Baby's first...

I'm writing this blog post 11 months later, so we're kind of going to go back in time today.  Let's wind it back to May 22, 2014, boys....

Layla's "Bee School" graduation (the preschool coop we'd done with friends) at the Wanamakers.  Ezra had been teething and running just a touch febrile so I left him in his carseat during the festivities so that he would be less likely to spread any possible germs to the others.  He sat contentedly watching the preschoolers run around and sing their songs and have their snacks.  I was trying to get some food into my persnickety pregnant belly and I watched him curiously.  He seemed fixated on something but I couldn't tell what.  My spider-senses were tingling but I just didn't know what that was about.  I ate and chatted some more until I couldn't handle the tingling any more.  I asked my other mom-friends, "Does something seem weird about Ezra?"  Nobody seemed to notice anything so the conversation drifted away quickly but I kept observing.  He seemed to be fixated with his eyes up and to his left, and he almost seemed to be tremoring.  Was I imagining that?  I picked him up and held him.  He didn't change his gaze.  His hand was definitely shaking and tightened into a fist.  I called his name, touched his face.  No response.  My friends were now convinced that something was wrong, and I was too.  Kelcy ran to get her thermometer and his fever read 101 or something like that-- feverish but not crazy high.  My friends told me "don't worry, febrile seizures can be perfectly normal, but you should take him to see the pediatrician".

 I left Layla there with all the friends and I put my baby into his carseat and into the car.  I could hardly stand putting him down and then not even being able to see his face.  As I drove I could hear his breathing sounded strange.  I talked to him, told him to relax and not worry, mommy's still here.  I called Spencer and told him that I was rushing to the pediatrician and that this is not too unusual, but to keep his phone close until everything is resolved.  I got to the pediatrician and put my boy back into my arms.  I held him close although he didn't seem to melt into me the way he should.  Still no looking.  Stifled breathing.  Tremors, tightened fist.  I got to the front desk and tried not to break into tears as I blurted out, "I think my baby is having a seizure!"  The woman there told me I was very lucky because it was lunch break so nobody was with any patients and Dr. Hill would be able to see him immediately.

We rushed back to the exam room and Dr Hill (whom we love) came it quickly but calmly.  She evaluated him and assured me it was a seizure and that it's really not unusual.  She tested his blood oxygen level, which was way below the limit of normal.  His temperature had gone up, too.  In an instant he had a little, teeny, tiny oxygen mask on, which he took no notice of, and was given ibuprofen.  We waited and watched and discussed possible causes, and of course the fever was the most likely cause.  But as we watched, he continued.  That little fist stayed taut, the tremors and labored breathing continued, and the gaze never broke.  The problem was that febrile seizures are supposed to stop on their own, but, by the best of my calculations, we were about 30 minutes in and still going strong.  The assistants were sent to scour the clinic for anti-seizure meds, which they had once had on hand.  Nothing was found and so the paramedics were called.

And that is how Baby had his first ambulance ride.  I was so sick and so weak, but they carefully lifted us both in and took my bag and things for me.  They let me hold him in my arms the whole way and the paramedics were all calm and reassuring.  They had me hold his oxygen mask on while they gave him a shot with the medicine that is for seizures.  It didn't take long at all for his fist to relax, his eyes to close, and his breathing to return to a normal rhythm.  By the time we got to the hospital he was in a deep sleep but clearly not seizing anymore. 

