the best christmas gift ever

While Christmas shopping at a local toy/bookstore I came across these snowballs:

I thought they were cool and that my kids would like them, but I decided to think about it, they were about $20 and I just didn't know if they would be worth it.  They were really neat because when you squeeze them they feel like real snowballs, they kind of shrink then bounce back.  I was a little unsure of buying them because the ones at the store were kind of gray and they looked like they just might be dirt and hair magnets and I am a clean freak.  So basically I talked myself out of them.   Well after walking out of the store and into the parking lot, it hit me, these would make the best Santa gift for my kids this year.  They would be wonderful to play with when we can't go outside and something unique.  Both kids are really into comparing and whining when they think the other one has more than they do, so I really wanted to have Santa gifts be the same for both kids (that is difficult with a boy and a girl), which made these snowballs the perfect Santa gift.  So I turned around and bought two buckets, one for each kid, or 40 snowballs total.   I proudly showed them to Jeff and he didn't seem that impressed at first, and leading up to Christmas I was worried that the kids weren't going to be impressed either. 
This was the best Christmas gift.  My kids can now throw something in the house and I don't have to worry about them breaking something or themselves.  At close range they hurt a little bit if they get you in the eye or nose, I do have first hand experience, but not nearly as bad as a real snowball.  So we have had them for 2.5 weeks now and no one has gotten hurt and nothing has gotten broken (a Christmas miracle).  Since it has been raining all day and we had nothing to do on a Saturday night we had a snowball fight.  We had so much fun, the kids got their energy out and we all had a really good time. 
I should note: I am in no way being paid by this company or any company to endorse this product.  I am just thankful that "Santa" brought these too us because they have been so much fun and a big hit.  They have exceeded all expectations.  Trying to find all 40 after a fight is even a fun competition because there is always those last 3 that are so hard to find up on a shelf, behind a picture frame, behind the couch cushions, or in a totally different room.
So I am grateful for a gift that gets us moving, away from electronics, and laughing because laughter is the best medicine. 

we have fire!

So after several phone calls, two weeks of waiting, and an accumulation of parts, we have working gas logs!  So the part that the company sent me was not going to help with our current problem, but it may be useful in the future if the thermocouple or pilot light piece goes bad (especially since the part costs about a hundred dollars).    The thermocouple, the pilot light, the oxygen sensor, nor the gas line was the problem.  The part that our installer had pointed to was the problem it is just he didn't have the name right, the thermocouple attaches to it, it is just a temperature sensor and it was malfunctioning or maybe loose.  Our installer tweaked it, showed me how to reset it, started the logs and they have been working great ever since.  Jeff tried calling the company again to get a new part, but they wouldn't help him out and so he has to wait and see if they malfunction again since they seem to be working fine now.  So I kept them on all afternoon and we were able to turn them off and back on again after dinner.   I am thankful we didn't try and fix it ourselves because we could have messed things up, I am also glad we didn't buy a replacement part, but most of all I am thankful they finally work. 
So today we just hung out in the house all day long, it was all good until about 5 o'clock, you know that time when I can't referee because I am trying to make dinner.  I made a new recipe I found on Pinterest for dinner tonight.  I am a little hesitant to try and make new things because I am afraid we won't like it and the food will go to waste, but I stepped out of my safe zone and tried a new recipe for macaroni and cheese.  I was a little afraid because it used evaporated milk and eggs and A LOT of cheese and did I mention it was a Martha Stewart recipe which can be scary in of itself since she is not known for safe and easy.  Lily my macaroni and cheese lover gave it a thumbs down, but Jeff and Lance really liked it.  It was like a quiche with macaroni noodles instead of a crust, it was good, not my favorite.  Next time I think I would only make half a recipe because we barely ate half of it.  One benefit to this recipe over my standard is that the whole wheat noodles weren't as noticeable. I usually use half whole wheat and half regular noodles and we can usually tell the difference, but in this recipe we couldn't. 
So it has been one week and we have kept with our meal planning, tomorrow will be the real test.  The Chicken Alfredo shells for tomorrow are good, but they are a pain to make and you can't really make them ahead of time so we will see if I can stick with my schedule or if I will wimp out.
I failed my walking outside everyday streak today, even though saying I walked Sunday was a stretch, today I only opened my door to get the mail, no walking outside, maybe tomorrow, it is suppose to be close to 30 (twice as warm as today).  Or maybe I will just wait until the weekend. . .
So tonight I am grateful for a working gas log fireplace, that we survived a inside all day, for friends who will come over for a playdate on a moments notice, for working at a community college that starts a week after my kids, and for Mars Hill podcasts, but that is a post for another day.

