Disney - Traveling, Our House and Random Fun Vacation Stuff!

 

(Hazel told me she was all packed and ready to go to the airport.  This is what I found when I opened her suitcase to check for myself.  LOLOLOL!)

Two weeks ago we were in Florida soaking up the sun, the warm, the pool, Disney, family time, and a chance to get away from the daily life (and cold of Feb in Illinois!).  We'd planned this trip back in the summer of 2021 and surprised the kids with it for Christmas.  Spoiler alert - we got COVID while we were there...but we're doing just fine...and I don't regret a thing!

I'll share about our time in the parks in a few other posts but today's post is really just a roundup of all of the fun non-park pictures and activities.  We had a great time and I wish we could go back in time to when we were just starting out on our adventure.  Joey and Andy flew out of Peoria, closer to their house.  We flew out of O'hare.  Mom and Dad and Dan all drove (leaving on different days) and even Erin joined us for part of the week!  Mom and Dad rented a perfect 6 bedroom house for us in Kissimmee that was just minutes away from the parks.  The house had it's own pool (which we got a LOT of use out of) and a bigger clubhouse near the main gate that included bit water slides, a splash pad, a game room and all sort of amenities the kids loved.

I have to say, it sure was nice traveling with Ryan and his fancy flight status!  After nearly 2 years of traveling almost every week, he's reached priority status on United meaning we get to fly extra bags for free, get free snacks on the plane, get to board early and get seats closer to the front of the plane.  I can't wait for Jamaica!  We're flying first class and it'll be the first (and maybe only?) time I get to experience that!

The pool at the house was a huge hit.  Mom and Dad gave the kids all sorts of blowup toys for the kids for Christmas and I almost wonder if the kids would call THOSE the best part of the trip.  My personal favorite was the rainbow hamster wheel....it was fun seeing all the creative ways the kids used that one.

The weather in FL was a little bit of a roller coaster - though we had exactly zero rain so I will not complain one ounce!  We had a wide range of temperatures though, from around 45 in the am on Monday when we were headed into Disney to around 85 on Friday afternoon when we sat poolside watching the kids run through the water slides.  In stark contrast to the heat when we last went to Disney - these temperatures were perfect for walking around the parks.  We were in the Magic Kingdom on Valentines Day and that day we all dressed in pants and sweatshirts. There were a few times in the afternoon, when we were sitting in the sun, that it felt warm enough to take off a layer or two but, for the most part, I stayed bundled up the entire day.  Even Ryan mentioned that he'd wished he brought his hoodie along that day - so you know it must have been chilly!

Our trip was a mix of parks and unplanned days.  Both our family and Joey's wanted to go to Magic Kingdom but in addition to that park we both wanted to do one other park day.  McGrath's wanted to go see Harry Potter (at Universal) and Bergthold's wanted to do Animal Kingdom.  And, my parents, bless their hearts, just wanted to do everything with everyone so we really ran them into the ground with activities.  It played out like this:

• Saturday: Travel day
• Sunday: Hang out and chill day
• Monday: Magic Kingdom (everyone)
• Tuesday: Animal Kingdom (not McGraths)
• Wednesday: Island of Adventure (Dan, Erin and our group, minus Bergtholds)
• Thursday: Clearwater Beach
• Friday: Hang out and chill day
• Saturday: Travel home

And, sadly, just like that - a full week of vacation is done and in the books.  Why do vacations go so fast and work weeks take so long!?

So - on our "free day" while a part of the group was at Animal Kingdom, we took the girls to their first ever mini-golf course.  It was right down the street from our house, and while the course itself left something to be desired (it was pretty run down once you got inside), the kids had fun...we all got a hole-in-one and it was a nice way to spend a few hours hanging out.

Abby and Dan were neck and neck for about half of the game, matching each other stroke for stroke, until Abby had a bad hole, got frustrated, and it was all down hill for her from there.  Ryan kicked all our butts though - not surprised.

