Scary Movie...

The kids were all over here today and I told them that if they were good after snack and cleaned up the basement, that they could watch a little bit of Scooby Doo...I think this one is Zombie Island. At anyrate, see for yourself...I think it may be a bit scary. Next week kids it's Faces of Death.

Junk Food Bust

On Saturday in our little town, they had a fall festival. Whenever I hear festival, I smell junk food. Fortunately so does my neighbor and this little event has been on our calendar as a not miss, because it would be our oppotunity to "let the kids ride a few rides" and maybe have some junk food. Well, it was kind of a bust, because there was only 2 wagons of food to pick from. I was expecting a few more. Our hearts broken, we didn't know what to do - so Kurt saved the day and suggested we go to a Mexican Restaurant that Tim & Ellen had never tried before. We have never steered them wrong when it comes to "fine" dining. They loved it. While they were enjoying their fancy Mexican beer, I mentioned to Kurt that this restaurant has the BEST coke mix...quite possibly better than McDonalds. We are so fancy, I have to say, I judge the restaurant by their Coke and ranch dressing. I have high standards.

Jimmy & Kyle riding something "safe" - I questioned what the Carnie was drinking in his "water" bottle.

Julia on the Monster Trucks
Clay on the spaceship

Look Very Carefully...

I was just taking a look at some pictures from the past week and noticed this one that we took at the last home MSU game on the 20th. I was reminded of the beer in the stroller cup holder that splashed Julia when we hit a bump. I think it is a little WT to have a beer in the parent cup holder of a stroller...but then again, who are we foolin'?? Kurt's Sicilian and I am a mutt.

When I was in High School...Musical.

Julia has several friends that are in elementary school that are into Hannah Montana & High School Musical. She doesn't really know what either of those are, except that Hannah Montana is a Barbie. Julia thinks that High School is refered to as "High School Musical." She says to me - "Mom, when you were in High School Musical, did you get to ride in the frontseat?" If she see's the high school bus, she refers to it as the High School Musical Bus. I think it is cute and I don't correct her, I probably should.

Things I Don't Want to Forget

There are so many things the kids do that I never want to forget. I know I will though until I am prompted by a baby in a store or a friend's kid that does the same thing. I know this is normal, so I am going to make a point to keep track of the cute things they say or do more often.

• Jimmy asking "Where Dada?" after every nap, in the morning and running to the bedroom to see if he is there. It's worth the trip for Saturday and Sunday seeing his face when it is Daddy.
• Julia wanting to cuddle first thing in the morning most mornings.
• Jimmy jumping off the stairs into my arms on the way down the stairs.
• Julia's incessant want of all things Disney Princess (I can't imagine that I will ever forget this), her greed is purely a preschooler trait. Although, if I have to run down to the basement to her screams one more time just to find out that she wants to show me some Disney Princess (fill in the blank) that she sees on TV - I may freak out. This kid has THE LONGEST Christmas and Birthday list...how will you ever pick?
• Jimmy's obsession with all things car, train, ball or construction vehicle.
• Julia's ability to eat an entire apple almost down to the core.
• Jimmy's imitation of emergency vehicles when they go by our house or we see one on the road.
• People stopping me at the store or where ever I am to comment on how cute Jimmy is and how gorgeous his eyelashes are.
• How an Auto Trader Magazine (or similar free publication) makes Jimmy's day.
• Jimmy saying "me" and raising his hand when he wants something.
• Julia telling me that there is a baby in her belly...and she's going to marry Clay. Hopefully not in that order.
• Jimmy wanting to be a big kid so badly.
• Julia's love of Scooby Doo and all the ghost and zombie episodes.
• People telling me my kids look just like Kurt.
• The kids' excitement when they see the bus go by the house several times a day.

I think that is it for the day. I am sure there will be many more lists like this in the future.

Jimmy's First Day of Stay & Play

Jimmy is getting so big. Yesterday was Jimmy's first day of Stay & Play. It's a little program like pre-preschool. The parents take their kids and stay with them at school, there are crafts, stories, circle time, free play and of course snack. I did it with Julia and had so much fun, so now it is Jimmy's turn. Some of the moms from Julia's class with siblings that are Jimmy's age all got together and put our kids in the same class again. It was fun to see some old friends.

Jimmy was a little shy at first, but once we got in the room, he was everywhere...especially near the cars and the train table. He showed lots of interest in the art projects, which I sometimes had to force Julia to do. It is so much fun doing this stuff with him.

Julia the Ballerina!

Julia is girly girl, so it was no surprise to me that she showed interest in dance. Last year we did a short 6 week class in gymnastics and she followed the instructions pretty good, so I figured it was time to enroll her in ballet/tap for the year. All summer she has been asking when ballet starts and "practicing" around the house. When we bought her ballet shoes, she had to come home and practice with them as soon as we got inside the door.

Yesterday was her first class. The parents can't see in the class, so I was hoping that she was doing okay. When she came out of the class, she had the biggest smile on her face...she loved it. She showed us some of her new moves when she got home.

We're Back!

Well, after a long hiatus from the blog, I am finally back. We had a fabulous week long vacation in Florida, complete with several trips to Walt Disney World. Kurt and I had low expectations of the fun factor for us on this vacation, as we are not big fans of theme parks, crowds or Disney stuff. We knew all along that this trip was for Julia and that Jimmy will not remember this. But we had a great time and the kids were just so excited to be there. The best was spending time with our old neighbors (Steve, Kelly & Ethan). Now that they are on the other side of the state we don't get to spend that much time with them.