new year day 1

I usually clean up the Christmas stuff 3 days after Christmas, but since our tree was not dead aka a fire hazard we left it up until today.  So from 9 am until 2 pm I undecorated the house and put everything back in the attic storage.  The frustrating thing is that just when I got all the boxes neatly arranged in our little space I went downstairs and kept finding ornaments, or hooks, so just little things that need to be in a box that is the farthest from the attic door.  I am glad that I waiting until today when Jeff was here to help me haul the boxes up and down and pack everything up.  The Christmas decor is packed away neater than it has ever been and I even thought to make sure to make sure that the Easter decorations were closest to the door so I don't have to do any major rearranging in a couple of months.  So today I am thankful for a clean slate in our living room.  I do love our living room once the tree and Christmas stuff is gone because the room is twice as big.  I don't believe in having a buying a tree that fits our small space, I buy the biggest one that can fit in our house and then complain about the lack of space for three weeks.  So the living room is neat and tidy, unfortunately the rest of the house hasn't caught up, but it will, eventually.
After cleaning up we took the kids on a bike ride.  Despite it being a bit chilly, it was so nice to get out of the house and do something.  If I could go back in time and talk to myself 10 years ago I don't think my 25 year old self would believe that I would willingly go bike riding in 45 degree weather.   Before kids getting fresh air wasn't such a big deal to me, now I can't live without getting outside if even for 20 minutes despite the cold weather.  I am proud of myself, I am way more willing to go outside than I was even 4 years ago and I hope that I will continue to put on my "big girl pants" as I like to say and get outside. 
So 2014 is my year of gratitude.  I am so thankful for my home, even though it is small, it is ours, it is relatively warm and has a lot of love in it.  I am thankful for fresh air and the energy to do something. I am thankful for time off from work and school that we can be together.  I am thankful that I have made it another year. 
So today was good, tomorrow it is suppose to rain and Friday the high is less than 30 degrees and windy, let's see if my gratitude can make it through to the weekend!

the perfect day, followed by a not so perfect day

Yesterday was perfect, today, not so much.
Yesterday morning, got up made breakfast (eggs, bacon, and muffins).
We logged onto northpoint online and had church over breakfast and on the couch in our living room.  It was really nice to do "church" from home with the kids sitting with watching or playing quietly nearby.   We then got ready for the day, packed a picnic lunch, and headed to the mountains to go hiking.

almost to the top

taking in the view at Buzzard's Roost

 We hiked 1.5 miles up to the summit of the Sharp Top and had a picnic lunch.
The day was warm and sunny and absolutely beautiful. 

the view at the top

Abbott Lake below, where we got married

 After the hike we walked around the lake at the bottom of the Peaks and then headed to a nearby city for an early dinner at our favorite restaurant, Chipotle.  After dinner we walked over to the Fresh Market and grabbed some goodies before heading home. 

Sharp Top in the background, can't believe Lily made it all the way up there

we strolled along the lake after hiking 3 miles, we decided we need to come back and explore more on a day when we weren't tired from hiking

