The kids rooms

So, we've done some switching around in the kids rooms. Emma & Sophia really wanted to each have their own rooms. So the playroom has now become Sophia's room, and Emma has the big room to herself (since she's the oldest). We split up the toys and now everybody has their own rooms.

Here are Emma & Sophia fast asleep in their new rooms. They share a Jill and Jill bath.

The cutest thing though is that when we went to check on them that first night, they weren't sleeping like the above pictures. They were sleeping like this.....

Here's Jacob's room.

And this is Olivia's room.

Happy Father's Day!

Father’s Day Prayer

Lord, please bless our fathers, these men who mean so much to us,
who are greatly responsible for who we are
and who we are becoming.
Bless them for having the courage
to do what’s necessary to keep us out of trouble,
for making us do the right thing, for helping us build our character,
even when it makes us angry;
and bless them for pushing us to do our best,
even when they just want to love us.
Bless our fathers for being our protectors,
for leading us through stormy times to safety,
for making us believe that everything will be all right
and for making it so.
Bless our fathers for quietly making a living
to provide for those they love most,
for giving us food, clothing, shelter
and the other material things that really matter,
for unselfishly investing time and money in us
that they could have spent on themselves.
Bless our fathers, Lord, for saving some energy for fun,
for leading us on adventures
to explore the outer reaches of ourselves,
for making us laugh, for being our playmates and our friends.
Bless them for being our secure foundation, our rock,
for holding on tight to us...until it’s time to let us go
Lord, bless these men we look up to, our role models, our heroes,
our fathers.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

By Joanna Fuchs

I am so thankful for the husband I have. Our children are truly blessed to have a father like him.


Daddy's Footsteps
~Author Unknown~

“Walk a little slower, Daddy”,
Said a little child so small.
“I’m following in your footsteps,
And I don’t want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they’re hard to see;
So walk a little slower, Daddy,
For you are leading me.

Someday when I’m all grown up,
You’re what I want to be;
Then I will have a little child
Who’ll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right,
And know that I was true;
So, walk a little slower, Daddy,
For I must follow you.”

The new me

Baby Freebie!

Just found out about a freebie that I thought I'd pass along. If you call Johnson & Johnson at 1-866-565-2229 and request their New Parent Package they will send it to you free of charge as long as you have a valid street address (no PO Boxes). The sample pack includes stuff like moisturizer, face wash, baby lotion, nursing pads, etc. I just "ordered" mine today, they said I should get it in 7 - 10 days. Just thought I'd pass it on...

The Various Hairstyles of Me

Over the years I have changed my hairstyle a lot. And that's probably an understatement. Thankfully Nathan's aunt is a hairdresser!

For the most part I've had short hair - after Olivia was born is the first time I've grown it out since graduating high school.

I've gone red, blonde, dark brown and everything in between!

I'm thinking of cutting and colouring it again, so if you have any favorites, feel free to comment.

Here's a few pictures of the various hairstyles of me....

Pregnancy Photo Shoot

Here are some more pictures from the pregnancy photo shoot my cousin(inlaw) did for me. (Nathan took the ones of Emma & Sophia with me because they weren't there for the photoshoot)

One Last Disney Post

OK, this is the last Disney post - bear with me!

Our last days at Disney.....

Friday Mom and Dad babysat the kids while we went to Disney Hollywood Studios (previously called MGM) with Shaun & Lynn in the morning so we could ride the Tower of Terror and the Rock N Roller Coaster. They were so much fun! We also took in a stunt show called Lights, Camera, Action!

In Rock N Roller Coaster you are literally launched from the start of the ride - you go from 0 to 58 mph in 2.8 seconds, experiencing 4.5g which is more than astronauts experience on liftoff! The coaster is a limo on it's way to an Aerosmith concert - music plays in the coaster as you ride it which is pretty cool. Check out this link for an excellent description of this ride!

We went back to the house for lunch and did a little shopping and swimming the rest of the day. We went back to Uno's for supper.

Close to Uno's is a little amusement park called Old Town. They have this Slingshot ride where a bungy cord slingshot catapults you 365' in the air! Nathan and Shaun rode this crazy thing - the one ride they were actually a little scared to go on - and it was amazing, or so they said. I'm not gettin on that thing!

We had planned to go see the fireworks at Magic Kingdom the last night we were there because we didn't have to get up early the next day. They start at 10 so we figured we'd cross on the ferry and then watch from there instead of actually going in to the park and fighting the crowds. We were so excited! When we got there however, we discovered that it was grad night and there were no fireworks. The tears flowed let me tell ya! They girls were so disappointed. And since it was close to 10, the Epcot show was over already so we had no other options. And it was our last day so it was our last chance. Next time we go, we'll definitely be checking out the fireworks schedule much more closely!

