very aggressive on the field. She seems to love it, and we all enjoy watching her play!

Pumpkin Patches

Going to the pumpkin patch is always a must every year. We always try to find a day where Ryan can go with us, because we all enjoy it. We went to the same pumpkin patch as last year because we loved it so much. The corn pit, the hay playground, the farm animals, the hay ride, the maze…we loved it all!

This year, Kinsie and Brax’s school did a field trip to a different pumpkin patch. We had so much fun! The kids spent most of their time with Kinsie’s buddy, Judah (who is also on her t-ball team). They loved picking pumpkins and spending time with their teachers outside of the classroom. Kinsie had a homework assignment while she was there, which she was ALL about. This farm had tons of playground areas for the kids to run around, and lots of play scenes to take pictures with. It was a fun morning!

Trip to Florida

The kids and I were very lucky to get the opportunity to go to Florida with my family for a week. Our original hope was for Ryan to come with us for a few days, but with his limited days off, we just didn’t think it was worth it for him to try to make this trip. We really missed him, but we did have a great time! The kids spent most of their time on the beach playing with their cousins. They loved building sand castles, playing on the boogie board, collecting seashells, and more. It honestly didn’t matter what they were doing, as long as they were with their cousins, they were happy!

We also decided to spend one day at Disney’s Epcot. We hadn’t been there since Kinsie was 2 and I was pregnant with Brax. The older kids are getting more interested in learning about other countries and cultures, so we thought this was a great time to take them here. We had a very busy, but awesome day! We accomplished a ton in just one day. We loved The Seas with Nemo and Friends and the giant Epcot ball, but mostly the kids loved the characters (we’ll get to that in a minute), and visiting all the countries in the World Showcase.We bought the kids Epcot passports, and they LOVED visiting every country and getting their passport stamped. It was actually very neat, especially because the people who work at each country are actually from that country. This was a very neat experience for all of us, and I loved how much they enjoyed learning about different countries and cultures.

Our other favorite part of Epcot was getting to meet all the characters. This was definitely the highlight for Brax. He absolutely loved hugging and getting his picture taken with all of his favorites. At the end of the night, we surprised the kids with a Disney princess dinner. The girls were so excited, and loved visiting with, and getting autographs from some of their favorite princesses. It was a long, busy, but wonderful day at Epcot!

Like I said, we really missed Ryan, but we’re so glad we took this opportunity. We had some great quality family time, and the kids were so happy to spend time with their favorite people. I am so grateful for my family for making this trip work for us and helping me so much. I literally couldn’t have done any of it without them!

Pumpkins Galore!

Every year, our creative side comes bursting out around Halloween. Ryan and I, even when we were in high school, loved carving unique pumpkins together. We’ve managed to continue this tradition with our kids. This year, we also included painting to the mix. The kids loved painting their pumpkins, and Ryan and I added a Harry Potter and Hedwig to the pumpkin crew this year.

Last year, one of our favorite activities with the residency group was pumpkin carving. We made sure to be a part of it again this year. The kids loved carving their pumpkins, but they loved running around and playing hide and seek with their friends even more.

Pictured below- all of our finished painted pumpkins

And now pictured below are the finished carved pumpkins. From left to right we had Brax’s picks – Chase from Paw Patrol and Bruce the shark from Finding Nemo, Ryan’s pick – a human heart/skull, my pick – the Hocus Pocus witches, then Kinsie’s picks – a unicorn and a Hatchimal.

Halloween

It poured on Halloween night! And we knew it would…it was in the forecast for a few days. Most of the city of Little Rock moved trick-or-treating to the night before, but Kinsie had a double-header that night. Luckily, our church had a festival on the night of Halloween…so we still got to do our Halloween thing. Kinsie has had her costume picked out for months…she wanted to be Anne Wheeler, the trapeze artist from the movie, The Great Showman. Brax was a different story! I can’t even count how many times he changed his mind. Some of his options over the last month included (but are not limited to) PT Barnum, an elephant, an alligator, a lion, Mickey Mouse, a dinosaur….and about 10 more different types of animals. He’s so picky about what he wears, so I knew it would be a challenge to actually get him to wear something. He finally settled on Mickey Mouse…which I was fine with because I could make him a simple Mickey costume using just normal clothes. Of course he wouldn’t wear it to his school Halloween party, but I was so relieved that he actually wore it on Halloween!

