we are the sheppards

baseball team picture

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 16:12:00 +0000

yankee baseball // may 29, 2014

this is likely one of my most favorite pictures ever. this picture was shot last thursday following ben's baseball game.

getting 12 boys to line up, sit still and face the field is no simple task.

after a little in unison yelling from all the parents we were able to get this shot.

i love it.

this is a great group of kids from our community. most, if not all, of our team were already friends or acquainted. they've done very well as a team.

ben is number 8 - yogi berra. in fact, each teammate is an old, retired, famous yankee player. if i am correct, we are the only team at this level who did this. all other teams have the players real last name.

this is one picture that needs to be printed and framed!

tough kids

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Tue, 27 May 2014 17:40:00 +0000

a friend, fellow purdue grad, mom of a classmate, fellow scout mom, fellow bowler and an all around great person has the support of our community (although it feels like the world) behind her.

mrs. lynch is battling her second battle with breast cancer.

i did not know summer during her first bout. i met her two summers ago; however, our relationship did start to grow until late last summer.

her story is one of admiration. summer truly is one of the nicest people we've ever met.

ben knows summer from school - she was a librarian in their library. ben knew mrs. lynch long before dan or i did.

last june bone scans showed the cancer was clear; however, aches and pains returned following the holidays and new scans showed the cancer has metastasized to her bones. summer and her family are fighting tooth and nail to treat the cancer. while not curable it is treatable. low blood and platelet levels has held some treatment off but everyone is crossing all their crossables that treatment can be done this week.

mother's day weekend friends and fellow community members put together a celebration for summer & her family. money was raised to help them out in anyway possible. in addition to the celebration, there have been t-shirt sales. the first set of shirts were made had the slogan - keep calm & summer on - the princess crazy way. many people, myself included, purchased one. during the party, a new design was introduced for the kids - front side says "tough kids were pink" while the back says "we support the lynch family." the tough kids shirts are pink tye-died. i purchased one for ben & emilia.

the outpouring of love and support continues to amaze me. it is great and unconditional. i have learned how many different ways support can be given. people and friends never cease to amaze me.

our family extends nothing but love and support to the lynches. they are in our daily thoughts and the kids, especially ben, ask about summer and how things are going. we are as honest with him as we can be as well realizing he cannot grasp all of what we are saying.

cancer sucks. and just like the t-shirts say...we will all keep calm and summer on the princess crazy way.

all our love to you summer!

peace out preschool

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Fri, 23 May 2014 03:39:00 +0000

emilia // may 20, 2014

wednesday was emilia's last day of preschool.

her graduation was held the week before but due to a few snow days as well as a pipe bursting at her school during the cold winter she was able to go an extra week.

emilia is officially on summer break.

we are officially done with preschool. forever.

emilia is in kindergarten. i keep saying it. god do i hate it. and i love it. and i am dreading august.

emilia loved her preschool. she made so many wonderful friends, grew in so many amazing ways and learned so much. she has come so far. she's one smart cookie.

we have a summer of fun, adventures and lots of pool time ahead of us before she skips off to kindergarten.

a boy & his bike

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Thu, 08 May 2014 18:02:00 +0000

ben // may 5, 2014

ben needs a new bike. it's obvious. he's had this bike since the summer of 2010. he started on it with training wheels. he took the training wheels off two years ago. he hasn't looked back.

this bike has a lot of miles on it. during the warmer months, the kids and i bike around town. when we're not out biking together, ben is outside with his friends and their bikes. ben and the boys ride around our neighborhood all summer long.

he loves his bike.

ben will be turning 8 at the end of july. we are getting him a new bike for his birthday. this bike will be coming sooner rather than later. ben's only request - a kickstand.

as with his current bike, i'd like to purchase it from a local bike shop as opposed to one of the big box stores. they're a little more money but the life of the bike is that much more. case in point: emilia's bike was purchased at a big box store - we will get this summer out of it, after that...i'm questionable. she'll be getting ben's old bike. we will spray paint it pink if necessary.

as soon as ben gets his bike, i want to take him out to the abortetum on a sunday morning when the roads are closed to bikers, walkers and runners. it would be a great way for us to spend a sunday morning! i have no doubt he would have a blast.

