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Addie came in my room like a ninja this morning at 6:13 am. Through my not-really-asleep-but-peeking through-on-eye-slit I was her start pretending she was eating me with her hand and made a "ra-ra-ra" sound. When I didn't acknowledge her (I hoped that magically, she would get bored and go back to her room and fall asleep like a docile little lamb. BWAHAHAHAHAHA).

The she said: "Mama...I'm gonna SPANK you!" (she clearly had no idea what spank means, since she started pinching me)...."I'M GROUCHY". Then, noticing my lack of response and for good measure, she threw in: "I'M A WIZARD".

My grouchy wizard who likes to spank people. Wow is she going to be mad when we start giving the pacifier the boot.

Thanksgiving

I  have been terribly remiss in not posting about our fantastic trip down south for the Thanksgiving holiday. It was momentous-we rolled in a first trip to Disneyworld for Gillian at the front end. So, this would be my trip theme pic...

I was probably 3 or 4 when I went to Disneyworld the first time. But when you grow up in Florida, it's kindof what you do. Most people I know that grew up there had probably been 10-20 times by the time they went to college, the culminating trip being Grad Night (high school seniors only in the entire park, which they still do).

So, I'll start at the beginning. I wanted to really do this trip right. I heard in order to do the Princess lunch (where the kids meet 5 princesses) you had to book 180 days in advance. Like, exactly 6 months before the date of your trip. Because the appointments vaporize like dry ice or something. So, I got myself up at 4:50 am on a Wednesday morning (my magic 180-day mark) and kept refreshing the "Princess Lunch" page on disneyreservations.com or whatever until 5 am hit (apparently the website allows bookings 1 hour before the call center, and it opened at 6 am eastern time). I was able to get the lunch slot, exactly what we wanted. I was also able to book her for her Bippidi Boppidi Boutique appointment that same morning, early, so she would be princessed out all day from the beginning. I know-disgusting to encourage her with princessness with how some of the femininsts are hating on the princess thing...this was the one and only time I thought to myslef, "you know, if she wants to be into the princess thing, let's not be half-assed about it-let's DO THE PRINCESS THING." For realz. And you know what? It was fantastic. And you know what else? She is seguing into Super Hero-ness. Just a few weeks ago she "locked up" a kid (male, even) much older than her at the playground in a prison because he "was doing bad things in the world" and because she's a freakin' super hero like that. So, I'm not sweating her becoming a trophy wife amd wanting to primp all day long and wait for someone to save her (and give me a break, we are not Toddler and Tiaras). Anyhoo, we DID the princess thing-big and loud and unapologetically. And she had a blast. But this isn't where the story starts.

We left Saturday, November 18th. Sean's apprentice dropped us off at the airport. We uneventfully checked everything in, and as usual, I found myself thinking it's high time for us to invest in some real luggage so I don't have to carry zillions of bags with the contents spilling out. The kids were remarkably decent (with the occasional sibling kicking or pushing or efforts-to-annoy-eachother), and we got through security just fine. I had bought two headseats with a splitter for the DVD player and that worked just fine. We had them warm a bottle for Addie (yup-still taking bottles...she won't forever), and she fell asleep in my lap. I am pretty sure everyone thought initially that she would be a nightmare because she cried and screamed from the moment we were required to buckle ourselves in until we got up in the air about how she "didn't want to go bye-bye up in the sky". So nightmare=10-15 minutes; dream entertained/sleeping baby= 2 hours. Amazing.

We arrived in Orlando and the pilot said something about the kids seeing Mickey (whew-Gillian didn't know who that was at the time) but didn't blow our cover. We had worked HARD to not tell her where we were going for SIX MONTHS. It would be bad to have the cover blown now. We got our millions of carry-ons and the truck sized double stroller and headed to car rentals. I had found a deal with a company with bad reviews but cheap rates and we were armed with everything we had agreed to when we had reserved the car. Except they weren't in the terminal. Neither of us was interested in trying to figure out how to get to the place, since it appeared that every other car rental company but the one we were looking for was across the street in the parking garage from baggage claim. So, I went up to a local (as in, not huge national chain) car rental place and asked them how much they would charge me if I decided to rent from them instead. They asked what the other company had quoted me. I showed them my paperwork. They said they'd match it, and our car was 100 feet away. Sounded good to me. So we found our car (Toyota sedan, with 76 miles on it), packed it to the gills, and started our drive to the River House, which took us 2.5 hours from Orlando International Airport.

