End of Pre-School Picnic

When you're a parent you often find your life revolving around your kids milestones. I felt like everything was leading to this big day. The day we celebrate all the pre-schoolers moving up. There were hot dogs, chips, lemonade, kites, face painting, a wet sponge fight and moth release. A few weeks ago we gave Riley's class a caterpillar for a leopard moth that we found in the backyard. Her class watched it and even named it, Spot. The night before the picnic Spot emerged from the cocoon! At the preschool picnic they released him back into the wild! So. Much. Awesome. It was a good time for everyone.

100 Happy Days: Fourth Ten

For those of you unfamiliar with the sunny little campaign that's making the rounds on social media click here.

Here's round four of my daily happy. In case you missed any they're here are one through ten, second set and the third set. Ready, set...round four of looking on the bright side.

Here's thirty one through forty:

Cutest error screen ever! #100HappyDays #Day31 #FelixLove

Ease on down the road...#100HappyDays #Day32

The production in the park this year was The Whiz. So I packed up the whole family and a picnic. We enjoyed the music, but I have to say coming fresh from seeing the Broadway's touring company of Wizard of Oz raised the bar for me. It was a fun night out and a good memory. We went on closing night so all the shirts were clearence priced at $5, Yay!

A teacher worth infinite appreciation! #100HappyDays #Day33

Teacher appreciation week begins at Riley's school. I'm grateful to have a lot to appreciate.

Photo projects! #100HappyDays #Day34

My gift for "home made gift day" for Riley's teacher as a work in progress.

Traditions, 3 generations of women, caffeine, catching up! #100HappyDays #Day35 #GirlsCoffee

Puns! #100HappyDays #Day36

This is a bit of the card Riley and I made to go with the photo gift.

Adventures! #100HappyDays #Day37

Balloons!! #100HappyDays #Day38

I am Not cat person, but love this furry old lady so much. I have friends that been to my house many times and have never seen her, so ninja! #100HappyDays #Day39

The last brownie! #100HappyDays #Day40

Girl-tastic Magic Kingdom Day! (Part 2)

We had a little lunch picnic after our visit with Belle. Jessie and I had some organic chicken salad from the deli where she works. Riley had an Uncrustable, some honeydew melon, goldfish crackers and fruit snacks for desert. We all stayed hydrated throughout the day thanks to our filtered water bottles, complementary cups of ice throughout the park and water fountains. After lunch it was time for our final pre-booked fast pass: visiting with Rapunzel and Cinderella!

A wonderfully enthusiastic young man greeted us as we approached the fast pass entrance. He confirmed that we did have a fast pass for Rapunzel and Cinderella. They have different princesses on the other side. He was so excited for us it was adorable and he told us to be sure and look for Pascal. We loved that idea! Then we hopped in the deceptively short line(did I say that right? The line looked super long, but it was actually kind of ridiculous how short it was).

Riley got one passing glance at the glass slipper in the case before we were in the room! So excited!! The young lady in the room was sweet too. She asked if we were having a girls day. Which of course we were. When I laughed about leaving the boys at home so we could have some princess time she asked where the boys were today. I answered with a Cheshire Cat grin, "work and school!" Then she asked where we were from and guessed that it was a day trip. Then we discussed how good Pascal is at hide and seek. Prepare yourself for heart bursting adorable-ness:

Riley took Blondie's hand and exclaimed "You're my FAVORITE princess!" to which she replied "Oh! Best. Day. Ever." it was amazing. They compared hair and discussed hair treatments. Rapunzel noticed every detail of Riley's outfit and was very flattered. It was hands down our best character interaction of the day. Once everybody had let their hair down we were ready to see Cinderella!

At some point Cinderella invited Riley to the castle to visit which thrilled her. They chatted so much, so intimately I heard very little, but as we were leaving Roo stopped in her tracks and called back over her shoulder that Cinderella could "come play at my house anytime, it's no problem!"

