So..... It's been a while!

So, I kind of disappeared for a while. Sorry about that! After we moved back from Blacksburg, life kind of took over and I am just now starting to have room to breath. So I guess I better go over what has been happening the past year and a half.

Tabitha started and finished her first year of preschool in Ms. Lindy's class. She made some fantastic friends in the process. She is now in her second year of preschool and attends two different schools. This morning she read her first book to me. It's scary how fast she is growing up!

Ethan is now in 2nd grade! He is in a combination 1st/2nd class and loves it. He played football again in the fall and soccer in the spring. He LOVES to read and his new passion is his iPad which houses all of his books, flash cards, spelling words, games, movies and TV shows.

This past year and a half has brought us to many different places as well. We took a driving trip up north through New York, Niagara Falls, Toronto and Quebec City, and Vermont. There was only one minor bump in the road when Ethan got violently ill in Massachusetts. A late night at the hospital and overnight at a hotel and most of us were feeling better. Since it spread through almost everyone (except Granny and Brian) within a matter of hours! We also took a beach trip last summer with our fantastic friends and their children. Of course the year wouldn't be complete without Disney World! We traveled to Orlando for the Disney Marathon. Brian ran in the marathon and the kids did the small races. I will have to post some pictures on that soon.

So, I will post some pictures soon about our adventures. Sorry I disappeared and left everyone hanging!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Brian! I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy every second of it! I am so glad you are 31, JUST LIKE ME! Hmmm don't you wish it was your 18th though?

Happy 4th!

We had a great 4th of July in Blacksburg. Granny and Grandad visited and we had a fun time. It started with brunch at Boudreaux's followed by the parade in downtown. After the parade, we went to Rita's for frozen custard and italian ice. Yummo! Then we walked to fireworks in the evening.

We hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July!

Happy Eight Year Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Hubby! I has been 8 whole years since our wonderful wedding day. It sure doesn't seem like that long. Thank you for a wonderful 8 years. I hope our next 8 is just as exciting and eventful as these.

Remember that day back in 2001? Some of my favorite things from our wedding:

All of our favorite people! Well, there are a lot more of you that are favorites but you wouldn't all fit up there at once!

Ready for the reception!

My handsome hubby.

The reception room.

The Cake!

The FOOD. I have dreams about that food!

Our names, on the floor.

Remember the parrots? In the lobby during cocktails.

Oh! The flowers too.

We have official tooth loss!

So, a dentist appointment later, weeks and weeks of wiggling, screaming, crying and an intense fear of blood, Ethan has officially lost his first tooth. It has been hanging by a thread for the last couple of days and Daddy was finally able to twist it enough so that Ethan could pull it out. The little tooth now sits under his pillow waiting for the Tooth Fairy. There is also a rather large tooth that has been waiting patiently behind his baby tooth for a space. This tooth is still way too big for the space but hopefully his other front baby tooth will come out soon. By the way, sorry Ethan for obviously inheriting my rather large teeth.

BEFORE

AFTER

UPDATE: So what do you do when your son is in tears in his room because he doesn't want the Tooth Fairy to take his tooth? He wants the money AND the tooth!

Happy Father's Day, Brian!

What makes you a father?

On October 14th in 2002, Ethan made you a father . . .

Then, on November 19, 2005, Tabitha made you a father of 2 . . .

Now, today and every day, you show how great of a father you are to our children. You care for them, love them, provide for them and cherish them in ways that only a father can . . .

you laugh at their "funny" jokes

you smile when they draw a picture just for you

you carry them when they are tired and run with them when they have too much energy

you tuck them in at night so they feel secure and recite strange sayings and lists
so they can fall asleep peacefully

you are strong for them when they are sad

you inspire them to be the best person that they can be

you are leading them down a path that will turn them into wonderful people one day

you do all of this and so much more, you are the best father I could ever imagine for my children.

We love you so much!
Happy Father's Day Brian!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Remember your birthday last year?

You are the best dad and grandad anyone could ever ask for.

We hope you have a great day!

Merry Christmas!

