Vacation 2011Day One, The drive

As usual we did not leave when we said, but we were completely packed the night before we were scheduled to leave....which in of itself was a HUGE accomplishment. It probably also helped that we have had the suitcases out and ready to fill since July 4th. :)

For once we decided to ENJOY the rest and enjoy the 12hr ride, so we decided to leave a day late. That way no driver would be too tired or get too tired only 2 hours after driving.

D loaded up the car and kept saying, "did we pack everything?" I said yes, a million times and was so glad we didn't pack every single item of clothing we owned. I am not sure what the difference is between this summer & last, but alas everybody had something to wear & toothbrushes were packed, so in the end, that's all that matters.

After washing the last of the breakfast dishes and mopping the kitchen floor (I love to come home to clean kitchen), we got in the car and headed off for vacation. 15 minutes into the trip, I said, hum, did I turn off the oven? You know where this is going right? Yes, we turned around to go back and check. Good thing we did .. the oven was off, but my favorite dress and hubby's shorts had NOT made it into the suitcase! That would have been a disaster!

Armed with our outfits I tiptoed back through the kitchen and hopped in the car. Off we zoomed. BUT WAIT, did the garage go all the way down? Yes, we turned around. Yes, down. GO now!

As we drove off for the third time, daddy noticed a light was out on the house and yes, we turned around AGAIN so daddy could repair the light.

Ok, now are we ready to go?

We made it safely down the road; then after an hour had to stop for a break. After that is really was smooth sailing.

On the road again ...

It has been a glorious week in Kentucky! We had some warm days, but mostly cold ones and I loved every minute. I always look forward to the temps here because they are usually 20 degrees cooler than home and I use this time as my getaway from the heat. I love cold weather.

Once again, we lied and said we were gonna leave at 3am, but after spending the day and evening with GranGran, we got back to DH's parent's house later than we expected, that he and I agreed to leave and head for home by 5am.

We were on the road by 6am. Not too bad.

DH woke up at 4am, took a shower and then started the load the van. I on the otherhand decided to roll over and get the all important 5 more minutes of sleep. Important I know.

I finally woke up (well got up, awake I was not), showered and helped finish zipping suitcases, and waking sleeping children who thank goodness were already dressed because I bathed them last night and put their travel clothes on.

DH's mom made us some coffee and bagged up some snacks for the road which included grandma's chocolate chip cookies. Whohoo.

We took some photos and said our see ya laters and loaded the van w/ the kids ... who were sad to say goodbye to "their" dogs.

We pulled onto the dark road and headed for I-65.

Then, DH realized we needed to air up the tires before we started our 700+ mile journey and then of course, we needed to make one last stop at White Castle. This time we got breakfast sandwiches instead of hamburgers. (the kids wanted hamburgers)

We made it pretty far before the potty requests breaks started, but then once they did, it seemed like we stopped in every county of Tennessee. Surprisingly enough, no one made any false claims, so it was worth the stop .. even though it may have an added an hour to the overall ride home. At some point even DeClan was yelling .. hey I have to potty .. even though he still sports Huggies.

We finally rolled into our town about 7:30pm realizing there were no groceries at home, so we played four rounds of the game " what do you want to eat". Finally decided on Mexican Cuisine since we had not had any for almost 2 weeks.

We ate and DH unloaded the van as I rolled my eyes, because UNPACKING is NOT my friend. Ethan realized school was the NEXT morning and then proceeded to roll his eyes, because school is NOT his friend after spending 10 days on vacation with no schedule, eating all day, being spoiled by your grandparents or load mouth mama yelling get up .. it is time for school.

We finally drifted off around midnight and NO we did NOT unpack everything .. it just seemed all wrong.

Special Day

Today, we spent time with one of the most wonderful women I have ever met ... DH's grandmother. Both of my grandmothers are with Jesus now and I LOVE spending time with GranGran (as we so affectionately call her).

AND .. the woman can cook!!!!!!!!