The festival at church was a lot of fun. It was very crowded, but they had tons of games, activities, and food. The kids loved all the games and had a great time with some of their friends.

Busy, busy month…but we loved every bit of it! Looking forward to exciting things in November…especially expecting our newest nephew to arrive by the end of the month!!! We can’t wait to meet him and to witness Megan and Tim embark on the amazing journey of parenthood.

As always, enjoy our 1 Second Everyday October video!

Sun Rays and Disney Days

We were so grateful to get to go on a vacation to Florida this month! Ryan gets 3 weeks of vacation throughout his first year, so we coordinated it with my family’s vacation to one of our favorite places, Siesta Key, Florida. With the way our week worked out, we also got to visit Disney World for 3 days…another one of our favorites! Originally with Ryan’s schedule, he would get to go to Siesta with us, but not Disney. After he pulled some strings at work, he found a way to go with us for the entire trip, and we were all SO grateful. We all needed that quality Daddy time! Here are the highlights from our trip.

PART I: Siesta Key

The Beach

We came here last December, and Kinsie was a little beach baby. She was obsessed! Brax wasn’t even mobile yet, so he spent most of his time in the tent. This time, we had two beach babies! Brax wasn’t a huge fan of the ocean (the waves scared him), but he loved playing in the sand. All the kids loved chasing birds, getting buried in the sand as different animals and characters, and building sand castles and animals. The older kids loved the ocean until we realized how many jellyfish were in the area. Both Kinsie and her cousin Briggs got stung by jellyfish…but luckily nothing too severe. After that, they were all a little skeptical about getting in the water…and they called themselves the “jellyfish cousins.”

The Pool

All five of the cousins are little water bugs. We spent a few days by the pool, and ALL the kids were having fun. Brax wanted to jump in over and over again…he honestly didn’t even care if he went under water. I’m also pretty sure that being in the pool with her cousins is one of Kinsie’s happiest happy places!

The Boat Ride

We rented a boat while in Siesta Key, and it was such a fun and crazy day! We ate cinnamon rolls, got splashed by large waves, saw dolphins and manatees, got stuck on a sandbar, got lost, and had lunch at a restaurant on the water. We all loved every part of the crazy adventure…especially the dolphins!

Lots of Much-Needed Family Time

I know, this is vague, and cheesy…but it’s true. Now that we live apart, time with family is so special. Especially with the kids…they all love each other so much and they are just giddy when they are all together. All of the kids have a special relationship and it is so fun watching them grow up together. And like I mentioned earlier, it was so nice having a full week of Ryan. The kids were all about Daddy all week!

PART II: Disney World

Magic Kingdom

We spent the last 3 days of our trip at Disney World…and it was as magical as ever! It was SUPER crowded…more than I remember it ever being, but we still made the best of it and had a great time. The characters have always been Kinsie’s favorite part, and she still loved them, but oh my sweet Brax…he adored the characters! It melted my heart to see him stare in the face of Mickey Mouse in complete awe and give each character hug after hug. His reaction to seeing Mickey in the parade was priceless! Some of our other favorites of the day were Small World, the parade, the fireworks, and the Haunted Mansion ride. Kinsie talked about this ride ALL day, but the line was always too long. Finally after the fireworks, the line was down so we went. Kinsie fell asleep on Ryan’s shoulders on the way there, so we just let her sleep while we waited in line. We woke her up before we got on the ride and she LOVED it. She is still talking about it every day. It was a long but wonderful day!

Animal Kingdom

This is another one of our favorite parks in Disney, and we really wanted to see all the new Avatar stuff (it was AMAZING by the way). It was ridiculously hot this day…like sticky, heavy, hard to breathe hot. But we powered through it and still enjoyed our day. We loved the safari, the characters, the Avatar ride, and the evening lights show on the water. We were exhausted at the end of the day, but it was worth it.

