BooMama's Before & After

This is a blog that I read when I'm really bored (not that that makes it any less fabulous) and it sometimes has these community blogging activity things which are actually kind of fun. Well, she announced this one a couple of months ago and kept postponing it. Anyway, it gave me enough motivation to try to finish the upstairs foyer area which I have been needing to do anyway for four years now. And I actually did it. Unfortunately, she decided to finally do it on Friday but we were still on our way home from our trip. So, I know that I'm a couple days late with this, but other people are still playing that are late too. If you want to see other people's before and afters, click on the Before and After button.

Here's my before (it's a video):

And here's my after:

Last Day!

We are finally back at home! It was a long week even though it was really fun. We are totally exhausted and just trying to recover this weekend. On our last day in Orlando, we didn't have any plans or force ourselves to see too much. We went to Disney's Boardwalk which was totally cute and quiet (and made me want to stay there the next time we visit).

Then, we took naps and headed out to the Magic Kingdom for the Spectromagic parade. Disney is pretty during the day, but gorgeous at night! We had a little more than an hour to wait before the parade started so we got to finish up going on some rides we had missed earlier in the week. It was great because it wasn't as hot and sticky and the lines were much shorter. We had a blast and it was probably the most fun we had since we got there!

The parade was really pretty and fun but the kids were just so tired. They liked seeing all the lights and of course, Mickey Mouse. They stayed awake until 10:00 like real troopers! It was so fun an awesome ending to a great trip!

Poor Thing!

OR NOT!

So, yesterday we went back to the Magic Kingdom to take the Peeny Peencess to meet the princesses thinking it was going to light up her life since it's all she could talk about since she got here. And as you can see, it didn't go over so well.

Hahaha! Poor thing! I guess it was too overwhelming or maybe they looked too much like strangers as opposed to the adorable Mickey Mouse who is definately not scary.

We did a couple more things while we were there like ride the Haunted Mansion and rode the "choo choo" around the park too. But, we were so Disneyed out by that point that we just wanted to leave. So, we left and went to Ikea instead. We needed a break. I'm getting kind of sad about having to go home and leave all this behind, but I think we are almost ready. There is so much to do here that you could never see it all in just a week!

Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom was awesome and has been by far our favorite park. We got up early since the animals are usually still awake before it gets too hot. It was so worth it because we saw a baby giraffe and a baby elephant! Brent and I both love animals so much and the kids do too! It was the funnest day we had so far because we got to meet so many characters too. Wyatt is not a fan Mickey unless you are holding him for reassurance. He cried everytime... but Callie was all about it!

Please just look at this one picture of my kid. Girlfriend sees the goat eating hay off the ground and was trying to mimick it by eating some hay too! So gross. I guess she noticed the thing didn't use it's hands to eat. Hahahaha! Precious.

We did the entire park by 1:00 so we came home and ate and took naps and headed back out to Downtown Disney. It was fun and relaxing... just a bunch of shopping and places to eat. It was so cute to see all the little girls getting done up like princesses at the Bibbidy Bobbity Boutique. Callie has been obsessed by all the princesses since we got here! Please believe she asked to have her picture taken next to the princess statue. Oh, yes ma'am!



On the way home, we stopped by the pool so the kids could run around in the splash area and get wet. Wyatt was a champ! He loved stomping on the jets and smacking the water and screaming and just being a nut. Here is Wyatt:

And here is Callie (who was having none of it!):

Hollywood Studios

The lack of naps finally caught up with us today. We ventured to MGM this morning despite the fact that we are starting to fantasize about wheelchairs. The kids seemed good to go but as soon as we got there, we realized they were kind of a mess. They weren't really coping with standing in lines too well or being in the strollers either. We did manage to see a couple things, but Wyatt even cried when he met Donald Duck. It was still pretty cute even through the tears.