Into the ER we went.  They put me into a wheelchair and let me continue to hold him.  In the ER he was hooked up to monitors and blood was drawn.  My phone battery was about to die, of course.  But I was able to keep Spencer updated as things happened.  It was a looong afternoon of tests and waiting for results and feeling completely depleted and weak and nauseous.  He slept deeply for most of it, although they kept waking him for tests and it was heart-breaking every time.   And then I'd have to try to get him to calm down in my depleted state in a brightly lit, sterile room with almost no comfortable surfaces, with tubes and needles in our way.  He was taken away for an MRI, which I couldn't attend bc of my pregnancy.  I waited helplessly outside the door, wondering if he knew I wasn't there.

baby's first MRI

After all results came back normal the attending physician said that the next step was to send him to the Children's Hospital, but that she really didn't want to do that since she knew how hard it would be on our family and that she didn't think it was truly necessary.  So instead they checked us in right where we were, so up we went to the pediatrics floor. 

baby's first EKG

The next 5 days were constant vitals-checks and IVs and frustrations.  We were blessed with mostly really wonderful nurses.  Even the ones that made me mad were still good and caring, they were just completely unconcerned that waking him up every 2 hours at night meant that I had to spend the next hour and a half getting him back to sleep, which was killing me and was surely not helping him to improve.  I feel pretty certain that, had they let him sleep it off, he would have gotten over the fever in half the time.  He didn't maintain a healthy temperature until Saturday night.  The results showed urinary, ear, and sinus infections ("although babies don't actually have sinuses", we were told.  Um, get your story straight, folks!)

happy to be playing but still attached to the IV stand...

  So Sunday he was perfectly fine and energetic and really sick and tired of being in the same small room with tubes in his arm tying him down.  We were so anxious to be sent home but they kept us one extra day just to milk us for all we had be safe.

Monday afternoon, Memorial Day, Ezra was finally discharged.  The nurse that I had loved the most and who had really made me feel heard and validated in my concerns and frustrations was there with me to help me get packed up and get on my way.  Spencer was on the lake with the girls and our friends, our annual Memorial Day tradition.  It was nice to have a quiet home to come back to and get settled.  It was really just nice to be home.  SO nice.

Discharged and it feels so good!

It's been almost a year and although he's had several fevers since, he has not had another seizure so far.  As you might imagine, he gets watched like a hawk if he even looks a little warm.  We are told by the doctors to medicate him as soon as a fever shows, even if it's a low-grade.  It's the breathing and lack of response to how much oxygen he was getting that makes me really nervous.  What if he does that in his crib? I can't bare the think about it, and I can't bare to put him in his crib if he's feverish.

You never see just how blessed and cared for and capable you are until something like this happens.  I'm so grateful that it was more of a pain in the rear and less of a life-altering event.  I'm so grateful for the glance into the world of hospitals and emergencies-- a little taste of empathy and understanding for families who's lives are changed during stays such as that.  And of course every person in town stepped up to love and serve our family.  Some men from our church that we didn't even know stopped by to check on us and brought my van from the Pediatrician's to the hospital for us.  Dinners and childcare and mowing the lawn.  Spencer's Aunt Dodie, who was in town visiting her own grandson came and spent a few hours at the hospital holding and soothing Ezra, so that I could rest and then go out to dinner for Tara's birthday surprise that I had planned.  We were so well-cared for! 

And of course, I'm grateful that the Lord blessed me physically to be able to do what I was supposed to do, and emotionally and spiritually to feel the peace I needed.  And to have an amazing husband who held it all together on the home front so that I could put my whole everything into worrying about supporting Ezra.

And that that's over with.  Sheesh.

MOMMY DAUGHTER DATES/Spring Break 2015

Spring Break.  Staycation.  Words that have oft sent chills down my spine.  The kind of chills that send me to the store for ten pounds of chocolate, a 12 pack of caffeinated beverages, play-doh and bubbles, and craft supplies en masse.  I was so afraid.  Kids, 5 of them, constantly needing me--exhausted and ragged me.  the kitchen, in constant use: breakfast, snack, snack, treat, lunch, snack, snack, tea party, treat, dinner, dessert, snack...  The constant bickering of kids in close quarters... Will we survive?  I am never sure.

Well, Spring Break kicked off with perfect 74 degree days.  The kids happily played outside all day and we saw all kinds of neighbors.  We had play dates, treats, surprise visits from dad... all the good stuff!  The days ended with a slightly messy (rather than totally trashed) house and a physically exhausted but emotionally sound family.  Success!  Add a little Flaming Lips into that mix and I felt like maybe I'd died and gone to Heaven!  I finally knew what the other moms meant when they were actually excited for school to be out.  We were having fun!