Chef Mickey’s

My parents surprised the kids with tickets to Chef Mickey’s. I was probably just as excited as the kids to experience this! We went to a restaurant where Mickey and the gang danced around and came around to visit with everyone. The kids loved it and the food was on point!

Disney Springs

We spent our last evening just walking around Disney Springs. The only other time I remember coming here, we were only there for a few minutes so we didn’t really get to enjoy it. It was so nice to just take our time and enjoy everything there was to see. We especially loved the Lego store and the T-Rex Cafe. We didn’t even eat there, we just walked around and played in the dino digging area!

We had such a great trip and loved spending time with family, but we were also ready to be home. After lots of crowds, traffic and congestion, we were ready to be back in our quiet town. Our flights to and from Florida were both very eventful…we BARELY made it onto our flight on the way there…but after cutting everyone in the security line and sprinting to our gate, we made it. On the way back, we were on different flights from Orlando to Atlanta, but on the same flight from Atlanta to Little Rock. Ryan took Brax and I had Kinsie. Ryan’s flight was running a little later than scheduled, so as he got to the gate of the second flight, they were shutting the door and wouldn’t let him in. As he argued with the lady at the gate, I was talking to the captain and trying to see if he could get him on the plane. He was trying really hard to help us because he knew we were a family and we just wanted to get home. If they weren’t going to let him on, Kinsie and I were going to get off and we could all find a new flight together…although I really didn’t want to do that since the kids were exhausted and Kinsie had school the next day. The captain called the official Delta people and it was a long ordeal, but they FINALLY let him on. As he and Brax got on the plane, everyone applauded! Later when we got off the plane in Little Rock, everyone who passed by us said they were happy for us! It was a crazy experience, and we were SO happy to be home!

Beach Babes

At the beginning of Winter break, we were able to take a trip to Siesta Key, Florida with my family. Our family owns a condo in the area, so we used to go all the time when I was in high school and college. However, with the busy-ness of life with kids, and a med student husband whose time is not his own, we have only been there once since Kinsie was born, and she was a baby so she didn’t remember.

My parents and my sister’s family flew in a few days before we did, because I had to finish my last few days of school before Winter Break started, and Ryan had another residency interview trip to return from. In those days, we had a major ice storm in Indiana, which delayed and cancelled many flights…ours being one of them. We ended up flying the next day straight to Orlando – which really worked out better for us because we were planning on spending that afternoon and evening at the Magic Kindom for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party anyway before spending the rest of our vacation in Siesta Key. We were all THRILLED to get away from the freezing cold weather!

This was our first time traveling with 2 kids. While the kids were absolute champs, traveling with two is quite different than just one! Our time at the airport was complete chaos with all of our luggage including 2 car seats, wrangling the two kids, trying to prevent Brax from spitting up all over the airport seats while trying not to spill our coffee on ourselves, the kids, or even the floor (can’t waste that gold!) Kinsie was excited to roll her own suitcase through the airport. She spent the flight singing Christmas songs to everyone and watching episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Brax slept the majority of the flight. During the time he was awake, he was happy but crazy (per usual!) He made loud happy squeals, smiled at everyone around him, and squirmed so much that we were sweating by the end of the flight. Like I said…the trip wasn’t bad, just chaotic!

Once we flew into Orlando, my parents picked us up and we headed straight to Disney World. We didn’t buy regular admission tickets, just for the Christmas Party…so we were able to enter the park at 4pm. As soon as we got there, the first thing we did was meet Mickey. Brax was beyond tired at this point, so he really needed to nap, but I really wanted him to get to meet Mickey. He LOVED him! Kinsie and the other kids of course loved him too! During our time at Magic Kingdom, we rode a few rides, watched the parade and the fireworks (our favorite parts), ate Christmas cookies, and had a dance party with the reindeer! We were there until after midnight, and Brax slept on and off in the stroller, and Kinsie not only stayed awake the entire time we were there, but walked the entire time! Even when we held Brax and offered the stroller to Kinsie, she wanted to walk. Finally as we were leaving the park after midnight, Kinsie passed out in Ryan’s arms. We drove back to Siesta Key that night and arrived at 3am. It was a long, exhaustic, but wonderful evening!

