My Own Disney Park

On Saturday, Jocelyn decided she would bring Disney World to her and wear her Mickey Ears while playing outside.  We drew a train on the driveway in sidewalk chalk, just like the one in the Magic Kingdom...well almost.  Then Jocelyn rode the swing in the backyard for about a half hour.  Hey, it was the only ride without a line (we didn't even need a FastPass)!  We also played with bubbles, of course.   Here are some fun pictures.

Picture Day!

Just thought I'd share a picture of Jocelyn all ready for picture day at school.  She is getting so big, so fast.   Love this kid so much!





Sunday Fun

We had a great Sunday and I thought I'd share some cute pictures of Jocelyn enjoying the beautiful weather.   (I also got an Iphone, and I wanted to share some of the photos I took on it!)

First we spent some time after church at the playground in the field behind the church.  What a great way to let Jocelyn get some of her energy after being confined to the pew for an hour. Although, maybe next time I should let her get all her energy out before church. 



After a well deserved nap, Jocelyn, John and I spent some time in the backyard playing with bubbles.  Jocelyn loves bubbles!  I think it is so funny how excited she gets about them.  The weather was so nice all day that we didn't get anything else done of Sunday except enjoy it.







Disney World

This is a little out of order, but I finally downloaded all of my pictures from my camera onto my computer and thought I'd do a post about our December trip to Walt Disney World.  It was a big family trip....8 adults and 3 kids, so I think the adults had the kids out numbered.  Our trip was from December 14 to December 22 and we stayed at the Boardwalk Villas.  What an awesome time we had!  There is nothing like Disney World at Christmas time.  The decorations were beautiful and the Christmas spirit can be found everywhere.

My sister Jennifer and her husband, Kenny, and their two kids (Thaden and Owen) made the trip by truck over a two day period.  John, Jocelyn, Melanie, Dad, Pam and I all flew together bright and early on a Wednesday morning.  Jocelyn did really well on the flight and Melanie kept her entertained with her Ipad!  Thanks Aunt Melanie.  Mom came on Friday night since she couldn't really take the last couple days off of school before Christmas break. 

We took full advantage of the cargo space in the truck and had Jennifer and Kenny not only haul their stuff but also lots of stuff for the rest of us to enjoy for the week.  We stayed at the Boardwalk Villas in a two bedroom villa that had a full kitchen, so we had to stock the fridge and pantry.  One of my favorite things about Walt Disney World are the restaurants and trying different things.  These meals can get pretty pricey though, so we limited our meals at the parks to only one or two a day, so the rest of the meals (mainly breakfast and a couple of lunches) were done in the room.  We also purchased a Tables in Wonderland card which gave our party a 20% discount at the table service restaurants and trust me, with 11 total people, we took full advantage of that and it was well worth the $75 for the card.

My family would probably consider me the Disney tour guide and got tired of me bugging them to get up in the mornings so that we could "stay on schedule."  I put a lot of work into scheduling our hotel accomodations, meals, and picking which park we would be at what day.  For me, planning the trip itself is half the fun.  I organized golf for the guys, made sure we got our reservation at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue early so that we'd get a great table in the center of the room, close to the stage (which we did!),  made sure we had reserved seating at the Candlelight Processional (which was so beautiful and moving), and organized a sleigh ride around Fort Wilderness.   Jocelyn even got her first haircut at the Barber Shop on Main Street. 

One of my goals is to stay at all of the Disney hotels at least once.   I had always wanted to stay at the Boardwalk and really looked forward to spending a week there.  The theming and decor of the hotel is beautiful.  It was beautifully decorated for Christmas.  The location is fantastic and so convenient to the "back door" of Epcot.  I love Epcot and could spend hours just walking around the countries, enjoying the attention to detail Disney provides, and, of course, getting a Gran Marnier Slush from France (love it)!

Jocelyn's favorite ride Dumbo!

It all started with a mouse!

Jocelyn's first haircut.

The gardens in Canada, right before we ate at Le Cellier (yum!).

Sleigh ride through Ft. Wilderness after the Hoop Dee Doo Revue.

What a bunch of characters.

Dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe (check out those rosey cheeks on Jocelyn).

Jocelyn, Thaden and Owen had a blast with the characters and riding Dumbo!  Jocelyn will tell you, though, that she did not like the Peter Pan ride because it was too dark.  The carousel was also a favorite for the kids.  I'm really looking forward to go back after the Fantasyland expansion is complete.  Hopefully we'll get to go back again soon.

