The Happiest Place on Earth

When we found out that Baby Pellow #3 would be joining our family, Lance and I decided that we needed to take Rowan and Tate to Disney World now, while they are still young enough for it to feel magical, but before we have a baby to tote along.  We researched, talked to friends and made a plan.  A 9-day trip that would consist of 3 Disney days and maybe a day at Legoland.  And then the airline we were flying went bankrupt.  And our plans came to a bit of a halt.  Many phone calls, lots of figuring out alternate vacation dates for Lance, and the trip was rescheduled.  A 5.5-day trip that would now only include 2 Disney days and maybe a Legoland day was planned.

And the vacation was perfect.  We would have all loved to stay longer.  But I think that's for the best.  It's always best to leave when everyone is still having an amazing time.  If you wait until people are cranky, tired and generally just over it, you come home with those less-than-ideal memories mixed in with the great ones.

We ended up spending one entire day at Magic Kingdom (from just after open until close) and also one entire day at Hollywood Studios.  Both kids agree that Magic Kingdom was better--lots more to do, more rides, etc. but both parks were great for our kids.  They met so many characters, rode tons of rides and never had to wait in line more than 20 minutes or so.

A few highlights from Magic Kingdom--the rides--both kids preferred rides that provided a bit of an adrenaline rush (so It's A Small World was fun, but the spinning teacups were much better), the characters, the light parade (Tate was so adorable during this) and the fireworks (I think watching Rowan watch the fireworks was my favorite part of the day).

A few highlights from Hollywood Studios--Rowan was picked as the special princess during the Beauty and the Beast show and she got to walk up and get a hug from Belle and the prince handed her a rose, The Toy Story ride (this was my favorite--a fun one that an expectant mom can ride) and watching the kids in the Jedi training school (this was more hysterical than anything else).  Both kids also loved spending a little too much time in the arcade of Pizza Planet.

Instead of Legoland, we took the kids to a hands-on farm where they got to hold baby ducks and chicks, catch a chicken, feed pigs and milk a cow.  It was a nice change of pace from theme park craziness.  And we did plenty of swimming in the pools and picnicking outside.

None of us were ready to come back to reality and we all have nothing but wonderful memories of a fabulous vacation.

Rowan, Age 6

Since Rowan went ahead and turned SIX a week ago, I should probably write something down to remember just what Rowan was all about on the day she turned six.

Her favorite color is still hot pink, but right around her birthday she decided to tell me that light blue is her favorite color. I'm not sure what spurred this idea--if a friend's favorite color is light blue, if she just decided she loves that color, if she heard me talking about paint colors for her new room--but she seems to be holding strong that she still loves hot pink, but she loves light blue even more.

The week before Rowan's birthday, I took her to a ballet. She was slightly confused as to how adults can do ballet in the middle of the day and not go to work. When she found out that dancing is their work, she was thrilled. "You mean they actually make money dancing? Mom, that would be the perfect job for me!" So, yes, she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. Or a "singer on a CD". She has decided that, instead of gymnastics, she'd really rather take dance class.

Rowan is a social butterfly. More than anything, she wants to play with other kids. Now that the weather is nice, as soon as she gets home from school she'll ask to play with friends. "Mom, Caleb and Josie are out. Can I go play?" "Mom, I talked to Zoe on the bus and she wants to come over today. Can she?" "Mom, I see Grace down the street. Can we walk over there?" On her days of no school, we definitely have to have a plan.

While Rowan and Tate fight with the best of them, they are also great friends. And this year Rowan has gotten so much better at compromising, sharing and caring about Tate. Generally, if there is an argument, Rowan is the one who will let Tate have the first turn or let Tate choose the story we read. Sometimes while I'm making dinner she'll sit on the couch and read a book to Tate. And they'll often play for hours with little direction from me.

Rowan's imagination amazes me. She makes up games and scenarios to act out pretty much constantly. She and Tate love to play Jake and the Neverland Pirates. She also plays "Monkey Island" on the trampoline outside and makes up games for the kids in the neighborhood to play. And, of course, it doesn't get any better than being the baby in a rousing game of house. All of these situations make me glad Rowan has Tate. I'm up for reading books, making crafts, doing activities around town, but I'm pretty deficient in the whole imaginative play arena.

