Saying YES to Disney!

For YEARS my kids have been begging for a Disneyworld vacation and for years I have been saying NO!

There were lots of reasons for my repeated "NO's".....
1. It was WAY too expensive
2. It was too far away
3. It was too crowded
4. It didn't sound in the least bit relaxing.....and vacations ARE supposed to be relaxing, aren't they?!!

Finally, early this year, I decided it was time to say YES to Disney! My kids were old enough to feasibly do the drive without too much complaining and it was time for my husband and I to give up the relaxing vacation and make some fun memories with the kids! Going into this, I knew it would be expensive, but I made it my goal to try and cut costs where ever possible. I decided that if the choice was between going or not going, I would find a way to cut costs so that we could afford to go!

The first thing I did was look at where we could come up with the money for our vacation. We typically do a weeklong beach vacation each year that costs us about $1500, so we gave that up and put the money into our Disney fund. We also gave up the $500 we spend on our season passes to our local amusement park, so with $2000 in our fund, I was feeling pretty rich and called Disney to price out a trip. The cost for a 5 day trip staying on Disney property came to $5000!!!

It was clear that staying on property was not an option for us, so I started frequenting http://www.disboards.com/ to learn about ways to cut costs and other places to stay. In the end, we were able to put together a 7 day Disney vacation (2 travel days, 9 nights in hotels/condos, and 7 days at Disneyworld) for $3000. We cut costs wherever we could, but we also had lots of fun and splurged on some extras. It was well worth it!

I would have to say that the trip was an exhausting one! If I were to do it again, I think I would go to the park every other day, taking a day off in between visits to relax at the condo, but even though we were tired it was SO MUCH FUN! Savannah was the perfect age to be so excited about all the princesses, and the boys were old enough to split off and go ride some rides while mom and Savannah waited in hourlong lines for princess autographs!

Suprisingly, the favorite park for most of my kids was Animal Kingdom. There was a really fun rollercoaster there, Expedition Everest, that everyone loved! And the safari was a highlight of the trip. I guess I have raised a bunch of nature lovers!

I was surprised at how much Magic Kingdom was identical to Disneyland, where I went when I was little. I guess I had always just thought that Disneyworld would be so much better, but really it is almost exactly the same. It was fun for me to share all my favorite rides with my children and tell them stories about going as a little girl.

All in all, it was the trip of a lifetime! I was so glad that I finally convinced myself to say YES to Disney! And, believe it or not, I am actually thinking I might like to go again!

Great Wolf Fun

I have been taking a bit of a blogging hiatus, if you couldn't tell.....we changed computers in December and all my old pics are on my old computer and I just let that stop me from putting up anything new, but NO MORE! We have been trying to do some fun mini-vacations this year courtesy of groupon and living social, and when I saw the deal for Great Wolf Lodge pop up, I couldn't let it go! I have been wanting to take the kids there forever but it was just SO expensive. With the groupon we were able to get it at half the price we normally would have paid, so we made plans for a teacher workday in January knowing that it would be a nice break from winter weather!

Unfortunately, I don't have many pics from the waterpark since I didn't want to carry my camera around with me down there, but there was lots of other fun to be had. At night the boys all enjoyed the GR8 Space with big screens and video gaming systems while Savannah and I did the MagicQuest game (so much fun! oh and a great workout too, running up and down those flights of stairs!)

The best part was just the chance to hang out together. Chris has been travelling so much lately that the "downtime" that we used to have with him is almost non-existent, so it was fun for the kids to have dad around to play with. We spent 5 hours in the waterpark the first night and then all day the next day just playing and having fun. I even went down a few slides with my broken wrist (don't tell my orthopedist that!) but they were on the tame side. Our suite was incredible! There were 2 bedrooms (one for the kids and one for us) and two bathrooms, a living room and a little mini-kitchen area. Our bathroom had a jetted tub (LOVE!) so I could soak to my hearts content!

It was two full days of pure fun and I would go again in a heartbeat, but I am definitely looking out for a deal! If anyone hears of one, let me know!

A Trip to the Mountains

It started with the hiking merit badge and a requirement to do a 10 mile hike..... combined with a desire to see the leaves in all their fall glory.....

and ended with some very tired, somewhat dehydrated and completely exhausted family members encouraging each other to "endure to the end"!

I can't think of a better way to spend the day!

I cannot even begin to tell you how incredible this stream felt midway through our hike to my aching feet. I DID NOT want to leave!

I had to laugh because the boys always ran on ahead of us. We came around bend in the trail and saw them sitting under this sign which read "WARNING: Problem bears in this area".....like the bears wouldn't come get them as long as they didn't pass the sign!!!

LOVE this pic of my sweet teenage son piggybacking his little sister. You know, with all the unlovableness that comes with teenagers, this picture reminds me of everything good that is still deep inside of him.

Resting with my sweetie.....

Yes, we are still here....

