Haircuts

I’ve certainly been slacking on the blog so bear with me as I “try” to catch up. Brynna was blessed with lots of hair at birth. And then it just kept growing and growing. She had way more hair than Sevea did at age 2 but yet I still waited to cut her hair. It was growing well and I didn’t see it necessary. Well at the end of March at age of 2 1/2 I took the scissors to it. I took a good amount off and put some layers in. Even still it wasn’t a dramatic change. Thankfully cutting her hair didn’t take away any of her personality :)

While Brynna’s hair cut wasn’t extremely dramatic, Sevea got a hair cut that was. She had been begging to get her hair chopped off but I was hesitant. I finally decided to bring her in to get it cut because I wasn’t confident enough in my cool hairstyle abilities. I took her into a cheap place and ended up with just shorter hair I could have done myself. A couple days later I brought her along to my hair cut appointment and my stylist gave her the hair she had really wanted. It was super adorable. I totally should have given in sooner.

Walt Disney World, part 2

From animals to princesses the kids saw it all. Well I can’t say “all” because I think it would take a lot more than one trip to see everything Disney has to offer. But the kids are young and no matter boy or girl they loved getting to see the princesses. We had two special events that the kids got to spend a little time with some of the princesses. One of them was an interactive show with Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She performed a little play with the kids as part of the action. Sevea was Belle’s father Maurice who was trapped by the Beast. Regan was Mrs.Potts while Brynna and Weston were salt and pepper shakers. Cohen was too afraid after the short introduction where the lights were lowered and creepy music played. (Thank you Tower of Terror for ruining him for the rest of the vacation) Little did he know it was a play and nothing scary happened. Good thing Cohen got to meet Belle at our other event so he didn’t miss out on this beauty :)

Our second event made the kids and the adults happy. It was breakfast with the princesses. The food was very good and exactly what we all needed to start the day. As we filled our bellies the princesses came over to say hello. It was a great way to see more of the princesses and the kids could get in the picture or stay and eat.

We did more than just look at animals and see characters. We went on a good amount of rides as well. Brynna so wished she was bigger because she really didn’t want to miss out on any ride. Regan isn’t a big fan of rides so Brynna typically had a partner to wait with. Well and then remember how I told you Cohen was scared after going on Tower of Terror? Yeah so he sat out a lot even though I know he would have liked some. If it got dark he just would lose it. I don’t think it is the ride part but more the dark made him think it was going to be like the Tower of Terror. We had done dark rides before that and he was fine. He was so scared he kept asking to do It’s a Small World ride. He calmed down some by the end of the trip so hopefully he isn’t scarred for life since we have season Valleyfair passes yet again. Sevea’s favorite ride was Space Mountain. Troy and I gripped onto her leg when we first rode it. It was more scary for us having her go on her first big ride then it was for her. While she liked a big ride she was very content to go with the younger kids on those rides too. Also I must have drawn the longest straw because Keeley and Troy got sucked into the tea cups for a second time on the trip but this time it was after a night of drinking around the world at Epcot, haha!!

I really had no idea what to expect going into this Disney vacation. I really knew nothing besides the fact I wanted to bring my kids at least once in their lives. So everything was really fun to me. I had no clue we would get to see some shows for free as well. We caught a Frozen show, an Indiana Jones performance, and a show about Pixar to name a few. The Pixar one was really neat. One of the Pixar shorts was about Mickey Mouse in black and white but was in 3D so at times they turned into color. I loved it and so did Cohen because he has since seen old time Mickey and commented on it. There are so many little things I can’t even begin to mention them all.

One thing that I have plenty of words for is how great these three kids were. They were amazing and better than I could have hoped for. Does that mean they were perfect? Absolutely not. There was a meltdown daily but for the amount of fun they had you’re sure to have some rough times. Plus every parent knows lack of naps can produce a crabby moment for sure. I also have to give a big shout out to the dad’s. Matt and Troy dealt with maneuvering those double wide strollers through all the crowds. Even worse having to deal with them on a crowded bus. They both kept their calm and were probably two of the most respectful stroller pushers there (you know people and strollers…ugh!) It probably helped that we did not say a thing when they wanted to purchase a beer ;) Totally deserved!

