Mike's Farm

One of our family's regular excursions is to Mike's Farm. Again, it is not far from our home, about 45 minutes perhaps, in Back Swamp, NC, just beyond Jacksonville.

It is a family style meal that includes fried chicken, pork and gravy, mashed potatoes, the best macaroni and cheese anywhere, green beans, biscuits, corn, and I'm sure I am forgetting something. Strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, banana pudding, or ice cream for dessert. All of this in a setting that, if you grew up in Eastern North Carolina, will simply remind you of dinner at your grandma's..

The food is great but there is something about this place that attracts our girls, the simply love it. They always tell us that they want to live on a farm, maybe that has something to do with it - but they are always enthusiastic about going, and frankly so are we.

 

Not sure why, but all of our girls love this donkey. His name is Pedro.

Addison is a natural on the tractor. If we ever do move to a farm she is ready.

Emily is having a ball

Addison: I wish I had a quarter

Goat: Are you sure you don't know someone with a quarter?

Hay bailing.

 

Cowgirl Olivia complete with toothpick.

 

Addison learns to throw the frisbee.

 

Olivia is on the ball.

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The Fossil Museum

We were off again on another family adventure. You don't have to go far. This time we decided to go to the Aurora Fossil Museum. It is a free museum that is funded by the PCS Phosphate mine, also in Aurora. We found it to be a good place to spend a morning. Nana decided to go with us and we even had lunch at the Pamlico Bojangles.

There were lots of displays and fossils to see and a place to look for your own fossils.

 

 

 

We had a great time at the museum. Total cost of admission: $0 although Nana did spring for the shovels and sifter. Thanks Nana.

 

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Disney World 2015

One would think that 10 days at Disney would cause anyone to be tired of the place. Not so with us, everyone cried when we left. We loved the experience and are not nearly tired of it.

We have already discussed our next trip to Disney in three years or so. Having learned from the heat and the crowed, we are looking at retuning in January or February. No one knows where we will be then, of course, but as long as we are a family we will have hopes, dreams, and vacations. Talking about it, researching it, and planning it over the next three years will be most of the fun.

The cool thing about our kids being the ages that they are is that by the time we return Emily Grace will have forgotten all of this trip, Addison will have forgotten most of it, and Olivia will remember just enough. A formula for excitement.

 

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Going for it!

Most people that know us, know that we are BIG Disney fans! We spend months if not years planning our Disney trips. When I would share that we were going this time for 2 weeks, the looks we got were comical. Many people asked what we would do for two weeks at Disney. And the answer is, it took us 2 weeks to do it all. And we didn't get to everything. With 3 kiddos in tow, we couldn't push. We just took our time and if one of the girls was having a hard time because of sickness, etc we would leave and go back later that night.

We rent a house, and honestly it is truly the best economical choice for us. I LOVE how we all have space and let's face it... After hours of being together we all need a little space. As a mommy of 3 I even was able to find a quiet place. I was able to read 3 books, wow! I was excited!

I am fortunate enough that the Lord gave me a partner in life that LOVES to travel as much as I do! I could be on the go traveling all the time. We spend a huge amount of resources and effort traveling. I LOVE giving my girls an opportunity to experience places and things. Just this morning Olivia was asking about "that island that we were on that has the alligators and birds" " you know mom, I am going to nature school on that island." She is talking about Tybee island in Ga, we stopped there on our way down to Fl. We ate at this really cool restaurant that had alligators and birds, etc. You'll have to look back at the blog and check it out....really cool! Anyways, traveling....I kind of love it:)

Some have asked why we push so hard to travel, others don't understand why we do it. Honestly, it is really hard with 3 little ones under 7. I admitted very quickly in FL that is was much harder than expected adding Emily Grace. Plus, add strep throat to the mix and Addison hurting her foot pretty bad. Yeah, it was tough. But worth every bit. First we were away from both jobs, pretty much left alone by both. It was just our family unit...just us! Ahhh, so nice. Second, we were with Mickey and all his friends. There is something magical about Disney. Having all girls, it seems even more so.

A few years ago a little girl we knew was bitten by "the BEAST," yes, cancer. I can't remember exactly but I don't think Olivia was even born, if she was she was young, less than a year. I remember watching the family struggle and thinking to myself "if Olivia was ever sick like that I would want her to have so many experiences in life" You see, it was through watching that family go through the fight that I realized that life is so short. It can all change tomorrow. We push hard because I love my girls and never want to regret not doing something with them. Are there things I want to do to my house, sure. However, in the BIG picture none of that really matters. The experiences I give my girls and the family time we have is what counts. Will they remember all of it, not really, none of us do. But that is ok with me. Being together and doing things together builds our relationships and our family unit. Olivia and Addison just had their first Disney trip and Olivia remembered a little from last time but this is the first trip they will truly remember. That's ok, we've invested in our family through traveling.

Next vacation, well we are already talking about our next vacation!!!! Crazy, I know:) We are looking at driving up to Niagra Falls. We would go through Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and then back down through Maine. The big decision I have to make is how long to stay at each. Emily Grace will only be 2 and I'm not sure if I want to move every night or so. It's a LOT of work! So, let the planning begin.