Since we were in town for Spring Break, GranGran wanted the whole family to get together for food, fellowship and fun. Mostly, the food :) Saturday, 1:00pm she said .. and she did not disappoint.

Turkey, Roast Beef, Boston Butt, Cornbread dressing, greens, green beans, Macaronkey (This is how DeClan says Mac & Cheese) Potato Salad, Deviled Eggs, Onions, From Scratch Potato rolls, Sweet Tea, Yellow Cake w/ Caramel Icing and Cherry Delight .. I am very sure I forgot something. She did NOT disappoint.

See, I had to say that twice, because she really did NOT .... well you know ....

No airs put on by me. I sat down and ate like a REAL woman does, especially since my WWatchers plans start today. That way after I lose the weight, I CAN and WILL enjoy Thanksgiving. :)

I am so very happy the sons are able to spend time and be loved on by their great-grandmother and that she IS passing down the recipes to her family. I AM trying to learn the art of the rolls as we speak.

Needless to say, I HAVE disappointed with those babies!


Thank you Lord, Thank you so very much for this legacy and for DH's family~~ Please continue to watch over them and bless them.

Ketchup and Mustard and cheating ..

We are having a great time on Spring Break! I AM taking a ton of photos, but having trouble uploading them on the blog, so I will drop them in the posts next week.

The tods are having a ball running wild and free in the country and playing with "their" dogs. Yeah, Austin says the Casey, Smiley and Jerry are their dogs who live at grandma's house.

It has been really fun watching the tods run around, playing, reading, tossing balls and making up games while we have been here.

Yesterday, the Austin had on a red shirt and DeClan had on a yellow shirt and they started calling each other ketchup and mustard. It was so cute, with no prompting from me. I am glad they have creative imaginations.

Last night the kids were playing cards with grandma and having a blast. Ethan won the game and did his usual, I won, oh yeaa, I won, I won (singing) and DeClan, YES, DeClan pointed to him and said Ethan cheated and laughed (the 2 year old) ... cheated, what does he know about cheated?

Needless to say, we fell to the floor laughin'

Good times, great vacation!

Everybody was Kung Fu fightin' .. huh!

It's spring break and we made it to Kentucky!! Whohoo!
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We have seen Kung Fu Panda at least a dozen times!
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Once again, we did not leave on time ...but we left in one piece and actually had a great drive to Tennessee.
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The boys had a great time at the hotel (something we almost NEVER do), but the rooms were spacious and the pool was divine! The kids did NOT want to leave.
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We visited some neighborhoods we thought about moving to, ate dinner and then headed to KY.
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So far sleeping in ranks high on our list this week and eating great country breakfasts ... yum....
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Internet access has been interesting to say the least, so the photos will have to wait until later ...
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Praising God for a great vacation and His provision!

Spring Break Day 2 .. Pool Time

DeClan and Daddy getting out the of the pool
Maybe it the water isn't so bad afterall

I'm ready to go right now ...

Please let go Daddy ... please..

See mama, I CAN swim ...

well .. now I am not so sure ...

5 days and counting ....

I know everyone, I mean, everyone who has been around my family over the last two weeks, thinks we are ALL crazy! All 5 of us have been talking about our upcoming road trip nonstop! I've tried not to get so excited, but I can't help it. I love it when we are able to jump in the van with no time constraints or agenda and $$$ for the trip. (Thank you Jesus!)
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We are so excited to see my in laws and to go back to Kentucky so soon! That almost never happens. The boys are ready to run free in the country and be spoiled by simple living and grandparents, let's not forget the grand and great grandparents!

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The kids have started marking off the days until we ride in the sunset on the kitchen calendar, the suitcases are out, I am getting the winter back out for the journey (it's in the 80's here, but in the 30's there) and started buying snacks a few weeks ago.

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Thank goodness I started seriously couponing last year ... I've gotten all our snacks and drinks for the trip for less than $5.00. Yes, $5.00!

