3000 miles, for a vacation with the Legates family.

See the title? That's what my brother and my sister-in-law did. Crazy right? Yes crazy, but awesome. They arrived in Seattle at 10:45am on July 4th. I left the house at 9:30, so I could meet them. It turned out to be pretty perfect timing to, because I had just parked the car when I received a text from Jessica (my sister-in-law), that they had just landed. After that I just put myself right outside the exit to terminals A&B, knowing they would walk by there. Yes I completely caught them off guard when I ran them down the moment I spotted them. I guess I should also mention at this time, that I had left my kids at home with Jeremy, so I was completely kidless (it was awesome).

That's us waiting at baggage claim :)

It was an awesome week. Friday the 4th was spent grilling, playing in the sprinklers and with the water guns, eating good food, and playing board games and video games.

Saturday we walking all around Seattle. We did a lot of walking that day we walked to the ferry.

We walked to Pikes Place Market and the original Starbucks.

We walked to the mall to catch a ride on the monorail, then walked all around the Space Needle, and through the Pacific Science Center.

And yes of course this meant that we had to walk all the way back. :) Wesley (my brother) and I estimated that we walked a total of 6 miles that day. Needless to say my feet were hurting by the end of it. It was a good day though.

Sunday we had set aside to just relax. We made pizza, watched tv, and play more games. Everyone made their own pizza and it was fun to see all of the toppings and pizza creations.

Monday we got in the car and made the 2.5 hour trek pass Port Angeles and to Lake Crescent. We walked the trail up to the water fall, and had a picnic lunch on the way.

Tuesday we went to Scenic Beach, then to Skippers for some awesome Chowder, and lastly to Poulsbo to get some yummy donuts.

Wednesday we played mini golf, and ate out for both Lunch and Dinner. We played more games that night, and we were a little sad because it was their last full day with us.

Thursday was spent packing up and saying good-bye :(. The kids and I drove them to the airport, hoping it wouldn't be long before we saw them again. Olivia had fallen asleep in the car, and didn't awake until we were almost home. Her first question was "Where is Uncle Wesley?" :(

I'm so glad they took time out of their busy lives to come and see us, and I had a wonderful time just hanging out with them. I'm glad they made it home safe and sound, and back to their puppy Steven. :)

Down and Up the West Coast

Yay, we are home. That was an awesome vacation, and one of the big pluses was, no stomach flu. If you remember last year during our Disney World vacation we all ended up getting the stomach flu at some point, and it was just awful. We did end up coming home a few days early and skipping the hiking days, because at that point we were tired of living out of a hotel. We missed our stuff and our cats. Well here I go, I'm going to tell you all about it.

Jeremy and Olivia had been passing around a cold for the past week and a half, before we left. My hopes were that I would not catch it, or if I did I would catch it early and be over it by the time we left. Well of course I catch the day before we leave. That night we were double checking the drive time, and the once 5.5 hour drive to crater lake, had turned into a 7 + hour drive because of the snow they were having. So instead of leaving around 7am, we decided to leave at 5am the next morning.

Wednesday (the first day) our alarm was set of 4am and of course I wake up a 3:30, and didn't see any point of going back to sleep. Our drive is peaceful and normal until 10 miles outside of Porland, and we hit some heavy traffic. From there it was smooth sailing until we hit the mountain roads. There was snow everywhere. It took us even longer the get to Crater Lake because of the snow. A lot of the roads were closed and we had to take the long way around the mountain. I myself was very excited to see the snow, Jeremy was nervous (he was the one driving), and wondering if we should have put snow chains on our mini van. Once we finally made it, the snow was coming down, and you couldn't see the lake at all. We still had fun at the visitors center, and the kids loved playing in the snow. When we finally made it to the hotel it was a wonderful feeling.

What surprised me about our driving thursday (which was our second day), was that we still had to do some mountain driving. By this time, my head cold was at it's peek, and the popping of my ears (because of the altitude) didn't help.

We were heading to San Francisco that day, and I was super excited, because I had aways wanted to visit that city, for two reasons. One Alcatraz, and two, that Mythbusters lived there (not that me going there would mean that I would get to meet them). We gave ourselves plenty of time to drive just in case of traffic. We had pre-paid for tickets for Alcatraz online, and couldn't under and circumstances be late (or so said the tickets). We ended up getting there really early, which was fine in the end, because we just walked around the city a bit. There were a lot of people there, in the city and taking the tour for Alcatraz. The island was great, but really hilly. You have to climb a steep hill to get up to the cell block. The view from the island was wonderful, and I really enjoyed myself, and I was glad that we plained this crazy trip.

Our hotel that night was super nice. One of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. I booked all of the hotels on Expedia, so I really had no idea how they really looked. I was most concerned with price and weather the rooms were big enough for all of us.There were fountains and waterfalls in the lobby with koi fish in them. It was the Embassy Suites in San Rafael. After dinner we took over the indoor pool (thats what you do when you have a family of 6, even when you don't mean to). We ended up playing tag in the water. That was so much fun. I noticed that night that I had some sunburn on my face. :( I guess I should have put on sunblock. 

That night was a nightmare. I had a hard time sleeping because of it being a strange place, and because of my cold. I didn't sleep much at all, and I was making up for it here and there during the drive the next morning.

That dive was also no walk in the park. We hit a lot of traffic. First there was Oakland and then their was LA. I really felt bad for Jeremy. A 7.5 hour drive turn into 9 hours thanks to traffic in verious places.

When we finally made it to San Diego, it was exciting. Our hotel was in Mission Valley, which I was excited about, because I feel it's a great part of the city to be in. Our room had a view of the highway, which really isn't ideal, but I'm one of those people who likes highway noise, so it worked out. That night we got dinner at Pick Up Stix in Murphy Canon, our old stomping ground. Just being there made me wish we could move back there again.

Saturday, was wonderful. We met up with our old friends Jessica and Justin with their 4 daughters. I'm not kidding it was us 4 adults with the 8 kids. We were a sight. We meet up at 10, and walked through the creation museum in Santee. Olivia was so excited to see other girls, and would say every so often, "Look it's girls! Hey girls." It was so cute. We next went out to lunch. Yes all of us, in a sit down place if you can believe it. We went to Mimi's, also in Santee. This is when I noticed that the kids had all paired off. Darien was sitting next to and chatting non stop with Claire. Zachary had become fast friends with Veronica. Nathaniel and Rachel were two peas in a pod, they even ordered the same thing, and giggled about it, and Olivia was attached to Zoe. I'm glad Zoe didn't mind, and actually enjoyed the extra attention. Lunch was great, the food was okay (well on my end, I know my husband loved what he got), but the company and conversation was awesome. I enjoyed myself despite the fact that I couldn't really talk. My bad cold had turned into a bad cough, and my vocal cords were swollen at this point, and I sounded like a chain smoker. Were all big nerds, so yeah like I said, awesome conversation.

Next we went to Balboa park. It's one of my most favorite places in the world. The all of us hung out at the play ground for a while, for the kids of course. Jeremy had his camera and took some awesome pictures. The kids were having so much fun, and that really made my day right there. We next walked over to the fountains. The last time I was in San Diego, I had Justin take pictures of Jess and me at and in the fountains, so of course we had to do it again. 

Last time

This time

We go some of the kids too...

