We're Going to Disney World!

We did it! We booked the trip. Come March 6, 2016, we'll be headed to O'Hare to board a flight to sunny Orlando. Mark and I started talking about a trip to Disney World a few months ago. We went back and forth on going next year or waiting another year, but settled on next spring right before Nick turns three--because that's that magic age when we have to buy him a ticket (and that savings isn't chump change).

I have an inside contact at Disney who gave me advice on the hotel room, which was nice and helpful. She also does a lot of the VIP bookings/events and is going to try to get us preferred viewing at the parades. Fingers crossed!

We're splurging a bit on the room with a one-bedroom villa, but a) we got a really great deal and b) the convenience and amenities it's going to offer will be worth it. I don't know how my parents vacationed with us all in one hotel room over the years, but I will go nuts--I need a little space. And no matter how you dice it, a trip to Disney is EXPENSIVE. So, I'd rather pay a little more and have a lot more comfort and reduce my stress level. Plus, the kitchen will allow us to save on meals and the washer and dryer will let us cut-down on packing. We'll also be very close to the Magic Kingdom, so getting back to the room for the kids to nap will be doable (and from what I hear, a nap is the smart thing to do, even if you have to cut out some attractions).

Now the big question...can I keep this mum from the kids for the next six-plus months? Mickey, here we come!!!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

I'm not sure how it's the second week of August already. Summer has been an absolute blur this year. Luckily, it's felt so fast, because we've been having so much fun! The last two weekends have been particularly nice, because instead of having major events, we've had time to just enjoy some family time and do the little things that make summer special...bike rides to the forest preserve, trips to the park, ice creams before dinner, and just hanging out in the backyard.

The big hit last weekend was finally having the perfect day to break out the kite we bought back in April. Lainey owned that thing like a boss. Mark barely had to give her any instruction, she just took the string and went with it. She was much better at keeping it in the air than I was, so rather than be schooled by my four-year-old, I chose to roll around in the grass with Nick. Everyone won!

In other Lainey news, she finally conquered the monkey bars and I caught her new skill on video this past Friday evening. I have to say the kid is pretty coordinated and she seems to dig group games, so we decided to sign her up for soccer. I'm excited to see how she likes it!

Next weekend things start to heat up again on the 'ole Brandi schedule and will stay pretty busy through Labor Day, but I'm determined to drink up every last day of summer we can get.

A quick tutorial from Dad

Testing it out...

She's got this!

So Handsome

Nick got his first real haircut on Saturday. We'd been trying to make the time to do it for about two months, but it was finally time to get some professional help. Our at-home trims were making his sweet mop of hair a chunky, uneven mess and it was not cute. So, we wrangled the first appointment of the day and squeezed in a trim before we hit the beach (hence the swimsuits in the pics below). Now he has a tidy little 'do that's going to grow out nicely--because I'm not cutting short any time soon! I love that big, floppy mess!

He's was excellent in the chair. He munched his goldfish, watched Curious George, and let Flutula do her thing. Easy breezy!

Looking handsome, Little Buddy!

"I did it!"

Before and After

Coloring Inside the Lines, but Outside the Box

Lainey asked me to color with her last night, a request I was more than happy to oblige! We picked our pages--a squirrel with an acorn for her and horse dressed in a tutu for me. I immediately set in coloring the tutu pink and the horse brown. Lainey was coloring her squirrel with as many different colors as she could fit in the space.

I was really enjoying this quiet time with her, and, to be honest, having a lot of fun coloring! Then I noticed her eyes darting between my sheet and her own and saw a downturned smile form on her face. Lainey gets upset pretty easily when she can't do something or thinks she hasn't done something well enough. (Where, oh where, does she get this? Must take after her Uncle Chris. ) I thought to myself, "Oh no. She's upset her picture doesn't look as nice as mine," and braced for a possible tantrum. Instead this is the conversation that unfolded:

E: Are those the only colors you're using?
K: Yes.
E: Oh. It isn't very pretty. 
K: Well, lots of horses are brown, so I made my horse brown.
E: It's just a picture, Mommy. It doesn't have to be like the real horse. See, look at mine. Look at all the colors. See how pretty it is? I like to make things pretty.

