Last Day of School-2013

Last Day of Pre-K  Tuesday May 21st, 2013

1st Day of School this Year- Monday August 13th, 2012

Last Day of School

   

First Day of School



 I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.  It seems like only yesterday that we were waiting to start building our house and now we have been living here for almost a year!  The kids have GROWN so much, especially sweet Izzie. She has gone from still looking like a baby to looking like a little girl.  Time, please slow down!  Both the kids have had a wonderful school year at Mt. Pleasant.  I am so thankful for our flexible schedules that allowed them to be there this year instead of traditional daycare.  They have both learned SO MUCH and the teachers have just been terrific.  It feels like "family", which is hard to find these days.  Gabriel's writing has improved tremedously and he can identify many letters and numbers. He has made many new friends, some of which will be going with him to Sherrills Ford. He is so eager to learn to read and to start kindergarten!  Of course I am not that eager for "real school" to begin.  I know he is ready but I am not!  I don't want to give up my baby.  I am going to miss him. This year he went to school 3 half days per week.  I got to see him a lot after school since I work from home and also on the days he did not have school. Next year he will be going all day long, every day.  That is going to be a lot of time away from me. I am off on Fridays so I have promised him that I will come and volunteer some in his class on Friday.  He is always talking about the moms that come and help out in his preschool class and I have not been able to go as much as I would have liked.  He didn't go to school on Fridays this year, which was my day off.  So at least next year I can do lunch with him and volunteer some on Fridays.  I am so glad I still have my Izzie at Mt. Pleasant for a few more years, although I know they will fly by!  Tonight is Gabriel's PK graduation, I am going to do my best to keep dry eyes but I know I probably won't be able to help it.  I am tearing up now writing this post! 

Oh the woes of being a momma!  Doing my best to give them wings to fly but also roots so that they will always know the importance of home and family-just like my mom and dad did for me. My mom said "if you think going to kindergarten is rough, just imagine how I felt when I left you at college in Chapel Hill".  I think now I know how she must have felt. Going to college was an exciting new time for me, but for my mom and dad, things were the same at home except I wasn't there.  I know (hope) they missed me!  I can't imagine not seeing my kiddos everyday, I miss them when I am away from them for one night!  Hope they love "home" as much as I do.  My daddy always jokes about how I hated this place and he never thought I would come back after college, grad school, and working/living in Raleigh.  But he was wrong, and now I am living in his backyard!  There is no place like home!

Animal Kingdom-Day 3

Day 3 was our day at Animal Kingdom!  There were "magic hours" that day, which meant it opened one hour earlier for those staying at Disney resorts, and we were there when the gates opened.  The park is dividived into several areas that are pretty spread out-Asia, Africa, Dino Land, etc.  It is a lot roomier than in the Magic Kingdom which was nice for our large group on 11 with the 4 strollers! We headed straight to the safari ride.  Wow, I loved it!  It was cool since it was early and the animals were out all over the place.  A rhino even walked right in front of our vehicle!  According to our driver, we got to see a LOT of animals than most do.  It was so neat to be right out in the middle of things. The Animal Kingdom was not around the last time I visited Disney (only 20 years ago mind you!).  It could be my 2nd favorite park (first is the MK of course).  The safari ride was awesome, I love the Yeti rollercoaster (we rode it 3 times), and I also really liked the water ride.  We got SOAKED but ended up just riding it again because we were already so wet.  It took me all day to dry out.  I highly recommend ponchos. Which I had in my backpack by the way.  But Cedric talked me out of getting them!  Lesson learned.  The next time I got on a water ride (Splash Mountain), I had my poncho on!  We did the festival of the Lion King Show which was good.  But after seeing the real show "Lion King", I was not really that impressed. We had a late lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, did "It's A Bug Life" show, then watched the afternoon parade.

Can you see the hippo noses?



Me and my sweetie



Here is our group in front of the Tree of Life!

Riding the Yeti with Zach

Mom and Dad in front of Expedition Everest (aka the Yeti)

Riding the Yeti with Gabriel

Waiting in line to meet Pluto and Goofy

In Dino Land

 After the afternoon parade, we headed over to Epcot for dinner in Germany. Izzie konked out and had a good little nap in her stroller. We rode Spaceship Earth then had time to do the boat ride in Mexico before our reservation at Biergarten. I even had time for a beer. I loved our dinner in Germany.  Nicole and Cedric and the kids were not too happy with the food, but it was what I expected.  I thought it was great!  All kinds of sausages, kraut, slaws, beets, etc. And I had berriers with bavarian cream for dessert that was so good.  Plus LITER sized beers!  I mean where else but Germany can you order a liter sized beer!  Zach and I priced the steins in the shops but decided they were a little too pricey for our taste. The entertainment in the restaurant was a blast too! A bunch of older men wearing those cute little outfits playing instruments and singing/yodeling (can't remember what those outfits are called but Clark Griswold gets one the National Lampoon's European Vacation).  The kids and I hit the dance floor and had a ball!  After dinner, it was really looking like a big storm was going to hit.  I stayed with the strollers while Ceddy and the kids rode the Viking ship in Norway and then we called it a day.  Up early the next day for our breakfast with the characters at Chef Mickey's!

Mom and dad at the fountain in Germany

Me and my LITER beer!

Our table in Biergarten

The entertainment!

Mother's Day 2013

Day 2

Day 2 was the day we all wore our family shirts that I made for everyone.  I am sad because I cannot find a picture with all of us together wearing them.  I am hoping mom or Nicole has one on their camera.  I really think we all looked adorable and we got LOTS of compliments on them throughout the day!

Day 2 at Disney was spent back in the Magic Kingdom (which was of course the kiddos favorite park).  We hit a ton of rides, met a few characters, and had lunch at the Starlite Cafe.  The 2nd thing we rode was Space Mountain.  Gabriel wanted to ride it and was tall enough and even wanted to sit in the front row.  On this ride you are not sitting beside anyone else.  When the ride ended, he was crying.  He hated it!  It was rougher that I remember and I got jerked around a lot too.  I was so proud of him though because he proceeded to ride every other ride and roller coaster that he was tall enough for.  He would ride them once and if he didn't like them, he would just say he didn't want to ride them again.  I was afraid I had traumatized him!!!!! 

The Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland was one of our favorites!!!

 

 

After lunch, we headed back late in the afternoon to hit the pool and the "snake slide" at our resort. Gabriel loved the slide but Izzie refused to do it since you could not do it on a parents lap. We had dinner at the Polynesian and then headed back to the Magic Kingdom to see Tinker Bell fly across the sky!

Goofin around in the room!

The Four Moores on Main Street, USA

At "The County Bear Jamboree"

Zach and Nicole celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary with some "alone time" in Epcot!