The koi fish were next. Olivia loved this part. She loved how big they were, and she love that they all were different in colors. At this point Olivia only wanted to hold Zoe's hand, and walk with Zoe. Yeah she had a new best buddy. We walk through the botanical gardens and the art gallery. I'm not sure the staff at the gallery was use to so many kids walking through it on a non field trip day, but the kids were doing awesome at this point. They were all hand in hand with their buddy and it was so cute. When it came time to leave, it broke my heart to see them all say good bye. Olivia was really upset about leaving Zoe. When we got back in the car it felt really weird to only have the 4 kids, and mostly boys for that matter. Yes their girls always leave me feeling like that.

That night we ordered in pizza, and I finally got a full nights sleep. My cold had finally let up a little, and I feel asleep while everyone was watch tv.

Sunday was the San Diego Zoo. To Olivia's great disappointment the Samuels (the friends who we visited with the day before) weren't going to be joining us. She didn't find this out however until we were in the parking lot for the Zoo. She hopped out of the van and looked from side to side, then asked "Where are the girls? My girls?" Yes my heart broke all over again. Once we were in the park, we checked out the reptile room first, Olivia loves snakes. We then took the sky tram up to the polar bear exhibit. Darien was nervous about the tram at first, but once it was over, he said that he rather ride that all day. His logic was that when you are on the tram, you still get to see the animals, and great views of the city, and the big plus is you don't have to walk. San Diego is a hilly city, and the Zoo so no exception, so walking it in some parts can be a real workout. Luckily there are a lot of different ways to get around if you get tired. They have the bus tour which goes around the outer rim of the zoo, and starts and ends near the entrance. They have the Kangaroo busses that you can hop on and off at various places in the park, and the sky tram. We were dead tired and left the zoo a little after 1pm. We got some lunch then went to the Cabrillo National Monument. I love the views of the city from the monument.

I have been praying for some time now, that we would get sent back there. I love San Diego, and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. It may be a far fetched idea that we would get transferred anytime soon, but I'm going to keep praying for it. 

Monday was Seaworld. We were given 4 tickets for free because of my husbands wonderful service to our country, and I was more than greatful for that, but little did I know that we would be given another wonderful gift not to long after entering the park. We were on our way to the Atlantis ride, when a cast member stops us. She asks us where we are from, the if we knew that the San Diego Seaworld was celebrating 50 years. Since it is a big celebration, they are giving out free gifts to random families. Yes we were just in the right place at the right time. She gave us free meal vulters. So yes not only did we get 4 of us into the park for free, but we also ate for free, both lunch and dinner. I was of course blown away.

As far a weather goes there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Sunblock was a must and even with SPF 50 it didn't seem like enough. Seaworld has little shade, so we were feeling it by the time we got back to the hotel. We saw 2 of the 4 shows, we had fun on the rids, and we saw a lot of awesome animals. Olivia's favorite were the pigeons. She could have stayed there all day, and that would have been fine. I like the Walrus myself... see 

Look it's Jamie Hyneman...

If you are a fan of the Mythbusters you'll get it.

Zachary loved the new Mania Ray. Jeremy and I both agree that it was an awesome coaster.

We loved the Blue Horizons show, but thought the One Ocean show (the Shamu one), was a bit of a disappointment. You could tell, the whale were not willing to listen, and the trainer were a bit frustrated with them, but still carrying on.

Olivia fell asleep on the ride back to the hotel. Yup the 5 minute ride was just to much for her. While she slept Jeremy took the boys down to the pool, and I packed our room up a bit. After swimming and Olivia's cat nap we went to the mall and got ice cream. We were sitting outside (mission valley mall is an outdoor mall), and Olivia says out of the blue. "I love San Diego. I have a lot of fun in San Diego." This was our last day in that wonderful city. Yes it's was a little sad. Beside that though, I felt like at this point I had already had a great vacation, and it wasn't over yet.


Tuesday... Our first day in Disneyland... I'm not even sure where to begin with this one. The park was very crowed that day, we'll start with that. I'm not sure why, it was late April, and school wasn't out yet. The other bad thing was a third of the rides where closed... good rides like Pirates and jungle cruse. The rides that were actually open kept breaking down, and had extremely long lines. At one point Jeremy actually said "I hate Disneyland!" This coming from a guy who is one of Disney's biggest fans. I do feel bad complaining about it, since we had such a lovely time at seaworld, and the reality is, you really can't always have a good time. We had a great vacation, and I didn't want to let this one day ruin it for me. So out of the few rides we did get to ride Olivia liked Winnie The Pooh, Splash Mountain, and the Buzz Lightyear Blaster one. She was scared and clinging to Jeremy during Haunted Mansion (despite the fact that she rode it last year and loved it) and the Rodger Rabbit ride in Toon Town. The Rodger Rabbit ride... yeah about that one... We saw that the line was 35 mins long, but decided to stand in it anyways. It was hot and the line was inside (I think our logic was sound). We stand in the line slowly making our way to the front, and we are almost there when the ride breaks down. YUP... We kept our spot in line though, because like I said it was hot out, and the park was packed, so why go back out there. They had it fixed in about 15 mins, and we did finally get to ride. We when back to the hotel around 4, played in the pool, and ordered pizza.

The next day at Disney was much better. We when to the California adventure park. It was less crowed, and more of the rides were working. They did have a few closed due to the winds. The Stanta Anas were blowing really hard that day. We did get to ride Soarin, the big ferris wheel, and the Triton Carousel as a family. Jeremy and Zachary went on California screaming, I took Zachary on the Town of Terror (Zach likes trill rides more than our other boys), and Jeremy took the boys on the Goofy coaster. The new Cars ride had a 60+ wait on it all day, so no we didn't ride that. On our way out we stopped by Down Town Disney. We got some dinner, and let the kids build a bear.


I got so much sleep that night. I fell asleep at 8:30 and woke up at 6:15, yes I must have been really tried from everything that we did that day.

The Last day, we went back to Magic Kingdom. Olivia and I went around to different characters and Jeremy and the boys rode the rides that didn't have to big of lines. This day went better than the first day at Disney, but not a good as the second. The lines to see the princesses (which is Olivia's favorite part), were crazy long, especially the line for Anna and Elsa which was 4 hours long. Needless to say, we didn't stand in that one.

I'm so glad we got to go on this vacation. It's something I will never forget. I hope and pray that someday I'll live in San Diego again, so I can hang out with the Samuels on a regular basis.


Here are our links to our vacation videos :)
Crater Lake and San Fran
San Diego
Disneyland
Extra stuff

Hanging at the Y

Hey everyone, sorry about the gap in post. We have been keeping ourselves super busy, so I haven't had much time to post.

We re-joined the YMCA and the kids have all started swim lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My sons are really lucky, we were able to sign up for a swim class that starts at 11:05 am on both of those days. It's a class that is set aside just in case there are homeschooled kids. My sons are the only ones in that class, so they get the instructor all to themselves. They love that, and she has them jumping in the deep end right now. During the boys' lessons I take Olivia to the child care. She loves it there, they do classes like yoga and dance, and she gets to play with other kids. This gives me some time to myself (30 mins... SWEET). I usually jump on the elliptical or run on the track, but last week I brought some hot tea, and I read my kindle (that was awesome). I was like a guilty pleasure, because I should have been working out :).

