Yay, Orlando!

Our trip to Orlando was crazy and fun!

I can’t even believe we went to Disney World, after so many years of talking about it..but we finally did it.

So we arrived on Sunday, April 27th by plane…and Delta lost my luggage at the airport. Don’t know what happened and we’re going through the claims process even now…but I had packed away our whole life just about in that one suitcase (my stuff, and the kids’). All of our summer/spring stuff was in there - shorts, shirts, designer dresses, perfume, hats, shoes, bathing suits, underwear and socks — EVERYTHING… not to mention some other pretty important items like cameras, a Video Now Jr., my daughter’s special Strawberry Shortcake doll that she’s slept with every night since she was 2, and my most favorite study bible of all time.

All gone, just like that.

What’s up, Delta?

But moving on…

We had a great time that week regardless of the setback. We ended up at Walmart for a good bit of that Sunday after arriving to get more clothes, camera, shoes, and basic necessities that were in the bag which was lost.

Well we slept on it…it was going to be okay. We stayed at the Shades of Green resort , which was relaxing…so I got better quickly.

Monday morning we got up, boarded our rental SUV and set toward Sea World after eating at Olive Garden. We spent the whole day there and got to see Shamu!

And here we are with little BabyZ fast asleep…



A little water fun…

Sea World was a ton of walking. Walk, walk, walk. With no shuttles or lifts to transport you around the huge campgrounds you’re really glad to have strollers for the kids and wish you had one for yourself.

Ahh...for some French cuisine. Ok, fast food.

Can't remember which ride we were on, but we were WAY up in the sky.

A theatrical performance- and again, I can't remember which!

Enjoying the view of Shamu

Ny meets a new friend at SeaWorld.

Breastfeeding 101- you will be feeding 24/7. So invest in a cover. 

Day 2 we set out for Magic Kingdom at Disney World. This is where NyGirl had her most fun. she enjoyed dressing up like Aurora and getting a princess makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

She also got to take pictures with Belle at storytime by the castle.

There were so many attractions there. She loves the Merry go Round, visiting Minnie’s house and hanging out in Pooh’s playground.

We also hung around a bit at Epcott Center where she rode on a spaceship thingie with my husband. BabyZ and I just strolled around in the sun and I grabbed cheese filled pretzel. Fattening but good.

AFter her makeover we attended the big show (I can’t remember what it’s called) but it’s the main attraction of Magic Kingdom.

The next day (Day 3), we missed breakfast for sleeping in too late, but drove out toward Tampa to Busch Gardens.


Now THAT was my favorite place. There, we got to see attractions like Jungala, wild animals, the African “safari”, a cool show with African dancers…and we even rode the cable cars high above so we could see the view below. It was breathtaking!

There were face paintings, drummers, and lots of cultural sites to behold. Not to mention the variety of artistic shops set up to sell native African garb.

A friendly customer offered to take our family photo eating at an African restaurant.

She pets a goat!

Finally catches up with it to brush his hair

NyGirl rode on the bumper cars there with her daddy, but she didn’t like that her car was actually being “bumped”
Not to worry, her daddy made sure little Princess stayed clear of all mean little drivers.

We cut our time at Busch Gardens in half so that we could make it out to Adventure Island before it closed (and boy did they close early at about 5 or 6). I didn’t much there since it’s a water park and I don’t swim. Fabien went on just about every water ride while I stayed with the girls in a cozy beach like area near the sand and shallow water to splash our feet in. I took some vidoe footage of this and lots of pics. I’ll be sure to add pics when I can.

That night we took a detour by the airport to see if we might find our luggage (still no success), got sidetracked on the side of the highway while we waited on our GPS system to boot up so we wouldn’t get lost, then found our way to Cici’s Pizza for a late (and I mean really late) dinner.

That was our last full day in Orlando. The next morning we awoke to a beautiful breakfast at our resort’s restaurant in the downstairs lobby.



Meanwhile my husband was secretly rushing me around so he could get me to some surprise that I had no clue about. Before I know it we’re roaming around the golf course of the resort, circle the swimming pool, and end up right in front of a massage table! So that was my surprise — my 1st professional massage. Thanks, Hubby! (and thanks Angela from upstate New York!)

we then rush upstairs to get our stuff out of the room and check out before 11 a.m.

Next was lunch, a quick stop at Disney Downtown for the last time (and while there we caught a movie - College Road- and ate a jumbo popcorn) and ate at Haggen Dazs from which I fell sick the next day by the way.

Then to Walmart to return some items, to the gas station to fill her up, to the airport, boarding the plane and off in the late evening sky back toward Birmingham, Alabama. Through all of this, BabyZ was AMAZING! She wasn’t fussy at all on the plane rides and pretty much enjoyed being strolled around during the whole trip. NyGirl, as usual, was eager to ride the plane for the first time and she just totally dove into all the new sights, sounds, and experiences.

We drove home from Birmingham that night and the kids fell asleep, exhausted from such a long trip. We arrived home an hour later (around midnight) and tucked NyGirl in her princess bed with Disney ears on and fully clothed (except the shoes). She was knocked out for the night. BabyZ went to her crib and it wasn’t until an hour later that Hubby and I finally got settled in for sleep.

What a trip!!! Oh, but it was so much fun!

Exhausting, but fun.

Singing, Organizing, and uh...toilets.

So it’s been an interesting week so far…and you’ll know why if you keep reading.

First of all, if you’ve been reading any of my earlier posts you’ll know that I’ve changed over to the Well Trained Mind classical method education for my daughter. This week’s homeschool structure has changed, and so has our schedule…and that meant getting ORGANIZED!

Here’s a little corner in our home near our washer/dryer that we weren’t using efficiently:


Quite a mess in fact.

There’s a little toddler art table, an end table, homeschool crates, binders, toys and organizing drawers that are in fact disorganized.

So… I brought in her computer desk, and did a little rearranging so now it looks like this:



Quite a difference, eh?

I’m quite proud of myself I must admit. Now we can think, breathe, and have school in a more organized environment.

Okay…now for the funnies…

What does a 5 year old do when she tries to flush a few wads (or maybe rolls) of toilet paper down the toilet?

Why, the only sensible thing to do, of course! Put up a sign!



Did you catch that? “OUT OF ORDER”?

yep.

That’s NyGirl for ya…my creative and orderly Little Lady.

Speaking of NyGirl…we spent a great deal of time last Thursday making out Valentine’s Cards for her little friends at our homeschool co-op. You remember back in grade school how important it was for our little boy and girl friends to get our Valentine’s in their goody bags?



This was an exciting time for her! We’re just really blessed that homeschooling doesn’t mean she still can’t have some of the social outlets we had as kids…and we’re SO blessed to be part of our local co-op, which is unbelievably awesome, (and I’m bragging!) but probably one of the best nationwide.

And one more pic for the day…

We always tell NyGirl she’s our little star…so here she is singing to her heart’s content (with her Daddy accompanying her on the piano next to her).

Wish I had a video of this!


That’s all for now.