Early Morning Adventures - Day 2

Early Morning Adventures – Day 2

A little bit of American history as an exciting adventure? Perhaps – no, certainly! -- that is possible for a family seeking adventure!

Today we will take off on a treacherous voyage to the 17th century, when mischief ruled seaport towns under the watchful eye of “Jolly Roger.”

We will explore an abandoned mining town. When gold was first discovered in the 1850s, a mining company was established. But soon, strange things began happening. Word got out that the mine was haunted and Big Thunder became another ghost town.

For lunch today, we will pay tribute to our founding fathers as we dine at a stately colonial-style inn serving traditional New England-inspired fare.

Today, we were up early and had breakfast in our suite. It was fun to go onto the balcony and watch the ostriches and zebras in the courtyard below us.

There were plenty of lines for us today, but everyone was still really excited and not overly tired (yet), so there wasn't too much complaining.

We had lunch at Liberty Tavern and, while we waited for our food, there were rain showers outside. Some of the kids grabbed a few Zs while we waited, too.

The kids enjoyed the coasters as much as the slower-paced Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World. Though the lines for characters were not as much fun, we all enjoyed meeting them. My favorite character is NOT Stitch, but I definitely got one of my all-time favorite photos of the kids with the furry blue alien.

 

Early Morning Adventures - Day 1

Early Morning Adventures – Day 1

This past spring, we learned about many countries. Monday, we will have a chance to see many exhibits from all over the world. We will have a lot of choices about which countries to investigate further. We might want to get a taste of China by seeing where Little Pear lived, float down the Haungpu River, see agile acrobats, climb the beautiful Huanshan Mountains to the mythical Sea of Clouds, and travel to places Marco Polo described in his writings.

Maybe we will want to learn more about France – one of Fancy Nancy’s favorite places! Ooh la la – we can see the beautiful places fairy tales were born -- a land of princesses and enchanted castles! Through a movie screen, we can ride with horsemen and hunting dogs, visit a busy marketplace, and listen to music by French composers Debussy and Ravel.

Her Highness, the Queen, is holding a feast and we are all invited! We will dine inside a medieval castle with soaring archways and cathedral ceilings.  These adventures and more will fill our Monday!

Monday, we spent the day at Epcot. Though I initially figured the kids would get tired of all the exhibits and would rather just ride things, it didn't work out like that. We ended up spending the entire day at Epcot. Lines were really long, and the day was hot, but tolerable. Lunch was a fancy one with the princesses at Aksherus -- we all enjoyed Norwegian food, and Maddie loved visiting and hugging all the Disney princesses: Cinderella, Ariel (Little Mermaid), Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Snow White, and Belle (Beauty and the Beast). Will got a bunch of laughs when he told Snow White we were a table of bad apples. The boys all did eventually warm up to the princesses, but I think they thought only Maddie was allowed to have fun there. Some of the family's favorite rides were FastTrack and Mission to Mars. A few went back to ride again, while I took Maddie and Jon to see a few of the characters. It was a great day, but we were all exhausted by the end of it.

We finished the day at Epcot late... and REALLY tired!

Early Morning Adventures - Day 0

This Sunday morning, we were visiting my parents in Waco as Allen had attended a scout training Friday and Saturday. Today was also the day were were going to begin our traditional Early Morning Adventures, even though we always did them Monday through Friday. The boys were outside playing basketball while the rest of us finished breakfast, and I went to ask them to come inside to learn about our adventures. Jon and Ben both said, "No!" When I questioned them, they exclaimed, "We are NEVER supposed to know what our adventure is until that morning. You shouldn't ruin the way we do it, Mom." ... but I had to or the surprise would be revealed the wrong way.

We gathered at the kitchen table, and we gave each of the kids a letter explaining part of each day's adventure. Maddie opened Monday's, Jon opened Tuesday's, Ben opened Wednesday's, and Will opened Thursday's. None of them really had enough information on their own to know exactly what the plan was, so I read the one for day zero -- today -- after they all tried figuring bits of it out.

Early Morning Adventures – Day 0

The past few years, our early morning adventures were the week before school began, beginning on Mondays and ending on Fridays. Our goals for Early Morning Adventures has been to practice getting up early and out the door like we will for school next week, but we have always aimed for it to be REALLY fun to get up in the mornings. Just like the other years, you kids don’t know the plans for the week, but you know to plan for a great time!

