This Girl

Last weekend Reese came out of her room in the tutu that she wore to her first birthday party, and decided to complete her ensemble with a football helmet.

It's a little Ace Ventura for my taste, but whatever floats her boat!  Ha!

Pinteresting Finds: Reese's 4th Birthday

I've been scouting Pinterest a lot lately (okay, it's basically my go to app) for ideas for Reese's fourth birthday party.  She has been set on a Tangled party for months (although I'm waiting for her to change her mind to Cinderella because that's her new thing), so I've been trying to get ideas.  I used a lot of ideas from my Pinterest board to put together her Minnie Mouse party last year, and it was super cute (and relatively easy).

She wants to have her birthday party at the Little Gym again this year, and that sounds like a great idea to me.  We're holding off on scheduling it until the surgery scheduler from the doctor's office calls to set a date for my c section, and then I want everything done so I don't have to do anything!  Ha!

Some of the pins are to boards or blog posts that give ideas about parties - I think they're great.  Of course we won't be having any buffets or going too crazy at The Little Gym, so some of it is overkill for me!

Source: pinkskyphoto.net via Brittney on Pinterest

Source: nstardiebirthdayparties.blogspot.com.ar via Brittney on Pinterest

This whole blog post would be a great idea for bigger kids and an at home party!

Source: fleetingthing.com via Brittney on Pinterest

I love these favors!  I actually bought little plastic Tangled tubs at Target in the $1 section last month, so I'm halfway there!  I don't think that the boys will like Tangled too much though!  Ha!

Source: free-deals-daily.info via Brittney on Pinterest

SUPER. CUTE. CAKE.

Source: m2-photography.net via Brittney on Pinterest

These cupcakes would be a nightmare to transport and also to decorate for non pros like me, but I love the tower.

Source: birdonacake.blogspot.com via Brittney on Pinterest

And these cookies - YUM!

Source: sweetsugarbelle.com via Brittney on Pinterest

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

Today's post topic for Jenna's commenting challenge is to share about your dream vacation - where I would go, etc.

Well, I think that as far as family vacations go, the answer is pretty obvious!

We are big fans of Disney World!

 

 And our favorite place to stay (by far) is the Wilderness Lodge!

We made trips to Disney World in 2007 (with Wyatt at 9 months), 2008 (Wyatt was 19 months, Reese was 2.5 months), 2010 (Wyatt was 3.5, Reese was 2, and Hudson was a month old), and 2011 (4.5, 3, and 13 months).

What do we love about Disney World?  Seriously, what's not to love?  It's the happiest place on earth!  Unless, you know, your 4 year old and your 3 year old can't get along to save their lives!  Ha!  No really, we have had some incredible times and made incredible memories on vacation.  Some people think we're crazy for taking them so many times, or taking so many, or taking itty bitty babies - but really, our time with them is limited, and it's so fun for us to make these memories together, especially while they're little enough to want to be with us, and to take in all the "Disney Magic."  

Which isn't to say it's all fun all the time.  We've had breakdowns on Main Street USA from overtired children, Reese was taken by ambulance out of Epcot because she was extremely constipated, and on our last trip we actually walked out of a park at 3PM because the kids couldn't be polite or stop fighting!  But looking back, it's all just part of going on vacation with kids!

This year we're also talking about making a Fall Trip to Washington DC to take the kids to the National Zoo, the Smithsonian (Wyatt LOVES dinosaurs), and to take in the fun sights.  I was spoiled as a kid because my grandmother lived outside of DC and we went up to visit a lot!  I still remember going to see the National Christmas Tree, riding the Metro, and going on a bike ride through Washington with my Dad!  I want to give my kids those kind of fun experiences, and I'm sure my family up there would LOVE to put up a crazy family of 6 for a few nights :).  Another Disney vacations in December is also in the plans, so we'll just have to see how it all works out - but this will be a very well traveled baby!  Ha!

