Surprise! We're Going On a Trip!

Scott & I have been cooking up a surprise for the kids for quite some time. Last Spring, when we were looking at our summer schedule, we determined that we didn't really have enough free days to do a far away trip when the kids were out of school. So we decided to do something in the Fall when they had a day off. 

Nate has been crazy about Harry Potter for a while now and we knew we wanted to take him to Universal Studios to experience Harry Potter World. When we originally started planning, we thought we would just all go to Universal, but then I looked around and realized Lila wasn't going to be particularly interested in the theme park. 

Since there happens to be a theme park she would be interested in right around the corner, we decided Scott would take Nate to Universal and I would take Lila to Magic Kingdom. As an aside, the tickets to Disney are actually cheaper than Universal - I was shocked! 

Our plan was to fly into Orlando, stay the night, do the theme parks the next day, then go to the beach for a few days. After all, you need a few days at the beach after theme parking it for a day. 

We kept the secret for many months, the kids had no idea! We told Lila we were going to a picnic in Forest Park (she didn't have school that day). And then we went to Nate's school to check him out (his teacher already knew the plan). Once he was in the car, we were ready for the big reveal! 

Scott found a lockbox that had a combination, so he put a plane and seashells inside. Then each of them had a pouch, Nate's had Harry Potter in it and Lila's had Minnie Mouse. He came up with questions that were answered with numbers, and they had to work together to figure out the combination. 

They worked together like never before! And were speechless when they figured out the plan. Off we go to the airport! 

They kept asking on the way there, "You mean, we are going on an airplane RIGHT NOW?"

My sweet seat partner :)

We got to Orlando and settled into our hotel by Universal. Then we woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning and headed off to our adventures! Scott & I figured out that Universal makes it really easy to drop off passengers, so Lila & I dropped them off before driving over to Magic Kingdom.

Nate was beside himself. I'm going to let Scott blog about their day, but he loved every minute of it. I asked him what his favorite part was, and he said he could not pick just one thing, he loved all of it. And even rode a roller coaster. I'd say he was feeling adventurous! (He doesn't like roller coasters, or at least he previously didn't). Here is one picture after he secured his interactive wand.

Universal opened at 8:00 AM and they wanted to be there by 7:30. So Lila & I had plenty of time to get over to Magic Kingdom, park, and wait for the Opening Show to start! Note: if you are going to do Disney, I highly recommend getting to the entrance 30 minutes before they open. It's the ticket to getting to ride anything you want right away!

We headed over to the Buzz Lightyear ride. She only sort of liked it, but that's why rolling with Lila is so fun, she just simply says, "I don't think I want to do that again" and we move on. No drama, no complaining, she's so easy going:) Usually.

We walked over to the Tea Cup ride and she proceeded to make me wish I hadn't eaten breakfast. She loved it.

Waiting in line for Dumbo! We rode 5 rides I think before 10:00. Early bird gets the worm!

Dumbo...where she pushes the lever all the way up, so that we fly all the way up the whole time. I'm sure I'm the only parent that is holding on to the side of the elephant for dear life. What can I say, I don't care for heights.

I had never been to the Enchanted Tales with Belle and neither had she, so we waited in a short line and it was so worth it! She got picked to be the teacup in the show and she was on cloud 9.

After a little practice, Belle came in and she was so excited!!

It was a truly magical moment for her...LOVE

After meeting Belle, she wanted to change clothes and drive the car on the Speedway. I'm biased but I think she's the cutest little girl I've ever seen.

And I'm also in trouble when she starts driving.

She likes to go fast!

We had a Fast Pass to meet Rapunzel and Cinderella. I have to say Rapunzel was the best princess we've met so far. She talked to Lila for a while and told her something so shocking that Lila put her hands on the side of her face in astonishment. It was absolutely precious!

Then we walked over to meet Cinderella, who was very sweet to Lila as well.

We rode all the rides she wanted to ride a second time and then were seated for the 3:00 PM parade. I dare any child or adult to watch the parade and not be the happy. Say what you want about Disney, but they can do it up right!

It was truly the best day. Being with Lila and knowing Nate was having the time of his life too!

Next stop: The Beach!

Scott's Birthday

Scott's birthday was on Tuesday, October 20th. 

Tuesday, October 20th was quite possibly the busiest day of our entire Fall plus he had to work. So we celebrated with Better Than Anything Cake the night before. 

This cake is always a hit!

Lila and I went and had lunch with him at work on his actual birthday. We appreciate him so much and are happy that we got to celebrate with him, even if it was a little disjointed this year! Happy Birthday Scott, we love you!

Catching Up

I'm a few weeks behind. It's a season. Yes, that's what it is! 

Nate swam in his first swim meet with the new team a couple weeks ago. He did very well, and I was so proud of him for going out there and getting it done. He's learning so much, physically and mentally. He's committed and we couldn't be more pleased!