Huh. Now, I was the one looking back and forth between our two pictures with the frown on my face. She was right. Mine wasn't very pretty. It was neat and tidy and looked fairly nice, but it was completely boring. I wondered how old I was when it stopped occurring to me that I could color with any crayon I wanted? I'll be honest, it never dawned on me for one minute that I could have colored that horse pink or orange or green and it DEFINITELY didn't occur to me to make it multicolored. But, I think that is something I probably would have done as a kid. So, when did I lose that innate creativity?

As we were cleaning up, Lainey flipped through her coloring book and came to a picture of a hippo colored completely purple. She sighed, looked at me, and asked, "was this you?" I admitted it was indeed mine and she gave a little shake of her head and reminded me, "it doesn't have to be all one color, Mommy."

I'll do better next time, Lainey. Thanks for the reminder!

Lainey was right...hers is much prettier!

7 Years!

We may be old, but we're still adorable!

Mark and I celebrated seven years of marriage today! Little fanfare on our actual actual anniversary, but thanks to  Lonnie and Frank, we were eable to sneak away for a night to do it up at Pitchfork on Friday and then stay downtown at a hotel. The heat was pretty brutal Friday afternoon, but some rain clouds rolled in hiding the sun and kicking up the wind (and yet not ever producing actual rain), so the weather was bearable. Wilco headlined and put on a great show as always. Icing on the cake was our buddies the O'Grady's were there, too, so we got to party with old friends like old times. And I mean like old times...I definitely indulged in a few more adult beverages than advisable, and yet somehow felt fine Saturday morning. I actually went drink-for-drink with Mark. I was pretty impressed with myseld (and so was Mark). Very happy my zealousness for living it up didn't ruin Saturday morning, because we had a reservation at Beatrix for brunch. It was super yummy and a friend of mine has connections there, so we got the best table in the place. It was a great 24-hour get-away with my best guy.

Happy Annivesary, Mark! I'm one lucky lady--thanks for being my main man and making this thing called marriage work. Here's to many, many more!

4th of July - Quad Cities Style

We celebrated the 4th in Moline with fireworks, a boat ride, food, sparklers and best of all--FAMILY!

Lainey and Nick got their first fireworks show this year. They loved them! No fear, no crying. Nick did stick his fingers in his ears for a little bit, but that was it. And by being in Moline, we were relieved of all the crowd-related stress we would have faced around here. We had plenty of lawn space for the kids to run around while waiting for nightfall and escaping the parking lot after was no worse than a Saturday afternoon visit to Target. Perfection!

Saturday Captain Uncle Tim treated us to a cruise on the boat, and we took a dip in the Mississippi River. I wasn't expecting a boat outing to be on the agenda, and while I had thought ahead to bring suits for the kids in case of any sprinkler action, I did not bring ours. It wasn't until we were on the boat that it occurred to me that we could have stopped by Target to pick some up. In the end, I couldn't stand not getting in the water, so Mark and I swam in our clothes. YOLO! (Side note: that's my first time using that acronym--am I old or just respectful of the English language? To save those of you who still may not be hip to the lingo, I'll save you the embarrassement of asking your younger co-worker or the trip to Urban Dictionary: YOLO = You Only Live Once.)

It was questionable if Lainey and I would even be partaking in the boat ride. She was super pumped all morning until we actually got to the boat, at which point she freaked out. She had fallen asleep on the car ride over and waking Lainey from a nap and then introducing her to a new experience has never been a recipe for success. Also, I stuck my foot in my mouth when putting on her life jacket. She was resistent to do so, and instead of just insisting, I said, "you need it in case you fall in the water." Slick move, eh? She clung to me for life the entire ride out to where we docked. The water was pretty choppy at parts and we bounced around quite a bit, so that didn't soothe her anxiety. But, she made it through! I just wished she'd had more fun with it. She did enjoy the ride back, however, and even lifted her head to check out the passing scenery. Nick on the other hand fell asleep on both legs of the trip.

In between all of our adventures, we got in lots of family time and the kids had so much fun playing with their cousins. Per usual, Lainey's asks every day when we can go back. It was a truly fabulous weekend! So happy we were able to get the whole crew together after missing our usual spring gathering. We even managed a family photo where EVERYONE is looking at the camera with eyes open. Amazing!

What a fine looking family!

Fun on the Mississippi

B*tch Stole My Binky

Despite early signs of success, the removal of Nick's binkies is not going well. He is working through the Five Stages of Loss and seems firmly rooted in anger. Lots and lots of anger. 

Get excited to share a house with him this weekend, Brandi family. We'll bring the earplugs. 

Why did we feel the need to replace this...

...with this?