As Promised

After two amazing adult only vacations this summer, the husband and I (okay, probably mostly me) were feeling major guilt over having done virtually nothing for or with our children this summer. Unless you count yelling at them to clean up after themselves, I'm not sure why that doesn't count.

We managed to finagle a decent price to stay down at Disney's new Art of Animation Resort for two nights. It's so new that we were the very first people to stay in our particular hotel room. Awesome, right? 

Here's the part where I tell you that we did not have plans to take the kids into any of the theme parks. For our family alone, it would cost upwards of $400 for a single day pass. Nah... 

We figured that the Resort itself has enough fun stuff going on that we wouldn't have any problem filling our time. If we got bored, we'd head over to Downtown Disney (Free Disney!). Our poor children. Someday they'll realize how cheap their parents were and need therapy.  We can use all that money we saved by not taking them to Disneyworld! Everybody wins!

Warning: This post is picture heavy.

 Uhm. This probably isn't the best place to start. We were just being weird.

 This resort was probably the best decorated one I've been to. It was as if they dropped you into the movies themselves. The rooms (which I didn't take any pictures of) are awesome! We stayed in the Lion King suites, but they have Cars, Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid areas as well (The Little Mermaid area wasn't yet open when we stayed there). And yes, every room is a suite which can sleep 6 adults (or 5 kids and 2 adults in our case) and has a kitchenette and two bathrooms.

 They had a humongous Mr. Ray.

 This resort features the largest pool on Disney property (or so they say). We took the kids on over. It was fantastic. One of my favorite parts was that they developed special underwater speakers and the music playing underwater is totally different than that playing above the water. The pool staff even provide life jackets for non-swimmers. We had a blast. The only downside is that being in Florida we end up with a bunch of random short thunderstorms so the pools close frequently.

Lucas is starting to be slightly more manageable. Slightly. I strongly attribute it to the fact that he started PRESCHOOL! (Insert video of me jumping up and down.)

 You know you wanna give this one a snack. Please. A snack, mommy. Mommy, a snack. Please. (Repeat ad nauseum.)

 One of the great things about Disney Resorts is that they have quite a few programs running at all times to keep the kids busy/entertained. For example, we took the kids to this Learn To Draw class. They had an animator sitting there teaching the kids to draw Mickey. My kids ate it up. Except Libby who threw a tantrum. (Repeat ad nauseum.)

 Yeah, Mr. Ray is huge.

 This is probably my favorite picture of Lucas, ever. It's taken on one of their "playgrounds".

 Um. Yeah. Abbie, at almost 11, thinks she is way too mature for playing. Please notice the glasses (it's only a matter of time and they'll all be wearing them) and the incredibly long hair. Whoa.

 Fortunately, Miles and Lucas are still young enough to think posing with a car is still awesomesauce.

 And I'm not sure what was up with Libby but in every single picture we took that weekend, she was making some approximation of this face.

 Oh, I'm so cute. Look at me. Blurgh!

 There were TONS of these sculptures everywhere.

 I totally love this picture of all of my kids. Even though Miles can't be bothered to stop whatever pretend world he was playing in.

 And another of the whole crew. I think we had great success. The kids had fun. The adults didn't kill anyone. Yeah, we call that success.

What I Did With My Summer Vacation That I Didn't Tell You About

Also known as:
Stuff you most likely won't care about but get to hear about because this is MY blog and I'm just now getting around to updating so shut it, you jerks.

I knit stuff.

 As a favor to my mother, I knit this shawl: Henslowe.  Then I had a really hard time giving it away. But I did anyway because I'm awesome like that... and also, who needs another shawl when you have seven(teen) already.

 No, you may not see my face.

 Then I knit this for me! The pattern is Totally Biased and I knit it out of my own handspun yarn! I love it. So much I want to marry it. Yeah.

 Please, don't look at my face.

 I also finished the Epic Blanket of 2012. I think I mentioned that knitting this blanket was my only knitting goal for 2012. I'm such an overachiever! The pattern is Girasole.

