More Exploring

Must keep busy!  Must keep busy!  It's almost July and I can feel it in my bones.  August is so close, yet so far away.  But this summer has been AWESOME so far.  So warm, so little rain.  It's been great to get out and enjoy the outdoors. 

On Saturday, we decided to hit Wild Waves, a local amusement/water park.  This time, the Smiths and Cody and Emily joined us!  It was a half price day, so the park was packed, but man it was fun!  We rode some rides -- Sarah tackled the Ring of Fire -- and the kids played in the water while Britney and I soaked in the sun. After a few hours, the kids grew tired of playing in the overcrowded kid area, and the water slide lines were hours long, so we called it a day and headed home, hitting the Redbox on the way. 

Sunday brought more warm weather and sunny skies.  After church, the girls and I headed to Priest Point park to eat lunch and play.  We walked down to the sound to check out the water... but there wasn't much going on there.  So we headed back to the playground.

Again, the girls were amazingly cooperative so I got some great pics of them. 

So hurray!  We've made it to the end of June!  And when we wake up in the morning, it'll be July...  YES!!!!!!!!!!

The Other Side of the Mountain

One more weekend down!  While planning out our activities for the weekend, I had to get a little creative.  Holly had to be in Ellensburg on Sunday afternoon for camp and the drive is pretty lengthy. 

I decided that we would go up, around, and over the mountains.  Might as well right?  Originally, we were going to go up to visit Grandma Audrey, then around to Leavenworth before heading to Ellensburg.  Unfortunately, Grandma contracted some sort of super bug and had been put on quarters. But, I decided to go on ahead with my plan anyhow.  I mean, really, Leavenworth is worth the visit!!!

The girls and I headed out for Leavenworth Saturday morning.  When everyone said it is the cutest place ever, they weren't lying.  Leavenworth was refashioned into a Bavarian town in the 60s.  And everything has that theme, right down to the Safeway.   We checked into our little hotel -- seriously, cute!!!  and then headed out to get the lay of the town.  

 

 

We wandered around the streets and enjoyed a snack in the park while listening to some live music. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore and it was time for beer and brats!!!  Luckily, the girls agreed.

 

After wandering and shopping some more, we settled into our room for a good night's rest.  The next morning, we joined our hosts for a homemade breakfast.  Fresh breads, soft boiled eggs, homemade granola, and yogurt.  YUM!!!  We got our fill and then headed out for a hike along the river. 

 



The trail was empty!  We strolled along the well worn paths, enjoying nature and each other's company.  The girls were in rare form and took a lot of pictures for me...  or maybe it was for Ronnie.  At any rate, we stopped and got a few shots along the way. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel, check out, and find something for lunch before getting on the road.

Growing Up

I've looked back through my posts, and one theme is consistent....  I am amazed at what my girls are doing/can do now that they are older.  It's crazy to think that it was just four years ago when I wrote my first post.  Four years!  That makes a huge difference when you're talking kids and what they are doing. 

Case in point -- Holly was just about to go off to Kindergarten.  Now, she's about to enter Fourth grade.  Sarah was just a baby-faced toddler.  Now, she's finished Kindergarten and is READING!!! 

Part of growing up is being able to go off and explore the world by yourself, right?  A few months back, I got an email about Operation Purple and a camp they were offering for military children who have a parent deployed.  And Holly qualified.  I struggled with filling out the paperwork.  How is my baby big enough for this?  Ronnie patiently reassured me that she was ready and this was the right camp.  So, I filled it out.  And guess what, she was accepted. 

I dropped her off at camp yesterday. I left my baby  *SOB!!!!   Boy, do I miss her!  But Sarah and I have plans to keep us busy this week.  And I can't wait until I pick her up on Friday and hear all about her week away. 

Run-run Zoo fun!

We have two months left....   Two months left.  I keep repeating this to myself as I ramp up for yet another weekend of entertaining the kids sans-Ronnie. 

The weekdays are easy:  during the day I go to work and the kids have been at school (now that school is out they'll be at summer camp).  We get home, fix dinner, watch a little tv, and go to bed.  The next day it's pretty much rinse and repeat.  But the weekends are tough!  I've done my level best to keep us busy.  And this weekend's events were courtesy of a friend and McChord.