Olivia's swim class isn't until 4:35 pm, and during that time the boys do fit kids. Fit kids is like a gym class, they play tag, dodge ball, red rover,... The boys really enjoy it, and it also has some advantages for me, because if they don't finished their school work in-time, I can make them miss it :). Nathaniel and Zachary (mostly Zachary), like to goof-off during school work, so they end up taking all day on something that should have only taken them an hour. So if they don't finish on time, I make them take their work with them, and I make them do it while watching Olivia's swim class (hehehehehe) (it's like a school work motivator). Olivia loves her swim class, but I am starting to feel sorry for the teacher. Olivia is convinced she can swim, but she can't keep herself completely up yet... but she still thinks she can. Olivia spends most of the class trying to sneak pass the instructor, so she can swim on her own. I think I ended up apologizing quite a few times during the first class. I really hope she use to this, and doesn't think Olivia is to much of a handful.

Olivia is turning 4 this Saturday (yikes). I find this really hard to believe. She can't be 4 already, can she? Time really does fly when you become a parent. Your kids grow up so fast. She has requested rainbow cupcakes for her birthday, which is great because they are pretty easy, and look awesome. I'll post some pictures on my Facebook of the cupcakes. We got her a Merida bow (from the movie Brave, she already has the dress), and a Little Mermaid dress up outfit for her birthday (I still need to wrap them). I am also going to post pictures of her presents on Facebook.

We are also planning for another vacation in May. It's going to be a trip down the coast of California. We are going to be Stopping in San Francisco, Anaheim, San Diego, Sacramento, and the red wood forest. I don't have all of the details yet or the dates, but I will keep you guys posted. I'm really excited!

Walt Disney World Vacation

Hey everyone, I know I've been talking about this vacation for a while, and I know that a lot of you have been waiting to hear about it, so here it goes...

The trip started last Sunday, we took the red eye flight from Seattle to Atlanta. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 9:50pm, but after boarding the plane, it was announced to us that the fuel gage on the plane was not reading right, and they were troubleshooting it. This really had us worried. We only had a 90 mins layover in Atlanta. In most other airports it would be no big deal, but Atlanta is confusing, and has this tram system, and I was depending on those 90 mins to get us were we needed to go, along with a much needed bathroom break (they need to happen often when traveling with kids). During all of this troubleshooting that was going on, I was trying to encourage Olivia to sleep. We had, on purpose skipped her nap that day, I know she was more that a little tried. She started resisting me. She was excited, she was on a plane, and she was on her way to Disney. Even though she's a three year old, that has never been to Disney world, she knew from what she was told, "It's magical." After about 40 mins of sitting at the gate it we were told things were looking up, and we would take off soon.

Olivia finally fell asleep after take off. This is about when I discover, we are in one of the few rows that doesn't recline. Great now how am I going to fall asleep? I ended up dosing off and on, for most of the four and a half hours of flight. I maybe got two hours of sleep tops. Not a very good way to start a vacation, but what could I do about it. We booked the red eye because we hoped all of us would sleep on the flight, and this would put us at Orlando early, and we would get more time in whatever park that day. Darien got about the same amount of sleep as me, Zach got three hours, Olivia got about three and a half, Nathaniel slept the full flight, and Jeremy didn't sleep at all. Okay so maybe the red eye wasn't the best plain, but oh well.

We finally land in Atlanta and we only have 30 mins until our next flight. I guess making up the time in the air wasn't an option, in fact they must have flown slower, because yeah we only have 30 mins, and to top it all off, out ticket didn't have a gate number on it, so we have no idea at first were we needed to go. Once we finally found the flight board, we were surprised to see that our next flight was very close, and we would have enough time for a bathroom break.

We boarded the plane for Orlando, and we were more than excited to be this close. We were sitting behind this family of five, that seemed to be destine for Disney as well (they had a magical express envelope, just like us), but boy were their kids bratty. Okay, maybe my kids are just really well behaved, but these kids were a mess. I mean if your parents are nice enough to take you to Disney World, then you think you would be on your best behaviour (maybe). The whining and fussing that came out of these kids just really surprised me, and made me look at my own kids, and thing "Wow, I'm so lucky." We toughed down in Orlando at about 7:30am EST, and we were so thankful to finally be there.

We stayed at the Art Of Animation Resort, in one of the Cars rooms. It's the newest of the Walt Disney World Resorts, and it's awesome. It has rooms that fit up to six people (same size as our family). The resort has four themes Nemo, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Cars. The resort is really nice, but is also really crowded. If you want to get breakfast without fighting a crowd, you need to get down there at 7am right when they start serving. If you wait until 8am you are going to have to fight for your food.

Our first day we were going to spend it at Epcot, so we hopped the bus. For those of you who didn't know, if you stay at a Disney Resort, they have buses going to all of the parks, so you don't have to worry about transportation. Once we were off the bus, I spotted a soda machine with Jeremy's favorite monster favor in it, so he had to get one. We walk up to the machine, and a dollar pops out (I'm not joking). So we take that, and then another one pops out. Yup the machine gave us two dollars. Once we were in the park, we went to Soran first to get a fast pass. We've always wanted to ride that. Then we went on the finding Nemo ride. After the ride, you exit into the aquarium, and boy did Olivia love that. Jeremy took the boys on Mission Space, and then we had Ice Cream. We were on vacation so it was okay. We went on Ellen's Energy Adventure, and Olivia thought it was so relaxing, that she fell asleep. We woke her up just long enough to make it back over to Soran (to use our fast pass), and she fell asleep again waiting for everyone to get back from riding. Soran was awesome! I went first and took the boys, and we were clapping by the end of the ride. Around 5pm we ate at the Coral Reef Restaurant, it was beautiful and the food was excellent! After dinner we met up with our friend Lauren. She was at Disney because she did the half Princess Marathon the day before we came. This was her last day before going home, so it was really our only time to met up. She is awesome and sweet. She goes to Disney all the time, because she loves it, and she also has friends that work in the parks. She rewarded us with text messaged savager hunts almost everyday of our trip, tailored to which ever park we were going to that day. We met up in Mexico (the Mexico in Epcot), and went on the Three Caballeros ride together.

By the end of that day we were super tired, as I'm sure you can imagine, so shortly after saying good bye to Lauren, we made out way out of the part, and on to the bus, and back to the hotel. There was no saying up, we all were sleeping by the time we hit the sack.

I was awaken the next morning by a loud and desperate cry. So I jump out of bed thinking, Olivia has woken up in a stage place, and is scared. Nope! I find Olivia out of bed at the mini fridge trying to open a little carton of milk. She was not scared, just thirsty.

It was Tuesday, and we were going to Magic Kingdom. We were able to get into the park before it opened, because we had reservations at the Crystal Palace for breakfast. It was nice walking though the almost empty park, on our way to eat a character breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and his pals. We made our way around the park going clockwise, after breakfast. We went through Adventureland, riding The Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and walking through the Swiss Family Tree house. In Frountierland, we went on Big Thunder Mountain, but couldn't go on Splash Mountain because it was closed. We rode the Haunted Mansion in liberty Square, then went on to The New Fantasyland. Wow that place was packed. Because there were so many people there we only got to ride Dumbo, and the tea cups, but we did get to see Ariel. She was the first princess we were able to see, and Olivia thought she was wonderful. It was great, she asked Olivia about her bears (Olivia had to bring Cinnamon and Nutmeg with her to the parks). In Tomorrowland we went on Space Mountain, The People Mover, and Space Ranger Spin. We also got to meet Buzz Lightyear here, and Nathaniel was so excited. After a late lunch we made our way back to Main Street, to see the princesses in The Town Square Theater, and watch the parade. Olivia got to meet Rapunzel (her Favorite), Aurora, and Cinderella. Rapunzel asked Olivia if she ever made things for her bears, like she does for Pascal, and Olivia just giggled and smiled. Cinderella asked the boys if they were going to take Olivia to the ball, and Aurora told Olivia she is so lucky to have such wonderful brothers to look after her.

