New House - The Demo


For those who don't know, us crazies over here have decided to gut a 1979 house and redo it completely. Um, yeah, I don't know what we were thinking either. But, what's done is done, and it will be fabulous once it's all over. I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of the process. Here is the demo stage, where nearly everything inside has been gutted. We tore down a wall, and removed all flooring. I am comparing all of this to planning my wedding. It has been as much urgency/stress/excitement of that if you can believe it. Even from sticking to budget, picking things out, being sick to me stomach. It's all very eerily similar. Also, our house sold! WOOHOO!! And in less than 30 days, which was stellar. For those who want to read more about our house situation, click here!

The top of the stairs looking down.



Walking in the front door

Our master bath. (no, the guy didn't come with it)

The kitchen. Eeeepp!

The den looking into the kitchen/foyer.

Outside, with dumpster and shutters removed.

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First Movie!

We chalked up another first this weekend! I decided to be brave and take the kiddos to see their first movie! And not only did Jake and I take them to their first movie. It was:

1. Their first full-length movie (they are used to the 30 minute shows, and their attanetion span is meh)
2. Their first time in a theater where it's really loud and they have to be quiet
3. Their first 3D movie! (they have to wear glasses the whole time!)

And you know what? They did great! We all went to see Nemo 3D. They have never seen it, and they really, really had a great time. They watched the entire thing. I actually got scared in parts (I've never seen it either) but they were champs. We got some popcorn and it cost us about $500 for the four of us. (not, really, but it felt like it! WTH?)

They really enjoyed it though and did great. We had to put their "magic" glasses on a handful of times, but once we realized why they weren't wearing them (there was this "strange" popcorn grase film all over them) they were good to go!

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NEMO!

She's always with Foofa and Blankie as of late.

The Piggy Tails!

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Day Out With Thomas - A Review

So a couple of weeks ago was another one of those "now that I have toddlers I have to take them to anything and everything that comes to town they might enjoy" things. All you moms know what I'm talking about. While we haven't done alot yet, we have a list. We did Super Why, we will do Disney on Ice when it comes, and have my fingers crossed for the new tour of "Yo Gabba Gabba" coming to town. (wouldn't it be fab if it came right around their THIRD birthday in January, since that very well might be the theme this year?)

Back on topic. So, a couple of weeks ago A Day Out With Thomas came to town. My babes aren't what you call "obsessed" with Thomas the Train. They like him him a lot. They have a train table, and have Thomas trains, and read books about Thomas. But they don't like the show very much and don't have any Thomas clothes and we haven't gone bankrupt buying all the Thomas train tracks (trust me, it can bankrupt you - there are a million of those suckers)

Playing with the trains

Check my tat!

But, they like him, and Josh LOVES actual, real trains. So, when I saw that A Day Out With Thomas was coming to town and the babes would get to ride a REAL train and there would be loads of toddler activities, I was STOKED. It was all I could do to get to the internet and buy tickets as fast as I could.

Waiting in line! (for a long time, you can sense the impatience and close-to-meltdowness)

Yay! Train Time!

So, a Day Out With Thomas consists of a 20-30 minute train ride, pictures with Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt, a mini train ride, blow up jump houses, area to play with Thomas trains, and a place to buy anything and everything Thomas.

On the train! It was this slow that we could just get the babies to sit in laps and take pictures.

Phone pic of the girls. (Jules is saying cheese, she's not angry)

So, my review is that it was just eh. It was "ok", I suppose. The biggest highlight of the whole outing was talking to the sweet little old men that run the train yards. They are so sweet and knowledgeable and sweet to the kids. And I found out they do other fun train things like a Murder Mystery Ride, and a Polar Express Ride, etc. The train-playing section was ok, I guess, the kids liked playing with the trains. The people running the activity areas had less enthusiasm and upbringing than the people that run fair rides, and thats being nice. They hardly smiled, and acted like they were miserable. They are around toddlers all day - be happy and silly, yo!! The train ride itself went about 3 miles an hour it seemed. I honestly don't even think the kids realized they were actually "on" a train. It went 10 minutes forward, and 10 minutes backwards. Really would have been better if the train went fast...or fast"er". All that did was make all toddlers whiney and wanting to get up and run around the whole time. The mini train was actually much more fun for them.

The mini train - this one was fun! Jules is saying "no pictures mom".

Add to that the crappy pictures that I, of course, bought, and it was just a lackluster experience. I was not that impressed and probably won't do it again. But, we did it, so we can cross it off :)

Posing on the platform for their Thomas picture.

 

Worth every penny though, no?