Somehow I only got this ONE picture from our day at Clearwater beach.  The group decided to make the longer drive to the gulf in search of warmer waters and hopefully the opportunity to actually swim in the ocean.  But, in hindsight I wished we'd have done a tiny little bit more research.  The water was cold no matter which side we'd have gone to (58 in the Gulf, 61 in the Atlantic) and the extra drive time to Clearwater sort of didn't seem worth it in the end, but I think we were all glad to each lunch oceanside and at least dip our toes in the ocean.  It really was too cold to get in...though I think Ryan, Erin and Andy all got in waist deep.  I could barely get in up to my ankles before I felt like I was getting an ice cream headache from the cold - I'm a wuss though!

1 Family x 12 (Feb)

 

Some months it's just too hard to pick ONE family photo - and this was just one of those months!  Lots of stories to share coming up soon!

Family Ski Trip

 

Second (annual?) ski trip with friends is officially in the books and we're making progress towards Ryan's dream of making us a "ski family".  This year we rented the same house we rented last year with Jamie and Zach/Chris and Brenna but we changed up the group a bit and included Betsy and Pat (and, Lauren and Brian were going to join us too but COVID...blah!).  

We pulled the kids out of school after lunch on Friday (they loved that!) and made our way up to the house in the Dells area for an evening of swimming and Friday night fish fry!  We learned last year that the pool area was perfect for the kids - big enough that they had room to get the wiggles out and nearly empty on Friday evening.  We had a few Spotted Cows pool side, ate some fish and headed back to the house in time to catch the opening ceremonies of the winter Olympics.  Betsy and Pat came up a little bit later - it's harder to pull the teachers out of school early than it is to pull the kids :)  

Saturday was COLD - I'm talking -2 actual temp when we woke up on Saturday morning.  We weren't sure how long all of the kids would last out on the ski hill, but we fixed up breakfast and packed up sandwiches for lunch and headed out for a day of skiing.  Betsy and family had just returned from a trip to Colorado a week or two earlier and we hoped that Bradley and Brennan's confidence would rub off on the girls.  Having been to the same ski hill the year before we were 100% more prepared and informed for how things went meaning that we knew where to park (or rather, where NOT to park) and where to plop all the kids while us Mom's picked up the lift tickets.  It probably saved us at least 45 minutes of screwing around trying to get everyone ready and moving which was SO much nicer this time around.  

We skipped ski school this year too, figuring we could do a better job ourselves, or, at a minimum we'd wouldn't be WORSE teachers than the college kids they had last year.  We did 3 or 4 runs down the bunny hill (using the magic carpet) and then decided it was time to rip the Band-Aid off and see how it went on a real green run!  I took Hazel in my chairlift (and Bradley but he just jumped in for moral support for Hazel) and she was all about it until she realized that she wasn't just going to ride the chairs in a circle and that we were getting off the lift and skiing down.  Hazel, of the two, is the braver, more fierce kid!  She's usually willing to try new things and much more of a sport when it comes to conquering her fears - but, today she was not in the mood and no matter how hard we tried (and how good she actually was at it), she cried herself down the entire hill, and it only got worse when she took one tiny tumble and "twisted her ankle" and, in that moment, I knew she was done for the day.  

Abby on the other hand was a champ.  Afterwards she told me she was most nervous about the chair lift and once she'd gotten off without incident the first time, she wasn't really even that afraid of that anymore.  I have no doubt that having the Cunningham's along helped play a role in her confidence and willingness to try new things.  The boys were such good sports helping her and Stella long during the day and I know that Betsy spent more than a little bit of time giving Abby pointers and helping her along.  I'm so grateful that they were willing to come along on this trip.  

Lucy didn't fair well either - she did a few runs on the bunny hill but by 11 am she and Hazel couldn't continue with life without a snack (mind you we arrived around 10 - LOL!) so Jamie and I took the two littlest girls back to the car and gave up on making them try to ski this year.  Before leaving we drove to the closest parking lot, right near the bottom of the runs the group was on, and delivered everyone lunch (and a few beers).  We hung around, let the kids warm up in the car for a little bit and then Jamie, Lucy, Hazel and I went back to the pool and waited for the rest of the group.  I'd have never guessed that they'd make it all the way until 4pm but the adults said the kids were having a great time and I know it was good for their confidence for future trips.