It was the perfect day.
Today was not that day.
This morning Lance did not want to go to school, he said he was sick, he said his throat hurt, his head hurt and he couldn't go to school (he was sick on Friday with fever, headache, and sore throat).  We told him he was not sick and he was going since he didn't have a fever.  He then complained that he was very itchy and we then looked down at his legs and realized he wasn't going to school, at least not right away.  He looked like he had leprosy, his legs were covered in pink welts, it looked awful.  We first thought it was poison ivy from our hike yesterday, but then we discovered some welts on his back and shoulders where he would not have had contact with poison ivy.  I did a quick google search of hives and poison ivy and neither really looked like his rash, then I read about scarlet fever and got a little nervous (sore throat, headache, rash, all his symptoms once again the rash didn't match).  I called the doctor as soon as the office opened since we needed to find out what to do about his rash, he couldn't go to school and it looked too awful to wait it out, we got an appointment 45 minutes later.  We took Lily to school and headed over to the doctor.  By the time we saw the doctor at 9:45 his rash had practically disappeared, we were very frustrated, how was the doctor suppose to figure out what was wrong if there was no rash to show him?  The doctor did look at the few spots that remained, took his blood pressure, listened to his chest, and did a thorough exam and then gave us the typical doctor answer: Hives with unknown cause.  Hives caused by a virus, an allergen, or just a fluke.  Since he hadn't had any new medication or new food, there was no way to tell what caused the hives.  He said that they would come and go for the next couple of days or they might stay gone, no telling, not the answer I was hoping for.  I shouldn't say that, I am thankful that it wasn't something serious like scarlet fever, but it is never fun either to get the "it's just a virus" response.  So we left the office and took Lance to school.   That morning Lily had been complaining that her tongue hurt and that she was sick and could not go to school.  We hadn't really paid much attention to her because we just thought she was copying Lance like she does, but when I picked her up from nursery school, I noticed she felt warm and after taking her temperature I soon discovered she was running  a low fever.  I wasn't surprised Lily was ill since Lance was just running a fever Thursday and Friday.  So I now have one child with hives and one with a fever.  The good news is we might be able to find out if the hives is caused by a virus if  Lily breaks out on Thursday or Friday or we may never know.  So today was not the perfect day Sunday was, but then days like today make days like Sunday perfect.

spring

The weather has been quite unusual, it is like the months have been re-arranged, March was more like May (was in the 80s several times), April like March (it was cold and snowed in the mountains and we had to put the heat on) and well May though we are barely in it seems more like April (April showers and cool temperatures.  Despite it all we have had several spring adventures.

We went strawberry picking up in the mountains the Sunday after Lance's party, it was a beautiful sunny, warm day, the kind of day and thanks to the cool temperatures and lots of rain not many people had been up to pick so we got the best strawberries we have had in years.

the view from the strawberry patch

very hard at work looking for the very best strawberries

Lily did more sampling then actual picking

the rows of strawberries

This spring we also got to watch as a pair of cardinals made a next in the bushes adjacent to our porch, sit on their eggs, feed the hatchlings, and feed and communicate with the fledglings.  I didn't realize that babies only stay in the next for a little over a week before they are ready to leave the next, they grew up so fast.

one of our babies right after he left the nest, but before he could fly

 I also have been able to enjoy some time to myself and just with Jeff since I am done with school but the kids aren't.  Even though it is really weird being at home without the kids, or really anywhere, I have tried to make use of my time.  One Monday afternoon during Lily's long day at preschool, Jeff and I took a hike in the rain, it was nice and quiet, though we did get a little wet.  We have forgotten what life without kids was like, so it is fun to do stuff like what we use to do together.

wet dandelion from our wet walk in the woods

We have also taken a lot of bike rides or at least the kids have done lots of riding.  Their favorite afternoon activity is riding their trikes around the driveway.  In the evenings we also take walks down the street with the kids on their trikes.

Lily taking off down the street

 We also have gone on the bike trail several times and this past weekend, Lily rode on her "new" princess bike with training wheels.  She was a little nervous, but she did great, she looks too little to be able to ride the bike, but she has figured out the brakes and pedaling easily.  Lance also has improved in riding his "real" bike, though he still get nervous and would like to ride a bike with training wheels or a 3 wheeler.

the kids heading down the trail

after years of complaining about the seat hurting my tailbone, I have found a comfort bike I love

Lance showing off his new blue bike, Jeff and him repainted his bike (it was red)

Lily crossing the river

taking a break for a swing

So, so far, spring has been busy, but we have taken advantage of the warm weather and sun when we get it and spent a lot of time outside.  I am looking forward to summer and all the adventures we have planned and riding our bikes to the pool, now if the weather will just cooperate.

lily taking her princess bike out on the sidewalk for the first time

star wars birthday bash

Lance decided awhile ago he wanted a Star Wars birthday party this year.   Thanks to Pinterest I got a lot of great ideas and was able to have a party without spending a lot of money and needing an inflatable or another form of paid entertainment.  I had a great time and look forward to more party planning in the future.

the invitation, I was so thankful I found a Jedi font that made everything easy

We made light sabers out of pool noodles, Jedi robes from fabric on sale, and Jeff dressed up as Darth for the final battle at the party

 So the week before the party I was very busy sewing robes and taping up light sabers for the kids.

