Friday, July 30, 2010

Florida - Part 3

Day 3 we headed over to the Wild Animal Kingdom. Before we even got into the park, we spotted Timon. I adore Tad's big smile in this picture.

When we got in we hit "It's Tough to be a Bug." (Yes, the same show we have in California Adventure.) Even though I've seen it, what, five or six times now? Maybe more? It's still cute. And the kids liked it. Well, except youngest nephew. He cried. But he did that a lot, haha.

After some wandering we got Fast Passes for the Safari and headed over to a train to take us to Rafiki's Planet Watch (lots of hippie propaganda... thanks Disney). But as we were waiting for the train I pulled out my phone to check the time.

And I had missed a call from a school that I had interviewed with.

I checked the message and all the principal said was to call her back. So I did. And got the machine. So I left a message and sat there feeling sick. Longest thirty minutes of my LIFE.

FINALLY, we actually get in touch with each other and I got offered my job! So I'm sitting here, away from the rest of the family because I had to stay where I could get a signal. And I'm shaking because all of a sudden in the middle of my vacation I've been offered a job. I thought I was going to pass out for a minute.

Once I compose myself and am able to speak somewhat I call my mom (hi mom!) and she promptly celebrates (along with Claudia, who danced in their office) and starts emailing people. I texted a few people and walked around still not believing that had just happened for the rest of the day.

So back to the parks, right?

The kids got to see Rafiki. Tad got a solo picture because Rafiki is my mom's favorite. They also got to see Jiminy Cricket. And do a lot of cool exploration type stuff, including a little petting zoo. Our little Willow threw a tantrum (no pics necessary) and we decided it was time to head over to the Safari.

So, the Safari was definitely cool. We did get to see a lot of animals, more than I expected since it was already early afternoon. It's a bumpy ride though. And your driver doesn't pause for very long. So there were definitely more than a few out of focus pictures. But like I said, it is still really cool to get to see the animals out and about.

THIS is the Tree of Life. It was SO cool. I have more shots of it, but in this one you can see more than one animal. The whole tree is like that. There's over 300 animals carved into it. You could spend so much time trying to spot them all.

When we drove into the parking lot we thought this looked a lot like Matterhorn. It's totally not the Matterhorn, it's Expedition Everest. And it was a super fun roller coaster! Tad should have been tall enough (according to one measuring station but not the other?), but ended up not being tall enough. We got Cole on it with us and it resulted in the BEST PICTURE EVER. Which I haven't scanned, and I don't want you seeing a crappy copy of it, so that picture will just have to wait. (Did I hear someone say upcoming Friday Photo?) The coaster was seriously fun, and if you're there, you MUST do it.

After we rode Everest, hubby and I took Tad and split up (so necessary when you're in a group of ELEVEN people). We headed over to Dinoland where they had a reproduction of Dino Sue (you know, the most complete T-Rex they've found? It toured museums for awhile). Anyway, there's an employee right there that talked to Tad for almost 10 minutes and played some games letting him guess bones and stuff. She was really sweet and Tad loved hearing about the dinosaur.

From there we did the Dinosaur ride. Tad liked it. Mostly. There's some intense parts involving a carnivore trying to EAT YOU. Those weren't his favorite. But he didn't scream or anything. Just held on to me for dear life. (I told him he saved me from the dinosaur since the dinosaur was on my side and Tad was NOT letting go of me.)

Outside the ride there was a little trail with some fake dinosaurs. Tad posed with this one. I think the picture should go in his room.

There was also a playground nearby, where Tad showed off just how much weirdness he's gotten from hanging out with hubby and I.

There's a river rapids ride that we didn't get soaked on (thankfully). After that we headed to the Finding Nemo show to take advantage of our dampness combined with air conditioning.

This isn't the best picture, but I wanted to make sure you guys saw Nigel. How awesome is that??? The show was really cute, and judging by how hard Tad was clapping I'm guessing he really enjoyed it. I wouldn't mind going to see it if they extend it and turn it into a full-length show.

