Day 2 of Florida 2012 Vacation!

And we're on to day TWO, folks.  I know you're probably biting your nails in anticipation.  I also forgot to tell you that Blake thinks the state of Tennessee is and I quote, "The most beautiful state I've ever been in."  I also think it's beautiful but after all the dang traffic, it's not high on my list of places to be! :)

Helpful hint for day 2:  INVEST IN A CAR DVD PLAYER!!!  Notice how I wrote that in ALL caps?  There's a reason.  It's very important!  By the middle (beginning....who am I kidding?) of the day, I was about to thumb it the rest of the way.  I kept seeing all the fancy RVs going by and I secretly (or not so secretly) wanted to ask if they could drop me off at Disney World.  For reals.  It was pretty much that crazy in the car.  Of course the traffic was equally (or worse) as bad as day 1.  So the kids (and the parents) were pretty much done!

I didn't drive at all the second day.  Mainly because I wanted to sound really cool.  Oh wait.  That's what I was thinking when I DID drive the whole way.  Well.  It was kinda nice to ride instead of drive.  Of course the snack stash was awfully tempting.  I managed to (mostly) stay out of it.

It rained.  Again.  But we made it!  We arrived on Disney property in PLENTY of time to watch the UL/UK Final Four game.  That being said, the Queen (our GPS) totally led us astray.  We drove around aimlessly for a good twenty minutes.  I watched the game on my phone until we eventually made it!  It wasn't ideal but U of L losing was also not ideal.  Yes, I'm still deeply depressed over the loss.  Though I, of course, have to give major props to my Cards for even making it that far!  They had a heck of a year!

Okay, back to the vacation.  We stayed at Disney All-Star Sports Resort.  I wouldn't recommend it.  Like at all.  Unless you have a desire to stay in an old, run-down, Motel 6 type of place.  Yeah, I kinda think it was that bad.  But we figured we wouldn't be spending that much time in the actual room....so we just dealt with it.  *Shudder*

The kids immediately wanted to get in the pool.  I was still nursing my wounds (from the aforementioned basketball game) so I just sat and watched.  I was just glad to be out of the car....even if it did mean I was residing in Nastyville for the next 3 nights and 4 days.  *Shudder*

And that was it for day 2!  I know you're anxiously awaiting tomorrow's post.  RIGHT?  Okay welp, I'll have another blog up in about 12 hours!  You're welcome! :)

Leaving the hotel on day 2!

This is the first time she slept on the trip and it didn't last too long!

Yup....pretty much sums up our sentiments!

The TWELVE Days of BLOGGING!!!

Yes, you read that right!  We are just back from vacation and instead of bombarding my readers with WAY TOO MUCH information and WAY TOO MANY PICTURES all at once, I'm going to break it up!  YAY!  (I can hear you all cheering)!

As most of you know, we went to the magical world of DISNEY!  This post will be focused mainly on the "getting to" part of the journey.  Oh my stars, was it a journey.  I've never seen traffic like I saw traffic on the way to Florida.  For reals.

To start, I wanted to quote a Blakeism.  When we first got in the car, he told me, "I have butterflies in my stomach because I'm so excited."  That made me happy because I actually planned a fun vacation.  Like I've mentioned before, we've had little weekend getaways but never a proper family vacation.  Until now.....

So we started out with cute little Blake.  Things kinda went downhill when we stopped at Subway for our lunch and they didn't have the fat free chips I like.  Oh and they put about 80 gallons of mustard on my veggie delight.  I was still thinking about that when I decided to test out the sunroof.  I should also mention that we borrowed the Lexus from my mom and dad.  It offered a lot more room than the HHR.  So that's why I felt I needed to check out the sunroof.  *Insert near heart attack*  A spider fell out when I opened the sunroof.  I thought it was a dead fly but no, it was a jumping (hairy) black and white spider.  I'd like to say the kids were screaming but it was really me.  Yeah, I screamed.  Lots of times.  I pulled the car over and searched high and low for that pesky creature.  I couldn't find it.  I pulled over again when I did find it crawling next to my seat.  He jumped when I tried to smash him.  This went on until I finally got to Billy's office.  I waited for the sucker to come out and then I finally killed it.  Geez.  It was not ideal for someone who has arachnophobia like I do!

