A Late Halloween Post

Well, I didn't mean to leave everyone in suspense. Luckily, you all know me well enough to guess that I'd let you hang for a little while! :-)

First off is Halloween. Brian and I aren't crazy about this "holiday." Given my (diminishing) fear of people in costumes, and the fact that Brian's family just never really "did" Halloween, it's typically been the holiday where we would go out to dinner or just sit in a darkened house and enjoy a nice dinner and movie. When Ann Catherine came along, we wanted to enjoy seeing her in a costume but still really didn't want to do the whole trick-or-treating thing, so we started taking her to the Fall Festivals at church. Luckily (or unluckily depending upon how you look at it), the child's own fears really made her prefer to stay at home with her party-pooper parents.

This year was different. Ann Catherine's best friend from school just happens to LOVE trick-or-treating (despite her own shyness) and the two girls hatched up a plan for the two of them to trick-or-treat together. I talked to her friend's mom at the school's Fall Festival one night and we decided we'd go ahead and take the girls together. Now, if my shy little girl and her shy little friend happily and giddily announce that they want to go door-to-door and actually say "Trick or Treat" to a stranger, then I'm all for it. I've been looking for opportunities to allow my fearful one to shake loose a few fears. If it meant standing out in the cold surrounded by hundreds of costumed parents and children, then so be it. And since my little boy is not fearful of anything at all, we figured we'd bring him right along.

The kids had a ball. Actually, Ann Catherine had a ball. Will liked it the first couple houses. Then, when a very creepy looking costumed man walked out to hand the kids some candy, he quickly backed away. My typically anxious little girl decided to play protector and asked for some candy for him. They proceeded to do this for the next half hour or so every time Will found a house he wasn't too sure of. With a smile, a chuckle and a shaking of my head, I enjoyed quite a bit of time observing my little ones swapping roles as Will became the anxious one and Ann Catherine suddenly became so brave for him.

As the night wore on and it started to get colder out, Will's little feet started dragging. Soon, the big kids were a house ahead of him. At this one house, he slowly walked up the very steep steps to the front porch. His little feet were dragging and suddenly he tripped on one of the steps. The lady who owned the house was watching him and waiting to see if he'd make it but, once he fell, she decided she'd save him the rest of the trip and came down the stairs to give him some candy. After wiping away his tears, we knew it was time for Daddy to take him home.

Ann Catherine and her friends still had plenty of energy to spare so we continued up and down the street until we finally made it to our own street. Now here's where it got funny. Ann Catherine's friends were starting to drag and their mom said it was time to go home. Ann Catherine was so upset - she wanted to keep going! As she sadly watched her friends walk away, she looked at me and asked if she could continue on. "Sure," I said, "but I'm NOT going to walk with you up to the house and you're going to have to say 'trick or treat' on your own."

"OK!" she quickly agreed.

Ummmm...is this my daughter I'm talking to?!?! Since when does this child who hyperventilates in a 3D movie, or looks terror stricken any time it starts to rain, or has to be bribed to get her to say hello to strangers (and sometimes even friends) at church, have the bravery needed in order to trick or treat ON HER OWN?!

She did it though! She bravely walked up to doors and knocked and loudly said, "Trick or Treat," dug through their candy bowls and clearly said, "Thank you" at each house. Of course, it all ended when she came upon a bowl that someone had left on their front porch for trick or treaters that just happened to be a bowl with a motion-sensored hand in it that would grab your hand as you went to get the candy. I tried to warn her. She didn't listen. She cried for most of the way home. Of course, her 10 pound bag of candy helped wipe away the tears as soon as we got back home.

Oh, and yes, she's declared that she's doing this EVERY YEAR!

So, for the second half of my story...

Drum roll please. Anyone want to guess after reading my trip report to Disney as to whether or not we're going back to Disney again next summer?

No cheating by asking Rachel. I couldn't keep the news in while she was at our house.

Ok, the answer is...maybe.

When we got back home, we were still not sure if we wanted to brave the trip with Will again. We WANTED to go, but we were so afraid he'd pull the same temper tantrums again. I don't like paying a huge amount of money only to be miserable half of the time. But when we got back home, I had another little surprise waiting for me in my inbox in my email. You guessed it - it was another pin code that gives us a discount on another trip.

Now here's where it gets a little funny. The pin codes only covered trips until the end of May. And we were looking at doing a trip in June. Just because I was curious, I looked to see when Ann Catherine's last day of school is. Friday, May 21. So, for the fun of it and because I'm daring and brave (no, not really - just too curious for my own good), I forwarded my pin code email to my travel agent. Uh oh. Remember how this got us in trouble last time? Oh yeah, she came back with a good offer; much lower than we originally expected. I told her we'd think about it, knowing we had five days to make our decision before a discount would be needed to hold our reservation.

I went back to my favorite Disney website just for the fun of it but noticed a couple posts from a couple people mentioning the same pin code email. And then I saw one where someone talked about how, with the pin code, cheap it was to upgrade from the value resort (the motel-ish type hotel we stayed in last month) to a moderate resort (the medium one which is more like a nicer hotel we'd typically stay in, but still one step away from the deluxes...which obviously we'll never be able to afford!). Just for the fun of it (yeah, right...again, too curious), I emailed my travel agent and asked her how much it'd cost to upgrade to a moderate resort. Ummmm, yeah. It was only $200 more.

Here's where I had to start thinking quickly. In the value resort, you have to PAY to rent a refrigerator. In our household, given my son's frequent desire to wake up in the middle of the night needing his sippy cup of milk, a refrigerator is a necessity. So we knew that, by staying 7 nights at a value hotel, we'd end up paying $70 just to rent the refrigerator for a week ($10 a night). But at a moderate resort, you get the refrigerator for free. You even get a coffee pot (which you don't get at the values, but would be a huge plus for Brian and I to cut down on our grumpiness!!). Yeah, that totally justifies spending the extra $200 to upgrade to a moderate resort with a bigger pool, less people and a less crowded bus!

Sooooo...want to guess what we did?

Yeah, we booked it. Granted, it's still booked with a question mark hanging over it. We've only put down the minimal deposit (which is very minimal and fully refundable up until sometime in April). But we're going to watch Will and see how he changes and matures in the next six months and, of course, we're going to majorly work on the attitude and practicing with our time-out skills. Six months from now, we're hoping to walk into our lovely room with queen sized beds at the Coronado Springs Resort. If something happens (ahem, Will), then we may just be driving down the beach instead.

