WDW, Part 1: The Departure

In January, my Dad announced that for Christmas, he was taking all of us to Disney World. Much screaming, squealing, and jumping for joy ensued, and that was just Craig's reaction. For my part, not only was I totally excited, but it would also be my first time going, so that made it an even bigger deal for me. (And it made it a bit more bearable to listen to my in-laws planning their trip for that March!)

All year long, Craig busied himself reading both the Disney Official Tour Guide AND the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. He made reservations exactly 90 days in advance. He begged and pleaded to get extra time off work, sacrificing personal days rather than sick leave (that's the weird thing about being a school teacher-- lots of vacation time, but only when the school district gives it to you; it's hard to get any other days off). Tracy arranged plane tickets for everyone. We were all set to fly out Saturday morning, six days before Christmas.

Thursday night, Craig and I were literally jumping up and down in the kitchen in excitement and anticipation.

Friday morning, Craig woke me up because he was grinning from ear to ear and announced, "Tomorrow we'll be in Disney World!!!"

Twenty minutes later, Craig had called me from work in a panic. There was a snowstorm predicted to hit DC in a big way, starting Friday night and lasting all day Saturday and Sunday. NOW what would we do? We called airlines and asked about changing our flight to Friday evening, but all flights were booked. We asked about flying stand-by, but the customer service rep told me not to bother because everyone else would be trying that, too (bless her for her honesty!). I was ready to resign myself to our fate, and perhaps begin praying for the snow to somehow miss us.

And then Craig's parents had an idea.

"We're driving to Houston in a few days anyway. We could just take you there ourselves..." they offered. We considered this idea. Drive? Really? 14 hours in a car to kick off our trip? But then we realized it was either that, or be stuck in Virginia missing out on WDW until probably Tuesday or Wednesday. And suddenly, "Let's drive" turned into, "Let's leave tonight!" This meant that I spent the afternoon frantically doing laundry, cleaning up the house, and, of course, packing for most of us (Craig finished up with his clothes, but I had at least thrown in his cell phone charger and his toothbrush-- the two things he always manages to forget-- for him!). But we did it! The only thing I forgot to pack was Bentley's Mickey Mouse ears.

We left our home at 4:00. We left Culpeper (where Craig's parents live) at 5:00. And that was right when the snow started falling. We headed straight into the thick of the storm, so things got slower for the first few hours. We didn't get out of Virginia until around midnight, but right when we crossed into North Carolina the snow turned to rain and suddenly we could really move. After that, it was mostly a matter of who was awake enough to drive. I took a shift from 3:00am to 5:00am, and didn't stop until I realized that I was losing my ability to interpret what I was looking at very clearly. (Scary, huh? Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic on the road then...)

We arrived at Shades of Green, the military hotel, around 11:30 the next morning. We were exhausted, but so happy to see the sun shining in beautiful Orlando! We were also pleasantly surprised at how nice the hotel was. I think I'd been picturing something along the lines of La Quinta-- a perfectly decent place, but nothing too fancy. But not Shades of Green! Granite counter tops in the bathroom, enough space in our room for two queen beds, a sofa, and two cribs without feeling crowded at all, and we were right on the golf course, so the view was lovely. Add to that a fabulous (and cheap) buffet restaurant, a couple pools and a hot tub, and you've got the nicest hotel I think I've ever stayed at! (Not to mention tax-free-- yay for the U.S. military!)

Shades of Green.

Not only was the hotel nice, we saw weather reports and heard from friends that Virginia was indeed hit hard by the snow-- 22 inches in a day! Friends of ours who had flights around the same time didn't manage to leave until the following Thursday, so we definitely made the right choice leaving Friday night!

And extra bonus: Craig's school was canceled all week, so Craig didn't use up any of his vacation time after all! (And, perhaps better yet-- we didn't end up sitting around at home because he didn't want to ask for the vacation time, only to have school canceled anyway!)

It wasn't what we had planned at all, but the beginning of our trip turned out to be the best thing we could have hoped for. Phew! So extra big thanks to the Smiths for being willing to drive us, and a huge thanks to my Dad for a fabulous vacation, which you will hear about next post.

Just to show you that I am not exaggerating about the snow, I'm stealing pictures from my friends (hopefully they won't mind...). This one is from Delilas.

And this is from Andrea. Yup-- we missed it all.

MLIA

Last night as Craig and I were getting ready for bed, he commented that it's really hard not to look bored while brushing your teeth. We proceeded to try our best to look ecstatic while brushing. I have a new-found respect for everyone involved in marketing toothpaste. I also have a new game to play with my husband while getting ready for bed. Life is good.











For those of you not familiar with mlia, check it out! I've been addicted for three days now...

7 Strollers Strolling!

There are plenty of women who seem to have a pair of shoes for every occasion. I am not one of these types. I have tennis shoes and flipflops, and a couple dressy pairs for church. And that's pretty much it.

But last night, Craig pointed out that we seem to have strollers for every occasion. All told, we have owned seven strollers. (Eight, if you count the double-stroller twice!) And most of them are still in our possession. This may not seem too ridiculous until I remind myself that we only have two children. What in the world could we possibly need seven strollers for?

