Even though the snow is blowing today…Spring is coming! Spring means Aggie Days in Calgary!  Brought to you by Calgary Stampede, Aggie Days is a fun family day where you can learn more about agriculture and how it affects you.  Evan loves going and he was very excited that it’s coming up relatively soon.

Baby cows at AggieDays

So…what is Aggie Days?  Well, some of the fun things we’ve enjoyed in the past are:

• Seeing all kinds of farm animals up close including piglets and chicks!
• Learning about seeds in the Agrium Seed Survivor booth.
• Planting your very own bean seed to take home and grow.
• Shaking cream and making butter.
• Playing in the dirt/sand area with play tractors.
• Watching sheep shearing demonstrations.
• Rolling canola seeds between paper towels and seeing the oil come out.
• Trying out tractors (in past years the acreage show was at the same time and there were tons of tractors on display…not sure about this year).
• Listening to stories in the story corner (a great moment of downtime away from the hustle and bustle).

You can see how this is a full & fun day for kids!  One cool thing new this year is that it is FREE!  In previous years it was easy to find coupons to make it more economical but the fact that it is free this year is awesome!

Some tips for visiting Aggie Days:

• Bring a small stroller if you have a very young child.  Aggie Days can get crowded so leave the mondo stroller at home but an umbrella stroller can keep your little one from getting over tired and cranky.
• Concessions stands are open in the BMO center but the food is nothing to write home about and the lines can be LONG.  I like to bring food to eat and then if I see something we really like (and the lines aren’t too long) we can always buy it.  If not…we eat the food I brought.  It also cuts down on hunger induced kid meltdowns.
• If you live near a C-Train station, consider taking it to Aggie Days.  It’s actually really convenient and you don’t have to pay for parking.
• It usually takes about 2 hours to see everything at Aggie Days.  We like to get there right at opening so that we have lots of time but really, my suggestion is to go when your child is the least tired (i.e. not right before nap time).
• Since Aggie Days are all indoors, it’s a great Spring activity because you don’t have to bundle up for it!

Nicole and Evan taking in the animals...

For more information as it becomes available check out the Aggie Days webpage.  You can read my write up from our 2009 Aggie Days visit here.  We’ve attended every year but for some reason, I haven’t written about it…..weird.

Aggie Days
Family Fun Days – Stampede Park, BMO Centre

Saturday, April 21, 2012 from 10am – 5pm
Sunday, April 22, 2012 from 10am – 5pm

Admission: FREE

Have you ever experienced Aggie Days? What are your tips for people thinking of visiting?

We had an amazing time on our trip to Disney World.  I love writing about our travels but I am getting a bit exhausted by it.  I’m going to finish up my Disney posts (at least for now) with a few slideshows from our visits to the parks (only look at one at a time or you’ll go cross-eyed!  I’m also including a little blurb about our favorite rides/parts of each park.

Magic Kingdom – I really thought Magic Kingdom would be the best park for Evan but I was wrong.  We started off on the wrong foot by going on the Stitch ride and Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  Both scared the bejeebus out of Evan so he HATED Disney for the first day.  Thankfully we turned it around after that.

Evan’s favorite things at Magic Kingdom:  Buzz Lightyear ride, Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor, Tom Sawyer’s Island, Ellen’s Energy Adventure and Splash Mountain.

Will & Nicole’s Favorite Things: Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and Splash Mountain

My favorite things:  Buzz Lightyear, Splash Mountain, Small World, and Monsters Inc Laugh Flo

A mix of Woody & Buzz

Take me to your leader!

More Ballons

Bye bye Disney. :(

Main street is packed even when it´s raining.

Balloons!

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The fam in front of the castle

Evan is shooting Zurg with his new gun.

In line for the Buzz Lightyear Game....Evan´s favorite!

Evan and I enjoying treats from The Merchant of Venus

Evan and I loved the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor

Will and Evan protecting the fort!

And guns (mommy not thrilled...Evan thrilled)

There was even a fort on Tom Sawyer´s Island

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Even Will thought it was pretty cool.

The barrel bridge on Tom Sawyer´s Island

Riding the raft to Tom Sawyer´s Island

Epcot – I never expected Evan to like Epcot because I thought he would be bored.  Instead, he enjoyed it a lot.  Epcot has a Kidcot activity set up where you can go around to all the countries and get stamps on a bear puppet.  Evan and I did that and he really enjoyed it.