Day Four: Our Final Day

Where in the world has the time gone? Seriously, I can't believe it's taken me so long to complete our little journey on here. I really do apologize for leaving all of you in suspense. In my defense, though, the two weeks have been crazy! With a capital "C"! I was supposed to finish this up before our appointment at the hospital with the specialist for Will. However, my worry and concern definitely got the best of me in the day or two before the appointment. After that, we were in a flurry of activity hunting down Halloween costumes, helping prepare for and run a small game booth at the schoolwide Fall Festival at Ann Catherine's school, and preparing and purchasing all the goodies the kids were responsible for for their Fall Parties. Between Girl Scouts, Ann Catherine's class at school, her Aftercare program at school (the people who watch her until I can pick her up after work), and Will's daycare, we had four different parties to get ready for and, for each, I had at least one thing to send in. I think we spent $50 just buying everything needed for the parties, making sure to send in enough for 12 kids, and 25 kids and 15 kids (depending on who it was for!). Then, to top it all off, we actually took the kids trick-or-treating for the first time on Saturday (to be blogged about hopefully tomorrow). I think we've finally settled down for at least a week or so. Of course, coming up I still have to prepare for AC's birthday parties, buy presents, prepare for another bridal shower (not complaining, just saying), along with the parties that will happen at all of these same places for Thanksgiving!

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Back to Disney! Even though this was our last day at Disney, this was a day we were really looking forward to. The weather was beautiful (as opposed to the freezing cold days we had for our first two days where we had to wear jeans and jackets!), and it was the day we were going to spend our time slowing down and relaxing. The one big event we had for the day was breakfast with Donald.

There is a wonderful restaurant at the Animal Kingdom called the Tusker House. While lunch and dinner aren't character meals, they do have Donald and friends (Mickey, Daisy and Goofy) on hand for breakfast. And let me tell you, this breakfast was our favorite meal for our whole trip. So much food, so much variety...and, of course, Will would only eat a plate full of sausages. I'm sighing as I say that.

Anyway, our breakfast at the Tusker House was early enough that, once we got finished eating, it was just in time for the park to officially open. Since we were already in the park, there is a special place near the restaurant where we could stand and wait for the official rope drop rather than having to return to the park entrance. Lucky for us, it was right next to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride so we were literally the third people in line for this ride. We had heard that the animals are always a little more active in the morning and evening because it's not so hot. While we enjoyed having absolutely no wait for the ride, we were a little disappointed because we really didn't see very many animals. Plus, this seemed to be the one ride Ann Catherine was still a little afraid of so she wasn't too happy that we forced her to go. Our rule for the trip was that we wouldn't go on any ride the kids didn't want to go on and, for the most part, we stuck to that. However, I'm a HUGE animal/zoo fan and really wanted to see the animals on this ride again. Plus, how often can we say we got to be the third in line for it?! So, we confess: we forced her to ride.

Afterwards, we lazily walked through some of the animal areas, saw the Lion King show and then saw a few characters the kids wanted to see, we then over to the Dinosaur area. By this time, Will needed a playground break so, while he played in the little playground over there, Ann Catherine and I rode the ONE roller coaster that child loves: the Primeval Whirl. Since Will is still too short to ride it and it made Brian a little sick the last time he rode it last summer, I offered to take her over there. Yeah, I'm not passing up a chance to ride on a roller coaster - even if it is designed for kids! The two of us girls had so much fun laughing and she didn't even blink an eye when they put someone in the car with us. Given her many fears, it amazed me how brave she was on this roller coaster. It's designed for kids but it has it's own fair share of good-sized drops! And she LOVES them! I think this little girl is MUCH braver than she gives herself credit for. And the minute she decides she's old enough and brave enough for REAL roller coasters, we will SO be making the drive north to Sandusky!

After spending some time in the Dinosaur area, we grabbed some lunch at the one and only BBQ joint in all of Disney. I was craving their ribs after hearing rave reviews about them on the disboards. Oh my, they weren't quite perfectly Tennessean but they were very good!

The funny thing is that, even though the day was only halfway over, we looked at our map and realized that there really wasn't anything left that we REALLY wanted to do other than to go look at the one animal area we missed last year with the tigers. Other than that, we were all excited to go back to the resort and do the one thing we had purposefully left for this day: swimming in the pools at the resort.

After viewing the tigers, we headed back to the resort, grabbed our swimsuits and headed to the pools. We had such a nice, relaxed time in those pools and just enjoyed the little sunshine that was left for the day. All too soon, the winds picked up, the sun hid behind the clouds once again, and my son's lips turned blue as his teeth chattered (but with a smile still plastered on his face!). Yep, it was time to go inside!

But the nice thing about the time remaining was that we felt no pressure to go do anything. We spent a leisurely afternoon changing back into our clothes, taking a leisurely stroll along the lake next to the resort, and headed to the food court in our room and enjoyed a nice dinner, and then headed to the gift shop next to the food court. The kids had been begging to shop in there and we had purposefully left all of the major shopping to this evening. We spent a wonderful and very leisurely hour or two in that shop before returning back to our room and just enjoying the evening together. Let's just not talk about how much money we spent in there!!

The funny thing about this whole stay was that, despite how wonderful it was, once we were back on the road the next morning (for a full 12 hour trip home!), we weren't quite sure about our trip for next summer. This trip we had purposefully tried to relax and not worry about seeing it all because we knew we were going back next summer. But given Will's temper tantrums, we weren't quite sure if we were brave enough for the trip! Hearing him say, on a daily basis, "I wanna go back home" was a little unnerving (and tiring). Plus, we realized how blessed we've been over the past 10 years to have additional sets of hands to help us when the kids are driving us nuts because we've always vacationed with my family. So, on our trip home, Brian and I instead spent the time making up a list for the trip we DID decide on: our 15-year wedding anniversary. We are going to go back, just the two of us, and hit every ADULT ride we can find. We will ride every roller coaster and we will enjoy every meal that has NO characters! We will NOT ride Dumbo and we will NOT stand in line to meet any characters. And it will be heavenly.

So coming up tomorrow (just to give you one more day of suspense), I'm going to fill you in on our Halloween trick-or-treating experience (with pictures to enjoy) and, as an added bonus, let you know what our FINAL decision was on next summer.

Day Three and It's a Small World

Whew! I feel so much better! Thank you so much for letting me take a headache break! :-)

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Monday was supposed to be our long day. This time we were headed to Magic Kingdom, and I really wanted to do rope drop, plus we wanted to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours at the park. Even though the park technically closed at 10:00 pm, Disney Resort Guests (those staying on property at a Disney hotel) were able to stay in the park until 1:00 am. I'm not brave enough to try to keep these kids up until 1:00 am - especially considering how Will had been acting. But we thought that we'd ride a couple rides after the fireworks, which would give time for the crowds to thin out a little bit before we attempted to board a bus back to the hotel. However, given the fact that we had stayed up later than originally planned to watch the Fantasmic show the night before, Brian and I both thought it'd be wise to skip rope drop and instead get a little more sleep.