1713 Meadowlark

On Sunday I had the chance to go see my childhood home which is now up for sale.  My family lived in the house from 1979 (the year before I was born) until 1998 (the year I graduated high school).  The exterior of the house had not changed much at all, except for some reduction in landscaping.  The interior was generally the same except for some upgrades to the kitchen (they did a really nice job with the counter tops, blacksplash and floors).  Even the shelf liner in the kitchen was the same as when we left.  The built in book cases in my sister Jennifer's room still had the same doors and tiny drawers that got stuck all the time.  Best of all, I was so happy to see that the shutters in my old room were still there (although the room itself was a home gym...glad they kept the shutters).

Walking through the house brought a flood of memories and I thought I'd share some of my favorites here.

• Pool parties for my birthday (in August...always a Luau) or church youth group gatherings.
• Get togethers with the Shankles for backyard BBQs.
• Talking on the phone in the hallway that had a cord that was really short and you had to stand up to talk on it.
• Hunting for Easter eggs in the backyard.
• The whole family doing yard and house work on Saturday morning and having lunch on the gazebo when we were done.
• Ruffles (our dog) lying in the drive way under the car port.
• Playing Nintendo in Jennifer's room (my favorite game was Bubble Bobble).
• Playing Barbies with Tracey for hours and hours.
• Watching Saved by the Bell on Saturday mornings in the living room.
• Decorating the house for Christmas and taking our family picture in front of the fireplace.
• Seeing friends' cars pull up to the front and parking at the end of the walkway (no one wanted to park in the driveway because it was a pain to back out of....although I remember Niki popping a tire from broken concrete on the front curb).
• Living right across the street from my Grandma and Grandpa.
• Walking to junior high with Tracey, Leslie and Katie.

I'm sure I could go on and on! 

Heaven is For Real

I recently read the book "Heaven is For Real" which is a true story about a 4 year old boy's near death experience and his visit to Heaven.  It is a beautiful story (and a quick read).  I've always been a believer in Christ and Heaven, but, as one person in the book put it, was never able to truly visualize what it would be like.  The unbiased, innocent description that the young child, Colton, gives in the book is humbling.  While I fully intend to enjoy every minute I have on this earth, I feel excited about what is to come in the Kingdom and the people I will get to see again and those I'll get to meet for the first time.  I felt compelled to read this book after the passing of an old friend's young daughter, which happened less than a year after the passing of their young son.  These events make you think and question.  The book doesn't change my beliefs, just made my beliefs that much stronger.  I know that my friend will get to see her two beautiful children again and that they really are watching down on their parents.  Now I have a better image of what it will be like and that makes me happy.

Easter Fun

I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a long while now and finally decided to just do it…even if I’m the only one that will ever read it.  I like the idea of keeping a virtual scrapbook and giving family that doesn’t live nearby the chance to see what Jocelyn (and John and I as well) has been up to.

So, I’m starting this blog with a post about Easter.  How perfect since Easter is a time for new beginnings!

We had a great long weekend starting with Good Friday, where Jocelyn and I met up with my sister and some friends for a play date at Elaine’s house.  It takes Jocelyn a little time to warm up to others when she comes into a new situation (even when she’s played with the kids and spent time with the adults a thousand times), but she had a lot of fun playing with all of Chelsea’s toys.

Friday night, Grandpa Don (John’s dad) came to spend the weekend with us.  We recently cancelled cable since I was tired of paying for a bunch of channels that I didn’t watch and half the stuff that I’d wind up watching was ridiculous (sorry Real Housewives…you can no longer suck me in to your train wreck).  Felt a little bad that we didn't have any of his favorite news stations anymore, but that is fine by me.

Saturday was a lot of fun at our church Easter Egg-travaganza!  Although Jocelyn had more fun playing on the playground at church, she enjoyed “hunting” for eggs once she finally figured out what the point was.  The look on her face when it was time to start the hunt was … “Mom, I don’t get it.  So we just pick these eggs up and put them in this basket? What for?”  I had to show her that there were goodies inside the eggs.

After we got home from the egg hunt, Jocelyn took a 4 hour nap.  That’s right, a 4 hour nap! 

Sunday we woke up bright and early to make it to our usual 8:30am church service and we tried to be there a few minutes early since it was a holiday and we wanted to get “our pew.”  Jocelyn looked so pretty in her Easter dress and she behaved so well during the service!  After church, the whole family was coming to the Wallace house for lunch and an egg hunt.   My special treat for our Easter lunch was rice krispie treats in the shape of Easter eggs, dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles…I thought they turned out very cute and they tasted wonderful!

Jocelyn and her cousins, Thaden (3) and Owen (1), had a great time getting Easter eggs that Aunt Jennifer put together and “hid” for them.  The weather turned out to be so beautiful; we all spent most of the afternoon enjoying the backyard.