The Best Day Ever

This was, the best day ever, as proclaimed by Reilly bella. :)

We actually went to Hubby's grandparents house for brunch, came home for naps, and had our family adventure in the afternoon.  I packed up chicken sausage and veggie shish kabobs, corn on the cob, some cucumber slices, and of course s'mores fixins, and we headed down the road to our development's pool and lake area. 

 

 Here's Daddy's little twin, who's little nose gets beads of sweat the instant she is outdoors!  This was RIGHT when we arrived at the pool, before she even got out of the stroller.  Little angel face.

 

When we got to the pool, we swam and swam as the sun started setting. Then Daddy headed over and started the grill going.  They have an awesome area with tons of grills and picnic tables, right next to the lake.  The babygirls played in the sand while Daddy cooked!

 Reilly said, "Mommy, now I'm going to look sleepy while I play with the sand and you take my picture."  Hm. I never tell her what to do when I photograph her like this! (Aside from saying "Smile!")  She is such a little actress!  I don't know where she comes up with this stuff, she just kills me.

 Beansie was having an appetizer of cucumbers after her swim, and keeping Daddy company.

 Daddy the grill master!  Look at that lake - I love our new community.  #weliveonvacation

 What do you see, babygirl?

 You will never see happier pictures of my kids than when they are eating corn on the cob.  Man, do they love it!

 After we played a little "What Time is it Mister Fox", we started on dessert.  Reilly had her first s'more, Reagan had her first roasted marshmallow!  (Unbeknownst to Mommy!  I turned around and she was chowing down.  It was at this point, that I knew baths were necessary and imminent.)

Marshmallow face.  She wants that s'more!

 She settled for a regular graham cracker. :)

 Reilly's s'more face.  I may or may not have recited the entire sequence from The Sandlot when explaining to Reilly how to make one. 
Me:  "Then, you STUFF!"
Rei: "Mommy, what do you mean "stuff"?"

 We. Love. Roasted. Shmallows.

 Post-Shmallow, we had a dip-in-the-lake in order to get the wet sand out of the many baby rolls. :) Check Reilly out dancing her way back from the lake.  And Daddy of the year right there, people.  Handsome man with a naked baby, coming through. Could be the best pic of the night.

After we were clean, dry, and changed, we went on the swings.  This is when Reilly asked why we were awake so late at night (7:15!), while laughing hysterically on the swings.  Then she proclaimed it to be: The Best Day Ever. (Definitely a Rapunzel quote. Yes, she's 3 and she accurately incorporates movie quotes into her daily life.  It's a family trait.)

 After bathtime, I found them in the playroom picking out books and reading together.  One of those moments when you just want to stare at them and keeping thanking God over and over again.  And hope that they don't notice you, lest the moment be gone. Reagan was pulling each book off the shelf and handing them to Reilly and saying, "Thank you!" after every book she threw at her.  ("Tanka!")

Reilly, I agree.  Definitely "Best Day Ever" status. :) 

Belly Pic

"Honey, let's try to get a belly pic of me with both the girls!"

 Apparently, Reilly heard "belly pic", and thought of something else entirely.

 

 Everyone stick out your big bellies!

 

19 weeks :)

Super Close!

This little patootie is SUPER close to walking!  Which is good, because she is also super close to bring too heavy for preggo mama to carry around. ;)  We are so excited for her to take her first step - Reilly probably most of all, because then they can fully run and chase each other around.  I can't wait to see the play that ensues!  

She is now walking while holding on to little pushing/walker toys all the time, and is standing independently without holding on to anything.  The other day, she stood right up, and starting dancing to music with her little pointer fingers in the air!  I about died.  She has such good balance, she is just nervous!  She will graciously sit straight down, ever so gently, on her little hiney after we through her a party for standing up.  No leaning or reaching forward, no stepping, no motion toward stepping.  Just stand...Smile! Clap!....and sit.

But we are so close, I can feel it!  So excited and so proud of these milestones! Go Reagan Kate, my little snuggle muffin newborn baby in a toddlers body. ;)

Summer Fun at the New York House

Whenever we tell Reilly we are going to Mima and Papa's, she gets so excited to go to "the New York House"!  She has a bit of an obsession with all things "New York" already...we are a tad concerned for her teenage years when I anticipate many a weekend going to visit her cool Aunt Meems and doing some shopping.  I will, of course, remind her that the whole reason she even KNOWS about New York or even exists in general is because of me, and therefore, I must accompany her on these trips. Always.  Anyway, where was I?  OH YES.  Summer fun!