Each day (Tue/Wed/Thur) as soon as Daddy got home from work I packed up one daughter and took her on a special date of her choosing--one activity and dinner.  Almost every weekend Spencer takes the girls out on a collective Daddy Daughter Date, and he goes at least once a month to have lunch with the girls at school (one on one).  But I have maybe never taken them out to do something special individually.  This was a trial run, let's see what happens...

 Cadence was first, and she chose (with my prompting) Tennis and Tacos.  Neither of us have played much tennis in our years but since we have access to the tennis courts at the Walton Family Fitness Center, we could just go try hitting a ball back and forth.  And try we did :)  just before we left the house it started dumping rain and when we got to the courts there weren't any indoor courts available.  Cadence is no pansy so we decided to brave the weather and go outside.  It turned into the perfect evening for playing--the sun popped back out and the court dried up and outside was exactly where a person should have been.  We had so much fun serving the ball back and forth and chasing it around.  We laughed with eachother when the ball went in the opposite direction than we expected, we joked about how "good" we were, and she trailed the ball around with her racquet next to her foot saying, "heel, ball, heel" and then tried to train it to go straight to me.  I kept getting flashes of a familiar feeling, like I was out having fun with Mignon.  We wouldn't have had to be good at tennis to have a fantastic time.  This was a new thing, and made me really excited for the ages and stages ahead--something I haven't really been thrilled for as yet.

At one point, Cadence just walked over to my side of the court and wrapped her arms around me: "I'm having so much fun".   We had the chance to really enjoy eachother, and what a great moment it was.

We then went to a nearby Mexican place (Las Fajitas).  She was excited by how fancy it was (your typical Mexican place) and picked a taco plate to eat.  We shared a Pina Fanta and she was amazed at how delicious it was!  Then I introduced her to fried ice cream and we giggled together as we made a mess eating it.  She sparkled in all that undivided attention and we really had a good time together.  I talked to her about boys a little but she asked me after a few minutes if we could stop, she didn't really like that topic.  Haha, let's see how long that lasts.

The next night was Cambpell's turn.  Campbell chose to go swimming.  There was a tornado watch in effect and the rain was pouring down, so I wasn't sure they'd keep the pools (though indoor) open.  But they did and so in we went!  Campbell and I pretended we were mermaids--Ariel (me) and Marisa (Campbell).  We could choose whatever color of tail we wanted and change it whenever we wanted.  When I asked her what color of mermaid hair she had (I was planning on pink with sparkles) she said, "Can't you see? It's bwown.  It doesn't change."  I didn't want to plant any ideas about what she should or shouldn't think of her own hair so I dropped it.  Besides, I do already have mermaid hair :)  .  We got pool noodles and rode them like our dolphins.  We established our secret handshake (double-handed high five followed by the baymax version of a double fist bump). We went to the deep end (which she called the "dark side") and went "Mamping" (mermaid camping).  We had to go "charge our tails" first (I was confused but followed her lead, this meant to pretend to plug your tail into a cord and let it charge up like a cell phone) and then we went mamping.

 After our dolphin races and mampout were ended by the pool closing for the night, we got legs and went to dinner.  She wanted a ham-melt from Arby's so I told her I knew a restaurant that made even better ham-melts and we went to Panera.  Our mad dash across the tiny parking lot to the door of Panera resulted in two totally soaking went legged-mermaids.  Good thing we like water, being mermaids and all.  We shared a cup of chili and each got a sandwich.  She wasn't sure she'd like the ham-melt because it actually looked more like a sandwich but it was good!  We sat next to eachother rather than across so that we could snuggle and keep warm after getting drenched.  She hugged me and told me she wanted to do this all the time.  She said she didn't remember getting to play with me and that it was so fun.  She smiled so big I think my heart almost burst.  The sparkle in her eye was blinding.