After that we hit Bug's Life one more time and then left. Everyone else had left already (the park closes early) so step-dad came back for us and then dropped us off somewhere for dinner. We had to celebrate my new employment. :)

Ahhh, half over. But the third day I was pretty tired already. But there's still three to go...

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Florida - Part 2

Good morning. I'm not thrilled it's already Thursday. I have only two weeks until school starts.

Wow.

So let's just jump in here so I can block that out momentarily. Day two we headed to Epcot. I had read mixed reviews on Epcot. Boring for kids, okay for kids, great for kids, only good for the food... so I didn't know what to expect. But it was nice. The kids had fun. They got to see characters...

This was actually good because there were five characters in a row. One line to meet all of them. But I think the Donald Duck picture might be my favorite.

It was (of course) warm out so the kids jumped in fountains for awhile.


The whole character thing didn't go over so well with Willow. She was excited to spot Marie from The Aristocats. Until it was our turn to take pictures. Then she freaked out and ran for her mom.


We bought over-priced frozen drinks. Good: they cooled us down a lot. Bad: the price and the fact that they totally made us feel full. Ugh.


I of course had to attempt an artsy picture of the Epcot ball. Which I think turned out pretty cool.

There aren't as many rides over in Epcot. The highlight was probably Nemo. Because it's one of my favorite movies. And Turtle Talk with Crush. Which is always amusing. A couple of the "world regions" have a mini-boat ride. So that was kind of fun, but definitely not a thrill ride. There was plenty to do, just don't expect a ton of rides there.

I just realized I don't have a whole lot to say about this day. Guess that shows you how uneventful it was. If you don't count the tantrum thrown by one kid and Willow crying over Marie. And me hauling butt out of a show as the doors were closing because I had an unfamiliar number calling and I hoped it was about a job.

It wasn't.

Yet.

You'll hear about that tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Florida - Part 1

I don't know how I'm going to spread this out, so there's no telling how many days you'll get out of this. But let's just jump in.

I'm gonna throw this out there: I don't like flying. This made traveling feel reeeallly looooong. We flew out of San Francisco at around 6 in the morning on Saturday. We weren't about to use vacation money on a hotel, so we just decided to leave our house at an ungodly hour. Making the travel day even longer. But we got to the airport, made both our flights, and got to Florida. Step one, check.

This has been on Tad's calendar for months. I love that it's his handwriting. And yes, it's HIS calendar, not mine. It happens to be a Cars calendar, courtesy of grandma.

We got in with Tim's sister and her family first. Mom and step-dad and the kids didn't get in until late. Once Tad got there he informed me he was sleeping in our room. :) I love that boy.

Sunday was Universal Studios day. It was warm. Seriously warm. Actually it was the humidity that killed. Yuck. I'll try to make that the extent of the weather-related complaining I write here.

Most of you probably don't know, but Tad has a small collection of pressed pennies. He keeps them in a little wooden treasure chest. We have them from Disneyland, Pismo, Arizona (thanks mom), Sea World... and now we've added 38 from Universal and Disney parks. There was a lot of this on the trip. The kid has a good eye for penny machines.

We did rides of course. Mom and step-dad took turns sitting out with the kids that couldn't do it. The rides were pretty uneventful, except for Jaws.

Tad totally knows what Jaws is. The kid used to put on his shark socks and shuffle into the room singing, "Dun dun, dun dun." I wasn't sure which side of the boat Jaws would come up on, but I put Tad and Cole (our oldest nephew) on the side that I hoped it would be.

I was totally right. (cue evil laugh here)

They're having a good time, and then we spot a fin. Cole started to hide behind Tad a little (chicken). Then when the shark came out of the water, Tad jumped up out of his seat and tried to fly across my lap. I've never seen the kid move so fast and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I sat him down and he was fine. No tears, and he handled the shark coming back at the boat pretty well. Our younger nephew did not.

It was a fun ride.

See? Tad was fine. He even posed after the ride. He asked later if we could do it again.


There was a Simpsons ride, complete with a Kwik-E-Mart outside. Guess what hubby's favorite thing of the day was?


