Best Vacation Ever!

The highlight of the Wizarding World is the Hogwarts Castle ride called the Forbidden Jorney. We rode it 5 times thanks to Anna and the "Parent Swap"- we got to swap out with the kids so they rode again and again as one of us waited in the Parent Swap room with Anna.

Butter-Beer- oooooh yea! It was actually really good. It tasted like creme soda slurpee

and with the souvenir cup it is hard to pass up!

The hogwarts express!

Olivanders was another greatest feature of the day when they take you in to select a wand from Olivanders wand shop (among other great souvenirs) mr olivander himself selects a kid from the crowd to do a demo where the wand chooses the boy- just like in the book/movie. It was really well done and Olivander never breaks character. "Josh- weve been waiting for you".

Baby Anna did a lot of waiting around there but she still had a fun time.

(I should have taken off those glasses)

This is the entrance to Hogsmead- doesn't it look so authentic?!?

He begged to bring his Harry Potter robes and gear- but I said no and I regret that because there were several kids running around dressed like wizards! It was a fun place to really get into the whole experience.

It really was the best vacation ever! I was probably really in need of a vacation since for the last 8 months we have been living (and gratfully so) with my in-laws. There is never a dull moment here- but anyway- on to the best vacation ever!

Our kids are moderately obsessed with Harry Potter- so we decided to capture the enthusiasm while at its peak and take them to "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" at Universal Studios in Orlando. It was sooooooooo fun! I can't say enough about how cool this place is. From the moment you walk into the Wizarding section of the theme park- it is like you are in Hogsmeade. Harry Potter themed music fills the streets- the little shops and all the workers are in costume and in character and as you make your way through town up on the hill you see Hogwarts. It is an amazing castle that I just couldnt descibe enough to give it justice. Inside the halls are lined with talking moving pictures- just like in the book/movie. When you go to the ladies room- you hear the voice of moaning Myrtle talking about whatever whimsy of the moment.

This was day one of our Disney/ Wizarding World trip and such a great start to the best vacation! More to follow about the Disney portion. . .ugggh tomorrow? Soon anyway! Promise:).

Cute Boys I Love. . .

Just a Spoon Full of Sugar. . .

. . . helps the medicine go down,

in the most delightful way!

Mary Poppins was as *delightful* as ever and I would highly recommend getting out to see this production at the Music Hall at the Dallas Fair Park. We were incredibly lucky to score tickets at a great price with some of Lizzys friends. I took Lizzy and her friend Audrey and we met up with some of her other friends and their moms last night. I got stuck bringing Anna with me at the last minute as Dave (working late as usual- lately) took Josh to his office to get some work done.

The show was amazing and I'm certain I couldn't give it justice with a blog post- but I will say that it may be the best Broadway production I've seen yet. It was very well done. The lighting, music, performers, and special effects were almost magical- as I'm sure they were meant to be since it's Mary Poppins :). Our favorite was the ending when she floats away in perfect form- over almost the entire audience. I would love to see it again with Dave since the first half of the production I was a little distracted trying to get Anna to sleep. She did really well overall, considering it was almost 3 hours in one spot without crying.

The music brought back memories of childhood

and the songs were lovely to hear again.

Love that Girl- Yes I Do!

First Day of School

First day of school went MUCH better than I thought! My little Joshy started kinder- and is growing up so fast. I thought he would cry- after all he cried half of the days his first year of pre-school. I thought *I* would cry seeing my little boy so grown up. But to my surprise neither one of us shed a tear!

Here are a few pics to prove it!

Anna is a very well know and well like baby at Lakewood. She's there with me everyday in the bjourn. I like to think that people are looking because she is so cute- but it might be that they are wondering how I stuff that 21 lb baby into the infant carrier:)!

Not sure why its so blurry- but it hides wrinkles so I won't complain. Joshy got Ms. Hamilton- and we are really excited about her. She is a new teacher this year and has a lot of enthusiasm!


My two little Lakewood Stallions. They are growing up so fast!

Lizzy started 4th grade and is in a class with 2 of her best friends. She got a teacher she really likes also. I think its going to be a great year.

Family of Five

One plus one is two.

Two plus one is sooooooooo much more than three!!!

We've been warned about the third child being the big adjustment, and I have always held my ground that child # one was much more of an adjustment. However, after several weeks like last week, I have considered that it may be true- adding child #3 may be the whopper!

Although I did not have an extensive "to do" list last week, there were just too many times where I found myself asking "since when did I become my mom?" I grew up in a family of 7 kids and always wondered why the house was such a mess and my mom dressed so sloppy and she never got her glasses fixed (she had to balance them on her nose when she drove us to school, because she never found time to go in and get a new pair). Now I get it. The poor woman had 7 kids to care for and her husband worked 2 jobs- which meant she was basically on her own from sun up to sun down.

Last week I got very little sleep. Most of the days I just threw on sweats and pulled my hair back in an elastic. One day that stands out is when I decided to be a good mommy and get my boy all the T ball supplies he needs to be a successful T ball champ. It all started when he was yanked out of practice early by this same good mommy (who was very frustrated at the time). After chilling out about his less than enthusiastic performance at practice, I decided we were going to put in the time and help this boy feel like a champ at T Ball. So to Academy we go.

I got the kids out of the car, strapped baby Anna into her baby bjourn, and in we went. Then we were greeted by Stu, the realtor who sold us our home. Only he was now working as a greeter at Academy, and I greeted him without thinking- actually I guess I was thinking- only I was thinking out loud. I'm too embarrassed to write what I said, and when I told Dave about it, he was embarrassed just hearing about it. Stu is a great guy and I hope he didn't take offense to a tired mom who lost a few brain cells during pregnancy and is still hoping to get them back.

Anyway, we found the isle we needed and started to look T ball stuff. One of the workers approached us just as Josh grabbed the back of his shorts and said, "ughhh mommy, I think I have a problem!" Oh no- I knew this wasnt good, so we rushed to the bathroom and fixed "the problem". This was a first and as I was cleaning things up- I kept thinking that this is something that happens to one of "those" families. We usually have things under control- at least in public- unlike "those" families. Anyway, we managed and went back out to shop. Yep, we should have gone home and called it a day, but who knows when I would get time to go back up there, so we continued our shopping. By the end of our Academy trip, the kids were acting crazy, I had a headache, Anna was crying, we probably stunk, but we got our T ball stuff and made it home! Ahhhh home. Perfectly clean and dinner was in the oven- oops, I mean it was a mess and I hadn't even thought about dinner. Again, I ask myself: "Since when did I become my mom?"

How long will this last? I only have 3 kids- I should be able to manage them and not become my mom, right? I'm sure Dave is hoping it is just a phase, but for now I am just agreeing that three is sooooooo much more than two!

Baby Bananna!

My little baby bananna!

Day 2

With Lizzy