The next day was a harder day.  It was too cold to play outside for most of the day.  I was burned out and run a little ragged.  The kids were more grumpy, too.  I finally busted out the Dr. Pepper.  I actually tried to teach them how to make my famous Georgia Peach Pie.  I am not that darling mother who loves to have her children in the kitchen with her.  I hate it.  I hate it like I hate using the same rags on the table that are used on the floor.  A lot.  I just can't handle the power struggles and the licking and nose picking and distraction from the recipe and the knives and eggs and licking and salmonella and hair and... it's just too much for this simpleton of a cook.  And so I decided that a pie collaboration was just what this chilly spring break day needed.  Just guess how that ended up...

But that night it was Little Miss Layla's turn.  Layla also chose swimming.  Layla has truly become the middle child and it took Spencer and I a few months to catch on.  She was the baby in our eyes and then BAM! two babies in a row and she's smack-dab in the middle all of a sudden.  She is often expected to be as mature as her older sisters and her needs often get second fiddle to the babies (not often, always).  So this was a really important night for her.  She was so excited!  I expected her to choose a make-believe theme like Campbell had but instead the night was filled with, "Mom, watch this!!" and, "Did you see that!"  And on and on it went.  All I had to do was clap and shout hooray and let her see how wonderful she was in my eyes and that sparkle I mentioned in her sisters, it came out in cats and dogs.  She did back flips and front flips and swam to the edge and back and back floats and belly flops and touched the bottom of the pool and more flips.  She made me nervous the whole time because she was constantly just barely keeping her face out of the water.  But it never seemed to bother her.  She kept saying, "This is so fun--I want my next one to be tomorrow!"  or "...on Tuesday!"  etc.

Layla chose to eat at Dickies (barbeque joint), where she already knew she wanted ribs.  Ribs!  What a big kid!  So I let her get a soda and ordered her some ribs and she informed me that I would sit next to her, not across.  So we sat together and gobbled our yummy barbeque.  She looked at me with the rib in her hands and sauce across her face, "Are ribs a kind of animal?"  "Oh, no, they are actually a kind of bone.  Look, even you have ribs, see?" and I poked her ribs.  A look of terror and shock spread across her face, "Do they take them from people?!"  She immediately felt better after I explained to her that they come from pigs.  She promptly scarfed down the remaining rib and loved every bite.  Then we ran to the nearby cupcake shop.  We were freezing and I joked, "It's sooo cold, I don't think we're going to make it!"  Ever the cheerleader, she responded, "Oh, yes we are, I KNOW we'll make it, I know we can!!"  We made it, guys. 

At the cupcake shop as we sat to eat our sweets, she told me that she thought the teen-aged clerk was very pretty.  I told her that she should tell her because that would surely make her feel very happy. We approached her for some extra frosting and then Layla asked me to deliver her message, which I did.  And the girl loved it, of course.  Then we sat back down and Layla whispered "I think everybody here feels special tonight, mom."  I could tell she was feeling all-around good.  We raced back to the car and had to head home.  She was beaming and her "bucket" was filled.  She hugged me and told me that she wanted to be just like her.  I hugged her and told her I wanted to be just like her.  "But, you don't want a funny tummy, right?"  Well, no.  And then I got her some tums and put her to bed.

 Today is Friday, the last day of Spring Break.  I'm tired.  So tired.  I'm behind of everything--housework, church stuff, etc etc.  But I've finally gotten a little ahead of things with my relationships with my kids and filling their buckets.  I think learning to share attention and learning to meet your own needs when you must are great for kids, but just as important is the lesson that regardless of how many other people there are to love, they matter.  They matter individually.  They are enough.  They are treasured and cherished.  And no matter how true you may know it is as their parent, they will only know it if you give them time.  What a treasure this week has been.   I can't wait to do this again sometime.  And what amazing kids we've been blessed with.

