Panama City Beach & Disney Day One

We are finally home from vacation! It has been a long time since we've all gone on a vacation longer than a long weekend as a family, so we really did this one up big! We spent one night in Panama City Beach going and coming and 7 nights in Disney. We've only been back since Sunday night and I'm ready to go again! I'm not sure my family agrees, though. We are all still somewhat tired. We were very impressed with the condo we stayed in the first night in Panama City Beach, but on the return trip the condo left a little to be desired. They put us in a smaller room than we'd reserved, but they did correct that problem. I seriously doubt we'd stay there again.

Our view was awesome.

The beautiful pool.

Pineapple Willy's deck.

The kids had a good time swimming in the cold pool! I couldn't handle the chill.




Then Disney! The most magical place on Earth! I have never had a vacation I have enjoyed as much as this one. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and it was beautiful! We were in Alligator Bayou. We saw a bunny hopping across the sidewalk several evenings. I had a frog land on my foot while we were out walking after dark one night. There were lots of squirrels and cranes around. We loved it.

We started the morning of our first full day with breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle. Ernie wanted to take the bus provided by Disney and I wanted to drive. It has been 12 years since I'd been there and I'd forgotten that you have to park way out and wait for a tram at Magic Kingdom. Our reservation was at 9:45 and we weren't ready to leave the resort until 9:00. A big mistake to wait that long to leave. Ernie insisted I go ask for directions, thank goodness! So, I went to the bell services and asked for directions, trying to get out of there in a hurry. One of the workers gave me a map and highlighted the route and said we could easily make it. Another worker looked at her and said "not today, she won't". My heart sunk. I didn't want to start the vacation by missing our first meal with the princesses! She said there was a triathlon going on and all of the main roads were closed. She sent me to the concierge for directions. After waiting in line, I finally got to a concierge and was told that our only hope was to ride the bus. She said that using the back roads and waiting for a tram would take a minimum of 1.5 hours. At this time it was 9:15. Just 30 minutes til our reservation. She said they would hold the table for 15 minutes. We finally made it to a bus and were on the way. My stomach was in knots and I just knew that we were going to miss it. We made it to Magic Kingdom at 10:10. I told the kids that we'd probably lost our table, but we were going to try to make it there and at least find out. We made it to the castle around 10:17 and they still had our table. That was seriously the worst part of the trip(other than the drive). We really enjoyed the breakfast and the atmosphere once everyone calmed down.

Bella loved the stars on the table.

Bella's plate. I loved that they brought her food!

Snow White and my sweet girls.

Michael even enjoyed this meal.





Bella wasn't too sure of Jasmine.



Our first ride.





The older two were thrilled to meet Mickey and Minnie. Bella, not so much!















That was it from day one! A day full of tons of memories.

I'm so excited!!!

We're finally on the countdown to our family vacation! Only 5 more days and we'll be headed to Florida! We're staying one night on the beach, Disney for 7 nights, then one more night on the beach! The kids are so excited! I am so excited! I cannot wait to experience Disney with them! I'm just a little excited about eating at Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle, too!

Girl Scouts field trip!

Our homeschool Girl Scouts troop had a field trip yesterday to Tummy Yummy Creations. The girls got to decorate two cookies each. A couple of the brothers decided to join in, because it looked and smelled like so much fun! I think all of the kids had an absolute blast!




















Michael read while the girls decorated cookies.


Bella & Clark played in the play area.


Group picture

It was a very fun, laid back, relaxed atmosphere. I was happy they had some ooey gooey bars & kicken crackers!

Growing, maturing, living life to the fullest...

This summer has been full of growth and learning to love who I am. Perfect? No. I am very far from it. Could I use improvement? Yes, I am definitely sure in some areas I could use a lot of work and improvement. I have struggled some with depression this summer. I am trying to figure out what triggers the sadness, anger and withdrawal from others. I have realized that it's times when I need people the most, I turn in to myself and try to avoid fellowship. I don't want others to see that I am down or depressed. I feel ashamed and like I am less of a person when I am feeling down.

A friend from church called this morning and called me out on a comment I made. Can I tell you how absolutely I am amazed by the things God does in our lives? I have struggled with this depression thing off and on for years. God has placed this family in our church(our lives) that understand and have been through the exact same things I have been through. We joined the same life group they were part of and all of us get along great. I have been praying for another couple to come along that Ernie and I both get along with. It's great and dandy to have other mom friends, but it's been a long time since we were really close to another family. He has dealt with clinical depression and doesn't just sympathize, but can honestly say "I've been there and am just a little farther down the road than you". Not only can he say he's been there and understands, but he says it's our job as the body of Christ to help other people that are struggling with things we have struggled with. I realized a few weeks ago that God doesn't give us depression, but He allows us to struggle with it, so that we can help others. It is through our struggles when we grow the most.

