Couple of Cute Conversations

So the other day Harper wakes up and comes out frantically looking around. "Good morning sweetheart, what are you looking for?" I say. He says, "Where's Dad?" (nothing like some morning affection from my only son, right?!!) I tell him he already went to work, but I was talking to him on the phone as he was driving. I ask, "do you want to talk to him?" Harper: "I don't, I just need to go pray that he stays home!!" Oh the power of prayer in a 2 year olds mind! It was cute.

At lunch time one day, the kids and I were talking about our prayer journal. I told them we needed to look at it and check to see if we had any answered prayers. I wasn't feeling good a few weeks ago, so I told them I was all better and that God answered our prayers. Then we proceeded to have the conversation that sometimes God answers prayers immediately and sometimes we have to be patient and wait - like our house. Chloe says, "And sometimes he just doesn't listen!" Of course it made me chuckle, but it opened up the door to go into how we have to wait for God's timing. That we would leave this house when God said it was time and it would be His perfect timing. It was really neat for me to be able to teach them the difference between immediate and patience when it comes to prayer. I love teaching my kids things, when at the end of the lesson, I get just as much, if not more!

Disney Trip - Day 5

Our last day at Magic Kingdom started at 9:00 am and ended at 11:00 pm!! It was one jammed packed day, but it was amazing. Temperatures were about 95 degrees, so it was quite toasty! But the great thing about Disney was that alot of the places where you wait are air conditioned. This vacation was so magical for our girls. I think they aged big time while we were there. They went from our babies to big girls!! I guess 5 is a big turning point in life - sad for Mommy!
We had to get their picture in front of the castle! They loved how big it was.

We had to go see the princesses again - it was the same ones, but they didn't care. They had to switch costumes anyways so Carly could have a turn in the wonderful Ariel costume.

Carly showed Cinderella her manicure and we had to explain why it was such a big deal. The one great thing about Disney World is they really make you feel like they care! The princesses spent lots of time with the kids and chatted with them. We didn't feel rushed at all! Cinderella was quite impressed with their accomplishment! I also love how they called the girls princess wherever we went. It made them feel so special.

Belle - again

This was Harper's highlight of the trip! He was so excited to see Tiger and Pooh. This is pretty much all he really cared about, so I am so glad we had the opportunity to meet them. Carly and Chloe did so well with all the characters (they used to cry every time they saw these things). They wouldn't get too close, but they got close enough for pictures.

Mickey and Minnie - Harper gave Mickey lots of hugs!

Carly finally got brave enough to attempt the tea cups. Chloe would not join in! Harper didn't care. After their successful run on them, Chloe decided she would try it out!

And she loved them and proceeded to ride several times. These two have a funny dynamic. Carly will go first and if she makes it out alright, then Chloe will follow suit. I guess that is a bonus to having a twin!!

Finley - hot, sweaty, tired, but a smiley little trooper! She is one amazing baby! Not many could handle the day she had and still be happy!

After the Buzz Lightyear ride, they saw him outside. They wanted to meet him. So we went to get in the line, they said it was ok, so we were excited to stand them at the exit spot and snap the picture! We didn't have to wait in the heat!

Here is Fawn from the Tinker Bell movie. They were a little hesitant here, because they didn't know the fairies (only princesses). But they thought it was pretty neat.

Tinker Bell was hilarious!! She was really loud and she was trying to get them to talk. They were very shy with her. Then she asked them who was older. Carly said she was. And she asked Chloe by how much. Then she said, "What were you doing in there? Sleeping in?" They thought it was so funny. Oh and when she asked them their names, they didn't answer at first. She said, "Are you Fluffy and you Fifi?" They started laughing so hard. They told her they had a sister named Fifi and then they told her their names. When it was time to snap pictures she yelled, "Cheese!!" So when you ask the girls about Tinker Bell, they will tell you she yells cheese really loud!

Finley waiting for the parade!

This is princess Tiana and her prince. Harper said he would only talk to little princesses so he told her to get down. Once she did, he left her hanging!! He wouldn't kiss her hand like he said he would if she got down!! Man, little heart breaker!! Notice one of the girls covering her ears - the fireworks at the castle went off, so they didn't like the noise!

The ladies with Princess Tiana and her Prince

Jungle Cruise. This was a little scary, but they were all brave. The lady kept yelling stuff and boy oh boy Carly was listening to every word. She yelled for everyone to get down, I looked over and Carly was down let me tell you! So cute!

The girls said they would ride Dumbo this day, but we were at the carpet ride and we coaxed them onto it. Chloe was very nervous, but it was all or nothing!! And of course, they all loved it!! We rode this several times since it was late there wasn't a line!!

The castle at dusk was beautiful!