* I took more adorable photos and each kid took a few selfies with me, but for some dumb reason the pictures won't show up.  sad face :(

 

 

 

 

 

enjoying the ride

You know that quote that president Hinckley shared about life being like an old time train ride?  Mostly delays, sidetracks, jolts and smoke, with the occasional beautiful vista.  This was yesterday's beautiful vista:

I tried to have them reenact for a picture today, but Ezra wasn't really into it. His face!! Layla was (her face!).

5 year old layla standing on the plastic picnic table positioned about 5 feet from the couch. She is holding 19 month old Ezra as if he is a sack of flour, with both arms, hefting with all she's got, getting his feet barely off the table. She's slightly swaying back and forth toward the couch and saying, "think positive! Just be positive, Ezra! Think positive, and we can do it. Positive thoughts!"  she was positive they could make it to the couch together. He was positively not comprehending the plan and was sure to be dead weight.
I managed to break free of my trance that this over-the-top cuteness put me in with enough time to stop them before they got the positive thoughts knocked right out of them.  They moved on to the next adventure with out a single notice of the dangers I just helped them narrowly escape.  And I let myself count that as a good-parenting-point for me. After all, I've got to keep positive.

The Happiest Place On Earth (debatable) Pt 2: We just go for it.

(Spencer and I have a line we like to repeat.  A mantra, if you will.  There is an Andrew WK album called "I Get Wet" and we have surmised that the title is an answer to the question, "Hey, Andrew WK, but what will you do if it rains!?"   It's a philosophy that trying to prepare for life's storms is overkill.  It rains, we get wet, we laugh, we dry.  Hold on to that thought.)

And we're off!  It's a week after the broken leg, it's about 12 weeks into the pregnancy, and the van is packed and off we go!

The drive there was pretty smooth sailing and Spencer got to tell the girls all kinds of stories of his past as we drove through Georgia and Florida.

This is a picture of our campground a few days into the stay.  Look closely and you'll notice everything is wet...

Waiting at the bus stop to go from the campgrounds to the Magic Kingdom!!  I made the girls these blingy tiaras so that I could easily spot them in a crowd.  It was a winning plan if I do say so myself!

First character spotting! 

Obligatory castle pic

This little troupe of singers and dancers whisked our little invalid right into the show with the rest of the little people.  I was really impressed and touched that without giving it a second thought they treated her the same as any other kid.

A kid just cannot help but feel the magic, as you can see from Cadence's face

Rapunzel's tower

adorable baby!

Aunt Caitlin caught up with us as we were in line to meet Mickey Mouse.  She came bearing gifts and "made it rain" barf bags that she got from a generous stewardess for her sick sister-in-law (me!)  Why did it take 5  pregnancies to realize that barf bags are a purse-necessity!?

Ezra was cool and collected while meeting giant-headed non-human creatures that moved menacingly toward him for "kisses" and pictures. 

The girls got to participate in Belle's retelling of her romance.  What a step up from just standing in line to meet her!

Having a broken leg meant extra attention everywhere she turned.  Is there a better way for an aspiring princess to do Disney?

Campbell's official favorite ride: It's a Small World.  Spencer said to me while we waited, "Why don't we explain to them what this ride is about?"  "Okay," I said, "Girls, when somebody says, 'it's a small world', what do you think it means?"  I then broke into tears and couldn't finish.  Hashtag pregnant problems.

After getting a little drenched we stood in line for EVERRRRRR inside the very well air-conditioned princess meeting spot for Rapunzel and Cinderella it was cold and slooow and the baby was grumpy.  good good times.

Rapunzel was, true to form, adorably space-cadetted and even managed to knock invalid Layla right over during photos.  Funny, but not.

Would you just look at those faces as they look up at Cinderella?!  I hate to ever say this but that right there may have been worth the $40 billion dollars/day it costs to get in there.  And that was the end of day one: Magic Kingdom.  Back to the campground to hide from the rain in our tent.  We were so exhausted!

The next day was Animal Kingdom:

 This is Layla's face as she told me how she felt about not getting to go on the most exciting roller coaster of the day because she wasn't tall enough.  This cruel world is just not fair!