it's going to be a great [biking] summer for ben. looking forward to it.

friends

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Wed, 07 May 2014 11:00:00 +0000

"life is nothing without friendship"

~cicero

weekending

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Tue, 06 May 2014 11:00:00 +0000

we had a great weekend. it was packed full of activity.

i won't deny that ben & emilia are involved in a lot of activities. right now there is an overlap on some while other activities occur on individual days.

the crazy keeps us on our toes and i am thankful for the calendar on my iphone. i don't always get it perfect but i do my best to make sure i am at all their activities and events. sometimes scheduling has me in two places at the same time but i am thankful for wonderful friends in our community that are willingly to help us.

this weekend was a marathon. we got through it and can now spend the next few weeks at a slow and steady pace.

dance pictures for emilia. emilia loves her weekly dance class. we are in the final week of everything dance before we take the summer off. pictures were on saturday, dress rehearsal was monday evening and we round out with the recital at the end of the week. she's adorable. her costume is adorable. her hard work through the year has paid off.

saturday night, ben & i attended the mom-son prom sponsored through our park district. we went with three other families. it was a great night. we took the boys out to dinner and then had an evening that consisted of dancing, some appetizers & punch, science experiments for the boys and in the end all the moms were crowned prom queen. we had a really fun night. ben has already stated he wants to go next year! sign me up because i know in a few short years he will roll his eyes at me when i suggest it!

sunday afternoon we headed back to dan's parents house for more gardening, the blackhawks game, and a family dinner. ben and emilia were all over the place - inside and outside. after the harsh winter we had, they are happiest [right now] outside. add to that the fact that emilia is now up on two wheels on her bike. we are spending more and more time outside.

no matter how hectic our weekends may be, i do love the time we spend together as a family. the time flies by in a blink of an eye and i know one day we will sleep in.

gardening: emilia style

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 03:46:00 +0000

on sunday, emilia didn't show a lot of interest in helping with the garden. she wanted to ride her bike. another story for another day but sister's up on two wheels now and all she wants to do is ride.

after some time passed and emilia realized that maybe ben was up to something fun. she kept asking him to ride his bike but he wasn't interested. while emilia didn't help plant any of the seedlings, she found a little shovel, moved some dirt around & dug. she wound up tilling a whole bed. it may not have been perfect but it was done. she enjoyed herself and wants to help out more when we head back next weekend.

planting the harvest

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 11:00:00 +0000

we spend a lot of time with our families.

over the weekend it is not uncommon to find us at one of our parent's homes. we meet up to watch sporting events, simple visits and family dinners. sunday's tend to be the day we are with our families.

on sunday, we headed over to my in-law's house.

we threw ben & emilia's bikes in the back of my car and headed over. the plan was to watch the blackhawks win game 6 against st. louis (they did!), help my father in law plant his garden and have dinner.

during the period breaks and following the game, ben was out helping plant the seeds for the family garden. my in-laws have had a garden for a few years now. it's a garden that we all benefit from. delicious, fresh, and organic produce.

on sunday spinach, bib lettuce, a lettuce mix and onions were planted. garlic and leeks were planted in the fall and are sprouting up.

we are planning on heading back next weekend to continue planting. there is still so much to be done - corn, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, and the list goes on.

ben loves to help. as mentioned before, he is a worker bee so getting out in the garden and planting is up his alley. not only is he helping but he's learning and spending quality time with his grandfather. these are the moments that will forever be etched in their minds.

ben is also setting an amazing foundation for his grown up life. he will know more than i ever will about gardening. i hope his enjoyment for it continues well into his life. i know if we had a yard to call our own we would have a small garden. and i know my buddy would be out there helping.

for now we watch the garden grow but are definitely anticipating the harvest in a few week's time!

play ball

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 18:16:00 +0000

ben is playing baseball this spring through our park district.

he took last year (first grade) off. last year he chose to not play as he was concerned about hitting. the previous two years were teeball. hitting off a tee is much easier than hitting off a pitch.

during the winter months, we talked on occasion about playing ball. he never said yes but never a no. when we found out a close friend was going to be the coach, ben was on board. ben is more comfortable being on a team of familiar names & faces.