So after a leisurely breakfast, we started to get our stuff together for our daylong trip to the Magic Kingdom. But just before leaving, I spotted the stroller laying on the floor next to the door and started thinking. One of the main triggers for Will's meltdowns the previous two days had involved the stroller. Really, he wanted to be PUSHING the stroller - not riding in it. However, his pushing tends to give Brian and I both heart attacks as we do everything we can to help him steer AWAY from people - rather than letting him plow into the backs of their legs. It made me start to wonder what it would be like without the stroller. I quietly asked Brian what he thought and, after talking it through, we decided to take a chance and try the day without the stroller. Honestly, that was absolutely the best decision we had made. Other than the struggle to get a sleeping Will to the bus when we were ready to leave for the night, that stroller was never missed. Will never complained about walking all day and, honestly, I think it helped him to get rid of his excessive energy after waiting in lines for rides.

Right away, once we reached the park, we headed straight for the "mandatory" rides, according to my kids - Dumbo and the Mad Tea Party teacups. Luckily, even though the park was crowded, we never saw lines longer than 20 minutes for any ride we wanted to ride on (of course, none of those were the megarides, which still held 90 minute waits). The one benefit to taking a Disney trip in October!

After our two favorite rides, we spotted the Speedway. Now, we hadn't tried this ride in the past because we knew Will was too short. But this year, we knew he would be fine so we decided to give it a try. Both kids became first-time drivers! And let me tell you, those rides were the scariest car rides of our lives. After several corners turned where we were convinced our children would figure out how to actually jump the track, we decided we'd wait until the kids were the legal age limit before attempting to put them behind the wheel again!

From there we did the obligatory "It's a Small World" ride before deciding to head for lunch. Now, Brian and I have our favorite lunch spot in Magic Kingdom: Pecos Bill. They make an awesome hamburger and have a toppings bar filled with some wonderful stuff (can you say sauteed mushrooms? My favorite!). But both kids declared they wanted hot dogs and not hamburgers. Since this was Will's favorite time of day for a meltdown and I could almost see that look in his eye, we decided it wasn't worth the argument. So instead we headed to the best hot dog place in all of Disney - Casey's Corner.

I used to think that Casey's Corner only had outside tables to eat at. Brian was the only one who had ever been in there since he'd always brought our food outside to us where we'd grab a table. But this time, Brian said he'd found a table inside that would help us escape the sun. What we discovered is that Casey's Corner also has a topping bar for their hot dogs (with sauerkraut - my hot dog favorite!!) and also had a TV where you could watch old cartoons. What a perfect way for Will to just sit, eat, and veg for a little while.

From there, we headed to ride on Aladdin's Carpet (a 15-minute wait - YIPPEE!!), stopping only to take a picture with Lilo and Stitch. Of course, Stitch was being a little ornery and wouldn't give the marker back to Brian after signing the autograph books. Lilo eventually had to trick him before she could steal it from him. It was pretty funny watching my grown husband get embarrassed because he couldn't figure out how to get a pen away from a character!

At this point in time, I could tell that Will needed to head to a place where he could just run around and blow off some energy. So we headed for a nearby area of the park we'd never visited before but I thought I'd read had included a play area for kids: Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. I'm not sure if any of you have ever been here but...ummm...it's not a playground. It's a replica of the treehouse that the Swiss Family Robinsons lived in for the movie. Basically it's a huge amount of steps and twists and turns where you basically stay along this path and climb a tree to the top. Which was a lot of fun for me since I loved that movie as a kid. And Will enjoyed climbing all the steps. Ann Catherine enjoyed it as well for one reason: her daddy's reaction. Unfortunately, I forgot to consider that Brian has a fear of heights. A really BAD fear of heights. By the top of the tree, my poor hubby was trying hard not to hyperventilate. There was really no way to get off the tree without continuing on the path to the top and then back down. All of us had a good case of the giggles before we got to the bottom of that tree because of my poor hubby's reaction.

Since this attempt at a playground had successfully failed, Will was now DETERMINED to get to a playground. Ann Catherine, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with a playground - especially when she heard it was time for the parade. So, despite my love of Disney parades, I volunteered to take Will to an area I KNEW had a playground for younger children while Brian and Ann Catherine watched the parade. Will and I headed to Pooh's Playful Spot where he had the opportunity to run, play in a toddler version of a treehouse, slide on a slide, climb into hollowed out trees, and play with the water fountains shooting from the ground.

After the parade was finished, it was time to head out for our dinner reservations at the Grand Floridian Hotel. We wanted to take Ann Catherine to eat with Cinderella at the Castle but those reservations tend to go quickly. So Angela, my Travel Agent, suggested that we try 1900 Park Fare where you dine with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Cindy's stepmother, and her two stepsisters - Anastasia and Drusella. We had heard really good things about the interaction with the stepsisters so we thought we'd give it a try.

If you've never been there, the Grand Floridian Hotel is the EXCLUSIVE hotel on Disney property. There are restaurants there where children aren't even allowed to eat. Their restaurants have dress codes! There are crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, a small band that plays on the second floor for guests' entertainment, and exclusive elevators just for Hotel Guests (which we found out the hard way). Yeah, we TOTALLY felt out of our element. We also made it there about 45 minutes too early so we knew we had to kill some time somehow. Luckily, we found a small little table and chairs with a small little TV with cartoons playing for children to enjoy while their parents are checking in at the hotel. The kids had fun watching the TV while Brian and I explored to find the Hidden Mickey's in the floor. Actually, they had Hidden Mickey, hidden Tinkerbell, hidden Goofy, Donald, Minnie, and my absolute favorite. Can you tell who it is?

Once we made it inside to the restaurant, we found a wonderful dinner buffet where they even had a stir-fry beef I decided to try and promptly realized it tasted like bulgogi. I could have eaten my entire dinner off that beef!

We discovered that there is an enormous difference between character dining with the costumed characters and dining with the maskless characters. Even though Cinderella and friends had to remain in character, the really cool thing about being there is that they can actually TALK and interact with your children. They don't just sign your book, take a picture and move on to the next table. The coolest thing about it? I had a talkative son on my hands that night and I think both Cinderella and Prince Charming would have stayed there all night listening to him if we had allowed him to continue talking before helping them get a chance to go on to the next table. Will even stopped Prince Charming on our way out to show him that he was on the placemat Will had received. And Prince Charming knelt down and ooh'd and aah'd over that placemat like he had never seen it before.

The weirdest thing for me was my reaction to Cinderella. Now, I've been to Disney four times now and I've seen Cinderella numerous times. But I had never talked to her. And I'd never been in a place where she could stand and talk to my kids and take pictures with us. And what you need to realize is that, as a child, Cinderella was always my favorite princess. I loved the movie and always fantasized that I could someday wear her beautiful blue dress and would find my own Prince Charming and Castle someday. She was always my favorite Disney character. So when Brian suggested that I get my picture made with her (payback for the numerous times I've teased him and made him take his picture with Mickey), I suddenly was startled at my reaction to standing next to her and smiling for the camera. I actually started to tear up! I actually felt a little emotional at that moment. And I'm not an emotional person! It was the weirdest thing in the world! Made me rethink all of my teasing Brian for his tears over Mickey.