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So this week the blogging may be a little slower than usual, but I do plan on blogging if for nothing else but for those of who read faithfully (yeah right), but more for historical purposes.

We're Here ...

and can I say breakfast? fresh country breakfast! Farm fresh, uneven in color, but fresh from the hen, EGGS and country ham!! My kids are telling me "Mom, this is better than that ole turkey bacon you make us eat at home!"

This was the view from my in-laws front porch yesterday morning with a temp of 40 degrees. (Sorry for the blurry photo)

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We are arrived at 2 am, stayed up a while to catch up on how much the kids have grown and then went to bed. Everyone else slept until 10 and I chose to get up around 11:30am. When is the last time that happened?

We are soooooo drained from the 15 hour drive that my blogging will be slow for sure, but blog I will. It is so pretty here and I love being with my in-laws and I can't wait to share.

And We're OFF!

In more ways than one! :)

We planned to leave around 2 or 3am so the kids could sleep through most of the 12 hour trip. I ended up working OUTSIDE the house last week and nothing, I mean nothing worked out the way I wanted it to.

Friday noon, Ethan's school called because he was sick, so I had to go get him. The first thing he asked was were still gonna go to Kentucky, because he knew if he was sick, really sick, there might be a chance that we were would leave a few days later or stay home altogether. I called his doctor and they said to watch him and it appeared things would pass, so we decided to leave that night.

We were gonna leave Friday night, early Saturday morning , but we were dead dog tired, so we decided to sleep in and get some rest, better awake than sorry... ya know? So we set a new departure time of 6am. Needless to say, D fell asleep around 11 and I followed him to sleep around midnight..... unplanned .. I wanted to stay up until 2, 3 or so to wash and pack clothes, clean out the fridge and clean the house up a bit. I hate coming home after a long, relaxing vacation to a dirty house and dirty clothes. (I wash clothes while on vacation to avoid that task at home).

The answer is no, we did not put a dent in the list of things we needed to do to be able to leave in the wee hours of the morning. Not even a scratch .....

We WOKE up around 6am .... yeah woke up at 6am .... and finished washing, packing and loading the van and finally rolled out of here around 10am. Yeah, I know 4 hours later ...

We prayed and drove off headed for the highway and then it hit me. Life was so busy last week, I didn't go by the library to get some Cosby Show DVDs for the trip. We ALWAYS have these for our road trips .. so I dropped my lip and blinked me eyes, so hubby would turn the car in the direction of the library and could just run in ..... He caved and we headed that direction. And no, I wasn't able to make a quick run. Turns out the library was EMPTY and the librarian who never wants to talk struck up a 15 minute conversation about Days of our Lives, DVRs and new HDTV televisions sets. I didn't have the heart to cut her off and say "hey lady, we've been trying to get on the road for the last 5 hours!"

I got the DVDs and we headed off into the sunset ...ok the sunrise. Then we needed to stop for ice for the cooler. We drove through Sonic ... time in line 15 minutes .. we drove for another 20 minutes and stopped for breakfast .. time in line 10 minutes .... then it seemed we were set for at least another two hours, but then 15 minutes after the stop for breakfast, we needed a bathroom break.

So we stopped at Love's and proceeded to unlock, unlatch, reshoe and remove all the blankets and pillows so at least 4 of us could potty.

Now do we see why we like leaving in the middle of the night? Had we left at 3am we could have driven 4 hours before we would have had to stop to gas up and have a potty break.

Needless to say, we had potty break almost every 2 hours AND ran into ugly traffic with an 1 hour delay ... thank Goodness we got gas before we ran into that mess .... and arrived at my-inlaws 15 hours from when we started ... a trip that normally takes 11 to 12 hours.

Oh yeah, we stopped for dinner at a place I have been dying to for at least a year now and boy howdy .... that is another story ENTIRELY that I may never share, but I do plan to write a letter to the owners. Hint, hint ... the owner is on FoodNetwork.

