The answer is always yes...

Friends and family,

You know me.  You know I say yes to lots and lots of commitments. 

 

If we take a stroll down memory lane way back to 1996-2002, I did not have this problem.  Because I knew my boundaries.  I was teaching school.  And I knew what that involved.

 

My stay-at-home/Sonshine School  identity from 2002 + has been the problem.  Because you see I have time...it appears.  I have my boundaries with SSS - those are Tues/Thurs.  Easy.  But I often let my part time job creep over into my Mon/Wed/Fri and that makes me really angry with myself.  Because I broke a boundary.

 

And now that my last chick-a-dee is the only one left at home, I've done my best to shape and mold my Mon/Wed/Fri into days of fun for Jackson and me.  Because I see and feel how quickly time has gone by.  The last time I had just one child at home, it was me and Collin in my 2003-2005 days.

 

But then add a Bible study here, and a PTO thing there and my days can become quite filled if I'm not careful.

 

So, I've come to the part of my year where I reset my priorities and goals that I've probably broken or readjusted from New Year's Day.

 

And I've found, quite frankly, that this blog and I are at war with each other.

 

I want so much for you, Momma and Daddy, to see our daily/past goings on since we live so far away.

 

I love getting feedback/comments from my local and far-away friends and cousins.

 

And I love reading all my friends' blogs.

 

However, I love to scrapbook.  And I'm 3 years behind.  So until I'm caught up on scrapping out my past life while living and enjoying my present life, the blog and I are on haitus.

 

 

So my schedule will look like this:

Monday:  clean/errands/play with Jackson

Tuesday:  SSS; gymnastics for C and K

Wednesday:  Bible study; lunch out with friends; update bills during nap

Thursday:  SSS

Friday:  field trip day for me and J; scrapbook during naptime

 

If you add in our trips to the library and the occasional free day at a random museum, Jackson and I will stay busy and make memories.  We can also add in Matt's always busy schedule and Collin's rehearsal schedule and Katie's busyness, plus homework and projects and piano lessons, etc.  And then add to that Brother's Keepers group, small group, college kids, playdates, having friends over for dinner and games, catching up with friends whose path you don't cross naturally anymore, etc.  Well, you get the picture.  We are all trying to get our ducks in a row aren't we? 

 

See you soon as a caught up and focused friend.

Alyssa

 



Go back to your favorite park day

 And we returned to the Magic Kingdom.  We even have a song about the Magic Kingdom.  Our kiddos would love to sing it for you sometime.  While you are driving in your car.  With 9 hours ahead of you until you can stop.

 Riding Goofy's Barnstormer

 Exploring the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

 I placed our lunch time cold packs around Jackson in the stroller while he was napping!  I thought I was totally brilliant for this idea!!

 I didn't totally get this game but Collin was really into it and Katie thought it was pretty cool.

 Chubba hanging out waiting for the big kids and a parent to ride Splash Mountain.

 Again with the game thing.  Not sure what it going on here but Collin showed 3 cards to this window and that was a good thing.

 You cannot tell from Jackson's face but he loved the Winnie the Pooh ride!!

And that wraps up our wonderful trip to Disney World after a 6 year absence.  Loved it.  Loved it.  Loved it.

Thursday, July 19, 2012  Day 9

Hollywood Studios

 Matt's favorite park:  Hollywood Studios!  What happened to the MGM part?

 on the Backlot Tour

 Trying to Jackson to smile in this character photo!!!  He loves Cars!!  He loves cars!!  But as soon as it was his turn to see Mater and Lightning "Naqueen" he was ready to run away!

I wish I had taken a picture of Katie and Collin's hair after wearing these hot, thick hats all day.  Their hair was a wet, wrinkly, wavy, mass of sweat.

Fun day highlights:

*Riding Tower of Terror with Katie and Collin and not really telling them what goes on during the ride until right before it happens!

*Using some very strong bribery to convince Collin to ride Rock N Roller coaster with me.  It did not work.

*Seeing Beauty and the Beast show while eating popcorn and M&M's (minus the M&M's for Jackson) and realizing for possibly the first time that the only 2 people that sing are Belle and Gaston and the rest lip-sinc

*Going on the great movie ride

*Being chosen as the rebel spy on Star Tours.  And feeling so sick I could hardly walk around after riding Star Tours.  I do not like those simulator rides!

*Watching Katie make her "custom" light saber at the Star Tours gift shop.  Interesting fact...she hasn't touched the thing since we've been home.

*Talking movies and sets and productions with Collin

*finding a counter service (over by Star Tours) that gives free refills!!!

*going back to condo to take naps with Jackson and Katie

*watching Fantasmic!!

