Disney and the Island Vacation Extravaganza

Day Five
We started the day by exploring our hotel a little more. Herbie was cool, but Buzz and Woody were awesome! We had lunch at Coral Reef, where we all had some wonderful seafood while watching a huge aquarium. One of Patrick's fondest memories of Epcot, as a child, is of eating in a really nice restaurant (he thinks it was Coral Reef) and getting Mickey shaped butter. The reason he liked it was because he got to cut off the ears. The butter was not Mickey shaped. So, I drew a Mickey for him and he cut off the ears. We watched the lightshow at Epcot. Abby loved it, except when the fireworks would stop, she would cry. It was a great day to be a Princess!

Day Six

The boys began the day in the hotel pool while Mommy packed and Princess Abby got some much needed rest. Then, we were off to Hollywood Studios. Patrick and I got a Fastpass for Aerosmith's Rocking Rollercoaster as soon as we walked in the park and our time was 5pm. We ate lunch at Pizza Planet! Then, we stood in line for Toy Story Midway Mania. It was a really neat ride, despite the hour wait. Grandaddy and I were amazed, as we saw 3D for the first time in our lives. The technology has come so far that it does not matter that we have depth perception issues. I screamed on more than one occasion, it was so cool! After meeting Handy Manny, Playhouse Disney was mesmerizing to the boys. Then it was time for Patrick and I to ride our roller coaster! We were so excited! The children stayed with Nan and Grandaddy and off we went. We got to the gate. We were next to get on the ride. They shut the coaster down for technical difficulties. We didn't get to ride. We were so sad. They gave us a fast pass to come back on another day, but that didn't do us any good, because it was our last day. So, we had our Mickey shaped ice cream and headed out to Magic Kingdom. We we arrived on the monorail at Magic Kingdom, we all split up and did our last minute shopping. I took Anthony shopping for his Daddy. Grandaddy took Aiden shopping for Nan. Patrick took Abby shopping for C.J. and Nan went shopping for C.J. too. I needed to take Aiden shopping for his Daddy too, so I met up with Grandaddy. Two stores down from where I had been. That's when I realized Anthony was holding a Mickey Mouse spatula. I said, "where did you get that?" He looked up at me with the cutest, most innocent smile, and said, "for Daddy!" So, we talked quickly about "paying for things" and the boys and I went back two stores and found some awesome kitchen supplies to make Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes for their Daddy! Then, we watched the fireworks and Tinkerbell fly one more time before it was time to say goodbye to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Disney and the Island Vacation Extravaganza

Day Three
We spent the morning at Animal Kingdom. We were so excited to see Jiminy Cricket and Rafiki! Loved the safari ride, but it was bumpy! Then, we went back to Magic Kingdom. Anthony rode his first rollercoaster. He LOVED it, but we don't have any pictures. Patrick and Aiden rode together and Anthony and I rode together. Nan and Grandaddy danced during dinner. Then, we ended the day with Angie getting a present from Patrick. It was a Mickey Mouse shaped chocolate box and a beautiful red rose.

Day Four
We started our day at Chef Mickey's for breakfast! It was so much fun! We danced and ate and met all our favorite characters. (Well, except Daisy. Apparently Anthony is pretty attached to Daisy.) Patrick was thrilled to eat Mickey Mouse shaped waffles (and cut the ears off). Abby's favorite character was Pluto, she liked his ticklish whiskers! Then, we went to Epcot. We loved the boat ride in Mexico. In Norway we became Vikings. Nan, Grandaddy and Angie enjoyed Fast Track. Later, Aiden and Patrick went on Fast Track and loved it. We ate lunch at the Japanese restaurant and I got to practice my Japanese and meet some wonderful cast members from Sapporo and other places in Japan. Last, we found Nemo! Crush's Turtle Talk is hilarious! We made this a short day, which means we went home before 10.

The Dress

In November, while Abby was still kicking me from the inside and I still had a hard time believing I would ever get to take this baby girl home with me, I wrote about the dress here.

There are days that I still stare at her like it's all a dream. A beautiful, giggly, rolling over!, trying to sit up, still wearing 0-3 month clothing, finally fitting into her Newborn size shoes, losing a little of our hair, grabbing our feet, blue eyed, strawberry blonde haired dream. Please, please don't wake me up!!!