Kinsie was only 9 months old when we went to Siesta Key last, and while she loved the pool and the sunshine, she was not the biggest fan of the beach – mainly because she was too little to run around and enjoy it. The closest we have come to the beach since then was last summer when we went to the Dunes for a family reunion. Kinsie loved that beach, so I figured she would be in heaven on Siesta Key Beach…one of the world’s best and most beautiful beaches. Boy, was I right! She spent all-day every day at the beach. Ryan and I took turns in the condo with Brax for his naps, but Kinsie always stayed on the beach either with one of us, or with my parents. Brax obviously couldn’t enjoy it as much as Kinsie, but that kid has fun doing just about anything. He enjoyed it the best he could!

Kinsie loved spending time with her cousins. They spent a ton of time playing in the ocean, finding sea shells and seaweed, chasing seagulls, and making sand castles (and sand hippos too). We were there on my mom’s birthday, so we had a cookout on the beach on that day. Brax ended up coming down with an upper respiratory infection while we were there, so he was a bit needier than usual, but he still did very well considering. Ryan and I really wanted to get the chance to go fishing on the dock, but it was difficult to find the time. We tried to go during Brax’s naps, but he didn’t sleep more than 45 minutes at a time since he didn’t feel good. On the last night of our trip, we were able to make it happen once the kids were in bed. We didn’t get many bites that night, so we went back with the kids the next day before going to the airport. Ryan finally caught a snapper, so we were excited that we at least got something during the trip!

We all had such a great time. The weather was perfect while we were there, making it hard to come back to Indiana. We can’t wait to go back again!

Kinsie and her Best Friend, Mickey Mouse

Shortly after finding out about Baby #2, we decided to take another Disney trip with Kinsie. We hadn’t been on a vacation in a while, and it will be much harder to travel for a while once the baby is born, so we figured this would be a great time to take Kinsie back to one of my favorite places in the world. She’s a complete Disney freak just like her mom, and she loved Disney World last year at only a year old, so we knew that this year, she would be beyond psyched! For our birthday and Christmas gifts this year, we just asked for money to help pay for the trip, so with the help of our families, we made it happen! Kinsie was pumped for weeks about this trip. She kept talking about going to “Mickey’s house,” and whenever she would see Cinderella’s Castle at the beginning of any Disney movie, she’d scream enthusiastically “That’s where we’re going!”

We had somewhat of a long night of traveling, but Kinsie was an absolute champ. This was her first plane trip in her own seat (thank goodness), and she just sat and watched Elmo the whole way there! Once we were in Orlando, we were transported a few times from hotel to hotel because the placed we booked months ago was overbooked, and she slept peacefully in the rental car…thank goodness considering it was 1:30am when we finally got to where we were staying!

Day 1: Magic Kingdom

This has always been my favorite park, probably because it is by far the most magical. I honestly wasn’t sure who was more excited…me or Kinsie! Ryan and I had planned out our whole day using a few different apps that told us what attractions to visit when considering the crowd and lines, so we were all set!

Highlights of Magic Kingdom:

• Cinderella’s Castle – Kinsie had been talking about it so much beforehand, that she just marveled at it whenever she saw it! We got to see a lot of shows, fireworks, etc. in front of the castle, so we got lots of castle time!

• The Christmas parade – this is still what Kinsie says was her favorite part of the trip. The mid-day Christmas parade was awesome! We got to see all of our favorites…Mickey and friends, Santa Claus, and Kinsie’s absolute fave, Olaf! Disney never fails to make their parades magical and spectacular! Of course, my favorite part of the parade was the pure joy on my daughter’s face!

• Meeting Mickey- Magic Kingdom is the only place in Disney World where Mickey talks, so we knew we had to fit this in our day! When it was Kinsie’s turn to meet him, she was a little overwhelmed and didn’t really know what to do with herself! She did a little nervous dance and was super shy! She was in awe at meeting one of her favorite characters of all time!