*packing my own glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets and pulling them out at night!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012  Day 8



"Disney claims to be the place where dreams come true. But I've never dreamed of having Stitch belch his chili dog in my face." - Matt McCook

 Day 1 in the Magic Kingdom and we took 3 pictures.  I'm guessing we were too busy having fun.

 This area by Space Mountain became Jackson's "get out of the stroller and run around" area.  Collin and Katie got to ride Space Mountain several times due to rider switch program.  Chubba played Thomas the train on the white benches.

So glad Matt snapped a photo of this.  Because everytime I rode Splash Mountain with Collin and Katie they would laugh and laugh when we got to this part.  And that folks is the end of Day 1 (in pictures) in the Magic Kingdom.

Commentary:

1.  WDW Railroad:  our Chubba Chubba Choo Choo loved this ride

2.  Swiss Family Treehouse - when prepping for our trip we first watched Swiss Family Robinson.  All kids loved seeing the treehouse and imagined what it would be like to have this house in our backyard!

3.  Magic Carpets of Aladdin - rode this with my Katie.  I'll never forget her giggly laugh as we rode this at night!!

4.  Enchanted Tiki Room - I think I preferred the "under new management" version.

5.  Jungle Cruise - Collin laughed and laughed at all the corny jokes told on this ride!!  Jackson slept through it all.

6.  Pirates of the Caribbean - big kiddos loved it, Jackson slept through it.

7.  Splash Mountain - rode at least 6 times and it's a pretty long ride.  Pure Disney fun!

8.  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - also a very fun one!  K and C rode this many, many times.  They felt so brave by holding their hands up the whole time!

9.  Tom Sawyer Island - never made it out to the island this trip due to rain

10.  Country Bear Jamboree - you know, in all my trips to the World I've never seen the Jamboree.  comments friends?  What are we missing?

11.  The Hall of Presidents - love it.  I like to look over at Matt when people start clapping for certain presidents.  Lincoln usually gets the first yahoo.  Collin cheered for Polk because he did a report on him last year.  Matt and I roll our eyes when people start to cheer.  It's our thing.

12.  Liberty Square Riverboat - also have never done this.  Comments?

13.  Haunted Mansion - Jackson did not like "dat".  Katie plugged her ears the bulk of the ride.  Collin semi liked it.  I think we need to check out this movie, because we apparently forgot to do our homework.

14.  it's a small world - always so fun!

15.  Peter Pan's Flight - excellent

16.  Mickey's PhilarMagic - favorite 3D movie!  Matt loves the food smells, I kinda don't.

17.  Prince Charming Regal Carrousel - we didn't ride this time

18.  Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - LOVED this ride because Jackson LOVED it so much!!  We rode about 3+ times and it was always fun with him!!

19.  Mad Tea Party - didn't do it this trip

20.  Dumbo the Flying Elephant - Jackson loved this too!!!  Wondering why he didn't love the dino ride at AK.  And the newly improved wait area is FANTASTIC!!

21.  Barnstormer - CK loved it!

22.  Casey Jr. Splash N Soak Station - very fun on a 92 degree day.

23.  Tomorrowland Speedway - I rode with KJ, Matt rode with C.  This was terribly hard to do with Katie, who couldn't keep the car steering straight.  I laughed so hard I cried.

24.  Space Mountain - Katie's favorite at MK!!

25.  Astro Orbiter - didn't do it this time

26.  Tomorrowland Transit Authority - always fun

27.  Carousel of Progress - there's a great big beautiful tomorrow!  a must do, every time.

28.  Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - oh so fun!  And I won!  I always do!  By like 15,000 points.  And I had Jackson in my lap.  I rock.

29.  Stitch's Great Escape - Matt, Collin and Katie rode only.  Matt and I prefer the alien encounter.

30.  Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor - this was ok.  I think I liked the old Robin Williams robot movie better though.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012  Day 7



Animal Kingdom

 On this day Jackson learned how to unbuckle himself in his stroller!  Animal Kingdom ended up being Katie's favorite of the 4 parks!

 Jackson was less than thrilled.  Here we are on the Triceratop Spin.  He absolutely did not want to ride this.

 But Katie was too short to ride completely on her own.  And Dad and Collin were riding the Primeval Whirl.  So he was forced to ride 3 times with Katie and me and then twice with Katie and Dad.  Sweet boy.

 Years ago, might have been 1999ish, Disney World had a Zoological Park.  This was before an official Animal Kingdom.  I remember a mommy taking her daughter out of my class for 2 days when I worked in Florida to take her to the new Animal Kingdom.  And I thought to myself, "well, I will NEVER...."  Once I moved away from Florida I thought maybe I should never say never.  :)

The Boneyard playground.  Kid's loved it.  Jackson was thrilled to be out of the stroller.

