Goodbye Summer

I'm not sure where summer break has gone, but it's just that...gone! I start back to school tomorrow, and the kids hit the school busses on Wednesday. We had a fun, relaxing, productive summer break, so I really can't complain. Jas and I tackled several little home projects that we've wanted to complete since moving to this house two years ago. We took a few family vacations, celebrated Mason's 11th birthday, and went to Lowe's to pick out new garage storage for our 17th wedding anniversary. Add in a few trips to the pool and several outings for frozen yogurt, and you have one fantastic summer! Is it too early to start the countdown to next summer?



Last day at the pool...until next June!

You might be a mom of boys if...

...your throw pillows are always thrown on the floor...never on the couch.
...every day brings a new joke that involves the word underwear.
...you utter the phrase "quit picking your nose" regularly.
...you hose down the bathroom with bleach water weekly.
...despite constant sanitizing, the bathroom still smells like pee.
...you have a rapidly growing collection of sports paraphernalia.
...you find yourself spending more money on a baseball bat than your last car.
...you gave up the battle against burping and farting a long time ago.
...one minute you're crying about fast they're growing up, and the next you're counting the days until you can boot them out the door.
...you cherish hugs from chubby little arms that get longer and skinnier every day.
...you wonder why you ever hoped you'd have a little girl someday.

My two boys floating down the Illinois River today

Disney World

We've been back from Disney for a couple of weeks, but I forgot to blog about it. Here are the highlights from Disney World with Gigi and Grandad:

1. The airplane bouncing up and down on our approach to Orlando. Shouldn't it be illegal for pilots to land a plane in a thunderstorm??

2. Carter crying and declaring he's NEVER flying again. I chose not to remind him that we still had to fly back home.

3. A beautiful condo with pools and lazy river at Bonnet Creek, just outside all the Disney parks.

4. Day 1 at Magic Kingdom, where we further traumatized Carter on Space Mountain. He loved the teacups and Dumbo ride, though! We spent most of this day in line for Under the Sea (yes...we know about Fast Passes...we should've used them on this one).

5. Day 2 at Animal Kingdom. We all loved the Lion King show and African safari. Jas rode the big roller coaster, Expedition Everest and swears we would've LOVED speeding backwards down the track in the dark. I don't think so.

 

 

Gigi and Grandad with the boys...Animal Kingdom

6. Day 3 EPCOT...my favorite park! I wanted to spend another day or two exploring the "countries" of the world showcase. The rides were very tame, but I got a little panicky when we had "technical difficulties" on Spaceship Earth inside the big EPCOT ball. Sitting in a giant metal ball during a lightning storm is a little nerve wracking. OH...and we loved Test Track...except for being a little freaked out by their technical difficulties, too.

7. Day 4 Hollywood Studios. We hit the gate running straight to get Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania...good thing because they ran out within the hour. It was WELL worth the wait, shooting virtual darts and pellets at virtual, 3D arcade objects as we spun from screen to screen. Disney needs to make more interactive rides like this!

Walking to the Great Movie Ride...Hollywood Studios

8. After a morning of pool time, we headed back to the airport...much to Carter's dismay. Wish we could've stayed longer - we had an amazing time!

9. I forgot to mention our matching, fluorescent Disney shirts...yes, we were that family. We wore them every day so we could find each other, which isn't always easy at Disney.

Gigi, Carter, Minnie, Mason

Pray for Oklahoma

I've lived in Tornado Alley my whole life - first in the Texas Panhandle and now in Oklahoma. Tornadoes are what we do in the spring. But yesterday's tornado in Moore was a different kind of storm. They're still digging through the rubble, looking for people. It's unimaginable and truly tragic. Here's my Facebook post from yesterday, our district's last day of school:

I was helping with the bus kids in the cafeteria after school, and for just a minute we thought we were in a tornado warning. I considered what would happen if I had to stay at my school during a tornado while my own children were in another location. Luckily, I didn't have to face that nightmare. My heart goes out to all of those who lived out that scenario today. Prayers for them.