Spring Break 2013

(NOTE:  Lots of pictures and even a video, so give it a moment to load)

For the last few months, we’ve been planning an exciting trip to Orlando, Florida for Spring Break 2013.  Between Katelynn’s fascination with Disney Princesses  and “her castle” at the Magic Kingdom, and Todd’s & Carl’s desire to finally go to Legoland Florida… it’s been a trip we’ve all been looking forward to for quite sometime.

It started back in January when we told the kids we were going….

Unfortunately, as is almost always the case with Carl’s job, travel plans were tentative until the last minute – at least for Carl.  Since Carl was working away from Houston, it took a little coordination to get us all together.  On Saturday, the kids and I took off to drive halfway to Orlando, conveniently located at my parents’ house.  The 8-hour trip ended up taking 11 hours thanks to construction traffic in Louisiana.  At the same time, Carl drove the 6+ hours from the Valley to our house since he couldn’t leave work earlier.  Since the timing worked out, he attended the Chris Tomlin/Louie Giglio concert at the Cynthia Woods Pavilion.  He said the concert was awesome and Louie’s message was amazing, but it was weird to be there by himself.  Carl’s been going to listen to Louie Giglio since the Passion 2000 event 13 years ago.  Both Louie and Carl have gotten a little older since then!

Sunday, Carl flew from Houston to Orlando while my parents and I drove the rest of the way to Orlando.  There was definitely a lot of energy in the car on the way down.  Once we all got together, we settled into the vacation house we rented for the week (much cheaper than a hotel) and rested up for the long week.  Monday, we got to go to “Carl’s Disney World”… otherwise known as Legoland Florida.  There was a ton of stuff to do there and you didn’t have to be a Lego fan to have fun (but it helped).  Todd even went on his first real roller coaster ever (the ones at the county fair don’t really count).  After a full day of fun, we headed back to the house and met up with Carl’s sister and her family.  They were planning on coming to Disney for a few days anyway so they stayed with us so we could multiply the fun.  It’s hilarious when all the kids get together! 

US Capitol

Sitting in the Pirates' Treasure Chest

Iwo Jima

Welcome to Las Vegas

Ready to enjoy the day!!

Panoramic of the Kennedy Space Center

Statue of Liberty

DC Highlights

Lego Imperial Soldiers

Pedal, Pedal, Pedal!!!

Ready to Drive

Not looking where he's going

Florida State Capitol Building

Inside the shark's mouth

Riding the second floor of the doubler-decker carrousel

Mommy is actually letting him drive

Getting ready for Todd's first real roller coaster ride

Tuesday was the Magic Kingdom – Part 1.  Although Todd had been to the Magic Kingdom three times before, Katelynn’s expression upon seeing “her castle” for the first time was priceless.  The sheer emotion of excitement on her face couldn’t have been more genuine.  First order of business was to get Katelynn’s silhouette cut out by Jim.  Those of you who have been to Disney World know there is a place where someone will cut out your portrait on black paper and paste it onto a white background.  Jim, who has worked at Disney for 26 years, cut out Carl’s silhouette when he was a little boy and cut out Todd’s a few years ago.  Now it was Katelynn’s turn… and Jim did an amazing job as always!  We spent much of the day traversing Main Street, Frontierland, Adventureland, Liberty Square, and Tomorrowland.  We competed against each other on the Buzz Lightyear ride, braved the dangers of a jungle boat ride, and road a magic carpet.  Katelynn got to meet a bunch of the characters and lit up each time she got to get an autograph – truly adorable!  At the end of the day, we connected back up with Rachel’s family, had dinner and watched the electric parade from a distance.  Then we found a place that wasn’t too crowded to watch the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom.  We found out why it wasn’t too crowded when the trees blocked our view, but it didn’t seem to faze the kids any.

Hanging out with Poppaw

"My Castle"

Meeting Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Meeting Cinderella 

Meeting Rosetta the Fairy

Talking with Tinker Bell

Meeting Tinker Bell

Meeting Rapunzel 

New night time laser show

Night time Electric Parade

Wednesday, we went to Epcot and saw “the big golf ball”.  There aren’t as many rides there, but we still had fun.  Now that Todd is taller than 44 inches, he can ride all of the rides as long as one of us rides with him.  We went on Mission:Space where we simulate a trip to Mars… and my daredevil son chose to go on the rougher ride (there are two options for that ride – a smooth ride – which really isn’t exciting, and a rough ride where you get spun around and feel the force of gravity).  Todd loved every minute of it!  We also got to see more characters and enjoyed some chocolate mouse from the French Bakery in “France.” 

Meeting Belle 

Family picture with "The Boss"

Loving the chocolate mousse  

Wearing the chocolate mousse

The "Big Golf Ball"

Meeting Minnie

Meeting Pluto

Epcot at night after a long day

Thursday was a very early day, leaving the house at 7AM in order to make a breakfast reservation with some very important friends!  Katelynn and Todd had a blast!

