Magic Kingdom!

Tuesday morning we got up bright and early to head to Disney. The guidebooks and websites said that if you arrive between 8:15-8:30 then you would have 30-45 minutes to meet princesses on Main Street before they open the rides at 9am. This wasn't true. We were there much earlier than we needed to be as we arrived at 8:00am. They let us in only a few minutes before 9am. We went straight to the new Little Mermaid ride. The kids loved it. At the end of the day, Nadia said it was her favorite. We had NO wait, and later when we passed it I saw the line was 50 minutes long. Next we headed to story time with Belle. This was our longest wait of the day, but it was a bit shorter than it would have been because a bunch of people in front of us gave up and left the line because they temporarily closed it for a few minutes. The kids were assigned roles for acting out the story. Nadia was in seventh heaven because she was chosen to be the Beast (they liked her roar) which meant she got to dance with Belle! I should have taken a video of it!

Ian was chosen to be the dog who was turned into a footstool. He was a very quiet dog (didn't bark when they asked him to), but he was SO excited when Belle came in the room. You can see in the picture he's jumping up from his seat and waving hi to her. While we were waiting in line I got fastpasses for the Winnie the Pooh ride. We went on that and the Dumbo ride after we finished with Belle. Fastpasses are wonderful. Because of them our wait for almost every ride was about 5 minutes or less.

We planned to have lunch at the Beast's castle (Be our Guest Restaurant). The guidebooks advied getting there at 11am to avoid a long wait. The line was already 2 hours long, and every time we went by it was that long. It was disappointing, but we weren't waiting 2 hours to get in a restaurant. Instead we ate at the Pinocchio Village Haus (no wait). Then I took the three kids to Mickey's PhilharMagic. Even though Ian wouldn't wear the 3D glasses, at the end of the day this was one of his two most favorite "rides." Next Paul and I took the kids on the carousel. I was going to hold Oliver, but they said he had to be on a horse. The other kids never did this at that young of an age! Next all seven of us rode Peter Pan's Flight using fastpasses, and then we finished out time in Fantasyland with a ride on "It's a small world." The teacups were closed that day. We tried to visit Ariel in her Grotto, but the wait was 40 minutes long. The same was true for Merida (the newest Disney princess from the movie "Brave"). I got fastpassses for Buzz Lightyear's ride, and Ian fell asleep in his stroller. While he napped Paul took Nadia to the Town Square Theatre. The wait was about the same length, but she got to meet three princesses (Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty) for that wait instead of just one. That satiated her desire to meet princesses because later in the day there was a short wait to meet Tiana, and she declined.

 

After riding Buzz's ride (Ian's favorite of the day), we headed to see the 3pm parade. Nadia and Ian were about to burst out of their skin with excitement. They were screaming with delight and shouting the names of the characters in the parade - Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Tiana, Belle, Snow White, etc. It felt very hot standing there for the parade. I can't imagine going to Disney World in the summer. After the parade was over we headed to Adventureland to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpets and the Pirates of Caribbean. I went and got Fastpasses for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad before we watched the Country Bear Jamboree. I think that was Oliver's favorite. Paul was excited to ride the Thunder Railroad with Nadia and I because it was under construction when he was here last (January 1980). He waited 33 years to ride that ride! Nadia laughed her head off during the WHOLE ride. Priceless. Then the three of us rode the flume ride. Nadia was hoping to get soaked, which didn't happen.

We ended our day with the 7pm "street party" (small parade) and a little shopping on Main Street. Nadia and Ian each got one new toy. It was the only souvenier we bought them on the trip. We ate snacks we had brought with us as our dinner. On our way out of the park the kids took pictures with Mickey Mouse. We left around 8pm so we didn't stay for the 9pm fireworks. We had taken the monorail into the park that morning so we chose to take the ferry back to our car in the evening. We were parked close enough that we didn't use the tram to get to our car. The kids went to bed about 9pm that night, and it was one of two nights on the trip that Oliver slept past 6:00am. Most days he got up at 4am or 5am, but there were two mornings when he woke up between 6:00-6:30am (once at Aunt Diane's and once at the resort). The amount of walking had been difficult for Grandma at Sea World so she wisely rented an electric wheelchair at Disney. It was by far the most expensive day of our trip (at least 25% of our total expenditures for the 10 day trip were made on this one day), but it was a very special day.

 

 

 

Sea World!

