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Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts

Saturday, December 31, 2016

"When you wish upon a star" - Our Disney Cruise

We had a very exciting Christmas.  
Our family woke up Christmas morning to Santa arriving and then packed 
up for a trip to Florida and a Disney Cruise. 
There was SO much excitement. 
 There were 22 of us in the group with Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins all on mom's side. 
 Even the American Girl Doll made the trip
and had an outfit for every event.  
(yes we DID over pack!)
 With temperatures in the 80s, we couldn't be in the pool enough! 
And why wouldn't we when we could watch Disney movies from the pool
And eat an endless amount of ice cream cones. 


The sunsets!!  
 Pirate Night - 
AAAArrggghhh .. we embraced the pirate life on the ship. 
Who doesn't love to wear an eyepatch and a parrot on their shoulder. 



 Lil Miss was in Princess heaven. 
She met Elsa and Anna, and many others. 
It was her favorite part of the trip. 

 {twirling with Minnie Mouse}

 {Cinderella}



It was great to spend so much time with my family 
and catch up and make memories. 
Especially with this guy.... 
Happiest Place on Earth for 4 days... but I am 
super happy to be home.  

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Uncle Neil Gets Married

We are completely unpacked from our weekend in Charleston. 
The bad news is that the clothes came out of the dryer and 
straight into our bags for our Thanksgiving travels to Ohio. 

We traveled to Charleston to be apart of Uncle Neil's wedding. 
It couldn't have been more beautiful.
 Lil Miss was excited for her first airplane ride. 
She giggled through the first flight. 
She even asked if she could have a plane ride for her 6th birthday! 
The wedding festivities started right away. 
We enjoyed every minute of celebrating with family. 
 Of course the scenery was amazing too,
the palm trees, weather, and smells of the beach.
 The kids had their first experience at the ocean.
We had come straight from the wedding rehearsal, so 
we were all in dress clothes but that didn't 
stop us from getting in. 
In fact, Lil Miss and Bubba were wet from head to toe!
 The kids loved the water and the waves. 
We stood in the water and felt the current steal the sand from underneath our feet. 
We have sea shells in our pockets and took some hitch hiking sand with us back to Iowa. 
 We didn't get by unscathed though....
Lil Miss woke up the day of the wedding with a 
bug bite that had swollen her eye shut. 
It didn't look pretty but she pulled off the puffy eye look like a pro.
(Our trip included 3 trips to the 24 hour pharmacy -- allergy medicine, benadryl, and children's motrin)  My kids outdoor allergies lit up while in South Carolina.
 {Aunt Ashley (#1), Mother of the Groom aka. my Mother-in-law, and Me}
 {The Bride and Her Junior Bridesmaid}
Gigi was overjoyed to be a Junior Bridesmaid. 
She loves her Uncle Neil and couldn't have been happier to spend extra 
time with Ashley. 
 The girls got pampered and the boys played some golf. 
Could the weather been any more perfect for a wedding?

My daughter looked amazing coming down the aisle. 
That smile.
I have to note that she walks better in heels than I do.
{the Junior Bridesmaid and Junior Groomsman}
{Mr. and Mrs. Schulte}
{Nate with his parents and brothers}
{Nate and His Dad}
We all had fun on the dance floor. 
The booty shaking fast dances and the slow dances.
The nieces and nephews all had fun dancing with their Aunt Ashely (#2).
We had to drag most of them off the dance floor at the end of the night. 
Bubba showed everyone his new dance moves. 
At one point he even did his front handspring.
I don't even know where he comes up with these moves, but he was definitely 
fun to watch as he moved to the beat.  
I had to fight my way to get a mother/son slow dance with him.
Lil Miss and Daddy found the sugar, no surprise. 
Smores out by the fire pit. 
The celebration for Neil and Ashley couldn't have been more perfect. 
We clean up nice, don't we?
 Our family took an extra day in Charleston to sight see. 
The only thing on Mommy's must do list was seafood. 
Daddy wanted to tour the USS Yorktown at Patriot's Point 
I took this tour about 20 years ago with my parents on a visit to Charleston. 
It's always surreal that I get to enjoy in these same things with my kids.
Before we knew it, we were packing up to go home. 
I made the kids were lots of layers because the weather in Iowa was 50 colder at home.
It was a shock to our system.
Our flights home went smoothly. 
We only had a 45 minute layover in Atlanta and there was 
a little panic, but running from gate to gate... we made it. 
At one point, Gigi was holding on my hand running with all her might 
and said it was like a scene right out of Home Alone. 
Then she held on tighter and told me not to leave her in the airport. 
 AND this is what we came home to. 
9" of snow. 
The kids didn't wait 15 minutes go play in the snow. 
Straight from the beach to the snow. 

Congratulations Uncle Neil and Aunt Ashley! 
We love you and couldn't be happier for you two. 

Thursday, July 23, 2015

a crowded camper is better than an empty castle

I am still scratching my bug bites from this weekend's camping trip. 
We spent 6 days in the camper enjoying 3 days in Michigan and 3 days in Indiana. 
Although there was an infestation of mosquitos everywhere, we enjoyed every minute.
We met all of the Hubby's family in Michigan on Marble Lake. 
The kids had lots of cousins and friends to play with and spent every ounce of 
energy out on the water. 
The Hubs actually posed in a pic for me. 
We appreciate all the time getting to know our future Aunt Ashley #2 better. 
(Me between the 2 Ashleys)
We haven't quite figured out how we are going to tell the two apart yet, except for saying #1 or #2. 
But we are working on nicknames.
Gigi is pretty much love struck when her Uncle Neil is around.
The ice cream sandwiches at after every meal helps.  
AND these two.... don't let their smiles fool you.... they are trouble! 
To extend our vacation a little bit longer this year, we spent the early part of this week camping with my in-laws in the beautiful Pokagon State Park in Indiana.  
The park was loaded with trails, bike paths, playgrounds, Nature Center, and a public beach.  
It is one of the nicest campgrounds we have stayed in. 

{Lightning Bug catching}

Grandma and Grandpa and a slew of the grandkids. 
 As hard as it is to grow up as an Aunt and Uncle who live farther away the 
nieces and nephews don't know us as well... time together means so much more.  
By day 5, Nate finally had Miley warmed up to him. 
 When we drove into Pokagon we saw that they had horse stables.  Hubby knows 
my love for horseback riding (which I do as often as I can which is like once every 10 years, LOL) 
So he splurged and let the kids and I go on a trail ride.  
Lil Miss got to enjoy a small pony ride and she was smitten with Roxy the Horse.  
We are now drawing pictures for Roxy everyday and putting them in envelopes in hopes to send to her.  Let's hope the horse likes getting mail.
The kids and I rode 45 minutes on Roxy, Fred, Chauncy, and Whiskey. 
Mommy was on Whiskey, the slow horse, who liked to go off path and eat the tall grass. 
The kids found this all too funny.  

I keep telling Hubby we should sell the house and move into the camper. 
Because we could do it. 
Yes, I would desperately miss my long hot showers and my washer and dryer, 
but camping suits us. 
When I get home and have to sweep our house and clean all 4 bathrooms, I think 
the camper is soooo much easier to clean. 
But he sadly informs me of Iowa winters (Brrrrrr) and we will save the camping for 
extended weekends from Spring til Fall.   
He also informs me that if we were to move all 6 of us and 2 dogs and "our stuff" into the camper, 
I would not find it fun anymore.  Agreed.