Field Day in First

I joined up with Miller's class "The Techies" for Field Day this year. This was my very first field day on the mom side of life. Field Day brings up so many happy memories as a child participating in yard  games, stunts, and water fun. Each year at my school, we sported a class designed special t shirt and drove to a local park with our parents for the day. As a 3rd grade teacher, I used to appreciate the change of pace for my kids at the end of the school year. Back in the day, teachers could finish up report cards and start packing up their rooms while volunteers hosted your class. Nowadays, the teachers follow their homeroom around from station to station. What wow'ed me about Mrs. K is that she played all of the games with her class. This fine lady even got soaking wet from head to toe with the water relays. She went the distance all in the name of fun. Oh, how I love this teacher.

Notice Miller's "special friend" Amy sitting to the right of him. He just loved this sweet friend in class. It's his favorite friend that just so happens to be a girl. But, shh don't tell anyone.

Here's the Techie line up getting ready to crab walk and kick the giant ball. If you squint behind the ball you can see the banner that Nikki and I poured all of our energy into. "All Charged Up" for Field Day was our created theme since we were the Techies. We designed an iPad with text messages from Mrs. K to the class. We pasted every child's picture to their own iPhone. It was a hit with the first grade crew!

Here's the sponge relay game. They were really itching to cool off at this point. They got soaked to the bone enough to pack a change of clothes.

In between snapping pictures, navigating our way to the stations and offering water, I managed to freeze frame in my mind stolen moments of field day memories with my boy. After all, I took the morning off to enjoy my littles! Why not make the most of it?

The highlight at the end of my morning visit was watching Miller get doused with a whole bucked to hose water. He got what he asked for:) With that, I jaunted off for a Mother's Day Tea with Eliza Kate at her school. But, not before I said my sweet goodbyes from afar to Miller in order to stay dry:)

Back to Reality

Let's face it--May is the CRAZIEST season of life with school age children. Slap on a vacation {or two}a company formal & weekly projects and this momma was almost sent to the crazy house. Not to mention, there were end of the year room mom duties to finish up sprinkled in with teaching 3rd graders a couple of mornings a week.  Miller's teacher was crowned TOTY which called for special recognition. Let's just say that I didn't respond to many personal emails. I probably didn't even call you back if you left a message. I'm sure I skipped out on a few thank you notes. Please forgive me. I'm just now fully recovering:)

 While Landon and I do love any excuse for a night on the town all dressed up, it took a lot of extra planning to get all fancy while still living out of half packed suitcases;) TechBridge is a non for profit fundraiser that Landon's company supports. It was a lovely night downtown with new co-workers enjoying dinner and entertainment.

This. happened. We stepped into the photo booth and played with all of the fun props. Little did we know that these were published to Facebook. I did not proudly tag the formal lovebirds smooching on our big date. How embarrassing;)

First grade decided to end the year with a bang and wow the moms with a month of special projects said no mother ever. May is the worst month to create extra work for busy moms {sigh}. Miller managed shopping in his closet for career day. I snatched EK's foiled walkie talkie from an officer visit at preschool for Miller's prop (shh!) Introducing Police Officer Miller Fokens. This is what a costume looks like in May. In September, we just might have gone all out.

His first book report however was an enjoyable shared project. He's flying through the Magic Tree House series like mad this year. Jack & Annie tickle his first grade fancy. I'm so proud of him! We filled the grocery bag with 5 props from the book to retell the story. Miller loves sharing with his sweet class of friends. He came home like a chatterbox reliving the glory of his presentation. This boy talks a mile a minute from the time his Nike's hit the pavement off the bus. He has a lot of words to communicate in one day's time. So, here's to the close of a school year in May.

Disney Day 4: The Electrical Parade

We cleaned up in our Mickey Mouse finest after a relaxing quick service meal at the resort this last day. Since we redeemed 2 table service meals for our fancy night in Cinderella's castle, we decided to hit up the pool and Roaring Fork restaurant at our resort for dinner before our evening jaunt back to the Magic Kingdom.

