My happy place!

Let me first say, I love to travel. I like road trips. I like flying somewhere. I like to travel to the next town away and see what's there.

But one of my favorite places to go - is Disney World! I truly feel like any troubles and worries melt away when I'm there.

I earned a trip through work. So, off my Mr. and I went. We have never gone to Disney without the kids, so we knew it would be a little weird. It was at first but we did enjoy ourselves.

First, for those of you who don't understand what central Florida is like in mid-July...let me try to paint the picture for you. It's HOT!!!! It's HUMID!!!! There is blacktop everywhere! Every day we were there, it was a "feels like" temp of at least 100F by 8 a.m. with humidity in the range of 60-75%. We drank so much water and ate so many frozen fruit bars. We stayed in the shade as much as we could.

We flew in on a Thursday and out on a Monday.

Let me just say, our Thursday didn't start off too well. We had to be on the 3 a.m. shuttle (vs. the 4 a.m. shuttle we had been told before we left) from our hotel to the airport to get out of Chicago. Not happy to have to be up at 2 a.m. BUT - what can you do!? So we got to the airport by 3:30 a.m. and got in line to check in. (Thank you storms the night before that cancelled flights and added to the craziness...) We got checked in; I got in trouble with the TSA official but got to our gate and had a little breakfast. They boarded the plane, then had to wait for a member of a flight crew to get in who had been on a flight that couldn't get into Chicago the night before. 45 extra minutes sitting on a plane is not the most fun-thank goodness I had a book to read.

We finally got to Orlando, waiting for our bus to our hotel. Our bus driver...yeah - THAT was a scary ride. He had a tick that caused him to weave around. We finally arrived at the most magical place...

And arrived at our hotel

Smooth sailing right? Nope! We check in, walk to our room and....our Magic Bands (your room key; park ticket; everything) do no open the door. Housekeeping to the rescue! She made sure the batteries in the door were working but because we weren't in her section, she couldn't let us in. No problem-we understand! We called the front desk from the hallway and they tried to remote into it, with no luck. So... we sat in the warm hallway to wait (that's my 'I got up at 2 a.m. and am freaking tired and now we are going to have problems like I was afraid we would' face).

All of a sudden, here came a Disney employee, who worked with the door and our bands with no luck. Then maintenance showed up. Then the housekeeper came back - she had gotten permission to let us in our room and alerted the powers that be we were having a problem.

Almost an hour and a half later, they had us all straightened out and ready to enjoy some Disney.

The Contemporary from the Ferry on the 7 Seas Lagoon

We went to Disney Springs to shop and eat. And shop and eat we did!!!!

Lunch was at the BBQ stand at House of Blues - quite tasty!

These cakes at Amorette's were incredible. We got a dessert that was delicious!

(we MAY have had a few other desserts throughout the afternoon [like a Sprinkles cupcake])

We met up with a co-worker and his wife for dinner at Beaches & Cream. We weren't real impressed...

Friday:

I had a meeting in the morning.

My Mr. and my co-worker's wife headed to Magic Kingdom, where we met up with them after our meeting.

Mr. and I had decided we were going to try to hit all 4 parks that day. So - off we went.

Mission accomplished!

But with a small snag...this girl ended up SICK!!!! Mr. took me to First Aid at Hollywood Studios where I slept for about an hour & a half. We took the bus back to our hotel, where I promptly got sick after I stepped off.

A few photos from Friday-

The safari

We went to Frozen Sing a Long to cool off

Saturday:

We had booked the early morning Keys to the Kingdom tour. We really enjoyed it and our tour guide (Jocelyn) was INCREDIBLY knowledgeable and fun! We learned some fun Disney facts and a little of the inner workings of the World.

Magic Kingdom before it opens to the public

 (Sorry, no cameras allowed on the tour)

We headed to Epcot after our tour for a few rides and dinner

We were pretty disappointed in our meal. My highlight was Belle walking by the window and waving while we were eating. (I said it's my happy place!)

After dinner we decided to "hop" to one more park - Hollywood Studios with the idea of watching the new Star Wars fireworks show. Well while on one of the rides, the skies opened up!!!! It rained, thundered and lightened for over an hour.

Then just before showtime, the skies cleared and we staked out a spot. The show was FANTASTIC!!!! (I'm not a Star Wars fan but I LOVED it!)

We decided Sunday was going to be our "lazy" day.

We woke up about 8:00 and my Mr. said, oh I got us a reservation for lunch today. News to me... Ok, where at, at this last minute? (Insert me smiling and jumping around when he tells me) Be Our Guest. Come on lunchtime!!!!

But our morning was lounging around, coffee and watching the monorail go by.

We set out for Magic Kingdom about 11:00 (which was a nice 5 minute walk from the Contemporary)

I had seen this fountain in passing on Friday but wanted to stop and take pictures. So I did on Sunday - it may be my favorite Disney fountain/statue.