Ready for breakfast

Excited!!!

The view from our table

Waiting for friends 

Meeting Chef Mickey

Meeting Chef Goofy

Meeting Chef Donald

Giving Minnie lots of hugs

Even Mommy got in on the fun!

After breakfast, we went to Disney Hollywood Studios and while there aren’t too many rides and attractions for little ones, the ones they have are amazing!  Katelynn loved the Beauty and the Beast show and the Little Mermaid show (where they cram a 2 hour movie into a 20 minute performance).  She also had a blast at the Disney Junior show where you get to dance around with the characters from Disney Junior.  Todd loved the new Toy Story ride… and so did the rest of us!  The Buzz Lightyear ride at the Magic Kingdom used to be our favorite, but this one was much more fun! 

Beauty and the Beast

The Grand Finale

Waiting for a show to start with Daddy

Princess Sofia

I like to call this "Katelynn takes on the world"

Under the Magic Hat

We finished up early, which was good because the kids (and my parents) were exhausted and needed their rest for Friday.  And even though we were tired, Carl and I decided to spend some time together Thursday night.  We were planning on doing Downtown Disney until it clicked with us that we already paid for parking at Disney and had “park hopper” passes… so why not do “Date Night” at the Magic Kingdom.  Talk about an awesome date – completely with castles and fireworks.  It was nice to be there without any distractions (i.e. kids) and we reminisced about how nice it was 7 years ago when we were there together before kids.

Friday was the Magic Kingdom – Part 2.  We knew the kids would have a lot of things to do in Fantasyland, so we spent the majority of our time there.  Luckily, the FastPass system at Disney World made it possible for us to do all of the rides in Fantasyland, as well as Space Mountain in Tomorrowland, with little or no wait.  Todd got to watch the Captain Jack Sparrow show and was called up on stage to learn how to become a Junior Pirate!  And since Katelynn was asleep during the nighttime electric parade the first time and we had bad seats for the fireworks show, we got do it all over again.  Katelynn loved the electric parade, bouncing up and down to the music on Carl’s shoulders the whole 30 minutes.  And we were able to find a spot right in the middle of Disney to see the fireworks, which Todd loved watching from Carl’s shoulders.

Amazing what they can do with PhotoShop these days!

Family picture in front of Cinderella's Castle

Learning how to be a Pirate from Captain Jack Sparrow

Getting his Junior Pirate certificate

Todd with Pooh and Tigger

Katelynn meeting Pooh and Tigger

Riding "it's a small world"

Riding on the Regal Carrousel

Saturday, we packed up, dropped Carl off at the airport (since he had to get back to work down in the Valley) and headed back to Pensacola.  Of course, the ride back had a lot less energy, having expended much of it in Orlando.  It was definitely a Spring Break to remember!!!

South of the Border... (well, almost)

What do you get when you add up: (1) Carl going on a work trip within Texas and (2) a long weekend?  Answer:  A mini family vacation!

The work trip is taking Carl down to the Rio Grande Valley for a few weeks, so we tagged along and turned Carl's work trip into a mini family vacation and had tons of fun doing it!  It was great getting the opportunity to see a part of Texas we've never seen before.  If nothing else, it was an opportunity to continue our never-ending endeavor of explaining to Todd about how big of a state Texas is (he still has trouble realizing Dallas, Houston, and now McAllen are all in the same state since they are all so vastly different).

Friday was just a weird day for me.  Our fun started with the 380 mile drive down to McAllen, Texas.  Carl was the lucky one since no one could ride with him in his truck, so I had both kids in the car with me (thanks, Uncle Sam, for your rules about government vehicles... ever think Mommy would like a break?!).  Of course, no sooner did we pull out of the driveway and got 2 miles away did we remember we forgot something.  I mean, after all, it wouldn't be a road trip without forgetting something, right?  And while there really isn't much in the way of terrain between Houston and McAllen, I want to take this opportunity to refuse to comment on any professional contacts I may or may not have had with the fine folks from the Texas Department of Public Safety (c'mon Trooper... 3MPH over the speed limit, really?).

We got to the hotel, checked in, and got all settled into Carl's room.  It's really nice he's a member of the hotel's rewards program - he always gets nice rooms whenever he travels.  This time, he got a top floor, 2 room suite.... LUCKY!  Saturday, we traveled down to Brownsville to visit the Children's Museum.  The Children's Museum was a ton of fun!  Going to Children's Museums is like becoming a kid again yourself.  There's so much to do and explore.  It wasn't really too crowded, so that was nice as well.  The Children's Museum of Brownsville has a bunch of exhibits for the kids, including a kiddie medical center where the kids learn about the human body, a small scale H-E-B grocery store where the kids learn about foods and the different food groups, a small fishing boat where the kids learn about marine life, and a construction zone where the kids learn about buildings and architecture.