Swoon-Here's my handsome dude on the dock trying to be the first one to spot our boat on Bay Lake. He watched every move that our captain made navigating us through the calm waters. He was surely trying out for the job of skipper noticing all of the bells and whistles on the boat.

I must say that he felt too cool for school pulling up to the gates in a boat. Really, any new mode of transportation sends his heart into hummingbird fast speed. 

We secured our real estate on Main Street as crowds always start to gather early on the parade route. I learned a little trick and played around with our Fast Passes in the afternoon. Since, EK and I didn't redeem Splash Mountain, we rearranged them for night rides. Landon was able to redeem Space Mountain solo while we secured our spots on Main Street. Then, he jaunted off with Miller while Eliza Kate paraded herself around Main Street "cart shopping" her souvenir.

Daddy Worebucks did finally come back and grant her, her wish:) We don't overindulge in Disney sway during the week. In my opinion, it just wastes space once you return from vacation. We do allow the littles to purchase light up sussies on parade night. It's become our little tradition. Notice Landon giving me nonverbal cues looking for approval over the kid's choices. Gosh, I love that man who tries to make everyone happy:)

Here's a High 4 from Mickey Mouse:) Eliza Kate chose a spinning light up Aurora stick to keep her busy.

Main Street is gorgeous all lit up at night. It takes on a whole new look as the buildings are trimmed with sparkling lights.

This is the night that we like to cash in any other accumulated snack points on our account that weren't redeemed. The saying is true--you use it or lose it! We all enjoyed ice cream and bottled waters while waiting for lights out on Main Street for the parade.

Our patience paid off! Tinker belle kicked off the parade zip lining high in the night sky. The all too familiar "Baroque Hoedown" musical march music filled the air. And, Eliza Kate's mouth was agape admiring all of the beautiful floats and characters at night. Prince Charming even waved to our girl leaving her star struck;) We loved seeing Cinderella's carriage illuminating the dark. Even her skirt was all lit up.

We always walk to the park exit to admire the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular fireworks show and picture display on the castle. That way, we're not surfing the crowds waiting to exit.  It's so nice to  leave and hop on the first boat out of the docks. As you can see. our tired girly watched the show in her stroller with the comfort of her thumb:)

A first for us this trip, was getting to watch the Electrical Water Pageant on Bay Lake. We actually got a very up close and personal vantage point from our boat. Illuminated floating parade barges with music entertained us in the water.  Of course, Eliza Kate was zonked out on Landon's shoulder for most of the action.  Our last night was the perfect, grand finale to one unforgettable family adventure.   See ya real soon!

Disney Day 4: Our last day at MK!

Our trip flew by in a whirlwind. While the men used their magic bands to redeem fast passes to Splash Mountain, the girls enjoyed meeting our favorite chipmunks near their ride. Stepping back and watching the friendly waves and EK's warm fuzzies was just over the top precious. Miller never really got into waiting in line for these greetings, but this was totally a memory for our girly and worth the wait in her autograph book:) Fortunately, the character meals replace many of these character stops along the way. We just can't stop at every one with a jam packed itinerary. 

Peter Pan's Magic Flight is a FP must. It almost always has an hour plus wait especially in the afternoon. I think because it is a ride that the whole family can ride together.  I went online and snagged a last minute cancellation right before admission. We walked right on the ride-whew! 

 Peter Pan selfies! I love a good WDW theme park selfie. Even though the quality isn't grand, it's a fun outlook on the whole experience. If you decide to purchase the Memory Maker Photo package, you can now link all the ride photos to your account by scanning your magic band after each ride. They didn't have this option in April, but this just might have swayed me to purchase the photo plan. There's always a next time. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger spin was another booked fast pass of the morning. Of course, Eliza Kate exclaimed , "Hi, Buzz" with an enthusiastic wave in line to the frozen statue of Buzz. Oh my! The line between fantasy and reality is blurred a little at Disney.

As you can see, the Galactic Hero and Star Cadet were in it to win it:) I wish we had our silly poses in order for some of these impromptu ride pictures. There's no telling when the camera is set to snap away during these adventures. I managed a poor quality iPhone pic from the preview kiosk at the end of the ride.