It turned out to be an amazing day. It was extremely crowded, but that didn’t impede our fun. The weather was perfect and Kinsie was one happy girl all day! The only time she got antsy was waiting in line to see Mickey…but with the help of the apps we used, that 25 minutes was the longest we waited all day. Our girl was wiped out as soon as we got in the car!

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

This is the only park that closes somewhat early, so we had to fit in all our fun in a shorter amount of time. Again, we used different apps to help us utilize our time. We had a little later start than we wanted since it was a late night the night before, but we still got in most of the attractions we wanted to do.

Highlights of Animal Kingdom:

• The dinosaur ride – this is basically a dinosaur version of the Dumbo ride. You spin in circles for about 1 minute and then it’s done. But with Kinsie’s recent dinosaur craze, she was all about it. She actually cried when it was over!

• The safari ride- this is the best ride in the park…a safari ride to see all kinds of animals and wildlife. We especially loved the hippos, giraffes, and lions.

• The Tree of Life- I LOVE the Tree of Life and trying to spot as many animal carvings as possible in it. Kinsie liked climbing on the alligator!

• Meeting Mickey and Minnie- Let’s face it, with how happy she was meeting Mickey the day before, we had to take every chance we got to meet him again, and this time with Minnie Mouse too! My favorite part was Kinsie’s excited face before she met them! We also got to meet Goofy and Pluto during the day too!

(Kinsie’s excited face)

Again, another great day! The park closed at 7pm, so that left us time to go get ice cream, chill at our hotel for a little while and get to bed before midnight!

Day 3: Epcot

This was the only day we didn’t have an actual “plan,” we figured it could be more of a go with the flow kind of day. I mainly wanted to see the World Showcase, and visit with characters, so that is what we did!

Highlights of Epcot:

• World Showcase (Mexico)- this of course, was my favorite of the countries. I love learning more about my culture and sharing it with Kinsie. They even had a cute little boat ride similar to “it’s a small world,” that displayed lots of Mexican culture in a fun Disney sort of way!

• The Seas with Nemo and Friends- I forgot how awesome this whole exhibit is. There is a ride, then once it is over, there is a huge aquarium exhibit with fish, sea turtles, manatees (my fave), and a shark playground. We all loved it!

• Meeting characters- we got to meet a lot of characters at Epcot! We scouted them out and used our apps to figure out where they would be and when so we could beat the lines. Kinsie basically became BFFs with all of them. How could you not with the sweet little hugs and smiles she gave them?

The only thing we didn’t get to do at Epcot that I really wanted to was see the fireworks. We could have stayed for them, but they didn’t start until 10:30 and we were wiped out! Kinsie said she wanted to go to sleep, and my pregnant body had really caught up with me from all the walking the last few days. Ryan was pretty tired too so we made the executive decision to call it a night before the fireworks.

Our entire trip was amazing. It was the perfect last trip as a family of 3. I loved getting to spend a few days with my with favorite people in my favorite place in the world. And as I’m sure you could tell by the pictures, Kinsie was pretty happy too!

A Disney Dream Come True

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a huge Disney fan. I spent my entire childhood watching Disney movies, and Disney World has always been the most magical place in the world to me, even as an adult. I’ve always talked about how I can’t wait to share my love for Disney with my children. Well, one of my dreams came true before Christmas when we got to take Kinsie to Disney World.

Ryan, Kinsie and I flew out to Orlando the week before Christmas and met my parents, my sister and her family. This was the second time Kinsie has been on a plane, and it was much different than the last time! Before she was only 8 months old and she pretty much slept the whole time. This time, she was happy, but crazy! She switched back and forth from my lap to Ryan’s about a hundred times, and made friends with everyone around her. It was a long flight trying to wrestle with a 1 year old, but luckily between the two of us, we were able to handle it.