Evan’s favorite things at Epcot:  Soarin’, Test Track,

Will & Nicole’s Favorite Things: Soarin’, Test Track,

My favorite things: Soarin‘, the World Showcase, the fireworks

Testing out new Disney video games

Cooling off under the misters

Posing

The "Giant Golfball"

Me and Evan riding the boat in Mexico

China Pavilion

China Pavilion...so pretty

Buddha

Waiting on Turtle Talk with Crush to start

Watching the band at Biergarten in Epcot Germany

A beautiful day at Epcot

Digging for Dinosaur fossils

The China Pavilion

In Germany...it´s almost our last name.

Italian Pavilion

Italian Pavilion

China Pavilion

Norway Pavilion

A tree of Fez.

That camel has a fez too!

Animal Kingdom - Evan LOVED Animal Kingdom!  Like Epcot, Animal Kingdom has a kid focused “scavenger hunt” type thing where they do different activities in exchange for a stamp.  Get all 6 stamps & you get a special Rafiki stamp.  Evan ate that up!

Evan’s favorite things at Animal Kingdom:  Getting the activity stamps, digging for dino fossils in Dino World, riding the flying dinosaur ride, the parade, the safari.

Will & Nicole’s Favorite Things:  Expedition Everest (I think they rode it 4 or 5 times), the safari, the parade

My favorite things:  The safari, the parade, Breakfast at Tusker House with the characters.

...and me too!

Nicole gets in on the action....

Hula hoop fun

Learning about how to figure out an animal from it´s footprints and poo.

Learning about how to figure out an animal from it´s footprints and poo.

The cichlid and hippo pool

Learning about turtles

Hanging out in the giant bamboo

The Tree of Life

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Animal Kingdom Parade

Animal Kingdom Parade

Animal Kingdom Parade

Animal Kingdom Parade

Animal Kingdom Parade

Me & Nicole waiting for the parade to start

Cute dino park

Riding the dino ride.

Learning about dinosaur bones

The train!

Hollywood Studios - Another dark horse in the popularity contest that Evan loved.  I got quite annoyed with Hollywood Studios as it is MUCH smaller and MUCH more crowded.  We arrived at 10:30 and all the FastPasses for the day were already gone for the Toy Story ride and the wait was over 2 hours long.  NOT cool!

Evan’s Favorite Things at Hollywood Studios:  The “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” play area ( I couldn’t get him out of there…he LOVED it!)

Will & Nicole’s Favorite Things:  The Rocking Rollercoaster (which was closed the whole time we were there…bummer) and Tower of Terror

Lightening McQueen!

The Giant Bee

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One giant paperclip

Fern fronds

Climbing up the spider web

With Evan for size comparison

Giant Play-Doh canister. It even puffs out Play-doh scented air

Evan, Nicole and Will in front of Mickey´s Sorcerer Hat

Riding on the giant ant

Evan riding a giant ant in the Honey, I Shrank the Kids play area.

Sliding down the film slide (tho Evan thought it was a battery)

Sliding down the film slide (tho Evan thought it was a battery)

Hanging out with the giant bee!

Evan in the giant web in the Honey, I shrunk the kids play area!

Downtown Disney - More of a shopping and eating destination than a “doing” destination.

Evan loved building Mr. Potato Heads in the Toy Store

Mr. Potato Head has got Nicole!

Posing with the tater

The Seven Dwarves made out of Lego

Lego Sea Monster

Buzz and Woody Lego sculpture

Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf – I never knew this even existed until we passed it driving to the parks.  It was Dewey’s idea to go play on our last day and we all had a BLAST.  We highly recommend it!

Evan said golfing was "So much fun!"

The last hole...when your ball goes in a stream of water shoots up!

Nicole lost a ball on this hole

Nicole takes a swing....

Dancing Hippo

And another dancing hippo

There was even a cave!

You have to hit the hole when the tiny mushroom is up!

Even Evan got in on the fun.

I know we missed a ton of things but we still had a great time!  What are your favorite Disney adventures?