McChord held their inaugural Salmon Run 12K.  It pained me not to run it...  but I didn't.  However, they did have a free kid's run.  It was a 1/4 mile around the track and they got a fun prize at the end.  The girls did well for their first "official" race. 

After that, we headed for the zoo!  Britney and her son accompanied us -- it was nice to have some tagalongs with us for a change.  And, it was such a beautiful day! 

We checked in on Kali -- she's getting SO big!!!

 

Then we went over and checked in on her family.  Her brothers were wrestling as her mom lounged in the shade.

We even got to meet Sheldon, the new serval cub.  Boy is he a cutie patootie!  And a handful.  The trainer had him out getting him used to being around people, as they want to incorporate him into their animal show.

Speaking of, after watching Sheldon, we then took in the Animal Wonders show.  The zoo does a great hands on show with different animals.  It's kid-oriented and a lot of fun to watch/interact.  This year's show talks about all the different things you might need if you wanted to go outside and explore different animal habitats.  It was a lot of fun. 

After a few hours, it was time for little B to get on -- boy did we wear him out!!!  We hugged Britney good bye and the girls and I headed for a treat and the Redbox. 

So one more weekend checked off...  And getting closer to August 

Dear Disney, Matthew ROCKS!!!

Customer Service.  Seems like such an easy concept right?  Since moving back from Korea, I've noticed which businesses take it seriously and which ones just have it as a feel-good motto.  But then  you have those experiences that epitomize what service is.  And last week, we were honored to have one. 

Meet Matthew.  Matthew made our trip to the most magical place on Earth an out of this world experience! 

 

So, as I alluded in my post about our trip to Disney, this deserves its own post.  I hope you agree. 

 

First, a little backstory:

 

Anyone who has spent time with Holly knows of her obsession with cats.  She LOVES them.  When she was 15 months old, we were at Disney store and she tried stuffing as many Marie stuffed animals as she could into our stroller so we could apparently take them home.  I missed putting one up so it came home with us.  That was 2005....  Marie (or Cleo as Holly calls her) has been a constant friend for Holly.  As time has passed, Cleo doesn't make it into as many pictures as she used to, but she has been all over the world with us. 

 

 

 

 

 

So, for a kid who has LOVED Marie all of her life, you can just imagine what it would mean to meet her in real life. 



 

Last Thursday, we searched in vain for Marie at all the parks we visited.  We were told she was at Epcot, so we searched at Epcot for her.  No luck!  I visited Guest Services at Epcot to get the scoop and they told me that she was at the flagpole in the Magic Kingdom.  We hustled over there and no dice -- she was no where to be seen.  Instead of running around the park looking, I had the foresight to visit Guest Services.  That's where we met Matthew. 

 

Poor Matthew had the unfortunate job of telling us that Marie had "been called to dinner and a bath by Duchess" but that she would be back out to play tomorrow.  When Holly heard, her little face just broke.  You see, we knew that this was our last day in the park.  She put a good face on and said okay, thank you and went to sit quietly on the bench.  Matthew looked at me and said, oh no, what? 

 

So I explained.  I told him about how much Holly LOVES Marie.  I told him that we had visited the Magic Kingdom numerous times and never knew she was out visiting.  Then I told him that this was our last day in the park for this trip.  He looked at Holly and just knew her heart was breaking.  He asked if we lived in the local area, to which I told him we were in from Washington state.  He noticed I had a button on for my graduation and asked about that.  I told him about my graduation ceremony the next day.  He asked who all was coming, and I explained my family is coming but my husband won't as he is deployed.  He took a long hard look at us, and looked at Holly over there trying to be brave and trying not to cry.  He quietly took my hand and said, okay, give me just a few minutes and disappeared into the back.  When he came back out, nearly skipping he said he was going to work some magic for us but that it would take a while, about 30 mins or so but to come back and see him. He took my name and address and sent us out to Main street.   

 

We watched flag retreat and did a little shopping in the Emporium.  When we walked back in to Guest Services 30 minutes later, Matthew was working on a computer and waved me right over.  Just in time he said with a big smile on his face.  He asked how many folks were coming to my graduation and our pertinent information.  Then he called the girls up for the Magic:

 

He had arranged for us to have one more day in the Magic Kingdom!!!  Complete with a "front of line" pass for Marie.  He had even given us two more tickets for my parents to join us.  I teared up immediately.  I don't think he knew what he had done for my sweet Holly... and I couldn't get around to him quick enough to hug the life out of him.  He made me promise to come back in the next day to show him the pictures with Marie and of my graduation.   Then off we went to Epcot, with a little more pep in our step. 