The Weekly Project 25 - The Boy and His Toys

*I haven't done one of these in a while, I need to!!*

I have noticed that alot of the weekly project posts seem to revolve around Josh. I don't mean for them to, they just do for some reason. I think it's because I am also practicing my oh so stellar very amateur photography skills, and he is the best little model for me - much more so than Jules. He will actually stand still and liked getting his picture taken. Jules usually will stay for one shot, then say "noooo Mommy!!!" when I try to take another. So, note to self to make more of an attempt with Jules :)

Back to Josh:

Dear Josh,

You are a boy and your toys. And it's funny, because the stuff you tote around sometimes isn't even toys. It's random funny things. You love areas to keep your "things" such as pockets, purses, backpacks, shopping cart, bags, etc. I have called you a future bag lady, because you like to have a million things in your hand every day. Daddy takes you to school every day, and you manage to slip out of the house with some little something, even though it's against school rules to take toys from home. And then every day when I pick you up, I find that little something in your cubby hole that your teacher has put away for you. When Mommy and Daddy went to Disney, we knew to get you little things that you could keep on you, like a keychain and a watch. You love them. And while your newest obsession will only last a few days and then move on to something new, you love it for a few days, and in a month or so it's new again :)

Love,

Mommy

Orlando Weekend (in pictures) And Disney for Adults!

Last week, (or week before last, I have no idea, these weeks are running together lately) I had to fly down to Orlando to a work awards ceremony to receive a fundraising award for my work with the American Heart Association (toot, toot!)

Well, another life ago it seems, before we bought this house, Jake and I talked about taking a trip in October for our 10 year anniversary (TEN YEARS- WHO KNEW??)

Because that trip got put on the back burner due to the cost of renovating this house ($$$) I convinced him to come down to Orlando with me for a mini-vaca and hang out. It was hugely fun! We flew down Wednesday, and did the awards thing. Thursday we checked in to our new hotel and did the pool/pool bar thing all day and went to Downtown Disney that night and walked around and ate.

Walt Disney World for Adults

Friday was our Disney Day!! I did loads of googling and loads of asking around about what to do for Walt Disney World. I mean, I know what you do for kids, but I wanted to know which parks are best for adults. I kept hearing about Epcot, Epcot, Epcot. But after talking to people, I decided that we might not be able to spend a whole day at Epcot, and since we only have one day, I wanted to see something else.

So, we did Hollywood Studios from morning to afternoon, then Epcot from afternoon to evening. Now, if you asked Jake about Disney he would have said "Disney's for kids, not adults", but honestly I think he had a great time. We hit all the major attractions in Hollywood Studios pretty quickly. The lines were great since school had already started back. Jake's favorite was the Star Tours Ride, while mine was Toy Story Mania. It was an interactive 4-D ride that was pretty neat. I wish we didn't ride Aerosmith's Rock 'n' Roller coaster. It took our bodies about 20 minutes to get over that ride (we are really old, apparently) We didn't even attempt the Tower of Terror. We knew better.

From there we headed to Epcot. I liked Epcot, alot more than I thought. We LOVED the Soarin' Ride. So much we rode it twice. We also rode Mission to Space, but I kept my eyes closed most of the time, lol (motion sickness). The Test Track was closed, which stinks because we were looking forward to that one. We also got to see all the characters here in Epcot. And, then we just walked around and explored all the countries. This is where Epcot is different for adults. you can just walk around, grab a drink in the countries, explore, and have a great dinner. We chose Bella Napoli in Italy, and it was fabulous!

It was a great weekend. While we should be shot for going to Disney without taking out almost-three-year-olds, it was still super fun! They'll get over it. I'm sure we will go back with them soon. However, since going I now know two things about going with kids: They MUST be out of strollers, and they MUST be done with naps. There is just not other way, because it's a long, long day, and they have to keep up :)

Circle G Ranch

If you think our babes have been neglected while we were out of town, you would be highly mistaken. They have been spoiled absolutely rotten and have loved every minute of it. I wanted to save this one too for a separate post because I wanted to talk a minute about this fabulous place they got to go called Circle G Ranch. It's located in Strawberry Plains,TN, which is right outside of Knoxville. My sister Ginny thought she would take the kids on Thursday because she heard they had a petting zoo and it was fun for toddlers. Isn't it the greatest when you are completely surprised by something??

Circle G Ranch is home to more than 500 animals in their natural environment. They have this HUGE petting zoo for kids, and do lots of school field trips there each year. But the coolest surprise is that they have a Drive-Thru Zoo! Kids can get a bucket of feed, and drive through the zoo and feed each animal they wish. It was a huge surprise to Ginny. It's so great because the kids can stay in their car seats, and you just roll down the window to let them see the animals! The animals are, of course, very used to people and very gentle. But, I just thought this was the greatest idea ever and the kids had an absolute blast. You don't have to get toddlers out of the car?? Genius! (however, you must want to get the vacuum out when you get home, lol)

Yes, this is a forewarn that here come a photo dump, but it is just so awesome I had to post loads of pics.

**I will preface this by also saying this isn't for everyone. LOL. But, Ginny was ALL about it, and it's totally up her alley!

Seriously, so happy!!

"Wha you doin donkey?"

Jules: ever the delicate, careful girl. She kept telling Ginny to roll the window up, then back down, then back up, then back down.

HeHe

Quite possibly one of my favorite pictures...ever.

They just come right on in!

LOVE!!!

Petting Zoo