Saturday was the day we left - we were all sad to go and wished we were staying 2 weeks instead. Next time! Because we had to return the rental vehicles at 1 we had to kill 5 hrs in the airport before our flight left, but that actually went much better than I thought it would. The flight back was good and we ate at the Green Mill for supper close by the Staybridge Suites in Minneapolis.

Sunday we drove to Albertville and did a little shopping there. Then Mom & Dad, Shaun & Lynn went straight home while we decided to stop in the City 3 hrs from home for night. I'm glad we did - they had to wait at the border for 2 hrs Sunday! We stayed at the Staybridge there too, and they gave us a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite for $99! It had a big livingroom area with a full kitchen and there are 2 bedrooms off the living room, one on either side. One with a king bed and a bathroom, the other with 2 double beds and a bathroom. Again the amazing continental breakfast. The regular rate for this room is almost $190. I'm not sure why they gave us such a great deal, but they did! We told the manager how we come down to the Smaller City a few times a year, but we'd consider coming down farther just for this hotel. She said we'd get the same rate every time if we did and that any friends we recommended would get the same rate. FYI!

So, Monday we drove to the Smaller City and did a bit of shopping there yet before heading home - with only a 10 min border wait.

It was such a fabulous vacation, we're tentatively planning to do it again in 1 1/2 years! Can't wait!!!!

Here's a few pics of Hollywood Studios...

Magic Kingdom - Round 2

OK, back to our vacation.

Quick summary so far....

Friday we drove to Minneapolis - and it went fabulously well. We stayed at the Staybridge Suites using their Park N Fly package - highly recommend it!

Saturday we flew non-stop from Minneapolis to Orlando, arriving by noon. Picked up our rental vehicles (due to a delay in getting there we ended up getting a free upgrade to an extended van because they were out of the "short" ones - mental note for next time, take your time getting to the rental counter!). Got to our house, (check out Romancing the Mouse - amazing vacation home rental company!!) ordered in pizza for a super late lunch. Swimming!!! Went to Walmart Supercenter to get groceries and autograph books for the girls.

Sunday we went to Animal Kingdom - perfect weather, not too busy, minimal lineups by using one of the Unofficial Guide to Disney Touring Plans. We went to Giordano's for supper - yum-o!

Monday Nathan took the girls to IHop for breakfast, then we stayed at the house and relaxed and swam in the morning. Later we did some shopping. We went to Prime Outlets at the north end of International Drive. We tried a short cut to get there, and thanks to my amazing navigational abilities, we didn't even get lost. Don't think it was much of a short cut however. :) Definitely some excellent deals there. The only complaint is the lack of coffee shops down there - what's up with that? They had a big food court in the middle, but there should have had coffee shops at both ends of the "mall". If that was in Canada there likely would've been 2 or 3 Tim Horton's. We went to Ponderosa for supper - that was a mistake. Blech.

Tuesday we went to Magic Kingdom where the girls got to meet the princesses - total highlight! We went to Uno's for supper - absolutely fabulous!! The girls were so tired they all fell asleep at the restaurant. Emma fell asleep right away and didn't even eat any supper till after we got back to the house.

Wednesday Nathan took the girls back to IHop and we spent the day recovering from the previous day, relaxing at our pool while Mom & Dad, Shaun & Lynn went to Epcot for the day. It was great! We did a bit of shopping late afternoon and then we all met up at TGI Friday's for supper.

Thursday Mom & Dad, Shaun & Lynn went to Blizzard Beach water park while we took the girls back to Magic Kingdom...... by ourselves! It actually went really well. We went knowing that we'd just do what we could do, stay till they got tired and go home. The only downside was that it turned out to be Extra Magic Hours (which means the Disney resort guests get to come to the park at least an hour early and stay late which means you lose the advantage of getting there at park opening) - which would be why the UTG didn't recommend MK on Thursday - oh well!

While Nathan and the girls waited in Ariel's Grotto to see The Little Mermaid, I grabbed fastpasses for us all at Peter Pan's Flight as that was one of the girl's favorites. Toontown (and, therefore, the princess autograph lineup) officially opened at 10, so I went and fed Jacob nearby around 9:30 to wait for it to open so I could go stand in line for them. I knew it would open early and it did - at 9:45 - people literally RAN to the lineups. Craziness! Jacob & I restrained ourselves from running, and still managed to get a decent spot in the lineup - in fact I ended up having to let some people go ahead of me before the girls got there. This was my first time seeing them in a character lineup (usually I used those times to feed Jacob) so it was really neat to see them interacting with the characters. BTW - make sure to warn your kids ahead of time that the only characters that actually talk to them are the face characters (like the princesses), the others (like Minnie, Donald, etc) do not actually talk.