Day Four - Hollywood Studios

Another day, and more rain right from the start. Not the monsoon type, but the steady annoying type. We started off again, bright and early. Hollywood Studios was great. We had a chance to see lots of characters and do quite a few rides/shows. We saw the American Idol Experience for the first time. That was really neat, it was like actually being at the show. We saw the stunt show, even though it was raining really hard while they were doing it. The kids were really excited to ride the new Toy Story ride. Tabitha and Ethan LOVED that one. Tabitha also really liked the Little Mermaid show, Playhouse Disney and the Muppet's 3D show. Oh! We road Star Tours first thing too, no wait!

We left Hollywood Studios a little early so we could get back to the hotel, get dry and let the kids take a quick nap. Afterwards, we went to Chevy's for dinner, Brian's favorite! Then it was off to Downtown Disney for ice cream! Yummmm!

Day Three - Magic Kingdom

There is only one picture from day three. Sad isn't it. This picture says it all though. Today was the day that the heavens opened up and tried to drowned us! We fought back though. We weren't going to let any "little" rain slow us down or spoil our fun. Even if this is what both kids feet looked like at the end of the day. These special ones, are Ethan's. Is this normal? I've never seen kids get as pruney as ours do.


So, Day 3 started of great. We headed to the park for opening and made it there right in time. As we got off the buses you could hear the music on main street that they play when the park opens. We did our usual thing and headed right for Fantasyland. We parked the stroller and made our way to the rides. In the first hour we rode It's a Small World (absolutely no wait), Peter Pan (waited maybe 10 minutes), Dumbo, the Teacups, the Carousel, and Mickey's Philharmagic. By this time, it was raining. We decided since it was raining we would go to Adventureland since we could do Pirates of the Caribbean since it is inside. As we were walking it started to POUR. I mean, monsoon type pour. Everyone in the park was standing in doorways and under overhangs. Of course, we were walking, in it. Remember, no rain is going to slow us down! We had the kids in the stroller with the rain cover on so they were fine.

I assumed that since it was raining that everyone would be looking for the indoor rides and shows. I thought we would have a nice wait at Pirates so that we could be out of the rain for a little bit. No such luck! No one was on the ride! We practically walked straight on this one too! We also parked our stroller inside and left it there so it would stay dry and went to watch the Tiki Bird show. Now we were all out in the rain. By this point, the outside rides had been shut down because of the rain and a large majority of the people were beginning to leave the park because of the rain. We decided to find a nice spot and eat our lunch.

By the time lunch was over the rain had let up a good deal so the outside rides were running again. We rode the Aladdin Carpets, walked through the tree house and then went on the Jungle Cruise. Then we made our way to Tomorrowland.

In Tomorrowland we kept having bouts of rain but no thunder and lightning so the rides stayed open. It was here, during a bathroom break, that I realized the jacket that Tabitha was wearing, that I thought was a raincoat was soaked completely, as were all of her clothes. No wonder she kept shivering! Poor little thing. But remember, no rain is going to slow us down! We rode Buzz Lightyear and Astro Orbiter (the longest wait, maybe 20 minutes), as well as the cars at Tomorrowland Speedway. Believe it or not, this was every one's first time on Astro Orbiter. We didn't even know there was a ride up there!

By this time, we were pretty wet and we were starting to get kind of miserable. On we went though to watch the parade. They had cancelled all of the stage shows. I guess something about Cinderella slipping and falling in front of all those kids. So, we were excited that they were still going to have the parade. Oh! You should have seen Tabitha and the look she gave the evil stepmother and sisters (from Cinderella) during the parade. It was so funny! She smiled and waved at everyone and would scream when she saw a new princess coming or Mickey and Minnie. When those stepsisters came into view though, her stare became cold, her hands dropped down and she just glared at them. Then she said, "Those mean girls, no like them!" The part of the movie where they rip off Cinderella's necklace really offends her. Every time she watches that movie I have to hear for the next two days how mean those girls are.