He was a little not himself during the swim meet and I should have predicted that he was getting sick, but I didn't. So when he woke up at 4:00 AM the next day and said it felt like he was swallowing fire, we were a little surprised. Lila had a soccer game, so I put him back to bed until I could get back and take him to the doctor.

Thankfully, our pediatrician is open on Saturdays so I got him an appointment and off we went. You know what is fun to do on a Saturday? Take a sick kid and a healthy kid to the doctor's office.

They were very nice and very quick to diagnose him with strep throat. It was lovely, but after we got his prescription, we came home and did a lot of resting. Truman dug it.

At one point, this is how close he was to my face. Slightly un-nerving.

Nate recovered well and was back to himself in no time. Then he caught a cold. And passed it to the rest of us. The gift that keeps on giving!

Dressers

I'm so glad I waited until IKEA arrived to do something about getting the kids dressers. It couldn't have been easier, really. I looked online before we went, so I had a good idea of what I wanted for both of the room configurations. 

Of course, they had exactly what we needed. Lila's dresser, which has a big drawer at the bottom for all of her costumes! I'm planning to replace the pulls with silver ones to match her room better. 

Nate's room is a little odd in that it has so many windows. This means he has great natural light streaming in all the time, but not so much wall space. So I knew the dresser needed to be tall and skinny. I didn't think I would be able to find what I was looking for, but lo and behold, IKEA had exactly what we needed!

Both dressers are good quality and were much less expensive that I had planned. Score!

Pumpkins & Apples

St. Louis had some beautiful Fall weather this weekend! We decided that it would be a good Sunday to make our annual trip to Eckert's for apple & pumpkin picking. We arrived soon after it opened, so that we didn't have to wait on the wagon to take us to the fields. I think it's the first year that this plan actually worked. We walked straight up and got on the wagon, which made us all thankful. 

Heading out to the fields! Eckert's is in Illinois and is not the closest place to us for pumpkin picking. But I love being out of the city for a little while and actually getting to do our own picking.

Trying to select the best one...

It took a minute to find the very very best one...

Sweet Nate, I just cannot tell you how nostalgic I've been getting lately about when he was little. He loves when I talk about the old days. Or maybe the opposite of that.

My pumpkins!

After selecting our pumpkins, we got back on the wagon and went over to the apple orchards. Off they go!

We came home with more apples than I really know what to do with, but I've been on a mission with apples lately - to leave them out on the counter and see what happens. And what do you know, both of the kids come get them without asking or prodding (more importantly).

It was another glorious trip to Eckert's - something we look forward to every year!

Go Cardinals!

When I asked Lila last week who she wanted to win the one game play-off - the Pirates or the Cubs - she said, "I want the Cubs to lose. They are bad little bears. They hit 3 of our players and didn't say sorry." She hit the nail on the head:)

Despite our best efforts to root for the Pirates (the winner went on to play the Cardinals), the Cubs won and the series is tied at 1-1. 

In honor of a big game today, here's all the good times we've had with the Cardinals this year!

Go Cardinals!

Beat those bad little bears!

Post-Cards

Friday was the start of post-season play for the Cardinals. So of course I was a ball nerves. You would truly think I actually play the game or something. 

Lila suggested that we make our own pizzas in honor of the Cardinals, so we did. I made homemade pizza dough in my bread machine and it turned out so good! Here's the little chef starting her creation. 

I forgot to take a picture of the kids pizzas before popping them into the oven, but since I was trying to make an effort at documenting, I took one while they were baking. 

This was the adult's pizza. I love Fontina cheese but rarely ever buy or it cook with it. I saw some while in the store the other day so I grabbed it and was happy to use it on the pizza. So yummy!

I settled in to to watch the game and became my distracted post-season self. Lila was happy to play in her room and Scott took Nate to swim team. We were just about to win (Hurray!) when Scott & Nate got home.

Scott all the sudden appeared with a large manila envelope and told me he wanted to do something to thank me for all the years I worked at EFT Source. He of all people knows it wasn't always easy and he said he wanted to honor my commitment to them and our family by doing something special. I promptly told him no gifts were necessary, the true gift was that I don't have to feel pressure about getting another job right now!

I truly had no idea what could be in the envelope, and since I'm very hard to surprise, I was in a little bit of shock when I opened it to find 2 tickets to Saturday's playoff game!!!!! SO EXCITING! And my first question was??? Who is going to keep the kids??

He was so on top of things that he'd already arranged childcare and this was really the best surprise!

On Saturday afternoon, we headed down to the ballpark. I have been to World Series games but I have never been to a playoff game, so I was excited for a new experience.

During the playoff games and the World Series, the Clydesdales march around the stadium before the game. It is one of my favorite parts and makes me feel such pride for St. Louis.

The Cardinals ended up losing, but it was such a fun experience that I found myself not caring so much about that. The Cubs fans were very obnoxious however.

Thank you Scott! For all that you do and for being so good to me!