Last Monday we went to Sea World. I had taken Nadia and Ian there myself in August 2011, but this time things were a little different because Nadia was tall enough to ride two rides she couldn't go on last time, and I could ride some others because I wasn't the only adult this time. We arrived when the park opened and headed right to Journey to Atlantis. It was the first time any of us had been on that ride. There was absolutely no line, and we were the only ones on our particular flume. It was definitely more elaborate and a bit scarier than the average flume ride. Next I rode Kraken, which is a roller coaster with loops. I can't remember the last time I went upside down on a roller coaster, but it's definitely been more than 12 years. It was awesome! I had zero wait for that ride either, and on a typical day at Sea World the line is more than one hour long. I should have also gone on Manta at that point (another roller coaster), but Paul thought he might do that one with me so I just headed to the doplhin show where we all agreed to meet. I was there 10 minutes before the rest of the family so I definitely would have had time to ride Manta, and it turned out we never rode it later in the day.  At least I got to ride one of the two rollercoasters! I'm sure we'll be back again in the future. In hindsight we also should have stopped in the morning to have Nadia's picture taken with the person wearing the Shamu costume. She asked, but there was a line when we first came in. I assumed we could do it on the way out. Nope.

The first photo was taken of Oliver during the dolphin show. As you can see, he really enjoyed the show! He was very attentive as he watched the dolphins, parrots, etc. and smiled quite a bit as he stood on Pop Pop's lap. At the end of the day Ian said it was his favorite show. Next I planned for us to head to the kid rides, but on the way we ended up deciding to alter our schedule and take in the Pet's Ahoy show earlier than planned (dogs, cats, pig, skunk, birds, mice, etc.). Ian didn't seem to enjoy this one as much as he did two years ago.

 

Paul's parents and Oliver went to Shamu's stadium to save seats while Paul and I took Nadia and Ian to the kids rides. Some rides we were the only ones on the ride! After seeing Shamu we came back to the rides, but it was a lot more crowded then. Doing the kids rides before the Shamu show is definitely the way to go. Nadia did the splash pad for a few minutes also. Then Paul took her on the Wild Artic ride while Pop Pop and I took Ian and Oliver through the walking portion (walruses, polar bears, and Beluga whales).

Paul and I then took the kids to the sea lion, walrus, and otter show. After that we took them through more animal exhibits (sharks, sting rays, etc.) and then decided it was time to head home. Sea World can be almost as expensive as Disney, but we got three of our four tickets for free, and we packed our lunches. On the way back to the resort we bought two footlong subs at Subway for dinner. After we ate we took the kids swimming. Paul's parents went out to Olive Garden as it was their 46th anniversary. We had a great day!

 

 

Back to Reality

Friday morning we checked out of our resort at 9:15am and drove back to my Aunt Tina's condo in Ponte Vedra Beach (near Jacksonville). We spent a little time at the beach, and then we had cake and she gave us presents. She gave Paul a bag of cashews as his graduation gift (we received his diploma in the mail today), a few little things for Nadia and Ian, and she gave me an amethyst ring that her mother (my Grandma) had given to her years ago. It was very sweet of her! Around 4pm we said our goodbyes and drove to the airport. After we had gone through security, we found out that our flight was delayed. We didn't take off until after 8pm. The kids did very well on the flight. Oliver slept in my arms almost the whole flight, and Ian sat beside me. Nadia sat beside Paul. We arrived in DC around 10pm, and as you can see from the picture (at left) the kids conked out in the stroller while we were getting our luggage. My parents drove their SUV and our minivan to the airport. We left directly for home in our van, and Paul's parents rode back to my parents' house to get their vehicle. We both arrived at our respective homes between 2-2:30am.

 

My least favorite parts of going on vacation are #1 packing and all the other things that have to be done to prepare, #2 the travel days (both coming and going), and #3 all the laundry and unpacking that need to be done when we get back. The days in between are certainly worth the hassles at the beginning and end of the trip, although when I first get home the thought of going on vacation again is ususally unappealing, but then over time I get excited about our next trip.

This time around the kids and I were gone for 12 nights - 3 at my parents, 2 at Paul's aunt and uncle's house, and 7 in Orlando. There were 4 days when we were on the road for at least 3 hours - the drive to Maryland, the drive to Orlando, the drive back to Jacksonville, and the drive back home. None of these drives were pleasant because Oliver didn't sleep much (which means he cried a lot). The most unpleasant one was the one on the way back home because there were several times when all three children were crying at the same time. Ian would wake up after sleeping for 30-45 minutes and would start crying. That would wake up Oliver who would start crying, and then his crying would wake up Nadia and she would cry as well as yell at Oliver to stop crying. Oi vey. There was one stretch where Ian slept for 90 minutes straight (midnight to 1:30am), and I was able to sleep for about one hour during that time as Paul was driving. I then slept from 2:30-6:30am in my own bed. I was amazed at how much energy I had today despite getting only 5 hours of sleep.

