My Daughter Left Me For Minnie Mouse

Well, spring break has officially arrived and I am at home. Yes, the absolute FIRST spring break I have not jetted/drove off somewhere for the week. There's a weird calming peace to it, though, I must say. Literally for as long as I can remember, mom and dad packed us all up [usually with a friend] and we'd drive down to Orlando for the week. I never did the Panama City, Fl spring break or any of that - didn't care to. Although, there was that one time I lived there and did experience it for the first time. Regrettably, I enjoyed it for that brief moment. But as luck would have it, I moved away and never did it again. #winning! Disneyworld/Universal was where it was at for me. Hands down. Although now I prefer more of a Hilton Head relaxed vacation, given Disneyworld can get exhausting with two kids [admit it parents!]. But with that said, I still wouldn't trade those memories for anything; nothing is more important than seeing that life in their eyes. 

Ok now I'm getting sad. 

So..... my daughter left for spring break this morning and I've been a basket case. No this isn't like a senior year trip to Cancun [yikes, my heart can't even fathom that right at this moment] ... no she's only 4. When we found out we were expecting and set to deliver after the first of the year, my parents jumped right on that and decided to take her to Disney as a nice "big sister" trip but just the three of them - to give us a short week to ourselves with little man. All fine and dandy at the time of planning said trip, but now it's here. And I'm sad. I miss her. Like reeeaaaallllly miss her. My heart was aching last night when we said goodbye. Even when Chris went to give her a hug she said "...are you leaving me?" Oh my heart!!! :( I know she's in good hands, that's not the issue. I have serious separation anxiety and sometimes it just gets the best of me. 

So here I am. Little man is asleep, hubs is being the handy man helping his dad at their house, so it's just me. It gets too quiet, so I usually put on Big Band/Swing [ch.801 Direct tv, if you're interested] and let it play. It's soothing. I don't dare turn on a movie, afraid it'll trigger something that will remind me of my girl. Yes, I am that sensitive. I cried like a baby last night.

I think it's just the whole I'm at home, while she's away thing. When I leave for a trip without the kids it still takes me a day to recover, but I know I'll be ok because I'm not home where their toys are everywhere or near the smell of their clothes/room. But I'm home! So everything reminds me of her. I opened her door this morning just to peek in and the smell of her little room just got to me. I sound like such a sap. 

7 more days, and she'll be back home. But who's counting? :) 

Here's A Fun Game. Or Not.

With Disney being one of my family's most popular getaways, I thought I would do something different in reference to my favorite place on earth.

A post where I use my semi-creative thoughts and define each letter spelling out "Disneyworld". The first thought that pops into my head.

If you choose to not stay around for this one, you may proceed to the exit sign. (What sign?)

D...don't ever expect me to act like anything but a kid when I'm there.
I...isn't this fun?
S...sorry I'm not sorry I love Disney more than my child.
N...no, it's not ok to NOT get a picture in front of Cinderella's castle for the hundredth time.
E...eating everything you want is acceptable, because calories don't matter on vacation or in Disneyworld.
Y...young at heart is an understatement. Or have I not implied that enough already?
W...when's lunch?
O...one, two, three "MEESKA MOOSKA MICKEEEEEY MOUSE!".
R...really, I can't believe the above statement is all I could think of.
L...let's be real now, the idea of labeling each letter in an eleven-letter word was a bit excessive.
D...done.

So that was fun.

I wanted to erase my immediate response to "W", but then I would be a liar. That's literally what came to mind. What can I say, I'm pregnant.

BOO! At The Zoo

This weekend, we joined together with friends and family to venture on out to our local zoo. Every year, through the month of October, they host a Halloween Party with plenty of candy and characters to entertain! This was our first year attending, now that Audriana is old enough to enjoy it. We brought the stroller along incase those little legs couldn't hang, but she was a trooper and walked the entire time. Again, she's growing up too fast and I don't know how to slow down time. Whaaaah :(

Along with us were my parents, husband, sister-in-law, and two of my favorite people Erika and Amy, with their children. Unfortunately, we didn't get an entire group photo, but still plenty were captured.

We started at the entrance and walked in every direction possible, until the train ride at the end! Whew, what a workout - for me anyway. The set up was incredible. I just loved it! They had a theme throughout each corner; from Storybook Princesses, Nintendo, Superheroes, almost all Disney movie characters, , and the Wizard of Oz, to name a few. Ha. Sadly, Audriana was bundled up and no one noticed her Princess Sofia dress underneath, they thought she was an owl. She was cool with it, so by all means. Ok, so getting to it! I decided to just share the highlights of our zoo adventure. Still a lot, but believe me there were a bundle.

They were obviously having a blast. As you can imagine, it took us awhile to make our way through from all the photo ops, but they were loving it. And every now and then the grown ups would have our own little fun with it. Next year we'll have our son for a complete family photo!!!

Oh, and we can't forget the hot chocolate!!!! It was a chiiiillllllly night. While the kiddos danced around under the disco light (yes, there was a dance floor reserved for kids to exert their sugar rush) we hung around and sipped on our hot cocoa. Yummy!!

Well, that's about all there is folks. Other than a few more here or there, we made our way around back to the front entrance for Audriana to enjoy a carousel ride, and last but not least caught the train ride around the zoo.
This was such a fun day! Not to mention Audriana passed OUT on the way home. I guess you could say we all could have at that point. We all had a great time. I'm so glad we were able to experience it with family AND friends. The kids had a blast with one another. I'm thankful for our relationships, and the ability to share moments like these. Can't wait for next year!

Although, I won't be able to get festive with an AWESOME shirt like this again. I couldn't have been more pleased with my customized t-shirt. I shopped around for all kinds of maternity ideas for Halloween, and this was the winner. Simple, but certainly making a statement. Ha!

Those were our shenanigans for the weekend! What were some of yours??? LINK UP! and share. :)