Taking a Breather

Can you believe it is already August? Wow, this Summer has really been flying by! I feel like we should be slowing down now that it's getting on to the last leg of Summer, but honestly, no. We are not slowing down. We are still full steam ahead, and while I am so grateful for all the opportunities that have come up and that we are taking, I really would love to just have a breather!

Oh well, I suppose I will just have to be content in remembering our little breather last week {which was also action-packed! ha!}. I have a few more pictures of our adventures in daylight to share with you! Just a few but they're still good!


Okay, so, I don't know how many of you know about my massive fear of our feathered fiends {yes, I did say fiends}, but I don't like 'em. I've been attacked one too many times by a bird, and I just don't like them. So when we went through the Rose Garden to have a little rest on the benches, I didn't realize we were going to be there with DUCKS. I decided to keep their mind off of eating me by throwing them some cheez its. I mean these guys were so used to humans they were walking up {quickly!} as soon as I sat down.

Anyway, Benjamin liked them! So I guess that's what mattered.


One thing I KNOW you know about me is my love for cupcakes. I could not go to Disney and leave without having tasted one of THESE BAD BOYS!:



Do I even have to say it? These things were MASSIVE and AMAZING. I'm going to leave it at that. {Oh, and let's ignore how yucky I look, shall we? hehe}

After we ate our cupcakes, we went through a few shops, and then, the unthinkable happened!!

YES! I never thought he would fall asleep among so much excitement, but he was exhausted and finally just couldn't help himself! He slept for a good while, too, which helped us decide to go eat and come back for the night parade {we are so glad we did!}. He slept through a few shops, the monorail ride, and woke up on the tram to the parking lot! And I believe he fell asleep in the car on the way to Planet Hollywood {which took longer than it should have, but we'll get into that later...}

{ps - little sidenote. That Eeyore he has there used to be mine and is his FAVORITE lovey! He will not sleep without it! He rubs the tag as he sleeps and as soon as you hand it to him, that is what he reaches for. Anyway, so every store we went into, Benjamin went straight to the Eeyores and started loving on them. So while he was sleeping we chose his souvenir and got him a smaller Eeyore, who we call Baby Eeyore! totally cute!}

And that's all for now!

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The 30 Days of Music for today is day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty. Umm... I don't really have one that makes me feel guilty. That's a weird category because we have already had "guilty pleasure". Whatever. Hmmm. Another "guilt trip"...



"Come What May" - Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman {from Moulin Rouge}

Okay I like this song, and it's a guilt trip song because Moulin Rouge is not a good movie because of what it is about. I mean the premise is that she's a prostitute and he falls in love with her. So, not a good movie. But I really like the soundtrack! So I guess that makes me feel really guilty.

A Very Magical Moment

One of my very favorite parts of our day at Disney was happening upon the show at the Castle! We came in just as the Princesses finished singing {rats!!} but we still came in at a pretty good part! We saw Peter Pan defeat Captain Hook and we "helped" run off the Evil Queen!

It was a dream come true for me especially because I was able to see Cinderella {okay I am TOTALLY a little girl at heart - I can't help it!}!

Anyway, here are the pictures from that magical moment!















Amazing right? Loved it!

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Today's 30 Days of Music: day 27 - a song that you wish you could play;

Uh... I can't really say there is anything I wished I could play... I mean, I'm not really into playing music. But I guess it would be cool to play this song:

Seth Avett singing "Mary" by Langhorn Slim

All I Can Say Is: Wow.

For a couple reasons. For one thing, today was Benjamin's first lesson with Infant Swim Rescue, which in a nutshell teaches him how to float and survive in the water if he ever falls in. It was emotional and stressful because from the moment he got in the water, he wanted out, and he wasn't going to cooperate quietly. He screamed the entire time {and our friend informed us that that is how it always goes}. He went under water and swam to the steps and we were so proud of him! However it was hard to see him react like that mainly because I have a huge water fear!