I'm not sure how we didn't manage to get a family picture of the Cunningham's!  Betsy - how did we let that happen!?  Next year we'll fix that!  All in all, I think the weekend was a success.  Funny because we had this very "winter" activity last weekend, and, just 6 short days later we're headed to Disney!  January was quiet for us...but February is chalk full of fun family goodness.  

Winter Crafting

 

I'm here with an official roundup of the crafts I've been working on over the past few months - including a lot of knitting and even some quilting thrown in there.

I came across this pattern and yarn in late September/early October and I knew they'd make perfect Christmas gifts, but that I needed to get working or I'd never finish them in time.  I have a rule about my craft projects.  I'm allowed one knitting project and one quilting project at a time and I can't buy NEW supplies until I finish the projects I've started.  It keeps me moving forward and stops me from having piles and piles of supplies for projects I never start because the excitement passes before I can even start the project.

So, even though that's my rule, and I still had a blanket on my knitting needles, I put that aside for a few months so I could work on these mittens.  They turned out great, and actually knit up pretty quickly.  I made a total of three pairs - one for Mom (blue), one for Jennifer (purple) and one for Sue (green).  

The pattern and yarn are by Purl Soho (one of my go to brands).  The pattern was called Celestial Mittens and had the option for fingerless (which I chose) or a full glove.  The colorwork is beautiful and keeps you thinking (and counting) as you knit.

I finished these sets just a few days before Christmas so they were ready to gift without me having to give out one glove and an IOU - but, this year I'm starting earlier!  In fact, against my rule for the second time, I just ordered 4 skeins of yarn for what just might end up being Christmas presents for next year.  We'll see how the first one turns out but I sure will feel smug if I've already got hand made items tucked away 10 months before Christmas.

And, on the quilting front - above is the first quilt I've made since 2020!  In 2020 I quilted soooo many things that somehow I lost my steam.  I remember that it took me a long time to find an inspiring pattern and fabric, but I bought the kit for this quilt back in the summer of 2021 and it sat in the basement waiting for a moment of inspiration that just never came.  Back around Thanksgiving I started cutting fabric and then I packed up this project for the holidays (because my quilting table became the train table for the Christmas season).  But, in January I finally decided I was in the mood to quilt and honestly, this might be one of my all time favorite quilts!  The pattern is made almost entirely of half square triangles (HST) which are a relatively easy block to make.  It's the layout and the wide array of colors that makes the quilt so interesting.  I liked it so much that I actually just placed and order to make another, in a totally different colorway.  

The pattern for this quilt is called Begonia and the fabric is from a line called Speckled by Rashida Coleman-Hale.  The finished quilt size will be 72x72 - PERFECT for a lap blanket.

But, before I can start on that I have to finish this second quilt I had planned (see, I've been breaking my one project at a time rule quite a bit lately and the guilt is pushing me to finish some things up!).  This quilt will eventually be for our bed in the summer time - our second bed quilt.  I love the colors (light greens and creams) and while it's really hard to see in the pictures below it's a mix of solids and prints.  The block themselves are pretty slow going.  Each color combo makes 2 blocks and it takes me about an hour to piece together a color set.  The entire quilt has 30 something blocks in it and right now I'm about 1/3 of the way through them.  The good news is though, once the blocks are done it'll be quick from there.  Each block is around 16 inches so I'm working through the time consuming piecing now, but once all 30 blocks are assembled it'll turn into a big queen sized bed quilt pretty quickly.

I'll fully finish this quilt before starting on the second Begonia quilt I have on order.