At that point, we figured we needed to head home for a nap. It worked out really well too because as soon as we got home, it started pouring and it hasn't let up since. None of us were really interested in heading back out tonight so we took the afternoon to chill out and recoop for tomorrow. We're headed to Animal Kingdom in the morning! I'm so excited!

Epcot (BALL! BALL! BALL! BALL!)

Epcot was fun and chill. I know that probably makes me a nerd, but after the Magic Kingdom, I was so glad we picked a park that had a much thinner crowd with less stuff to do. We did Spaceship Earth and the Nemo part first and then walked the loop of all the countries. Then we hit the Coke exhibit where you can try tons of different kinds of Coke. That was a bad move because Callie pretty much bathed herself in Watermelon Coke right before we met the characters so she was sticky, wet, and stained pink in all of the pictures.

Meeting the characters was my favorite part so far. We have a Disney Credit Card and one of the perks was getting to meet Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy in a big room with just the four of us. It was so sweet. Both kids were in total awe initially. They were smiling and touching them and Callie even kissed Minnie Mouse on the nose. It was so cute. Goofy was giving them high fives. Callie cried when we had to leave.

This morning they came storming into our bedroom and handed me their Mickey Mouse right away. So fun. I still haven't moved though and I've been up over an hour. I'm sooooo tired. Help.

Magic Kingdom

Our first full day here was spent at the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom was totally beautiful especially with Cinderella's castle as the backdrop for everything. Plus, it's all completely decked out in Halloween garb which I loved! But... and I can't believe that I would dare say anything less than it being unbelivable and wonderful and frilly and all of that stuff (which it was) but it was also very hot, horribly crowded, and kind of overwhelming. The lines for the rides were out of control and since you can't take your strollers with you, you have to lug your 30 pound kid in your arms for 45 minutes or however long it takes to get on the ride. Then, multiply that by 7 or 8 rides and you are left as a steamy, stinky, and hurting pile of mom/dad who just wants to collapse. (Don't forget to throw in standing-diaper-changes for an extra added bonus.)

The kids of course had a blast which is all that mattered to me anyway. You could tell they were overwhelmed a little at first too but adjusted quickly. We saw Mickey and Minnie and the Princesses right away performing some dance and both kids totally lit up when they saw them. I got choked up, of course. Callie would lay her head on my shoulder constantly because she was on sensory overload. The rides were fun after we made it through the lines and the kids just looked stunned most of the time. They loved the Dumbo ride the best. We did everything in Fantasyland but never made it to anything else so I'm sure we'll hit that park again by the end of the week. Here are pictures of the kids literally 2 minutes after we got in the van.

This morning, I woke up feeling like a 95 year old because I was so stiff and some how had to find the energy to gear up for another full day at Epcot. (Luckily, I found it in the form of a handful of Extra Strength Tylenol.) The kids have been sleeping in which is so awesome and are doing really well without naps. I'm waiting for the wrath to strike down on that though.

Maaa Moow! (Mickey Mouse)

Guess where we are!?!?! World o' the rat!

You should have seen the kids when we got here. They were bouncing off the walls (literally) and laughing like crackheads. They probably don't know we are here to visit Mickey Mouse (even though we tell them every 5 seconds), but they just know they are some where fun and new and get to run around and terrorize anything they want. It's trippy because I see so much of my brother and myself as little kids when I see them playing together. Partners in crime. Seriously, I get choked up. (They keep doing that to me!) :)

The trip down was a total P.I.A. We got about an hour down the road and realized we forgot our tickets so the little 5 hour trip became more of an 8 hour trip after all was said and done. I can't complain about the kids at all though. They were perfect and watched their little Elmo videos over and over again and never complained. I was a much worse traveler. I hate being in a car for that long because I get so freaking antsy. I can make it for about 3 hours and then I'm done and want to get the hell out. After that, I'm like a caged animal. It's pathetic.

The first room we checked into smelled like something straight up died inside. Thankfully, we got to change rooms to one that doesn't make your nose want to hide inside your butt. We had to throw the kids in the bath as soon as we got in because they peed in their pants through their diaper. I entertained them with lots of juice so those two were burning through their size 5s in about an hour.