Rowan, I love that you are maturing, but still are such a kid. You don't care about what you wear or what your hair looks like. You are friends with everyone. You chose Rice Krispie Treats for your birthday snack because even the kids with food allergies can eat them. You have so much enthusiasm about life in general. You have a memory that amazes me. You still let me cuddle up with you to read books (and I'm planning on this lasting a long, long time, so you better keep it up a while). You put on silly shows for me--dancing in the dark with glow sticks, acting like a chimp swinging from the bar on our swingset, singing songs with Tate in the front yard. You are my favorite little six-year-old and I love you very much.

Super Fix-It

Tate napped the entire way home from Great Wolf Lodge today. Which made for a peaceful car ride, but a little boy who was wide awake a bedtime. After coming down several times to check out what's going on with Mom and Dad, we heard him coming down the steps. Lance went to see him and he was standing on the landing, hands on his hips and said so enthusiastically, "Dad, I already have super powers!" He went on to tell Lance all about a singing birthday card that had run out of batteries and how he was able to make is work by magic. Lance renamed him "Super Fix-It" and he continued striking his best super hero pose. It seriously doesn't get much better than this.

Great Wolf Lodge

For the past week or so, Michigan has seen the most amazing weather--80 degree days, picnics in the park, lots of neighborhood fun. So when our Great Wolf Lodge trip was right in the middle of this summery weather, I was a bit disappointed at the thought of being inside for 2 days.

Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. We had a fabulous time. The kids had fun the whole time we were there, they were relatively well-behaved the whole time, Lance was a super-champ dad (and Tate was a Daddy's boy all weekend, which is not so typical for him). The McGowan family also went and we had a great time together. Lance and I couldn't ask for a more fun weekend.

Tate, Age 4

Since we've gone ahead and had the 4-year-checkup, I guess it's pretty official that Tate is 4. Never mind that both the actual birthday and the party were last week. I was trying to keep him 3 as long as I could. Thankfully, though he was worried he would wake up too big to cuddle, he is still just the right size and loves it just as much (even if that "right size" is all of the 11th %ile). His teacher adores him and told us at his conference how he's such a great listener and he's so smart (I kept reminding myself not to compare my children--and will clearly need that reminder over and over and over.) He wants to be a superhero when he grows up. He loves all things orange. Like his sister, he wants me to make up stories to tell him every single time we set foot in the car. He cried and cried after his shots, but a lollipop cheered him right up. He would read books, color and build blocks all day long. And sometimes he does. He always shares with his sister. He found a quarter on the ground the other day and used it to buy candy out of a vending machine and share with his friends. I have honestly never seen any kid that excited about anything. Yep, that's kind of all it takes to make him happy.

Of course he has a naughty side that makes an occasional appearance. A tantrum here or there. A rough day. Waking up in the middle of the night pretty much every night. But this kid has me wrapped around his little finger. (Friends, with boys like this, I can sort of understand how one can become a crazy mother-in-law. DO NOT let this be me!)

I'm so lucky to have a little boy who turned out so much like his daddy.

Super Tate

For his fourth birthday, Tate insisted on a super hero party. I wasn't really planning a party for him, actually. I was kind of thinking our trip to Great Wolf Lodge in a few weeks would suffice and I didn't think he would really think about a party ahead of time, but he surprised me by telling me all about his plans for a superhero party. An orange cake with some green on it. Lots of friends--mostly boys. Superhero games. I figured I might as well go with it. So I started planning. With 16 children coming over, I knew I needed a plan and my first was to split the kids into two groups. One downstairs doing quiet activities (coloring, tattoo station, puzzles) and one upstairs doing the superhero training academy--retrieving kryptonite from the batcave (finding a glowstick in a makeshift cave of blankets) then locking it in a lead box, stomping out the villains (popping balloons), leaping over tall buildings in a single bound (jumping over a dollhouse), rescuing the baby from the burning building, etc. Once they graduated from the training academy, each child earned a superhero cape which was a big hit.

It was a great time celebrating with my little guy and his friends.

For an amazing post about a super-hero party (and virtually all of my inspiration for this one), go to http://emilys-little-world.blogspot.com/2011/12/superhero-party.html

Critter Barn

I took advantage of a relatively sunny day and took the kids to the Critter Barn. It had been a while since we'd been there and the last time we went was a beautiful sunny day, so I had kind of forgotten the "indoor" animals--mainly the cats and rabbits. My kids had a great time (until they got way too cold). My allergies did not have a great time.