I already mentioned traffic was horrendous.  We were in that pretty much the ENTIRE first day.  I drove the whole way because I thought it would be cool to say I drove the entire first day.  It turns out telling people that isn't really that cool.  The traffic added an extra 3 hours to our journey.  I will say that by driving, I was able to stay out of the snack stash.  So that's one positive.....

Then it started raining.  Like super hard.  I had to revert to my "granny style" driving so I could see out the windshield.  Then we got lost in Atlanta.  I wasn't super happy about that.  I'm pretty sure at that point, I wouldn't have been happy about much of anything.  So by adding so much time to our trip, we got to the hotel AFTER the pool had closed.  That wasn't cool.  Well, I didn't care but the kids were pretty bummed.

We finally got into bed and fell asleep pretty quickly.  Unfortunately for me, I had to sleep by Blake.  He still grinds his teeth like no other.  So I really didn't get much sleep at all.  But ya know, when you're on your way to Disney World, you can't really complain about much (like I just did....)!  :)

*Helpful hint from day 1:  Don't travel in jeans with buttons on the back pocket.  When you're going to be stuck in a car for ten hours, it tends to be a little uncomfortable! ;)

I have included a picture of the rain and gobs of traffic!

Our Weekend of FUN!

So we're getting ready to leave for Disney (GASP).  I can't believe it's finally here!!!  I figured I better catch up on the ol' blog because I'm sure I'll have about 82 thousand pictures to share when we return (maybe).  Since I'm down to the last couple days, I'm gonna catch up by combining our whole weekend into one blog.  This is normally an easy task but we did A LOT of stuff last weekend.  I mean a ridiculous amount of stuff.  You'll see!

First up was a Suns/Pacers game.  Lola and I had fun making ourselves look presentable before Billy got home.  That means I actually straightened and then CURLED my hair.  This rarely happens so we had to take a few photos!  We had a great time at the game despite the Pacers losing by TWO points.  Sheesh.  I also enjoyed seeing Robin Lopez and his CRAZY hair.  I'm pretty sure that mop top is featured in one of my pictures!  You're welcome!

We had a great time at the game.  Then we returned home and rested up for our busy Saturday!  We had to be at Blake's basketball spectacular at 9:45.  It was a super entertaining (*SARCASM*) presentation of teams....if that's what you're into, that is!  Don't we all want to sit on hard bleachers while EVERY team (grades k-7) is recognized?  Well.  It wasn't that awesome.  What was awesome?  Blake received the sportsmanship award.  Only one child for each team received it so we were pretty happy for him!  He got a plaque and everything!  Hooray for my little basketball star!

After the spectacular, we went home for a brief minute.  Then we left for the movies.  Lola kept seeing previews for The Lorax so I decided it was time to try again.  She didn't do that great at The Muppets.  But it's been a while so I thought things would be better.  She lasted about half of the movie.  Not cool.  I love nothing better than wasting money on TWO tickets to a movie.  Especially since movies are like a billion dollars (approximately) now.  So Lola and Billy walked around the shopping complex and Blake and I enjoyed the movie.  We gave it two thumbs up!



The movie ended and Lola realized she missed half of it.  Enter BIGGEST TANTRUM OF 2012.  I'm having an Oscar made up later in the week.  Her performance was stellar.  So what does any parent do?  Take the kids to Dippin' Dots, of course. Why not reward totally rotten behavior?  Why not, I ask?  I'm up for mother of the year award.  But Lola did look pretty stinkin' cute in her cheerleading outfit!

Ahhh......our festivities were ALMOST complete!  Last up was the game.  THE.  GAME.  You know....the one where Louisville came back and actually BEAT Florida.  Yeah.  That game.  I was a nervous wreck.  Then I was over the moon.  Louisville in the Final Four.  Wow.  That made my weekend the BEST WEEKEND EVER!  For reals! 