ben's team, the yankees, consists of many of his friends. going into the season, there were only two or three kids he was unfamiliar with. the coaches are dad's of many of these friends. it's a great team.

we've been practicing since mid-march. ben has come a long way.

saturday morning was his first game. his nerves were high.

the morning was beautiful, the kids were excited - as were the parents. these kids have worked so hard.

their hard work showed. the first inning started off low, but by the second they found their groove. by the time the 5th inning came it was obvious the team was tiring but they pulled through. we clobbered the other team (not that an official score is kept; the parents keep score).

ben played a few different positions in the field during the game - center field, catcher and 1st base. he fouled out in the 3rd but got a hit and on base in the 5th and eventually scored.

his face said it all on that hit in the 5th. he was excited and proud. he did it!

ben ran to 1st base with a smile on face and skip in his step.

our season has only started, we have games during the week and on saturday's. it's a long season, especially when we have to make up rainouts; but it is definitely going to be a fun season. the team can't go anywhere but up from here. they're going into this week's game with a w - couldn't ask for a better start.

play ball!

a smile

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 11:00:00 +0000

ben // april 24, 2014

that smile - it's full of life, knowledge, hope, and mischief.

i know when it's a real smile and a fake smile. it's all in his eyes. that's a real smile.

that's my boy. he's simply the best.

photo dump: happenings

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 11:00:00 +0000

big wheelin' // enjoying the spring weather // april 2014

the playground at ben's school is a favorite of emilia's // april 2014

over spring break, we headed to a waterpark resort with a bunch of friends for a few days // this is what my [quiet] car ride home looked like // march 2014

easter baskets // april 2014

coloring eggs // april 2014

all the kids scattering after baseball practice // april 2014

my [easter] loves // enjoying the beautiful day // april 2014

ben taking note at my father in law's family garden // we are headed back over on sunday to start planting this year's harvest // april 2014

busy

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 20:53:00 +0000

i hate the word busy. it is one of the words that means something different for the person who uses it. it can trivial or significant. it's been used over and over for an easy out (i'm totally guilty of it). it's so easy to say "sorry, i'm busy."

but that is really the only word i can use to describe our lives right now. i would rather use words/phrases like thriving, bustling, or happening to describe our lives. it sounds so much more fun to say we're knee-deep in activities. or we are bee-bopping and buzzing around. but normally, i just say busy. everyone says busy.

swimming lesson for both ben & emilia, baseball, teeball, dance & the dance recital, school, preschool graduation, travel, scouting events, work, daily tasks, last minute get togethers with family & friends...the list could go on. and on.

i cringe looking at our calendar for the next month. jam packed. the upside? it's all fun things. so much fun to be had this next month and beyond.

we are going to blink our eyes and it will be the end of may and we will be counting down the days until school is out for the summer. who am i kidding, i am already counting the days. we are ready for lazy days at the pool!

our days are flying by at warp speed. in between all craziness and back & forth around town, i thank my lucky stars we are able to do all this as well enjoy the moments together.

and just like ferris said..."life moves pretty fast. if you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."

harvesting honey

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 03:22:00 +0000

my father-in-law keeps bees. it has been a hobby of his for almost a handful of years. i believe he started when emilia was two.

bees produce honey. my father-in-law harvests that honey.

over the weekend, my in laws watched the kids while we out for our bowling league. a week earlier, after we asked for them to watch the kids, my father-in-law asked if ben would be interested in helping him harvest the honey.

one thing to know about ben is that he is a worker bee. give him a job or a chore with a little direction of what needs to be done and he's off. he loves to help and be apart of any job.

ben jumped on the chance to help with the honey.

late saturday afternoon, we dropped the kids off. no time was wasted; ben and his grandpa jumped right in. the frames were previously removed from the hive so there were no angry bees. no hi-tech tools are necessary and the two set off with a scraper and removed the honey & the wax from the frames.

i have never seen anything like it; watching them scrap the honey was awesome. we even snuck a taste of the honey. DELICIOUS. smooth & sweet.

the boys did not finish all their frames. ben will likely go back next weekend to help scrape some more frames.

