Magic Kingdom!

The big highlight of the trip, of course, was Magic Kingdom! We stayed from 9 am to 9 pm; no one complained; everyone enjoyed all of it - even Daphne, who didn't have a nap, hardly fussed. The favorite rides were declared to be the Barnstormer and Space Mountain (by Russell and Meredith) and Dumbo (by Paige and Daphne). Everyone got a souvenir or two. It was hot, but not as humid as Legoland was. 

Everyone loved the teacups - except Mom and Dad!

The parade at 3 pm in front of Liberty Square was great! And really hot!

Cousins and grandparents stayed at the park until 3ish, so we enjoyed several rides together (and lunch at the Beast's castle together).

Dinner at Columbia Harbor House: yummy, not badly priced, indoors, no wait (at 5:30, anyway!) You can see the girls wearing their still-favorite souvenir: Minnie ears.

Buzz Lightyear ride - the only ride that scared Meredith:

Space Mountain:

I only wish I had some pictures of our ice cream and watching the fireworks - it was a wonderful way to end the day!

Meredith's Birthday Celebration at Disney

Cousins, glow balloons, noisemakers, cake, presents - simple and fun and exactly the way a birthday should be!

Legoland Florida!

On our Disney trip, we spent one day at Legoland (Monday) and one day at Magic Kingdom (wednesday), and the other 3 days (Sunday, Tuesday, Friday) we chilled out around Disney. It was a great mix.

Monday, we got to Legoland very close to opening time (9 am) and stayed until it closed at 5. It was a hot, muggy day, but the kids were troopers and we all had a great time! Poor Paige was very sensitive and nervous on a couple of the rides - this is when we determined that rollercoasters are not for her, at least not yet! She went on one coaster here at was yelling, "It's too fast! I want to get off!"

40 minute drive from Old Key West to Legoland - worth it considering the amazing homeschool discount we got on the tickets!

Meredith wore her birthday crown and got lots of well-wishes, and a birthday button :)

On the Lego Kingdom playground:

Mini-land - the intricacy was incredible.

We ate indoors, in air conditioning :), for lunch, at a pretty good and reasonably-priced burger place.

Lego Fire Academy - an activity where we pumped a fire car and aimed fire hoses to put out Lego City fires:

Lego driving school:

Ninjago world:

Ninjago ride - was a bit scary for Paige!

Lego safari:

Heartlake Lego Friends store!

We could have spent another couple of hours there, and then we would have gotten to see everything (if, of course, it hadn't closed so early). It was a wonderful day!

Disney!! Part 1: Around the Resort/Traveling

The day after we finished the big kids' standardized testing for the year, we packed up and headed for Disney World with my parents, my brothers, and their families!

{This is part 1 of 3-4 about Disney - it's too much for one post! This post is focused on our down time: traveling, the resort, the pools, Disney Springs.}

This was, hands-down, the easiest long car trip ever with these kids - one of the major perks to them getting older!

We stayed the night in Jacksonville on Saturday night, and met up with much of the fam for dinner at a nice brewery.

On Sunday morning, we arrived at Old Key West! 

There's no purpose for this photo, except to show that the adults were there ;) since most picture are of the kids!

Dinner on Monday night with all the cousins!

Sister cuddles

Russell has become interested in cooking, and he wanted to make "his special breakfast" for anyone who would eat it! (Turkey, cheese, bagel)

Old Key West pool:

On our last day, we visited the Lego store and the World of Disney store and walked around Disney Springs:

And we ended the day with a marshmallow roast!

Meredith's Seventh Birthday!

Meredith had a fun and casual birthday this year! On her actual birthday, we went to church, took her to Panera for lunch (her choice), had our neighbors over in the afternoon. She got 4 books from her favorite book series, a swim cover-up, a beach mat from Aunt Nancy, and presents from Paw Paw too. (We also celebrated the next week with family in Disney World :))

Some of Meredith's favorite things at 7: Jojo Siwa (kid pop star), Kids Bop, her best friend Evie, the movie Mulan, the TV shows Pokemon and Odd Squad, the Phoebe and the Unicorn book series and the Owl Diaries book series, dressing up, playing the piano, the stores Claire's and Justice.

Meredith is a sweet, responsible, helpful, sensitive girl who loves friends, her family, going out and learning new things. We're so thankful to have her in our family!

Last Day of CC

The last day of CC for the year was April 3. It always seems to come so quickly! We celebrated with a hot dog/Americana themed potluck, certificates and awards, and a field day. So fun! Our director, Kirstie, gifted me with a CC-themed necklace for serving as a sub for the year, which was so thoughtful.

We love our CC community and are excited to continue the fun with play dates and field trips this summer in anticipation of next year!

Easter 2018

Easter Sunday! It was a beautiful day with a lovely church service, and family over for a ham dinner :) The kids enjoyed their Easter baskets filled with candy, puzzles, their very own clipboards (a highlight), and lotion for the girls.

We made our traditional Resurrection Rolls for breakfast.

Cuties in their Sunday best :)

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"