Lance was my pattern

Since I had to make 13 robes, I needed something quick and easy so I did not use a standard pattern.  I measured Lance from shoulder to feet, doubled the measurement, cut the fabric folded it so the fold was at the top and then folded again to make a mirror image so when I cut it out the sides would be the same.  I cut a straight line from his hand to his armpit and then at an angle from the armpit to the corner (I also cut along the crease to it was a robe and not a tunic.  I then sewed up the sides and hemmed all edges (yeah I am a perfectionist).  I then cut out a rectangle and made a hood, attaching the hood was the most difficult part and unfortunately hoods 9-13 were much better looking then hoods 1-4.  I kind of used the instructions from here as a guide. 
The light sabers were a lot easier to make and so cheap, I found light sabers from the dollar store, cut them in half with a bread knife and then wrapped duct and electrical tape around one end and I had a light saber that was better than the inflatable ones you can purchase at Target and soft enough to not hurt anyone to badly.
I also made a black Darth Vader robe for Jeff, but actually it was more of a long vest since I didn't make sleeves because the fabric wasn't wide enough, if I had more time I would have put in more effort, but it worked so I wasn't disappointed.

the girls had white Princess Leia robes, the boys Jedi robes

My goal for the party was to keep the kids busy.  We had four activities other than food and cake to keep them busy.  These activities made up the "Jedi training."  The first activity was an obstacle course.  The kids had to show their agility and speed by throwing bean bags through a circle (bicycle tire), jump over hot lava, walk across a balance beam to avoid the hot lava, crawl through a tunnel, cross the monkey bars, down the slide of the swing set, and duck under the hot lava hanging from the top of the swing set (hot lava was red tablecloths).  When they had completed the obstacle course they "earned" their Jedi robe.   I unfortunately did not get a picture of the obstacle course, I was really thrown off by the weather that day and was setting up the course a few minutes before the party started and never got around to taking pictures. 

Lance practicing part of the obstacle course

After earning their robes, they came inside and used the "force" while blindfolded to place a blaster on a spaceship (pin the tail on the donkey).  After demonstrating their ability to use the force aka peek through the blindfold they earned their light saber.    The next activity was to work on saber skills and this was the favorite activity of the party. It was also amazing to see 10 boys who went from screaming, running, and fighting to concentrating and quiet.  Each child was given a balloon and was told to keep their balloon in the air because if it hit the ground it would pop.  The kids had a blast and took this game VERY SERIOUSLY! 

Lily trying to keep her pink balloon in the air

After the light saber skills the kids were ready for the ultimate Jedi training test, battling Darth Vader.

getting ready to battle Darth

Jeff was a great sport and let all the kids surround me and whack the heck out of him. 

battling Darth

The kids also got to battle Darth separately and they did a great job sitting and waiting for their turn.

trying to keep a balloon in the air

The original plan was to have a picnic outside but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate.  The sunny, 10% chance of rain, and high of 63 was really: cool, wet and 49, it was quite chilly so we ate inside which was quite crazy.

the cupcakes

After pizza, light saver pretzel rods, carrot sticks, and grapes on a light saber it was time for cake.

the cupcake toppers from Williams-Sonoma

The kids liked being able to pick out their favorite figure.

cake time

So despite the weather and trying to squeeze 13 kids in my living room, the party was in the words of Lance "AWESOME."   I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was so busy enjoying the party and corralling kids I didn't get many.  I am kicking myself that I didn't get a group shot with everyone with their robes and light sabers.  Oh well, they had fun and that is all that mattered. 

I am going for it

I have a good friend who moved down to Florida two years ago and I have not been able to make the trip down.  Things keep happening or I just didn't have the money for 3 plane tickets, assuming the kids would go with me.  Well, I have decided the kids are old enough for me to go alone so I making plans to fly down to Florida by myself and visit my friend.  I am so excited, I haven't flown in YEARS, like before 9/11.  I have also never been away from both kids, and though the thought of being 4 states away is a bit scary, but it is also very exhilarating and exciting.  I can't even fathom what 5 days without my kids is going to be like, my friend does have 3 kids so I won't be completely kid free.  So I have something exciting to look forward to, I hope that the month of May goes by fast because I am so looking forward to my June adventure.

Proud mama

Tonight was Evening of the Arts at Lance's school and part of the evening was the Kindergarten play. 