Learning about magnets

Loves to drive fast!

Building a house

Chef Katelynn loves to cook!

Gone Fishin'

Learning about the food groups... by shopping

At story time... letting us know she's having fun

After the Children's Museum, Carl did his best to fulfill one of Todd's requests.  Todd wanted to go to Mexico since he's never left the country before.  However, given the current dangers in Mexico, Carl showed us a park he visited last time he was down here and got us as close to Mexico as he could.  While at the fence, we each found a small rock and got a chance to throw a rock into Mexico.  That seemed to satisfy Todd for the time being.

Sitting together at the fence

Looking off into another world

No... they aren't trying to climb over!!

We finished up the day visiting the Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets... I was really looking forward to their Presidents' Day Sale.  Luckily, the kids (and Carl) hung in there, despite it getting unseasonably cold and had a good time.  The next day was our trip to South Padre Island.  Everyone has said SPI has the best beaches in Texas.  Coming from Florida Panhandle, where we have the best beaches IN THE WORLD, I was quite skeptical, but still wanted to see for myself.  It was still a little chilly, despite the temperatures being in the 70s thanks to a strong wind that never seemed to subside our whole time down there.  So we drove out to the beach and had a look.  While I can't say SPI beaches are as nice as Florida's, it was definitely a pretty sight!

South Padre Island

The beach... still a little too chilly to get in the water

Loving the beach

Having fun looking for shells 

Look at her hair... see how windy it was?

We got tickets to the indoor water park because we knew Katelynn and Todd would have a blast!  Of course, given the fact there was water everywhere, we don't have any pictures (didn't want to ruin the camera or phone).  But take our word for it... between the lazy river and the kids play area, a good time was had by all 4 of us!  So much fun, in fact, this was the result just 3 minutes after getting into the car.

Out Cold!

Sadly, we had to leave Carl in McAllen when we left today to come back to Houston.  Luckily, we got to see him before we left.  Even though it's a 3-day weekend and a federal holiday, he's on call (that's why he's down there)... and sure enough, he got called at 3AM.  He was able to slip out without waking the kids up, which was good.  I was only half asleep when he left, so I don't remember much about why he had to leave... something about saving the world from danger and making it safe for diplomacy.  All in a days work for my guy!!!!!!!

A Family Outing

Today, on a day off, we woke up very early and left the house before 7:00AM. Why you may ask??

ROAD TRIP!!!! 

It was off to Dallas we headed in order collect our belongings scattered all over the DFW Metroplex. You see, the movers aren't allowed to take certain items, and we didn't trust the movers/storage with some of our collectibles, so a friend of ours held on to them for the past several months. And the movers forgot to pack our BBQ grill, so another friend held on to that for us.   We traipsed around, going door to door, visiting and catching up with two sets of wonderful friends.

And while we were up in Dallas for the day, we visited an unfinished wood furniture store (since they are scarce in the Houston area) and got Todd and Katelynn some wonderful items we were needing for their rooms.  And since we rented a small trailer to haul our stuff back, we had room to bring it all!

But our quick visit to Dallas would not have been complete without two stops: Babe's Chicken for dinner and Braum's for dessert. Babe's Chicken is, by far, the best chicken place out there, but they only have nine locations around Dallas/Fort Worth.  And for those of you who have been blessed enough to enjoy the heavenly nectar called Braum's, you completely understand.  Braum's is a dairy based outside Oklahoma City.  They have stores only within a 300 mile radius to ensure the milk, cheese, ice cream, etc. stays fresh.  The milk is amazing and the ice cream is the creamiest, richest you've ever tasted!  Of course, we had to stop by Walmart and get some styrofoam coolers, making it a point to bring back two gallons of milk and two cartons of ice cream (yes, it's that good!).

After a long day, we made it back home well after midnight.  To all of our friends in the DFW area that we didn't get to meet up with, we're sorry we didn't get to see you this time.  But now we know the drive from Houston to Dallas isn't too bad (albeit a long drive), and we'll definitely be back.  Any excuse to get some more Braum's!!!

Forget Disney World... THIS is the greatest place on Earth

YUM!!!!

"DADDA... I WANT ICE CREAM!!!"

(This was the quietest 10 minutes of the whole day!!)

Surviving the Holidays...

Where do I begin???  The past 5 weeks have been extremely hectic but tons of fun.  The movers arrived November 26th, which just also happened to be Carl's first day of work at his new job.  That left me outnumbered 5 moving guys to little 'ole me.  Mimi and Poppaw graciously kept the kids for us in Florida in order for Todd not to miss school (and Katelynn not to get into every, single box during the unpacking).  We learned our lesson during the last move, when we let the movers unpacked everything.  They unpack the boxes and pile everything on the closest flat surface.  That left us with piles and piles all over the house and took us weeks to sort through.  It looks something like this...