now that the honey has been scraped off the frame it will need to be extracted which my father-in-law will do. once it's been extracted he will bottle it and we will all enjoy the delicious, fresh and local honey!

when we picked the kids up, there were 3 contains of {raw} honeycomb waiting for us. i am looking forward to having some with a granny smith apple or have a wine & cheese night and serve the honeycomb with some great cheeses.

yum!!

this will without a doubt be a memory forever burned into ben's brain. not many people are able to say that at some point in their life they've harvested honey. ben can and that is amazing.

enchanted chorus: salt

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 17:44:00 +0000

ben // salt shaker - beauty & the beast, jr. // march 15, 2014

one of the roles ben had in the play was a salt shaker which was apart of the enchanted chorus. the salt (& his parter, pepper) came out during be our guest along with all the dishes and other enchanted items in the beast's castle.

ben: our thespian

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 03:57:00 +0000

just after the new year, ben started rehearsals for the latest play production through our park district. beauty and the the beast jr. ben had four roles - villager, enchanted chorus, wolf, and monsieur d'arque.

ben has worked hard both at bi-weekly rehearsals and at home. he practiced and practiced and practiced. he has enjoyed his time with this production. due to pre-scheduled school activities, all of the kids who attend his school were also in his cast. because of the demand, this production was divided into two {50 kid} casts.

last friday was opening weekend. friends and family came out both friday and saturday night to see ben in his performance.

his performance and the entire production was fantastic. ben had quite a few speaking lines and while i missed them friday (parents are required to volunteer during a performance), i was able to see the play in it's entirety on saturday. i was so proud of him. still am.

each night following the play we had little celebrations. following friday's performance, we headed to a local restaurant and had some of his favorites. after saturday's play, we went with friends and fellow cast members to oberweis. sunday we celebrated with family for a st. patty's day dinner and portillo's chocolate cake (this one was a tough decision for ben! at one point i think he thought of every dessert under the sun!).

this weekend the other cast has their performance and then both casts will have their cast parties. another celebration for a job well done. these kids deserve every ounce of it!

auditions for the summer production are in may, i believe. ben has expressed that he would like to be apart of this production as well. the summer play will be into the woods jr. emilia is eligible to be apart of this production to but because it's not a full princess production she has decided to pass and waiting to see what winter 2015 holds.

congrats to our budding thespian. you had a great weekend performing and we couldn't be more proud of you!

sautéed spinach

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 04:35:00 +0000

i enjoy cooking. i do it almost every night for my family. i do not create recipes on my own. i wish i had that ability to mix & create flavors but i certainly don't.

over the years, i have found many wonderful recipes via cookbooks, magazines, family & friends, tv shows, blogs and pinterest (more blogs & websites).

dan and i enjoy spinach. if we make a salad it will more than likely be a spinach salad. recently we've made the switch from spinach salads to sautéed spinach. for whatever reason, i've always been intimidated to make it. i turned to the one and only martha stewart for a sautéed spinach recipe. i figured if anyone had a good recipe it was her. as usual, she came through.

this is quite possibly the easiest recipe ever. i can't believe i've never attempted to make it before. it is also so delicious. we've been making it almost nightly. it's so good that even ben is enjoying. emilia steers clear of veggies. it's letter "v" week at school and when she was asked by her teachers to paste the veggies she likes is the "good" column, she laughed and didn't have any. oh my girl...

here's the recipe:

sautéed spinach with garlic and lemon from martha stewart (adapted to my family's liking/tastes)

2T olive oil

4 garlic cloves, peeled & smashed

3-4 bunches (2 1/2 pounds) spinach

1-2 T lemon juice - i only do a splash. ben likes a little more, he likes the pungent taste of lemon juice

salt & pepper

heat olive oil in skillet. add garlic - stir & cook until fragrant & starting to brown. remove garlic. add spinach, gradually. toss until tender - approx 3-4 minutes. add splash of lemon juice and sprinkle with salt & pepper.

enjoy!

thanks martha!

connected together

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 04:58:00 +0000

we're big sleepers in this house. ben and emilia are at that grown-up point that we all sleep in on the weekends. by sleep in, i mean we sleep later than 7:30...sometimes until 9:00 am. it's glorious. so glorious.

