catch the moment: wk 31

This week’s theme is definitely back to school with a splash of family fun! It’s been stressful, but in a good way for the most part. A whole bunch of transition but so far, so good. I can’t believe I officially have a kid in elementary school and this time a year from now, I’ll have 2. What?

I’m not sure what’s going on with the Catch the Moment link up group but it seems to be fizzling out. I’m still plugging along but hoping to hear and see more from the group sometime soon. Still planning to continue linking up with Mindi,Stephanie, and Carrie for week 31 of Catch the Moment 365.

211/365: Thursday, July 30th. Theo’s first day of Kindergarten! I’ll have to write a separate post all about this major milestone with a few more pictures. I feel like we are over this hump. There was so much anxiety (mine) leading up to this day and I’m glad that we are starting to get into a routine – bumps and all. MAJOR day for the family and I don’t know why I felt so proud of him, because almost every kid goes to Kindergarten. Maybe it’s the anticipation and promise I feel, knowing that he is capable of doing and becoming whatever he chooses. It’s just the beginning and it’s exciting, although bittersweet. 07-30-2015

212/365: Friday, July 31st. We had Dexter’s open house for new and returning students. This will be Dexter’s 2nd year in Montessori pre-school but he has a new teacher so we all wanted to meet her prior to the first day. After reading a book with her and checking out all the changes in his classroom, he wasted no time getting back to his favorite place on campus. The playground! Theo also enjoyed playing at his old stompin’ grounds.07-31-2015

213/365: Saturday, August 1st. This was the first weekend in many that we really had no big plans. Saturday was a perfect day – farmer’s market with friends in the morning then laundry & playing at home all day before grilling a super fresh summery dinner. After that we ended our relaxing day with ice cream at the park. The boys were really into helping me prepare dinner, including setting the table. Where did these big, helpful boys come from? They literally set every bit of the table – I was so proud of them, but not nearly as proud as they were of themselves. Thank you Montessori…08-01-2015

214/365: Sunday, August 2nd. Ryan had lots of work to do around the house so I thought the boys and I would get out of his hair for a few hours. I took them to the best children’s museum in all the world. We got there before they opened at 10 – I thought we’d stay til 1 or so. We didn’t leave til about 3:30! The boys were very entertained (and entertaining) and the hours flew by. We had so much fun. I hope they remember special times with only Mommy or just Daddy. Dexter and I are particularly fond of the Chihuly Exhibit-Fireworks of Glass.08-02-2015

215/365: Monday, August 3rd. Another day, another first-day-of-school dry erase board. And another late night, forgotten photo kind of day. 08-03-2015

216/365: Tuesday, August 4th. The first day of Dexter’s last year of pre-school. The first day of the last year of my kids being in pre-school. All kinds of mixed emotions on this one! This year Dexter did not hesitate for one second when I dropped him off. He met up with one of his favorite friends from last year and they were off. The transition back to school for him so far has been seamless. I was worried that he’d have issues with Theo not being there, but so far he has been fine.08-04-2015

217/365: Wednesday, August 5th. An after dinner, before bed coloring sesh with my sweet 4 year old. 08-05-2015Today after school I asked Theo if anyone at school ever tells him he’s cute and he said “yeah.” When I asked him who, he said the name of his teacher. I asked “Oh? What does she say?” He replied, “she says ‘what would I do without you?’ to me.” Cue my heart melting…she told me on the phone yesterday that he is a great helper. I’m so relieved that Kindergarten is off to a fantastic start.

xo,

~C~

 

 

catch the moment: wk 30

What a week of mixed emotions! The weekend was great but these week days have been a different story this past 7 days. We are definitely in a time of transition as a family. Theo starts Kindergarten this year and Dexter will have a new teacher and be brotherless at Montessori School. It’s been an extremely busy week between trying to get things ready but we managed to squeeze in a lot of fun Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Linking up with Mindi,Stephanie, and Carrie for week 30 of Catch the Moment 365.