Universal has a pretty decent kid area. Hubby and I ran off to do an insane roller coaster and the kids all hung out in a water area. When we got back we played with them and did some rides. Tad and I hopped on the Woody Woodpecker ride. He loves little rollercoasters. He's even willing to try out the bigger ones, which scares me a little.


Universal also had a show at night that was pretty worth watching. It was a late night, but since it was our first day we didn't feel too tired. It caught up with us later in the week.

And there's your brief rundown of day one. I'm trying to keep these short. I figure you don't want a list of every ride or anything, right? Tomorrow, day two at Epcot.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

5 Things

Hello! It's not your typical list today. I picked out 5 random things about our vacation. Accompanied by pictures. I promise I will get to a recap (and I'll try to keep it from turning into a novel), but for today, enjoy this...


1. There's a chance that your child will want to ride scary rides.

The whole time we were in line for the Tower of Terror, I was sick. I knew he wouldn't like it, but I don't want to raise a sissy. Hubby insisted he would be fine. And technically he was. No crying, but his little yell will probably haunt me for a short time still. He was pretty proud of how brave he was though.

2. I cannot properly describe the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I can tell you it was INSANELY crowded. But it was amazing. Seriously hard to describe.

3. Spiderman is a pretty smart dude.

Don't you love how Tad is listening to him? He asked if he was having fun and then transitioned to studying and working hard because being a superhero takes great responsibility. Good job Spidey.

4. The frozen mojitos at Epcot are weak.

No buzz at all, but still pretty dang refreshing given the thousand degree weather we were having. Worth eight bucks? Nope.


5. You gotta love the characters.

Buzz and Woody got into a little tiff over me. They made me choose! And Woody pouted when I chose Buzz. Which Tad still finds hilarious. "Tia Ashley, remember when you made Woody cry?"

If you're a friend on Facebook I put a lot of pictures up over there. Not even close to everything though. Stick around here for recaps. Like I said, I'll try to make them interesting.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Monday Coolness

Helloooo! I won't bombard you today, mostly because I'm still tired and it's making me feel pretty slow. Slow = not so clever. But I promise I'll have some good stories for you this week.

For today, have a video. I recorded just a little bit of Turtle Talk With Crush while we were at Epcot. If you haven't seen it, you HAVE to go next time you're at the parks (they have it at California Adventure also). It's pretty amusing.






I didn't record the whole thing, but at the very end Crush told the kids to say "dude" as much as possible the rest of the day and their parents would love it. Tad thought that was hilarious and laughed every time he heard me say "dude."

Happy Monday dudes!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

*whew*

I'm alive. Exhausted, but alive.

Expect lots of recaps this week, because people have asked for them. If you don't want to hear about the different parks, how cute Tad was, how I'll never go to Florida in the summer again, or anything related... well, you're outta luck this week. :)

I did want to point out one new thing I added to my blog. At the end of each post there's a row of buttons that will make it easier to share the post you just read. For those of you that want to share. There's also a quicker way to leave feedback. There are "reactions" you can choose from now. Pretty self-explanatory. So feel free to use them. I like attention. Can you tell?

And just a quick note for those who don't follow me in other areas... I got a job! I won't post details, except to say it was definitely an answered prayer. Details for me are coming starting tomorrow. I have to call the principal and get stuff worked out now. I don't have long until school starts!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Friday Photo

Happy Friday friends!

You were probably expecting a Disney photo, even an old one, but no. That would have required extra work on my part. You should know by now I'm not a fan. So I give you Tad.

Hubby has the Cabela's hunting game for Wii. Tad likes it. And he's pretty decent. I think hubby is hoping it tranlates to a little hunting buddy one day.

I leave Florida tomorrow and will hopefully recuperate enough on Sunday that I'll feel like blogging on Monday. We'll see.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

A Story

Courtesy of Tad. This is from last month. He was playing with his toys in the bath and told me he had a story for me... this one even has a title!