The River House (somewhere off Highway 17 between Green Cove Springs and Palatka-about an hour south of Jacksonville) was where Sean's Grandfather moved his family to raise them in the 50s when he tired of the polite society he had been brough up in in Jacksonville, FL. The original house was alog cabin, but burned down in the 70s, and a more modern, no-frills house was built in its place. So Sean's father, uncle, and aunt grew up in the log cabin on the river. Papa raised cattle, Grandmama kept house and would sometimes go to town to play bridge and visit friends. The property has a tremendous amount of sentimental value for everyone-it is a beautiful, quiet place to get your thoughts together or spend quality time with family and friends without the distraction of most modern technology. It is off a road that bears our last name that turns into this somewhere closer to the house:

We got there in time for a couple of hours of visiting time with Nonni and Grandaddy and Auntie Kim who was staying the night. The girls were giddy and jazzed to be around the family and were running around giggling and manic for a good 2 solid hours. Eventually we got them down-in the same room, even. There were two twin beds they slept in, and we kept as much consistent as we could-Addie's music was on, and I even brough their regular nightlight from home. Everyone slept just fine, and we woke up to a beautiful morning.<\div>

Nonni made everyone some of Grandmama's buttermilk pancakes, and then I went in to town to get gas, medicine for Sean's allergies (we decided he's allergic to Florida since he doesn't have those symptoms unless we're home), and some sunblock for Addie and Disneyworld. But, I got pulled over by one of Green Cove Spring's finest. She was waiting for people to not decelerate fast enough when the speed limit went from 50 to 35 mph 50 yards behind where she pulled out to get me. Now here's how I knew I was in the south. I didn't have a wallet (Sean's was in the car) with a license, I didn't have a current insurnace policy document (his expired last April), and the tag on the rental car was a temporary because the car was so new. But I was friendly, and she found out we really have insurance by running the policy number, and the rental car tag checked out...and she found me in the florida driver license database. So, we were having a perfectly nice conversation and she gave me a warning. And I was dually reminded about small Florida towns and their need for speeding ticket revenue. Point taken.

We spent the rest of the morning blowing bubbles, playing with "new" toys (some of which were probably at the farm when Sean was little), Grandaddy took the girls kayaking, he and Gillian fished a little, Sean taught me a few things about carving violin scrolls, and Suzi and I hung out and talked and relaxed some. The girls ate lunch and Addie took a nap. We simply told Gillian that we were "going to see some friends" and that since she had gotten some alone time with Nonni and Grandaddy in the summer and Addie got alone time with us, we were going to swap-she got to be alone with us and Addie got to be alone with them. We packed up the car and left the house some time around 4 pm and drove back to Orlando. We had dinner at Joe's Crabshack and headed to Walmart to get Sean some swim trunks because I had promised Gillian we would go swimming in the pool. She astutely noticed all the Disney paraphenelia at Walmart and asked "why do they have all this disneyworld stuff here?" and we were like...uh, maybe people around here like disneyworld!". Then we headed to the hotel.

I had gotten an incredible deal for a 1 bedroom condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort ($118/night)-which cost about 65% less a night than one of the Disney resorts and is only 5 minutes from the Magic Kingdom. I checked us in and took our coupons to the concierge to have her issue our Magic Kingdom tickets. We got to our room and were very pleasantly surprised by how apartment-like it was. We made Gillian's bed-pulled out the counch into a double bed, and then we all went down to the pool (zero depth pool which feeds into a lazy river, three jacuzzis, and an outdoor bar restaurant out the back door of the tier we were staing in). She had a blast playing in the pool and we met a great couple from Philadelphia who had a 14 year old daughter Gillian adored. When the fireworks from Disney started, we told Gillian it must be faraway thunder and were glad we couldn't see them! We eventually headed upstairs, took a quick bath, and put Gillian to bed-which was EASY. She was completely wiped out. We went in the bedroom, shut the door, and relaxed and watched a movie in a bed like a wonderful firm cloud.