Pardon the lack of posts please! We are into the chaos and craziness of school and after-school activities and well, LIFE! Oh, and I have started working at the school as a substitute teacher, so my days are very full! I thought I was being extremely picky and exclusive when I said that I would ONLY work at Savannah's school and ONLY teach up through 2nd or 3rd grade, so I was sure I wouldn't get called much.

I quickly found out how wrong I was! My first week working, I worked four days. The second week, I filled up 3 days and then quickly blocked out the other two so that I wouldn't be called in! I have found that I need at least two days a week at home in order to stay on top of my home responsibilities. So far I have mostly taught in pre-K which is a class of 16 students with a teachers aide. I spent one day in Kindergarten with 22 kids and only ONE teacher (ME!!!) which was a little crazy! I had an opportunity to teach 1st grade last week, but then Samuel got sick, so I had to turn it down. I was looking forward to trying out 1st grade to see if they were a little more manageable than Kindergarten!

I am loving the little kids and find that it is really fun for me to substitute. I love the flexibility and it is obvious that I still need that! I was offerred a full time position as the aide in the pre-K class which I turned down because it is more than I want to work. So instead I am now the designated substitute teacher for that class, which is fine by me! I know the kids and love them and it is fun to get to go back in and see how they are doing on a regular basis.

Cross Country....maybe!

Joshua tried out for and made his middle school cross country team this year. He was so excited about it! He is a good little runner and when he sets his mind to it, he will do his best. Unfortunately, after 2 weeks of practice, he started to have pain in his ankles. He took a few days off and rested and then tried running in the first meet. The poor kid was in so much pain, but he would not give up. He came in near the end, but even through the pain, he was still running at a very slow limping pace. After a visit to the doctor, he has now been given a 1 week rest period to recover. Considering that the season is only six weeks long, he will only have 4 meets left when he returns. We are hopeful that he can get better and try again, because he was so excited about being on the team!

Retro Car

After years of threatening our children with having to learn to drive in mom's minivan, we finally have another option! We were given an old car from a family member's estate that Caleb seems a little more excited about learning to drive. It will not be HIS car, it will be a family car, but it is definitely a way cooler option than the van!

So as soon as the eagle project (which was mostly finished a year ago) is completed......ah yes, paperwork remains.....Caleb can get his permit and start driving.

I actually love this car. Something about it takes me back to my childhood! The seats are bouncy and it has loads of character. We are having a lot of fun with it!

The best part is now I have an extra car when mine goes in the shop.....as it inevitably does on a regular basis!

A Soggy Back to School

The first day of school was nothing short of miserable this year. It was pouring down rain for most of the day and I woke up early stressing about everything that needed to be done. This year was different than the previous ones for me....I found myself dreading sending my kids back to school.

This is the year that I wanted to stop time.

After taking two teenagers through summer vacations, I have realized that summer is a form of detox from the world. They face so many trials and bad influences at school that it is difficult for them to withstand them all and in the end, they end up compromising. By the time school gets out I am rallying my troops, making plans for church camps, EFY and family activities in the hope that I can replenish them. That is what summer is about for me....reminding my children that they can live in the world and still hold tight to their family's values. I only wish that summer could be 9 months and school would be 3 months!

So as I hugged Joshua goodbye on his first day of 7th grade, my heart ached. He will enter teenage-hood during the middle of this school year on his birthday. This was my last carefree summer with him. He is so good, and I want to stop time and keep him that way. My heart breaks when I think of the struggles and trials that his older brother and sister have faced. I desperately want to protect him from evil and I feel more and more incompetent in my abilities to do that. My fortifications with the others have not been enough and I am unsure how to best prepare my children to withstand the world. My feelings of inadequacy brought me to tears so many times yesterday.

Savannah and Samuel were excited to meet their teachers but a little nervous since we didn't get a chance to go in beforehand and find their classrooms. Chris and I had to divide and conquer on this one since they are in different schools starting at the same time. I was grateful for the gift of cell phones to keep us connected so Chris would know how Savannah did and I would know how Samuel did.

Caleb did not start school on the first day. A few weeks ago, Chris and I made one of those heart-wrenching parental decisions and chose to remove him from the governor's school where he has been studying the arts and bring him back to his home high school for his junior and senior year. There were a lot of things involved in that decision, more than I want to get into on here, but we both agreed this was the best course of action. Knowing that did not make the decision any easier though, because we knew it would be difficult for Caleb, and our hearts ached for him.

Due to the storms, the transfer between schools did not happen till after school started, so now Caleb will be starting school today, on the third day. I have cried more times than I want to admit over the last two days, empathizing with my children's pain and mourning the intrusions on their innocence. Maybe it is just the fact that I am older and more knowledgable now of the dangers they face; it has torn me up inside.

Today will be another stressful day, one I wish I could stay in bed for and not have to face. It will be Caleb's first day of school at a new school and we will be going with Shelby to deal with some of the aftermath of the choices she made during the summer.

I think I have had enough of the pain and stress of motherhood for now.....it is about time for some of the joy!

Running Away to the Beach!