After the princesses we grabbed a fast pass for Buzz and popped into to Phil-Har-magic! After that we were informed that a storm was rolling in and the parade was canceled so we hopped a boat around the small, small world!

After Small World we posed for some pictures and headed off to see our favorite red headed part time sea dweller.

After a perfectly lovely visit with Ariel (including Riley singing her "Part of Your World") we were off to Tomorrow Land to use our Buzz Lightyear Ranger Spin Fast passes. Watch out evil alien minions of Zurg!

I used the wheelchair car and rolled right in which was cool because I'd never done that before. It was raining pretty hard at this point so they let us go a second time! It was awesome. After we shot up those aliens we ducked in next door at the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. It was fun, but more something the boys would be into then Riley. Then we ran across to Stitch's Great Escape in the cold, cold rain. It was a good call! No wait at all. Both my kids LOVE Stitch! I knew however "scary" this deal was Roo would love it anyway because she's not afraid of Stitch. When Stitch started causing trouble Roo piped up "Oh! Stitch is gonna be in big trouble!" It was hilarious. Plus when he sneezed on us she exclaimed "Eww!" and then laughed her little head off. Good stuff!

After that we marched our soggy selves around looking for something sweet. I got a White Rabbit White Chocolate Cake Cup! After which we cowered under the tiny awning as the rain became torrential. Finally, we made a (limping on one good tire) run across to the teacups. It was quite the ordeal and we looked as if we'd jumped in a pool with our clothes on. Every one of us drenched. Once we made it into a tea cup they let us ride 3 times in a row (because everyone who wasn't insane was inside somewhere). They probably would have let us do a 4th time, but I was too dizzy. That made me feel super old. I have to say the teacups during a storm are AWESOME.

That my friends was the end of our Disney day. We hopped from covering to covering back to the car and changed into dry clothes. Miss Roo was out before we got out of the parking lot. Despite the weather we had an awesome day! I will cherish every moment. If you have to end up living back where you grew up, close proximity to theme parks is certainly a plus!

Passed out in dry Disney clothes with Pascal in one hand and a little golden book of Cinderella face down on her lap.

Girl-tastic Magic Kingdom Day! (Part 1)

My recent Animal Kingdom and Epcot trips were a bonus. I had only intended to take a one day girls' trip with Riley and my sister. Riley and I watched Tangled the night before. Roo knew the trip was soon, but I didn't tell her it was the next day because I wanted her to get a good night's sleep. After she went to bed Mike and I watched Congo. It ended up being a bad call because I woke up in the middle of the night screaming about a jungle spider on the curtains. The day finally arrived, a sunny (for the most part) Wednesday. I was so excited for this trip. I sprang out of bed with the alarm.

I happily put on my Aurora inspired outfit and went to wake up Miss Roo. She was confused about why I was waking her up when it was still dark out, but I asked if she'd like to...you know...maybe...visit the Magic Kingdom today?? She sleepily donned her Rapunzel inspired outfit. Isn't she the cutest tiny Rapunzel ever?!?

We had quite a few bumps before getting on the road, not the least of which was a severely flat tire on the wheelchair. Not, "This one needs a little air" flat, like "the tube inside is broken so every time I fill it it goes flat in minutes" flat. Mike suggested waiting until a bike shop was open and getting it fixed but it was already getting late. I told him to throw the chair and my hand pump in the back and we'd deal with it. The way I saw it, we could either rent a chair when we got there or navigate the park with a flat all day.

A whole bunch of other small irritating issues happened and then we got on the road for real. It was a lovely drive we played eye spy and instead of "I spy with my little eye" Roo kept saying "I spy with my yellow eye..." It was incredibly adorable. She played the way all 4yrs do, by deciding based on your guesses what they intended rather than a head of time. It was thoroughly entertaining.

When I saw that sign, I almost wet myself literally and figuratively because I had a huge latte and We MADE IT!!! We arrived just after 10am. Jessie was kind enough to switch lanes so I could get a clear shot. Yay girls day!