Off to one of our favorite rides!

Then lunch

Funny story about lunch...The cashier who took our order spoke in a French accent. She gave us our total and we were paying when she leans toward us and says (quietly) as American as can be "Do you have the 8 cents?" Mr. & I just looked at each other with that "What the heck?" look. When we got to our table, he said "She does a good accent." We were dying laughing.

After lunch, we took a train ride

We're SO HOT!!!!!

All aboard!

I talked him into the Enchanted Tiki show.

Aaaaand stopping for a Dole Whip!

We rode Pirates 3 times in an hour.

The Castle from Splash Mountain

Good night and good bye Magic Kingdom, until next time!

Mr. decided he wanted to go see the Star Wars fireworks again AND ride Toy Story Mania. Off we went!

We used our Fast Pass to ride Toy Story then since there was no line, we decided to ride standby again.

We staked out a spot a little farther back for the show.

We went to the Polynesian to meet my co-worker and his wife for a drink. I give you - the Lapu Lapu. Delicious!

We went back to the hotel, went to bed.

Monday:

Packed up and headed to the airport. We were home and settled by about 5:30.

(This got a lot longer than I thought it was going to - sorry! Thanks if you stuck around through the whole post)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

This week can not go by fast enough!!!! Work has been heck this week so far - this pretty much sums up yesterday perfectly!:

I hope you will link up with Rachel for What I'm Loving Wednesday and tell us what you're loving!

*My husband & kids - they have helped me keep my sense of humor.

*The Olympics are a week & a half away (although it sounds like a lot of the athletes won't have a home) - tune in starting August 5

*Emails and messages from friends and family

*This...cracks me up:

*Next week is a "girls week" with Little Miss and I'm super excited for it!

*Awesome blog posts so many of you have been posting

*Senior photo time! I'm starting to book up for the rest of the summer and coming fall - HOORAY!

*My photo project I am going to tackle in August:

(Feel free to join in!)

Have a happy Wednesday and rest of the week all!

Travel Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! I decided to throw in a Travel Tuesday post this week.


In June of 2013, we took a vacation to the Kansas City area. One of our stops was the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library  It is a beautiful campus

President & Mrs. Truman's final resting place

The eternal flame in the courtyard

Replica of the Truman era Oval Office

One of the Truman statues on the campus

President Truman's preserved working office:

It is worth the trip! (Along with the other Truman sites around the Independence/Kansas City area)

Weekending

Here we are at Monday again. How do the weekends go so fast?! Here's to a good week to all.

I took this snap at 4:30 yesterday. It pretty much sums up the weather all weekend - hot, humid and pretty tropical!

Friday: Little Miss finished a week of orchestra camp with a concert. I just got to pop in for a little listen. My mom got to see the whole thing. They sounded great and I think she had a really good time!

I got some knitting done on Friday night

Saturday:

Little Miss & I ran some errands while Mr. and Young Mr. were helping a friend build bunkbeds for their daughters.

We all went to the matinee of Secret Life of Pets

We all thought it was cute!

Here's the trailer:

Another thunderstorm rolled through Saturday night so I settled in with a book and may or may not have snoozed a little in the chair

Sunday:

A pretty uneventful day.  Caught up on laundry then worked at the library in the afternoon.

And here we go with another work week.

Wishing you a great week!

Book review-I Am Delilah

I Am Delilah by Josi S. Kilpatrick

Genre: Romance/Fiction

My rating: 4 stars

Delilah is a country girl living in New York as a nanny until her life is turned upside down by Hollywood hunk, Sam.

This is a sweet story of two different lifestyles crossing paths and the lessons that the characters learn. I enjoyed reading this and the twists and turns of the storyline and in the characters' personalities.

I recommend this book. It's a fun summer read!

I never would have guessed

10 years!

I've been blogging for 10 years! Surethere have been lulls, but my little corner of the world has become a place for my randomness. My crafty stuff showoffs; my husband and kids; our travels; book reviews; thoughts on movies; phots; etc; etc.

I have made several friends and found some fantastic blogs to read along the way.

Will it keep going another 10 years? We will see....

Thank you all for reading. I love getting your comments.

Hugs

I don't know what it is

But the song, "Over the Rainbow" makes me tear up every time I hear it! I have heard it countless times but it still causes that reaction everytime!

There's of course, the Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz version:

Pink at the Oscars in 2014

And Little Miss' favorite version by Iz Kamakawiwo'Ole

Have a great Friday!

Because...

Because I feel like I need to write this somewhere...here I go.


Because a few of my friends from my hometown have had horrible things happen in their lives the past couple of weeks and I'm not sure what to say to them other than - I'm here if you need an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on. It's all I can offer them right now, unfortunately I can't take the pain away.