Shark Pirate

The shark pirate is meeeean and the boat was big and it sailed off. The boat sank under, close to the right island. And it floated up. And it CRASHED into the right island. The island was called Treasure Hunt. And somebody was at Treasure Hunt. His name was Shark Pirate! And he went to the right treasure and he opened it and looked at the treasure. The treasure was sea food and he put the whole thing in his mouth. He chewed it up into his mouth and then the treasure chest was empty. And the treasure chest said, "Give my my food back! Unless I will eat you up!"

The End

Can you tell we like sharks and pirates and treasure around here?

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Loving...

I don't have a normal wish list for you today. Instead, here's a couple shops on Etsy that I've been enjoying browsing. A lot.

The first shop is Mis Nopales Art. There's art and shirts. Of awesomeness. I love the sugar skull look and his shop is full of this kind of stuff. I can't wait to buy some of these one day for our house.
Like Captain JackAnd I've been in love with this Johnny Cash shirt for a good while. Maybe I should get him for my grandpa...
I love this couple. They're just cute. And I think they'd be pretty happy on my wall.

The other shop that I'm sharing is a recent favorite. It's just full of cuteness. It's humblebea.


There's super cute tiny things. Like this mini note holder. I love that it's made out of a spool.


And then there are these tiny gnomes. They make me smile.


And this??? It's a love shack. You get it personalized. I'm loving it.

So there ya are. Spend some time browsing today.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

5 Things

Hello there.

We're on day 3 in Florida and if you've been checking my Twitter then you know what I've been up to.

So did I ever FULLY explain how horrendous Friday was to you? No? Okay, horrendous might be exaggerating. But it was no bueno. So I'll share that with you today. In list form...

5 Things That Sucked About Friday
  1. I slept HORRIBLY. First I didn't even get to bed until after one. Because I was baking. Because hubby told his boss I could do cupcakes for a party. No, I didn't bite his head off. Anyway, once I did get to bed, I was hot. And not comfortable. And had dreams about cupcakes. Which you would think would be pleasant... it wasn't.
  2. Cleaning. I did NOT get as much done during the week as I had hoped. So there was a bit much to do.
  3. Packing. If it weren't for the stupid three ounces of liquid rule, I probably could have gotten by without checking a bag. Which would have been nice since airlines are JERKS and charge you for checked bags. Ugh...
  4. It was HOT! I shouldn't complain because I knew it would be worse in Florida. But I couldn't help it! No one likes waking up and feeling warm already.
  5. The Blazer. I needed to do a couple things. Meaning I had to drive the Blazer. But there wasn't much gas, so watching that gauge was fun. Plus there's that friendly bolt in my tire. But hubby looked at it and deemed it okay for driving, as long as I didn't drive crazy or go far. PLUS there's the fact that I have no air in that thing. Thrilling friends, thrilling.
Hopefully your Friday was better. I feel like I always have one of those days right before vacation. I need a vacation from vacations...

Monday, July 19, 2010

Monday Coolness

This one's for my mommy. She kind of loved this commercial.





I'm in Florida. Likely sweating profusely. But still enjoying the parks. I scheduled posts for the week, but you can check my Twitter for current updates.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Happy Birthday to...

My friend Leon!

This picture makes me smile because I think we look like our parents.

Leon and I got to watch each other be awkward. We met in junior high and he became fast friends with my brother. We're all so close in age that we just became a little group. I've met tons of other people through him and we've stayed close for fifteen years or so now. His family is pretty much an extension of mine.

I'll also take today to say... Leon is making me an aunt again! He and his fiancee Kellee are having a baby. I'm so stoked! Seriously.

So happy birthday "daddy Leon" (you can thank Tim for that moniker). Love you (and Kellee, and the wee one!) lots!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Friday Photo

I finally got over it and started using the external hard drive. So there will be no shortage of pictures for you guys.

I took this a few weeks ago while playing with our new camera. I played with the color a little, but honestly, not very much.

I love it. It's another candidate for the wall.

And so, I'm off to Florida tomorrow! Not excited about the flying. And not excited about the humidity over there. But I'm VERY excited for the parks. And Tad. I've scheduled posts for while I'm gone, so this place won't be totally dead. And maybe I'll even grace your presence on Facebook once or twice. Check my Twitter too, because there will be LOTS of randomness via that outlet.