Memories ... Summer has gone bye bye ...

We are THAT family is having a blog hop vacation party today!! See what we did and then hop on over to Kristen's blog to join in on the fun!

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I must thank the Make A Wish Foundation for granting Ethan's wish of spending some time with Mickey Mouse and all his friends!! Our family had not taken a vacation since Ethan was diagnosed with his tumor and this vacation week was a HUGE blessing! Thank you just doesn't seem like enough words.

We didn't have to worry about a thing! Interestingly enough, God allowed us to have this vacation on the 5th anniversary of Ethan's diagnosis ...what timing our God has! 2003- News of the tumor, 2008, celebration of the partial removal of the tumor, seizure free for 2 years AND a vacation for the whole family!

Here's Ethan at Disney's Hollywood Studios - The ToyStory ride. All 5 of us got to ride an compete on this interactive ride. The wait was 2 hours, but because Ethan was a wish kid, our wait was 0!!!
My mousekateers, M-I-C-K-E-Y, M O U S E ...

This is the ice cream shoppe where we ate unlimited FREE ice cream ALL week.
The carousel my kids refused to ride .... but they always want to pay and ride at the mall ...
The pool ... always nice to have a frog spitting right at you .. huh?
The villa where we stay for the week .. ahhh .. this IS luxury!
The train conductor let Ethan drive ... watch out .. he is trying to drive AND drink fresh lemonade!


Give Kids the World brings Santa in every week for all the children who stay here to talk to and ask for early presents!!! Look how DeClan is behavin? What is it about that bearded guy that makes kiddos scream and run for dear life? Had I remembered Santa was coming, the boys would have had on matching outfits. :) You know how we moms can be ...
One of the highlights of the trip! Taking pics with Mickey and Minnie. I felt like I was in the presence of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett. I had goosebumps on my arms. You are never too old to get excited about Mickey!
Austin giving a rare hug to Mickey.
The whole family with the mice. This is THE LAST time you will see me smiling in the presence of a mouse!
Our home away from home while we were in Florida. GKTW works with Make A Wish to make sure wish families have a fun filled all expense paid vacation. We ALL cried when we left, but plan to go back to Give Kids the World to volunteer as a family and help raise money for this wonderful organization!

Disney - Animal Kingdom/Epcot

Monday we visited Disney's Animal Kingdom and Epcot. Here you can see Ethan right up close with a Scarlet Maccaw! Ethan has had no problem remembering all the names of the wonderful animals God created that he was able to see. This was by far one of the best places at Disney. Everything is hands on and up close!

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We got on the infamous Safari ride at Animal Kingdom at I simply could not believe how close we were to all the animals. We will definitely be back! We took pictures, but because the jeep ride was so bumpy, none of them turned out right. So if you are headed to Disney - look at this first. You gotta go on this tour.

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Later Monday afternoon, we went to Epcot where the kids were sort of hohum, why did we come here, but D and I enjoyed the journey through time and technology.

We managed to get on the Nemo ride so the kids could say they we did something for them, but for the most part, I think, Epcot may be for older kids and adults. Oh and thinking about dining at one at the favoured resturaunts? Better make reservations at least 3 months before you trip. We ended up eating $30.00 hamburgers and fries at the Electric Umbrella!

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Tuesday, we are off to Magic Kingdom!

Disney - Day Two Universal Studios

This is the place known as the Gingerbread House where we had breakfast EVERY morning. Scrumptious, mouth watering full grandma Minnie's breakfasts. Eggs, hash browns, sausage gravy, biscuits, waffles, bacon, ham, fruit, cereal and yogurt.

Needless to say, we ate and ate very well.

We visited Universal Studios Sunday, but I cannot find those photos ... sorry, so click here and you will get an idea of what we did.

Ethan got to meet SPIDER MAN and take a photo with him!!! Wooohoo!