Anyway, another reason I am saying "Wow" is because I was just remembering our vacation at Disney, and I wanted to share more pictures with you!

Here's a dream come true for me!:

Seeing and standing in front of the Cinderella Castle! Wow! That was amazing! I have always wanted to see the castle, because Cinderella is my all-time favorite princess! This was incredible and I was so excited. One thing that disappointed me was that we weren't able to get someone to take our whole family picture here. Oh well!


We rode a few rides when we got there, including the Haunted Mansion {a big NO from Benjamin and a half-hearted one from me - I don't like being in complete dark!} - and then one that Benjamin actually enjoyed - The Pirates of the Caribbean ride! That one was a lot of fun. After the ride, we walked out to retrieve our stroller and ran across a side show run by Cap'n Jack Sparrow himself {okay- not Johnny Depp, but he was pretty much EXACTLY like him!}!



At the end of the side show, Cap'n Jack asked for volunteers to join his crew, and we jokingly raised Benjamin's hand - and surprisingly enough, Cap'n Jack asked him to join! So Benjamin {with the help of Daddy} got to stand on stage and receive a certificate that says he is a pirate now! {I am convinced this was Hubby living one of his childhood dreams through Benjamin - ha!!}


After this, we came across a folk band playing in the street and we stopped to sit and listen a while because it was really good! Benjamin danced a little bit and he really liked the music! {They even played Under the Sea at a different point in time when we passed by}


To my surprise {and, I suppose relief}, we didn't run into many characters. We did run into the line to meet Snow White, but it was kind of long and it was so very hot out so we didn't get in line. I snapped a couple pictures of her and I have to say her voice was JUST like the movie!


Benjamin Pendragon stopped to pull the sword out of the stone before he and Mommy got on the carousel...




It was so hot out so every chance we got to sit down, we took it! These were taken before we went to Minnie's Cottage - which by the way is NOT for a busy-body toddler.

Benjamin's favorite attraction was Donald's Boat! He had so much fun running from fountain to fountain with the other kids. He made a few friends and followed them around and talked to all the kids there! By the time we left he was completely soaked and so very happy - except not so very happy to have to leave! We were glad that he was able to cool off and thankful for the break from walking all over the place too!

Hey, you can even see the shoes that Hubby shed in these pix! Yes, the ones with the orange stripes! He enjoyed this attraction as well...


After this, we decided to head back toward the gates... and the rest... comes in yet another blog post!!

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While I have you, though, I'll go ahead and do the 30 Days of Music for today: day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument : "Leave it to Beaver Theme". I can play this on Clarinet, or at least I used to be able to! I played clarinet for 6 years so I know a few... this one though was fun!

The Beginning of a Recap

So sorry for my absence last week! If you can recall, we were on vacation all last week visiting friends in Florida! We had SUCH a good time! I'm going to attempt to fill you all in this week with all the excitement so you may be bombarded with pictures here this week. I am sure you don't mind :) - anyway, it was a very fun week and although I took LOADS of pictures, I didn't take enough to really convey the excitement.

We got there very late Sunday Night/Monday Morning. It was so good to see my dear Kindred Spirit, Autumn, again! It felt like it had been forever! And we got to see her husband Matt and their daughter Alethia as well! It was so fun!

Monday we spent preparing for our Disney Trip!! Did I tell you we were going to go?? We ended up being able to get out to Disney on Tuesday and it was so much fun! I had never been before and obviously neither had Benjamin! Unfortunately Autumn had gotten sick since we stayed out so late that night trying to get everything ready (she is 21 weeks pregnant), so they didn't get to come with us. That was a big bummer. But we still had a ton of fun at Disney.

While I would love to put all of the pictures here in one big post, I'm not going to because I am still oh-so-tired! So let me just give you a few at a time and tell you about our trip!