sometimes we let the kids start out their night in our bed. they each usually bring a pillow, a guy (what we call stuffed animals), and sometimes another small item (blanket) or guy. the agreement is that they are moved back to their beds when we go to bed.

sure it seems like a lot of hassle that once we head up, the kids have to still be moved, but honestly, it's so easy. we move their items back and then grab a kid. ben wakes up a little bit as he has to climb the stairs into his bunk. emilia doesn't even flinch. she's a heavy sleeper. the whole process takes less than 2 minutes.

the two shots above were taken the other night when it was time to move the kids back to their room. i love seeing them together. they each start on their respective side(s); however, by the time we get to them they are in the middle of the bed. i've seen emilia with her arm around ben and i've seen him holding her hand. this night she was holding his hand.

no matter how many times ben gets annoyed by her or emilia gets mad at him for not listening - they always come back together. as much as they each want our undivided attention - they always come back together. couple their hand holding with them saying good night and i love you each and every night and quite frankly i'm dead.

somehow they're connected - literally and figuratively. always connected.

socialite

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 18:45:00 +0000

emilia // march 7, 2014

a beautiful, sunny morning with temps in the 30's means it's time to socialize in the drop off line at school.

we are so ready for spring.

january 2014: disney vacation recap - day 2

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 19:12:00 +0000

the second day of our disney world vacation was gray, rainy, and cold.

we're not the type to sit in our rooms during a rainy day...we make the most of it.

after a quick breakfast in our room we headed out to the magic kingdom.

because of the weather the park was not very crowded. always a plus when wanting to get on favorite rides! and since it was less crowded we were able to get a family picture.

of course, on our way down main street, we had to stop at the most magical starbucks in all the land. i love that two of my favorite things are together - disney & starbucks.

silly kids // magic kingdom // january 29, 2014

our fast passes weren't scheduled unit the afternoon so we had the morning to stroll and take our time on rides. we also received an e-mail a day earlier to receive an additional fast pass towards a quick service lunch at be our guest. we've never had lunch at the beast's castle so we were happy to use the pass.

after a good lunch at be our guest we headed over to enchanted tales with belle. this was an attraction i was looking forward to visiting with the kids, especially ben. the play ben is currently participating in is beauty and the beast this was perfect for him to visit. it's an interactive attraction and we all were able to be apart of the story - ben was the beast, emilia (with my help) was mrs. potts and dan was a knight. it was fun. at the end ben had a chance to dance with belle in front of the audience and then all the participants were able to take a picture with belle. unfortunately, i do not have a picture of ben with belle though i do believe there is one the disney photographer took...must look into ordering.

ben playing the role of the beast // enchanted tales with belle // magic kingdom // january 29, 2014

emilia after her role of mrs. potts // enchanted tales with belle // magic kingdom // january 29, 2014

we spent the rest of our afternoon walking around the magic kingdom, visiting our favorite characters and princesses, and enjoying our favorite attractions.

ben in front of gaston's tavern // magic kingdom // january 29, 2014

snow white // magic kingdom // january 29, 2014

eventually the cold and rain had gotten to us all and at some point emilia stepped in a puddle and she checked out. by the time we left in the late afternoon it was pouring and due to maintenance the monorail was down. we had dinner reservations just next door at the contemporary for chef mickey's; however, neither kid wanted to walk so we waited for a bus. we waited forever. not like 20 minutes but somewhere close to an hour. i wish i was joking. at one point i was holding emilia and i think she may have fallen asleep. lucky girl. ben did great despite waiting in the cold.

we eventually got on a bus and enjoyed a delicious, warm dinner with our favorite characters at chef mickey's. all of our moods changed immediately after we got some food in us. we lingered at dinner a little longer than normal but i think there were many reasons - we were hungry, emiila's shoes needed to dry out (hand dryers would have bee nice but were unavailable), and it's one of our favorite places in all of disney. chef mickey's is always a 'must-do' for us. i'm fairly certain ben and emilia went up to the buffet line 3 or more times.

our night ended quietly. emilia, my mom and i browsed the shops at the contemporary resort while ben and dan took a ride over to grand floridian to walk around.

the day may have been cold & rainy but the fun we had as family trumped any grayness to our day although we did go to bed that night hoping for warmer weather.

