PART 5?? I've lost track

I've actually lost track of my brain. AGAIN!! I think it is still on holidays. All day I thought it was Monday. Turns out it's actually Tuesday! Then I forgot Hayley's music again for piano so Steve had to run it to me on his way home from work (I don't claim responsibility to this as Hayley should look after her OWN music). I hate days like this. It seems they come more often now. It's hard getting old.

We also had to throw out most of the halloween candy and freeze the rest. Hayley reacts so badly to lots of sugar. So she is sick, has the runs, and her itchy torso rash is back. Happens every time there is a party or some occasion for an overload of sugar. She gets super dizzy too. She has been tested for diabetes but it was negative. Must just be sensitive. I'm trying us all on a low g.i. diet to see if it helps. So far it's pretty easy as the kids love salad, fruits, and veggies, and water. It's probably hardest for me, the sweet tooth!

So here is our piratess, Dr. Campbell, hippy chick, and our little pumpkin. We did the acerage culdesac with the Howden kids and then headed home so it wasn't too late a night which was good. Kids had school today and it was hard getting them up but they went to bed easy! Chelsea is still doing great in her big girl bed. I didn't get up at all last night. I must say I am loving my big girl bed too. I can't believe that a person can actually wake up and feel awake in the morning!!


Here are our 4 'things' with the mother of all things in the middle. Heehee. I thought it was cute. Had to trim out my legs. My skirt had ridden up and it's way too short!! YIPES!
Saturday found us at the children's museum. A very cool place for little humans. They had a great time. Even Hayley was wanting to go back when we were finished.

Isn't the above a cool climbing structure?

Kylie LOVES big mascot type things. She hugs and hugs and hugs......

Playing goalie.

Discovered after this day that Abby, like her aunty Jessica, is allergic to face paint. OOPS!

So more great fun was had by all. I will have to save legoland for another day as I am ready for bed. Tomorrow is: Hayley to school, drop Kylie off at school, head to swimming lessons with Abby, pick Kylie up, do some banking for the preschool, eat lunch and try to get some laundry done! Hopefully my brain comes back from holidays.

part 4 - adult time

Okay so we survived halloween. Now to get rid of all this candy ASAP! I sent a bunch with Steve to leave at the office so it's out of my sight. The kids stuff we'll just have to tell them to go to town so it disappears real quick!





So thanks to mom and grandma and dad, Steve and I were able to take off for a few nights to Orlando for a date! In looking for a hotel I came across this deal through hotwire.com called the 'mystery hotel'. They guarantee a 4 star or greater hotel but they don't tell you which one until you pay. For $96 a night I was a little nervous. You can't even get a super 8 for that price. But I stepped out on a limb and booked it. We ended up at the Omni Orlando in Champions Gate. Talk about feeling out of place. When you are greeted by valet and men in tuxedos at the front door it's a little nervewracking for 2 country bumpkins. It was beautiful. Here are some pictures.





view out of our window.


LobbySteve :)

Looking out the back of the hotel towards the formal pool (in the distance)

Formal pool. Hmm..missed getting pictures of the lazy river and other pool. Then we went to downtown disney to the cirque du soleil. Another first cultural experience for us. After we wandered the streets of disney and then headed back to the hotel as we had to be up early to go to universal studios the next day. This dragon is made out of lego!

Ride #1 at universal, after which I was so motion sickness I had to buy pills to keep my breakfast down! Had to keep my eyes closed through the next ride, the coolest 3D spiderman one, so I didn't throw up. Grrrr. I never got sick on rides until I got old!

For those of you into the Harry Potter stuff, here is the castle. This was the busiest part of the whole park. Fortunately Steve and I could care less about HP and haven't read any of the books or anything so we avoided it.

And who can't help but think about their kids a little bit when they are apart. The kids would've had a blast here.

Back to downtown disney for supper at the world's biggest Planet Hollywood. 3 levels of restaurant and the best pulled pork sandwhich I have ever had.

The next morning was back to see the little humans and their grandparents. Don't go too far, it'll soon be time for halloween pictures and part 5......museum and LEGOLAND! Right now however, I must venture out in the chilly wind and clean out the van. It looks nasty, and since we will be living in it for the month of November trecking back and forth to swimming lessons, it would be nice if it were clean. And best do it before it snows or something crazy. Then we have supper and piano lessons and homework and all that fun stuff so we will have to hang out tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by.