The fam in front of Cinderella's Castle

Disney is the happiest place on earth but it can also be the most overwhelming place on earth!  There are so many things to do!  So many rides! So many places to eat! So many people!  OMG….AAAAAGGGGHHHHH…..Where do I start planning?  Sound familiar?

I can’t lie….I am not that great of a Disney planner.  I did not have printed out “plans of attack” for the parks.  I am Type A enough to do that but I stop myself because my family would KILL me (honestly by the end of the trip they are ready to anyway but this would push them over the edge….they would drown me in Splash Mountain!).  However, if your family is more understanding you can find touring plans for every age group over at TourPlans.com.

Wait…I’m getting ahead of myself!  I’m going to try to make this as easy to use as possible!

When you start planning your trip, I always start with the Disney websites (Disney World or Disneyland) to see what discounts or deals are available right now.  Often there are free dining offers when you book a Disney resort or sometimes there are days free when you book a certain stay.  This works really well if you are flexible on dates.  It’s also important to check the best times to go to Disney (for Disney World).  I like to determine if there are deals and then choose between them instead of getting my heart set on one week or resort and then going there even though it’s more expensive.  Alas, having children in school does NOT make that easy.

Disney's Old Key West Resort

This year we traded in a week of our time share for a week in a 2 bedroom condo at Disney’s Old Key West resort.  It was amazing!  Huge rooms, quiet resort and a nice pool were huge perks especially since we only paid about $400 total out of pocket for the week’s stay!  So if you have a timeshare, it can be a great way to save!

Great websites that have more information than you could EVER absorb about Disney:

• Mousesavers.com – often has all the latest and greatest deals at Disney.  Also has great tips on how to save at Disney and surrounding areas.
• Intercot – loads of “insider” news about Disney.  Publishes all the schedules for Disney including extra magic hours, etc.  Beware…the discussion boards are addictive!
• AllEars.Net – Much the same as the ones above.
• Some examples of the great info to be found: Cheap Eats in the Parks & Resorts, Best Bets for Buying Groceries when you arrive at Disney (or getting them delivered) and an exhaustive list of 2012 approved snacks on the Disney Dining Plan.

We also bought the Birmbaum Guide to Walt Disney World.  I really didn’t use it so much for planning but we did use it to hype up Disney to Evan.  We had to do something….he wanted to stay home and go to Callaway Park!

While at Disney, I found the Disney World Magic Guide app for iPhone a life saver.  It has maps for all of the parks, information on all restaurants including menus (tho some are slightly out of date), wait times and park hours.  This is a godsend especially if you have 3G without roaming in the parks.  Unfortunately, I did not since my phone is from Canada and there is no Wifi in the parks (WHY, DISNEY….WHY????).  The app is kinda pricey but well worth it.  I loved the ability to look at what the wait times were at other parks when making the “do we stay or do we go” decisions about park hopping.

And a word about tickets….while there are a few ways to save money on tickets, I didn’t bother.  We bought our tickets when we arrived and I only purchased a 3 day park hopper pass.  We then added 2 additional days (actually we only had to add one additional days as Disney gave me one free day at the parks….with no request that I write anything…I think they knew that I would either way!).  You see, the additional days will be added at the lower per day rate of the multiday passes.  You don’t have to buy the pass all at once to get that rate.  It’s a scale up.  Cool, huh?  We found this much easier than trying to second guess how many days we needed AND they coded the tickets onto our room keys so I had less things to keep up with.

As you can tell, I am not a planning maniac but I hope that some of these tips can help you plan the perfect Disney vacation.  Have I missed something?  Definitely leave your favorite tips in the comments!

How many times a day do you say “No”? We all talk about needing to learn to say “No” more often to keep from overextending ourselves but I think many of us say “No” too much in one realm….our children. When polled, 98% of the moms would like to spend more time together as a family but over half (64%) regularly say no to their children’s requests for family time. 65% cited the lack of time as the reason for their “no”s.

I can totally relate, I have so been there! Evan loves to bake and to make crafts. I love to do both with him but so often it is so much easier to just say “no” instead of dragging everything out, making something and then cleaning up after. I can’t say that I always say “yes” but I do try to say yes more often than not!