Happy Friday! And a happy week!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

One Word

Got this as an email awhile ago and thought I'd go ahead and do it here.

Yes, because I'm a little lazy.

If any of you want to do it, feel free. And leave a link in the comments.

Answer each question/phrase/prompt using only one word.

Where is your cell phone?
close

Spouse...
home

Your hair is...
frustrating

Your mother...
love

Your father...
odd

Your favorite thing?
A/C

Your dream last night?
dunno

Your favorite drink?
water

What room are you in?
front

Your hobby?
creating

Your fear?
icky

Where do you want to be in six years?
happy

Where were you last night?
parents'

Something that you aren't...
quiet

Muffins?
cupcakes

Wish list item?
truck

Last thing you did...
sneezed

What are you wearing?
clothes

TV...
news

Your pets?
nonexistent

Your friends?
amazing

Your life?
bumpy

Your mood?
meh

Missing someone?
grandpa

Drinking?
water

Your car?
Arthur

You're not wearing?
shoes

Favorite store?
Target

Your favorite color?
purple

When is the last time you cried?
recently

Favorite place to eat?
home

Place you'd like to be right now?
beach

Yeeeah, kind of a lame post. I have things to do so I needed something quick and easy. I have today and tomorrow to get ready for a week in Florida. And you know me. I'm a procrastinator. So I'm totally not as ready as I should be.

Later days.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Wednesday Wish List - Bloggy Birthday Edition

So I completely missed my blog's birthday at the end of last month. I've been around for two years already. I actually went back and read some of my old stuff - kind of amusing to see what's changed.

So welcome to my little belated birthday party today.

Ladies, you'll need a pretty party dress.

Just follow the fancy banner...



And have a seat in a lovely chair. No boring plastic or hard metal for my guests.


Enjoy dessert served on pretty pieces of servingware.


Ladies, have some pretty flowers for your hair.

And boys, have fun trying out different mustache styles for yourself. You'll look quite dashing...

And after the sweets and presents and fun, we'll have to get back to the real world. Which, for me, consists of packing, cleaning, and getting a job application in.

Three more days... then I can relax. Kind of.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

I'm a Slacker

I totally missed my blog's little birthday awhile ago.

Poor blog.

So in honor of that, I'll probably have a birthday-themed wish list tomorrow. Full of pretty things. Because I like pretty things. :)

Also, no "5 Things" today. My brain just refuses to function at the moment, and I have a ton to do. See you tomorrow!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Monday Coolness

I could probably just feature commercials on Mondays and be set. I'm easily amused. And this one? Well, hubby cracks up just hearing it.




Happy Monday. Don't be a crybaby.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Friday Photo

Happy Friday everyone!!!

I'm expecting a good day. After three-and-a-half weeks in Alabama, my mom is home! I believe she's going to come by today to see my curtains. And probably hang out. Seeing as how all we've had is a few phone calls and texts for a good while.

And so today, because my mom loves Tad to pieces, we have a Tad photo.

This is from the park a couple weeks ago. His summer faux hawk is back! I love it.

I'm off to do some cleaning. And laundry. And get ready for a "camp out" with my church kids tonight. Hope everyone enjoys their Friday!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Random Question Time!

So here's a cupcake-related question for ya.

I've done white chocolate cupcakes with pomegranate cream cheese frosting. And white chocolate cupcakes with lemon frosting.

What else sounds good with white chocolate? Caramel? Coffee? More white chocolate? Suggestions, please. And to make it easier, here's a poll for ya. Just point and click. (Although this is apparently a difficult concept since I had 18 views but only 2 votes on my last poll. Hmm.)


What kind of frosting for a white chocolate cupcake?

View Results
Create a Blog Poll



P.S. - If you've seen the recipe floating around the interwebs for microwave cake/coffee mug cake/chocolate mug cake... RUN. DON'T DO IT. PMS and a lack of baked goods in the house made me try it last night. It was so many kinds of wrong.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Oh Hai

I totally forgot to make a wish list, didn't I?

