Four Feet More

Here are my excuses. First of all, we’ve been decompressing after our trip to Disneyland. Which was awesome! Some highlights:

• Vika was selected to become a Padawan at the Jedi Training Academy. And she was FIERCE! Seriously, Darth Vader was shaking in his boots when he had to face her. Vika even got to stand in the place of honor next to the Jedi Master, who had a little comedic interlude with her while she looked at him as if he were crazy. Good job playing right into his hands Vix! I did feel a little bad for Eamon though, who wanted to be a Jedi in the worst way. He was just too small to be selected. He was also very scared of Darth Maul, so it was probably best that he didn’t get picked for the training.
• Meeting with my best friend Mel and her family on her son Chad’s 3rd birthday. We had a breakfast with Minnie and Friends, and later met for dinner at the Blue Bayou and watched fireworks over the castle. Unfortunately, we were in a “secret spot” behind the castle, so we spent the whole time frantically turning our heads from side to side because the fireworks were exploding all around us. We were right under Tinkerbell though (I couldn’t confirm the rumor that she is actually a large man in a fairy costume), and it was a spectacular show.
• Going on Splash Mountain with Eamon. It was his first time on the ride, and he let out this huge, victorious belly laugh after we made it down safely through the briar patch drop.
• Going on Indiana Jones with Vika for her first time. She was scared to death in line and on the ride, but when it was over, she looked at me and exclaimed, “That was FRICKIN’ AWESOME!!!” (note to self – stop using the word “frickin’” around the children).
• Watching fireworks with Jeff outside of our hotel room. It was our first night at the resort, and the kids were already asleep (although how they could sleep through all that thunderous noise is a mystery). Jeff and I slipped out onto a little balcony area with our cups of hot tea and watched the fireworks display. It was a nice little bit of alone time after a long day on the road.

After returning from Disneyland, we had two other family events. First was Vika’s 7th birthday. We did a mini-celebration at home on Monday, and then did a bigger joint celebration with my mom (who’s birthday was Friday) at my brother Joe’s house. Joe has a pool, and Vika learned to swim without floaties! She was so excited to be chugging around the water in her little goggles, and wowed us all with her swim moves. Eamon was content to keep the floaties on and take running jumps into the pool. Over and over again. He also coaxed his Uncle Joe-Monkey into throwing him high into the air so he could splash down into the water. Again and again.
















The second family event is my dad’s visit from Tennessee. He’s been here almost a week now, and the kids have really enjoyed hanging out with him and visiting with the rest of the family. Eamon has become Dad's little shadow, following him around everywhere. Both kids will miss him after he leaves.

Tomorrow, dad returns home, and my life should return to normal. Or our family’s definition of normal anyway. I have one other exciting development to write about, but I’m going to do that in a separate post. I don’t want it to get lost in this quickly-thrown-together-recap of our week.