Recently, I got an email from Procter & Gamble’s Family Care brands – Bounty®, Charmin®, and Puffs® – along with Tide® and Mr. Clean®. It was an invite to take the “It All Starts with Yes” Challenge. Proctor & Gamble is trying to make it easier for families to say “Yes”. I received a wonderful package filled with filled with Tide® original liquid laundry detergent, a Mr. Clean® Magic Eraser, box of Puffs® facial tissue, Charmin® Freshmates, Bountry® paper towel, and adult and child-size aprons, along with ideas to create more fun-filled family moments. The Tide came in VERY handy on our recent trip to Disney. The size made it easy to tuck into my suitcase!

So….how can you say “Yes” to more family time? Head over to Facebook and like the It All Starts With Yes page for loads of great ideas and enter to win their $10,000 Dream Family Adventure.

Even better…you can win your own “It All Starts With Yes” kit from MerryWithChildren!  All you need to do is leave a comment about a “no” that you would like to change to “yes” with your kids & then click “Did It” on the widget below…It’s that easy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Evan and I enjoying treats from The Merchant of Venus

Evan refusing to smile at Rainforest Cafe

I wonder where he gets it from?

Evan and I enjoying goodies from Merchant of Venus

Entertainment at Beirgarten in Epcot

Enjoying Breakfast at Tusker House

Nicole, Goofy and I at Tusker House Breakfast

Nicole, Mickey and I at Tusker House Breakfast

Me and Daisy at Tusker House

Nicole and Daisy at Tusker House

Excited faces at Breakfast

Will and Nicole

What 5 leftover Disney snack credits buys you!

Hula lesson (no one in my fam would participate).

Boys and their video games!

Dewey shot me with Evan´s Buzz Lightyear gun!

Enjoying a back scratcher before dinner. It was a very damp Disney day today!

Cinnamon Roll from Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom

Enjoying Yak & Yeti counter service lunch

Table Service Meals - These meals definitely take the most planning. Go ahead and reserve them knowing that you will probably need to change at least a few of them.  To get the most out of them, pick places where you will spend at least $30 for entree plus dessert.  Dinner is always the better value for table service meals.  Some character dining options take one table credit and some take two so make sure & confirm.

1. Raglan Road Irish Pub - Downtown Disney – A favorite for the whole family.  The food was great, the service was great and there was live music and celtic dancing.  Highlights were the lamb shank and the bread pudding.
2. Tusker House Breakfast with Donald Duck, Daisy, Mickey & Goofy - Animal Kingdom –  We have done this dinner twice now.  It is a great character experience and the breakfast is really good.  It’s a great way to kick off a day at Animal Kingdom.  The breakfast is an all you can eat buffet.  It has standard items like eggs, bacon, sausage and Mickey waffles.  I enjoy the not so standard items like potato & leek fritatta, baked plantains and carved ham with mustard sauce.
3. Yak & Yeti - Animal Kingdom – Yak & Yeti serves asian fusion cuisine.  Originally, we planned to visit Yak and Yeti for lunch because we couldn’t get in for dinner.  Since our first day was FREEZING, we spent less time at the parks than expected so I decided to see what table service restaurants had availability for that night.  The Yak & Yeti came up so we headed there.  Everyone really enjoyed their meals.  It had Evan’s favorite kid meal of the entire trip….vegetarian lo mein.  He devoured it! The mango pie dessert was amazing as well.
4. Rainforest Cafe - Downtown Disney – The kids loved Rainforest Cafe.  There are fake animals that move, a rainstorm every 20 minutes, fountains, fish….on and on.  It’s like an amusement park in a restaurant.  The food was actually pretty good but it took FOREVER and then was cold when it got to the table.  Overall it was an okay experience but not the best by along shot.
5. O’hana - Polynesian Resort – This is an all you can eat family style restaurant specializing in grilled meats.  Waiters bring skewers of chicken, pork, steak or shrimp to your table.  You can take as much as you would like & they keep coming around.  I found that the chicken and pork were a bit dry but the shrimp and steak were really good.  You also get salad with citrus honey dressing (super yummy), stir fried noodles, broccoli, and coconut bread.  The best part of the whole meal was the bread pudding dessert.  YUM!
6. Via Napoli - Italy Pavilion in Epcot – Via Napoli is a thin crust pizzeria that also has other Italian dishes.  We all ordered pizza and it was very delicious.  I was a bit turned off by how they do the meal plan.  If you calculate it out, you should spend about $30 for table service to break even on the meal plan.  Their Margarita pizza was $16 but each additional topping was $3.95.  The meal plan only covered the pizza so any toppings were extra and billed directly to you.  That seems really ridiculous to me…I don’t think it should be unlimited but you should be able to get a couple before it’s extra.  They did have a few prebuilt pizzas to chose from but many were vegetarian and not overly kid friendly.
7. Biergarten - Germany Pavilion in Epcot – Who doesn’t love all you can eat sausages?  My family loved the Biergarten.  German sausages, sauerkraut, red cabbage, schnitzel, spaetzle (or as Evan calls it bumpy noodles) all inside a biergarten that looks like it’s outside but isn’t.  There was an awesome band.  They even performed using bells and the giant Ricola-type alpine horns.