After dinner, we headed back to the park and had just enough time to find our place on the sidewalk in front of Casey's Corner - the best place in all of Magic Kingdom to watch the parade and fireworks. Even though Will was fidgety and we had to take two potty breaks while waiting, it was so worth it. The kids LOVED the parade. And Ann Catherine loved the fireworks. I think Will would have enjoyed it too if he had managed to stay awake for them! He fell asleep on Brian's shoulder after the parade was done and while we were waiting for the fireworks to start.

Given the mass exodus out the door, we knew we still needed to stick to our plan to ride a few rides while people left the park. So Brian held a sleeping Will while I rode the Tea Cups and Dumbo with Ann Catherine one more time. We barely had a wait at either place and it was wonderful riding those rides at night with everything lit up so beautifully.

Coming up tomorrow: Animal Kingdom. A shortened day, a shivering Will with blue lips and WAY too much money spent!

Day Two and One Red-Faced Momma!

There was only one must-ride ride at Hollywood Studios that our family really wanted to do: Toy Story Mania. We didn't get to do this ride last year because it was so new and the wait for it was over 2 hours long. With a 2 year old, that's just not doable. Even though it's still popular and has the longest wait times in the entire park, we knew we wanted to try it this year.

There are two wonderful things I learned from the disboards. One is to always do rope drop when the park opens. Basically if you want to ride Toy Story Mania twice, you have to be there at rope drop so you can be at the front of the line and then jump into the Fastpass line to get one so you can ride later in the day with a minimal wait. That was what I really wanted to do.

The other thing I learned was to use Youtube to find out which rides Ann Catherine would be comfortable riding on. If you go to that website and search for a particular ride, for the most part, you'll find a video of it. So we did that with several rides that were questionable as to whether or not Ann Catherine would be willing to get on it and actually be able to enjoy it and not spend the whole ride hyperventilating. We narrowed down several rides this way but once she saw the video for Toy Story Mania, she was hooked and desperate to ride it.

So the original plan was to get to rope drop, try the ride out and then get a Fastpass if we liked it. But given Will's exhaustion-induced temper tantrum from the day before, we thought it'd be a good idea to give up on Rope Drop so we could get a little bit more sleep and instead just get a Fastpass. We eventually made it to the park about 10:00 am and Brian took off running through the park with our tickets to get our Fastpasses. He managed to get four of them but, believe it or not, our return time wasn't until 5:05 that night!

For that day, we had lunch reservations at the Hollywood and Vine restaurant. Luckily, the reservations were early enough that, by the time Brian was done with getting our Fastpasses, it was basically time to go check in for our reservations. We got in fairly quickly and filled up on the buffet before our characters showed up: JoJo and her friend Goliath, and June and Leo from The Little Einsteins. Now, Ann Catherine LOVED JoJo when she was Will's age so that little girl was basically in tears when JoJo came around to her table. She gave her the biggest bear hug and thanked us over and over again for taking her there so she could see her. On the other hand, The Little Einsteins are Will's favorite (besides that big yellow sponge!!) so that child was in heaven getting to talk to June and Leo. Even better, they realized that they were on his shirt (we had gotten him a Little Einsteins shirt before the trip specifically for that lunch) and Leo even wrote "I love the shirt" in his autograph book.

Unfortunately, this was the best part of the trip. From here, we decided to go see the Indiana Jones movie. Both children declared it too scary and wanted to leave throughout the show (which we couldn't do since we were in the middle of a row). From there, the day just went downhill.

After leaving, we decided to try a few more shows. On our way to the Muppets 3D movie (AC decided she's no longer afraid of it and wanted to go see it), we passed by the Jedi training at the Star Wars ride. Sure enough, out walked Darth Vader. Will kept wanting to know why "Darth Mater" was there. Cute! I just wish he had STAYED that cute.

Right outside the Muppets show, as you exit the building, is the exhibit where Mater and Lighting McQueen from Cars is stationed. Will immediately wanted to go over there. One problem: he wanted to climb INTO Lighting McQueen. We tried to explain that wasn't possible and tried to get him to pose for the picture. Not happening. So Daddy went over there to hold him. Not helping.

Melt-down city.

He screamed as we walked away. He kicked and screamed as we tried to put him in the stroller. The stroller became a weapon (not ours - but his). And we decided it was time to leave. Oh yes, my face was bright red all the way to the front of the park. Actually, Brian's was too - not from mortification like mine but from exhaustion from trying to hold the screaming, hitting, bitting, squirming child with 18 arms and legs. Oh yes, it wasn't my imagination this time. Everyone really WAS staring at us!! Finally, at the front of the park, I convinced him to calm down by letting him push the stroller. My children have always been like that - they'd rather push that stroller than actually get in and ride it. That's fine if you know how to steer it away from other people. Yeah, my 3 year old doesn't care about other people and pushes it where he feels like it.

When we got back, Will mentioned being hungry. Now, I know he throws temper tantrums like that when he's tired but now I was starting to wonder if maybe those screaming fits could also be tied to hunger. He didn't eat much at lunch since he was so busy with the characters. So we stopped by the food court at our hotel and got individual pizzas for both kids. After swallowing his pizza practically whole and then spending an hour laying on the bed and watching TV, we decided to brave the park one last time. We REALLY wanted to use those Toy Story Mania Fastpasses and, by leaving then, we knew we'd make it there just in time to use them. So we gave that park one last shot.

Riding Toy Story Mania was wonderful. We had no wait and both kids LOVED it!! Will loved it so much that I had to help Brian peel him out of the seat because he didn't want to leave the car at the end! But outside, he was distracted once again by the toy shop right outside the ride. Yeah, Disney does this purposefully. Right away, Will decided he wanted the entire store. We settled on a large Buzz Lightyear.

By this time, we had time to stop by one attraction to see which characters were in there before we realized that it was just in time for the final show of the night: Fantasmic. Now, originally, Fantasmic was not scheduled to be shown on that night. Disney has made budget cuts and whittled that show down to just two nights a week. We hadn't planned on going even though we really wanted to see the show. We had heard such incredible things about it but didn't have a chance to see it last year because of the crowds and my hyperventilating daughter. This year, with our much braver child, we hoped to get in to finally see it and was disappointed to see that it wasn't scheduled. But at the last minute, we heard that Disney was updating their schedule and had added a few shows to the week. I checked the updated schedule on Disney's website and, sure enough, they had added TWO shows for that night.