Commentary on attractions:

1.  The Oasis Exhibits:  this right here is part of the old zoo.  You can see lots of fun animals here.  Kids favorite to see:  the anteater.  On a side note for the Disney history lovers:  the orginal zoo was on "Discovery Island" a real island near the Magic Kingdom.  If you are looking at the islands while riding the Monorail from the ticket and transportation center, you can see an old abandoned Disney water park.  The island just opposite that is the old zoo.  I read an interesting story about some guys that snuck out to the old zoo island and looked around and took pictures.  Just a little fun facts for those of you that love the Dis like me.

2.  It's Tough to be a Bug! - scared the caca out of our kiddos.  None of them liked it.  I did of course.  Except for the exiting cockroaches.

3.  Discovery Island Trails - so fun to look at the big tree and see all the animals carved into the trunk.

4.  Festival of the Lion King - only Matt and Collin sawthis as I was back at the condo taking naps with Katie and Jackson.  They loved it, of course.

5.  Greeting Trails - I believe this area was to be reserved for the make-believe animals of Disney, like Pete's Dragon.  If you are a parking customer, which we were this trip, we noticed that one of the parking lots was named Unicorn.  That is for this section of Animal Kingdom that never got made.  Also, you can see dragon wings at the entrance to Animal Kingdom.

6.  Kilimanjaro Safari's - a fun ride that Katie, Jackson and I did not get to do this time due to naps.

7.  Pangani Forest Exploration Trail - more zoo stuff but a fun walk;  we got to see some very large bats and tigers up close.

8.  Wildlife Express Train out to Habitat Habit, Conservation Station, and Affection Section - none of the fam did these attractions this time.  :(  return trip is a must

9.  Flights of Wonder - great show about birds.  Collin loved it.

10.  Maharajah Jungle Trek - oopsie, nope, this is where we saw the big bats and the tigers up close. I have no idea what that other trail was...

11.  Kali River Rapids - Matt and Collin loved!

12.  Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain - We loved this ride!!!  Katie and Collin rode it 3 times, due to the rider switch program!!  For Disney freaks like us, a question:  did you notice that as you are finishing up the ride and waiting for the track to switch from backward to forward, they used to shake or rumble the tracks while you heard Yeti sounds?  Then as the roller coaster took off the big animatronic Yeti tries to reach down and grab you!  Currently they are showing only a shadow of the Yeti up on the side of the mountain.  Miss the old way.  When we got home this evening we had to find out the answer to the missing Yeti.  He apparently broke 6 months after Everest opened!  We also found that Disney made a movie about building this ride.  So Collin and I stayed up until the wee hours watching the Expedition Everest movie!

13.  The Boneyard - a fun playground all our kids enjoyed

14.  Finding Nemo:  The Musical - Jackson's favorite thing here!!  Great show!  We are still singing "Just keep swimming".  Especially love the "That's my dad" song.  As a side note:  we loved the Tarzan Rocks show that used to be here.  A unique show on roller skates.  It was really cool.

15.  Primeval Whirl - Katie was VERY disappointed that she could not ride this.  Apparently Six Flags over Texas has the same ride and she could ride it there.  But she is too short to ride it here.  Collin didn't ride this ride at Six Flags because he was a little nervous, but rode it at Disney World at least 4 times!

16.  Triceratop Spin - We've scarred Jackson for life on this one.

17.  Dinosaur - Once Collin and Katie rode with me, Matt was certain neither would return to ride with him on the rider switch.  Katie returned.  Neither loved it.  I still give it 2 thumbs up!

This night we ate dinner out of the park since Animal Kingdom closes earlier than the others and we did not purchase the park hopper pass.  We found a Cici's pizza.  Not a safe place to take Jackson to eat but we managed by packing him his own dinner and letting him drink Sprite!  He felt special!

Monday, July 16, 2012  Day 6

Epcot

 We started our day with worship in our condo.  It is very nice to do family worship time when we are away.  We also like visiting local churches but there were none nearby.  After that we headed into the park!  I was still trying to do a non-ponytail (which is my standard hairstyle).  I had forgotten about the Florida humidity!  92 degrees and muggy!  Love it!  We were so happy to be at Epcot!!

 Our first character sighting was Daisy Duck!  Jackson wanted none of her!  And decided at that point that those characted thingys were not for him.

 Katie liked the characters.  Collin tolerated taking his picture with them.

 Katie and Mommy riding Living with the Land.

 Jackson and Mommy waiting while the big kids and Dad rode Soarin'.  Collin and Katie loved it!!  So I got to do rider switch and they both rode with me too!

 Playing around after Journey into the Imagination with Figment.

 At the trading post.

Canada!  O Canada!