Disney and the Island Vacation Extravaganza

We had such an amazing vacation! I'm going to try to post a few slideshows, but it's so hard choosing which pictures to use!!!

Day One
We flew to Orlando, met Nan and Grandaddy in the airport, and got a bus to our resort.

Day Two
Mimi, Papa, and Auntie Joyce arrived. We all got our Mickey Mouse ears. We went to the Magic Kingdom to "See the Castle!" We had lunch with Pooh and friends. Mickey left a huge surprise in our hotel room while we were out.

A picture is worth . . .

We know the saying, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, what is 1000 pictures worth? That's what I've been doing the past two days, editing over 1000 pictures from our trip to Disney and the Island. We have some gorgeous pictures! That's just My camera, that doesn't include Mimi or Nan's pictures or the numerous pictures Patrick and I took with our phones!

I promise you are going to get a "day by day" recap of our vacation. Let me just say it was amazing!!! Before we got on the plane to come home, we were already planning next years vacation, something on a little smaller scale, but time together!

However, today's post is not really about vacation. It's more about pictures. :) As I was editing those 1000 pictures I began to realize how many times I had the thought, "I really like that picture of me!" You have to understand, I don't usually like Any picture of myself. In the last year I've made a concerted effort to be in pictures with my children, but I'll have to admit, I've hated it. I don't like how I look. So, I was so surprised at how many of the pictures of myself I liked. Well, here, let me show you what I'm talking about! I love this . . .



and this . . .



and this one . . .



Yes, I know, they all have my children in them, why wouldn't I love them? But there's something more, that I just can't put my finger on. Just me . . .







Maybe it's because I've lost weight? I've lost nearly forty pounds since having Abby. I'm really proud of that. Yet, I know I still have alot more I need to lose. I'm definitely feeling healthier, maybe that's part of it?





Nope, that's just not it. Maybe it's Disney. It is "the happiest place on earth," so maybe that's why I like all of my pictures. I have a picture of myself dancing in the street with my boys to an Irish band. Somewhere there's a picture of me walking down Main Street waving to the crowd as if I WAS the parade. I mean, I AM a princess.



But, no, it's not Disney, because I really, really like this one . . .


and this one . . .


Then, in my editing process I hit this picture.


I did not know my picture was being taken. I am looking at something in front of me, even though it looks like I was looking straight at the person taking the picture. I was talking to my Mom who is behind me. This is my favorite picture of me from this trip. I almost didn't recognize myself the first time I saw it! Why???

Suddenly, it hit me like a ton of bricks with a grand piano on top! OH MY FREAK!!! I'm HAPPY!!!!!!!! I'm crying just thinking about it! I'm so happy! For nearly five years I've been in that stupid, dark tunnel of depression. Then, I poured out my heart to my God and He used these three miracles . . .


to break the stupid, horrible, sadness. Then, I realized I haven't had an anti-depressant pill in over a month and I literally wanted to do a jig! I'm not saying it's over. I'm probably going to fight the depression battle the rest of my life and I know that, but I am saying I'm more prepared than I've ever been! So, take a look at those pictures, closely, because you may not recognize me the next time you see me in person! I'll be the one smiling and laughing and thanking God for my life!

Technical Difficulties

For some reason my pictures are not resizing correctly. Please click on the picture to see all of it. If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. They seem to be correcting themselves within a couple of weeks. I've worked hours on this. I apologize for the inconvenience!

Happy Father's Day!

Daddy,

Thanks for being a great Dad!!! Wish I could be with you today. I love watching you be a Grandaddy! Happy Father's Day!!!






Patrick,

You bless me everyday by how much you love our children. I love that your heart is completely wrapped around those three babies of ours. I love that you teach them to be crazy. I love that you teach them responsibility and accountability. I love that you do everything from diapers to Darth Vader. I love that you hype them up with sugar and then go to work. You're just awesome like that! This past year has been really hard. Because of the difficult pregnancy, you had to be father and mother to our boys. I am so thankful that you not only were capable of that, but you knocked it out of the ballpark! You are an amazing Dad! I love you a little more each day!!!