This morning Oliver got up at 6:30. Ian got up shortly after that but he fell back asleep in our bed with Paul. Nadia and Ian were still asleep at 7:45am, and I was struggling with whether to wake Nadia up or not. I finally decided to wake her up because part of the reason we had come home so late at night on Friday was because she had a soccer game at 9am. I thought she'd only miss one game while we were on vacation, but a game that was supposed to happen before we left was rescheduled for a Thursday while we were in Florida. If she had missed today's game, she would have missed half of the eight games. Oliver and I stayed home so that Oliver could take a nap in his crib, and I could mow the lawn, which REALLY needed to be mowed. Paul had missed her second and third game. He told me she *almost* scored a goal, but someone from the opposing team got the ball away from  her just as she was about to kick it into the goal. She did score one goal today, but it was for the opposing team. OOPS! At least that means she kicked the ball!

 

We went into high gear today with getting the house ready to put on the market. The realtor is coming on Wednesday so we can sign the paperwork and such. We're praying it doesn't take too long to sell the house, in part because it's going to be so hard to keep the house "show ready" with three little munchkins. Plus I was busy with doing dishes, laundry, unpacking, mowing the lawn, etc. Paul did some weedwhacking, spackling, and sanding. The two things I need to work on as we get back to "normal" are #1 helping Ian have a more balanced diet (he had pizza for dinner almost every night) and #2 helping Oliver get back into a good routine with his naps. NONE of his naps were very long during the 13 days we were away from home, even when he took a nap in a pack and play. Today I had to help him get back to sleep in the middle of his morning nap, which normally I don't have to do, but I understand that he's all out of whack due to the trip. Well I have so much more to write about and SOOO many more pictures to post, but I need to go to bed!

Thankful Thursday

1. It was great to spend time at the zoo on Friday with my friend, her two sons, and my Aunt Tina.

2. Our resort is really nice. If you're looking to stay in Orlando (but not at Disney), I highly reccomend Marriott's Harbour Lake resort! I almost made our reservations for the place we stayed in August 2011, but I'm glad I didn't because this place is even nicer!

3. The weather has been gorgeous. It's only rained for one hour over the past 8 days that we've been down here. Last year it rained ALL the time on Grand Cayman so I brought far more books and DVDs for the kids this time around. They've hardly been touched, and we haven't made use of the ping pong, pool tables, foosball, etc. that we could have used if the weather wasn't so lovely.

4. It's been heavenly to have Paul spend so much time with us.

5. We had a great time at Sea World on Monday (details to follow in a separate post).

6. We had a great time at the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday (details to follow in a separate post).

7. Nadia is doing a great job swimming with her arm floats.

8. Ian is doing a great job swimming with his inner tube.

9. Paul has a phone interview this evening with West Liberty University. It's for a tenure track position at a small school to teach general and physical chemistry. It's in West Virginia but not too far from Pittsburgh. We're trying not to get our hopes up, but this is FAR more appealing to us than most places he's applied or interviewed. It is his first phone interview since April 8. Within the next four days he should learn the results of his last in-person interview.

 

 

Fun in the Sun!

On Friday morning we left Aunt Diane and Uncle Jim's house and drove to the Jacksonville Zoo where we met my friend Jo and her two sons (5 years and 5 months old). I met her online about 10 years ago, and this was the fourth time that we got together in person (the other three times that happened when she was visiting her mother in Pennsylvania). I really, really wish we lived closer to each other! We spent about four hours at the zoo, and Aunt Tina joined us for about the last hour we were there. Nadia enjoyed the splash pad at the zoo. Ian didn't participate in that. My favorite exhibit was the giraffes because they came up so close to us. If the line hadn't been so long, I would have paid $2 so Ian could have fed the giraffes.  After the zoo we drove to Orlando and checked into our resort. The place is GORGEOUS! Paul's parents are staying in a one bedroom efficiency. We are staying two doors down in a two bedroom suite that includes two full bathrooms, a living room, full kitchen, and dining table that can seat at least eight adults. Oliver is sleeping in a pack and play in our room (that has a king size bed), and Ian and Nadia are sleeping in the other bedroom that has two queen size beds. Sharing a room has translated to them getting far less sleep than usual, but last night they finally got 11 hours of sleep even though they were sharing a room.