Since Will was distracted and happy with his new toy, we thought we'd give it a try. Sure, AC was a little nervous (we had warned her about a gigantic dragon and the other evil characters in it), and Will started getting bored and begging to go home (HOME - not the hotel). But, by now, Brian and I were determined to see this show. And I'm so glad we stayed. The show was INCREDIBLE and even the kids liked it. Brian even cried at the end because a huge boat comes around the corner with a whole bunch of characters and, at the top, steering the boat is Mickey dressed as Steamboat Willie. Now, if you don't know, of all the characters Mickey has ever played, Steamboat Willie is Brian's favorite. So that man had tears streaming down his face as he watched Steamboat Willie drive past.

Of course, I thought he was being silly. Now I realize that I shouldn't have so been cynical...which you'll hear more about tomorrow as we're off to Magic Kingdom. There, we'll also have a lesson learned and one hyperventilating daddy!

We're Back! And We Made It Around the World in Only 1 Hour!

We finally made it home late last night from our Disney trip. It was definitely a wild roller coaster of a trip with lots of twists and turns with lots of happiness and smiles, tons of walking, lots of character hugging, one red-faced embarrassed mama, and lots of tears (some from Mom as well).

Before we left for the trip, I spent a hour or two a day pouring over a website I had found last summer called the disboards. Basically it's a message board where people go back and forth talking about Disney. Not too exciting for some people, but gave me hours of pure joy and lots of "bonus" information and tips on how to make the most of your trip. One of my favorite places on the boards, though, is the trip reporting section. I loved to hear stories from other peoples' trips and to drool over their pictures of their food. While I'm not brave enough to do a trip report on the boards itself, I thought I'd give my own trip report here on my blog just for the people I KNOW will care. So each day for the next four days, I'll report on a different day from our trip. That way I can share a little more about the craziness, along with lots more pictures than I normally would share!

So Saturday morning found us at a marvelous hotel in Macon, GA. We had gotten there at about 10:00 pm the previous night and, despite a whiny, crying son who insisted that we had to go all the way home so he could sleep in his own bed, had a wonderful and restful evening at this hotel followed by an equally nice breakfast the next morning. This will definitely become our normal go-to hotel on our trips to Florida from now on!

We finally arrived at the Pop Century Resort about 2:00 on Saturday afternoon. Disney offers several levels of their resort hotels and this one is considered a "Value" hotel. We kind of wanted a "Moderate" hotel (the next step up) because we had heard that these hotels are actually very motel-ish. However, after finding out that it'd cost another $300 to upgrade, we decided it just wasn't worth it. And we're all so glad we made that choice because we ended up LOVING our hotel. The room was small but no smaller than the hotels we normally stay in (we aren't "hotel snobs" and just try to stay somewhere clean and inexpensive), but the themeing of the hotel was so much fun filled with a gigantic four-story jukebox and gigantic bowling pins on our side of the hotel, and next to the bowling pin shaped pool.

We knew we didn't have much time to spare if we wanted to get to our first park of the day (not to mention our dinner reservations at the park) so we quickly threw our luggage in our room, loaded up the stroller and hopped on the next bus to Epcot.

We specifically chose Epcot because we knew we only had a half-day available and Epcot is our least favorite park. It's fine for adults and, although it has some great rides for the kids, the rides are, for the most part, not something my too-short son and too-nervous daughter will enjoy. So when we arrived, we headed straight for the one ride Ann Catherine was excited about - Living with the Land. At school, they've been studying plants and how they grow so we knew this ride would be perfect. Luckily, the line was only 10 minutes long and both kids LOVED it!

From there, we decided to hit the World Showcase. We really wanted to take the kids exploring around the world and, above all, wanted to enjoy the show in America. However, there was one little complication - something called the Food and Wine Festival. We knew it was going on but we weren't prepared for the crowds....or the alcohol-filled people stumbling around. OK - I know it's a Wine Festival, but you don't think of drunk people filling Disney either. While we didn't see anyone who was TOO drunk, the language flowed around us about as much as the wine did. And the crowds were so thick that we had a hard time staying together. There was no enjoying this World Showcase at all - especially when our little boy suddenly decided he was tired and hungry and had had enough. Right around China he decided to have a meltdown. And a major meltdown he had ALL THE WAY AROUND THE WORLD. We had a brief stop in America to see if we could find him a snack since our dinner reservations were still an hour away, but the temper tantrum got so out of hand that we had to pull off to the side and pray not too many people were watching. You know that awful parental feeling that every single person in the world is staring at you and wondering why you can't control your child. Yeah, we had that moment. And so we took off running around the rest of the world. We made it around the whole world in only an hour. I personally think that should be a record!

Luckily, back out in Future World, we realized that the crowds here were much smaller and there were a few places where Will could get out of the stroller and just run around and play. So we put aside the stroller and let the two kids run and play with the hands-on entertainment.

Luckily, that burned enough time before we had to head back to the Land pavilion where our dinner reservations were. We were able to get reservations at the Garden Grill where we ate some wonderful food and the kids were entertained by Mickey, Pluto and Chip and Dale (or "ChipandDale" for both chipmunks according to our son).

Fortunately, our dinner reservations were so late that, by the time we got out, it was pretty much time for Illuminations. Now here's the dilemma we had: we knew we didn't want to go back to the World Showcase but we missed the show last year and REALLY wanted the kids to see it. However, given Will's tiredness we decided it was best to try again next summer and head back to the resort. But as we were walking out, we realized that a mass exodus seemed to be going on. Apparently all the locals who had filled World Showcase so they could drink around the world decided that they were done for the night, which basically left an empty World Showcase. So we decided to brave it and headed over there. We found great spots and all of us absolutely loved the show. Well, almost all of us. One of us was sound asleep by this time in Daddy's arms.

Coming up tomorrow: Hollywood Studios and another meltdown along with a small lesson learned.

Almost There!

It's a strange feeling knowing that we'll be standing at Epcot this time tomorrow. Actually, I guess we'll still be driving but close enough. I guess what's strange about it, though, is the fact that it doesn't feel like it's time to go yet. I just don't have that same excitement that I had on our last trip. That's bothered me for the past couple days as I was packing because I had been so excited I could hardly breathe when we first booked this trip. But I think I've finally figured out what's caused me to lose that excitement along the way.

We first started talking about this trip back in late July. Actually, I was thinking about it but not daring to wish that it could be a reality. But just to convince myself that we couldn't afford it (and without Brian's knowledge of what I was doing), I filled out an online quote form for a travel agency that specializes in Disney vacations. And when the response came back with the quote, I just jokingly mentioned it to my sweet hubby while having a lunch date at the local KFC. I remember that date. It was rainy and I had a hard time not falling on the slippery floors. The restaurant was empty but the drive-thru was full. I guess no one wanted to brave getting out in the rain. But, despite the dreary day, I jokingly told Brian what I had done and the quote I received. And he jokingly said that we should go. And then we started giggling. Maybe it was the heavenly scent of the fried chicken or maybe it was because we often feel like college-age kids once again every time we go to a fast food place for a lunch-time date. Whatever it was, that Disney magical spell started to weave it's way around us as we sat there giggling like little kids and suddenly the planning became a little more real and a little bit more of a possibility. And, before we left that date, it finally became a definite go.