Friday - We arrived in Orlando a day before our friends, so after we got situated, we decided to go to Epcot to see the Nemo & Ocean exhibit and walk around the "world." Epcot is not a good place for kids, but we knew they'd like the Nemo/Ocean stuff. We had 6 days of tickets, so it wasn't that big of deal to "burn" one at Epcot.

Saturday - Bright and early we got up and arrived at the park to have breakfast at the Castle with Cinderella and the rest of the Princess Gang. It was kind of pricey ($100 for all of us), but it was worth it for Julia to meet all her girls in under an hour and see the Castle inside.
Julia with Cinderella..

The girls were given wands and the boys were given swords...Jimmy's got taken away, as he was about to take out a waiter or princess..

Julia with Belle...
Julia with Snow White
Julia with Jasmine Jasmine was a little buxom for the Princess Rated G Breakfast, but Jimmy & Kurt did not seem to mind.

Julia with Sleeping Beauty
Jimmy wowing the crowd at Ariel's Grotto
Julia & Ariel
Jimmy & Ariel - shirtless since he got doused by water in the Grotto.

Julia, Haley (Kelly's friend's daughter) & Ethan would relax most nights with an episode or two of Scooby Doo...they had so much fun together
Sunday: This day we relaxed and hung out at one of the pools in the morning and just let the kids run around. Later in the day we went to Downtown Disney for dinner and window shopping.

Julia goes down the slide with Kelly (baby Emily is in utero, so she was there too)

Not that it is a shocker to us, but Jimmy is not afraid of anything. He loves the water and would go down the slide all by himself. He is a little daredevil.



The resort we stayed at had several pools and kid areas. This pool area also had a splash pad and the kids loved running around in it. Fortunately you could situate yourself between both this and a shallow pool and watch everything.

After a day in the sun, we decided to go to Downtown Disney and let the kids play and look at all the stuff. They had a great time at Lego Land building stuff.

Monday: We all visited the Magic Kingdom. We arrived early to see as much stuff before it got too hot and the kids lost it. The kids rode lots of rides and had a great time. Julia rode the kid roller coaster and LOVED it. She screamed the whole time and when it stopped, she couldn't stop laughing. She is so my girl. In a few years and when she grows a few inches, we'll have some REAL fun at Cedar Pointe.

Julia & Stitch

After some R&R back at the Condo...we returned for more fun at the park in the afternoon.
Julia & Mickey & Minnie
Wednesday: We decided to go to Animal Kingdom. There were several shows we saw, Lion King, Pocahontas and her Animal Friends and we also rode a big truck to see tons of animals. It was pretty hot that day and there was little respite from the heat...this is probably why this was my least favorite day.

Julia & Goofy

Julia & Donald

Julia & Pocahontas
After the crazy hot day, we got back to the Condo and cooled off in the pool. This is when Julia finally rode the water slide by herself. She screamed the whole way.

Kurt & Jimmy Smile for Kate

Thursday - We decided to make one last trek to Magic Kingdom. The kids had so much fun there and there were a few things we thought the kids would like to do there. Julia rode the Splash Mountain ride, although you have to be 40 inches, she snuck on with Kurt and LOVED it. Again, more screaming...out of joy. She was all smiles and soaked when she got off. She told us this was her favorite part of the trip...riding it with Daddy.

We came back on Friday. Julia is a great flyer, Jimmy is not. It could be that he was riding on our laps or that he is just the devil -but he was either fighting or yelling pretty much the entire time. We were never to so glad to land. Julia slept most of the way.

Some of the things that bugged us most about the trip were the crazy people who can't stop on the side of a walkway and clog up the traffic. Kurt many times wanted to use our stroller and kids as a weapon and once had to stop the stroller and pull it back for fear or a lady that was walking and not looking. She deserved to fall...but not on my kids or stroller. I am sure that we could come up with a top ten list, but I have better uses for my time.

What really matters is that Julia loved every minute of it and several times she told us she never wanted to leave and that she was having a great time. Only once during the trip did she get a little homesick for her neighborhood friends. The kids couldn't have been better behaved. Will we become Disney Visitors every year? Absolutely not, but we'll go back at some point in time probably. Although our next vacation will be no kids and somewhere where I can just read a book on the beach and relax with a drink.

:-)

First Day at Preschool

This morning was Julia's first day at preschool. She went to the same preschool last year, but this year she has a new teacher. She has been so excited about starting school again, getting back together with some of her old friends and meeting new ones. She's such a social butterfly.

First Day Photo

Julia getting her name tag from Mrs. Lloyd
Playing with the kids

It was a great first day, Mrs. Lloyd is fantastic and so enthusiastic. She has been teaching at the school for like 35 years! Julia told me that she "Loves her new teacher, because she has a daughter named Julia too." I am so glad that she is so happy to go to school!

We celebrated our first day back with a lunch at McDonald's. We ran back home and grabbed Jimmy & Grandma and off we went. We were sad though when the playarea was under repair. The poor McDonald's was packed with moms, grandparents & tots. It was hard to tell who was more disappointed, the kids or the moms.