After the parade we were off to Mickey's Toontown Fair. We rode the Goofy roller coaster, which Tabitha loved. Then we went to see Mickey's house and Minnie's house. Afterwards I just wanted to check out the wait time for the fairies. Oh My Goodness! It was an hour and a half and no one was in the park! Needless to say, we passed on that!

At this point it was about 4:30pm. We decided to have an early dinner at Cosmic Ray's and then we headed back to the hotel with our pruney feet. Well, Ethan, Tabitha and I had pruney feet. Daddy, for some reason, doesn't get the prunes. I wonder why that is . . .

Oh, and by the way, we bought ponchos that night. Even though we had raincoats, we needed something longer to try to keep our legs from getting wet. At least we didn't go the extreme of one lady I saw. She had shopping bags tide around her feet to keep them dry. Now that was a funny sight! Of course, I bet her feet were dry.

Next post, Hollywood Studios, Day 4.

Take a look . . .

Click on the link below and check out picture 10. Even though her name isn't Tabisha, we'll forgive them!

http://www.roanoke.com/photography/slideshows/galleries/0430_vtspringtraining/gallery.html

Day Two - Animal Kingdom

Day Two. Another beautiful day, although it was pretty hot about midday. It was a good thing we were at Animal Kingdom which has many shady spots to get some relief from the sun! It was an early morning. We needed to be at the buses at 8:15 in order to make it to the park by opening. Being at the park by opening is key. You can get so much done in such a short amount of time (before all of those other people get there)! Of course our morning didn't go as planned. We woke up a little late and then had to shower, make our lunches (yes another key to saving time and money), pack the diaper bag, get everyone dressed. Ok, I think you get the point. So we finally made it out of the room by 8:30 or so and off we went on the bus.

You would think the next thing is that we would be there, right? Well, no. After about ten minutes we were outside of Animal Kingdom. The next 20 minutes after that, we essentially sat in the same place, moving inches at a time toward the park. There was a traffic jam just getting into the park! I have never experienced anything like that before. It was almost pure torture, sitting there, being able to see where we wanted to be but not being able to get there. After about a half an hour we finally made it though.

Our first ride at Animal Kingdom was the safari. An absolute must do for our family and usually an absolute must do, multiple times. We grabbed a fastpass (ticket thing that gets you to the front of the line - well, kind of) for about an hour later and then we got in line to go on the safari right then since the wait was only 20 minutes. Of course the wait was only about 10 minutes and then we were off! We saw the rhinos, elephants (even the babies), hippos, the sleeping lions, monkeys, ostriches, and ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh the giraffes! This is the first time that we have actually seen the giraffes close. Usually they are way off in the distance and you can barely see them. This time, all of the mamas, daddies and babies were RIGHT next to the road. They were eating their breakfast and and one of the babies was actually chasing a rabbit! They were a sight to see!

After the safari right we turned right around. That's right people, we didn't even go find the stroller! We got right back on the safari with our fastpass. Woohoo! The funny thing is, on the second trip, the animals had all moved or new ones were out. It really is totally different each time you go on it!

Next, we were off to go do the other rides. We rode Dinosaur. This ride took a little encouragement from us to get Ethan to even get on it. This is where the "I have to go potty" thing started. Let me tell you a little about our son. If you are ever in a line with him for an amusement park ride you better be prepared. At almost every ride, you will get almost to the front of the line. I mean like one or two people away from getting on. And you will hear this little voice from below say, "I have to go potty REALLY bad!" Now, being his mother and spending every day with him, I know this kid only peas a few times a day. At amusement parks, he must pee 400 times a day. It is every ride! Last year at Disney, we would get out of line and bring him to the bathroom. Then get back in line, only to wait all over again. This year, I was on to him! I am pretty sure he just has the nervous pees! The new rule was, it doesn't matter how bad you have to go, we are NOT getting out of line! Sounds harsh, doesn't it? It's not, because I don't believe he really had to go. After the ride he would tend to forget he even said he had to go. Of course, this whole situation makes Brian VERY nervous. He says Ethan is wearing diapers next time.