I know it was lame of us.....there we were, one of the few houses in our neighborhood with power, and we left and went to the beach! But I promise, it was planned beforehand, and we DID offer our house to several people to stay in till their power came back on....we can't help it if no one took us up on it! Actually, we had not planned a beach vacation this year. The kids begged and pleaded for a trip to Disney World in the fall, so we all agreed that in order to afford it, we would need to skip the beach vacation and skip our annual passes to a local amusement park. Everyone was fine with that, except for me and Chris! The beach is really the perfect vacation for us; it is so relaxing and carefree and when you compare that to a Disney World vacation....well it kind of sounds like a nightmare to us!

So anyway, by the first of August, we were further ahead than we had expected on saving for our trip and Chris desperately still wanted a beach trip. We decided that we could afford a vacation with one caveat: it had to be under $500. That's not an easy price point to hit, but Chris went ahead and took the last week of August off and I kept checking craigslist for last minute specials. Then the hurricane started looking threatening, so we decided to just wait and see what would happen.

On the Sunday after the hurricane I started checking the internet. It looked like we might be able to pull off a 4 night trip to Myrtle Beach within our budget, but Myrtle is just SO much more developed. Not really the lazy relaxing beach that we are used to at Topsail. I started checking some rent by owner sites and found an owner who lived close to his rental at Topsail and called him. I was hoping that with having to actually meet up with him in person, it would be more legit than wiring someone money for a rental that you hope pans out. His property was even in the same condominiums that we usually rent, so it was a good fit! The only downside was that it was a 1 bedroom. There were bunk beds built into the wall in the hallway and then a pull out couch. We knew it would be tighter quarters than we were used to, but it was right in our price range, so we went for it! We drove down Sunday evening and spent the rest of the week relaxing at a relatively deserted beach! It was heaven!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the little part about Caleb having to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.....

We ended up leaving him home and then he went into work Monday and traded his other shifts off. So Chris left Monday night and picked him up, then drove back and got to the condo at about 5:00 am! Not really relaxing, but it was fun to have Caleb at the beach with us.

We found lots of shells and shark teeth and sea glass this time. Way more than we have ever gotten! It helps when there are less people around to take them!

It was a perfect week! Once again, a great way to end the summer!

IRENE

After clearing out underneath the deck and securing a safe place to park my van (which is only worth about $1000, but we definitely could not replace it with something that would actually run well, thus we could not afford to lose it to a tree!), we endured a full day and into the night of being pummelled by wind and rains. Somewhere around late afternoon, trees started to fall, and our gorgeous tree-filled neighborhood became a living nightmare. We were fortunate to find only a mess to clean up the next morning.

Many people in our neighborhood were not so fortunate....

We had gone out riding around the neighborhood around 6 pm during a little lull in the storm (hurricanes are like that....you have bands of wind and rain and then quiet and then more bands) and found this destruction. I talked to the people in this house the next day and they said they were bailing out water all night long because of the damage the tree did to their dormers.

This road was closed for almost a full week because the power lines were down and entangled in this tree.

This is one of our friend's houses. Sadly, their pop up camper is destroyed.....but at least it was not their home!

We actually saw a tree fall on a home at twilight. It was leaning on another tree and then all of a sudden the other tree gave way. It made an awful eery creaking noise and then smashed through the roof of a rambler. The poor little older lady who lived there by herself had been next door at her neighbors riding out the storm and came running out to see what had happened. She was in shock. Chris and Caleb jumped out of the car and went to help her by moving all of her furniture from her master bedroom and office into the rest of the house so that it wouldn't get destroyed by the rain that was pouring in.

Destruction was everywhere....we came home that night and let the kids sleep downstairs. We figured it would be safer there if a tree were to fall on our home. Fortunately, we did not have to worry about that. We were one of the lucky homes in our neighborhood. As a matter of fact, we never even lost power because of the storm! Most of our neighborhood was out for almost a full week!

Court of Honor

We had our big "after summer camp" Court of Honor last week to recognize all the rank advancements and merit badges the boys have earned. Joshua was in charge of conducting this one and he took it really seriously and made sure it was all well organized. Good for him! He was troop historian for the last little bit, so he took the time to organize all the pictures into a slide show with music. Chris started to help him thinking that Joshua wouldn't understand how to do it, but Joshua quickly took over and was quite handy with the computer!

He has been a bit embarrassed by the lack of merit badges on his sash....he took care of that, though, by earning more merit badges than any of the other scouts at our Court of Honor! Chris is still serving as scoutmaster, and although Caleb seems to have grown out of enjoying his dad being scoutmaster, Joshua is thrilled to have dad around!

Caleb had to work, but I ran home and got him in time to get him back for his special award. He won the "151 mile award" which is something that Chris created for the boys who complete the 50 mile hike, 50 mile bike ride, 50 mile canoe trip and 1 mile swim. Caleb was the only boy in our troop who has completed all of these! He is going to work with a man in our ward who will be making him a walking stick that is specially designed and numbered just for him!