Lance is the pink pig

Lance was a pig and the pigs did a dance and Lance was center stage and did such a great job.  He has come along way, in preschool, during sing-a-longs, he would just stand like a statue and stare. I was a bit worried tonight he would see all the people and freeze, but he danced and he sang and he was great!

The pig dance, Lance is the pig in the middle

  I can't get over how much he has grown this past year and not in size but in confidence and independence as well as academically.    He isn't my little baby anymore, he is growing up too fast. 
This afternoon and this evening I helped get the kids ready, I was in charge of painting noses and applying blush.  It was very cute how excited the kids were to get makeup on, especially the boys, they all wanted pink blush cheeks.  It was so much fun talking to all the different kids and seeing how excited they were to perform for everyone. 
Kindergarten is such a fun and magical year, I am sad the year is almost over with.   I hope 1st grade won't be too much work and will still be fun and that he will love school as much as he does now.  Time is moving too fast and tonight was a great reminder of what is important and how to make sure my priorities are in the right place, especially with Spring Break next week, I have a week of no school, even though I have school I hope I can enjoy the time and not stress over the unimportant things like having a clean and neat house.

spring break marathon part III

So our last full day in Florida was spent at the Magic Kingdom and we took advantage of the early magic hours.  Magic Hours are the best, it isn't crowded and the early hours give you a head start to get some rides done before everyone else gets there. 

early morning magic hours, love it when there aren't many people at the park

We went to Tomorrowland and hit up all the rides we still needed to, did a few more in Fantasyland, got to ride Splash Mountain (without a fast pass, wait time 15 minutes), had lunch on Main Street (the one time we made reservations), went through Adventureland, and the Hall of Presidents.  We basically did the whole park in the morning and early afternoon, twice as much as we got accomplished on Monday and even had dinner at table service restaurant.

lily on the tea cups

at the speedway

waiting to spin

Prince Charming's Carousel

 

We even saw the 3pm parade, though Lily didn't because she fell asleep in the Hall of Presidents and continued snoozing in the stroller so unfortunately she missed seeing all of her favorite princesses.  The best Lance quote of the day came during the Hall of Presidents.  When George Washington was speaking, Lance turned to me and whispered, "How is he still alive?"  I loved it, I wondered what was going on his head, was he thinking that all of the presidents came and lived at Disney when they were done being president?  I explained to him that Washington was a robot and wasn't real, I loved that Disney, even the presidents were real and magical to Lance.

lily missed seeing Cinderella

lance taking it all in

Last stop for the afternoon was Tom Sawyer Island.  
We got into a raft and headed over and while we were on the raft I got a text message from my sister saying that her and her husband were ready to leave, they had decided to split up the trip into two days instead of powering through just one.  So we quickly walked through some of the island and boarded a raft to return. 
Red flags were going off when we were waiting for the raft to dock so we could board, there were two cast members on the raft, one was instructing the other on how to dock and drive the raft.  We should have left and gone to the other raft docking area, but we stayed and boarded the raft, big mistake!
The cast member doing the instructing stayed on the island and the other cast member started off across the water.  She made a turn and tried to dock, but missed, backed up, tried again, missed, backed up, tried again, missed.  At this point she was very frustrated and we had drifted into the middle of the "river" and then we heard the the riverboat horn and started to get a little nervous.  We were packed like sardines on a fake raft in the middle of a fake river in the path of a large fake riverboat, not good, not good at all.  The poor cast member who was driving the raft was getting instructions on what to do from her radio and she holding back the tears and probably very frustrated, I felt so bad for her, but at the same time, I was annoyed, I wanted off of the raft.  She managed to make it back to the island before the riverboat came through.  Her instructor got back on the raft and took us to the other side of the water where we quickly exited and left the park.  What should have taken 5-10 minutes took over 20, go figure when we had somewhere we needed to be, things took forever!  We rode the bus back to the villa and said good-bye to my sister, I was sad to see her go, it was the beginning of the end of our vacation. 
After saying good-bye we had some dinner then dressed in slightly warmer clothes and headed back to the park to see the Electric Parade, the memories castle light show, and the fireworks. 

my favorite picture of the lagoon by the entrance of the magic kingdom

We thought we had a horrible location for the Electric Parade, we were under an awning at the end of Main Street and not close to the road, but when it started to rain we were thankful we were there. We were also across from the emergency exit so no one was in front of us, though there were people constantly walking in front, but it wasn't too bad.  After the parade we navigated through the mass of people and found a spot to claim for the fireworks in between Main Street and the castle.  It was perfect and the Memories show and fireworks were awesome. 

the only downside to our spot was the lamp post

the fireworks set to music was awsesome

the finale

 I am just amazed what they can do with lights, fireworks and technology

I was too enthralled with the magic, memories, and you show I did not take any pictures, I am just amazed at what they can do with the castle and the part where the lanterns from Tangled float up through the castle was just so beautiful.