Well... The first one we ever got was my Graco. It's one of those great ones where the infant carrier can lock in, it's got a great basket, it fits in the back of the van. I love this stroller. But when I got pregnant with Kendra, Craig's brother offered to sell us his double-stroller, which seemed like a good investment, so we bought that one, too. It's made by Jeep, which cracks me up, and has served us well when we take both kids into the city. But then I wanted a small umbrella stroller just to have, something small and easy for going to the park. So I got one off FreeCycle, but it turned out to be pretty grimy, so I threw it away. Then I got a second one, which is quite nice and I have kept; it's cute with little zoo animals all over it. We also got a toy stroller for Kendra for Christmas last year. This one is getting pretty beat up these days, but it remains a favorite toy, so I can't bring myself to throw it away.

But with the trip that we have coming up, Craig decided that none of these strollers would do. They're either too big and bulky to put on a bus, or they're too short and will cause us back problems from bending over to push them around. So we bought two more. One of them is basically the Queen of All Umbrella Strollers: it folds up like a dream into a tiny little thing, but it's tall and has nice handles AND a basket underneath. Bliss. (Can I use my blog to call dibs on this stroller?)

The other one we just bought is basically the ugly, lesser sister of the Queen Stroller. It's nice-- or at least, it folds up really small. But there's no basket. And it isn't tall. No luxurious handles here. Craig, naturally, has plans to modify this stroller. He's going to cut the handles off our zoo-themed umbrella stroller, and attach them to Ugly Sister Stroller, thus making it tall enough to not give anyone back problems. Fortunately, Ugly Sister Stroller won't be made worse at all by looking a bit uglier.

So where most women go crazy over shoes, apparently I go crazy over strollers. But just when I'm about to decide that this is incredibly lame, I think-- but when I'm pushing a stroller, which are you more likely to notice? My shoes? Or the stroller? Since the stroller completely blocks any view of me, my legs, and especially my shoes, I'm going to have to bet on the stroller. So it's a good investment.

Now I just need one that will match my leather jacket better...

Glee

I am rapidly becoming obsessed:



Okay, okay, you're right. I'm already there.

The Emotions of Motherhood

I'm trying to decide which makes me happier: the fact that Bentley just announced that he's good at stopping bad guys because he's "really tough," or the fact that this conversation occurred within the same hour that he happily spent lunchtime playing footsies with me.

I'm also not sure which gives me greater pleasure: writing this story on my blog for all of you to laugh at, or promising myself that some day I will tell it to his fiance...

And all of this happiness and pleasure almost overrides all the guilt I feel over letting Bentley eat goldfish crackers and cheerios for lunch.

Almost.

Picture Time

Have I been THAT remiss in posting pictures? Because I realized that what's on my camera is pretty out of date now... Especially since it's been snowing all morning. So we're going to stroll down memory lane for a bit and eventually and bring you up to the present. This is what things looked like just a few weeks ago:

Bentley enjoys playing in the leaves

Daddy was wearing ear plugs so Bentley decided he needed goggles. So safe!

Craig's newest toy tool. He's very proud of his leaf blower.

Kendra manages to be even messier than Bentley when she eats.
What-- isn't this how you eat a peanut butter sandwich?

Bentley builds forts out of my couch

Couldn't resist this shot...

Aren't we all just trying to fill our Daddy's shoes?

Eating cookie dough with the cousins and Grandpa
(while Grandma & Daddy makes Christmas cookies; and Mommy watches and takes pictures)

Happy boy.

Watching TV with cousin Maya

Looking very festive; I'm especially excited for the beautiful nativity set I got off FreeCycle.
And if you could see the snow outside, you'd want nothing more than to sit down with a mug of hot chocolate and sing "White Christmas" with us! Drop by any time!

So that's my picture update for now. I'm sure I'll have more soon!

Poetry Post

I can't say I'm a huge poetry reader. It's probably because I'm too intellectually lazy to bother really teasing out the meanings, usually. But there are poems that I read in college that I still love. And this is one of them. It's by e.e. cummings (and yes, he insisted on not capitalizing his name-- that's not a mistake) and it's usually just called by the first line, "Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town." I think it's fairly open to interpretation, but I love to read it out loud and let it roll off my tongue. And the story that's hidden in there is really quite sweet, I think. For whatever reason I kept thinking of it last night, so I had to look it up and read it again. And now I have to share it with you-- enjoy!

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did

Women and men (both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed (but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her

someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then) they
said their nevers they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men (both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

And a couple quick Bentley-isms, too

Bentley just said, "Wadawewons." I'm not quite sure how it was that I figured out that he meant "watermelons," but I'm sort of proud of myself for understanding. I'm awarding myself extra credit mommy points.

He will also randomly announce, "I'm a boy." He says it in a way that manages to be matter-of-fact and also enormously proud of himself, all at the same time. One of these days I'll capture it on video for ya so you can see what I mean.

Speaking of which, we just got a new computer (huzzah!). So hopefully I can post video on my blog now! Consider yourself warned.

And one last Bentley-ism: Craig's whole family was here for Thanksgiving. During their stay, it suddenly occurred to me that Bentley was mixing up their names. He was switching Uncle Jason and cousin Kamryn's names (a fairly hefty mistake, since Kamryn is a 9-year-old girl). I was perplexed by it all, until I realized that my poor kid ALSO has an Uncle Cameron (on my side), so he was assuming (since he was hearing the name) that it must apply to this new uncle, also. Which left the name Jason for his little girl-cousin. That's either the smartest thing ever or the stupidest, I'm not sure which yet. But I did think it was pretty funny, even while I felt bad for all the confusion!

Things I think about when I can't sleep

Does anyone else worry that no one is still alive who knows how to call a square dance? Who will keep the fine art of square dancing going strong in this country?