204/365: Thursday July 23rd. This day marked 8 years since my father passed away due to pancreatic cancer. Ryan knows this day is hard for me. I met a friend for dinner and meanwhile, my 3 special guys picked up a couple of pick-me-ups. Oh, I wish my dad was around to know my kids.07-23-2015

205/365: Friday, July 24th. At work, we had a team-building activity. I had never done one of these canvas class thingies but it was really fun. Another highlight of the day was finally meeting up with the boys’ best friends -another pair of brothers – from Montessori school at the park in the evening. Theo and Dexter had been missing their little buddies and they were so happy to get together after 2+ months apart. 07-24-2015

206/365: Saturday, July 25th. Luke Bryan concert with friends!! An annual tradition. So much fun. 07-25-2015

207/365: Sunday July 26th. Another summer lake day at my in-laws’ house – these are too few and far between. We are trying to squeeze every drop out of summer! I am in love with my mother-in-law’s blue hydrangeas. 07-26-2015

208/365: Monday July 27th. Monday was a Monday in every sense of the word. Little things…big things. It just seemed like everything was going wrong. I overslept. Broke my only ponytail holder with hair that looked like I’d overslept. Spilled coffee all over my white shirt. Found out Dexter’s Montessori teacher is not coming back this year. Got a call from summer camp because Dex had a fever. Took Dex to the doctor to find out he had swimmer’s ear. And on and on and on. Forgot to take a picture until about 1158pm…this was all I could manage. My pathetic countertop.07-27-2015

209/365: Tuesday, July 28th. On Tuesday, we found out that Theo’s Kindergarten teacher had quit and would only be in the classroom the first 2 days of the school year. Of course this didn’t sit well with me. Tuesday was a very emotional and stressful day. Theo was quiet and shy at back to school night, not interested in saying hi to anyone and almost hiding behind me. I know he isn’t like that in my absence. I felt bad, seeing him acting nervous about Kindergarten for the first time. Afterwards, I laid in bed with him for awhile and asked him how he felt in his heart. He said “half red, half blue.” I’m not 100% sure what he meant but I said, “me too.” And I meant it. I know it’s normal…most kids go to Kindergarten. It’s not like we’ve never been apart before. But this feels different than any other change. It’s so big. No one knows him and he knows no one. Who is going to take care of him? Theo is far more confident than I am. I get teary-eyed every time I think of it. I just want it to be a couple months from now when we are in an established routine. We know teachers and expectations and the car pick up and drop off line. I dunno…it’s just hard knowing he is having emotions that he can’t express and there’s not a thing I can do to make this easier for him. He has to figure it out. He has to struggle with uncomfortable feelings. Experiences like this will contribute to the person he becomes. 07-28-2015

210/365: Wednesday, July 29th. Theo woke up with a fresh attitude. He even said “I wish today was my first day of Kindergarten instead of my last day of camp.” That made me feel so much better. Tonight at bedtime we were reading The Night Before Kindergarten and there’s a line that says the kids were excited and scared. I asked him if he felt excited and scared, he said yes. When I asked why scared, he said because he won’t know “one single person.” How does that feel when you’re 5? As an introvert, that feels TERRIBLE at 35. I’m glad he adapts more easily than I do. 07-29-2015Time for bed….I’ve got a Kindergartner to wake up in the morning.

xo,

~C~

 

#mcdanfamloveswdw: Day 8 – Dexter’s Disney Birthday!

I’m in the homestretch with these recaps! We’ve been home for 4 weeks already; how is that possible? I’ve been obsessing about all the wheres and whens and hows of our next vacation (not a Disney  trip). I think I have a disease…Obsessive Vacation Disorder. As soon as one trip is over, I’m thinking about the next. I just love spending that time with my family, making memories, having something fun to plan look forward to, and let’s face it – a good reason to be off work for a week. Now, on to a very special day, Dexter’s 4th BIRTHDAY!!

In case you missed it:

Click HERE to see the photos we shared on Instagram from our trip. 

Click Here if you missed Day 1.

Click Here if you missed Day 2.

Click Here for Day 3.

Right here for Day 4. 

Here for Days 5 & 6.

And my most recent recap, Day 7.