That night we had dinner at Tony's Town Square, and stayed in the park well after dark. We ate ice cream while watching the fire works and it was wonderful. On the ride home on the bus, Olivia fell asleep in my arms. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

Early Wednesday morning I was woken up early on this day as well, but by someone else. Jeremy was sick, and throwing up. It was bad, he had been up a few times during the night, and he was miserable. He was so sick that leaving the room was out of the question. I made the decision to take the kids to Universal (to see Harry Potter) by myself. I didn't want them to miss it, not after coming all this way, but with only me, and the four of them, there was no way we would be able to ride any of the bigger rides. The boys were very understanding, when I explained it all to them at breakfast.

The four kids, and I made out way to the front of the hotel, all of us wearing a Hogwarts hats, representing which ever house we were. Darien (my oldest) is a Slytherin, Zachary (my second son), is a Hufflepuff like me, and Nathaniel (my third son) is a Griffindor. Olivia had on a Griffindor hat to, but she's 3 and we really have no idea what house she is in. The Valet notices right away, and asked wondering if we had any Ravenclaws in the family. I told him we do, because my husband is a Ravencraw, but he is sick today. He told us that he is also a Ravenclaw, and that he knows how to do "Wingardium Leviosa" without a wand. He took out a quarter, held it out in his right hand, then said "Wingardium Leviosa", and it flu up into his left hand. Nice! Then he flagged us a taxi.

One thing you should know about Universal, most people (like us) only go there for the Harry Potter stuff. The park was mostly empty, until you get to Hogsmeade. We were able to tour the castle without going on the ride, and we saw the Ollivander's demonstration, and the boys each bought a wand. We had Butter Beer, and bought Pumpkin Juice. I got a Hufflepuff shirt, and I bought Jeremy a Ravenclaw Stein. They did a wonderful job with Hogsmeade, it really does fell like you are there. The shops look just like you think they would. The staff is friendly and in character, and you can even hear Moaning Myrtle crying in the bathrooms.

We spent a somewhat short day in Universal, getting back early so we could swim. That's what we did when we got back. Jeremy was feeling better by this time, and he went with us. We tired out the Cars pools then the finding Nemo pool. The Nemo one was warmer, but in both pools I had the hardest time keeping a hold on Olivia. Her brothers can swim, so because of that she thinks she can too. She is not scared of water, not one little bit. After warming up, from going in the pool, we ate dinner, then did some shopping at the little store in the hotel. We bought everyone a pin trader set, so the kids (and us really), could trade pins with staff members. It's another little fun thing you can do at Disney. We went back to the room early, watched some Disney Channel and called it a night, hoping that no one ease would get sick.

Thursday was Hollywood Studios day. We grabbed a quick breakfast (thankful that Jeremy was feeling much better), and caught a bus. While getting on the bus, one of Zachary's pins fall off, and while I was able to find the pin, I could find the backing. This is what we were soon to find out is the problem with Disney pins. The backing is a rubber Mickey head, and they don't always stay on, so you pay anywhere from $5-13 for a pin, and if your not careful (or even if you are), you may lose it. Sure you can buy locking pin backs at almost any Disney store, but their not cheap ($7 for a pack of 14). Of course!

The first thing we did when we get to the park was get a fast pass for Toy Story Mania. From what we had read, and from what we were told, fast passes for that ride run out quick. I can see why it was a fun ride, and even Olivia could go on it. So if you want to ride it without a long wait, get a fast pass early. I went on the Tower Of Terror with Zach (only Zach), no one else was brave enough. I love that ride. We also went on The Great Movie Ride, Studio Backlot Tour, and Star Tours. We saw Muppet Vision 3D, Light Motors Action Stunt Show, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. We looked in a lot of shops and I bought myself a Cheshire cat plush, that Olivia now thinks is hers, and she named it Linky. That night we ate at the 50s Prime Time Cafe, and that was a lot of fun, but we did end up being there a lot longer than we thought we would.

After getting back to the hotel, we took a walk, just around the Art of Animation Resort. We wanted to see the different themes, and it was so nice and beautiful and the kids loved it. Olivia had to get her picture taken with every wonderful thing she saw.

That night I could tell someone else was sick. I kept hearing frequent trips to the bathroom, and the awful noises to follow, and it was also confirmed when I woke up and saw the mess it the bathroom. Yup that morning, while everyone was still asleep, I was wiping chunky vomit off of the bathroom floor. Yes the glamorous life of a mom. Darien was the sick one. After Jeremy got up, I went down to the food court, to get breakfast for everyone. Jeremy and I sat down together on our bed and came to the conclusion that I would stay with Darien today, and also keep Olivia, while he and the other two boys went to Animal Kingdom (it was the best choice, and I didn't want everyone to miss out). It was okay for the most part (poor sick Darien), we watched TV in bed, and I updated my blog post. Yup I wrote some of this post then, but not much. We took a nap, and Olivia played with the new toys that Nathaniel bought.

By the time Jeremy and the boys get back, Darien is feeling better, and we decide to go to Downtown Disney. That place was packed! WOW! Yeah so maybe not the best idea. It was Friday night, so maybe we should have known better. We also got caught in traffic on the way back to the hotel, on the bus. Yeah that was also not fun. I think this is why some people never leave their house.

Saturday was Epcot again. We were going to be spending most of the day in the World Showcase, and that sounded nice. A little walking a little site seeing and shopping, great pictures. It was suppose to be a promising day... Yeah I'll get to that part... I went on Mission Space with the boys, we stood in line to see Mickey and Minnie, had lunch, and walked the showcase, but then I started to feel sick. The kids were doing Turtle Talk with Crush, when I realized I may need to go back to the hotel. I told Jeremy to stay there, and have a good time, while I took Olivia back with me. I'm really glad I took her with me, because not to long after I threw up, so did she. By this time I figured we were all bound to get it, and I just hoped that it would happen and be over with before we had to fly home on tuesday. Just an hour after hoping this Jeremy came back to the hotel with two sick boys in tow. Yup that's all of us! Boy it was a ruff night. Olivia and I sharing one bed, and Zach and Nathaniel were sharing another, which left one non-sick bed for Jeremy and Darien to share. Jeremy and Darien we helpful, and nice about it all though.

By mourning (Sunday) our hotel room smelled awful, and it was clear that even though Nathaniel and I were doing better, Olivia and Zachary were not. Since I still felt like I could use some rest, I once again told Jeremy to go ahead without us, take Darien, and have a good time. They went to Hollywood Studios and they had a really good time. I was glad to hear about it when they got back. I on the other hand, well I'm sure you can imagine, but you know how it is. I was just so worried about Olivia, she seemed so sleepy and she wasn't eating much. I just wished we were home. We hardly ever get sick, and now of all times we are sick, and we're 3,000 miles from home. We're suppose to be on vacation, eating good food, and having a blast. Well not anymore.

My first thought when I woke up Monday morning was "thank goodness we are leaving tomorrow." Olivia was doing a little better but not much. She wasn't holding down much still, and I was just so worried by how out of it she seemed. We went back to Downtown Disney that day, and the only reason we went there was because we figured it would be the lease crowded place, and we were right. At this point we really didn't want to deal with crowds. We ate at the T-REX for lunch, and we loved it. It's an awesome Dinosaur restaurant. The kids thought it was great! We took it really easy that day and just rested, we were really looking forward to getting home.