We went to bed at 1AM and got up at 3:30AM to go to Disney! Yes, we are in fact crazy. We drove around looking for the place we were getting our tickets from {if you are interested, ask in the comments and I'll let you know - we got a good discount!}, and finally made it to Disney at 11AM. Yes, it took THAT long!

Benjamin was so funny! He would make Monkey noises everytime he saw Mickey and Minnie or heard us say "Mickey Mouse". I guess Mickey sounds like "Monkey" - and I guess to a one-year-old who has never seen Mickey Mouse {we don't watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse because of the amount of euphemisms for God's name being taken on that show - and I would never want to hear that come out of Benjamin's mouth!}, Mickey looks like a Monkey! ha! Anyway, it was so cute!


This was SO exciting for all of us, especially when Benjamin projectile vomited just as we got to this gate! Yes, you read correctly. I believe he was a little carsick. It wasn't a big deal, and he didn't do it again, so we were fine! He just had to change his pants so we didn't have any extras for the rest of the day. A little note for you who haven't been and want to take your small children: bring a few changes of clothing, not just one.

We took the ferry over to Magic Kingdom because it looked less crowded than the monorail. It was pretty fun and laid-back as well! I was so anxious to get to the park though! Finally, FINALLY we got there, and got through baggage check, and FINALLY we went through the gates into the most Magical Place on Earth!


Ahhh, the atmosphere! It was so much fun even walking down mainstreet! We got there right at the tailend of the opening parade! I am so glad we did, too, and I wish we had gotten there as soon as it had opened, but oh well!



We had wondered if Benjamin would be afraid but he really loved the parade! He loved all the singing and dancing and the floats and characters! He was GLUED. It was such a magical moment for me because it was my first time, and his, and we were experiencing it together! It really touched me and I admit that I did cry during this parade because I was so overwhelmed! It was so much fun!






And after the parade, we went on to enjoy the rest of our fun-filled, super super hot day!

That's all I'm going to share right now because for one thing a phone call distracted me, and another, it takes me a while to do all this, ha!

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I guess I should also pick back up on the 30 Days of Music where I left off! So, day 25 - a song that makes you laugh : Too bad I can't reuse "Trololo"... ha! okay, a song that makes me laugh... "Chimpanzee Riding on a Segwey" - Parry Gripp.



Yes, it is just for fun :)

Tomorrow we will pick back up with Far Above Rubies so be ready!

Ten Random Facts

Hey all! I am on vacation, so I have prepared a few Blog posts to publish while I'm gone! I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about me, and don't worry - you'll get plenty of pictures of our vacation once we get back - and plenty of stories I'm sure!

Make sure you are following my Twitter for short updates throughout the trip! Remember, I'll be back TOMORROW!

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An extra long one today, just in case I don't get around to posting tomorrow. I'm not going to schedule one for the 14th.


One.


I love Giraffes.

Two.


That's my eyecolor.

Three.


My favorite part of my wedding decor was my flowers.

Four.


I am familiar with Atlanta Traffic.

Five.


BBQ Nachos are not as good as they look. And if those don't look good to you, they taste worse.

Six.


My dad did my nails for my wedding.

Seven.


I am deathly afraid of horses and will never ride one again.

Eight.


This used to hang from my rearview mirror. His name is Kenneth.

Nine.


That's my husband, ordering from the back seat at Burger King in New Orleans.

Ten.


I love New Orleans, but I would never want to live there.

See you tomorrow, hopefully!!

Dining In?

Hey all! I am on vacation, so I have prepared a few Blog posts to publish while I'm gone! I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about me, and don't worry - you'll get plenty of pictures of our vacation once we get back - and plenty of stories I'm sure!

Make sure you are following my Twitter for short updates throughout the trip! Remember, I'll be back December 14th!

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I reaaaallly love my dining room. I love bright colors! Funny thing, though, we didn't know if we'd like it when the paint got on the walls. Definitely didn't know it'd be that bright! But I think it is gorgeous!