pixie dusted

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 13:00:00 +0000

emilia // january 29, 2014 // castle couture - magic kingdom

if emilia could have one wish and only one wish it would be to visit the bibbidi bobbidi boutique. she has been asking and we still haven't scheduled a visit. it is my understanding (and from what we've seen) that at the end of the pampering the girls are sprinkled with pixie dust.

there is a little shop on the fantasyland side of cinderella castle called castle couture and while we were there a cast member pixie dusted emilia. just a small sprinkling of sparkles and glitter.

sparkles and glitter are emilia's love language.

i'm pretty sure the photo speaks volumes about her excitement.

family picture // disney world edition

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 16:32:00 +0000

family // magic kingdom // january 29, 2014

in all the years we have been going to disney world, i do not recall my family ever getting a picture at the entrance.

above the entrance sits the walt disney world railroad. typically this area is crowded with families trying to get their picture at the iconic entryway.

the day we went to the magic kingdom was dreary and rainy. a perfect opportunity for us to get a 'must-do' picture.

january 2014: disney vacation recap - day 1

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 12:00:00 +0000

the beginning of our disney world vacation started a little shaky. we received a call from southwest airlines 12 hours prior to our flight with notice that our flight was cancelled. we were sitting at dinner. after texting my mom, she was flying with us, i got on the phone trying to change our flight (even though the automated system said don't call). while waiting for an operator, dan got on the internet to get new flight times.

we were in the middle of a polar vortex and knowing this we contemplated getting out of town a few days earlier; however, when we saw the price (over $1,000) for the 5 of us to change our flight we laughed and kept our same flight.

as soon as i got an operator she was able to give us the last 5 seats available on the next flight out of town! yahoo! i didn't care if we got separated - some on one flight the rest on another. i just wanted to get us out of town. we got lucky.

i've written before about how i am not a huge fan of flying; however, i am getting better and what keeps my sanity is taking pictures 38,000 ft in the sky and above the clouds. it's soothing and i love seeing mother nature's beauty & glory. she's amazing.

we left tuesday morning and landed in orlando around noon. we arrived to beautiful, sunny, 70* weather. a much needed and wonderful change from the -35* we left earlier in the morning. giddy doesn't even being to describe how we were feeling.

we headed to our resort, the polynesian (as always), checked in, our room was ready (yahoo!), changed into warm weather clothes, grabbed lunch at capt. cooks and headed to epcot for the remainder of the day.

no trip to epcot is complete, for me, without taking multiple pictures of spaceship earth. i have so many pictures, from so many different angles. my most favorite are the shots of spaceship earth at night. just gorgeous - she's lit up in all her beautiful glory.

our day consisted of wandering epcot - we hit up the character spot, walked around future world and eventually made our way back to world showcase. we saw the line over in norway to meet with anna and else from frozen. the line wrapped around the outskirts of the country. we were told by a cast member the line was running about 3 hours. no. thank. you. i am happy we waited a little over an hour in november when we visited. frozen had not been released in the theaters yet; however, emilia received tons of frozen merchandise for her birthday from various family members.

we stopped and paid a visit to pluto on our way into the park. pluto is a favorite of ben's.

instead of waiting in the line for anna & else, ben asked to do one of the agent p's world showcase adventure. he chose norway while dan and emilia rode the maelstrom ride in the same country. find a 5 year old who likes this ride because emilia sure didn't - she vows to never ride it again. i think she thought there might be some frozen aspects to it since anna & elsa are from there. can't blame her for thinking that.

at stop in mexico to visit donald & take a ride gran fiesta tour starring the three caballeros

we had dinner over in the land at sunshine season's and then made our way over to test track. while we scheduled 3 fast passes for the afternoon/evening, the one we were looking forward to most was test track. the line is always long. our's was scheduled for the the evening. i love seeing the kids design their cars. emilia's was pink, of course! and ben's was blue and quite sporty.

once we finished up test track, emilia checked out. after an early morning of traveling followed by a fun day wandering epcot she was tired & ready to head back to our room. ben was not. dan, ben, and my mom stayed awhile longer (they walked right onto soarin') while emilia & i left.