Tuesday, the travel day. I was so ready. I was still trying to get Olivia to eat, and not to fast. It was a struggle. She wouldn't eat, but she would drink milk, but then she would drink it to fast and throw up again. We boarded the bus bound for the airport at 11am. Disney had already taken care of our bags and boarding passes, all we had to do was get through security. The line for security was crazy long. Olivia was sleepy and insisted on being carried. She also insisted on carrying her bears, and got really upset when they had to go through the scanner. Poor baby. After trying to get her to eat something at the airport, she threw up all over me... eeek.... it was in my hair and on my shirt. Lucky I did pack an extra sweater, and having to wash your hair in the sink of an airport bathroom really isn't that bad :(. I was more worried about Olivia then myself at this point, so I just stuck my bad smelling wet hair in my hufflepuff beanie and moved on. We had a short flight from Orlando to Atlanta again, and that went fine. We had a two hour lay over in Atlanta and that wasn't so bad... until... We were about the board the second plane and Zachary throws up. I know! When will it all stop? ... Oh just wait it's not over yet. The second plane ride was five and a half hours long... eeek... Olivia borrowed my Ipod and watched the fresh Beat Band, while the other boys played DS. Everything was fine until Nathaniel threw up... Yup there it is. We had packed an empty shopping bag in one of the carry-ons for an event such as this, and most of it did make it into this bag, but boy did we all stink when we finally made it off of this plane.

We land in Seattle and I feel like cheering. We go down to baggage clam and began to wait for our four bags. All of them came but one. Oh no! I've never had this happen to me before. Jeremy ended up waiting in an hour long line (the kids and I were sitting near by), just to find out that it is on a later plane, and they will deliver it to us tomorrow. Well okay thats fine, I just wish we didn't have to wait an hour to find that out. We finally find our car, and it looks like a long lost friend, and we drive an hour to get home.

Ahhhh home, I love that word. So we are home now, safe and sound, and I am also happy to report that Olivia is doing much better. I think she just really wanted to be home. The cats also did fine without us (Jeremy had a friend of his stop by and check on them daily). I may never leave home again! ;)

Getting ready for Disney :)

Hey everyone! So our family is getting ready for Disney. My husband is going to be filming our trip and this is our first video.






I have also started packing :)

Halloween and the day after.

Hey everyone. Did everyone have an awesome Halloween? Ours wasn't to bad.

Darien and Zachary were both the Hulk, and Nathaniel and Olivia were both pirates.

Since Halloween was on a Wednesday this year, the kids were able to go to their Off Campus classes in their costumes. That was great. They loved showing their costumes to their friends. When I picked them up that afternoon I got to see some great costumes. The big surprise was, most of them were not store bought. I guess us Homeschool moms are really resourceful. :)

We didn't end up going trick-or-treating though. It was pouring all day, and I know most Washingtonians would just go in the rain (because this time of year it rains everyday), but not us. So I just bought more candy, and dived it up between the kids. They were fine with that, and loved it.


So yesterday I put up the Christmas tree :)

I know, I know. It's to early, and I'm crazy, but I don't care. I love decorating for Christmas, and having my tree up makes me happy.

Olivia loves the tree. When Jeremy got home, she spent 30 mins showing him all of the ornaments and where they were. Which was noting compared to the 90 mins she spent walking around the tree over and over again, once it was up.

I have also started Christmas shopping :) . I love Christmas shopping! I really can't wait for Christmas, it's my favorite day of the year. Only 53 more days to go!



I also have some exciting news. We are planning a trip to Disney World for late February! We are not 100% sure if we will be able to go, because our leave could get canceled due to the schedule of the boat (the one my husband is stationed to). We will most likely get to go, but you never know. I'm so excited though, and I can't wait for us to finally have a vacation.

Okay well I'm going to go now. Thanks for reading.

Weekend getaway!

This weekend I had an awesome time with my one and only best friend...

Yeah I'm talking about my husband. Last week (on Wednesday), we had our 9 year anniversary, so to celebrate we spent the weekend in Ocean City. Jeremy's parents were super awesome and watched all of the kids for us (yes I'm sure they had a good time too).

So what can I say about a weekend totally alone with my husband and best friend? Well only good things. To make things more interesting I'm going to make a list (any and all parents will appreciate this).

Vacation with the kids   VS   Vacation without the kids

Starting with... Vacation with the kids

- On a vacation with the kids, you are guaranteed a morning wake-up call. Yup you will not over sleep at all.

- Your vacation will be as exciting and unpredictable as your kids. Yup no dull moments.

- You will always get to bed on time. Lets face it, you had an exciting and fun filled day with a lot of unpredictable moments, you are so ready for bed.

- Meal times well be an exciting challenge. You'll be helping someone read and pick something from the menu (deciding between chicken fingers, and a hot dog, is very hard). You will also be entertaining a toddler (because everyone needs entertainment). Don't forget the... cuppie, bear, rattle, blanket, or the cheerios or you will be paying for it, and so will everyone else around you.

- Every outing will be followed by a bath. It doesn't matter where you were, if there was dirt, your kid found it.

- When going to the pool your hands will have plenty to carry. You'll need... swimmies, swim diapers, towels, swim toys, snack, pool ring, and possibly a change of clothes.

- There is no need to worry if your child is hungry, thirty, or uncomfortable, because he will tell you the moment he is, and in great detail.

- No matter how much you pack, you will always forget something that little Jr can not live without.

- You will always come home with plenty of souvenirs, because everything is "just so cool."

And ending with... Vacation without the kids

- You may end up sleeping in. With no one to wake you in the morning, it's possible.

- You can sit down and plain out your day, and there is a higher chance that you may follow it.

- There will be no such thing as bed time, because you will loose track of time.

- Meal times will be way to quiet, and way to relaxing, so relaxing that it will feel wrong, and you will love it.

- If you want a nap in the middle of the day for no reason, you can take one.

- Going anywhere will be way to easy, and you will feel like you are forgetting things, because you will have hardly anything to carry.

- You will always come home with plenty of souvenirs for your kids, because you missed them, and you wanted them to have something even though they didn't go.

Yes I did have a good time (thank you for asking). We stayed at the Grand Hotel (right on the board walk) and it was super nice. Our goal was not to drive at all after getting there, and we did just that. If we wanted to do something we walked there, and it was so easy. Ocean City has a 2 mile long board walk (for those of you that have never been), and most of the places we wanted to go were on the board walk, and the rest were just down the street. It was so much fun. We ate where we wanted, and when we wanted. We took a nap on Saturday. We went swimming. We stayed out late... Well late for us... like 11pm (yes that's late for us). We saw a movie, and we did a lot of relaxing. I loved it, and like all moms I was ready to see my kids again after it was all over.

This is the stuff...

Okay just a little warning before reading this post... This is a completely honest post, and I don't mean to make anyone feel bad. Lets just say I was a little upset a few days ago, (more like yesterday) but I am over now... never the less I feel like if I don't say anything, or just sugar coat it (like I do everything else), than I'm just not being truthful and I shouldn't write anything at all. So if you don't want to read than you can just stop right now, and I won't care. I just feel like a lot of us moms have gone through this, and I know how they feel, and no, they are not the only ones.

So last week I went on vacation... Remember that vacation I was waiting for and excited about? Well it wasn't a total bust and I did have fun, but wow... I think it was more work then worth (if you know what I mean by that). Okay so I'll tell you about it.