It changed colors

And here is the main attraction: ARIEL!!! This was by far a major thing! The girls really wanted to hug her, but this was good enough. Matt and I were relieved that they got to see her. We felt like we let them down since they didn't get to meet her. This was at the spectro magic parade.

Getting ready for fireworks. They were not happy, but they were brave. Hands over ears and we just held them. It wasn't so bad and NO CRYING!! Yippee!!

And here is Harper!! He didn't make it through the parade or the fireworks. He was just way too tired!

Meet to Nice You

We also met Princess Belle on the first day at Magic Kingdom. Harper Banks charmed her up as he took her hand, kissed it and said, "Meet to nice you!" Oh boy! What a little heart throb! He was a little nervous going to see her, so you can see in the picture that Carly took good care of him as she brought him up there. This was the only princess he actually got this close to. He attempted to do Princess Tiana on the other day, but he had second thoughts. I guess we will have to keep this picture for future embarrassing moments!!

On day 4, we just spent at the pool side. We had to attend a sales pitch for the resort, and once we said no, we got suited up and hit the water! It was very relaxing. We ate dinner right there and enjoyed our down day!

Disney Trip - Day 3

We finally made it to the princess castle!! They have been waiting since January and it was so exciting to get on the boat to take us to Magic Kingdom. Quite honestly, this morning we had some emotional ladies (exhausted from all the hype) but they seemed to brush it off once we got going.

This picture captured Chloe's excitement as she first sees the castle! Notice Harper's hands over his ears - she was so loud yelling about the princess castle. And Carly was in a Carly mood, so there was no expressions. She did lighten up and the 2nd day at Magic Kingdom she had a warmer welcome for the first sight of the castle. Oh well, waited for 5 months to see this expression, at least Chloe gave it to me!
We made it!! We are on Main street right in front of the castle. (Notice the seating arrangement of the stoller. This is how we made it through the long trecks. Harper in front, Finley in the back, Carly on top, and me carrying Chloe while Daddy pushed the buggy - you see, 4 kids is a piece of cake!) It was really windy, overcast, and hot this day. We were thankful for the clouds! We tried watching the little play that was going on when we walked up, but as soon as the let off some fireworks, the girls were done and ready to go onto something else. So we proceeded into Magic Kingdom and came across story time with Belle. They watched a few minutes and then when they had a dad from the audience be the Beast and he growled, they were done as well and were ready to go!! I then decided I needed to break the tension and get them on a successful ride - Cinderella's Carousel! Eureka! It worked. We were all smiles after that. Then Matt got them an ice cream to cool them off, but gave it to them in the hot sun on the ground. Needless to say, the rest of the pictures they look horrible because they were covered in ice cream and cheesy poofs. We then took them all on It's a Small World. This was wonderful. Air Conditioned, relaxing, and we could all sit together. We also rode the Pooh Bear ride and Harper and I rode the Dumbo ride. We also rode the train that went around all of Magic Kingdom. Harper had a big smile every time the train tooted its horn. At 3:00 we saw the parade. They LOVED this and waved the entire time to everyone they saw. The main highlight was Ariel. Chloe was wearing her Ariel dress and the float came by with her on it. She was waving to everyone, but when she saw Chloe in her dress, Ariel started smiling and waving excitedly. OH BOY!! That made her vacation!! "Ariel waved to me!" Priceless!

We then went and met Sleeping Beauty. The girls each brought a costume so they could wear them to see the princesses. They were so excited to see them. They had such big smiles and were ready to talk to them. They answered all the questions they had for them. I loved watching their excitement.

With Cinderella!

Finley too!

On the Pooh Bear Ride

Dwindling energy! But we wanted to make sure we at least got one picture of them.

Harper was so excited to ride these race cars. Carly drove one round with Dad and Banks. Then Chloe took the boys for a lap.

Then it was time for Daddy and his girls. Can you believe that in 11 years (well I guess 10 for permits) we will be taking these type of pictures in a real vehicle! Scary!!

On the way back to the car! Chloe was done. We stayed from about 10 to 6:30 this day. It was exhausting, but the girls managed it pretty well. There were very dramatic of course getting to the car!!

Carly and her serious look. She was concentrating so hard to be tough but exhaustion was setting in fast!