A little commentary about some of the attractions:

1.  Spaceship Earth - we haven't been to the World in 6 years but I do know something has changed about this.  The going back down the ride used to show technology changes because I specifically remember a "dad" talking to his "child" via computer (like Skype).  But maybe since we all actually do that now, they deleted it.  Things that make me go hmmmm.

2.  Ellen's Energy Adventure - I love this one!  However, being at Disney in July during it's peak season, I thought the place would have been packed.  We were on this ride with about 4 other families.  If you've ridden it before, you know how strange that must have felt.  Kiddos really enjoyed it.  Jackson fell asleep while hiding his eyes from the dinosaur.

3.  Mission:  Space - I did the green team with the kids.  They loved it!  I felt car sick.  I just don't like those simulator rides.  Then they did orange team with Matt and loved it more.

4.  Test Track - closed.  Bummer.  They are making a new and improved test track.  So when you go Momma and Daddy and Aunt Reese and cousins it will be open for you!

5.  Innoventions - The sum of all thrills was a new one since we had been last.  You get to design your own rollercoaster and then ride it.  Collin and Matt did it because Katie wasn't tall enough.  She was extremely sad over this!

6.  The Seas with Nemo and friends - Love it.  Jackson loved it!  Pure Disney fun right there!

7.  Turtle Talk with Crush - also super fun and entertaining!

8.  Soarin' - Both older kiddos got to ride twice with each of us!  It is a fun and unique ride.

9.  Living with the Land - I'm always amazed at the fun and different things they grow here.  And...we spotted our first hidden Mickey with the shrimp!

10.  Circle of Life - good enviromental movie.  They used to have a food pyramid animitronics kind of thing over in this area too.  We were glad that has been deleted!

11.  Journey Into Imagination With Figment - Collin loved this!  He laughed so loud at times I thought he was fake laughing.

12.  Captain EO - Remember Honey I shrunk the Audience?  Well, you might wait until that returns.  Because Captain EO was...different.  Michael Jackson.  Doing some saving the day business and singing.  Apparently that was the 3D movie here in 1984.  And maybe it was his death that made Disney people get it out of the vault.  Good to see once.  Wouldn't mind having Honey I Shrunk come back.

13.  Image Works - good play area that Jackson could get out of the stroller and run around in.  We were a handful of families in there.  But it was air-conditioned and again, Jackson could run around.

14.  Mexico:  Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros - so fun!  no wait!  again...we are wondering where these peak season crowds are!

15.  Norway:  Maelstrom - fun boat ride and film afterward

16.  China:  Reflections of China film - so interesting.  Love to see this.

17.  America:  The American Adventure - this was the only thing we didn't get to do at Epcot!  :(  next time!

18.  France:  Impressions de France film - this was a fun film to watch because we had been to many of the places they mentioned in the film.  Collin and Katie even could identify places and we aren't totally sure how much Katie remembers about that trip.

19.  Canada:  O Canada! film - They have redone this video adding Martin Short.  I think I like it better without him.  Although I do like Martin Short.

We ate dinner at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in China.  Jackson could eat the rice!!  And of course we had packed food for him.  A wonderfully, fabulous day at Epcot.

Sunday, July 15, 2012  Day 5

Friends

 When we lived in Tallahassee we hung out most weekends with the Grays.  Just as we moved away Missy was pregnant with Caroline and I was pregnant with Collin.  Then almost 3 years later we both had a baby on November 3, 2005!  Carson was born at 8:30 eastern time and Katie born at 8:38 central time.  So Carson is 1 hour older than Katie!

Haven't seen Missy since 2003.  But visiting with her in Perry, Florida was like no time had passed!  So glad we got to see you dear friend!!

Saturday, July 14, 2012  Day 4  St. Joseph Peninsula, Florida to Kissimmee, Florida

Beach deer

 This is the name we gave to these deer out on the St. Joseph Peninsula.

 It really feels as if you have driven to the edge of the earth here.

 There are no restaurants within 30 miles.  Although there is a snack bar at one of the fishing docks.  It also sells bait and other fine foods if that helps you imagine what is for sale there.

 When walking around this beautiful campground we spotted a tent just like ours in the trashcan!!  Great.

 The beach here is different that Grayton beach.  Sand was still beautiful although there was alot of seaweed.  Water was still clear but there were many, many more shells.  And the beach got deep fast.

 Possibly our Christmas card photo for 2012.  Jackson has a red eye from itching and I have frizzy beach hair but this is what we look like when we camp.

 When we lived in Florida, locals would tell us that it is fun to fly over the beach and look down.  Not only for the beautiful scenery, but also for the black dots in the water.   The black dots are sharks!  And they are incredibly close to people!  Also....Bammy...you were flying in this plane.

This is the rest of Friday, July 13, 2012, Day 3 when we drove from Santa Rosa Beach to the St. Joseph Peninsula in Florida.