despite our flight changing, our first day turned out to be wonderful. the weather was perfect and we enjoyed our day wandering a favorite park.

planning our disney vacations

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 21:56:00 +0000

we are one of those families who [sort of] meticulously plan their trips to walt disney world. once we book our accommodations we immediately start planning our dining. we plan our days around our dining reservations. food is very important to this family. everyone gets a say in where we eat & we try our best to accomodate. emilia is indifferent - if it were up to her we'd dine with a character or princess every single meal. we do take that into consideration but not for every meal.

while we do take time in planning our trips; we also have been know to make changes days before our arrival or while we are on the property. reasons always vary - change in menu, weather, wanting to try some place new, or even a hard to get reservation opened up (i.e. dinner at cinderella castle).

now that disney has the fastpass+ system we try to utilize and plan a few of our favorite rides before we arrive. like restaurants, we all have our favorite rides and while we try to fit those into the fastpass+ scheduling. we like the fastpass+ system because going to florida (or any other warm weather state) during the dead of chicago winter (especially this winter) we try to fit in as much pool time as possible. fastpass+ has allowed that for us; maybe not so much this trip (cold & rain) but in over november 2013 trip we utilized this service to the max.

we are definitely not a family who likes to be at a park when it opens (rope drop as it's been coined). if the weather is right, we will grab snacks for breakfast (i.e. toast, cereal, bagels, fruit & coffee) and make our way to one of the pools. ben & emilia love this because they are able to swim and we are able to relax, take in a warm florida morning, enjoy our morning coffee and ease into our day. we have no problems getting to the parks just before lunch. as a side note: we typically take our disney vacations during a low season, crowds are low so lines aren't long. for the november 2013 trip and our most recent january 2014 trip, we did our best to get fastpass+ times in the afternoon & evenings. for trhe rest of the attractions and character meetings we have no problem waiting in line. disney does a great job moving people. there are always a few attractions where we wait longer but we've never waited much more than an hour.

we prefer to stay into the evening at the parks. we will leave a park, go to our dining reservation and then head back to the park and enjoy the nightly firework show, see a few more attractions or characters and stroll through the shops. we definitely take advantage of the nighttime extra magic hours. other nights where we don't feel like staying at a park, we head back to our resort and the kids jump back into the pool. staying at the polynesian has a definite perk - we are able to watch the nightly wishes firework show at the magic kingdom from the volcano pool/beach area. it's a great way to end our night.

planning our disney vacations is just part of the fun [for me]. even when we make changes, our outcome is always the same - a great vacation. we always come back from each trip with new favorite attractions & restaurants and, of course, new, fabulous memories. and, of course, the magic of disney!

insta disney

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 12:00:00 +0000

i shared a few pictures on instagram during our trip to walt disney world. while i took many, many, many more shots during the vacation these are the few i shared.

[wreck it] ralph & vanellope von schweetz // hollywood studios

space mountain // magic kingdom

expedition everest // animal kingdom

jambo house // animal kingdom lodge

we met up with friends who were also vacationing at disney. obligatory photo in front of cinderella castle at magic kingdom.

it was quite foggy one of the nights we viewed wishes at the magic kingdom that between the fog & the smoke from the fireworks the castle disappeared. so strange to see what magic kingdom would look like without cinderella castle.

i slacked on posting to instagram; however, the weather was cold and rainy. we spent much of our time bundled, wearing hats & gloves and enjoy hot coffee to keep warm. we were too busy trying to keep dry & warm instead of posting!

regardless of the cold & rain, it was still a fantastic trip.

kindergarten registration

noreply@blogger.com (jen) — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 16:49:00 +0000

whether i want to believe it or not; tonight we register emilia for kindergarten.

this date has been plastered in my calendar for MONTHS. it's an evening i could gladly skip.

kindergarten just cannot be around the corner. i am very much aware i cannot stop time but that doesn't mean i cannot wish it to slow down.

i know emilia will do well in kindergarten; however, i also know it is going to be a huge adjustment for her and i. she currently attends pre-school in the mornings. this was an introduction for both of us to her being at school everyday. in the fall it will be all day, everyday.

my baby has grown up and i am extremely proud of the little girl she has become.