So I've been excited and have started planning and dreaming and setting aside our vacation stuff as the past couple of months went by. But somewhere along the way, my little boy got sick. And then he got well, and then...well, you know the story. It's not been a fun ride. And while I try to remain optimistic about the not-so-great test results we've received and the necessity of making an appointment for a clinic whose name sounds so scary to me, the reality is that there are moments where I'm a little afraid. I'm a little afraid of what we could be told. I'm a little afraid of the unknown causes of these strange fevers and sore throats. And while I convince myself as much as possible that it's all going to be fine, the fact is that I'm still a little afraid. So I think that's stolen some of my joy and excitement.

When the latest fever popped up worse than the others a couple weeks ago, I knew that there was a strong possibility that our trip would be postponed until next summer. And while I was still glad that we'd be able to go, the possibility that the event we've all been so excited about for the past couple months was going to be cancelled just broke my heart. For the past couple weeks, we've toyed with the idea of just going ahead and postponing it and we've gone back and forth on what's best to keep our son in good health. Finally, we decided to make a game-time decision. We were going to pack like we were going but keep in mind that we may not. The final decision wouldn't be made until the day we were going to leave. And so, with that in mind, I think I've let the excitement slip away from me. I didn't want to get my hopes up just to have them dashed at the last minute. So I've protected my heart a little and focused completely on keeping my son well.

But today was the day. Game Day. The day we leave. The day to do the online check-in with the resort. The day we had to make that ultimate decision.

As we gathered those last few belongings this morning, Brian looked at me and asked that looming question, "Did Will's fever pop up in the middle of the night?" "Nope," I said. But that still wasn't good enough. We know the trickiness of our son's fevers all too well. So this morning, as I was opening up Disney's website at my desk, I called Brian. I knew Will was up and eating his breakfast by now. So I called Brian with the final question. "Did Will wake up with a fever this morning?" "Nope," said Brian. "OK, then I'm doing the online check-in," I told him. "Go ahead," he said.

So we're officially going. The bags are finally packed, the online check-in is done. All we have to do now is muddle through our workday, pick up the kids, throw the bags in the car and go. But I'm still not excited yet. I guess I'm waiting on that phone call from my in-laws to tell me that the fever is suddenly back. I'm waiting on the doctor to call me and tell me that we shouldn't go. After so many weeks of waiting and watching, I guess you can't blame me.

But the one thing I know is this: as long as I don't get a call from my in-laws or the doctor, that joy and excitement will come back again. It may show up the minute we put on seat belts and start driving south. It may show up as we get up in the morning and leave the hotel to finish the trip to the World. It may show up when we get to the Resort. Or, it might just wait until the moment I see that giant silver ball tomorrow afternoon. All I know is at some point in time, I will be excited once again. Breathtakingly excited. I may still be watchful over my son and I may use more bottles of hand sanitizer than I've ever used in my life. But regardless, I will be excited yet again.

Feeling Better

Can you tell someone is feeling better?

No?

Well, what about this picture?

There's nothing better than watching two well kids play together. Well, actually it IS better when you know both of those well kids are happy with each other. Which means no fighting - just a happy playfulness together.

Life is bliss when two well kids are giggling and playing peacefully together.

Change of Plans

After a long conversation with a substitute doctor (since we can't get to our own pediatrician for a couple more weeks), we were basically told that Will has ANOTHER virus. Seriously, if I hear that word one more time, I think I'm going to scream. She did allow me to request more blood work to be done so they did a CBC (to check white blood cells, I believe) and an immunity panel (which eliminates "leukemial issues" according to the doctor). And I'm torn over the results. I WANT to hear that all these are negative because it means it truly is just ANOTHER virus. Then again, I'm sick of the word VIRUS and I'd like to have another word for his multiple illnesses, along with a few healthy doses of some form of medication to make it all go away and to allow my baby to come back.

We're waiting on the results and then we're going to do what we just keep being told to do - wait. We're going to wait for time to allow this illness to go away. And then we're going to try one more thing. We're going to buy some time. After a long conversation and identical thoughts put into mine and Brian's minds at the same time this afternoon, we've decided to temporarily take Will out of daycare. I wish I could be a stay at home mom right now but, financially, it's not an option. So we're going to do the next best thing. We're making arrangements for him to be kept out of daycare for three weeks. I'm not going to give details yet because, honestly, they're not finalized yet. But what we do know is that he will not be taken back to daycare until the week after we get back from Disney. I need time for him to heal from this virus and then we need time for his immune system to build up a little bit. That can only happen with time. And it can only happen away from other people. So we're going to confine him to either our home or to the home of our caretaker and not allow him to go outside other than for fresh air out in the our yards. No playgrounds, no Walmart, no grocery stores. No public areas. Well, one public area. Not much can be done about the Disney trip right now. It's paid in full and, honestly, we need this break for ALL of our sakes. So we're still going on our trip. But with that one exception (where we'll go with our bags loaded with antibacterial gel and wipes), we're not allowing him to be in public. Honestly, it may not work. But if nothing else, it's going to buy us some TIME.

A Sweet and Sour Weekend

We've had a weekend full of wedding plans, country ham, and one cool dog.

With my sister's wedding only a couple months away now, it was finally time to set up the first fitting for Rachel's wedding dress. Mom and Rachel both came into town Friday night and us girls set out early Saturday morning for few hours full of wedding dreams and plans. Rachel tried on her gown and spent the next hour being fitted by the alterations person at the bridal shop. I'd show pictures but, well, I'm afraid my little sister would disown me (or worse).

We then moved on to the mall to look for a flower girl/junior bridesmaid dress for Ann Catherine. We've been debating for a while on whether or not she should officially be the flower girl or the junior bridesmaid. It seems like she's too old to be a flower girl but too young to be a junior bridesmaid. But given a few...ummm...changes to Ann Catherine in the past couple months, we decided it was probably time to finally let go of the flower girl era and finally deem her old enough to be a junior bridesmaid. So we headed over to the mall to look at dresses that would be perfect for the occasion. We finally found the perfect, sweet little dress that, again, I'd show pictures if I wasn't so frightened of my little sister! Anyway, once our shopping excursions were complete, we headed to the Factory in Franklin to have lunch at one of my favorite little girly-cafes.

Once we returned home, we grabbed the boys and my in-laws, threw on our jackets and headed for our little town's annual fall celebration - the Country Ham Festival. Now, our little festival isn't much when you compare it to the large food festivals you see on TV. I've always dreamed of visiting a large BBQ festival or a Chili festival to watch the food making, tasting and judging. My little town's festival wouldn't qualify for TV-viewing-worthiness, but it's still become a fun little tradition for our family the first weekend of every October. There are craft booths, inflatables for the kids to play on, fire trucks, ambulances and police cars to climb in and explore, and PLENTY of food booths along with live music from local bands. It's not large and I have to admit that the four of us HATE country ham, but our family always has fun exploring the festival and watching the fireworks at the end of the night (while eating our caramel apples and funnel cakes, of course). This year, we proudly wanted to show off our little festival with my family in town and loaded up my van to head to the festival. For this event, though, I felt completely free to use my camera.