Love Jen

Part 3 - the waterpark

After a few busy days I am back with part 3. I apologize to my loyal followers for the delay. On Saturday Steve and I went bed and pillow shopping. We had finally had it with out bed. Our new one is AMAZING! So far. We got a free 50'' TV with it too! Hahaha. Sold it for $500 to a guy Steve works with. That will go to pay off the mattress. We also got a bed for Chelsea. No more crib in our house!! I'm not sure how I feel about this new chapter in life :( Anyhow, I only had to put her back in bed once last night so I think it'll go okay. She was quite put out at first that we were taking her crib apart. She's not one for change when it comes to the sleep department but I was sick of her yelling for me to come get her at 6 every morning. Now if I have the opportunity to sleep in I can!

Funny thing. Steve talked me in to these super expensive pillows. I was a bit skeptical of them. As if a pillow cn be worth THAT MUCH! But after 1 night of sleeping on it I was sold. For the first time in YEARS I woke up with no jaw pain or subsequent headache! Steve on the other hand said it's going to take some getting used to. He didn't like it! Hahahaha.

So back to our trip, we decided we should do something with the kids before we left them for a few days. We looked into the disneyland, busch gardens, seaworld type things and then found this hotel for a great price with this fun waterpark. The thought was that we could pay $500 or more for a day of disneyland where they are probably too small for all the rides anyhow, or we could do the hotel/waterpark for half that and have just as much fun. It turned out to be perfect. We were the only ones using the waterpark during the day, and the kids had a great time. Our hotel room had a bunk bed, pull out couch, 2 queen beds, and a full kitchen. Couldn't believe how cheap it was. We would definately stay there again. Here are our pictures.

Stay tuned for part 4 - Adult escape.

Tonight is halloween. I would like to be excited but I could very well do without it. I don't need all that sugar in the house!! I am happy to sit at home with the lights out and read a book. I suppose we will do a few houses though.

Part 2 - the beach

As a side note: my daughter's teachers think she is wonderful and doing just fine and get this....FOCUSED in class. HAHAHAHAhahaha. I had an LOL moment when she said that. Maybe that's why her head is in the clouds most of the time at home. Heehee.

So on Saturday, my daddy took us to the beach. It was another wonderful day. We had our first taste of alligator there!! The meat tasted slightly fishy and a bit tough. Not something I would order every day but hey! You have to try everything once right? Then dad made us the BEST fish and chips ever. Unfortunately I don't have a picture but it was super yummy.

Here are some photos.

The trip continues tonight with part 3 - waterpark

Florida trip part 1- Dinosaur world

Oh dear. Hard to get back to life in this BITTER COLD climate. I know I shouldn't whine since it really is beautiful for this time of year, but when you've been in a GORGEOUS climate for 2 weeks it's kinda hard to get back into the swing of things. Thank goodness the kids all went to bed early last night. They were all up without having to be awakened this morning and shipped off to school. With the exception of Hayley but I always have to wake her up :)

So would you like a little glimps into our wonderful holiday? Mom, dad and grandma all took great care of us in spite of mom's lack of an arm. Mom is having a hard time with her 'poof' getting just right. Seems none of us can get it perfect. We're not sure how she is going to survive going back to work and not having grandma there to do her hair!! Good luck mom!!

So things got off to a rocky start when Steve decided to play midnight hockey and broke a knuckle. He got home at 4:15 am, just in time to get all the kids up and off to the airport. He's lucky he made it home or we would've left without him!! I know....not real sympathetic am I?!

Anyhow, after a delicious lunch at Bob Evans (they have AMAZING pumkin bread) we headed to dinosaur world. It was a lovely hot day.

The kids got to sift in the sand and find fossils. They could keep any 3. My girls apparently like shark teeth!

then they got to get right in and dig!!

Okay so that is all for post #1. We had a super fun day and I think successfully wore everyone out. Now you will have to wait a few hours (like you will probably be in bed as it will be late) for the posting of part 2 - the beach, as I have to get supper ready and get to Hayley's parent/teacher interview. Yes we are back into it full swing.

Love Jen and family