Quick Service Meals -

1. Taqueria del Lago – Mexico Pavilion in Epcot – Definitely one our favorite quick service meals.  Evan really enjoyed the cheese empanada kid’s meal.  He ate his and one of mine so he really liked them (he normally eats like a bird).  Will & Dewey had beef tacos which they said were really good.  They have choices of salsa at the condiment bar as well.  The highlight of the meal for everyone was the dessert of churros with caramel dipping sauce which were divine.
2. Cosmic Rays – Magic Kingdom – I wasn’t all that impressed with Cosmic Rays.  The layout is very confusing as you have to go to one of 3 bays to order based on what you want to eat.  The condiment bar and the topping bar are also far from each other so it’s easy to miss the toppings bar.  This restaurant has a selection of sandwiches, burger-type offerings and rotisserie chicken.  Our group had the pulled pork sandwhich (WAY to saucy) and the grilled chicken sandwich (ok).  All came with fries.  The toppings bar (when we found it) had lettuce, tomato, onions, grilled onions, cheese sauce, etc.
3. Tortuga Tavern – Magic Kingdom – I picked this place because a burrito sounded good instead of a burger.  I guess I was thinking Chipotle but it definitely did not taste like Chipotle.  Since they have a toppings bar with lettuce tomato and salsa, the burritos and salads only get meat, rice, beans on them.  This would be okay if the toppings bar were kept stocked but on the day we were there it was all gone.  The manager then came out and yelled at the customer that “No one let me know it was all gone!”.  Yikes!
4. Yak & YetiCounter Service – Around the side of the Yak & Yeti Table service restaurant is a counter service window.  Same great food for a counter service credit (much smaller menu)! Each meal is chinese food-ish complete with rice.  Very yummy!  The chicken mandarin salad is very good.
5. Earl of Sandwich – Downtown Disney – AMAZING sandwiches.  So good but be ready to order because this is the Soup Nazi of sandwich places.  You will get yelled at if you don’t order quick enough.  We ordered the French Dip, the Italian sandwich and the kid’s pizza sub.  Everyone LOVED them so much that we commented we wished they would open on in Calgary.
6. Food to Go – Old Key West Resort – Not even worth commenting on.  Normal offerings of burgers, fries, sandwiches.
7. Backlot Express  - Hollywood Studios – Great selection of grilled panini and wraps.  The turkey and the chicken panini were both very good.

Snacks –  We had a hard time using up our snack credits. I didn’t want to waste them on things like water but that’s mostly what we did.  Eating two meals per day at the park left us too full to eat snacks.

1. Main Street Bakery – Magic Kingdom – OMG…the cinnamon rolls here are HUGE and delicious.  We shared one between 4 of us.  They also have very delicious ice cream cookie sandwiches that I really wanted to try but never got to.
2. Merchant of Venus – Magic Kingdom – Yummy soft serve ice cream products including floats (with soda or iced coffee), sundaes, etc.
3. Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar – everywhere – so iconic and so yummy…..just don’t read the nutrition info!
4. Bakery at Norway Pavilion – Epcot – I really wanted to try one of their sweet pretzels but they weren’t a part of the meal plan.  Instead we tried the School Bread, Dreamberry Horns and cherry danish.  All were delish but the school bread was the best.