We started our Disney adventure by going to Animal Kingdom. I knew Kinsie would love it because of how much she loves animals. We went on a safari and saw lots of animals, went to a petting zoo, and met lots of characters, including Mickey and Minnie! Kinsie LOVED meeting the characters. As you’ll see in the pictures, she was completely intrigued by them. She liked touching their faces and holding their hands. Kinsie also had a great time with her cousins. Briggs knows how much Kinsie loves animals, so every time we’d see an animal, he’d say, “Do you see that animal, Baby Kinsie?” The last thing we did that day was meet Mickey and Minnie. It was really important to me that she got to meet them. It is such a special experience that I wanted to share with my daughter. The look in the kids’ eyes when they met them made the entire trip worth it. It was an awesome day at Animal Kingdom!

The next day, we went to the Magic Kingdom. As soon as we entered the park, Kinsie was fascinated by the Christmas lights, balloons, and Cinderella’s Castle. She was hooked immediately…that’s my girl! We took her on a few rides right away, including the Dumbo ride and “It’s a Small World.” The girl had her serious face on the whole time…which, in Kinsie language, means that she is completely amazed! Throughout the day we went on many other rides and saw lots of shows. She loved it all! One of her favorites was the Enchanted Tiki Room, where she danced and sang along with the birds. She also loved Mickey’s Philharmagic, which is a 3D show. She wore a pair of the 3D glasses and was reaching out for the flying 3D objects during the show! During the day there was a parade, which was awesome! The kids loved waving to the characters and dancing to all the music. I have never once been disappointed with a Disney parade. It is always magical to all of us!

Kinsie’s look of amazement on the rides

Having fun at the parade

Later in the evening was Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. You had to buy extra tickets in order to stay for this, which we all decided was definitely something we wanted to do. We had to save a good spot for the parade a few hours ahead of time, which made it hard to keep the attention of a wild child like Kinsie for that long, but the parade was AMAZING, so it was worth it. This was one of the best Disney parades that I’ve seen, and we sat right on Main Street, where they had fake snow falling from the top of the buildings throughout the night. That was one of Kinsie’s favorite parts. In between every float in the parade, she’d point to the snow to make sure we saw it. I guess one of us will be happy later in the winter when it starts snowing! After the parade, we got to have a Dance Party with the Country Bears. This was a combination of two of Kinsie’s favorite things…bears and music, so it’s obvious that she had a great time! Finally, we saw a fireworks show. This was no ordinary fireworks show, these were the most incredible fireworks that we’d ever seen. This was also the first time that Kinsie got to see fireworks because we weren’t able to keep her up late enough in July. I thought she might be bothered by the loudness, but she wasn’t. She absolutely loved them! She kept pointing and saying “ooo, ahhh” (which is also what she says whenever she sees a Christmas tree.) We were so glad that Kinsie was able to stay up late enough to see the fireworks, but it definitely set the bar high for any future fireworks shows she’ll see!

Amazed by the Christmas parade

Dance Party with the Country Bears

Loving the fireworks show

After the fireworks, it was already after 10pm, and we could tell Kinsie was exhausted, so we tried to get her to fall asleep in the stroller. She was not having it…she just wanted to party! She flailed her arms and legs around, kept kicking off her blankets and laughing. I guess all the events of the day gave her an adrenaline rush because she was wired! We started leaving the park around 11:00 and she finally fell asleep, but only for a few minutes. She sang and danced the whole drive back to the hotel then finally crashed when we got back.

Several things made this trip to Disney World very special to us. First of all, this was the first time we brought Kinsie, Briggs and Kerigan and it was so special getting to share our love for Disney with our children and seeing the looks on their faces as they experienced the magic of Disney World. My heart was full the entire time getting to be in the most magical place on Earth with the people that I love. The other part that made this trip so special was that Diane, Ryan Robinson’s mom, had planned it for us before she passed away in August. If you’ve read my previous posts, you’d know that Diane was suddenly taken from us which shattered our world. Diane was supposed to go on this trip with us, which in a way, she was…just not in the way that we expected. We all felt Diane’s spirit with us during the trip and we know she was smiling down on us from heaven.

Thank you, Diane, for such a special and magical trip. We all miss you.