And - last but not least...the knitted blanket I've been chipping away at since we returned from Yellowstone.  And, guys, it's not like I haven't been working on this!  Other than the few months I took off to knit up those Christmas gloves, the blanket has been my crafting focus for nearly 6 months!  It's going to be perfect for summer.  It's light, knitted on size 3 needles, I'm currently in that stage where it feels like you knit and knit forever and the blanket never grows and the yarn doesn't disappear.  But, I think I'm about to turn the corner where all of a sudden you're nearing the end and you can see all of your hard work coming to life.  

It's admittedly slow going, but come on!  It looks amazing!  I'm really proud of this one.

1 Family x 12 (Jan-ish)

 

While technically this picture is from this past weekend (in early Feb), we're going to call this our Jan family photo because sometimes (often) when Jan rolls around, after the go go go of the holidays, I just want to do less!  So, January was relatively quiet for us.  But February!  We've got a lot going on this month and I can wait to share all of our adventures.

A Spa Day Birthday Party

 

This past weekend we celebrated Stella's 8th birthday with a hotel/spa day party.  When we were kids there were a few years when our two families booked hotel rooms "in the city" (read: probably Schaumburg) during these cold winter months.  Our parents found a hotel with a pool and us kids were so excited to go somewhere where we could swim and get the winter wiggles out.  

Stella has a January birthday so I think it was only a matter of time until Jamie planned a birthday party this this.  She rented two adjoining hotel rooms and we put the littles in one, and us two adults in the other.  She picked up face masks and hand creams and foot masks for us adults.  We painted nails and did temporary tattoos - you know, what little kids think of as a spa day!

The kids swam until they were cold...we ordered sushi and chicken fried rice.  They watched a movie and stayed up late and all in all, I think they had a great time!  

Hazel was particularly excited about her "pickles" which she kept on her face for roughly 1 minute before she asked if she could eat them.  

The next morning we let the kids swim again - mostly to waste some time before breakfast and also so we wouldn't a second call from the front desk asking us to quiet down.  After swimming and packing up we headed to brunch and then to get Stella's ears pierced.  Both my kids thought she was insane for wanting to get hers pierced.  Originally Jamie thought they kids might all do it together, but I knew there was exactly zero chance that either Hazel or Abby were interested in that.  They are scared of it and I'm not pushing it!  I'm fine having one less thing to manage (for now).  

All in all, I think Stella had a great time and it'll be an evening the kids will remember for awhile.  

Hazel's next two teeth

 

 About two weeks ago Hazel came up to me saying "Mommy I have a new tooth!"  And, sure enough, right there behind her other teeth a little shark tooth had emerged.  The trouble was, the teeth in front weren't even the tiniest bit wiggly.  So, to the dentist we went!

This sweet little peanut is very much the opposite of her sister when it comes to losing teeth and the dentist.  Two years ago she was already mortgaging her future tooth fairy money so that she could buy things.  She pulled out her first tooth within 24 hours of realizing it was wiggly.  So, when I told her we had to go to the dentist and they might pull out her tooth so there was room for the new one to move in her response was "Yay, now I get more money".  Keep in mind, we're about 2 weeks out from Disney right now and the kids are already dreaming of the things they'll be able to buy there, plus we just implemented a new chore list with allowance so the kids are very coin focused right now.  LOL!

Hazel did great!  The dentist pulled two teeth, the one on the bottom where the shark tooth came in and a wiggly one on the top that was hanging on by a thread.  I figured as long as we were there, just get it out so we could move on!  They had to numb both her top and bottom gums and she didn't even flinch when the poked her!  The top tooth came out and they might not have given her enough numbing medicine up there because she asked "Can we be done now?" so they gave her a bit more on the bottom and a few minutes later the second tooth was out and not a single tear to show for it.  She didn't yelp or whine or anything - I was so proud of my sweet Hazel.

The tooth fairy pays extra for teeth that the dentist pulls - so Hazel had a big fat $10 bill under her pillow the next day and a new lisp to show for her two missing teeth.  Now we just have to convince Abby to be less worried about the dentist.  If only!