We took a ferry ride with a view of Cinderella's digs. Off the boat we were rushing on a flat tire (we decided not to waste valuable Disney time getting a rental) to Frontier Land for our first fast pass, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! My very favorite Disney ride. This was beyond special because this was the first time my now 40in little princess was going to ride it with me! It fills my heart to bursting remembering how nervous she was waiting to get on and how full of glee she was when it was over. After that Disney milestone it was time to meet the fairies!

My house is well versed in the residents of Pixie Hollow, but Jessie learned their names as we inched through the line. Then we all shrunk to fairy size and took in the Magical Nook for the very first time...So, adorable. There was Rosetta (Roo's second favorite fairy! She's a hardcore Periwinkle lover.) Jessie (just as Rosetta sashayed over) said "Oh, is it Fawn?" Uh-oh. To which Rosetta replied "Do I Look like an animal fairy?!? I don't think so, Honey." I almost died. Bonus points to the Photo Pass Photographer for catching the moment on film. The second picture is when they were discussing when Rosetta had animal fairy talent in Pirate Fairy and all the bugs climbed on her and was like "ew, ew, ew!"

After some fairy hugs which transferred some pixie dust to Roo's absolute delight it was time to check in with Peter Pan's bestie.

Disney milestone-check! Meet the fiaries for the first time-check! What's next? Why a journey under the sea with Ariel of course! Yay, girls' day!! After the Ariel ride and a quick potty stop it was time for our second fast pass: Enchanted Tales with Belle! I'd never done this one before since we were with the boys over the summer and they were NOT interested in the least. You get to put on a play for Belle. You surprise her by re-enacting how she and Beast met!

Riley got to play Mrs. Potts! She did awesome, of course! I did my conservatory training/theater degree proud making galloping horse noises and wind sound effects. Seriously it was so fun! You have to do it at least once. We all enjoyed ourselves and Belle thanked Riley with a special book mark. It says "You'll always be part of my favorite story. Belle" So cute!

Coming up: Princesses, World Travels, Mermaids, Aliens and A Mad Tea Party!

What It's Like In Here

My guard is on its way down now that the kids are snugly sleeping
All day I've fought it back and now it's creeping in...
The night is still, but my nerves buzz with unpleasant sensation.
He zooms around me like a fly completely unaware
I throw him the angry glance I wish I could give my pain
He's still talking but I can't take anything in.
The weight of my body on the bed is overwhelming.
Now he's beside me and the room's quiet.
"You don't know what it's like in here!", I scream at him.
His eyes widen at my volume, but return to normal when he realizes he's heard it before.
Then he nods "No. I don't."
We are silent for a long moment because there isn't anything else to say.
The TV comes to life, I am happy for the distraction.
We settle into ourselves and the shades of normal deepen all around.
Nothing is constant except for change.
I fought it all day, but not tonight.
I am warm and for these hours the world is only the four of us.

100 Happy Days: Third Ten

For those of you unfamiliar with the sunny little campaign that's making the rounds on social media click here.

Here's round three of my daily happy. In case you missed one through ten they're here and the here is the second set. Ready, set...round three of looking on the bright side.

Here's twenty one through thirty:

Little Ones!

This little lady is my one year old niece

My big kids!

I fully admit that the end of 5th Grade/ End of Preschool events have me emotional about them growing up, but thank goodness for big kids. I love their strange little minds and never know what they'll say or do next!

Puppy play dates!

This is Leeloo's doggie friend Mimi, she's a sweetie!

The first time I've been able to paint my own toes in four years, since the back surgery! Sooo much happy!

The base is "What's With the Cattitude" by Opi and I don't recall the sparkly one I put over top. It was inspired by Elsa from Frozen.

Pretty nails & a cold Coke!

Reading to Riley's class! It's my steady-est performance gig these days. (:

The roses that climb up to my bedroom window & bloom to wish me good morning.

Happy-est Place on Earth!!

Disney Pictures!!

Rainy Days when I've already dropped off the kids and I don't have to leave for hours.