We ended up with 5 snack credits at the end of the trip so I bought bagged snack mixes to bring home.  Yum!

Hope that was informative and you get an idea of the foods available at the parks.  Definitely let me know if you have any questions or would like more information.

I love to eat.  I HATE to eat bad food.  The last time we visited Disney, we had the dining plan but I did NO preplanning.  We decided to wing it.  We ate a LOT of burgers.  I vowed that would not happen on this trip!  Since we stayed at a Disney Resort, we had the option to buy  the Disney Dining Plan.  We took the plunge and purchased the standard Dining Plan which gives you one quick services meal, one table service meal and one snack per day and an insulated cup that is refillable at your resort for approximately $45 per day per person.  At each meal you get an entree, a dessert and a refillable soft drink/milk/etc.  There are some nuances within the program but this is the general gist.  Edited to add: You have to buy the dining plan for everyone staying in your room for the entire length of your stay.  This makes it very difficult to use up if you plan on spending time at places other than Disney (like SeaWorld, etc).

Pros for the dining plan:

• You pay in advance.  This is GREAT for budgeting purposes.  I am very Type A so I love this facet.  I know that our food is covered so there are no surprises at the end of the trip.
• Dessert is covered.  The kids loved getting dessert with the meals.  It meant that they got dessert without having to ask or begging.  Often dessert would have been kiboshed otherwise.
• There are lots of restaurants included on the dining plan so there are plenty of options.
• Table service restaurant meals can be reserved up to 180 days in advance.

Cons of the dining plan:

• You have to make sure you get your money’s worth.  If you order the cheapest thing on the menu all the time, you probably paid too much for the dining plan.
• It pushes you to eat things you wouldn’t normally eat and more than you (or at least me) would normally eat.  I would NEVER eat dessert with lunch AND dinner but since it’s included….I often did.
• Kids under 9 are required to eat from the children’s menu which often has very limited options (which are often junky “kid food”).
• Table service restaurant reservations can fill up very fast.  If you aren’t organized, you may not get into the restaurant you want.
• Having to make reservations so far in advance means that you have to pull out your crystal ball to determine where you will be and when.
• Gratuity is not included on table service meals. We always tip so that’s not the issue….it’s that you tip on the amount that it would have been had you paid cash.  Since I would never have bought 5 desserts if they weren’t included, the tip was artificially higher than it would have been normally.

Overall, I was happy with our decision and we used up all our credits except for one quick service meal (we used a snack credit for Evan’s lunch one day).  Most of the meals we had were great with only a few duds along the way.

If you’ve gone to Disney…did you use the Dining Plan?  If so, what did you think?  If not, why not?

Since I’m still in the midst of downloading and manipulating Disney photos, you will have to wait a bit longer for Disney trip posts.  Until then, I thought I would share a super cute Evan moment with you.

While packing for our trip, I told Evan to pick 3 “pets” to take with us to Florida.  He has a gajillion stuffies but there are a select few that are in heavy rotation. His two favorites are Gray Kitty (above) and another kitty named Zsa Zsa.  Imagine my surprise when he picked Zsa Zsa, Eggie (a stuffed egg I got a BlogHer) and his red Angry Bird.

“What about Gray Kitty?” I asked.

He shrugged and said “I don’t want to take him.”

I didn’t fight him on it, we finished packing and flew to Orlando.  The first night at the hotel he was pretty sad but as the days went on he mentioned it less. When we got on the plane to come home, though, he said “I can’t wait to see Gray Kitty!”  Evan fell asleep on the plane so he was asleep when we got home. I tucked him into bed & put Gray Kitty in his arms.  He was so happy to see him this morning!

Tonight, as I tucked Evan into bed, he propped up Gray Kitty and said “Gray Kitty, I am really sorry I left you behind!”.  His little chin was wobbling as he spoke and his eyes were misty.  ”I forgot how much I loved you!” he whispered.

Mama’s eyes are getting a bit misty right now…..my sweet little boy!