Honestly, it's a lot of work. Especially if I'm not feeling inspired. Which I wasn't yesterday. So that may not happen weekly. Things just happen that way sometimes.

Wanna hear a little about camping? Of course you do!

Loved the camp site. It's right next to the creek where we fished. It was a short hike up to some rocks and pools with a little waterfall. Good for more fishing (and swimming if you like ICE COLD water). Tad of course wanted to sleep in our tent (of course we let him).

The not-so-good? Let's start with my NINE mosquito bites. Including one on my FOREHEAD. Yup, it's attractive. I'll be wearing a hat around in public for a few days. Then my brother-in-law (who came up to drop off our oldest nephew) saw a mountain lion and cub on his way up Monday night. Greeeeat. Four children under the age of 10? Hubby carried a gun on the hike and the kids stuck to sissy and me like glue.

Notes for next time: don't believe hubby when he says it probably won't be cold. If we don't bring the air mattress, DEFINITELY bring some foam pads. Bathe in bug spray.

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

5 Things

Eventually I may switch it up on Tuesdays. But making lists is so easy. Almost as easy as picking a picture every Friday. So maybe one day it'll change, but we'll see.

So this week I'm up in the mountains. Woohoo! Actually we're coming back later today. But even one night away is pretty awesome. And in honor of that...

5 Things I Love About Camping
  1. S'mores. Seriously, who doesn't love s'mores? Terrorists. That's who.
  2. Campfires. I'm a bit of a pyro for campfires. Plus, campfires + marshmallows = s'mores.
  3. Stars. You just can't see them that great in the city. But up there... wow.
  4. People. Or lack thereof. I'm generally NOT a people person. Depending on where we camp, you really don't run into many people. Yay!
  5. Time. There's no internets. No cell phone reception. No work. No house cleaning. I tend to fly through books when we're up in the mountains because I CAN.
So I'll be back later friends. Happy Tuesday. Try not to be jealous of my wildery adventures.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Monday Coolness

Happy Monday! Have y'all recovered from your weekend yet? I'm off to go camping today. Only for a night, but hey, it's still camping!

Today I give you some goodness from last week.




Yup, BSB baby. :) It was pretty awesome when EVERYONE was singing along. Sorry the camera work wasn't the best. I was a little excited to be there in the first place.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Friday Photo. BSB Edition.

So holy cow. It was amazing. Kay and I had the BEST time. I would go see them again in a second. We screamed more than freaky Twilight fans. And sang loudly. And danced. And it was the best trip to our past EVER.


This would be us afterwards. You can spot some of the glitter on my arm holding the camera. I looked like a freakin' sparkly vampire. That would be a result of our amazing shirts...

Kayla hearts Brian...

And I pink sparkly heart A.J. Always have. I had a serious thing for bad boys in high school.
Then there was the awesomeness of the backs. That's right, they say "BSB 4 eva."

Are you jealous? Because some people definitely were. We pretty much felt like rockstars with all the people lusting after our shirts. Some girls two rows behind us even asked to take a picture with us. Because they love Brian and A.J. too. And were in love with our shirts.

How could they not be? I think we did a pretty fantastic job. Best handmade shirts there.

Okay, so slight misread on the tickets, lol. Not tenth row. Tenth row in one of the floor sections. But not bad at all. Here's a view.
And here's the view with my zoom. *swoon* Now if you're wondering why there are only four guys instead of five, Kevin left a few years ago. But the remaining four are still fabulous.


The boys still dance. And their dancing still makes the girls scream.


I was entirely too giddy to see A.J. A LOT of my pics are centered on him, lol.


And the entire show was super fun. They opened with "Everybody" and I may have screamed like I was dying. (There's video, but I'm debating if it's too embarrassing to put up here.) Everyone sang along to everything (some of us didn't know the new stuff, but some definitely did). They had to have felt the love. Kayla and I even spotted a dude rocking out. Like, singing and doing some serious dancing. It was pretty amusing.
So today I'm feeling a renewed love for the BSB. And will likely be playing CDs in my sewing room for a long while.
I kinda want to put one of my old posters up too. Not gonna lie.