The morning dawned clear and bright. Sean took his morning shower and I got everything ready for a day at Disney. Gillian slept in and came into our room, sleepily, and snuggled in the bed with Sean. He took her to the window, and pointed out toward the Epcot globe and said "Do you see that round ball right there?" and she nodded. He continued, "do you see that little tiny white thing to the right of the ball way far away?" and she nodded. "Well that little tiny white thing is Cinderella's castle at Disneyworld, and we are going there today!"....no response. She was spaced out or didn't have a clue what to think about that. I didn't get the response I was hoping to film, but as she woke up, she started getting psyched. First I gave her the pretty flower girl dress I bought from Zullily that would double as a princess dress ($14.99-what a deal!)...we left the condo after I slathered she and I with sunblock and drove to the Magic Kingdom. We parked, got on a trolley, and then got on a monorail. We got to the gates and were shepherded to a gate for "appointments only" because our Bippidi Boppidi Boutique appointment was before the park opened. It was pretty awesome to walk through the park when there were almost no people in it.

The Bippidi Boppidi Boutique was absolutely absurd-but it was in the castle, and that made it amazing. It was full of ladies dressed like fairy godmothers, and in fact they introduced themselves as such. Gillian was taken to her chair and got her hair and nails done. They went to put on makeup (I pulled the fairy godmother aside and asked her to be as natural as possible) and she got a tasteful little bit of pink lip gloss and a tiny bit of pink eyeshadow and a tinier bit of blush. Gillian was a little intimidated by the whole thing, but did great. We had heard that all the princesses would be at the luncheon except Repunzel and Jasmine, and that Repunzel was hard to see because she was new and pretty popular, so during our boutique appointment, Sean went and stood in line for Repunzel. Gillian and I joined him after a potty break and finishing her appointment.

Gillian was sweet and shy with Repunzel, but struck up a conversation about shoes-did Repunzel get use to wearing them since she probably never had to wear them in the tower? The girl playing the part didn't miss a beat and chatted with Gillian about shoes and books and loving to read and dance.

We did Dumbo and some other things before lunch, but then we went over the the Princess luncheon-an overpriced way to get meeting 5 princesses out of the way (read: way to save 3 hours of your life from waiting in line). The food was decent, but not worth the price we paid for it, but having the princesses come to us was totally worth it. Gillian's favorite-Ariel- did not disappoint. She was quick witted, and very personal with Gillian and told her she was a "Gillyfish" and proceeded to call her Gillyfish (even signed her book as such). She was sweet and a great sport, and Gillian felt pretty excited about the kiss she got on her cheek from Ariel, and didn't want to wipe it off all day.

The rest of the day was fun and Gillian enjoyed having our undivided attention. The only thing she begged to have was a balloon, which we committed to buy the second day on our way out. We met Princess Tiana  (she had the New Orleans friendliness thing down pat) and then decided to go back to the hotel for a while and unwind before going back for fireworks and the parade that started at 9pm (below, on paddle boat going back to the car).

We washed the hairspray out of her hair, ate dinner, had a couple of drinks, and relaxed for a bit, then headed back over. It's kindof a haul to go back and forth, but going back to the park was a breeze because no one else was going to the park so late. Gillian loved the parade, and loved the fireworks and seeing Tinkerbell float across the air, but fell asleep on Sean's shoulder somewhere around 10:30. She barely stirred when we got back and put her in bed. 

We woke up the next morning, Sean took her to the pool, and we leisurely made our way to the park. Gillian was probably already too overstimulated from the day before, so the day was a relatively short one (~6 hrs). We left the park at 4 pm and headed back to the farm to enjoy the rest of the week with family. She slept most of the way back, a testament to how wiped out she was. We arrived in time for dinner and Addie loved her balloon and baby Mickey and Minnie Gillian picked out.

Wednesday was rainy but eventually cleared up. William came by to stay the night and there was lots of instruction about fishing and Gillian and Addie totally enjoyed hanging with their Godfather AND their Grandfather!

Gillian learning to fish with Grandaddy

William teaching Addie to fish

Addie the ice thief

Gillian and William

Grandaddy with his girls

The sunset after a storm in Florida is breathtaking, especially with the clouds reflecting on the river.