Sunday (day 1), Getting there...

I woke up around 6:30, so get the kids ready. We had a sleeping beauty on our couch (Jeremy's sister Christen), she had stayed the night, so we could get an early start (we were going to meet Jeremy Parents at the house we were renting). I must say though that this sleeping beauty can really sleep through anything. Once everyone was up, it was kind of noisy in the house (everyone was really excited to go), and that didn't wake her up.

Everyone was ready to go at 8:30, so off we were. It wasn't a very eventful ride, and that can be a really good thing. Apparently our list of both Jeremy and Randi approved music was getting old. Jeremy and I have different taste in music. There are songs we both like, but the list is small. When you have a music library of 1000+ songs, and you can only come up with a list of 97 that you both can agree on, than your road trip may be dull. So we ended up playing a few made-up game (this all started in Norfolk). My sister in-law wanted to know why she kept seeing mermaids in Norfolk. So we told her that, that's just the way Norfolk is, they like mermaids... My guess is that, that's their mascot, but I've never thought or cared to look it up. So we made a game of who could spot the most Mermaids, and I think Christen ended up winning this one. Yes but that game only lasted through Norfolk, and we were bored again. Once in North Carolina, we thought of another game. We kept seeing these No Olf signs, and had no idea what they meant at the time (yeah I did find out later, and there is a link, if you are curious), but we did make a game of who could spot the most.

Finally we get there, (to the happy crab in Duck, NC) and after a bit of unpacking, and checking out the awesome house...

We decided to walk to the beach (just down the street and over the dunes). The beach was beautiful and mostly empty (only one other family was there). We found some great shells, and walked back.

We had dinner, and it got late and I went to bed early that night.






Monday (day 2) Beach, pool, and sunburn...

Monday was going to be a warm day,  so it was perfect for the beach. I was woken up a 5:59 by Olivia (she was sharing a room with us), and had no choice but to get up. After getting her up and feed and the kids up and feed, I ended up waiting until 8am for everyone else to get up (this was the not so fun part, and most morning were like that). Once everyone was up and feed, I began to put sunblock on me and the kids. Everyone sat there and watched me do it, and yet they didn't think to put some on themselves (remember this, because I'll talk more about it later).

The beach was great. The sand was warm and the water was cold, the kids had a blast, and Olivia loved both the sand and the water (yay for me).

After coming back from the beach we got in the pool (water is good). We ended up playing with the beach ball as if it was a volley ball in the pool. We also ended up getting in the hot tub.

Okay now I know what you are thinking... "So far Randi your vacation sounds great. What is the problem?"

Just keep reading okay (if you dare).

After coming inside everyone (everyone but the kids and me), noticed they had some serious sun burn (yup). And I had the pleasure of listening to them all complain about it. Yes the complaining lasted for the full week (yes all week long). I'm sorry to say that I didn't have much sympathy for them, after all they did watch me put sunblock on the kids, and myself, and I did mention that they should do the same (the whole I told you so is running through my mind). Needless to say, I was really tired of hearing about it.

That night we had hamburgers and hot dogs. We were going to cook them on the grill, but the grill wasn't working (something wrong with the lighter), so we ended up broiling them in the stove.


Tuesday (day 3) Festival park, and the Lost colony...

The day started at 6am again. Jeremy got up with me this time. He was having trouble sleeping anyways because of his sunburn, and couldn't wait for morning (he was tossing and turning all night and looking at the clock). Once again no one else was up until after 8am, and no one else was ready to go until 10am. Yes I know, this is a vacation your suppose to sleep in on vacation. It's just because I had to get up early, it was very boring for me. At lest Jeremy was up with me this time.

We finally get to Roanoke island, and finally to Festival park. The park was great they had a ship to tour, a colony style village, and a museum...

We went to lunch at McDonalds where Jeremy announces that if he see another hamburger he's going to puke.

After lunch we went to Fort Raleigh, where the first America colony was (the one that was lost, and no one knows what happened).

It was just leftovers that night which didn't make everyone happy. (Jeremy really didn't want another hamburger). After Olivia was in bed, Jeremy, Christen, and I went out to shop at the little shops in the town of Duck. This was when Jeremy bought the boys 3 coins that looked like gold doubloons (this will come into play later).

After getting back we (the three of us), got in the hot tub. That was nice until we had to get out. See it was about to storm so the temperature had dropped and it was windy. "burr!"


Wednesday (day 4) Early day, Rain, and shopping...

This day started super early for me, because Olivia woke up at 2:30 and started crying. Jeremy wasn't sleeping well, because of his sun burn, so after 10 min of helping me, he gave up and went to go sleep on the couch (... I don't need to type what I'm thinking in here because I'm sure you all know). I tried milk and rocking her, and nothing was working. Finally 2 hours later she throw up (oh so that's what was wrong). Yeah she was fine after that. She still ended up waking up early 6:30 this time. Since we knew it was going to rain this day we planed on shopping that day. It wasn't until after 10:30, that everyone was ready to go, and beings that it was almost lunch it, we just decided to stick around the house until after lunch.

After shopping that whole day at lots of stores and the outlets, all I had brought were some books (this coming from a girl who loves to shop). Lets just say the outlets were horrible, and shopping with a man who can't wait for you to be done, is no fun. I mean nothing agents Jeremy, but he really doesn't like clothing shopping, and it shows when we are in the stores, and it makes me feel bad, so I just don't end up getting anything. That's why I like to go by myself if possible.

We ate at Applebees for dinner, we were going to have sea food at Captain George's (Jeremy and my treat), but after every grumping about sea food and the price, we just said forget about it. Olivia was really grumpy (that was so much fun), and despite Jeremy helping me out with her, it was still really stressful for me. Not to mention when it came it for dessert I didn't get what I wanted.

Once we got back Jeremy set the boys on a treasure hunt. He had buried the three coins (the ones he bought for the boys), and made a map.

That night Jeremy and I did get our walk on the beach. The tide was in though, and we got wetter than expected. We only wanted to walk and hunt for cool things that the storm may have washed up, but yeah the waves got us anyways.


Thursday (day 5) Morning walk, and afternoon nap...

I woke up Thursday determined to get out of the house before 8am. Needless to say I was tired of waiting for everyone, and I wanted to hit the beach. I decided that if they wanted to wake up later than they could just meet the kids and me down there (when ever they wanted). After being at the beach for about 10 mins, Jeremy and his mom did meet us and we took a long walk (way to long if you ask me, I had Olivia in the sling), mom was determined to find a conch shell, and ended up leaving us in the dust.

Once we got back I was tired and Olivia was grumpy. Everyone else wanted to go play mini golf, so I told them to go ahead, and I would stay home (yeah that was nice). I took an hour nap, and once Olivia got up, we swung on the swing that they had on the deck.

<- this is what they did...
  ...and this is what I did ->







Once everyone was back, they all wanted to go out to eat. Once again Olivia was grumpy, and when Jeremy asked me why I looked so shell shocked, I told him that we need to stop eating out, because it was becoming way to stressful for me.


Friday (day 6) a whole lot of nothing...

This day was full of nothing really. I think we just hung out at the pool and in the house all day. I didn't mind though, because it wasn't stressful, but once again I was up at 6am (thank you so much Olivia).


Saturday (day 7) A little bit of shopping, and a lot of re-packing...