 We had a barbeque at Mima and Papa's to celebrate our Aunt Mimi, and Reilly and Reagan were in absolute HEAVEN with their older cousins!!  It was pretty much the cutest thing ever, since I remember yesterday when my little Jenna and Taylor were Reilly and Reagan's exact EXACT ages.  And that frightens me, because like I said, IT WAS YESTERDAY.  And now here are my children, looking up to them like "the older girls" and worshiping the ground they walked on.  And these girls couldn't have been sweeter cousins - reading to them, playing with them, treating them so sweetly that Reilly at one point said, "Mom...I have to go back to my friends."  Oh.  Well excuse me, miss. ;)

 And can we TALK ABOUT REAGAN.  PRETENDING SHE IS 7.  Look at her smiling and coloring with chalk and completely trying to distract everyone from the fact that she is 16 months old.  OH hey Mom, cheese, I'm just hanging with my cousins, no big deal. I mean, this picture makes me laugh on so many levels.

 Reilly swam up a storm with Mimi!  Look at her jump!  She had a ball.

 Summertime beauties, these girls!

 So, I secretly love what chlorine does for my girls' hair!  I mean, look at Reagan's amazing mane.

 Even more amazing than usual!

 Not to mention her tan, that she's had since she was a fetus. 

 Little chalk covered beauty!

 And then comes our favorite part of the day at a visit to the New York House. ICE CREAM MAN TIME!

 We sit by the door, we listen for the music, and wait for our buddy Mr. Softee. And Reilly reviews with us what she will order, like it's news to us.  "I'm going to get Vanillsa Swirl on a cone with rainbow sprinkles!!"  :)

 Who is happier in this picture?  It's hard to say!  My love and adoration of ice cream comes from two parents, each with their own very strong love of the wonderful treat.  It's genetic.  We are passing it down through the generations, like any good parent would.

 Ice cream lips. Skinned knees. Princess crown.  Bare feeties.  Does life get better?

Just having some life chats with Papa. :)

We love our trips to the New York house, they are such fun weekend getaways!

Pinterest Made Us Do It!

Recently, I saw something on Pinterest involving drawer organization.  It was a cool way to re-organize your silverware, and I thought it looked so pretty!  And Hubby immediately wanted to do it.  Apparently the silverware drawer bugged him more than I had realized, and this was his next project he wanted to make happen.  I love fun little (free) home updates, so I was excited!

Here is our silverware drawer before...not awesome, but nothing really wrong here.  Except that every time we closed it, the knives would slide out the back.  And at times, the little compartments would become overcrowded, and need to be all rearranged.  Plus, it doesn't look particularly pretty.

 Here is our new drawer!  He used random wood that we had downstairs.  Yes, we have piles of random wood downstairs.  Never thought that would be such a fun thing to have in a basement, but look what beauty becomes of it!  Hubby took some measurements, ran downstairs for maybe 12 minutes, then came up and was done in about 8 more minutes.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I love his handiness!  And craftsmanship!  Talented man of mine.

So now our silverware drawers look PRETTY!  And Reilly can easily tell/reach where all of the silverware goes, so putting it away is officially her job now.  Which is convenient, because I am not fond of this chore.  Yay for little improvements and Pinspiration! 

My Random Disney Tips

I am not a Disney pro by any means...but I do know enough about pretty much all the rides, all the parks, and now, exactly how to maneuver through any of these places with children under 3.  So I've accumulated a few tips that might help other people, but also, that  I want to remember for myself!  Some of them are tips just for babes, some are just money-savers that I picked up through my research. 

1. Make meal reservations!  Especially if you have specific characters you know your kids want to see - knowing we would meet them at the meals was nice because we could say for sure "We are going to see Ariel today!" instead of, "Maybe! I hope so!".  It was a fun thing to look forward to and to get excited for with the kids.  Reservations also make so much sense if you are on the meal plan - you have one restaurant meal per person, per day (at least)!  You paid for them, you might as well use them!