Disney Trip - Day 2

We left our hotel around 9:30 the next morning and we only had a little over an hour left to drive. We got to the resort and our room was ready!! So we actually got in another day because it was ready so early. We stayed at Orange Lake Resort (Kris has a time share so that is how we found the place). Our room was a 2 bedroom condo and it was spectacular!! Even the window sills were granite. It just opened in January, so it was top notch. I was very pleased. So we unpack and through on bathing suits. The kids had a blast. For some reason we didn't take a picture of the girls opening their presents, but we brought some birthday gifts with us. They opened an Ariel pool doll, so they were in their own world playing with those. After the pool, we went to Downtown Disney to walk around and go out to eat (that story will be posted under the picture). That night, Chloe gave Carly a gift that she bought her. It was Tinker Bell pj's with a wand and slippers (of course she bought herself a matching set). Chloe was so excited to give her that present, she couldn't contain herself. Carly LOVED it! I then gave them one last gift from Matt and myself. It was an Ariel dress! Oh boy have they been sweating this dress. They were excited that they would be able to wear it at the castle. We then hurried up, bathed them all, and put them to bed so they would be rested for their big adventure to the castle!

Here is Harper swimming like a turtle - not a fish!! He refused to be called a fish!
At Downtown Disney we wanted to take them out to eat at the famous Rainforest Cafe! We were excited to go out to eat here. They all really like the animals and decorations. So we walked in and were waiting to be seated. The kids were checking out the fish in the tank at the entrance, when all of the sudden, it began to storm. Now, these kids have never even mentioned thunder before. I have never even told them about thunder, because I don't want them to be scared of it. Well, at the Rainforest Cafe every 30 minutes it storms, the elephants move and blow their trunks, the gorillas make noises, etc. It was loud, but my kids screams were even LOUDER!!! Oh boy!!! Their hands went on their ears and they were crying and screaming. I took the girls to the bathroom while Matt sat down with Harper and Finley. (At this point the loudness was all over) I got the girls calmed down and explained to them that the elephants were loud but it was over. They calmed down and stopped crying but they would not take their hands off of their ears. We went back to the table and sat them down and try to talk them through it. Wasn't happening. I wasn't going to torture the kids the entire time we were there, so we decided to leave. I really wanted to eat there, but they just couldn't handle it!! So where did we end up eating at Downtown Disney - Yup, that is right, McDonald's!!! Oh I wasn't excited by any means, but it was fast, cheap, and tear free. The things you sacrifice for your kids - Geez!!

The kids wanted to take their pictures with all these statues (we have all of them, but I just couldn't post them all). Well we came across Lucky (Carly's favorite animal is a poodle and a dalmatian). Well Carly wanted her picture taken alone with the dog. Harper and Chloe jumped right in. So out comes the Cheese and all her glory! This picture is so Carly!! She is either grinning from ear to ear or working out all her issues internally. Here she is working it out to herself. I am sure anyone who has been around Carly long enough has seen this side of her! You just have to know how to work her. I got her guard down and I did take a picture of her and Chloe smiling, but I had to post this one. It just show off the Cheese!!

One of the MANY statues.

Lego land - Of course Carly is on the Dalmatian -Harper is on the dog that looks like his Brutus stuffed animal - and Chloe is on the basset hound (when she was a baby we called her hound dog). These were built solely of Lego's - pretty neat.

Disney Trip - Day 1

We departed for our Disney adventure on Wednesday, April 28th around 9:00 am. We made great time and stopped only 2 times (not too bad with 4 kids). We had a picnic lunch at some SC state park so the kids could get out and run around. It was rather chilly though. We got to Ormond Beach (just north of Daytona) around 5:00 and we went out to eat at Cracker Barrel. We then took the kids to the beach! This was Finley's first time at the beach. Too bad we couldn't have done the whole messy 9 yards with buckets and swim suits, but they enjoyed running around just as much. We then went back to our hotel for the night. I have decided that hotel life just really doesn't suit us well. All 6 of us crammed up in a little space is kind of tight. We had 2 beds (ours and the girls), Harper had a cot, and Finley had a crib. We were doing hurtles over bodies, but it was fun!! When we put them to bed, Matt and I just sat in bed and did emails!

We made it!
Chloe built herself a castle

Daddy and Finley

Mommy and Finley - Finley was funny. She liked to stick her tongue out in the breeze. She kept doing it (but of course I didn't upload one of those pictures). We also put her feet in the sand and she liked it. Not like when Carly and Chloe first went to the beach. We couldn't get their toes in the sand and they just screamed!! Finley looks like she won't mind at all!

Manicure

So the big day finally came. The day of the manicures! I had two very hyper girls with me. They couldn't contain their excitement. I did have to tell them that we wouldn't paint each nail a different color! They have been wanting a rainbow manicure - I guess they just couldn't decide on a color, but we settled on pink for us all. My little girls are growing up and it is really fun to do some big girl things with them.

Chloe getting her toes done. She got to go first.

Carly drying. She just smiled the whole time.

The lady even added a little flower on both of their thumbs and big toes. They thought it was so special.

The finished product! I am so proud of my girls!! Way to go quiting that thumb sucking habit!