We have just given you a hint of what is to come for the rest of the week, but this one will probably be the best –EVER—series of getting-ready-for-school adventures for our family. It will be the “best ever” because Daddy will be with us each of the days, because grandparents will be with us, and because we will all be together.

Today we are beginning our adventures on a Sunday afternoon, and we are getting on an airplane. Put on your smiles, kids! We are heading to Disney World!

Once the surprise was revealed, we loaded up the car and headed to the airport. It is tough keeping a secret that long... especially when you are trying to pack for the kids without them knowing why. It ended up being a really long day, with our flight delayed several hours, but the kids were troopers. We got to our room at Animal Kingdom pretty late, but we set the alarms to get us up in time to practice being ready for school on time, and the time zone change worked in our favor!

Parent-kiddo dates

This summer, Allen and I planned to give each of our kiddos some one-on-one time. We only have one week left, and I guess we are only going to be half way done. BUT... each of the kids has gotten a parent-date, and each of them really enjoyed their time with us. 

Maddie and I went to Olive Garden for a tasty dinner and dessert. Next, we headed to Petsmart so she could work on a badge by "shopping" for a new pet and all the needed supplies. She had fun talking with one of the employees about the different types of animals and their needs.

Allen and Will went to Wasabi for sushi -- Will's favorite! They ended their time at Andy's for frozen custard.


Jon and I tried a new restaurant (to us.) We headed to Razzoo's and Jon was THRILLED that I let him order alligator as an appetizer. Afterwards, we headed to Target for sandals for him and groceries for the family.

Allen and Ben had pancakes and omelets at IHOP, then Allen set the bar really high. He took Ben to the mall to do the sky-jump (a trampoline jump with bungee cords attached to the jumper from up high.) Ben's three minutes of flying and flipping through the air were recorded, but I can just tell you: HE DID NOT STOP BEAMING!! The other three saw the video and were instantly jealous.

Between scouts, Bible study dinners, church events, planning meetings, and several weeks of Allen traveling for work, we are having trouble finding those extra moments to be away and out with just one kiddo. Sometimes we have just one night when we are all home, and those are treasured moments, too. SO... we will keep the other four dates on our to-do list for once school begins because Allen and I enjoy them as much as the kids do.

Chop Chop

Maddie has been growing her hair out for quite awhile now. She really wanted it short, but she wanted to make sure that her long locks were long enough to do some good for someone else before she got them cut. My hair dresser shared a pamphlet with me about Children With Hair Loss, and Maddie was excited when it was long enough to donate to that organization.

Today, she got it cut. Now she has a cute stacked bob that is so much easier for her to take care of!

A Week at Camp Gramma & Granddad

Mom called me in late spring asking if she and Dad could keep all the kids for a week so the kids could go to Farm Camp with Julianne. What was I to say? "Of course!"

Sunday, Allen and I dropped the kids off with my parents in Corsicana, then Allen and I took a really long way home so we could stop by a brewery. On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store, brought home dinner, and enjoyed a tasty meal while watching The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo on Netflix. I usually have to be busy doing something because I'm not so good at sitting still just watching a movie... BUT, the movie was in Norwegian and subtitled, so I watched the whole thing without distractions.

Monday through Friday, the kids were busy with Farm Camp, but several days they called to let us know what they had been up to... or to spend an hour on the phone with us debating government's role in education (that would be Will).

Overall, the kids had a great time and I got some down time and attended some meetings and appointments without having to worry about what my kids would be doing. The kids all had fun playing and learning. At the house, they swam, played with Gramma and Granddad's puppy, collected fish and turtles, canoed, and more. At farm camp, they learned about bugs, and animals, and plants, and world hunger. I think they may be up to doing it all again next year, but the younger three did say they learned some of the same stuff at Farm Camp last year.

Family Photo on the Fourth

Here are the shots from our annual family tradition -- same poses, year 7!

I think it is interesting that so many of the shirts have been around awhile. In the first photo, Will was 4 and the triplets were 21 months. This year, Ben is 7 and wearing the same shirt that was on Will the first year. It's hard to believe ANY shirt lasted that long in our family, let along one that all the boys have worn!

Our 4th has been pretty laid back. We stayed home this year and took our photo in our backyard. The Brodys and Browns came in the afternoon and stayed for dinner and late-night games. The 10 kids played hard all day, then slowed down for a movie. Somehow all of us down-played the fireworks enough that none of the kids were upset, and all of us made plans to go to the Whitehouse city fireworks show tomorrow (Saturday, July 5th.) All in all, it was a fun, FUN day!