Happy Mother’s Day! Hopefully reading this post is just a quick break from your day of surprises and appreciation from your hubby and kids! Or maybe you are celebrating your own mom today. Either way, enjoy your day!
Happy Mother’s Day
May 12, 2013 posted by
Let’s Go Fly a Kite!
April 5, 2013 posted by
Today we are headed back to the Lowcountry from a wonderful week up in Maryland. Not only did we get to see lots of family (think aunts from Maine and cousins from China!) and celebrate Easter in my home church, we also got to fly kites!
Sorry for the blurry pictures! 1 camera phone + 3 sqirmy girls = terrible quality photos
The Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing in Washington, D.C. and this weekend’s celebration was the Kite Festival by the National Monument. Thousands of people gathered to picnic, fly kites, and compete in various kite contests.
We mostly just enjoyed the mild weather and being together…..and attempting to just get our kites up off the ground!!
Millie pretty much spent the entire day cozying up to whoever had the best snacks….
GP and Dave seemed to spend the entire time untangling string…..
And Cousin Wouter was the resident expert, teaching Jayna (and some strangers around us!) how it’s done in China!
Finally, the girls figured out that it was just as much fun to physically run the kites around as it was to get them up in the air!!
Who needs string, anyway?!?!
Gator Huntin’ at Cypress Gardens
January 25, 2013 posted by
We were lucky enough to have Mom Mom come visit us for a long weekend. Now, there isn’t much around here she hasn’t done with us. That’s one of the things I love about the Lowcountry is there is a TON of things to do! So, even though we have taken her out before, we decided to head out to Cypress Gardens for the day on Saturday. Even though the temperature had dropped back down to the 50′s (last week they were in the 80′s!), we bundled up and packed a picnic lunch.
We love Cypress Gardens. And I’m not even getting paid to say that! Although its a bit of a drive out there, they have a ton to do for the whole family. They have an aquarium with fish, crocodiles, turtles and snakes, and an outdoor pen with some VERY large alligators. Jayna’s favorite part of Cypress Gardens is the butterfly garden. And on Saturday, they had cute little birds (full sized, supposedly) wandering around too!
We had a picnic lunch and listened to the bluegrass music. Jayna was fascinated by the lady playing the “bass” bucket!
Obviously Cypress Gardens is named for all of the Cypress trees there. They grow in the swamp, and their roots and “knees” stick out of the water and the soft land. It’s just beautiful. Jayna says that the Cypress “knees” remind her of the stalagmites that we saw in Luray Caverns.
But my favorite part of Cypress Gardens is the swamp boat tours. You can pay to get a guided one, but we prefer to paddle ourselves for free! (Mommy disclaimer: Yes, I know I have Amelia in the carrier backwards….but I figured she would be happier and less squirmy in the carrier facing out, so she could see. I was wrong though….she wanted out altogether, and screamed for the entire boat ride!)
Every time we’ve been there we’ve managed to see at least a couple of gators in the swamp. We’ve gotten really good at spotting them amongst the logs, lily pads and Cypress Knees.
But, thanks to Amelia’s wailing, this was the only gator we saw this time!
{Walt Disney World} A Mom with A Plan.
January 18, 2013 posted by
Did I tell you our exciting news? We are going to Disney World! Along with everyone else we know. Not really {just Bets and Jay}, but seriously all of our friends are also going at some point this year. Now that our kids are 4 and old enough to get excited, it’s about that time!
So when we first decided to do a Disney Vacation with Bets and Jay, I bombarded my Pinterest Boards with any Disney-related posts I could find. And there are. a. lot.
Where to Stay:
I went back and forth about whether to stay on-sight, rent a house, or try to do a time-share. The pros and cons for each were overwhelming. You can only do the Disney Meal Plan if you stay onsight. You can catch a shuttle to the parks for free if you stay on site. But, it’s waaaaaaay cheaper to rent a house (and you’ll get your own pool that way!). Time shares seemed the obvious happy medium, with their multiple theme pools, transportation to parks, and eat-in kitchens. But they were still pretty expensive. And then my friend Joanna filled me in on Farrell’s Vacation Rentals. Farrell is just a guy who personally owns a bunch of timeshares, and he’ll rent them to you for much less than the actual resorts. So, we ended up booking a two bedroom condo at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort {complete with Disney shuttle and lazy river!!} for $109 a night. Not bad!
Next order of business: Food.
Top of the List? Disney Princess Character Breakfast! We’d heard from multiple friends to skip the Cinderella Castle meals and head to Epcot’s Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, where Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Mary Poppins dine. I found all of the menu items, pricing and other options here. Considering Dave and I will be continuing our Biggest Loser Lifestyle, we figure that we will try to eat in our hotel as much as possible, and pack healthy snacks and lunches for the parks {since I found out you can bring food and drinks into the park!}.
Final step: Entertainment
We will be in Orlando for 7 days, so we are still debating whether to get a 3 or 4 day park-hopper pass….hoping to go to a park every other day. Our resort has plenty for us to do on the off days, plus Betsy and Jay will be staying over at the campground, which will have lots of entertainment there too. We budgeted for full price tickets, but I’ve found a couple of sites with discount tickets {I’d share them with you, but I’m not sure if they are legit yet…I’ll keep you posted}. Our plan is to get to each park before it opens at 9 {a little birdie told me that sometimes the characters come out to hang while you are waiting for the park to open!}, eat a packed lunch there and just go for as long as the kids can hang. Then we’ll head back to the hotel in the late afternoon for naps and dinner. I’m hoping I can convince Bets to swap off kids for a couple of the nights so we each can grab a date night with our hubby in Downtown Disney!