Alright, back to the Dinosaur ride. If anyone has been on it before, you know it is a little scary. We kind of new that but we like the kids to try new things and decide for themselves if they like it or not. On we went with both Tabitha and Ethan. The ride was a little intense and scary but what is interesting is that Tabitha didn't flinch once. She didn't even hide her head in my side (like Ethan has always done when something is scary). She watched everything, eyes wide open. Very interesting! Well, once we were off the ride Tabitha quickly announced, "I never do that again!" and then Ethan chimed in, "me either!". So, I guess that ride is off the list! Oh well, at least they tried!

The rest of the day went kind of quickly. We ate our lunch under the shade of a tree, watched the Nemo show, rode Triceratops Spin and the flying dinosaurs and watched the parade. Oh, we found the perfect spot to watch the parade. I'm not telling you though, it's our secret! After the parades we walked through the animal trek walking areas and saw many more animals (bats, tigers, fish, birds). The only thing we never saw was the zebras. Where are you zebras?

It was getting really hot and the park was about to close anyway so we headed to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We had our one and only reservation this night at T-Rex in Downtown Disney. This place is awesome! The decor is great and so is the service. We had meteor showers in our area every 15 or so minutes. Tabitha was a little leery of the moving dinosaurs. She kept saying they eat people, even though the waitress clearly explained that they eat cheerios. However, under the watchful eye of a pterodactyl she ate every drop of her food and behaved like a princess!

One final note. On the way to T-Rex is when he rain started. You'll hear more about that later. Next post, day 3, Magic Kingdom on Monday.

Day One Part Two - Magic Kingdom in the Evening

So, after we checked into Pop Century we hauled all of our crap lovely things across the massive resort and up to our room. Before anyone was allowed to sit down or touch anything I began the disinfecting process. The disinfecting process: spray everything that might be touched with Lysol, remove all nonessential bed coverings (like those never washed bedspreads) and wipe all frequently touched places (i.e. door handles and light switches) with Lysol wipes all while holding your breath so the fumes don't kill you. Sounds extreme, hugh? Some of you might be thinking, "is she a germaphobe?" Nope! Not unless I am at Disney World! The reason being that up until this past trip (where I disinfected everything, including the children every ten minutes) we have gotten sick every time we have brought the kids to "The Happiest Place on Earth". And I don't mean the sniffly, coughing kind of sick. I mean the 5 year old projectile vomiting kind of sick. I'll pass on that whole mess thank you very much. So, if that means I spend 30 minutes inhaling toxic fumes, I'll take the risk to keep every one's food in there stomachs!

Now, as I was saying, after our disinfecting we headed out to the Magic Kingdom. It was beautiful and sunny and not too warm. The kids were so excited to get on the bus and off we went. The park was pretty packed so we decided to pick a couple of rides to fit in so we wouldn't have to do those when we were back at Magic Kingdom on Monday. First we were off to Thunder Mountain. This was going to be a test of Tabitha's height. Without her tennis shoes on she is about 39 and a half inches. With them she is a hair over 40 (the height restriction for most rides). So needless to say she didn't wear her crocs during most of the trip because they made her too short!

The evening went by pretty quickly. We picked up a quick dinner at Harbor House, did the Stitch show/ride, watched SpectroMagic (the light parade) and then saw the fireworks over the castle. The kids were so happy to be there that I don't even think they realized how tired they really were. We left the park a little before midnight and made our way back to the room. I think the kids were in bed around 1 or 1:30am. No, it didn't take us that long to get back but it did take us a while to give them their baths. Yes, baths are part of the disinfecting process!

Stay tuned . . . Animal Kingdom is next!

Day One - The Drive to Orlando

Saturday morning at 5:45am as promised we woke both kids, told them to quickly get dressed, threw a bag of kix at each of them and shoved them out the door into the car. As you can imagine, the first question Ethan asked was, "Where are we going?". Our answer to that was, "for a drive". So, we all packed in the car with backpacks full of disney items (pez despensers, goofy crayons, mickey and minnie coloring books, disney sunglasses, disney puzzles). You would have thought that would have been a clue but nope, they had no clue. Also joining us in the car was our dual dvd players and of course Ethan's Nintendo DS. Oh, and the only movies I brought were disney ones. Hmmm, still no clue where we were going.