Because the world seems like a scary, scary place these days - I try to find something good in every day, even if it's that a flower looks pretty, and remind myself of it during the day.


Because all lives matter, be kind to everyone. It's amazing what a smile and hello does for someone else's day, try it!


Because I feel like time is slipping away, I try to stop for a few minutes everyday and look around me then close my eyes and just listen (I've been surprised at what I've "seen"). Take a little time to enjoy serenity.


Because Pokémon Go is HUGE right now - go play! HAVE FUN! But please, please be careful - don't walk in the street; don't play while driving. Do I understand it? No. But it's nice to see people outside, walking around and talking to other people.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

*My husband - for his caring, understanding and love

*My kids - for their silly emails & texts

*My Cubbies are getting back on track

*A long weekend away with my hubby (post to come...)

*My parents for hosting our kids so they could visit with their cousins

*A couple good books I read in the last week

*Photo shoot inquiries

What are you loving this week?

What I'm Loving Wednesday

It's Wednesday link up time with Rachel and friends!

Please go check out their blogs. And please join us this week or future Wednesdays for the link up!

 

 

*I'm loving I took a long weekend with my family last weekend. It was relaxing and lots of fun!

 

*I'm loving my new wheels 

 

*I'm loving my photos going out to clients 

 

*I'm loving sleeping when it's storming 

 

*I'm loving hearing from author friends that they're working on a new book

 

*I'm loving reconnecting with friends and family. 

 

*I'm loving that 7 of my Cubbies are heading to the All Star Game (I think David Ross got the shaft by not being selected...)

*I'm loving arm chair traveling with my FB and IG friends

 

 

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 A few pictures from this past weekend:

Picked up the "new to us" car-

 Did a little shopping and these two acted like 5 year olds most of the time-

 We saw the new Independence Day movie - it was ok. A little cheesy but not as bad as I was prepared for-

 

Luxury reclining seats - LOVED that!

We did some mini golfing-

Ate some BBQ-

Walked around Downtown Naperville for a while to enjoy the weather and almost non-existent people-

 

 

 

And apparently I don't have any pictures of our backyard camp fires we had each night over the weekend. Hello s'mores; pie iron pizzas and relaxing.

I hope you all had a nice weekend! What are you loving this week?

And here we are again....

Monday..... How do the weekends go SO fast and the work week goes so slow?!


It was hot and humid here all weekend. (and I took zero pictures...)


Friday night, we picked up dinner and just hung out. This was after a whole work blow up thing that still has me completely p'd off.


Saturday, we had my nephew's 2nd birthday party. It was a good time and it's always nice to see family!


Yesterday, Little Miss decided this would be a good time to learn to ride her bike. So we went to the park and she figured it out pretty quick. Now she needs to work on corners and braking a little lighter...


We spent a few hours yesterday in car lots (again). Just when I think we are figuring out what we want...yeah - no! It's so frustrating and this has been going on for almost 2 years now. I am barely hanging onto the sanity rope in that department.


And here we are for another week. Fortunately for me, it's a short week! I think I can make it 4 days....


Here's to a good week!

Friday Letters

HELLO FRIDAY!!!!!

(It has been a LONG week!)

Dear Weekend, Go slow!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Mr. H, Happy Birthday week!

Dear Baby Brother, Happy Birthday week!

Dear Husband, I love you! Thank you for your patience and humor this week. It has been needed!

Dear Kids, Thank you for making me laugh (even when you frustrate me).

Dear Cubbies, Ahem...been a rough few days here. I hope you can get back on track!

Dear Blogger Friends, I am loving your posts this week and your lovely comments.

Dear Photography Clients, Thank you! Thank you for hiring me and allowing me into your lives. Thank you for spreading the word about me - that is a wonderful help!

Dear Authors, Keep writing good books. I have read a few good ones so far this month.

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What are you up to this weekend? I hope it's lots of fun!

WILW

Well, blogging hasn't been a big priority to me thus far this summer - I keep thinking I will get back into it, but.... Sorry! I hope all my blogging friends are doing well.

I'm linking up with Rachel for another What I'm Loving Wednesday. We'd love to have more people join this weekly link up.

This week is a lot of randomness of what I'm loving:

*I started reading Dropped Third Strike yesterday and would rather be home reading all day than doing anything else - it's that good so far! And make sure you check out the author's blog Micah's blog.

*Having ice cream for lunch

*Yes...this!

*This girl's photo shoot

*My kids' sarcasm

*Baseball

*Photo challenges

*44 days to the Rio Olympics

*Armchair traveling with my social media friends

What are YOU loving this week?

It's Monday!

We went to see Finding Dory yesterday. I LOVED it! (I think I liked it more than Finding Nemo) The animation was spectacular!

Trailer here:

If you have a chance to see it on the big screen, I think it's worth it!