2.  If you have toddlers, get a stroller!  And book it through an outside company, don't get the ones the parks offer to rent.  Here is the simple reason why:







(source)

On the left is the Disney rental double stroller that they charge $35 a day for.  On the left is the stroller I got, through Kingdom Strollers, for $12 a day!  And it came with a cooler bag for waters, and a plastic rain cover (which was a LIFESAVER!).  The stroller was delivered to our hotel and was waiting for us when we arrived.  It was a dream.  I was nervous that it would be a hassle lugging it back to the room and things, but it ended up being amazing!  We would stroll and sleepy baby on the monorail, and she didn't have to be disturbed until we were in the room, ready to put her in her crib!  It was so convenient, and so much cheaper.  Besides the fact that Reilly, who NEVER wants to be a stroller anymore, was so hot sometimes that she would ask to stroll.  There is no way that she would ever ask to go in that plastic stroller!  So uncomfortable.  

3.  Pack lollipops.  Even if your kids never eat lollipops.  This trip was pretty much Reilly's first lollipops.  Just trust me.  You will thank me on the bus home from MGM in the sweltering heat, when there are no seats and your Hubby is standing holding the folded stroller and all the bags, and you are sitting with a squirmy, tired 16 month old on one knee and a sqiurmy, tired 3 year old on the other.  And both are borderline poking/grabbing the stranger next to you who does not look amused.  Cue: lollipops.  Happiness. Joy.  Contentment. Hypothetically, of course.  

4.  Go to www.gardengrocer.com, and order some groceries for your room!  We got cases of water and brought tons into the park each day.  We brought snacks for the girls that wouldn't spoil in the sun like rice cakes, nuts, raisins, bananas, apples, and granola bars. We spent no money in the park, unless Mommy asked Reilly if she wanted ice cream, and pretended it was her idea. ;)  Garden Grocer also sells wine and beer!  And they deliver right to you room or hotel bell service.  I had them delivered the night before, and bell services kept them nice and refrigerated for us!  No brainer!

5.  Listen to you kiddos.  If they say they are sleepy, take them back to the room to sleep.  If they are hot, bring them to water or air conditioning.  Don't be concerned with the schedule or the next big ride or having them "see it all".  Go with what they need, and the whole trip will be happier!  And they will love everything they see even more if they are happy and rested. 

6. Plan for A LOT of travel time in between the parks.  If you plan to park hop for meals or anything, make sure you plan for a decent amount of travel time with little ones.  It's not easy maneuvering the strollers too quickly, and entering the parks could take a bit with all the bag and stroller searches. 

7. Don't pull out your wallet if you have the meal plan.  Use that always first, no matter what you might be buying.  What a shame to have paid cash for an ice cream, just to have leftover "snack" points at the end of the trip.

8. Don't feel pressure to hit all the parks.  We don't regret at all that we only did Magic Kingdom, because that was what was best for our girls.  And because of it, we all had the best time.  I'm sure when they are older, we will have plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the parks!

 9. Bring some essentials so you won't have to buy them in the parks: like rain ponchos, and the spray fan!  The spray fans were being sold about every 16 feet in every park.  If you didn't bring one, you were definitely dropping the $17.99 for one of those babies - they were unavoidable!  Meanwhile, they actually retail for half that price. 

10.  When in doubt, take a break and have an ice pop!  It was a great way to cool down, observe the beauty of the park, and decide what we wanted to do next.

11.  Research research research!  I read blog upon blog before we left and picked up some of these tips along the way.  Then I would go on the Disney website and saturate every area that said anything about "toddlers", "kids", or "babies" (that's how I learned about the Baby Centers in every park!).  Then I went on Pinterest and searched things like "Disney Tips" and "Disney Musts for Kids".  By the time it was time to go, I knew there was no tip I hadn't read.  The research really helped - and it was fun research!  
 
Those are all my tips for now. These are some things that helped our Disney trip go much smoother, hope they can help you to! :)

 

Disney Day 4 & 5

 In case you haven't yet realized, we spent most of every day in the Magic Kingdom. :)  We found out quickly that anything not having to do with princesses and/or "rides" that our princesses could go on would just not fly.  They would have enjoyed anything we did, but the Magic Kingdom is where all the MAGIC is for them at this age, and being we could only really last for half a day at a time, we decided to go there every day to soak up all the...well..magic!

So on day 4, grandma and grandpa decided to go to Animal Kingdom, while we went to MK again for our last relaxing day there.

 This was an attempt to capture all the beautiful and lush landscaping and tropical gardens around our hotel.  The walks to our meals and the lobby was gorgeous!  But just as I started setting it up, crowds of people started swarming and wouldn't move. Haha. My family is there somewhere!

