Disney World

The most magical place on Earth...and the most crowded, with lots of loud sounds, hot and sunny weather, and long, long lines that make you wait for something that you are extremely excited to do.  Recipe for disaster right?  Why would we even attempt it with Tyson and Charlie?  Why would we go a second time?  Well, because for the most part the boys LOVE it there!  It is still shocking to me that they can even step foot in this place.  And it wasn't "perfect", but man it was fun! 

We had a 5 day pass so we didn't have to go crazy and spend 12 hours a day at each park.  When the boys got tired, mostly Charlie got tired, we left.  No big deal, no stressing out because we didn't spend enough time there because we could go back tomorrow.  And my husband, being the planner that he is, had watched all the Disney World tutorials before we went so we had a plan.  We really couldn't have had a better time.  We went to all 4 parks multiple times, rode all the rides we wanted to at every park, and even got back to most of the favorites several times.

The boys rode EVERYTHING!  That is one advantage have having really tall boys, they are tall enough to ride all of them.  We took them on rides knowing that it could end in disaster and we would have to leave immediately.  We took them on rides that Mommy really wanted to ride even though we were risking the day being ruined.  We took them on rides that were serious sensory overload, dark, loud, 4D, scary, fast, wet, all of it.  And we never had to leave immediately.  We did have to do some bribing along the way, but it was totally worth it to get to experience this amazing place as a family.  Charlie may never watch a movie at a theater again because he HATED the 4D effects, but he made it through it. 

 Bribe #1 - after you leave this magical place these hats look very out of place, but at Disney World they fit right in.  Totally worth it.  They wore them every minute of every day that we were there. (and we didn't have to worry about their faces getting sunburned!)

 

 

Disney Cruise Preview

We took the boys on a Disney Cruise last month.  We took them out of school a week early, but it was totally worth it.  These boys love the cruise ship life!  We had so much fun.  We danced, met characters, swam, played bingo, golfed with Goofy and Max, and danced as much as possible.  Every evening we got dressed up and went to dinner and an amazing show.  The last night we actually skipped dinner and went to the show twice.  They LOVE watching the shows.  It was just so much fun and so relaxing.  Tyson made sure we made it to every dance party and Charlie loved being a beach bum.

 

Caring About What Others Think

I apologize in advance for this one.  It is long and kind of soapboxy.  It always feels better to write it down.  You can wait till the next one if you want, it will be about our awesome vacation!

We have had a few experiences lately that have really made me stop and think, do I really care about what others think?  I have prided myself on the fact that I feel like I don't care.  I always say I really don't.  But here is the thing, I think I might.  I feel like others probably stare at our family a lot and I really don't lose sleep over it.  It's their problem not mine, right?

A few weeks ago we were at Disneyworld (another post coming on that) and Disneyworld as you all know is an absolute world of it's own.  We had tried it out last January and it went pretty well so we decided to do it again.  Talk about sensory overload, even for Joel and I.  Well, we were in line to go on the Star Tours ride.  They have several areas to stand in line at this one with a bucket of glasses by each set of lines.  We had to walk passed a bucket of glasses to get to our line.  They told us to wait and get the glasses at the bucket by our set of lines.  Tyson didn't get that.  He wanted to grab a pair out of the bucket we passed first.  We tried to convince him otherwise (still not sure why we tried to fight this battle, but we did).  He got worked up, like really upset.  So we gave in and let him just grab a pair as we walked by.  In our heads we thought, "this is a stupid battle to fight, just let him get a pair of glasses and he can move on."  The lady in front of us saw... a 9 year old kid throwing a fit and getting his way.  She had the ugliest look on her face, rolled her eyes, whispered something to the person next to her, and I wanted to punch her in the face.  Maybe I do care what people think...

At Disneyworld again, I take Charlie to the bathroom to change his diaper.  Yep, my 5 year old still is in diapers.  I take him in and wait in line for the table changer.  At least 3 mom's stared and then whispered something to others in line.  I realize they could have been talking about something totally unrelated, but probably not.  At that moment what went through my head was, "I wonder if my kids had a different "look" if people would still stare and judge?"  Maybe I do care what people think...

So as I have thought about this over the last few weeks, I think I have decided that I do care what others think when it comes to how I am as a mom.  I wish that I could continue saying that I don't care, but the truth is these boys are my pride and joy and it stings a bit when someone questions you as a parent.  Joel and I try our best but sometimes it's really hard to know what to do.  We didn't get a manual that tells us how to handle every situation that comes up.  Should we have made Tyson wait to get the glasses, is Charlie really capable of going to the potty and we just aren't pushing him enough?  At the end of the day all we can do is try our best and try to not worry about what others think.

OK, I have rambled enough so here is a preview of our fabulous vacation...

   

Field Day 2013

I love Field Day.  It is so amazing to watch Tyson.  To get to see how much competitiveness he has in him (zero, by the way), tie his leg to another kid and hold his hand while trying to coordinate a walk, put both legs in a scratchy bag and try to hop to the finish line, all while large crowds are taking pictures and cheering them on.  It is the perfect recipe for a meltdown.  But for all four years he has done awesome!  Such a proud mommy day for me.

 A big, proud hug from Charlie!



Tyson and one of his paras, Miss V!  I think he has a little bit of a crush.

Charlie Graduates From Preschool

I think I am in denial.  My "baby" is going to freakin kindergarten!  I seriously don't know how this is possible.  I think the hardest part is knowing that I will blink and he will be going in to fourth grade.  Can time please slow down?  I am going to miss him.  I don't want my kids to grow up anymore...

 

Charlie and Miss Sara.  She is one of the most amazing teachers EVER!  We are going to miss her and all her paras like crazy.  Charlie is where he is because of this woman and her awesome and patient paras. 

 

Kindergarten here we come!

 

 

Soccer

When Tyson was 4ish we tried soccer.  It was pretty terrible.  IF he was on the field he was playing with the flag in the corner or just wandering around without a clue there was a game going on.  We decided that soccer may not be his sport. 

This year we decided to try this indoor soccer league.  They don't practice and play games inside on Saturday's.  It was a very small commitment so if he didn't like it it was really no big deal.  Well...he loved it.  And actually he turned out to be pretty good at it.  He did get a few handballs called on him, but in his defense he did it really quick and only wanted to stop the ball so he could kick it the way he wanted.  :)  He even scored a few goals.  And he tried to be goalie!  And again he was surrounded by good kiddos that were very patient with him and really tried to include him in the games.  It was a fun little season.

 

It Was 80 Degrees One Day...

We had one day that it was 80 degrees.  It was wonderful!  And there happened to be a K-State baseball game.  What a perfect way to spend an 80 degree day in March. 

 

My little K-Staters!

 

My little poser.

 

Wannabes...

 

Charlie is completly obsessed with Willie the Wildcat.  He wants him to sign anything and everything when we go places.  He will NOT leave him alone.  At home he pretends to be Willie.  He does the whole routine.  Joel and I didn't notice that Willie does the same exact routine everytime, until we saw Charlie doing it at home and then watched Willie at a basketball game.  Charlie's routine goes something like this...he grabs a couple pairs of socks or underwear and sets them down in front of him, rubs his hands together, does the K-S-U chant, picks up the socks/underwear and starts pumping up the crowd, and then throws the socks/underwear to the most excited person in the room!  Obviously the socks/underwear double as the free t-shirts Willie throws out.  I guess he watches things closer then we realize.

 

 

And one last cute picture just because I don't think there is anything cuter then a little boy in a baseball hat!