back to "normal"

We're home. The bags are unpacked, the laundry is done, the house is dusted, the buggies are being evicted (why is it when you are gone you come home to extra spiders and other unwelcome guests?), Millie is back from her stay with Tahoe, and the pool is full of teenagers.

it's as normal as we get around here!

Amazing Race~ Disney Style

Aloha!

home again home again, jiggity jig

We're home.
Our trip was awesome! The beach days were lovely. The gulf water is so warm and clear and we had so much fun on the boats, playing in the sand, and all the beachy stuff.
Disney was wonderful.
Brother's favorite thing was the Lion King Show.
H loved breakfast with the princesses.
I think Lou's would be either Small World, or the hotel pool!
I will have to survey the big girls and see what they liked. Some day we will go back and see more, there is so much there. It really is a magical place.
Yesterday we had decide whether to stay one more day or drive home.
It was a tough choice. Only S was clear on her vote to come home. I was torn, I didn't want to end the fun and another beach day would be nice but on the other hand we were exhausted and anxious to get that drive behind us so we drove.
Right now, sitting on the couch watching the kids run around and play with their long lost favorite things, I am so glad.
Yesterday: not so much.
We had a long drive.

Things overheard in the car as we drove:

• Lou crying
• "she's touching my car seat"
• Lucy saying "I stink" (a ploy to get out of her seat for a diaper change...pretty desperate)
• "put your nose by her bottom and see if she really stinks"
• "she always stinks...but I think it's just her seat I smell"
• "pass me a water"
• "pass me a bag of chips"
• Lou crying
• "pass me the water"
• "what is that smell?"
• "her foot is touching me"
• "pass me the...."
• "we already watched that one"
• "H is touching the fast forward!!"
• Lou crying.
• "what state are we in?"
• "are we in TX yet?"
• repeated a billion times over the course of 14 gruelling hours

I love my kids so much. I think they are smart and cute and fun to be with. The older they get the more fun they are. I am glad I am a mom. That said...there are days. Days when I wonder what kind of insanity made me feel like this was a good idea. Days when I am trapped with tired cranky kids for hours of driving, for example. Some days when I take them out in public and wonder if they were raised by wolves, and then I remember oh, that would be me that raised them but I am pretty sure I don't approve of this wildness. Other random days, that I don't remember right now, which is probably why I have six kids. I have a bad memory :)

Destin, FL

Tom and Diana were so nice to let us stay at their home on our way back from Disney. In exchange for feeding their cats, and taking out the trash we get to spend the night in their house, wash our clothes in their washer and spend a day at the beach! Pretty good deal:)
Emma and Tori flew in to spend the day with us. We were excited to have them come and everyone was looking forward to a day in the sand.

We got to the beach in the morning, picnic in tow. The weather was perfect, the water was cool but not cold and the kids dove right in.
We had a fun time. The big girls and DH took out the snorkel gear and looked for fish. H also enjoyed using the mask to look for stuff. The waves weren't too big but they enjoyed body surfing and brother was actually pretty good at it. I guess he was light enough to get on top of even the baby waves!
We brought a picnic and snacked and swam. One of us even got to sit and read a book...hint: that was not me;)

Later in the afternoon we started to hear some rumbling in the sky. After not too too long it started to pour and we had to make a run for it with all our tons of stuff!

We got soaked. We were going to go home and clean up before dinner but the showers let up so we turned around and went back to the beach, then they started up again but we were committed at that point and went ahead and showered in the rain and "cleaned" up. Then we were off to Fudpuckers. Even though we got there before 5 the wait was already 45min to an hour. We got our buzzer then ran over to "Wings" to get cheap beach stuff and when we got back it was time to go to our table.

Since it was raining so much we couldn't feed the alligators but we did see some hiding from the rain under the bridges.

When we got home we got to clean up our beach gear.

So:

we spent 2 hours getting ready to go to the beach.

3 hours on the beach.

1 hour cleaning up from the beach and another couple doing beach laundry.

