11 July 2011

disney world!!!

When we found out we were headed to Florida, andy and i had this moment in the car where we exchanged a look :: "you know while we're in florida we should go to . . . " nuf said..

we realized that we would just be a couple hours from disney and with the tinys in the backseat and our oldest knowing how to read; we had to talk in code...(its a sad day when you can't spell out your conversations anymore)

so the schemeing began. . . and 'operation tiny' was born!!

we've been once before with a tiny, Lillian, in early summer 2008.
Liam was about to turn one and i was 30 weeks pregnant with Lucy...so we left the boy here and just took her. . we went with some best friends...and to this day Lillian has said it was the BEST day of her life!!! right before we left i had just started our family blog!! you can read the posts about disney that year HERE and HERE!!

so yes this meant going to Disney at peak season, 4th of July week, pregnant again...
and this time with 3 tinys!!! praise jesus for double strollers!!

so we left for the beach, still no mention of 'operation tiny'
we had two full beach days and got up at 5am on Wednesday, July 6th.
we told them we were headed to breakfast.

i knew that as we got onto interstate 4 headed into Orlando we would see signs for Disney and we couldn't get away with our oldest not figuring it out..so right outside of Daytona we hopped off for bfast and told them!!
we weren't sure how the younger two would respond...they have no idea what disney world is...
but Lillian's reaction was priceless


we had a strategy going in : where we would start...which fast pass to get first...
we knew we would only be there for one day, so we had to make the most of it.
we packed one bag with kids nalgenes, powder gatorade, luna bars, a change of clothes for tiny cause she HATES to be wet...baby wipes & camera.

we chose NOT to do character meet 'n greets. most of them were in full sun and there was no way the tinys were gonna last in the heat.

so we waved at buz lightyear, woody and jesse. we waved at rapunzel and mickey & goofy. we didn't do mid day parades and camp out for the prime spot...it was just WAY TOO HOT.

we did however do EVERY ride!!!
we laughed and played and ate ice cream, i teared up and cried again as we were watching fireworks..call it fatigue or overwhelmed or pregnancy hormones :: but watching my tinys imagination and curiosity come to life is so much fun. i fell into the predictable category of sappy....
we didn't have a simple compliant or 'i'm hot' or 'im tired'. our first meltdown of the day was at 10pm, right before the fireworks started..and at that point i was wiped out too!!

so if you're still reading. i am uber-impressed! lol
it was such a fun day....i do however look forward to NOT ever being pregnant again while visiting Disney World!!
now brace yourself for the amount of photos!!!

pure excitement that we're actually at disney!!!

liam's most favorite part of our whole day!!



riding the steam engine!!!
mommy am i really gonna ride that!!??
crazy that actually all 3 of them were tall enough to ride splash mtn!!



sweaty nap time!!

its a small world!!!



we loved the 'people mover'!!


hot, sweaty but so so happy!!!

we climbed to the top of the swiss family robinson house!!!

and then back down!!!
belly evidence : thankfully this time, i didn't get asked if i were going to give birth at Disney!

riding the jungle cruise!

even though lillian is out of focus, i love the absolute fatigue on Lucy's face!!
my sweet lillibug!!
'dat's loud mommy' :: steam engine blowing its whistle!!!

Lillian's eyes amaze me!
we did catch the tail end of the 'celebrate' parade....
Liam was the only one awake as we left the park at midnight. we stopped right on the street corner as the light parade was passing ...cinderella made eye contact with Liam and blew him a kiss. he covered his mouth with both hands and said "mommy, she just made me a prince!!" if you ask him about it now he just about blushes!!




lillian make a pirate face!! 'arggghhhh'




this definetly goes down as one of our most fun family memories!!!
ps, they are already talking about when we go back :: when tiny #4 turns 3 . . .

09 July 2011

all things salty!!!

Vacation is fuel for the soul!!
It's a break in routine, well, mostly it's just a scenery change with some of the same crazy from home. . .
We were blessed with a stay at a friends place, oceanside in florida. Just steps from sand it was beyond a gift!! With 3 tinys and clearing the 6 month mark pregnant the convenience made all the difference!

this was such a contrast to our vacation last summer, mostly just due to the stages the tinys were in.

it was refreshing!! a sweet memory for me has to be just sitting and watching the tinys play and dig and run in the sand. its the first time we've ever spent more than an hour on the beach without someone needing a snack or to go potty or have a melt down.

clearly i realize it will be another 3 years before we experience this moment quite like this again, with tiny #4 on the way ... and entering 'baby-dom' again.....
but i still treasure the sweetness of sitting with my toes in the sand, listening to the tinys laugh and play without a care in the world...well until we had an argument over shovels....

so i will spare you the 378 photos to took and pick some of my favorites.
we also surprised the tinys with a trip to Disney World...blog post to follow.

this week as we assume summer routine and camp tiny at home....i will miss vacation mode. i will miss that we watched fireworks over the ocean of the 4th, ate shrimp and crab-legs til our hearts content, dug holes in the sand, made drip castles, chased seagulls....soaked up all things salty!!





having them so close in age, we catch moments that it has its advantages....clearly i didn't photograph the ones where that back-fires.

this one has some very serious concentration when she builds a sand castle!!


liam's best Flynn Rider's 'smolder' (if you haven't seen tangled that won't make sense)




i got the 'stank-eye'

no lie, liam looked at this photo and said : "mommy is that you?"
my favorites


the week wouldn't have been as fun without our yaya..especially since she taught the tinys
little bunny foo foo in every 'accent' possible :: dinner time was never the same!!



my beach bums!!
evidence :: i really was there!!


last week when andy had a late meeting i took the kids to the playground. when he got home i asked liam to tell daddy what he did (monkey bars) liam says :: " daddy i took care of my girls tonight!!" this boy loves his sisters!!! which is great, because tiny#4 is a GIRL!!
our newest addition can't get here fast enough! and yes, her name will start with an 'L'.
he asks every day to hold her already!!! thankfully he has two amazing sisters who've paved the way!