This new friendship and reading the book Boundaries has really opened my eyes. Boundaries talks a lot about having safe relationships where you can try out saying no and exercising boundaries, so that you'll be able to use them with other people. I have always thought my problem was being a people pleaser, but maybe it's more that I don't know how to use boundaries with other people. Maybe it's a little of both. I have always wanted everyone to like me. Many times in life I've done things I don't want to do in order to just be with the other person and keep harmony. Interesting stuff.

So, in this conversation this morning our friend told me that he believes that I have much more inside of me that I am stifling and not allowing to escape(my words, not his). I don't remember the exact words. He said that online I'm a totally different person than in person. Hmmm.



This song started playing in my head when he said that. I do believe that I am a lot more outgoing when I'm hiding behind a computer screen. Rejection from someone online is much easier to deal with than someone in person. Right after we got off of the phone I checked Twitter and this was one of the first tweets I read... "You have everything you need to live the life you desire, if you will take the actions necessary to fulfill your possibilities." - Ralph Marston. What a timely quote to read today. Perhaps God is trying to tell me something. I know I'm not living my life to the fullest. As I've listened to Family Church's messages about One Month to Live this week, I've realized that. I need to stop living in fear and embrace all of the wonderful possibilities that are out there!

Vacation Bible School

After growing up in a home daycare and being bussed to many different churches every summer for VBS, the words are not some of my favorite words. Our church just started doing VBS last year and it's a growing process for us. We love having a church full of kids! For right now, we're only doing 3 evenings and it's plenty for us as a church. By the 3rd night I feel like I'm getting my groove, having a blast and wishing it was for a week! My kids loved it. My cousin's daughter was in town and went with us. It was great to be able to take a visitor with us. We wrapped up the week with supper at a friend's house. It was the perfect ending to a great week! We were pretty dead this weekend, but I think we both feel very content with life and how it's going right now.



Annalee and Claire

Bella was big enough to get right in the middle of everything this year!

Michael's group watching a service video & Mrs. Sandy holding Bella.

Amy & Dee Dee... the FUN art & craft teachers!

My favorite man & some of the other guys.















The audience was silly stringed Friday night! It was a blast.

The things we will do for free Chick-fil-a!

Can I tell you how much we love this restaurant? When I was pregnant with Bella I could have eaten there 3 times a day and been happy. They have the absolute best customer service. A phone call or email complaint gets you free meals every time. Annalee asks every year when they have cow appreciation day if we can dress up and go get a free meal. I always say no, because who wants to spend more on making something to wear than you'd spend on the actual meal? I am trying very hard to say yes to a lot more things this summer, unless there is really a valid reason to say no. It gave Annalee and me something fun to do today and we got some cute pictures. Now we have a cow shirt and bandanas for future cow appreciation days!






The boa didn't work out too well. We chunked those because it was too hot and they were too itchy!

What I learned this week...

It's been awhile since I've participated in Jo-Lynne's What I learned this week's carnival. I haven't blogged much this summer, either. I don't know where the time is going, but it feels like the summer is flying by! There have been a lot of lessons learned this summer so far. I love it. Some of them have been painful, but I'm trying to look at them as growing experiences. We could all stand to grow a little bit, right?

So, I'm just going to list the things I've learned in no random order. I'm not sure I could put them in order if I wanted to do so.

1. It takes two to make a thing go right... it takes two to make it out of sight... As I was watching The Proposal with some friends this weekend and listened to the lead characters sing this song, I was reminded that any kind of relationship takes two. There's only so much you can do to keep a relationship alive if you're the only one doing the work. I struggled for a long time letting go of an old friendship.

2. Sometimes we try to hold onto people the way we try to hold onto things. A good friend said "People can be clutter in one's life the same as junk. Sometimes they just need to go.". I try so hard to see the good in everyone. But there's only so long I can tell myself that maybe they are having a bad day, week, month.

3. Life is too short to surround myself with joy stealers, just for the sake of being a people pleaser.

4. It only took a few months into my 30s to realize I am who I am. Far from perfect, but I am me. I am finally so very happy to be me. I'm done trying to play the people pleaser and trying to keep everyone around me happy. It's quite a relief to have learned that lesson at 30 than 40, 50 or older. I believe in being transparent with close friends and not pretending everything's hunky dory when it's not. We all go through trials, so why pretend that we don't? Living my life in such a way that it pleases God and not caring whether or not it pleases other people sounds much more rewarding than trying to please people.

5. Life giving relationships are such a blessing and come at such unexpected times sometimes.

6. Planning a trip to Disney World can be so much fun and so exciting! I'm not really an advanced planner, but I'm having a blast planning this trip for the kids. I feel like a kid again! Trying to find themed ideas for the family to go in costume to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party has been such a blast!

What have you learned this week?