Sean and William played a good bit of music, and I loved falling asleep Wednesday night to the faint old time tunes drifting out from the two of them sitting around a fire in the backyard under the stars.

Thanksgiving day dawned bright and clear. William is a new dad, and his amazing wife, Erin drove out in the morning with their new 6 week old son, Shepherd ("Shep").

Gilliam and Addie were all about the baby. They both wanted to snuggle with him and play with him. Addie was very worried about his comfort, and when she noticed he was without his pacifier and seemed uncomfortable, she wanted to make sure he had it. Shep is a beautiful, sweet tempered little baby, so he was pretty low maintenance, and a very good sport with all the loving from his little girl cousins. It almost made having a new baby look like a good idea. I said almost.

Addie, wanting to make sure baby Shep was happy 

By noon, delicious smells were coming from the kitchen, Auntie Kim and Joey arrived, Bill's brother Shep (Baby Shep's grandaddy) and his wife Eleanor arrived, and Elenanor's son and partner arrived. It was a fun, full house. The girls loved the chaos, and Thanksgiving dinner and dessert were fantastic, thanks to Nonni (oh, and Eleanor with her awesome side dishes and cornbread)!!!

Sean and William playing on the back porch before Thanksgiving dinner

Gillian singing to Baby Shep

Hugs from Auntie Kim!

Eleanor and her son Reese and his partner, Nic

It was sad for everyone to leave, but it was a wonderful day and so fabulous to see the family. We have pangs after these events to move home-the girls would love being near their grandparents, and we would love some help with them and being close to home too, but there really aren't a lot of options for me and work down there.

We had a low key evening Thursday, and Friday was our last day. Sean's old high school friend Dan brought his wife and three girls over and Gillian and Addie had fun playing with them. We grilled hamburgers and hung out a couple of hours, and headed out when Addie woke up from her nap to go back to Orlando to stay in a hotel so we would be near the airport in the morning. We had an 8:30 flight, so that was a good choice.

The travel back was uneventful, but I SERIOUSLY need to look into better luggage for us. All the little bags and junk everywhere tells me I need to do a better job organizing and consolidating. But I can also say I didn't forget anything, so organized chaos? The kids watched their shows all the way home on the plane, and were really good. We got home by 11 am, and went into "wash all laundry and put our stuff back where it goes and the house back together" mode. That evening Gillian and I put up the tree.

Decorating

Sometimes crazy, sometime peaceful, our trip was a great one. As always, the grandparents went out of their way to make sure we had as easy a time as possible, and it was heart wrenching to drive down the driveway and away from them. It does make it easier to know they will be coming next week to share the holidays with us! 

Fall

We had a magnificent summer...warm and luxurious. We had so many beautiful evenings by the lake, so many days of bonding with our neighborhood friends! From the summer was born fantastic group-the Baby Wranglers of East Rogers Park. We get together for all kinds of things and have a page for all the great community stuff going on around here...from kid's night at Evil Squirrel Comics, to the children's programming at Lifeline Theater, to our newest venture with the New 400 Movie theater to create kids programming, and eventually music, literary, and maybe even puppet shows! Then there are special events, and everything in between. I am so blessed to have found such a fantastic group of like-minded parents. Somehow between the great, satisfying summer, and the beautiful fall we have had makes the onset of winter and the holidays coming up exciting and cozy. This Saturday we're off to Florida for Thanksgiving, where Gillian will have her first (surprise-shhhhh!) visit to Disneyworld and will then have luxurious, relaxing family time with Nonni and Grandaddy and cousins and aunts and uncles. So looking forward! Anyway, here is a glimpse of some of our fall activities...

G at Pratt Beach Park

Sisters

Illumined

Painting pumpkins with some of our fellow Baby Wranglers

G at the dentist office

Gillian's new favorite duds

Since I never posted pics of her at the dentist...we love Dr. Simón!

Supergirl!

Gillian and a friend at a Fall kid's festival-face painting!

Creepy

Pony rides!!

Addie-Halloween Kitty

G and her best bud headed out for trick-or-treating with their baby sisters

With the princess from 13 Clocks

Getting a tour with the New 400 Movie theater projection room-we got a tour!!!

Gillian reading to her sister!!!!