At about 10am we went to shop in the town of Duck again, I wanted to get the kids each a t-shirt, to remember the trip. We ate pizza, and came home to re-pack. This is when Jeremy and Olivia both fell asleep and slept for over 2 hours. Because of that Jeremy wasn't able to sleep that night, and he just stayed up and put everything in the van.


Sunday (day 8) Sorry to say, but lousy mothers day (*cry*)...

So I wake up a 4am, because we wanted to get a really early start (I was ready to go home). All of us were in the van by 5am, and off to home.

Because Jeremy was up all night he was tired, so once we got to Norfolk I took over with the driving. I ended driving for over 2 hours, and everyone else was asleep for most of that.

My plan for getting home was to order food (I really didn't feel like cooking). Letting the kids play some video games (to make them happy). Turning on Star Trek (on our spare computer), and Playing Warcraft with my husband (that was my perfect idea of mothers day, because I knew that everyone was tired). I really didn't think it was to much to ask for. *sniff, sniff*...

Okay to make a long story short, after ordering the food, and eating. Jeremy and his Sister fell asleep on the couch (they ended up asleep the whole rest of the day away), and the kids ended up watching tv, and I ended up unpacking everything (yes that was my day). It also didn't help that all of my facebook friends were having wonderful days, and not afraid to say so (yeah that wasn't their fault, but it just made things worse). The ended with no Warcraft and no Star Trek (I was very sad).



Well there you have it. The worst part about it all was the having to wake up early (thank you Olivia), and having to wait hours for everyone else to wake up and get ready. It was just very lonely. Not to mention that my mother's day was just icing on the cake.

Like I said, I don't mean to hurt any ones feelings, and I am over it now, but I'm just being truthful. I know a lot of us moms feel like this on vacation, we end up doing so much, and just end up getting stressed out.

So I was feeling really down yesterday until I heard this song. I forget that even though I had a bad week that I'm still really blessed, and God loves me, and there will be other vacations and other Mothers days...

Thanks for reading...

Master packer

Hey everyone, so it's time to pack. Yes I am currently packing for our trip to the Outer Banks. I can't wait! I am so ready to get away, and for my husband to have some time off (we love time off).

This trip is starting to feel like moving, or at least packing for it is...

This is my master pack list (I like to doodle). This reminds me of moving, and how I would make a list of things we needed to pack in the car (for the trip to our new house). The list was almost always about this long, and this detailed. I would make a master pack list (just like this one), and start pulling the things aside as soon as I could, and get everything in the car, before the movers came. Oh the memories! (moving is so not fun!)





So far I have gotten most of the clothes packed, and most of the dry food, so far this is how it looks...

Yes so far (a lot of so fars here) the dry food (plus some odds and ends like sunblock, lunch box, and bubbles) has taken up 2 plastic containers (I hope they fit in the mini van).

Oh and this too...

He wants to come (but he's not). I'm having my friend Trudly stop by during the week to check on the cats, and they should be fine. This is however a very cute picture.

Jeremy and I have been going over the things to do in the area. We have a little list of things we would like to do, but most of our time down there will be spent relaxing (and doing nothing else). I'm looking forward to having the beach mostly to ourselves, and to sitting back and doing nothing (and I mean nothing).




Oh and we are done for the year with home schooling! I plan on once we get back from vacation starting the kids on some workbooks, so this crazy long summer vacation shouldn't mess them up school wise. I have already started to buy books for next year, and I am surprise they haven't come in yet. Jeremy was teasing me about that yesterday. I checked the mail, and still nothing from Abeka. Jeremy said that I got ripped off, and that it really wasn't an abeka stand that I ordered from, and that it was just people dressed up trying to fool everyone and taking their money (he better not be right). In all reality I know he's not right, but I'm excited to get my books, and I'm tired of waiting.

Okay well I will post again soon! Bye!

Life is like a bowl of what?

Hey everyone! So it's time once again for a "what is going on post." Well let me see... What have we been up to lately? Well lately it's been a whole lot of planning, because I have a lot of things coming up...

See this is what my calender looks like. (there is a glare on the 15th covering up stuff!) Most of the time this calender is very bare, and only has one or two things on it, but not this month (or months, it has from march 28 to May 1 on it). We are currently planning for a Curriculum fair on the 15th and 16th of April, this is where all of us homeschool moms come to sell and buy gently used books (it's awesome!). The 16th is also the date of my little sister's junior prom (wow she is growing up so fast). So that day is going to be a bit of a juggling act. I have been looking forward to this curriculum fair for months now (yeah that just sounds silly, but it's true) and I'm going with my friend Megan. I also look forward to doing my sister's hair for her big school dances and such. In other worlds I need to do both or else. Ahhh yes life is full of times like this. I am also in the middle of planning our trip to the Outer Banks (I can't wait to go!). There is a lot to plan when it comes to trips (I'm sure you guys all know that), and with this one I also need to plan food, because we are going to be staying at an actual house and it would be easier to eat there for most meals. Our plan is to bring things for all of the breakfast and lunch, and about half of the dinners, because I know we will want to eat out some. We also have Jeremy's sister and parents coming with us, so yes lots to plan. We are all looking forward to it, and can't wait! (the excitement is radiating all through that house). :) 

I just finished report cards for this term! The boys love report cards because they get money for good grades. A=$5, B=$2, and C and on is nothing, but if you get straight A's then you get an extra $5. Zachary got straight A's (woohoo!), and Darien had mostly A's and only one B (needless to say I was very happy, and so was Jeremy). The school work is now almost done, we are running out of work to do. Right now Darien only has Math and Health to finish (yes everything else is done), and Zachary only has Math. I got them some work booklets for the summer months called Bridging the gap (they do in-between like from 1st to 2nd grade, and 3rd to 4th). I may need to use them soon. I don't want then to have to long of a break, and forget to many things.

I went Easter shopping the other day (I love to do that). I brought my kids lovely outfits for Easter Sunday (I do this every year).

 Yeah I love them (and the kids in them too). I got them at Burlington (I love to shop there).

Even the boys were really excited to get something new, and they look great. I like to get the shirt and the tie together, you get a better deal that way, and it's already matched so no worries. I just picked out a few in each of their sizes and let them pick their favorite from those. I must say that for boys they do have good taste. The shirts (w/ tie), only cost me $9.99 each (I love that!). Olivia's dress was $14.99, and yes the boys also helped me with that one (they said that she had to have the prettiest dress there).




I've changed things a bit with the cloth diapers (not much mind you). I have been using both the pocket and the pre-folds. I had to stop with the pre-fold before because of a rash, but I have now found that if I switch back and forth, that there is no rash and I don't have to do laundry as often (yeah for me!). I have also switched to cloth wipes. I didn't however buy them from the website (way to expensive). I just bought a few packs of baby wash cloths, and made up my own spray, with just soap and water (much better) :)

That's all for now, and thanks for reading.

So what's up Legates'?

So it has been some time since my last real post of what we have been up to lately, so some of you may be wondering what is going on with us. Well for the most part it's just the normal things...


Re-enlistment

My husband is due to re-enlist soon, as long as everything works out well. We really want to go the way God is pointing us, and that still isn't clear yet, so even though I tell you guys these things, I still don't know for sure. This also makes me think where are we going to go next?

The selfish part of me would like to pick somewhere warmer. Yeah I'm sure you all are guessing San Diego. I would love to go back there, but I'm still not sure about that, and I have gone back and forth on this. I guess it's better if I'm not the one to make the choice, because I really don't know what I want.