So it seems I had plenty to say as well as including pictures. It is just seriously hard to condense it all into a blog post. It was a trip I am going to remember for a really long time. I might forget the details or even some big things but I do know I will remember the excitement of the kids and the smiles, laughs, and even the fears or tears. And if I start to forget things, that’s what this here post is for. A chance to relive it all over again.

Walt Disney World

It’s hard to even begin to write about our trip to Walt Disney World (obviously by my lack of posting, haha). It was filled with so much fun that I get overwhelmed even thinking about actually putting it into words. So here goes nothing.

I first have to say our good friend Keeley planned the whole trip for us. Her family plus her dad Rod and step-mom Cindy were already going and we tagged along. This was one of the best decisions I have made. She’s gone plenty of times before and had way more knowledge than I could even comprehend. She planned a once in a lifetime trip and took on all the stress. I can’t thank her enough. I would say we’re pretty easy travel companions. We aren’t real picky and will go with the flow. But even still the amount of effort this must have took is mind boggling to me. I wouldn’t have even know where to start. Not only was she a huge part in why our trip was incredible, but GaGa and Papa acted like grandma and grandpa to our kids as well. They bought them ice creams to keep them happy while waiting. They kept all five of the kids one night so we could go out on our own. They stayed back with the kids when we rode some rides or when some kids couldn’t ride one. I seriously want to just tag along on any trip they are doing because it was just SOOOO nice. With that said, here’s a look into our trip :)

This was the first plane ride for all three kids. They were all excited and talked about it a lot before going. Mom and dad were hoping that it would go smoothly and no meltdowns would occur. Happy to say they did great. Brynna was really the only worry but after bouncing between seats two to three times she fell asleep. The tablets were definitely worth the money and a trip lifesaver.

Plane ride was a success and things only got better from there. Each day was filled with fun at the parks and pool time back at the resort. The kids wore themselves out each day. Us adults had an even better time than I thought possible. Going into the trip I expected to be exhausted by the end of each day and only surviving on the excitement of my kids. Boy was I wrong. We had plenty of adult fun with two nights out just as adults. We enjoyed plenty of cocktails and time playing Mexican train. I truly couldn’t have created a better trip. A picture is worth a thousand words so I’ll let them do most of the talking.

We started the trip with a visit to Tinkerbell. The kids were all a little shy at first well maybe not all of them. Brynna did not want to be near her and was very nervous about the whole situation. Thankfully she warmed up and absolutely loved getting to see all the characters. It was really fun to see their faces light up getting to give hugs and get autographs. Plus Weston absolutely cracked us up with all his questions for them. Every one of them was inquisitive yet appropriate. He asked Elsa when Kristoff was going to marry Anna.

We got to have even more fun with the characters at a BBQ we went to for supper one night. This was one part of the trip Keeley had us book ahead of time and we just hoped it would be as great as it looked. Well never ending sangria and beer makes any BBQ great. Just kidding…not kidding! The kids had a GREAT time. They got to not only take pictures with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, and Chip and Dale but they got to boogie on down on the dance floor with them too. Brynna showed exactly who she was when she wanted Goofy to bend down so she could kiss his nose. Then what does she do, try to hit him in the nose instead. Oh goodness gracious little girl. Lots of sour but she does have plenty of sweet in her too.

We’re not the type of family to make sure we hit up the zoo every year but I guess you could say we got our fill when we visited Animal Kingdom. We got to see a Lion King show that had acrobatics, dancing, and singing. We reaffirmed Troy still does not like birds. When he starts to think he might be ok then a bird swoops towards him. We got to see so many animals on our trip through the safari. I loved the warthog since I had never seen one in person and loved watching Pumbaa in the Lion King.

To be continued…