Main Street with street lights out for the fireworks

After the fireworks and waiting for the crowds to thin out, we hit up the stores and then said good-bye to the castle and Disney.  We had driven to the park that morning so to get back to the parking lot we tried the ferry (we had been taking Lance's preferred method, the monorail).  I highly recommend the ferry at night, it was neat watching the castle get smaller and smaller as we crossed the lagoon.  It was sad leaving the Magic Kingdom that night, there is just something magical about that castle, and I hated to leave.

Magic Kingdom from the ferry

We got back to the van, headed back to the villa and called it a night.  It was an amazing night and the best day of our vacation.

Friday morning we got up packed up the car and headed out.  We hadn't officially planned anything for Friday, we didn't know if we would be too tired, but we hated to leave Florida so we headed east and went to the Kennedy Space Center.  

lonely palm on the way out to Kennedy

When we saw the ticket prices we questioned whether it was going to be worth it, but we decided that we would just stay longer than expected a make a day of it, which I am so thankful we did, it was amazing.  I have never really been interested in the shuttles, rockets, or even space in general, but I was blown away at Kennedy.

the rocket garden

the launch pad

the missile building building facility which was HUGE

I was in awe at the size of the rockets and the microscopic capsules the first astronauts were in, especially when compared to the rockets, those guys were sitting on bombs!  I learned a lot of interesting facts about the lunar rockets, the launch pads, and the lunar program, it was all very fascinating.  I was amazed at how large the missile building facility is in real life, it seems large on TV, but in real life it is indescribable. 

on the tour bus

Lily and the Saturn V rocket

We had arrived at Kennedy about 10 and left a little before 4 pm.  We started heading north towards home.  It was sad leaving Florida and around 10pm we were in South Carolina, 6 hours from home, and tired of being in the car so we started to look for a hotel.  We stopped at the first exit in South Carolina and went to 3 hotels all to discover they were sold out.  We drove to the next town, went to several hotels and discovered they too were sold out.  Florence was about 40 minutes away (where we stopped on the way down), so I called the hotel we had stayed in before and made a reservation.  At 11:30 we arrived and checked in, my mom and Jeff went to the room, opened the door and discovered the TV was on, the bed was unmade, and it appeared that someone was staying there so they quickly exited.  My mom went back down to the office and they gave her a key to a room that supposedly had a king and pull out sofa, she went into the room, it had a king, but no pull-out, not enough room for all 5 of us.  The woman at the front desk offered my mom sheets to make the bed in the room upstairs they had first encountered, but she said no thanks, why pay $80 for unclean room you have to make the bed for and who knows who was in there before.  We called around to try and find another hotel, couldn't find any, the front desk found a room across the street at the Ramada, we didn't have much choice so we headed over.  If it hadn't been midnight I would have looked elsewhere or kept driving, but we were exhausted and didn't have any other options.  We quickly learned why the Ramada had vacancy: the bathroom needed some serious remodel, the veneer was peeling or missing, the hot/cold sign on the faucet was missing, the sink was dirty looking and crooked, the toilet was crooked, and the room just looked tired and gross, yet there was a HUGE new flat screen tv and a nice fridge.  The sheets were clean and appeared bed bug free, in fact the bed was a lot nicer than the rest of the room (tv was nice too).  Anyways, we touched as little as possible and went straight to sleep.  The next morning we got dressed and headed home.   We sadly made it home at lunchtime and our trip was officially over. 

Our first trip to Disney with kids was a lot of fun, I can't wait to go back especially now that I have learned so much about what to do and what not to do.  I am so thankful that my whole family got to have a nice family vacation, everyone stayed healthy, and the weather was perfect.  I am already planning another Disney vacation for when Lily is Lance's age, and I can't wait.  I miss Disney, though there were crying fits, arguments, and some not-so-happy moments, Disney is a magical place.