 This day was, once again, sweltering!  So we had early baths, put our hair up wet, and were dousing ourselves with our ice cold spray fan shortly after breakfast. Phew!  And yes, that's a lollipop.  Girlfriend got introduced to Dum Dums on this trip!  And she's in love.  My stock of  Dum Dums in our bag saved many a crying child (not just ours) on long lines and planes rides.  Amazing what a teeny lolly can do!

 Hi sweet girls!

When we got to the park, we went and got Reagan's silhouette done, so now we have my favorite souvenirs ever hanging on our wall!  Cutest thing ever.

We stumbled upon Chip and Dale coming right out for a meet and greet!  Reilly knows them only from our books, and was so excited to meet them!

 Reagan was so excited too!  Look how hot our little bundle is, poor pumpkin!

 Reilly's Mickey sticker was coming off, and she still talks about how Chip fixed it for her. :)

 After Chip and Dale, we parked on a curb and had some ice pops and frozen bananas to cool down for a little. 

 Baby, this was your first trip to Disney World.  You were a little trooper.  You didn't make Mommy sick, I kept you nice and hydrated, it was a beautiful give and take as we took care of each other.  :) My feet/legs were a little worse for the wear by the end of the trip, but that probably has more to do with the strain of holding your Sissy's than holding you. ;)  I can't wait to hold you, and to see what memories we will make with you one day!  Will you be a sweet little girl, and love princesses too?  Will you be a precious little boy, and love the Pirates?  We can't wait to find out.  But the real questions is..will Reagan be walking by the time we go to Disney as a family of 5?  Because Daddy and I are running our of arms...hehe.

 We went on the Jungle Cruise, which the girls loved, as we waited for our Fast Pass to come for the another Princess meet and greet. :)  You would think it would get old, but it didn't! The girls would squeal with excitement, and watching them that excited was our favorite way to spend our trip.

At the Princess meet and greet, we saw Cinderella, Aurora, and Rapunzel!!  We got to have individual time with each one, and got professional pictures. Our real reason for going was because this was the ONLY play to see Rapunzel, who is Reilly's second favorite princess.  She literally RAN to her and jumped into her arms.  It was precious, and we got it on video. Such a special moment.

After that, we headed back to the hotel.  Reagan and Daddy napped, and Mommy and Reilly went for a swim.  After our afternoon of fun, Daddy and Mommy had a special date night by ourselves since it was our 5th wedding anniversary!  We headed to Le Cellier in Canada at Epcot, and had one of the best meals of our lives. 

 It wasn't just the food, it was one of the best nights all around.  We giggled and laughed and talked about everything and anything.  It really felt like when we were dating again, like we were on our honeymoon.  It was so much fun to sit across from the man that I love and to be able to date like teenagers, when in reality we are almost parents of three.  It was a wonderful way to spend our anniversary. (It only could have been made better if I could have partaken in the wine that was surrounding us!  We were literally eating in a wine cellar...the irony. ;))

Also!  The menus LIT UP!  Like actually were illuminated when you opened them.  It was crazy.  We had a hilarious waiter who we loved, and was actually from Canada (which I thought was amazing, but soon found out they were ALL from Canada).  Since he was so cool, Hubby suggested we ask him all the questions we had since he would answer them.  I was really excited, and said, "Great idea! There are SO many things I am wondering about Canadians!"  Come to find out, he meant questions about Disney. Haha.  So he asked what kind of training they went through, and I asked if they really do say "eh" all the time. (THEY DO!  He said that Canadians say it so much it's almost embarrassing. Totally true stereotype. Awesome.)

At this meal, we had the second best Cheddar Beer soup of our lives (mine is the first..haha), the most amazing white truffle hand cut fries, with a red wine reduction, the best salmon dish I've ever eaten, and insane maple creme brulee.  I sound like I'm exaggerating, but it was that good.

Day 5, we woke up early and spent 12 hours traveling.  Crazy day!  Over exhaustion lead to a less-than-desirable flight with our sleepy girls. Man, traveling with kiddos can be tough!  But this was the only day where they showed even a little bit of tired/whining...they were such good girls the whole time!  It was really like they were too excited and happy to act any other way.

 Little beanie on the way to the airport on the Magical Express...little angel.

My little sidekick and I on the Magical bus. :)  Sleepy and happy girls.

 

Overall, our trip was amazing.  The most perfect/exhausting/princess-filled magical trip for our family. We are so grateful to Grandma and Grandpa for taking us! We made memories for a lifetime.