Disney - Our resort village

We arrived in Florida from a wonderful, dramaless flight and there was an attendant from our resort village waiting for us holding a sign with Ethan's name on it. The attendant helped D with the luggage, walked us through the maze of the Orlando airport, straight to Avis where a fully loaded van complete with 3 DVD/gameplayers and carseats was waiting for us.

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The directions were perfectly provided for us. It was a beautiful day and when we arrived at the resort village we were AMAZED at what we saw. A place just for kids like Ethan!

After checking in, we were escorted to our own private villa and given a tour of what we would call our home away from home for at least a week. The kids jumped out of the van and straight for the rocking chairs on the porch. Something they have not seen before, but knew just what to do.

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One of the photos above is of the ice cream shoppe, where you could have ice cream ALL DAY LONG anyway you liked it ... on a cone, in a sundae, or a shake .. with sprinkles on top! Whatever YOU wanted for FREE ... yes, FREE .... needless to say, the weight that was once lost before the trip is now found!

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Ethan and the kids were also able to play putt putt all day, swim, ride the trains, authentic video games, boat racing, fishing, did I mention ice cream and homemade lemonade? All day. We had been told a lot kids do not want to leave the village to do to Disney because they are spolied rotten at GKTW and that was the case with Ethan as well.

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I attended the parent orientation and recieved the free tickets and parking passes for DisneyWorld, Universal Studios, and Sea World.

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D and would have to sit down and plan the week. What a problem to have!

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Praising God! Praising God!

Disney - Day One

Hats off to the Make a Wish Foundation for blessing us with this fantastic blow your mind vacation!

Saturday - we woke up at 3:00am so we could go to the parking and ride where we would leave our van so they could drop us off curbside at the airport for a 7:20am flight. We made it just in time, 5:15am.

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We packed 4 suitcases to be checked and 3 backpacks for the flight FULL of snacks for the trip. No thank you to the 4 dollar breakfast sandwich!

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We checked in, gave the AA rep our suitcases and got in line for the security check. But wait ... who had the tickets? Me? D? I checked us in while he was loading the bags and handling the stroller, but we both had to shown ID. Did the AA rep give us the boarding passes? Oh no, she just went on break ... go back and retrace our steps ... whew, there they are right there on the FLOOR!!! I breathe a HUGE sigh of relief and pray this is NOT the way things will go from here on out.

Thank you God for watching over the tickets!

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We go through security with 3 kids, a stroller and backpacks for each person, oh yes and we had to take our shoes off of course! We wait for the flight to board and take one more bathroom break. We finally board the plane and we are off to Florida!

Packing so soon seemed like a good idea ...

I wanted to start early so I could a handle on things and be o so prepared for the trip ...
BUT NOW I HAVE TOO MANY choices!

I have been washing clothes and finding outfits that have been in storage that would be just too cute on the young men while posing for pictures in Florida ... and now the suitcases are overflowing and spilling out of the den .. a stark contrast from the photos the other day .. I'm too embarrased to take a picture .. hehehehe

You would think that having a washer and dryer in the room would help me pick 4 outfits and make it easier .. but unfortunately it has made me even crazier about WHAT to pack ..

What to do .. what to do ... gotta figure out something soon ....

There are some things that have taken me away from you ....

(Please forgive the jumbled post, blogger is on the fritz today)

For more than a month now, I have been packing for a week long trip that is more than a week away ...

Hubby thinks I am crazy for starting so soon, but I needed to know that everything that needs to be packed will be packed. I don't feel like finding a Wal-Mart to fill in the gaps while I am on vacation. (SMILE)

We have only allowed 1 suitcase per person (I guess that is enough) so it has made packing and planning very interesting. (Thank you very much airline officials), especially with two todds in tow.

And so the suitcases have become part of the decor as I add to my list of things we don't have in groups of 5, but it will all be over soon ... the suitcases will close, the trip to the airport will come, we will land and get to the resort and discover that even after all this careful planning ....

"Mom, I forgot my toothbrush" will come ringing in the first day at Disney!