 

Our BIG dream is take the girls to Europe one day. I went in college and loved it. There is a great Disney cruise that we want to do. I will admit that it is a once in a lifetime trip so I want the girls to all be in school for that trip. But we have begun planning and saving already:)

Below are a few of my favorite pictures and Moments from the trip.

Here are the girls on Tom Sawyer Island. We had a nice picnic lunch here one day. It is a great place to have lunch, let the girls run around and play as well as escape the crowds:)

Here are 10,000 of our closest friends enjoying Magic Kingdom with us!

Sweet Emily Grace, she was a trooper considering she was in this stroller a large portion of the trip. She did really well. She is a naturally hot baby so I worked hard to keep her hydrated.

 

My big girls...trying to figure our next stop.

The girls and I making silly faces while driving...at least I'm not texting right?

Sweet Addison posing for me at Animal Kingdom.

My sweet hubby and the love of my life! Love him!

Mickey and the girls, the great thing is that we had breakfast with most characters at one point or another. Therefore, we didn't have to wait in long lines to see them:)

 

Sweet Olivia enjoying the pool. I am already starting to campaign for a pool in the backyard. It was so nice to have a pool with in feet of the back door. Our girls loved being able to jump in easily. It has a safety fence around it, so we were able to keep big girls in and Emily Grace out. Meanwhile we actually got to sit down and relax most days, if only for an hour or so.

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Those Disney Details

Before I went on this vacation I read several books. One of them was about the hidden magic of Disney (the details). There were many that I noted because I read about them, many I noticed on my own.

It is significant in my mind because many of these details would be axed in most corporate conference rooms as unnecessary and frivolous. Walt Disney set the tone in his company by encouraging these extra touches and always asking the question, "great idea, but how do we plus it?" These costs are very real but Disney recognizes these short run costs as legacy makers, uniqueness, and ultimately long run profits. You don't see much of this anywhere else; hopefully someone is taking notes.

Here are a few details that I noticed:

These shutters hang off center because all brass was used for military purposes during the time period that this building represents and leather (which would stretch) was used to hold shutters.

Any fountain would do around the Aladdin ride but why not "plus it?"

Note the detail on this building which is a simple open-air gift shop.

This sculpture or gate is lagoon side near the China area of EPCOT. This is a fresh water lagoon, there are no clams or barnacles here but there are where it might sit in China. I would not notice if they were not there, but I did notice that they are.

This is the ceiling in Cinderella's castle. Note the detail.

The ceiling in Beaches and Cream.

These snow sculptures at Blizzard Beach melt constantly throughout the day.

These sculptures are placed on the end of these beams on a bathroom building in Animal Kingdom. Each one must have costed $50-$100. Again, I would not have noticed if they were not there, but I did notice that they were.

This is a few of any number of examples that i noticed. Put that kind of passion into anything and I dig it.

 

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Home

We passed a lot of houses over the last 2 weeks but my heart always skips a beat at the sight of this house.

There is nothing special about the house, it is just sticks and bricks like any other house. This one, though, is where my family spends a lot of our time together. The yelling, the running, the fighting, the hugs, the laughter, the love, and the mundane; it all happens here.

For this same reason we hated to see this vacation come to a close. Everyone shed tears that it was over, but it was not Disney that we mourned (well maybe it is a little). Mostly we would miss the daily living together in an environment where none of life's daily distractions were welcome.

It is not possible, of course, to keep the world at bay. We still got bad news from home and around the world and even had thoughts and distractions related to our vocations. We had sickness among us and other distractions I am sure. Still, these were all unwelcome intruders for this short time.

Our focus was Emily Grace, who is one and so joyful, and will never be one again after this year. Addison who is five and so innocent and loving, and will never be five again. And Olivia who is almost seven and so strong and curious to know everything, and will never be six (nearly seven) again. This vacation was a time to milk this time - right now - and we did.

It doesn't end here, however, we will continue to milk it among the distractions of life and on other trips small and big. As for Disney, this vacation is in the books and as Addison said shortly after getting home this morning, "I love vacation, but it's good to be home."

Still more follow-up posts to come.

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Disney Studios (Episode 2)

This is our last day at Disney and, like the last m&m in the bag, we really wanted to appreciate it. We got a late start on the day (as usual) and began with a trip through "one man's dream" about has Disney came about. Then to "Beauty and the Beast" and our girls could not get enough.

 

For the entire two weeks the girls had shopped because they were told that on the last day they could get whatever they wanted. Addison chose a kitty with a blanket and Olivia chose a bear in Disney Studios garb.

Next we hung out for a few minutes and then had lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe.

 

 

 

 

After lunch Emily Grace needed rest. Since Megan had missed the trip to Blizzard Beach because Emily Grace was sick it was her turn to take Olivia and Addison there.

 

 

After all of this we decided to leave Florida tonight instead of in the morning. Megan and I, both tired, pushed through and the next thing you know we are home at 7:15 AM.

Still check back later though, I have some follow-up posts to come in the next day or so.

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