So there ya have it.  We are getting ready to head to Florida.  We will be watching the game on Saturday at 6:09 PM (way to go scheduling people.  Really?  Not 6:00 or 6:10 or even 6:15?).  I wouldn't know what to do with myself if Louisville actually beats Kentucky.  Let's go Cards!  I'll be back to blogging after Easter!  Happy week to all of you!  May the force be with you!  Here's one last picture of me reppin' for my CARDS!!!  That's how I roll.....

Shamrock Shuffle!

I got a weekend away!  *SIGH*  It was amazing!  I love going back to Kentucky but this time was extra special because I returned to Georgetown/Lexington!  I don't get there as often as I'd like!  My friends and I decided to run a little race called the Shamrock Shuffle.  It was a blast.  I won't mention my frustration with the dogs and strollers.  I will mention that I will know going into it next year that I will have to be okay with just walking.  Avoiding said dogs and strollers got to be quite a headache! 

Yes, I'm still injured.  But yes, I'm still planning on the mini marathon in about a month.  Crazy?  Maybe.  But this will be done.  Even if I have to walk half (or all) of it! ;)

Anyway, it was so nice to get a little break (thank you, Billy)!  Things have been a little chaotic lately.  And you may have noticed, I haven't even had the time to blog!  Or maybe you haven't noticed.  *sniffle*  Seeing dear friends is always a good way to recharge the ol' battery!  I feel like I have a new lease on life.  At least for now.  I probably won't be saying that in a day or two (or even five minutes from now).

A big thanks to my wonderful friend, Jenny and her family for allowing me to stay at their house!  It's always hard to host me during March Madness.  At least I got to watch the important games!  And I didn't scream and wake up the whole house!  Oh and can you believe this gal hasn't written ANY blogs about the madness I call the NCAA tournament?  I know.  Crazy.  So I will say a big congrats to the Cards for making it to the Sweet 16!  WOO HOO!  Thursday can't come soon enough!  And with that, I will post the only pictures I took from the weekend.  I apologize they are all small because they were all taken from my phone.  But hey...some is better than none.  Right?  Hope you all had a fabulous St. Patrick's Day!  May the luck of the Irish be with you ALL year long! :)

HAPPY! :)

It's that day again!  Funny how Monday just keeps rolling around! And I'm so thankful they do!  :)  I'm especially grateful for today because I had a pretty stressful weekend!  *SIGH*  But instead of complaining (and I shouldn't have even mentioned anything negative...), I'm going to be positive! :)

1.  Blake has become obsessed with all things basketball, as you all know.  He has since started trying to make half-court shots.  You know...just in case he has possession of the ball with only 2 seconds left and he's all the way at the other end of the court.  Anyway, he nailed TWO of them tonight in basketball practice.  I'd say he's ready!  His team finished 2nd and has a bye this week.  If they win two more games, they will be the champions! :)

2.  I'm back to dealing with all my running injuries which isn't cool  But I'm not gonna lie.  It was kind-of nice to just relax and take it easy today.  That's right, folks.  I'm not running AT ALL this week.  And by taking the week off, I BETTER BE BACK TO NORMAL by next Monday!

3.  Sophie Kinsella.  That should be all I have to say!  She's pretty much one of my favorite authors on this planet!  My awesome mother put herself (ME) on hold for the new book.  Billy brought it to me this weekend.  I started it yesterday.  I finished it today.  I want it to be a movie.  Like TOMORROW!  It was SOOOO good!

4.  I'm watching The Voice (OH HAPPY DAY) and the kids are getting ready to go to bed!  *FIST PUMP*

5.  I'm extremely stressed with the Pacers taking on the Bulls in Chicago.  But it's a pretty close game right now!  C'mon Pacers.....win your 7th game in a row!  Do it for me....and my HAPPY Monday! :)

I hope you all have a super fantastic week!  Remember how blessed we are!  I am especially thankful for all that I have....after the devastating storms in my neck of the woods over the weekend!  Please do whatever you can to help these families!  And because all blogs are better with pictures, I'm including this one of Lola from last week.