A 24-hour detour to Disney World and a week in Folly Beach

Yeah, I definitely realize it is October. And that we went on this trip over two months ago. But, since this blog serves as a diary for my girls, I want to make sure I recap it, even if it happened weeks ago, and the warm days of summer have been swept away by the chilly fall air. So, let's put on our metaphorical sunblock and go back to the first week of August.

My amazing in-laws booked us a beach house in the Charleston, SC area for a week. Our reservation was for Sunday-Sunday. A few days before we were supposed to depart, I get a text from my crazy husband saying: "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we drove down early and took the girls to Disney World, then drove back up to Charleston?"

A few hours later, a plan was hatched. Mind you, Orlando, FL and Charleston, SC are not, by anyone's definition, close together. 

But, when presented with the opportunity to take my girls to meet their favorite Disney characters, I mean, I'm not gonna say no right???

So, we packed up the car, the girls, 500 snacks and DVDs, and took off, heading south at 6:30pm and arriving in Orlando around 9:30am. Exhausted, but excited. 

We checked into our hotel, took showers, got the girls dressed, then set them on the bed, full of anticipation because we knew they'd be SO EXCITED. We even taped their reaction.

 Weeeelllllllll, we thought they'd be so excited. And I guess they were, in their own way.  Oh well.

So, we drove over to the Magic Kingdom, and our first stop was meeting Rapunzel and Cinderella. Now THAT got Emerson's attention.

At first she said "Mommy, I can't! I'm too shy!!!" She was immobilized.

But then she saw the princesses, and she FREAKED.

They look totally unimpressed, but I swear Emerson was beside herself with excitement.

Rapunzel took the "baby" and I thought Emerson would hate her forever, but instead, it endeared her to Emerson.

Sweet, sweet Anna-Boo was loving the attention.

Huge hugs!

Side note: This little scene in Fantasy Land is serving as my inspiration for Emerson's 3rd birthday party.

Hungry, tired and thirsty (did I mention it was 100 actual degrees that day???) we decided to go to my favorite restaurant in all of Disney World, the Crystal Palace.

Air conditioning? Check. A full buffet? Check. Get to meet the Winnie the Pooh characters? Checkity check. 

What could be better??

Except Emerson was having NONE of it. She thought Piglet and Pooh were devils from the underworld. Oh well.

Our last attraction of the day was "Enchanted Tales with Belle." Emerson had been watching Beauty and the Beast on repeat (still does, actually) so I knew she'd be excited to meet Belle.

Anna and Jon stayed outside because some people just can't do Disney.

Emerson got to play the part of "Chip" the teacup at this attraction, and she still brings it up ALL THE TIME. Every time we see Chip or a teacup in general "Mommy, I WAS CHIP! REMEMBER MOMMY?!?!"

Our one and only family photo from the day. Not pictured: Copious and uncomfortable amounts of sweat.

After 7 hours in the park, where it felt like I was truly melting, we decided to take the girls back to the hotel to swim and cool off. 

On the monorail:

The question I've been asked by many is: "Would you do it again?" As in, "Would you ever drive through the night again to only spend 24 hours in Disney?"

My answer is no. I can't WAIT to take them back to Disney World, and soon. Just not in August. And if you're gonna make a 14-hour drive, you should probably just go ahead and spend more time at the place than it actually took you to get there. Just a rule of thumb.

  But because I'm an eternal optimist, I am so happy we did it, I don't regret it, and even though the girls probably won't remember this trip, we will. Memories, man.

On the way home. This picture totally sums up their feelings at the end of the day.

The following morning, we slept in a little, got a big breakfast, and headed on up to Folly Beach.

The first few days were a little cloudy and rainy, but I'm never gonna not love being at the beach, so for me, it was awesome.

My sweet sweet nephew Leo and his mommy :)

A HUGE thanks to Ma and Papa for taking us on this wonderful vacation!

What an attractive couple, right???

On our second day there, the whole caravan decided to explore the city of Charleston a little more.

The babies of the trip. Best buds and super adorable.

I have an obsession with doors. Is that weird? Probably.

"Daddy, daddy! Wait for me!!!!"

Rainbow Row!

I <3 stone streets. Any stone. Cobble. Pebble. Rolling. Whatever.

Love and marriage. Love and marriage. Go together like a horse and carriage.

