I Don't Wanna Grow Up!

Here's another fun piece of news: I'm going to college!!!

With Kelsey starting school in the fall, I was faced with the dilemma of what to do with all my newfound free time.  And what better way to spend it than earning a college degree?!?!  

JK.  I have my associates from a long time ago.  You know, like, over 15 years ago...  And I've always thought I would go back and finish my bachelors.  It just wasn't particularly convenient with 4 kids at home.  Between being pregnant and nursing, I just didn't think that sitting in class or studying would be all that fun.  Fast forward until my "baby" is all growed up, and it may be a different story.  I started applying back in January to two local colleges, and thankfully was accepted to both of them.  Ironically, in all the paperwork and red tape, I had to go get a few vaccinations.  

 And because I am such a good bruiser, they left their mark.

 When it came time to register, I had to make a visual representation of what I am taking.  I am such a visual learner....Yes, I know I have an 8am class...  Its not my favorite.  But it was the only time it was offered, so....

My declared major is Biology, but the particular track I chose also comes with a teaching certificate for middle to high school kids (Heaven help me!).  And while I did earn an associates degree, not everything transfers into the program.  It will take about 3 years to finish, which isn't all that bad considering I finished my AA in 3 semesters....  So I am really only redoing 1 semester.  I can live with that I think.  

I'm petrified, to be honest.  I used to be a decent student.  But that was before I was married or had children.  I was only responsible for me, myself, and I....  And that was a lot less stressful.  What if I fail?  What if I am crap at schooling?  What if I am crap at motherhood?  I'm not looking for compliments, just being real.  I am terrified.  

And that is another reason why I have been less reliable in posting.  I've been a busy girl.  And, due to all this stuff going on, I probably will have to post less.  But, I'm gonna try my hardest to not give up.  My kids are still pretty cute and exciting, and it would be a shame for that not to be shared.  It just probably won't be every day.

Wish us luck on our new adventures!

Surprise!

So this just happened.  Like, super recently.  

 Because this happened.  Not so super recently.  I've wanted to post for a while now, but felt like there needed to be some actual progress before I said anything.  Like, something other than paperwork and signing my life away.

No, hubby is not building it himself.  We could, but it would take far more time, and we just don't have that to give right now.  Closing date on the new house is the week before school starts.  So we have a week to move into the new house before the kids have to be ready to start at a new school!  I've been busy decluttering, touching up, throwing away, reorganizing, making decisions, shopping for new furniture and all kinds of other things.  You may have noticed I haven't posted as much or as regularly.  I am beat!  But I will be happy to share all kinds of details and fun things with you.  You just have to be patient and let me catch my breath :)

And no, I am not done with our Florida trip either....  But since I have been slacking so much, I kinda felt like I should give some sort of explanation.

Memory Maker: Favorite Princesses!

In meeting with characters I learned something: Kari has a favorite princess!  It is Mulan!  She was super excited to meet her, and waited in line for a decent amount of time just for the honor.

She really was a nice person.

And all of the kids genuinely thought she was great.

She even suggested this fun pose for the kids to do!

Now this favorite is not a surprise.  We have, for some reason, called Kaitlyn Tinkerbelle for most of her life.  So. as the kids "shrunk" to meet her, no one was surprised that Kaitlyn could hardly contain herself.

 The actor/esses really do an excellent job of transforming into the character.  Tinkerbelle was so smart, but so cute too.

 She was nice enough to sign for everyone.

 And to take a picture!

 And then I had a great idea to get one or two with just Kaitlyn.

 I wish I had thought of that with Kari and Mulan...  Oh well.

Such a really fun experience to meet with all these characters!

Memory Makers: Princesses

One of the things I didn't really build into the schedule, but ended up working out anyway, was meeting characters and getting signatures.  The kids were surprisingly into talking to the characters, and didn't seem to mind waiting in line for a little while to do so.

The first character we met was Anna.  And, she was super cute!  She embodied the character so well!