 

On Saturday, we were on a time crunch.  Matthew told me that Marie is only out until 2 pm, but would go in if there was significant rain.  We had a nice lunch and then ran for the park.  As soon as we got through the gates, we went straight for the flag pole. 

 

And there she was!  In all her white, fluffy gloriousness!!!!!   Holly could barely contain her excitement as we walked straight to the front of the line to meet her. 

 

Then we stopped by Guest Services to see Matthew.  He said hey, meet me outside.  I said okay....   And then this happened: 

 

He lined us all up....  And then announced to everyone passing by that my name was Chris.  and I had just graduated from college.   It was a party -- complete with cheers from random strangers and Mickey shaped confetti.  He had made buttons for all of us saying I had graduated (the girls' read my mom just graduated, my parents' read my daughter just graduated). He then gave us three fast passes to ride the heck out of the rides! 

 

"Okay, some here girls, you stand here, you stand there"

 

"Excuse me, everyone.  Could you stop just a moment for us?  Chris just graduated from Grad school!!!"  YAY!!!!!!!!

 

 

As he hugged me, he whispered that he knew it wouldn't replace having my husband there but that he hoped it would give us the push we need to get through to August. 

 

 

Oh, Matthew!!!  Thank you does not seem like a big enough word for how you touched our hearts.  My family just loves what you did for us that day.  I don't know if you realize how big of a gift you gave us.  Even a week later, as I'm writing this, I'm tearing up thinking about it.  Thank you for working that day!  Thank you for recognizing we needed a little bit of extra magic!  Thank you for putting your heart into making our trip one of the best ones to date!!!   Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

 

Bridging Up

It seems like only yesterday that I was posting that we had a Daisy in the family...  then a Brownie.  Now, I have a Junior.  Where has the time gone?!?  *sigh

Holly flew up to Juniors during our end of the year party last night.  We had a great time at our local office, where they happen to have a beautiful natural area with a bridge.  It was a wonderful location.  After the bridging ceremony, the girls got their awards for the year.  

Man she's gotten so big!!! I can't wait to see what Juniors has in store for her  :)

Pomp and Circumstance

It is done... 

 

 

I have officially earned my Masters! 

A few months ago, after I was in Orlando for the Princess half, I checked my school calendar and realized I missed the cut-off for applying to walk and get hooded.  I was pretty bummed until my advisor pointed out that I could go anywhere and that the off-campus ceremonies listing had been updated.  A quick perusal turned up some gold!  There was a Troy campus in Orlando!  I quickly applied and was accepted into their commencement ceremony.  Of course, I also got to work on finishing my thesis and moving on to my strategic management project. 

Mid-May, I took my final test for my final class.  I seriously think that the stars aligned for me -- out of the ten different portfolios I could be given to analyze, I was given Starbucks.  Wow, was that the  EASIEST test EVER! 

Over the last few weeks, I have been able to sit back and relax!  I enjoyed Mother's Day because there were no papers to write.  I enjoyed our Memorial Day weekend because I didn't have any homework to rush home and complete after playing all day.  I enjoyed our weekend at Great Wolf because I didn't have to bring my laptop with me. 

And now I get to celebrate!  In my home state!  With my family around me.  With my daughters in the crowd.  And my parents.  And my sister.  And my in-laws.  They all came to celebrate with me and help me fill that hole that Ronnie wasn't there.  But he was....  I got a text from him that morning telling me not to trip on my gown.  And a pretty sweet Facebook message. 

So... Now what?  Well, I don't know.  Right now, we're still counting down days until my favorite partner in crime gets back.  Then we can figure out what...   

"Chris, you've just finished your Masters degree, what are you going to do next?"

"We're going to Disney World!"

 

 

 

And that (plus the other story that will be posted in a bit) was how we wound up in Orlando yet again this year. 