I'd call that a good day.

Sunburns, rain and hiding alligators aside it was very fun. We wish we lived in Florida!

for DH, who didn't like my photo pick

hightlights part two

my favorite ride "Pirates of the Caribbean", except they changed it so much it's a different ride. Still fun, but not what I remembered.
Our hotel was the best! This is the lobby, it was so pretty. We ate there several times, and my favorite was the African Stew, which I loved. We also loved the pool, and seeing the animals and all the cool activities!
J in Morocco~ after the rain started.

Nana, Abba, D and G in China~ before the rain.
The "hot" bagpipe player in Canada~ when the rain was down to a drizzle.
We were so busy but didn't see a fraction of what was there. It is a whole world, they are not kidding. It's huge and has so many fun things; maybe too many. It was hard to chose and I know we missed most of it but we had an awesome time. It was great to have everyone there. I miss D and was glad she and G could come. I like him better each time we are together.
We will go back some day, maybe when Lucy is 8ish. H would have had enough stamina to keep running more but we had to take breaks for the littles and someone stayed in the hotel with them each night so they could get to bed.

Today we drove back to Niceville and tomorrow is beach day!

highlights:

the Star Wars parade at MGM, even though it was 107 and we were dripping sweat, Brother got to shake Mace Windo's hand and we saw everyone up close and personal. Very fun!
Also at MGM the big kids rode the Tower of Terror, and they reported it was the best ride!
One afternoon DH kept the littles at the pool and the rest of us went to the country pavilions at Epcot. It was so fun to see the sights as we did a running tour of the world, running because it was raining, and lightning and hailing and we were soaked but it was still SO fun. In Mexico the girls and I got handed maracas and got to join in a dance. In France we ate crepes, in England we stuffed ourselves in a phone booth, every land was fun!
H got to join the kids from HSM in a song and dance during their show. The shows were phenomenal. Brother's favorite thing of all was watching Lion King. We saw several shows and all were awesome.

breakfast

in the morning we'd go out on our balcony and watch the animals eat breakfast while we ate ours. Very cool!

our littlest Princess

we saw Atlantis take off! Whoo Hooo!!

crazy fire dancer!

living the dream~ not quite in bullets but in a quick random list of thoughts.

We are having the most fun time!
We arrived yesterday, it took longer than I expected but the kids travelled well and we made it so yeah!

The park is beautiful. Our hotel is amazing, the lobby and the pool and the savannas are so nice and it feels like you are in Africa. We've been out on our balcony many times and have sat and watched the giraffes and the deer. It's so fun. Our room is kind of smallish but the location and many other nice details make up for that.

Last night we ate in our hotel at a restaurant called Boma:Flavors of Africa. It was delicious. We tried many things that we hadn't eaten before and a lot of it was very yummy.

We have had a few vacation glitches, which are to be expected, and Lou is having trouble with diarrhea...which means lots of diaper changes and lots of outfit changes. Luckily it's been little things though and everyone is happy and seeing and doing things they want.

D got chosen to be in a parade, she was a cactus. H was chosen to participate in Belle's story time, she was Mrs. Potts. Very fun!
The weather is perfect, warm and sunny. This afternoon we spent in the pool, it was fun and refreshing!
Tonight we went to a Luau at the Polynesian Resort. It was so yummy and the show was awesome, it may be our best luau ever! The kids got to hula, the fire dancer was unbelievable, and the whole thing was very fun for all of us.
This morning we went to Cinderella's Castle for Breakfast with the Princesses. It was magical and lovely. H and G dressed up, Nana made H an Ariel costume and I bought G a Cinderella one. She pooped on it before the breakfast actually started but we did get a picture before that which was very cute:)

I forgot to mention that we saw several groups of dolphins in the bay while we were boating, it was so fun.

Lucy LOVED! "Small World", she pointed and laughed the whole time.