- changing out of your warm holiday shorts into jeans and “real” shoes

- brushing the sand out of the backpack

- carrying a 40 pound preschooler down the LOOOOOOONG hallway to customs when a nice White Hat volunteer offers you a ride in a cart

- seeing the Northern Lights from the car on the way home (the first time I’ve ever seen them)

- getting our stroller back after it disappeared for a week in airline pergatory

- having a blowout with the hubs at the airport before boarding our flight home….ya know b/c no one is the least bit tired or cranky

- tucking Evan into his very own bed with his very own gray kitty stuffie (that he decided to leave home & then missed the entire trip)

and lastly….nothing says coming home like crawling into my very own comfy, cozy bed.

Good night!  I promise to post pictures and more about our trip tomorrow.

What says coming home to you?

Jen and I have been great Twitter friends for years.  I finally got to meet her in real life at BlogHer and now we’re “real” friends (hah!).  Jen’s post about her focus on gaining in the new year instead of losing really resonated with me (I even wrote my own post) so I asked her to guest post.  Here’s a little about my friend “I’m Jen, and I have well earned the Little Miss Mocha title.  Fueled by laughable amounts of chocolate and coffee, I’m a writer, entrepreneur, wife and mom to two beautiful kids.” Definitely head over to Little Miss Mocha and visit Jen!

A little while ago, Merry was kind enough to link to a post I wrote called “This year, I’m hoping to GAIN…”  I’m visiting here on Merry with Children while Merry soaks up a little sun in Mexico, and we thought I could share a little more about why on earth I am thinking about gaining at a time of year when everyone else we know is trying to lose?

Tell me something, when January rolls around and everyone starts talking about resolutions and losing weight, how do you feel?  Like you’ve been there before only to be disappointed or perhaps while we say “happy new year” we really mean “happy new guilt?”  Don’t get me wrong, I have as many vices or bad habits as the next person, and I know there are things that I should improve if I’m really honest with myself.  But is the language we want to use all about losing, cutting, doing without?

In my own experience, telling myself I’m quitting something only makes me want it more.  Planning to do without something I really like for an extended period of time really only makes me want to count the days until I have it back.  And while I’m certainly not wasting away, wouldn’t it be nicer to think about how much better I could feel than calculating how many pounds I should consider losing?

So I sat down and thought, this year, I don’t want to focus on not eating, or doing without good food.  I love food, and I’m not willing to walk around hungry or unhappy.  My outlook this year is a more gentle “what can I add?” rather than what I can gain.

I am adding fresh, wholesome food to my meals.  I am taking the time to make myself a proper lunch rather than skip it while busy.  I am adding good foods like butter and avocado where I want them, knowing that when I feel full and satisfied, I don’t reach for sweets and coffee through the afternoon.  I am making more green smoothies, knowing that my kids and I are taking in handfuls of fresh fruit and spinach with every sip.  (I called them dinosaur smoothies and served them up with a smile – my seven year old budding paleontologist never knew what hit him.)  I have added back a comforting ritual of tea in the afternoon and evening, knowing that while that hot cup is in my hands, I am less likely to reach for something I should avoid.

It didn’t stop there.  I started adding more exercise to my days, knowing that the combination of good foods and more activity would make me feel stronger, more vibrant.  I joined a program I wouldn’t have dared to before, all full of wisdom and information about sugar and how to reduce sugar cravings.  And yet again, the approach is adding, upgrading, learning, satisfying rather than just giving up.

And here we are, six weeks into a new year, and I don’t feel guilty or disappointed.  I don’t feel deprived, or like I’m waiting for something to be over so I can just indulge already.  Instead, I’m looking back on the last few weeks and feeling proud that I’ve been taking care of myself.  I’m pleased with new habits, and find that my days and plates and cups are so full of good things I’m trying that there really hasn’t been time to miss what I have left behind.

And get this – last week I got sick with strep throat, and while I have been happy to have had a good groove going so I keep up with eating and drinking good things, I have been missing working out.  Yes, me, the person who didn’t work out from October to December because she was too busy.  Dear cold germs, get lost, my elliptical is waiting.

(Oh, about the butter and avocado thing, if you are sorely tempted to tell me they are fattening and I shouldn’t be eating them, I’m ready to nod and smile.  Then I’ll slip on my jeans, and do up my belt to one hole smaller than I did in December, and thank you for your opinion.  And maybe go eat another avocado.)

Kind thanks to Merry for welcoming me to Merry with Children!

You’re very welcome!  Come back soon!