I’ve got lots more Disney coming at you in the near future, including packing lists, our activities around the house to get excited, and some secret tips I found! In the meantime, PLEASE feel free to leave any tips or advice in the comments!
Check out my other Disney-related posts! Click Below:
Secrets of the Kingdom: A Collection of Walt Disney World Tips
Merry Christmas!
December 24, 2012 posted by
Merry Christmas from my family to yours! I’m taking a few days off {away from the computer} to celebrate the holidays with my family! See you next week!
From Tennessee: With Love
November 29, 2012 posted by
We are not really spontaneous people. We are planners. We like to map out routes, book hotels and do as much internet research as possible. But not this time! We decided to take our Thanksgiving and hit the road with it….all the way to Nashville, Tennessee. Other than booking hotels (for the Marriott points, of course!), we did not really have a plan. The “plan” was to drive around exploring Middle Tennessee between Nashville and Knoxville.
Our journey started out in Nashville, where we spent two glorious nights in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. You may remember me gushing about it when I was there last February for my Blissdom Conference.
The girls loved walking around in the hotel. They even had some wintery old-fashioned rides set up in one of the expo halls.
While in Nashville, we checked out the super-cute towns of Springfield, Gallatin and Franklin. Then we headed to Murfreesboro. The girls needed a break, so we found a replica village of when Murfreesboro used to be the town of Cannonsburgh. Jayna was in awe of the small, one-roomed houses, the antiques and the outhouse!
Then we spent the night in the sweet town of Cookeville. The people were SO nice there….Southern Hospitality at its best! We had a great dinner at a little place called Crawdaddy’s, and then shopped the next day. Jayna loved checking out the railroad museum!
We spent the next night in Knoxville and then headed home! This year, I was so thankful to be able to spend some quality time with my family for a few days!
A Night at the Fair
November 7, 2012 posted by
Pumpkin Picking
October 26, 2012 posted by
This year the girls were thrilled to see the variety of textures, colors and sizes of pumpkins.
Jayna insisted on picking up every single little pumpkin there was…..despite the concerns of the old men in charge of the pumpkin patch! {Don’t worry, she only dropped one!!}
Have you gotten your pumpkins yet? Have you carved them?New Partnership with The Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry!
August 5, 2012 posted by
Great news y’all! I recently was written about in Charleston’s main newspaper, The Post and Courier, and I am tickled pink that so many people have found me because of it! Welcome to all of my newbies! I’m so glad you are here!
And because of that article, I have formed a new partnership with The Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry! Now, our family had a personal membership there last year, so you might remember seeing pictures of our pirate adventures on our last day as a family of three. We love it there, but had decided to let our membership lapse this year so we could try out a zoo membership….so this comes at a perfect time! In exchange for a family membership, I’ll be blogging about our trips there and various events that they hold throughout the year. Even though I am getting a membership in exchange for my thoughts, I promise (as always) to give my honest opinion. So please bear with my periodic plugs, and be sure to go check it out if you are ever in downtown Charleston!
Some upcoming events are:
Eat at Moe’s Southwest Grill (King Street and Houston Northcutt locations) & receive a Free Family Admission to the Museum! Wednesday, August 15th 5:00pm – 8:00pm
CML Night at the Charleston Battery! Saturday, August 18th Includes a Free Soccer Clinic for Members!
50% OFF A MUSEUM MEMBERSHIP Tuesday, August 21st ONLY!
Please visit CML’s events website for more details on these three events.
Let the fun begin!
Little Fishes
July 31, 2012 posted by
As y’all know, Mom Mom has been with us for the past week. We had a wonderful visit! It’s always such a treat to watch the girls interact with her. Even though she lives a gazillion miles away (Jayna’s measurement!), each time she picks up right where she left off!
This week was no exception. Mom Mom was able to step into our routine right as Swim Lessons were about to start! Actually, I believe this is the fourth week of lessons, but Jayna has really been hit or miss with them. She loves the water and desperately wants to know how to swim….she just can’t relax and get out of her head enough to actually do it! Until….this week! Having Mom Mom around to “show off” for really made a difference in her confidence levels.
She is in a class with four other kids about her age, and they have Ms. Phoebe (the instructor) and Mr. Aaron (a high school helper) showing them how to correctly do the strokes. And they do it in the deep end with noodles!
Since the start of swim lessons last month, Jayna can swim under water, with freestyle-stroke arms for about three strokes before popping up for air!
And Ms. Millie is right behind her…. I discovered this week that Amelia loves to swim in the pool too! She kicks her legs and only drinks ‘some’ of the salty pool water….
And she loves “jumping” in from the side of the pool! I count to three and she takes a deep breath….and dunk! She comes up smiling and says “Tada!” everytime!
She made the funniest faces when she took her big breath on the count of three!
And then she would ask for ”more.” Over. and over. and over…
We love that Mom Mom was able to capture all of these pictures (usually I’m by myself at the pool with them, so no time for pics!).
We loooooooove the pool!
As always, I have un-edited versions of all of these pics….so Family, if you’d like them, email me or leave a comment and I’ll give you the link!