Day 8: May 13th, 2015

As I mentioned on Day 7, we had early morning reservations again as part of our celebration of Dexter’s big day. This time we went to the Polynesian Village Resort for breakfast at ‘Ohana with pals Lilo & Stitch as well as Pluto and Mickey Mouse.

We took the bus from our resort to Magic Kingdom and then the ferry boat over to the Poly. 002 003 005

Recently renovated lobby. 007

The food at ‘Ohana was reeeeally good! We loved the pineapple bread.010

Served family style – Mickey pancakes, hash browns, sausage, bacon, biscuits, all the fresh melon and berries we could eat, that POG juice, and more, more, more food. 016The kids loved participating in the mid-meal parade. 012 015  And meeting the characters of course.018 025 We all have on our buttons – Dexter’s is a birthday button and the rest of ours’ say “I’m Celebrating.” A good way for a birthday boy to get lots of attention throughout the day! 027 031 032

After a delicious, entertaining, busy breakfast, we rode the monorail back over to Magic Kingdom to continue our fun day.033

I have a picture of Ryan here with Goofy from trips past and he asked me to take another. A nice bystander offered to take a family photo so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. 036

By this point in our trip, we’d promised and missed about 3 opportunities to meet Buzz. We knew on Dexter’s birthday, this was a non-negotiable. That was one happy little birthday boy. I didn’t think about the fact that I was WEARING my Buzz Lightyear shirt until after we walked away. I bet he would have given me a big thumbs up.039

The goal was to hit a bunch of stuff we hadn’t had a chance to do yet this trip – one of these things being the Astro Orbiter. 040

A special treat for me on Dexter’s big day – my friend Rachel moved from Indiana to Florida in December of last year. She’s as much a Disney lover as I am. So much that she and her family have annual passes. She drove an hour to meet up with us for the biggest part of the morning. It was GREAT catching up! 042 043 045

Ryan’s obsession with slushies continued as we made our way back to Gaston’s Tavern for another Lefou’s Brew. 049

Rachel had to get back to Realityland so she left us in Fantasyland. I hugged her so tight!051

One of the boys’ favorite rides for sure – Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  053 054056058059

All he talked about, leading up to our trip, was getting a cupcake on his birthday. We get him in Big Top Treats of Storybook Circus and what does he choose? A marshmallow/cake pop thingy! Because….it’s blue. He loved it, that’s all that matters. We sung Happy Birthday to him right there and I got a little choked up. What a special boy. What a special day. 061

Penny pressing fun. 062

And when the sugar rush turns into a sugar crash…ha. Dexter slept for about 2 hours. I know Ryan and Theo rode Carousel of Progress and I remember walking around the gift shop at Space Mountain’s exit. I believe this was the only mid-day nap either of them took the entire trip. He was so out of it during this nap that Ryan and I both voiced worry that he would wake up not feeling well. We actually woke him up after two hours and he bounced right back to his happy, excited self.064

One of the birthday boy’s favorite things to do at Magic Kingdom is the Tomorrowland Speedway. 065

If I’m being totally honest, he’s a terrible driver. 067068069070

Ryan decided to skip this puke-maker.071072

Catching this show was on our to-do list. Check. 074

Jungle Cruise!077

MORE PENNIES!078

Playing in the souvenir shop after riding Pirates of the Caribbean.079

Country Bear Jamboree – done. Now I don’t ever need to do this again. Unless I need a nap.081

We love Voyage of the Little Mermaid.083

And seeing Cinderella Castle all lit up at night. 084

We also made time for once to watch the fireworks (I didn’t bother taking pictures during, but I took this one below right beforehand). A magical ending to a magical day. I can’t imagine a better way to spend Dexter’s birthday. 085Throughout this day, Ryan and I discussed several times where we would spend our last park day the next day. We had done the majority of what we wanted to do in each park by this point. It was kind of depressing leaving Magic Kingdom, not knowing if we’d be back this trip. Even though the last-day-blues were starting to creep in, I went to bad happy knowing that Dexter could not have had a better day.

Up next – our last day!

xo,

~C~