In terms of Mommy/Daddy getaways, Brian and I love making weekend trips to Williamsburg.  It's a short drive, and there's still a lot of stuff for us to do, even if we don't go to Busch Gardens.  If staying in New York wasn't so expensive, even weekend getaways to see a few Yankees games are fun! We love a good cruise, even though we haven't been on one since our Honeymoon.  I know we definitely loved St. Thomas, Grand Cayman and Belize.  I'm not a huge fan of Mexico.  But I might be if I stayed at a resort!  Ha!  

If I could go anywhere in the world right now though, it would totally be Bora Bora, because it looked amazing on the Real Housewives of the OC last week!  How about you?  Where would you LOVE to go on vacation?

Busch Gardens!

We decided to take the kids to Busch Gardens on Monday.  Brian and I have had season passes for years, and right now they still have free preschool passes for kids who live in Virginia.  So for now, it's still reasonably priced entertainment!  Once we need to buy passes for all these kids (and they can't split a kids meal) it might be a little different!  Ha!  I can't believe that we hadn't been there since Hallowscream  in October.  We're usually there in the spring, but there just hasn't been time for it this year!

Our first stop is always the Sesame Street Forest of Fun.  The rides are perfect for our little ones, and Hudson is currently obsessed with Elmo, so he had a blast!

We stopped to watch the beginning of the Elmo show.  Hudson was a little confused by the gigantic Elmo dancing around.  He finally caught on and said, "Melmo!"  But before that he was a little contemplative.

Elmo's roller coaster was closed, which is a bummer because it's the only thing the two big kids talk about.  It's the very first thing that they want to do when they get there!  So we went on the other rides instead.

And that was fun, too!

I didn't think it was going to be nearly as hot as it actually was (I even wore shorts, which I NEVER do), but fortunately we were able to hang out under some of the water mists!  The kids LOVED them.  And so did I!

We stopped for lunch at Festhaus (we were all super hungry by 11:45!).  They have a new show, and I honestly have no idea why they changed it.  It isn't that good.  It's a new fairy tale themed show, and well, there is a lot of singing.  Like, if you were ever confused about WHY Simon Cowell used to say that people belonged in a theme park, this would explain it.  Not very good.  And to top it off, the fairy tales included the Big Bad Wolf - which is like a dagger to my heart since they got rid of the actual Big Bad Wolf roller coaster.  But also made my three year old cry because she is terrified of all types of wolves!

We stopped to ride the planes and bumper cars after lunch.  We also let the kids try a soccer game.  Wyatt lost.  Reese won a soccer ball.  Let's just say that her winning did not go over well with her big brother!

After bumper cars we stopped for a bathroom break, and Brian needed a drink.  So he got a Bud Light Lime.  And then he needed to do something with one of the kids, and I ended up with his beer in my hands.  And of course, this is one of the four pictures he chose to take of me all day!

We also stopped to ride the carousel.  Hudson was excited to see the "horsie," but as soon as it started moving, he wanted off!  I believe his exact words were "No, no, no, no!"

We did the Land of the Dragons stuff for the big kids, and then made our way to the exit.  We made a few stops. Wyatt loves the Scrambler, and then we stopped for kettle corn.  We also came across this nice Boa Constrictor in the aviary section.  The child who is terrified of wolves?  Yeah, we had to hold her back from this.  Go figure!

The snake was actually a lot closer to them before I moved to take this.  They are crazy.  I wanted to be away from it!  Hudson didn't want to move either, he was pointing and saying "Snake!  snake!" while we watched it and after we moved on!

We stopped to check out the Clydesdales before we  left.  There's a new foal, and of course Wyatt wanted to know if it was dead because it was lying down.  Seriously, these kids.  They did have the dog out for us to pet, and Hudson really enjoyed visiting with her!

We had a really fun day!  It was our first "outing" without the double stroller, which meant that both big kids walked the entire park, with almost no complaints.  We did have a little bit of a breakdown over some water bottles, but that was about it!  They definitely made it enjoyable enough for us to want to take them back!  Ha!

You Scream, I Scream!