Fun FUn FUN!! Is the theme of the week.
...we're also tired but you know, it's worth it:) We'll have to get the kids a little more sleep tomorrow though.

day two

We are having So Much Fun! Today was designated on the water day. We went out this morning on two ski boats. Tom's friend Troy brought his out and Tom got one from his boat club. The weather was perfect. The water was warm and calm. The big girls tried their hand at skiing. DH, Abba, T & D all skied too.

The littles loved ski bob (a missile float that several people can sit on) and they loved splashing around the bay. We took turns staying on the beach with them in the morning while others went out on the boats. When it was my turn we caught a little fish with our bucket, he hopped out.
In the afternoon we crossed the bay and found a beautiful, white sand beach to picnic and play at.

We could not ask for more perfect weather or a better day.

Today is DH and my 9th anniversary. Abba took a picture of us earlier that I will try and post when I get his camera. Tonight we ordered pizza and wings for the kiddos and the adults went out for seafood. It was a lot of fun and very yummy.

Tomorrow we head down to Orlando. I have a load of wash waiting to go in the dryer and then we are going to bed. I am exhausted. A day of sun and boating is tiring. Also last night Lucy threw up, then stayed up crying and unable to sleep until well after 2am. Then when the sun came up, which is early here, all the kids were up and ready for the day. Yawn.

Some one gets sick every trip we ever go on, so I am glad to have that over with and am just crossing my fingers that no one else will join the ranks of the barfers. Today Lou seems to be doing great and she was sleeping when we got home so I am hopeful for a better night!

day one cont.

This afternoon everyone except Nana, Uncle Brian, Lou and I went out on the bay and went tubing. Everyone had an awesome time.
We'll all go tomorrow for a day at sea.

day one

Florida is beautiful! We're having so much fun. This morning the boys got up early and went flying.

Uncle Tom was the pilot.


Brother was very excited. When he got home he said it wasn't fun because he got sick.


The rest of us went to a very nice mall, with dancing water and fun shops.

Tonight Diana made yummy pulled pork BBQ. We took a walk down to the pond and looked at the turtles.


After shot: brother is out!

we made it!

We're here! yeah! What should have been a 12 hour drive turned into a 14 hour one because of traffic in every major city along the way. Lucy cried and complained for about 10 of those hours but the rest of the kids travelled great.

Louisiana is my least favorite state. We've been there, traveling though, 3 times so far and each time I am underwhelmed. It's beautiful but the restrooms aren't clean and we had the worst Mc Donalds dining experience this time (to add to other bad experiences in the past).
We had been driving all day and eating in the car from our cooler but were planning on a stop for dinner and running around in the evening. We pulled into some town just past Baton Rouge and looked for a restaurant with a play area. You know it's not going to be fine cuisine when you are basing your choice by the playground. I was really hoping they would have a BK with a play area but not, so we ended up at McD (not my favorite by far). Their salads aren't bad though and since playing was our top priority we pulled in. While ordering we discovered "the staff was all new", they were out of all salads, out of all Shrek stuff, and had a tenuous grasp of the English language at best. However we were there already there (sigh) and pressed on.
Then while we were waiting for our food brother went down the slide and came out covered in the contents of someone else's diaper. ..pausing for the dance of disgust....
DH went to get him a change of clothes and bathed him in the bathroom. We complained to the manager who did not comp our meal, and took another 20 minutes to come and clean it up and didn't tell other trapped parents with small children other diners to stay out of the play set or even put up a warning cone.
We did. As a public service.

Moving one, we arrived. We're well, it's lovely, T&D are gracious hosts, the boys are off flying and we're excited for a fun day!