 

After we brought up our stuff to our rooms, we changed into our swimsuits and headed down to the pools. The resort has several jacuzzis, several baby pools,  several larger pools, and a large splash pad area. The water in Aunt Tina's pool was a bit cooler than we like; so I stayed in the jacuzzi there. At the resort the water is delightful. The coolest water temperature is 83 degrees, and the warmest is 102 degrees. We put Oliver in the "boat" that we bought for Nadia when she was an infant. She loved it. Ian never liked it, but Oliver is like his big sister and loves floating around the pool. Nadia is working on learning on how to swim without her tube. Sometimes she wears the tube, but many times she doesn't wear the tube in part because they don't allow her to wear the tube when she goes down the big water slide (that Ian is too short to go on as you have to be at least 42 inches tall) and many other parts of the pools are shallow enough that she can stand in it. We tried Nadia's tube on Ian on Friday evening, and he liked it! He would NOT wear it in previous years. Paul's parents and I went grocery shopping after we put the kids to bed on Friday night, and we got Ian his own tube. It will be much easier for me to take the three kids to the pool this summer by myself if they each have a flotation device of some sort ("boat" for Oliver and tubes for Nadia and Ian).

 

Ian at first didn't want to try any of the four small water slides on the pirate ship, but now he has done three of the four slides. He also loves standing on top of a water jet in the pirate themed splash pad. The resort also has tennis courts, a soccer field, miniature golf, basketball courts, a playground, volleyball, etc. They also have a special activity every hour on the hour from 9am to 9pm. We attended the magic show last night at 7pm, and Nadia participated in some games led by two pirates at noon today (hula hoops, sponge relay race, water balloon toss, etc. Ian surprised me in that he didn't want to ger too close to either pirate (a husband and wife). Friday night we ate dinner at a restaurant beside the pool. We ate breakfast and lunch in our suites yesterday and today using the groceries we bought Friday night. Last night we had pizza delivered to our room for our dinner. Aside from a brief theunderstorm that pushed back our trip to the pools yesterday afternoon by one hour, thus far the weather has been perfect - it's warn enough that you want to be in the water, but it's not ridiculously hot or humid. After experiencing lousy weather in Grand Cayman last May, it's not something I take for granted!

 

Paul's parents went to church this morning, and on their way home they stopped at Walmart. I asked them to buy some arm floaties for Nadia as I thought that would be a good transition from using the tube to swimming independently. We shall see how she does with that! Oliver got his second tooth last week! He has been making a lot of progress with eating table food. For breakfast this morning he ate almost an entire blueberry cereal bar plus half of a container of strawberry banana yogurt. On Wednesday night he ate half a slice of pizza!

 

Since today is Mother's Day, I must pause and give thanks to the Lord for giving me a loving mom and a loving mother-in-law. It has been really special the last almost five years for me to see how much they love my kids and how much my kids love their grandmas. I also will be forever grateful for the three children the Lord has allowed me to carry and give birth to. What a miracle! Every Mother's Day I feel a sense of sadness - not for myself but for those women who have longed to become a mom but haven't yet (or in some cases never will) experience it. I wish I could lend them a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, or a hug. I had to wait until I was 36 years old. I can identify with their pain. I think Mother's Day will be forever bittersweet for me even though I no longer feel the pain of empty arms. I also am very grateful to Paul for enabling me to stay home with our three blessings. The best part of this vacation is that we're all together. The kids and I have had very little time with Paul over the past several months. It's been heavenly to vacation together!

 

 

 

 



Thankful Thursday

1. The concert on Saturday night was AMAZING, and Cheri bought my ticket as a birthday present.

2. The kids and I got to spend a couple of days with my parents. I particularly enjoyed having dinner at Chevy's, as it had been more than a yeat since I had been to a Mexican restaurant, and I also enjoyed a game of Boggle with my dad, another very rare treat.

3. Paul officially earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry on Sunday!

4. Earlier this week Snapfish asked me to give some feedback regarding some new features with their photo books. In exchange for talking to me on the 20th, I get one free photo book (including shipping) plus $100!

5. We had a safe trip to Florida yesterday. My parents drove us to the airport in northern Virginia. We met Paul and his parents there. Atlhough we arrived 1hr 45 minutes before our flight, we got there JUST in time. We were one of the last people to board our plane, and we didn't have time to buy any lunch. The kids did great on the flight. Oliver was laughing every time he made eye contact with the stewardess. Ian sat with Paul, and Nadia sat beside me (Oliver was in my lap).