Unfortunately, this morning Will woke up with a 102 fever...again. He's complaining of his throat again and occasionally his stomach hurting. My heart hurts thinking that we're headed for our third round of illness in slightly over a month but given the fact that his fever doesn't seem to want to break, it looks like I can't deny it's here again. His illness is only complicated further because his doctor is in the middle of transitioning from the large practice she was in to her own private practice and isn't reachable for the next two weeks. So we're left working with his "back-up" doctor at the larger practice. Since I'm pretty sure I'll be off to get him tested for strep again tomorrow (his sixth strep test since Aug. 31) and I'm a little tired of having to explain the whole history of the past month, I decided to sit down and write everything that has happened throughout the past month. It broke my heart to know that there has been so many tests run and yet it looks like my little calendaring isn't going to end anytime soon. So please, please pray for our sweet little boy and for the doctor to finally be able to isolate whether or not this truly is a third round of viruses or if perhaps we're looking at a larger, more complicated illness. All I know is that I'm tired of hearing the word "virus" thrown at me with no further answers other than to simply "give it time to run its course." I'm ready for answers, medicines, and a resolution. Mainly, I want to see my baby happy and playful once again.

Breathing a Sigh of Relief

We're finally back to our normal routine. After a very stressful Friday last week spent mostly in the doctor's office getting Will's blood drawn and running lots of tests, plus the added bonus of getting to head to the local imaging clinic to get a chest x-ray done, we spent last weekend exhausted and scared to death. Will was just so tired and hadn't eaten in a week and Brian and I both were so emotionally and physically exhausted that we both ended up crying ourselves to sleep on Saturday. And then the first miracle happened - Mina showed up! She came to save the day! My very sweet mom made the six hour trip to watch our son so that Brian and I both could spend the week working. Having a sick child is hard on all families but when both parents are working and having to take so many days off to care for the sick little one, you're doubly stressed out. You know your first priority is to care for your child but you also are very aware of the fact that your job is still waiting out there and coworkers are having to take up the slack. It may not matter so much in a larger company but since we both work for a small business, it becomes a very big deal. So Mina came riding in on her white horse (or, I guess, little blue car) and saved the day!

The funny thing is that, Monday morning, Will woke up with a smile and ready to play. He still didn't eat much but at least he had more energy (even refusing to take a nap for Mina - he spent the time either crying because he didn't want to sleep or giggling at Mina because she was fake-sleeping and hoping he'd wear out and fall asleep!). And later that afternoon, we got a call from the doctor's office saying that the test results came back negative - it wasn't mono after all and he really did just have four illnesses on top of each other in a three week span.

Tuesday morning, Will woke up with a smile and wanting to eat. We decided that we'd play it safe one more day and let Mina play with him on Tuesday as well before allowing him to return to daycare on Wednesday. He ran his Mina ragged as he ran around the playground at Mickey D's and around the house before giving her hugs as she returned home that afternoon. His Pappy took over that afternoon (giving Mom a chance to beat rush hour on her drive home) and he spent the rest of the day riding his little John Deere tractor around Pappy's yard and helping Pappy "mow" his yard on his big riding lawn mower.

Wednesday he returned to daycare and spent the rest of the week there playing, running off his newfound energy and enjoying his returning appetite.

To say that we're relieved is an understatement. We spent the week with smiles and enjoying our chance to catch up on the sleep we hadn't had in three weeks. And now I sit here and type as my son is walking around the house wearing our computer bag (which is holding his blankey and "cell phone") and announcing that he's going to school as he's waving goodbye. And my smile matches his own as I enjoy watching my baby play once again.

Round Two

Well, we're in the battle for round two. Will is sick again after only six days of being well from the last illness. We had a great week last week, although Will fought us going back to daycare. But after the first day, we were back to our routine and looking forward to our trip up north to help the family celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. We had an uneventful trip up north and were even thrilled at the lack of traffic on our way. We made it safely up to Grandma and Grandpa's house, albeit a little late from the extra potty-breaks we had to make (ahhh...the joys of travelling with young bladders...I mean, children). And it was so much fun to walk into a room full of family and to become quickly engulfed in hugs and warm hello's. There is simply nothing better than being surrounded by the love of your family.

We spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house and had a wonderful evening full of laughter (especially when Will decided to turn Grandpa's trumpet stand into a gun) and caramel popcorn. And all seemed well until Brian woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me that Will had thrown up. Round two begins.

He was very sick on the way home, moaning, crying and whining, running a high fever and refusing to eat. It ended up being the longest trip of our lives because of the number of times we'd have to stop to find the nearest restroom. Monday morning, after a very long night of getting up and heading to the restroom, I finally got him in to the doctor. She said that it wasn't the flu (although I still asked them to run the test anyway just to confirm that) and said that it was more than likely just a very bad stomach virus since he wasn't complaining of any sinus related issues - just tummy-related issues with the high fever.

But this morning, he woke up and we started to see a little glimpse of his personality coming out once again. The fever seems to have broken and he actually asked for a poptart this morning. So please say lots of prayers that this was a very quick stomach virus! It was so hard to sit in that bathroom and watch the expressions of pain and sickness wash over my son's face. More than once, I risked the contagiousness and grabbed his sweet little face and just kissed him and loved on him because my heart was breaking for him. But maybe we will be rewarded later today or even tomorrow with a smile once again from our sweet little boy.

And to update you on Brian's post late last week, Morgan is doing much better. Thank you so much for your prayers! There was some fear that her stepbrother was sick as well but tests confirmed that he did not have it. As of Sunday night, she was still dealing with a lot of sinus problems but was actually feeling better and giggling with Brian over the fact that she had had the "piggy flu." What an answer to prayer to hear her giggle and know that she'd be fine.

Prayer

Please pray for my niece Morgan, she has the swine flu. My sister called my parents today to let them know. Morgan is at home. Everyone in the family has to wear face masks whenever they are anywhere near her. Chris, my sister's step-son, has started showing signs of the flu as well. He is going to the doctor tomorrow. Please pray that none of the others in the family get it.