Weekend recap

Friday night I told Tori I had been trying to get an appointment with our ward chiropractor. I have never been; but have had various complaints over the years: minor lower back problems, random chest pains that have been diagnosed as reflux (but I just have never thought that was all of it.) Earlier this week I had a lot of problems with my chest thing and several of my good friends convinced me that I should go to him.
Honestly I have tried a lot of stuff and a lot of 'traditional' doctors and it hasn't been satisfactory. I want to feel great and to be able to be healthy for a long time yet to come. I have felt like I need to take control of my health and do something to improve it and this is a topic DH and I discuss a lot. When they talked to me about seeing him I felt very good about it so even though he's not on our insurance I talked with DH about it and we agreed I'd give it a try. So when I couldn't get in to see him I was discouraged . Then Tori told me that Emma had a new patient appointment the next morning and I could take it instead of her. Fabulous! I was really glad. We asked Emma to make sure she was fine with it and she was so Saturday morning, bright and earlier, I was off.

I felt a little silly because a) at that exact moment I wasn't having a lot of pain or trouble and b) I feel like I should be well and feel good and strong always and when I don't I feel guilty about it and c) I know him and think he's the nicest guy ever and I didn't want to be a big whiny baby to him. But I fought those feelings and went and even though I felt so ridiculous he was so nice and patient and kind. I wasn't sure what to expect but I thought it went well. He did some x-rays and found several things, first of all my pelvis and rib cage were both higher on one side than the other and out of alignment, also my under wire bra had an under wire on one side and not the other...a fact I knew but forgot I was wearing that one, and he thankfully didn't mention but I found it very distracting while looking at the x-rays. The adjustment felt good and he gave me some exercises and I felt like it was a good visit. I'll go back several times and I guess we'll see if it helps or how it turns out.

We spent the rest of the day getting stuff ready for our trip, cleaning up, doing load after load of laundry, shopping. Emma came over in the afternoon and the kids and DH spent some time in the pool. Which was nice since we've had a lot of rain. In the evening we left the kiddos and went to the bookstore to get some stuff for the trip and on a quick date. We had to go to Mom and Dad's to see how to water their lawn. They are going to be in CA all summer and need their lawn to stay green and nice so hopefully someone will want to buy it. When we got home we folded clothes.

Today we went to church, made Zuppa Tuscana for dinner out of kale and potatoes from the wedding, had M&D over for one last dinner before they leave, went to Tiffany's graduation open house, folded more clothes, packed the suitcases, made our list so we don't forget anything in the morning, got Millie off (actually the Steers came and picked her up which was so nice), got our wonderful pool helpers trained and told the mail picker upper where the key was! (thanks everyone for all the help!)

So in the morning we're off. We're very exicted. I am sure we will forgot something and the drive will be tedious but then we'll be there and it'll be sooo fun :)

cutting a rug

One last picture from last night, Papa and H dancing away.

I didn't mention but one thing I really love is the help and support we have from our friends and that we get to give. There were so many people who pitched in and helped serving during the wedding and cleaning up after. That is always the case. I love that I know that I can always count on help when I need it, and of course it's even more fun to be the helper. Just one of the many blessings the gospel brings to our lives.

schools out, summer's here

Today was the last day of school. The girls had a half day and everyone was excited. DH had his first vacation day too. He spent it fixing our dryer. It's been broken for a couple of days which has been such a bummer since we are leaving on our trip and that means I need to be getting caught up on all the laundry instead of falling behind. I am really glad he can fix things. It's very handy and saves us lots of money!

The big girls, Emma, Tori and I spent all day helping with Brett and Brittany's wedding. We got there at three and got stuff set up and food ready. Joyismygoal came awhile after and helped the rest of the time. We had fun and I think everything turned out really nicely. I would never want to be a caterer though, too much work!

We had time for fun too. They had good music and we had fun dancing. Brother and H both love to dance! Every wedding we go to he dances the night away.

The chocolate cake was so delicious. They gave out ring pops and bubbles at the end and the bride and groom ran through the bubbles to their car. The car was stuffed with helium balloons. Lucy and I sat on the steps and watched all the balloons fly up in the sky. She thought it was pretty neat.

DH and the kids left after the wedding. They got home around 10ish. They had sooooo much fun they couldn't even keep their eyes open.

S and I got home an hour and a half or so later.

Now we will get ready for our dream vacation!