Chocolate covered...

KIDS---that is!!

We painted with pudding last summer, and since then my kids have been begging to do it again. 

 So this morning, while it was still cool out, I grabbed some pudding, gathered up some paint brushes, and let them go to town.

 Sophie wasn't sure at first if this was art, or her mid-morning snack;)

 And even my too cool  boy wouldn't pass up an opportunity to get messy and have some silly fun!

 Sophie paints her nose!

 I'm still not sure who enjoyed this more...the big boys or the babies--lol

 Just being silly!

 Sophie and Hudson had fun painting each other! 

I'll have to remind them that this is the ONLY time painting each other is permissible!!!

 Nothin' sweeter that a few chocolate covered kids--

 It was quite messy, but nothin a garden hose and some soap couldn't handle!

 Getting clean was part of the fun too!

This will definitely be one of the ways we kick off the beginning of summer from now on. 

A total mess...YES, but what a blast!!! 

Disney Trip: day TWO!

Day two was definitely the most anticipated and the most exciting day of our trip!

 It was our DISNEY DAY!

The park opened at 8am and we were told to be there about a half hour early. That is when all the characters ride the train into Main Street and open the doors to the park for the day! 

This was something I knew the boy s(and I) would love to see!!

We parked our car and rode the ferry over to the park. This was the first time on our trip I was almost brought to tears. It may sound silly, but just anticipating the day ahead was so emotional for me. I have so many sweet memories of being at Disney growing up and I wanted to re-create some of those  same sweet "magical" moments for my boys!

We got there just in time to see the train pull into the station and the characters step out on to the platform! 

Shouts and cheers were shared by the crowd that gathered below! 

It truly was a "magical" moment.

My friend Juli, who is the ultimate Disney Pro, gave us an itinerary to follow for the day. This insured the fact that we would get to experience as much of the park as possible in just one day!

We followed our "schedule" and were pleasantly surprised at how little we had to wait in line, and  how much we actually got to do!

Dumbo was our very first ride of the day--MAGIC

(insert goosebumps and tears here)

Riding It's A Small World

(more goosebumps)

And the Tea Cups...another classic ride and YES, more goosebumps!

The boys and Shane are ready for Mickey's 3-D Philhar-magic.

Definitely one of our all-time favorites!!!

Riley LOVED driving the race-cars...

and Corban love touring The Swiss Family Robinson tree house!

Not only did we ride EVERY ride we wanted, but we also got to enjoy the parades. 

Before the parade started though, hula-hoops were passed out among the waiting crowd and an impromptu contest took place!

Riley met his all-time favorite character... Buzz Lightyear.

 And the boys hammed it up with Chip and Dale!

 Ri and Chip

We also met a scary pirate along the way...

 and one that wasn't so scary!

 Our day was indeed "magical"!!


A day that memories and sweet dreams are made off!!!!

Disney Trip 2011--day ONE

 At 3:45am, last Wednesday morning, we woke the boys up (out of a dead sleep I might add) and surprised them with the news that we had been keeping from them for quite sometime! 

We told the boys it was time to get up, the car was already packed, and we were heading to DISNEY WORLD!!!! 

(Shane had a conference to attend in Orlando, so we decided to surprise them and take them on the trip too. Since the boys had never been to Disney before, we knew it would be a real treat! We also thought it was a good idea to leave the babies at home with their Mimi for this trip. We'll go again in a few years when they are old enough to REALLY enjoy it.)

Anyway...

The boys wiped the sleep from their eyes and groggily got up and hopped in the car. After eight and a half hours, and a bazillion"are we there YET's" later...

 we finally arrived in Orlando and checked into our hotel.
Shane's conference was held at the Ritz-Carlton, so needless to say, our accommodations were immaculate!!!

Immediately, Shane had to head to his meetings, so that left the boys and I on our own to explore our new pad together!!

After so many hours in the car, the pool looked most inviting. It wasn't long before we were suited up and ready to swim. We stayed at the pool for several hours before shear exhaustion took over. Since we had gotten up so early, we decided to call it an early night. We headed back to our room around 6, ordered Domino's pizza for dinner, and turned the lights out around 7:30pm!! Shane finished with his meetings around 9pm and was shocked when he entered our room and found us all sound asleep!!!

The next day we all woke up feeling quite refreshed and ready to for a great day! Shane was off to his meetings once again, and the boys and I had the entire day to ourselves. After MUCH deliberation, we decided NOT to do a Disney park that day. There was SO MUCH to do around our hotel, and to be honest, I really didn't want the boys to experience "Disney" without their daddy right there with them. It's just too much fun (and too expensive) to justify me going alone with them, especially this being the boys first visit. So we decided to stay "close to home" for the day and just enjoy all the amenities our hotel had to offer.


After a delicious breakfast, we headed outside for a walk around the lake.

The boys enjoyed "hunting for alligators"and checking out all the wildlife living in and around the lake. Much to the boys disappointment though our trip was "alligator-less"!
(Thank goodness!!)

Then we headed back to our room, suited up, and got ready to go for a swim.


Before swimming though, we decided to take a spin around the hotel grounds on the
bicycle-built-for-FOUR!
Unfortunately, Corban's legs were just a little too short to reach the pedals, so I had to do ALL the pedaling myself! Needless to say this mama got a good work out!
After our ride, I for one, couldn't wait to cool off at the pool;)!

Not only did we spend the day swimming, BUT...

We played a few rounds of checkers...

Painted sand dollars...

Ate way too much ice cream...


And even entered a hula-hoop contest...


where Corban WON first place!!!!

I had so much fun spending the day with JUST my boys! This kind-of uninterrupted, quality time is a rare treat, so I tried to soak up EVERY moment with my two little men!!!

After a full day of sun and fun, we headed back to our room so we could shower, change, and get ready to head to Down Town Disney!

We had late dinner reservation at the new (and very cool) T-Rex restaurant in Down Town Disney.

 Shane finished up his obligations for the day and was able to join us for dinner too;)

The food was absolutely DELICIOUS, and there was enough of it to feed an entire T-Rex family!
We totally splurged and got the "chocolate extinction" for dessert!


We told our waitress that we were celebrating Corban's birthday (a few days late), so
she brought our dessert to us topped with a birthday candle, and then serenaded us with a fun birthday chant!


After dinner, we spent some time exploring everything in Down-Town Disney!
The Lego store was our first stop and probably where the boys spent the most time.


 Outside the front of the store, a race track was set up along with a build-your-own-race car station. The kids were encouraged to create their own car, and then given the opportunity to race it against other cars.

The boys had so much fun building and racing their own creation!


Then we spent some time visiting a few stores
where the boys had a blast trying on fun Disney souvenirs!


We had such a great night and couldn't wait to experience more Disney fun
at the Magic Kingdom the next day!!!



More about day TWO coming soon...