 I'm so glad the professional photographer was there.  It was one less thing I had to worry about, and the pictures look great!

 I'm not sure how many hugs they give a day, but she was so kind and loving and I think just set the stage for the kids to really enjoy meeting all the rest.

Right next door was her sister Elsa.   She wasn't quite as warm and welcoming as Anna, but, that is her character, so....

 And at least she was nice enough to pose for a picture.

 And you can't visit Anna and Else without meeting up with Olaf!

While most of the characters provided a photographer, Mary Poppins was kind of a surprise visit.  So This is a cell phone pic,  But I thin it turned out rather well. 

We got to meet Tiana.

Who had the accent down!!!

And Rapunzel was so sweet and bubbly!!!

 I just love pictures of my children hugging princesses!

 We met Cinderella!

 And Elena of Avalor (who is a relatively new princess that I don't really know much about).

We got swim down to Ariel's grotto.

 Her tail is pretty amazing.

And we also met a few other important people.  Even ones who don't grow up.

 Jasmine and Aladdin arrived holding hands.  It was super cute!

 And while the genie didn't come out for a visit, he did at least say hi.

The kids have so many signatures in their autograph books!  They thought it was so cool!

Its my Burfday

Memory Maker: Star Wars

Not gonna lie.  Disneyworld was playing up their recent acquisition of the Star Wars stuff like crazy!

My kids really didn't know what the buzz was about.  They have only seen the first movie that originally came out.  I have no idea what number it was.  But they were all for meeting all kinds of strange creatures.  And giving hugs to ones that were super tall.

Chewy did not give autographs though.  His handler said he doesn't know how to write.

Then the kids got to go meet Kylo Ren.  He asked if they were coming over to the dark side, and bravely the children said no.  

Thankfully he still posed for a picture.  He even let some of the children try to use the force.

Kelly was meeting one of her favorite characters and didn't get to meet Chewy with everyone else.  But I love how small she looks!

Go Star Wars! 

Memory Maker: Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom was where we spent the majority of our time.  2 of our 4 days.  And, of course we had a great time. 

Kelsey was tall enough to ride on Space Mountain!!!  Clearly she is enjoying it :)

Kari seems to know where the camera was, while Karley is trying to bear down.

Even the adults could get in on the action!

Kelley was too small to ride unfortunately, so Auntie S had to wait for her turn with the child swap.  By the time it came around, S said she didn't really want to go, so she gave up her ride and let Kari and hubby go again :)

This was our group picture after the log flume ride!  The kids really had fun, even though they had no idea what the story was about.

And we didn't even get that wet!

We also went into the Haunted Mansion.  This time we warned Kaitlyn about the ghosts and made sure she was ok with going in.  She did just fine!

Even if we all look a bit frightened :)

One of the things we did at the end of the day was the Pirates of the Caribbean!  It was a super short line because it was so close to close, and it was nice to sit and rest.  Again, our kids didn't really "get" it, but I think they liked it anyway.  And hubby and I also noticed that a few of the puppets had been changed to look more Deppified than when we first went through almost 20 years ago.

Day 2 we went back to get on the newest ride Disney has opened: The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

We didn't realize this one would be so popular, and didn't plan ahead well enough for it.  

As a result, we had to wait in line for the longest on this ride: almost 90 minutes.

But these professional, mid ride pictures showed up in our account a few hours later, as if by magic.  And they are totally worth it!!!

One of the other things the Memory Maker did for us was take some of our photos and put them in certain videos or filters.  Like this one:  I feel like you get the feeling of the whole ride!

At the end of the day, I wanted to make sure we got a good family photo in front of the castle.  I think you can tell that it was a bit tiring for the kids (Kelsey, I'm looking at you!).  But its a pretty good one of hubby and I :)

At some point, hubby and Kari broke away from the group and went on a few rides by themselves.  Again, the Memory Maker did this fun video for them.

I'm so glad I didn't have to carry around my big camera to get all these amazing shots!