Wow. I'm rambling.

So after we stocked up on groceries at Publix, we ate dinner on our little screened in patio that overlooked the pool and the lake. Then we all crashed hard. The kids are in 7th heaven with all the Mickey crap around here. I just can't wait to see how they react when they see the real deal today!

View across the lake

Cuties.

There are moments where I get overwhelmed by the cuteness that pours out of my nuggets... when I literally think I have never seen anything sweeter or cuter in my whole life. This week was full of them. Here's a monkey moment:

Just me and my monkey dude watching our 814th rerun of his favorite Teletubbies episode.

And this morning when we realized we were out of "ma'am-mas" (bananas) for breakfast (heaven forbid!) and had to run off to the store to get more, Callie quickly grabbed her purse before going to Publix in her pjs. She's been doing it a lot lately in a way that is like, "Oh, we are leaving? Fun! But, first let me grab my purse!" I can't even handle it to the point where I well up with tears. So freaking cute. And she's mine. They're both mine. Life is just unfairly good.

And just cuz, here's a few more from the week:

Playa.

We love spaghetti!

Happy 7th Burfday Buddy!

It is heem,

And he is mine,

And I luv heem,

Cause he is my buddy,

And hees name is Tony.

Uhhhh Yuhhhh.

______________

(To the tune of "La Cucaracha")

My teeny tiny,

Tony Bologna,

Teeny tiny teeny Tone.

My teeny tiny,

Tony Bologna,

Oooh my teeny tiny teeny Tone.

______________

I dem mer luv ya,

I dem mer need ya,

I dem mer wanna marry ya.

If I could marry ya,

I wud.

Hanna was a wimp.

Hurricane Hanna was a bust! We spent Friday morning moving stuff inside the garage like the grill and lawn furniture and all that crap. I was all proud that I had stocked up on water and candles and stuff too. We were getting pretty excited because the more the afternoon pressed on, the more it looked like we were going to get hit and morbidly enough, we were kind of excited about the thrill of it. I mean, we never hoped for anything terrible to happen, but we wanted some fright-factor like having to hide in the closet or something! But, it was not to be. The hurricane made a sharp right turn at the very last minute and the most we ever got from it was a heavyish drizzle. Boo. We never even heard a thunder clap! Double Boo.

Saturday, of course, turned out to be beautiful and we took the opportunity to tool around Charleston. We didn't do anything much. We were just four farts in the wind and went where ever we the breeze blew us. It was nice having fun out and about. I wish we had as good of shopping and restaurants around here as there are up there! Sunday we ran errands and ate a lot. I got so much organizing done around the house when we were preparing for that stupid hurricane. I was totally proud of myself and did things I had been procrastinating on since we moved into this house almost four years ago!

Wyatt and his huge belly after he gorged himself at IHOP.

The kids have been up to no good, as always! Their newest fascination is drawing with "ga-gok" (chalk) all over the front porch and they demand to do at least a couple times a day. I'm happy they like drawing so much. It tugs on my art-strings.

Today, Wyatt's dirty diaper exploded on my couch, etc. And when I say exploded, I mean that colonic cannonball snuck it's way past the crotch, down the thigh, and all the way to the dude's knee leaving thick skid marks on everything in my living room. I had been blissfully cleaning away in the kitchen without realizing that Wyatt had taken his painting skills to a whole other level. It made me go from gleefully chipper to steaming pissed off in 0.4 seconds. I don't do poop. Poop is gross. Poop makes me tremble with anxiety when it veers away from it's appropriate landing spots. Never mind the fact that I start convulsing. In fact, I hate it so much that I rarely clean the toilets. Yummy, right?!?! Needless to say, a greater part of the afternoon was spent disinfecting the hell out of anything disinfectable. The End.

Terrorizing the seagulls