I am also afraid about the people I may have offended, by talking about the move so casually and without much feeling. What I mean is there are people here (in this area) who care about us, and don't want us to leave, and I hope they don't think that I'm looking forward to leaving, because I'm not. I just knew that we are going to have to leave so I have detached my feelings, and it makes me sound as if I don't take, and I do. I'm very sorry. Shore duty is only a three year rotation, and even if he didn't re-enlist, the chances of us staying here are slim, because of job availability. So I always knew that we would only be here for 3 years (most likely). Since I knew this for a fact, and I've known this for quite some time, I guess I just assumed that everyone else knew as well (basically I forgot who I told, and who I apparently didn't tell) (yeah okay oops). I've been talking so much with my friends of where I would like to go, and looking back it makes it look like I want to go. Trust me when I say, that if we could stay then we would, as much as I hate the weather here, my family is here and I do wish I could stay for them. I also really dislike moving, but I have no choice. No choice, so yeah once again, I'm very sorry.

This may bring up the question of "Why did you guys buy a house here then?", well our plans for the house extend our time here, and we do want to keep the house and rent it out, for those of you wondering. I thought I should put that out there, because even though no one has asked me that question yet, I know people are thinking it.

So this is what's been on my mind lately, you know that whole here we go again, but not quite. The funny thing is that when it does come time to move next year, and that three year point comes around, it will be the longest that we have lived in any one area since we got married. We lived in Charleston, SC for a year and a half, in Hampton, VA for two and a half years, in San Diego for two years (almost to the date), and for here it will be three. No wonder it's so hard for us to get use to a place.


Vacation Planning!

So I'm not sure if you remember of not, but back in this post I told you guys about our family vacation that we were planning this year, the one we let the kids pick. Well we are leaving in May! We are going to the Outer Banks, and renting a house there for a week. I am very excited! So right at this point (since the house is already booked), I am working on a list of things we will need during our stay. I do find planning fun. I'm looking forward to our vacation, and I can't wait. Boy do I feel like a little kid! I just love uninterrupted time with my husband. Yeah, yeah I know who doesn't?

Well thanks for reading, and I'm sorry I didn't more to tell you. Like I said, nothing but normal over here.

"Legates' Family Vacation" ~Coming Summer Of 2011~

My husband is so smart, I would just like to say that. A few weeks ago, Jeremy and I were talking about vacation this summer. He wanted to take a "REAL" vacation this time, and not just short day trips like we do on most vacations. He suggested that we let the kids decide. My first thought was "You can't just let them pick anything you know." but my husband being the smart man he is, had already come up with a plan to safeguard against that. He suggested that we (meaning Jeremy and I), would pick out 3 places (3 family approved places)(3 price approved places), and from there we would let the kids decide. Brilliant! And the 3 choices are...


~The Beach~
Outer banks NC
     -Sand castles
     -Waves
     -Swimming
     -Mini golf

~The Mountains~
Smith mountain lake VA
     -Lake
     -Boats
     -Hiking
     -Fishing

~History~
Williamsburg VA
     -Discovery
     -Learning
     -Great wolf loge
     -Bush gardens


Jeremy had a slide show made on the computer, explaining all of the places and fun things to do there. Very exciting! We showed this to the boys Monday morning. They were very excited, and they love the slide show with all of the pictures and such. We told them to take a few days to think about it, and not the tell us anything yet, and on Friday they would write in their journals, and tell where they wanted to go and why. Wonderful plan! This gave them a few days to really think it over.

Yup it's Friday, and yes the votes are in, so where are we going? Well I'll just write what the kids wrote.

~Darien~
     I would like to go to the Mountains, because we can go fishing and paddle a paddle boat. I never did that before, and I want to know what it is like. I would also like to climb a Mountain.

~Zachary~
     I want to go to the Beach. I want to go there because I like to play mimi golf and play in the sand. When I play mimi golf I will play with a red ball, and when I play in the sand I will make a big sand castle.

~Nathaniel~ (with help from mommy, on writing and spelling)
     For vacation this summer I want to go to the Beach. At the beach I'm going to make a sand castle. I would also like to play in the water.


So there you have it. The beach won. That was a big surprise for me, because I was sure all 3 of them were going to pick History (because of the Great wolf loge), but none of them did. I'm glad they all wrote about what they wanted and nothing else. Now I know how they feel, and I hope Darien won't be to disappointed. I'm sure once he gets a golf club in his hand he'll be fine. Thanks for reading!

Kings Dominion

Friday we went to Kings Dominion! I hadn't been in 6 years, and I missed going. We took the kids and my little sister Shelby. We had a blast! It brought back a lot of good memories. My first roller coaster ride was Kings Dominion's Ghoster Coaster (I think I was 6), and Me and Jeremy's first kiss was on Kings Dominion's Grizzly Coaster (I was 16). My parents use to take us a lot when we were kids (almost once a year), and I always had fun.

This was our first time taking the kids, and I had forgotten how many rides they had for little kids, because they have a lot. Even Nathaniel got a lot of ride time in. All I had to do was stand by the Exit, and watch them go on things over and over again. I'm so glad we went! Olivia also had a good time, she got to do one of her favorite things, which is ride in her pink stroller, and she got a sun tan on her legs.

I also got to ride a lot of things, and coasters so I didn't feel left out at all, and it made things a bit easier with Shelby there. All in all a great day!

Mother's Day

Yup it's that time of the year again. The time when all mothers get treated like a queen. Yup and I'm one of them. The kids have been sneaking around this place like crazy the past 2 days, I think Jeremy and the kids are planning something. The kids have let a few things slip, I know that part of it is a craft.

Sunday I'm spending the day with my family. There is going to be a lunch at my grandmother's house. This will be Olivia's debut, because most of the people who are going to be there, haven't seen her yet. Yup I have a cute outfit picked out (for both me and her, tee-hee).

The kids have been good lately, and I'm looking forward to the summer. It has been hot this week and the humidity has been really bad. Today is better though, today feels like San Diego weather. When I walked the kids to the bus stop this morning I felt so at peace. I always do when the weather is really nice. This may explain why I liked San Diego so much.

Olivia is eating really well, and she has been trying to turn over. She can almost do it. She is getting so big, and growing more and more beautiful. Zachary reading is greatly improving, I'm amazed at the things he can sound out. Darien has been doing a lot better with his bossy behavior, and has stepped back into the brother position and not the parent one most of the time. Nathaniel is going thought a not to fun phase though. I haven't let him ride in a shopping cart since before I got pregnant with Olivia, and that was fine, but now all of the sudden, he wants to ride again. He knows he can't, there is no way, Olivia is the small one now. So I don't know, I just hope he cuts it out and soon.

I have made a new friend. We started talking about a month ago, at the bus stop in the afternoon, her name is Trudy. Her kids go to a different school, but they get dropped off around the same time as my kids. She has 2 boys ages 7 and 5 (I think), and their names are Hayden and Reuben (I hope I spelled those right). She is really nice, I like her. Her husband is in the Army National Guard, and is going to deploy soon (sad). I hope this summer our kids can have fun playing together.

Jeremy has two weeks of leave coming up (actually his last day of work is today), we both can't wait. We plan on taking day trips for our vacation. We want to go to Kings Dominion, The Maryland Science Center, Baltimore Aquarium, and Six flags. I can't wait! It's been so long since I've been to Kings Dominion, and I'm excited. Yes I'm excited about the other things too, but I'm most excited about Kings Dominion.

Okay I think I updated you on everything so far. Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful Mother's day!