 

Yes, Disney World. Twice in one year.  But we had some days left on the passes we bought back in February and is there any better place on Earth to celebrate?  Especially when you have two little girls who miss their daddy something fierce and WDW is smack dab in your home state? 

 

We took off for Florida last Wednesday for a five day trip.  When we landed and got settled in our hotel, though tired, we put the jet lag to good use!  The girls and I headed for Downtown Disney and to one of their handpicked activities - Disney Quest!!!

 

 Holly was tall enough to ride Cyber Space Mountain, so off she went to design her own roller coaster.  Sarah sat on the sidelines and a Cast Member kept a good eye on her while I rode with Holly (seriously, how good is Disney?).  We then spent some time running around.  We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.  No lines, no waiting to play games, and a whole BUNCH of fun!  We stayed and played until they kicked us out at closing time. 

Early Thursday morning, we headed for the Magic Kingdom.  It was POURING down rain because of a tropical depression that had popped up -- yes, Holly's in town so there has to be some sort of tropical disturbance. But, with coffee in hand and ponchos on, we made our way through the park.  And straight for Space Mountain! 

Now, Sarah has a love hate relationship with Space Mountain.  But we had such a great time on Big Thunder Mountain railroad in February that she wanted to give it another try.  And she went "Weeeeeeeee" the whole way!!!!  As soon as we got off, she wanted to go again-Again-AGAIN!  Oh, my heart was so glad -- we are a roller coaster family now! 

After we had our third ride on the roller coaster, I dragged the girls to the new Fantasyland so we could get to Belle's Enchanted Tales.  What a great attraction!  Perfect for kids who love to reenact their favorite stories.  And guess who got to be IN the show?  That would be me...  Somehow my volunteering my girls grabbed Belle's attention, who pulled me up there to be a dish for the Be Our Guest number.  Too funny!  We spent the rest of the morning bumming around the Magic Kingdom and hitting the highlights.

Once we grabbed lunch, we headed for Hollywood Studios to ride the Tower of Terror. While we were in line it absolutely POURED down rain.  If you've ever been in Florida in the summer, you know the kind of rain I'm talking about.  I seriously was standing in puddles that reached my ankles.  I could only be thankful that the girls listened to me and wore their Crocs.  Once off the ride, my sister called and said they were there!!!   We met up with them and went to Star Tours and the Beauty and the Beast show.  Then it was time for cousin camp with Auntie.  We headed back to the hotel and swam in the Mickey pool, got some ice cream, and watched a movie.   

Again, early the next morning, we got up and headed for Epcot!  If I've learned anything, it's to get up and go so you can get Fast Passes for your favorite attractions.  This time we were going for Soarin' and Test Track.  But the girls were so good getting up and out of the room -- of course, the promise of doughnuts may have had something to do with it. 

 

 

We got to ride the two big rides at Epcot and got out of there before lunch to meet up with Erica and Laurelei at Animal Kingdom.  We also got the call that Grammy and Papa had finally made it to Orlando -- we made plans to meet up with them at Epcot for dinner.  We spent the rest of the afternoon at Animal Kingdom and watched the Finding Nemo stage show.  Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to the girls and Erica. 

 

Before we headed to Epcot for the night, we stopped in at the Magic Kingdom.  Word on the street was that Marie from Aristocats had been hanging out there.  Unfortunately, we missed her for the day.  But the outcome, well that's also another story.... 

 

The girls and I cleaned up and headed to Epcot for our evening with the Olivers.  We had a lovely dinner at the Seasons -- if you've never eaten there, it's a real treat!  They use fresh vegetables that are grown in the garden out back.  Then we strolled around until the fireworks.  It was just a real nice night altogether. 

 

Saturday morning was my graduation and a nice lunch with my parents and the Olivers. But we had to hustle to get to the park.  We had one more park pass to use and had a date with destiny!!!! 

 

 

Yes, that is Marie!!!  We got one more day so we could see her.  The back story on this is coming soon..... It is so good that it deserves its own post.   

 

After we all loved on Marie, talked with our friend, Matthew, we headed to ride some rides as a last hurrah.  We got my parents on Space Mountain with us a few times, rode the teacups, and generally just had a great time.  And that's even with the torrential downpours (and tornado warnings) that the tropical storm brought.  Before we knew it, it was time to head back to our hotel and get packed up to go home.