We began heading south. We THOUGHT this was a good thing since it was raining and cloudy here (but more on that later). We told the kids we were looking for sunshine. Again, they were fine with that. Brian had told them that since it was Saturday and there was no school then we would just drive for the day. That meant that at naptime when they were sleeping we would turn around and head back home to the baby house. For those of you who don't know what the "baby house" is, that is the apartment in "the Burg".

As noon approached Ethan took a breather from his DS and Tabitha from her movies (that she was only half watching) for our lunch picnic in the car. That's right, we packed our lunch for the drive. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips and other snacks. A great CHEAP lunch with the added benefit of not having to stop! By the way, during the whole trip we only stopped for gas and potty 3 times I think. Pretty good for a 3 and 6 year old!

Once again we were asked by the kiddos if we would be turning around to go back home after lunch. Of course we lied (like all good parents should do) and said of course but the only way we would was if both of them went to sleep for nap time! Within 15 or 20 minutes both of them were asleep and we were noise and fight free!

The naps lasted about 2 hours. Ethan woke up first and of course started playing his DS again. He obviously hadn't been looking up the entire trip because in South Carolina we started to pass palm trees and you think that would have been a clue that we were no where near home. When they woke up both kids asked if we had turned around already. Of course the answer was yes. It really is ok to lie to your kids everyone. Especially when there is a great surprise in it for them. By this time too, Brian and I were having a difficult time keeping straight faces since they still weren't getting it!

At about 3pm we were getting into serious Disney territory. We were an hour away from "The World" and it was getting pretty obvious. Anyone who has ever driven to disney before would know what I meant. As you approach you pass Universal and Sea World. There are also numerous skyscrapers and city like things as well as billboards with disney stuff all over them. Obvious right? Noooo! Still no idea. Still clueless. Ethan did ask if we were almost back to the baby house. We said we would be there in about an hour. Well, our baby house is in Blacksburg surrounded by green mountains, sparse houses and lots of open land. Not exactly the CITY we were driving through. Oh, I also forgot to mention that as we drove by all of the huge billboards, Tabitha was pointing them all out and saying what was on them. This added more laughter and entertainment to Brian and I since they both STILL had no clue!

Alright, now we are essentially there. Brian and I can see Disney buildings and the huge entrance they have that has Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto on it. We were approaching this huge signage, getting closer and closer. Brian and I were laughing harder and harder trying to contain ourselves. We still had no reaction from the backseat. Then, finally, we hear Tabitha from the backseat and she says, "Look!", and we think, this is the moment, she has figured it out! Nope, she was looking at something else and still didn't even see the huge characters in front of her.

Then it happened. Immediately she noticed Pluto and then the others. She started rattling off their names one after the other. Then we heard Ethan shut off his DS and say, What?, What is this? Where are we? Our response was, "Surprise! We're going to Disney World!". What did Ethan say, "I thought so.". Little liar! He didn't think so, he had no clue! Then Ethan asked if we were only staying for a day and going back home that night! So cute! When he found out we would be at Disney for 5 more days he was really excited. Then the screaming and the hyperactivity started coming from both of them. They couldn't contain themselves they were so excited! By 4pm or so we were in the parking lot of the Pop Century Resort.

The buses at Disney are a favorite for both of our kids. They just love riding on them. So, when they saw the first buses they almost jumped out of their skin!

Here are Ethan and Tabitha standing outside of our room. We had a great view of the lake and the creepy unfinished early years part of the Pop Century resort. We stayed in the 60's building.

We had an elevator but decided to "take the yo yo" as the kids would say, most of the time. The yo yo covers the stairs that go up the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. Luckily we were on the 2nd floor.

Here are some of the decorations on our building. We had lots of play-doh around and some characters. The Hippy Dippy Pool was also on the other side of our building. We never actually made it into that pool. If you read my later posts you will understand why!

More posts are coming. Next will be the rest of Saturday. We make our way to the Magic Kingdom for some night time fun!