They literally pile everything!!!!

This time, we decided to have the movers put all of the big stuff together and place the boxes in their proper rooms - a much better option!  After the movers left, I was surrounded by literally hundreds of boxes!  And of course, the previous movers didn't label the boxes well, so guest room boxes ended up in the dining room and kitchen boxes ended up in the garage.  I began the lovely task of unpacking boxes room by room... by room... by room.  While I worked the day away, Carl finished his first week of work.  It's safe to say he absolutely loves his new job and enjoys going to work every day.

One really cool thing that happened during my first week in Houston was I was able to meet up with a fellow blogger whom I've followed and corresponded with, but never actually met.  She and her husband (one of Carl's colleagues) had just moved to Houston the month prior to us.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, at the last minute (and the most inopportune time), she had an extra ticket to the Andrea Bocelli concert.  What an amazing concert and awesome opportunity to make a new friend in Houston!

After a week and a half straight of nothing but unpacking boxes and setting up the house, I drove back over to Florida to reunite with the kids and help get ready for our little man's 6th birthday.  Carl was able to fly to Florida for the big Spiderman-themed party at Triple Play (the local bounce-house play center).  Friends from school and church all had a blast bouncing to their hearts' content.  It's hard to believe we have a 6 year old, but we're very proud of how he's becoming a young man.

Ready to blow out the candles 

Loving the ball machine at the bounce house

Katelynn and I finished out the remaining week in Florida and then loaded up the SUV and car topper once again and began the 8+ hour journey back to Houston so we could finish up the house and start getting ready for Christmas.  Todd stayed behind for one more week to finish out the semester at his school and to participate in his school's annual Christmas Night of Recitation.  Our ride to Houston was going fairly smooth until I heard a weird sound on the roof of our car.  A big truck drove past us and started honking his horn and pointing at the top of our car.  I pulled over to find our car topper popped open along I-10.  Meanwhile, cars are passing us at over 70 MPH.  I was panicked, wondering what I was going to do when I looked ahead and saw a van pulling over in front of us.  A kind, young man got out of his vehicle and miraculously had a ladder with him.  He was so nice to assist us in closing the car topper.  Needless to say, I was thrilled (and thankful) for the good Samaritan who helped us out and it did my heart well to know there are still kind people out there.  (Luckily, Carl insists we strap our stuff down inside the topper when we use it, so nothing went flying out - and this is one of those times I'm thankful for his meticulous ways)!

Katelynn and I had five days to finish getting the house set up and ready for Christmas before Todd and my parents arrived.  This is the first time we have had a "stairs house" as Todd calls it (a 2-story home).  Todd's been begging for a "stairs house" for years now, and since 90% of the houses in the area fit that bill, it wasn't hard to fill his request.  Todd also happens to have the coolest room in the house.  His bedroom is on the 2nd floor and is almost the size of our master bedroom.  The original owners finished a portion of the attic, so his room is extra large with two huge storage closets.  Todd's room has plenty of space for lego building and even room for a desk for his "office."  Todd was ecstatic to say the least when he finally got to see his room.

Once the whole clan was in town, we decorated the tree and did some exploring in the area.  We've discovered numerous parks within walking distance of our house, including two small lakes.  Christmas was a lot of fun this year, especially with Katelynn being more aware of her surroundings and ecstatic about Christmas lights and ornaments.  A few days after Christmas, Mimi and I took Todd to the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker.  It was an amazing performance!  We had so much fun and even took some pictures with some of the characters.  While Carl was off of work, we squeezed in a visit to the Houston Space Center, Downtown Aquarium, and even went ice skating one night. 

Todd's letter to Santa - complete with phonograms
(and Santa's cursive hasn't looked so good in years!)

Summit of the climbing wall at a nearby park (Katelynn calls it a big cookie)

Our Pretty Princess...

... complete in heels

Houston Downtown Aquarium - Near the Sting Rays

Doing their best Tiger Impression

Todd with a few characters of The Nutcracker

Fearless Katelynn sledding at a church we visited
(they had fake snow for the kids)

Todd's first snow ball fight

Ice Skating with Daddy 

Family Picture at the Ice Skating Rink

On the tour at the Johnson Space Center

A group picture 

A panoramic picture of a Saturn V Rocket

Overall, it's been quite an eventful several weeks around here.  We are still learning our way around the area and meeting new people.  My parents were here for the holidays and returned to Florida a few days ago.  We've been attending different churches in the area and found one we really like, so hopefully we've found a church home - time will tell.  Todd starts a new school next week and Katelynn had started showing more interest in potty training, much to my delight (with the help of M&Ms).  We are excited to see what the new year brings our family and hope to be completely settled in soon.

Home at last...

We finally arrived in Houston and have a place to settle in and call home!