Have a great day!

Balance

I gotta get some around here. I am teetering on empty ....

End of school events, potty training, field trips, room mom assignments, cooking, washing clothes, preparing for a week long vacation, packing three boys and a husband for said vacation, VBS/vacation bible school, church ladies conference committee assignments, science projects, vehicle registration, holding USPS mail, vehicle inspections, oil changes, summer item shopping, finding cheap gas, mapping out summer to dos without spending a lot of money or driving away my rainy day fund, pay bills, finding a driver to drop off and pick up at airport or finding service to drop off our car and take us to the gate, water the grass, plant some summer flowers, buy said flowers to plant, BBQ hamburgers, church picnic, get Father's Day cards/gifts, celebrate Gran Gran's birthday, make a to do list ... enjoy family, enjoy life ...

there is so much more to do .. I just need BALANCE!

Will somebody tell my body Spring Break is OVER?

We've been home since Saturday. We got home mid-morning, ate breakfast and CRASHED for 2 1/2 hours.... Ok, perhaps 4 hours. We got up and attended the Saturday evening services at our church for Easter (which was wonderful!) and came home to sleep some more.

I have unpacked 2 out of 4 suitcases and washed clothes so people in my house could have clean items to dry off with and have clothes to wear to work and school, but major laundry ... I am waiting until the pile gets really high. (sigh)

Someone at my church blessed me with a $500 makeover opportunity and I spent Monday evening getting a "redo" ... clothes included!!!!! (I'll blog more on this later, when my "after" is closer to BRAVO's Tim Gunn perfection! (SMILE) I had a BLAST and learned a lot about fashion, staple items, beauty tips that don't cost a lot and what MY body shape should really wear. I even had my eyebrows arched! For the first time .. ever ... in my life .. and I am almost 40 .. yeah I know, 40!

Tuesday morning I attended bible study where I presented Ethan's entire brain tumor journey. I was SO nervous, BUT GOD guided me through. I pray women were blessed by what God did in our lives! Ethan joined the children's choir and they had practice last night since they will be singing Sunday ... two services ... on my wedding anniversary ...

And today ... I HAVE to buy groceries. I bought just enough before we left to last until we left for vacation. I shudda though more about what happens when we get home ... hehehe


and so ... I need a few more days .. just a few more days .... I will be back later this weekend for the final installment about my baby ... ETHAN.

A mini vacation .. right in our own backyard

My oldest is doing Godceptionally well and we were given the clearance to go out and do almost all the things we haven't done in four years, let alone since our family union was created in 1995. Still seems scary to let him do anything involving his head, because we have had to keep him away from basketball, football, soccer and ice hockey and now we can let him do these things (?) Well, it will take me and the hubby some time to say okay. Anyway ... since the funds this summer are a little TIGHT, I have been trying to find ways to create summer memories for the family, but also see what goodness the Lord has created around us. I was on a wesbite Everyday Cheapskate and it has been suggested that just like you go to the visitor's and convention bureau when you go out of town, do the same thing in your own city and you might be amazed at what is in your backyard. I did just that, plus took some notes from some friends and whalla .. a mini vacation without spending a lot and we didn't even need a hotel. We did make hotel night for the kids though. We let them order pretend room service, stay up late, and sleep in our bedroom. The kids got to sleep in our bed. I don't own a digital camera, so as soon as I get the pics developed at Wally World, I will drop them in this entry.

We rolled out $7.00 today for the whole family including my baby sister and my neice and visited a local splash park and had ball. You can take your own cooler and snacks and sit on the grass or on the concrete seats they provide (be careful though, you WILL get splashed) and the kids, even my Chunky Monkey (the 8 month old) had a ball.

We plan to go bowling, play golf, go swimming at a friend's LUXURY pool, go to some museums, go to IMAX theater, zoos, some local tours, eat pizza/popcorn while watching movies at home at night and whatever else we can find to do for the remainder of year, but definitely for the rest of the summer.