And here is Ezra, who cheers up immediately when a pink bow is placed on his head...

 Cadence was our proud photographer on our safari tour.

Later in the day the older girls wanted to return to Kali Rapids, a ride that had totally soaked Layla, who isn't supposed to get her cast wet, earlier.  So Spencer and I had the little ones and chanced upon a couple of friends.

Our Animal Kingdom day ended early with buckets of rain.  BUCKETS.  Unfortunately, that particular park had little to offer indoors, so we ran through the rain and waited for a bus to take us back to our campsite.  As we waited we thought, well, we can either go sit in the tent the rest of the day or we can try a different park.  So we hopped off the bus at Hollywood Studios, where we were greeted by a puddle who thought it was a pool.  After running away from the bus, through the pool-puddle, we were told at the gate that the park was closing early that night for a "private event".  We had 45 minutes to make this worth it.  We RAN.  RAN like the wind, through torrential rainfall.  We made it to the Star Tours ride where we found that Ezra wasn't allowed on the ride, which I was kind of ok with because 1) I was feeling pretty sick and din't think a ride would help, and 2) it was air-conditioned in there and we were soaked.  After the ride we RANRANRAN back to the bus, where we rode back in a well-cooled bus in our absolutely drenched clothes and found our tent and bedding to have not escaped our fate of moisture.  I broke down.  Exhausted beyond my limited, nauseous, weak, and cold, and needing a safe and warm and dry place to put my baby and little people, who were sooo tired.  I cried and yelled and insisted we find a hotel.  Spencer let me expend the rest of my energies and then he made everything work.  We got through the night and headed to Epcot the next day.

 The kids handled the craziness with grace and glee.  And Ezra, who was soaked and cold, was happy as a clam.  He entertained the whole bus-load of wet and tired and cold people.  Caitlin is the Master of Morale and kept the kids in good spirits come hell or high water or long lines in the heat of the sun.

 The Nemo exhibits at Epcot were fantastical!  I got smart and brought a small collapsible camp stool along and used it every chance I could.  People thought I was weird.  But I wasn't barfing on them or passing out and thereby freaking them out, so it was really for their benefit.

 In order to meet Minnie and Goofy we had to meet Mickey, again.  This was a little weird because he didn't seem to remember seeing us just the other day, in the other park.  Also, he couldn't talk like he could on Monday... a mystery...

 Goofy was super concerned about the broken leg.  "Gawrsh!" he signed on the cast :)

 This one of Cadence and Minnie is one of my favorite moments.

 Minnie noticed Caitlin and the baby hanging out in the background and wouldn't have it.  She dragged them into the fun!

 We got in line to meet Alice and were told that we were the last in line and that no others may join the line.   When we finally got to the front of the line, Alice took the girls by the hands and in a crazy, silly-talking Wonderland-way, took them on a walk to see the gardens and talk about the tea-party she was headed to.

 They found some bugs to name and talk to.

 I may be sick and pregnant but I've still got some moves!  We're every bit as in love as those shrubs are.

 

 

 As our walk through Epcot took through the far corners of the world, we noticed a very short line forming before our eyes.  When you are at a Disney Park and you witness the birth of a line, it behooveth you to get in that line before it turns into a monster.  Just trust me.  So we did.  And it was a line for Aladdin and Jasmine.  And they did NOT disappoint.  Now, the line formed about 45 minutes before they were even there to start meeting people, but it was still better to be in the front of that line.

 This was by far my favorite character meeting.  They were so absolutely engrossed in making our kids feel like they were the only ones there.  They sat down with them and learned what their favorite colors were, what they liked to do at home, told them about riding a magic carpet, and made sure that they had a marker in the color of their choice to sign autographs.  They were the best!

 I think this was Norway...where Elsa and Anna had been a couple of days before, but the website hadn't updated and told me that they weren't going to be at Epcot  anymore.  Geez louise!  Oh, well, the line would have been 7 hours long either way, so what does it matter?!