We love to treat the kids to ice cream during the summer.  It's fun for us to get out of the house in the evening to go get a yummy treat.  I especially enjoy it when I'm ridiculously pregnant!

Of course, this whole taking the kids to do anything (dinner, ice cream, even water sometimes at amusement parks) isn't getting any cheaper!  Ha!  We went out for ice cream last week (ridiculously behind.  Or maybe we're just cramming in a lot of fun stuff this summer!) and we had a lot of fun.  It wasn't a very warm evening - I was actually a little chilly - but we still had fun!

Wyatt picked out his own cone and ice cream flavor.  I think he wanted a waffle cone, but I thought this was just fine for his plain old vanilla ice cream!

Wyatt and Daddy.  I think Brian ended up sharing most of his ice cream with Hudson!

Reese picked out a Dora ice cream.  For some reason, she was really into the eyeballs.  But "eyeballs" is like her favorite word right now.  She was also sneaking bites of Brian's ice cream in between!

And this little guy....

Was just an ice cream-aholic.  He was begging for ice cream!  I'm not even kidding. 

He wants his ice cream.  And he's serious about it.

Swim Lessons: Week 1!

I'm linking up with Jenna's commenting challenge this week at Jenna's Journey!

The kids had their first week of swim lessons last week.  They took 5 weeks of swim lessons last summer, and they're taking 5 more weeks this summer.  I like that it gives us something to do outside every day, but it's more important to Brian and I that they learn to swim!

Wyatt started his lessons on Station 6, so he's  learning the backstroke right now.  And this is basically what he did all week!

Reesie is, well, Reesie.  To pass Station 2 she needs to blow bubbles, bob, and open her eyes underwater.  She is not a fan of opening her eyes.  Which is why she is now on her fifth week of Station 2 without passing. 

But she's having a really good time! 

I'm hoping she will move on to Station 3 next week, but you never know with her.  She's definitely a little bit stubborn!  We had lessons at 9:45 last week and I was sweating, but we switch to 9:00 for the rest of the summer.  I hope it's at least a little but cooler because I was sweating like crazy!  Hudson has been so patient though while we wait for their lessons to finish up.  He's so quiet that I could probably read if I wanted to!

With Brian's crazy summer work schedule he only gets Mondays off.  I didn't want to schedule back to back weeks where we had to be somewhere every Monday morning, so I scheduled the kids to go every other week. That way we can do fun things like go to Busch Gardens on the off weeks :).

I can't believe that June is almost over!  I feel like this summer is flying by.   Fortunately we have a sweet baby girl to look forward to meeting in September!

Funnies from the Kids

These are  mostly just status updates from Facebook, but these kids keep me laughing every day!

Listening to music in  the kitchen while we have snacks and clean up:
Wyatt playing the air drums: "Mom, do I look just like Taylor?"
Reese: "Taylor who? Swift?"
Wyatt: "No! Taylor is the drummer in the Foo Fighters! Mom! Who is teaching this girl about music?"

Our air conditioning went out on Thursday night.  I was miserable!  Fortunately the guy was able to come and fix it on Friday, but at lunch time Hudson looked at me and signed "grumpy." I still don't know if he was talking about him or me.

Hudson just started saying "fish." But the day he learned it, he kept saying "Bish! Bish!"

Every one needs to use the bathroom before we leave for swim lessons, and I heard this conversation:
"Wyatt! I shut the door because I NEED privacy!"
"Reese! You're 3! I didn't need privacy until I was 5!"

Overheard after Wyatt got out of the shower at my mom's (talking to the dog):
"Don't you even think about biting this delicate bottom, Bella."

On the first day of summer vacation, I had a conversation with the kids about my expectations for them for the summer.  This was Wyatt's summary:
"Mommy wants us to wake up, get dressed, and do school work like reading and math. She doesn't want us to run in the house, hit each other, be rude, yell loudly in the house, or smoke."

I didn't actually talk to them about smoking that day.  It's an ongoing discussion.  But at least we're opening the doors to the conversation early :)!