We stopped and watched an afternoon parade on Main Street.  With the new way of booking rides in the park, you have to create opportunities to "stop and smell the roses" without getting too caught up in your virtual itinerary. Leave room in your day for a little flexibility. Otherwise, it can become a frenzy of to-dos to check off your list. I must admit that you can squeeze so much more in your day with a little planning than you ever could before because of wait times.

M-I-C-K-E-Y---mouse~! We packed up our ears from last time for a few last day photos.

We cruised back to the resort for an afternoon nap on this day in anticipation for the Electrical Parade and fireworks closing show which makes for a very close to midnight cruise home. Disney has a way of creating such a magical experiences that you're itching to plan your next trip before your current trip is over.  And to think, It ALL began with a mouse!

Disney Day 3: Epcot Adventures

Day 3 landed us at a new Disney park for Miller. I wasn't able to book fast passes for Test Track in the morning window of our day. At park opening we booked it to the back of the park to avoid a longer wait time. Stand by time was 30 minutes at park opening which wasn't too terribly bad. Eliza Kate and I found a comfy spot to relax while the men enjoyed this ride. They came off the ride with wild tales of the car they designed and tester. Miller even weaseled his way into a miniature chrome test car souvenir. 

Our next few rides were fast pass bookings back to back in the same section of the park--SCORE! The Seas with Nemo & Friends was over the top cute and enjoyable for everyone. We boarded up on a clamobile and sunk below the waves to help Marlin and Dory find Nemo. We all felt like we were on an aquarium tour with the brightly colored coral reefs and tropical fish. We managed to dodge Bruce the shark hiding out in the sunken ship near the end of the ride.

We hit up Turtle Talk with Crush right next door and laughed our way through the entire interactive experience. We left inserting the "dude" and "totally" into all of our conversations the rest of the day.

It was the  International Flower & Garden Festival during the month of April. We couldn't have picked a prettier time to tour Epcot. Eliza Kate so admired the butterfly shrubbery as we walked strolled through the park.

We redeemed our snack credits with popsicles to cool off. The littles' legs wore out so we created a double stacked stroller from time to time.  We were dazzled by the topiary displays around Epcot featuring our very favorite Disney characters. It was truly impressive.

We strolled leisurely throughout all of the nations stopping from time to time while Landon pointed out various landmarks to Miller. Miller spotted the Eiffel Tower in the distance. We ate a quick service lunch in Morocco before jaunting off to Soarin. Eliza Kate followed us blindly through the turn styles unto the ride. I coached her a little bit about what to expect. I held her hand as we climbed about 40 feet in front of the IMAX screen that we'd be hang gliding high in the sky. The ride really does give you the illusion of flying through different Californa scenes. The wind whips through your hair and Miller loved the orange grove smell pumping into the adventure. We skimmed rolling waves and over the Golden Gate bridge. I was so proud of Eliza Kate for participating with us! She loved it as evidenced by her "whees"!

Before naps, we hit up the air conditioned symbol of Epcot, Spaceship Earth. It's a snoozer ride, but perfect for tired legs seeking rest.

Belle welcomed us to our second princess dinner in Norway at Askerhus banquet hall. Eliza Kate was thrilled about the prospect of dinner with all of her favorites again.

Miller even posed with Snow White--a success!

We didn't have to whip out our autograph book a second time during these greetings. It was definitely more relaxing on me to just enjoy Eliza Kate's conversations with the princesses. Snow White came back to our table to invite EK to participate in a Princess Promenade parade around the restaurant. Landon captured it all on video. Eliza Kate held a basket of flowers following all of the little girls in a congo line of sorts:) My favorite memory at the end of the promenade is her impromptu curtsy while saying thank you to Snow White. Oh my!!

Sunset over the water in Norway! We left dinner just in time to enjoy Epcot at dusk.  Notice Eliza Kate's display hand. She perfected her presentation hand in pictures on this trip. 

We said goodbye to Epcot with happy memories and very tired children!