Each day, at least once or twice, I would take a little sit down whilst everybody else continued doing the things you do in a place like this.  It was during one of these sit-downs at Epcot that 1) it began to pour, again, and 2) they found Mulan!

 

 After riding the Viking Ship to get out of the rain and then hiding out in the lobby of the Viking ship/movie viewing area until the rain let up a little (it didn't), we ran like crazy to a cold bus where we sat soaking for our ride home to our wet tent (sound familiar?)  But this time we got to meet up with Mammaw and go out to Pizza Hut, where the AC was also blasting :)!

 The next day: HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS! 

 The tower of terror is meant to be as terrifying as it sounds-- and Cadence and Layla loved it and wanted to go again and again!  Notably, Campbell, who does NOT love roller coasters, agreed with little outside persuasion to try it at least once and then reserve the right to not go again if she didn't want to.  And that is exactly what happened :)

 Hey, Spencer? What will you do if it rains?

 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN....  How appropriate...

 This was another one of those times when I took a few minutes to be on my own and sit still for a while, so I don't really know what was the cause of all these cute happy faces but they sure are adorbs!

 A Bug's Life Playground:

 At the campgrounds there were nightly campfires and smores, hosted by Chip and Dale.  As soon as I realized it wasn't Chippendale, I was out...oh, no... that's not funny...  I was just too sick and tired so the baby and I went to bed while everybody else went to have some fun.

 The next morning was Ezra and I flew home while Mammaw, Caitlin, Spencer, and the girls stayed for one more day at the Magic Kingdom.

 

 MERIDA!  A favorite in this home of spirited girls!

 Stitch!  Not my favorite choice for a role-model but...it takes all kinds, eh?

 That morning the goal was to see Anna and Elsa.  The first day the line had been 5 hours long, so this time, the plan was to be first into the park and to RUN RUN RUN straight to where the Princess Meeting Place was, and then hope to be in a 2 hour line. They were at the gates 30 minutes before the park opened. Then they ran.  RAN!  And guess how long that line was?  Seven.  Seven hours?!  Who pays 85 bucks a person to get into the park to literally stand in line ALL day!?!  So the girls walked away and had a fantastic day anyway. 

 As a parent, you know you've done your job well when you see a moment like this:

You've worn them down completely with memories of happiness and magic dancing through their cute little brains.  Yes!

And so ended the Magical Week of Disney, the Happiest, Craziest, Wettest, Most Expensive, Magicalest Place on Earth!


EPILOGUE:  It's nearing a year out and Spencer and I look back at this trip and high five-- hardest family vacation ever? Yes.  Chock full of magic and memories?  Heck Yes.  Worth it? Aaaah, yeah!

Here are a few things that I want to mention that pictures didn't show-- 

--I wish we had pictures of our Disney Lunches, where we found a few tables or benches and whipped out our peanut butter, Jelly, and bread. 

--I also wish we had photo documentation of the loads and loads of laundry that needed to be washed and dried because of the rain getting into the tent and making everything not only wet and cold, but stank-nasty, which is poison to a pregnant nose. 

--No pictures of the kids exploring the campground with the neighboring campers' kids.  Or the little boy who wanted to show me every single one of his pokemon cards while I tried to make dinner and take care of the baby.

--I remember being amazed at a few things I noticed-- who are these parents that will spend hundreds of dollars for their little girls to go to a "Princess Salon"?  And buy their kids the $70 princess dresses?  ETc?  There are a million ways to throw money out the window at Disney and EVERYBODY seemed willing to do it...why? How?

--Another thing I noticed was how friendly people were. We were all there to be happy, and so happy we would be. 

--Here's what I think we'd do if we do it again-- camper-trailer.  That way we still get the experience of camping without being soaked.  sheesh.

--Please forgive my hair.  I was too sick and too busy to get it fixed.  I did consider wearing a blond wig but was afraid my girls wouldn't be able to spot me in a crowd.