4 generations

A couple weekends ago the girls and I headed north with Aunt Nanie and Aunt Jaime to go and visit my Grandma and Aunt. So we packed up Aunt Jaime's car that oh so conveniently had a DVD player in it, and were on our way. My Grandma's house is just about 3 hours away, and we have been making the drive north bound 35 for 25 years, and just about every single time we stop half way in Bethany at McDonald's. (We're not really car people, we need to get out and stretch our legs, even on the 3 hour jaunt straight down 35)

Of course we had to get a photo with Ronald that I'm pretty sure has been there all 25 year's that I've been stopping at this McD's!

We made it to my Grandma's with no major meltdowns just in time for the Olympics, and to cheer the gymnasts onto to Gold! My Grandma still has all the toys that we played with when we were little and visiting, and it's pretty surreal to then witness your own children playing with those same toys. 

The next morning we were up bright and early and headed on to Davenport to my Aunt's house. We were greeted with hugs and lunch, and as soon as the girls saw the pool in my Aunt's yard we knew they couldn't wait much longer. It's been about 10 years since I had been to my Aunt's so it was not only a treat for my girls, but for me and my sisters as well. The weather couldn't have been nicer, and Gracen and Hadley were thoroughly worn out by the pool.

Hadley was quite the daredevil in the pool which was funny because she did NOT like swimming lessons earlier this summer!

I bought the girls arm floaties and rings because there is no shallow end of the pool, so no matter where they were they wouldn't be able to touch. Gracen took a while to warm up to swimming on her own, but by the end of the weekend was going down the waterslide and jumping off the diving board like a champion swimmer that she's destined to be (it does run in the family afterall). I do have a couple of good pics of her on the diving board, but haven't put them on the computer yet, so for now these are just my phone pics :)

The weekend was wonderful. We literally went with the idea of just hanging out in mind. We made a quick stop at my Aunt's school, she's been a teacher for 25ish years, and took a ferry boat ride on the Mississipi River, making a quick stop in IL (4 states in 4 days, I'm tired just thinkin about it!). But other than that we did a lot of eating, card playing and swimming. 

My Aunt was definitely prepared with activities for the girls, armed with coloring books, bubbles and even making our own ice cream in a bag. (it made me feel really old though, i remember doing this in gradeschool!) 

Hadley shakin her ice cream!

Can't forget the vanilla!

On the way home on Sunday, we conveniently found an outlet mall right off the highway and spent a lil time wondering around the Coach outlet. It's a dangerous place my friend. Luckily I was strong and didn't make any purchases (can't say the same for the last time i was in there though..) but Aunt Nanie made a fabulous purchase. Hopefully we'll make this an annual visit, since we really don't get to see them much except for around the Holidays. So thanks Aunt Diane for hosting, now it's your turn to make the trek to KC!

The truth about Disney

So I know I'm a little behind, but bare with me. This is yet another post about our trip to Florida, and the happiest place on earth... Disneyworld! So I'm a really big planner, and we had been planning our trip to Florida for about a year, and I was PUMPED. I mean I dreamed about Disney, this trip was every bit as much for me (and the Mr, it was his first time to Disneyworld, and FL for that matter!) as it was for the girls. But here's the thing, I was dissapointed, like really dissapointed. And I still kind of am thinking about it.

I have some really great childhood memories of visiting Disneyworld, I believe I was in 3rd grade, or somewhere around there. We went in November, and it wasn't very busy and we had a blast. There's not a bad thing I could say about that trip (that I remember anyways).

But back to 2012, Disney is not for parents. At all. And we thought since we were going during their off season (Feb.) it wouldn't be very busy, Wrong-o my friend. It was packed. It took forever to even get in the park, after parking, taking the tram, taking the the ferry, and then FINALLY arriving. There was a 40-50 minute wait for everything. There were people everywhere. and to top it all off, the thing I was most looking forward to, Dumbo was closed, AGAIN! The Dumbo ride was closed TWENTY YEARS AGO when I went as well. How does that even work?! I was so sad. And the waiting, a 2 and 3 year old are not patient. And honestly, there really isn't that much there. At least we got to go on Splash Mountain once, although it broke right after we went down the big hill, and got stuck inside on the boat and had to be helped off. The poor Mr. had to miss it altogether, he was supposed to go after I got back.

The BEST part, was the princesses. And fortunately it made the whole trip worth it. Gracen and Hadley got to meet Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle, and Cinderella and it was awesome. It was pretty magical to see the excitement and awe on my little princesses faces as they met the princesses in real life. So although I was dissapointed with most of Disneyworld, that part was by far the best. And we only had to wait about 15 minutes in line to see them. My girls could've done without the carasoul and everything else, all they cared about was the princesses.

So despite my dissapointment, I would still call it a success to see the magic on my bambinos faces. And I'm glad we took them when we did, because by the time I went when I was around 9 or so, I wasn't into the whole princess thing. We might not be going back anytime soon, but I'm pretty sure I'll remember that day just as fondly as I did twenty years ago. Because no matter what, there will always be something magical at the Magic Kingdom.