Brian

The Bug that Wouldn't Go Away

To celebrate Labor Day today, we decided to head to the zoo. And I can honestly tell you that we enjoyed the sunshine, warm air, and cool breezes more than we have enjoyed them in a very long time. This past week, we have been couped up, worried and ill. Last Saturday, Will started complaining of not feeling well. By Sunday morning, he was complaining of his throat hurting and by Sunday night, he had started running a 102 fever. We've had more than our fair share of strep around here in the past couple months, so I immediately took him to the doctor Monday morning and, sure enough, he had strep yet again. The problem was that the magic medicine the doctor always gives that normally makes a child better by the next morning (I love that stuff) didn't seem to be working. By Wednesday (the day he was supposed to be OK to return to daycare), he was still running a fever of 102 and couldn't seem to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time each night before waking up in a drenching wet sweat and crying because of his throat. Something was not right. So I took him to the doctor again Wednesday morning thinking that his medicine wasn't working. She took another strep test but this one came back negative, telling us that the medicine was indeed working. She said that the fever could possibly last one more day but that, if he still had it by the next morning, we knew that he had a virus on top of it which she predicted would last anywhere from 7-10 days. Sure enough, we woke up Thursday morning (after 30 minute snoozes throughout the night again), to find out that he was still running a fever.

To make matters worse, Brian's throat started hurting by Wednesday night. He went up to the local walk-in clinic after I got home from work and...yep, you guessed it...he had strep too. So the two boys got to be home sick together all day Thursday and Friday. By Saturday morning, Brian was feeling better. Will was not.

It never ceases to amaze me how strong my feelings run in me for my kids. Sure, they drive me nuts occasionally (well, more than occasionally lately). They sit around the house whining and complaining. They pick at each other and torment each other. They come screaming to me, wanting me to give each of them their way. I roll my eyes, I huff and puff, and occasionally I even raise my voice. But then something happens like an illness and suddenly, my heart is broken for my babies. By Saturday morning, as I watched my sweet boy with a very pale little face and deep, dark circles under his eyes simply lay on the couch watching cartoons and not having any energy to run around the house and drive me crazy, my eyes started to tear up a little. And when he told me he was cold and allowed me to pull up my favorite blanket on him, I watched as he dozed off to sleep and I started to cry a little bit more. A week of watching your sweet little boy run a mysterious fever that just won't seem to go away and, worse still, not seem to have any cause or any end because the only thing which can heal it is time, will break a momma's heart worse than anything. You want answers and you want it to go away. You want medicine that will work and you want to know when it'll end. And, as a working mom, you're even further torn in half because you know your office is trying to be kind but is impatiently waiting for your return.

I have spent this past week battling my emotions, feeling bad for the work I was missing and leaving to others to tend, and praying that God would simply take this strange fever away from my sweet little boy's brow.

Yesterday, we knew we had to skip church yet again. Originally I was going to stay home with Will while Brian and AC went to church but, after getting a very nasty burn on my arm from the oven, I knew I was going to be useless and Brian stayed home to help out. And God apparently decided to bless us despite it. Will woke up at 8:30 (very late for my little early-riser) with a grin on his face...a first in a week. He jumped out of bed and spent the morning hopping on the couch. He harassed his sister and he tried to attack the dog (in a loving way, of course). And, for the first time in a week, he spent the day with a smile on his face and a very cool brow.

And today, we decided to celebrate by leaving the house for the first time in a week! It was so wonderful to get out into the fresh air for once, to feel the cool breeze and to enjoy the sunshine on faces. We gathered Brian's parents and headed to the zoo and spent the morning walking in the sunshine and simply enjoying the day and our health. It's amazing how much we take those things for granted until the day arrives when you lose them for a time.

SHE HAS A JOB!!!!!!!!

My mother finally has a full-time job with benefits. She has been working part-time at a nursing home in Franklin. The girl that was working the 3-11 Monday thru Friday shift quit and so they offered the job to Mom. One down and one to go.

Keep praying for Dad as he is getting very depressed. He had an interview the other day. They told him that they would hire in a minute, but were very worried about his legs. So no job.

Help!

OK, seriously, we need help. We are desperately seeking a pair of Superman boots. I'm guessing rain boots? Maybe? Obviously we don't have a clue what he means. All we know is that the little munchkin is desperately begging me to go buy him a pair of Superman boots. After an afternoon of walking around in AC's high-heeled boots, he decided he wanted his own pair of boots...Superman boots to be exact. Don't have a clue where he's seen a pair like this before but he's convinced they exist. He's also convinced that I'm skipping out on work every day, apparently, to go look for and purchase these boots. Every afternoon, when I go to pick him up, the first question out of his mouth is, "Do you have my Superman boots?" and breaks out into tears and temper tantrums when I tell him no. So seriously, if you see a pair of Superman boots, call me and I'll tell you his size! I'll even pay you back for them!!!

Celebration!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Brian's birthday on Friday. After a WONDERFUL dinner at Olive Garden, we decided to all go up to our town's tiny little Farmer's Market. I'm not sure you can really call it a Farmer's Market considering that it only consists of two booths with fruits and vegetables. However, it's still a neat little place to walk around since they also have a booth with a lovely couple who laughs every time they see us now because we've become their Friday night regulars. They sell THE BEST salsa I have ever eaten in my life. It's not like any other salsa I've ever had before but it's so good that Brian and I managed to go through an entire jar in two days. So we promised to return every Friday!

Beyond that, they also have a few stands with people selling crafts, homemade soaps and lotions, another salsa booth (haven't tried that one yet, although we really should be equal opportunity salsa tryers), and (believe it or not) a small petting zoo with a billy goat who likes to kneel, a fat bunny, a very skinny calf (he worries me), a couple ducks (or geese -can't really remember), a llama, and the 2nd fattest pig I have ever seen in my life (beat only by the enormous pig at the weird deer farm in Michigan). Anyway, our Farmer's Market is tiny but it's held on the grounds of a coffee shop in a little antique house on Main Street every Friday night where they string up pretty lights and have a local band play music on the front steps of the coffee house. It just makes it so much fun to have that tiny little hometown celebration every Friday night (not to mention the very cheap homegrown veggies and awesome salsa I get to carry home with me every Friday night).

Anyway, after our little Friday night stroll, we decided to finish our birthday celebration with ice cream at our local Cold Stone. We were stuffed full but had a wonderful evening. And, for those of you who are worried about my sweet hubby not getting any presents from his loving family - I finally got a little creative. I wrapped up some old Disney brochures from our trip last summer along with a new brochure we got with this upcoming reservation, and put that with a Mickey coloring book found on the $1 shelf at Target and a small "letter" from the Mouse himself announcing that my sweet hubby had only 56 days left and that Mickey couldn't wait to see him. Brian giggled like a girl when he opened it.

Birthday Boy

A special someone turned...well, I won't tell you because I refuse to think about how old we are (and have even honestly forgotten occasionally). Anyway, Brian is now a year old than he was yesterday! :-) To celebrate, we're headed out to our new favorite restaurant in town, the Olive Garden, and then we'll head home for him to open his cards (plural) and present (not plural because he won't be getting his BIG AND VERY EXPENSIVE gift until mid-October when he goes to visit his favorite mouse once again!) So luckily his parents still love him enough to give him something to open on his birthday!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!