Charleston is a completely charming city. I could never live there in the summer, due to humidity and bugs, but I would love to go back and explore even more.

The rest of our week was pretty low key, which is exactly what we wanted and needed, but on our last day, we did sneak away for a few family photos on the beach.

You know, my whole heart, just hanging out on the beach. I love these three people more than you could ever imagine.

The closest we could get to an all-girls picture.

Sassy pants. (her, not me)

I would like to think she's thinking "Oh Mommy, you're so funny and silly and you're my best friend and always will be."

That hair.

The cutest two-year-old in human existence. 

There are loads of other places I'd like to explore in the U.S., but honestly, I could be anywhere in the world, and as long as I'm with my family, what's in the background is just scenery.

For me, this is what life is all about.

What a Difference a Year Makes

September 18, 2013. One of the two worst days of my life. 

 I don't want to re-live it, because even when I started re-reading these posts (Parts 1 and 2) I started crying immediately.

I will never forget the indescribable feelings of utter helplessness and fear. The love of a mother for her children is an aching, consuming, throw-yourself-in-front-of-a-train-to-protect-your-child type of love, but that day, we were faced with my worst nightmare: losing my precious Anna. 

We had already lost our son, and here we were. Faced with the real possibility that once again, our sweet, loved, wanted baby was going to be taken away from us.

But, as we know, my little Anna is a brave, strong, beautiful FIGHTER and is happy and healthy today.

Perfect. Growing. Normal. A few scars, but no signs of the pain she experienced and as sweet and sassy as could be.

Despite what your beliefs may be, you can't look at that sweet girl happily swinging and not think someone is watching out for her. 

I know I do.

Our Labor Day Weekend

Whoops. I started writing this post last Monday.... I'll just pretend it's still Tuesday the 2nd, how's that sound?

Though parts of our Labor Day weekend were quite laborious (fittingly), I must say that it was a fitting ending to what has been maybe the best summer of my life. Summer recap coming soon! :)

To start, we had the opportunity to go watch "Frozen" on the Jumbotron at Ohio Stadium. As if I haven't seen Frozen literally 150 times and could recite it line by line, getting to view it in this completely different way was such a cool experience. I love my job!

Anna watching intently.

The girls were beside themselves, and Emerson is still talking about it!

"Mommy, I'm so happy I saw Frozen on the big screen! Mommy, the screen went all the way up to the ceiling!" Too cute for words. 

After sleeping in on Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and do some projects around the house. While Jon and his dad laid tile in the basement, we took the girls to Home Goods for some pillow shopping. 

I wanted to add some more color to the family room, because the purple and gray was getting boring after a year, so these fun pillows and a few new accessories really spiced things up in there.

The real problem started as my eyes gazed from our new colorful family room into the kitchen. All of a sudden, the dark brown that was perfectly fine a week ago HAD TO GO.

Before:

 

And then once the brown was gone, the hallway color that I wasn't completely sold on as it was suddenly looked SO WRONG as well, so it had to go too.

And then I couldn't paint the downstairs hallway without painting the upstairs hallway right?

And then I couldn't ignore the fact that we never re-painted the guest bedroom after we switched it with Anna's room, so it was still the same baby pink, which is fine for baby girls but not for a guest bedroom, so naturally it had to go too!

We're just putting the finishing touches on it this week, so look for a before and after photo next week!

 

An Anniversary Surprise

A couple weekends ago, we hosted a surprise 40th wedding anniversary party for my in-laws on Kelley's Island. Jon's parents took their 1-day honeymoon on Kelley's island 40 years ago but haven't been back in ages. They've spent the last 40 years putting all of their time, energy and attention into their children, so their children decided to pay them back in a small way. 

We invited their close friends and family for a celebration, and my awesome friend Jean-Marie was on-hand to take photos of the event. She was the best investment ever! I love how many candid moments she captured, and these are pictures and memories we'll have forever.

 Confusion. Then surprise. Then happiness. We pulled it off!

Anna is too cool for Hollywood.

Who let that girl have chocolate???? ;-)

Emerson is obsessed with golf carts now. Birthday gift idea???

Though we were nervous that we wouldn't pull the whole thing off without suspicion, it all fell into place and was the perfect day. 

Happy anniversary you crazy kids!