The girls rode Goofy's Barnstormer rollercoaster again and then got to tour Minnie's House because it was open today after having been closed for renovations before. Then we rode the Peter Pan ride using our fastpasses. We wanted to go see Storytime with Belle but it was full when we got there and we didn't want to stick around till the next show. We let the girls take a peek inside the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique - the only way to see any part of the castle at all since we were unable to get reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table restaurant. Then we went around to the front of the castle where we watched Dream Along with Mickey - a live performance by numerous characters including some princesses - this was definitely another highlight for the girls. After the show we wandered the gift shops a bit, buying the girls each a hat (except Olivia because she insisted she didn't want one). Then we left and went back to the house for a late lunch, swimming and relaxing till we met up with the others for supper at Red Lobster.

Here's some more pictures....

Princesses!

Magic Kingdom

On the Tuesday of our trip all 10 of us went to Magic Kingdom. As you'll soon see, it was so good to have that many adults there - we got way more done that way.

It takes a little longer to get to MK because after you park in the parking lot you have to take the monorail or a ferry to get there.

The biggest piece of advice I have about the Magic Kingdom - for those of you with little ones, do NOT bother with the Dumbo ride unless you expect an absolute meltdown for avoiding it. We went straight there (like you have to - the lines are crazy for this ride), but by the time you walk down Main Street to get there, it was already 9:10 - we already had to wait 40 mins - to go on a glorified mid-way ride that goes around in circles in a Dumbo instead of an airplane (or whatever). Especially since we later saw a Dumbo "statue" that you could climb into to get your picture taken in.

Some of the adults stood in the Dumbo line for the girls while they rode Cinderella's Carrousel. Uncle Shaun went to get fastpasses for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I should've stood in line at Ariel's Grotto (meet and greet with Little Mermaid), but at the time there was no line so I didn't. Mistake.... by the time Dumbo was done the lineup was long. So, knowing we were coming back another day, we skipped it.

In the meanwhile Uncle Shaun & Auntie Linsay were waiting in the Princess Meet and Greet line for the girls. It ended up being a 45 min wait so we rode Goofy's Barnstormer (kid rollercoaster) while they were waiting. Next the girls got their prized princess autographs (Cinderella, Belle & Sleeping Beauty) and toured Mickey's House. Minnie's House was closed for repairs.

While we were out in Toontown doing all this, Uncle Shaun ran back to get fastpasses for the Peter Pan ride. So, next we went to ride Winnie the Pooh (using our FastPasses). We rode It's a Small World and then saw Mickey's 3D Philharmagic - it was awesome! Even the girls liked it, though they were a little scared in some parts. After that was Peter Pan's Flight - one of the girls' favourite rides.

After all this we got fastpasses for Splash Mountain, took the train back to the exit and then went back to the house for lunch, swimming and a rest.

Then it was back to the MK. I had to feed Jacob so Nathan spent some time with the girls, walking around and eating popcorn while the other adults went on the Haunted Mansion (too scary for the girls).

Then Mom watched Jacob, Nathan took the girls on the Liberty Belle Riverboat ride and I went with the others on Splash Mountain - most of us wore our rain ponchos so we wouldn't get wet! :)

Then we all toured the Swiss Family Treehouse and went on the Jungle Cruise - the tour guide for this ride was hilarious, so this was another favorite.

We were all famished by this point, so we decided to leave. Well, it was 8:30 and the parade starts at 9:30 so it took us awhile to get out of there! But we finally did.

Even though we got so much done, we likely saw only about 1/2 of the park, if that. It was fabulous and the girls loved it! And we were pretty tired!

Check out the pictures.....

Mickey & Minnie's Houses

The Carrousel, Dumbo, It's a Small World

Our girls!

Relaxing back at the house

Happy Mother's Day

For all those moms who sometimes need a little humour to get through the day, please check out this ecard - it is too cute/funny! I wish I could figure out how to get it to play directly on my blog - if anyone knows how, please let me know! Oh, and for the slightly computer challenged out there (cough, cough, mom, cough, cough) - you need to click on the same colored flowers on the left and on the right of the card to hear the difference in what we hear.