Saturday, October 18, 2008

Mr. Incredible, Tough Girl and Captain Wimpy Pants

Well we had an adventure the other day, and everyone involved ended up with nicknames.
Chip and Bean were wrestling and she hit her tooth on her bed and pushed it back. There was a lot of blood and tears, but thanks to Chip everything was under control. Blakeslie was named Tough Girl, because she really did take it all like a champ. Chip’s new name is Mr. Incredible for keeping calm and saving the day. Chip really earned his name when not only did he have to take care of Bean, but also his pathetic excuse for a wife and mother…..I passed out! Seriously, during the commotion of Chip pulling her tooth back in the right position (terrible sound!) and the smell of warm blood I fainted. I woke up to Chip telling my Dad, “I gotta go your daughter just passed out!” and Blakeslie crying again (I think I scared her when I fell over and hit the floor.) While Bean and I laid in my bed, both recovering, she deemed me Captain Wimpy Pants. I earned it! My Dad has assured me that if I had been alone I would have been fine and the adrenaline would have made me alert to help her. I sure hope so or I’m terrified of what might have happened. I have never been queasy around blood, it was so strange!



I have decided to go to Boise for the weekend so that my Dad can look at Bean’s tooth. It is still bothering her. I hope it doesn’t turn dark or have to be pulled. I guess the toothless grins are always cute. She would just have hers for while.

I realized I have never shown a picture of Bean’s Bed.

This further shows how much Chip is Mr. Incredible. I found a bed similar to this on the internet. Within 3 weeks he had this finished product without any plans or measurements – he is amazing!!!

Beach House


We had a great time at the Beach House. This time I was only alone for a few days. The weather was perfect. In the morning while the marine layer burned off we would hang inside working on crafts while Mayzie napped. Then it was out to play in the sand and waves. It was great to have friends from home visit and it was really fun to hang with the Mortensens for a couple of days.

This is Blakeslie showing you her scrapped elbow and the “cliff” she backed off. We were so lucky she didn’t get hurt worse. I had to wake her up during the night to make sure she didn’t have a concussion because she was very lethargic and threw-up. Of course, it happened while I was alone. :0(

On Sunday we even a BBQ at the Cabana with some very dear friends we hadn’t seen in almost 5 years. They were all Chip’s old college roommates and it was wonderful to catch up.



Mayzie screaming to get her s’more back – that girl already loves chocolate!

We all had a great time at Sea World. Blakeslie’s favorite part was the dolphin show and getting soaked! Mayzie squealed all day and especially loved the penguins – she DID NOT like getting soaked.



Blakeslie just said today…”I want to go back to the beach house.” Me too!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Orlando!

What a trip! It was all I was hoping for and more. We really had an amazing time on our Magical Disney Vacation. For anyone that doesn’t know I love Disney World. I was more excited to be there than any other kid in the parks. We grew up going there on family trips and now it was awesome being able to take my kiddos.

The first four days were very relaxing – it was just my parents, the girls, Erin and I (Troy and Chip got there on Friday). We just relaxed by the pools (which were amazing – giant pirate ships, slides, squirting water everywhere!) ate breakfast on the balcony, shopped at Downtown Disney, went out to dinner, and Erin and I started our Twilight series books (She was reading Breaking Dawn and I was reading Eclipse – Love it!!!)


Once the boys got there it was anything but relaxing! We went like crazy – we got up early to be at the parks when they opened (9 AM) and stayed until they closed (8 PM – 11PM). We did a lot of walking. The longest day we walked was 27,551 steps, which would have been a little over 13 miles. We did this on one of our adult days where we made history – all 4 Disney parks in one day! We had a blast park hopping and riding all the big guy rides.

My most favorite day by far was the day everyone went to Magic Kingdom.

We started our day with a princess breakfast in Cinderella’s Castle! This was without a doubt the highlight of my entire trip. I actually got teary eyed when Blakeslie was meeting Cinderella. Bean was in absolute heaven and it was all so real and magical to her. We were also lucky because all the big princess were there for breakfast too. I had totally prepared myself that we may have ugly stepsisters, Mary Popins, Alice in Wonderland etc., because you never know who will be available at that time. We got all the headliners! The materdee was even excited for us because he said, “You get Ariel, with legs, that never happens! The castle was so beautiful and we were so lucky to be there – the food was really good too.

The magic continued throughout the day. We were able to be part of one of the parades that went down Main Street.


We also loved watching the big parade. Mayzie just sat and squealed like crazy at everything that passed by.


Blakeslie loved all the rides. She even got to steer the Jungle Cruise. She was so serious. Afterward, she said, “I didn’t even hit anything!” I don’t think she looked at anything on the ride she was concentrating so hard not to crash. She also loved all the big rides – She is just like her Dad, a thrill seeker. When she rode Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain she was so proud that she did it “none handed.”





We also played into the whole pictures and autograph thing with the characters. Blakeslie loved it – especially meeting her favorite princess again this time with her flipper!

We spent a couple of days at Universal Studios and Island of Adventures with just the 4 of us. It was so fun! Erin described it perfectly, “It has more thrills, but less magic.” We loved riding all the roller coasters and because the lines were non existent we rode our favorites 4 or 5 times in a row.

We took the girls back to Universal Studios to see all the fun stuff. I couldn’t resist buying them the Thing 1 & Thing 2 shirts. Blakeslie is obsessed with anything Dr. Seuss so her Favorite part was Dr. Suess land in Island of Adventures. She kept calling Mayzie thing 2 all day.




We spent a day at Typhoon Lagoon Water Park. It is a massive park with a wave pool, slides, tube rides, lazy river, and even water roller coasters. We all loved it.

One evening Chip, Troy and Blakeslie went to Tampa Bay to see the Rays play the Yankees. They had a great time at the amazing field that even had a sting ray tank where they could feed and pet the rays. Erin and I opted to stay home and have dates with Edward and go to bed early.


The girls loved Animal Kingdom, MGM and Epcot too. The highlights at Animal Kingdom were Pocahontas’s autograph and picture, It’s Tough to be a Bug and the new Finding Nemo Musical.


At MGM Blakeslie loved the HSM show and the new Toy Story Mania ride is one of the neatest rides out there. (We had a Disney Miracle when one of the workers unexpectedly took us to the front of the 90 minute wait. It was the only ride with a wait since it was so new.)

The girls didn’t spend a lot of time at Epcot but Blakeslie loved Imagination (she’s my girl) Soarin’ and Test Track.

We did go out one night just the adults. We had to get a professional sitter – Ouch! Anyway, we saw the Cirque de Soleil show La Nouba. It was awesome and it was so great to just go out as adults.

I’m so glad we were able to go on this incredible trip. We were so exhausted by the end, but it was worth it! I’m so very grateful for my parents. They were so good to us to let us go out and leave the kiddos. They said they had fun, but I know it was a lot of work for them too. Thanks Mom and Dad!

P.S. I’m a Disney Freak!!!