6. We got to spend time with my Aunt Tina yesterday! It was her first time meeting any of our kids. It was Oliver's first time in a bathing suit. Nadia and Ian went in the swimming pool. I took Oliver in the jacuzzi.

7. We are spending the day with Paul's Aunt Diane and Uncle Jim. Their house is right on the San Fernadina Beach. Nadia and Ian are sharing a queen size bed, which is the first time they've slept together. It took them awhile to fall asleep. It's such a gorgeous day to spend at the beach! nadia had fun collecting shells this morning.

8. I am thankful that Paul was able to interview in Utica last Friday. He found out from Colgate this week that they didn't pick him. I've been able to submit more applications this week. I'm working on three more today, and I did one yesterday at my parents' house. By tonight I should be up to 56 applications. Still praying for a job offer.

6-9 Months Times Three



Nadia at 9 months old

1. Ian and Oliver still laugh and smile more easily than Nadia.

2. Oliver is like his big sister and usually only has one messy diaper each day. I went through far more diapers with Ian than I did with Nadia or Oliver. Neither Nadia nor Oliver get diaper rash like poor Ian did.

3. Oliver has gotten better with spitting up, but he still does it way more than Nadia did and far less than Ian did.

4. The only solid food Ian was eating at 9 months old was orange vegetables (baby food). He would gag on Cheerios, Gerber puffs, baby cereal, etc. Nadia was eating mashed potatoes, yogurt, cottage cheese, applesauce, etc. Oliver isn't quite as far with solid foods as Nadia, but he does enjoy Cheerios, Puffs, yogurt, mashed potatoes, etc. At the buffet on Sunday I gave him the filling from a piece of blueberry pie, and last night I gave him some refried beans. He loved it! Table foods here we come!



Ian at 9 months old

5. Nadia weaned herself off of nursing when she was 6 1/2 months old. At 9 months of age Ian and Oliver were nursing once a day (first thing in the morning).

6. Oliver is still a grabber like his brother was (for example always pulling my hair) whereas Nadia never grabbed so much.

7. Nadia was sleeping 11 hours at night by 6 months old. Ian started to accomplish that feat during this time span. Oliver has very recently gotten back to sleeping 9-10 hours at night. Nadia and Ian went to bed around 7pm, whereas Oliver usually goes down between 8:00-8:30pm.

8. Ian enjoyed making raspberries. Neither Nadia or Oliver did that at this age.

9. Nadia learned to go from lying down to sitting up on her own before she turned 8 months old. Ian and Oliver couldn't do that yet at 9 months.



10. At 9 months Nadia could say three words - hi, dada, and Daddy, Ian could say mama, and Oliver can say Dad.

11. At 8 months Nadia could pull herself up to a standing position. At 9 months neither Oliver or Ian had attempted that feat yet.

12. By 8 months Nadia was very mobile through crawling, scooting, cruising, and rolling. The only way Ian moved around the room was when he was sitting. Nadia and Oliver never did that. Oliver can scoot backwards pretty quickly (or forward in his crib by grabbing on to his sheet and pulling himself forward).

13. Nadia got her first two teeth at 6 months. Ian didn't have any teeth when he turned 9 months old. Oliver has one tooth.

14. At 9 months old Nadia weighed 18 lbs 9oz, Ian weighed 19 lbs 12oz, and Oliver weighed 16 lbs 12oz.

15. Ian was taking two or three short naps a day (often 30 minutes long). Nadia was also taking three naps a day, but she slept for a total of 3-4 hours a day. Oliver also naps for 3-4 hours a day, but he only takes two naps a day. His morning nap usually starts around 9am, and his afternoon nap usually starts around 1pm. Oliver can be put down wide awake, and he puts himself to sleep without crying. Nadia could also do that at this age, but her skill came through sleep training. We have never had to use any form of "crying it out" with Oliver (yet anyhow). Thank you, Oliver!!

16. At 9 months old Ian was scared of the See and Say toy. Nadia and Oliver both loved hearing the various animal sounds.

17. Nadia was definitely a thumb sucker at 9 months old. Ian never sucked his thumb or any other finger. Oliver sucked his thumb or other fingers when he was smaller, but over the last few months he gave that up. Ian didn't put toys in his mouth. Nadia and Oliver put EVERYthing in their mouths - board books are for chewing on, right? Oliver puts clothes in his mouth more than Nadia did. None of mine used a pacifier at this age.

18. They all had blue eyes. Oliver's hair is darker than the other two, but the newest hairs are blonde so maybe he also will become blonde? Time will tell!