It is just lovely. I'm really looking forward to this "Winter" when I can snuggle up underneath it and drink me some Herbal tea and watch Downton Abbey. If you aren't watching this show, you are dead to me.

Stay tuned for tomorrow so you can hear about more stuff you don't care about!

What I Did With My Summer Vacation: Part Two

 A million years ago (or 2.5ish), some of our best friends high-tailed it out of Florida. They followed their hearts back to Utah, which really sucked at the time, but came in very handy when we needed a place to stay. 

 Meet Gary & Alecia. Best hosts ever. They bought us the best donuts I've ever had: Maple Bacon Donuts from Beyond Glazed. They let us play with their doggies. We played the most hysterical game of Curses! Ever. It was actually really hard for me to leave them. I miss them so much!

 Classic Photobomb. Also, check out the husband's sweet bowtie! Real! 

 While in Utah we had the awesome opportunity to hang out with my brother, sister and their respective families. This is my Sister-in-law, Erikka. Isn't she so beautiful?! 

 And this is my baby brother, Matt. And his baby girl (who is now 3!), Arya! This was my first time meeting Arya and I found her to be just the sweetest little package of awesome. Plus, so cute! I have no pictures of my sister Rachel and her little friend, David, because they kept making weird faces for the camera. 

On our final day in Utah we traveled to the booming metropolis of Provo. We got to meet up with some old friends, The Hansens and their 3.1 kids. We had the privilege of enjoying delicious foodstuffs: JDawgs, Hokulia Shaved Ice, and Four Seasons Hot Pot and Dumplings.  All recommended!

 We also realized that Provo pretty much feels the same as it did 10ish years ago when we met, dated, and fell in love there. 

Would I move back to Utah? If the price was right...

What I Did With My Summer 2012: Part One

So, we did the cruise. 

Then we found out that my husband's youngest brother was getting married in August in Utah. We just had to go. You see, that's where the husband and I met, wooed, and decided to get married. (We were actually married in Washington DC). But Utah is where the magic happened. The short short version is that we both lived in the same apartment complex and attended the same church congregation (in the LDS Church it's called a Ward). He was attending BYU and I was attending UVSC (now UVU) and I was quite the looker. He couldn't resist my feminine wiles. Or something. 

At any rate, I haven't been back to Utah (we both still have family living there) since 2007 and for Matt it was more like 2004. So, we were both fairly excited at the chance to "walk down memory lane." Also, we didn't take the kids. I know. Two vacations this summer without children in tow... it was like a dream. An awesome dream. 

We attended David and Diana's wedding. It was honestly so beautiful. The reception was probably one of the nicer ones I've ever been to. I kept saying, "the next time I get married, I'm totally doing it like this!" Then my Mother-In-Law had the nerve to remind me that in just ten short years I could be planning the wedding of my own daughter. Uhhh... Not cool, Mom!

 My husband is a very attractive man. 

 Have I mentioned that the husband had Lasik done back in December? He did. What's that? He's wearing glasses? Yes. They're "for show." Psht. Men. 

David and Diana are so cute together. After the temple portion of the wedding, the bride and groom, fully decked out, went to Cafe Rio with us. It was pretty awesome. 

More later.

Evertaster!

Recently, my husband discovered that one of his college classmates was just about finished with his first published novel. It's about food, which my husband loves. It's a captivating work of young adult fiction titled Evertaster by Adam Glendon Sidwell. I think it is probably 4th-8th grade level.  I will be honest: I haven't read it. But guess who did?

Read it in one day. Couldn't pry it from her hands. 

When I asked her if it was as good as Harry Potter she replied, "better, more adventurous."
That's quite the review, eh? I am encouraging you to run on over to Amazon and pick up this novel for your kids. Or heck, for you!

Not included? The picture of Abbie reading this book upside-down. Kids are so weird.

Have I mentioned that my husband did the Title Design for the cover? (His name appears in the book... twice!) How awesome is that? (I receive nothing for posting this. In case that was unclear.)