Happy 4th Birthday Kb!!!

This was the morning that we met Kb for the first time. Looking back at the pictures reminds me of how far he has come (although still has a long way to go)! He was so little. He has gained over 10 pounds and grew over 7 inches in 9 months. I will never forget the first time I changed him and realized that he had no fat on him whatsoever. He had no bum...it was so sad. But now he is confirmed healthy and our best eater (not saying much, but...). He went from needing to be carried everywhere, to walking the entire time on his own at Disney.

So Happy Birthday to my Littlest One!!!

I hope you always maintain your joy that you find in your own little world. I hope you never lose your infectious laugh and your wonderfully happy disposition :-) So often we hear about the great thing we have done for both you and your sister, but we are the ones who are truly blessed to have you be a part of our lives.

There is no way to give you a good idea of how much he has grown, but here is my best effort. And there are NO pictures of the boys that are "normal," so this is the best that I have:

The first week Kb was here:


This was two days ago at his birthday...just don't ask why!

Black Friday

Sooooooo, here are two reasons why I should not get up early.

1. I drove the whole way from my house to the mall with my high beams on. When i relayed this to my sister in law when i reached the mall, she asked when i figured it out. Well, when the guy in front of me flipped me the bird - several times?

2. Kept checking the clock for my speed.

Yep. I shouldn't be on the road that early!

Boys w/o the Girls at Home...

Now that we are back to our regularly scheduled program...

What do my boys do when Ky is at school and Kp is away?

Ummm...they play house. Yeah, gonna have to have Daddy have a talk with them.

BUT they were playing nicer than they had ever played before, so I didn't interrupt! Oh, well!

Morocco

This is the kiddos dancing in Morocco. We had way too much fun in that little country!

I also have a video of Arwen and Tonya dancing with the girls...and me literally running from the lady trying to tie one on me (I did lose in the end and did dance), but since I was not in the video, I wasn't sure my friends would appreciate the fame?!?

Finally out of Hair Paint (Disney 7 & 8)

No, I am not mad. I was walking towards the sun and was actually squinting. But yes, I did have all 4 kids at that point, and made them all hold on to some part of me as I walked...did get a bit awkward at certain points, but knew they were safe (especially Kd).

No matter where we went, Kd was always interested in the map, and had one at all times. He actually found where we were a few times, too!

Again, guess when we rode the Tower of Terror? Yep, right after lunch. I think everyone was secretly betting on when I'd puke!

There is one place that parents who are afraid of losing their children just should not go: the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area. While it is a one way in/one way out kind a place, there are kids everywhere and the play area is meant to look like you've been shrunk, so everything is over sized! VERY hard to find your kids. Two adults (who shall remain nameless) didn't venture in. Arwen and I had 4 (or 5?) kids in there at one point. However, even if you sit at the exit, you get a little worried when you don't see them for a long while. OR when you tell them to stay together and you then see one running by themselves?? A little stressful. I went looking for the crew while Arwen guarded the exit. There was a moment of panic, BUT I found them all and we exited...really thankful the other 2 adults weren't there! (and we did have 2 of their kids! - yikes)

PS: We did figure out what happens to cheer leaders when the are no longer cheering...they work at Disney's Hollywood Studios Parade! Yeeaaahhh...interesting.

The best dinner ever...Wolfgang Puck...yummy!

Ahhhh, the inevitable, separation from Sarah. Not only were the kids tired (and very dirty), they had to say goodbye to beloved Sarah. Lots of tears.... :-(

The flight home was great. The kids were good, flight was smooth. However, I chose poorly yet again. This is what the boys did, BEFORE the plane took off....

The girls, on the other hand, who were seated with me, pulled out the emergency landing manual and asked me non stop questions during take off..."Ohhhh do we get to go over water?" "Where is the raft at" "Mommy, are they angry, they look angry" (in my head, "NO, they are about to DIE, they are scared!) "Mommy, why are they allowed to sit with their heads like that? You told us we had to sit back." (in my head, again, they are about to crash...they have you sit like that so you break your neck on impact!) Oh, the questions! Happy place...happy place!

(Me after the flight attendants made their rounds...)

The end.

Oops I almost forgot to add...

Bathrooms...we were in there all the time, and by day 2 or 3, when one kid had to stop - we made them all try to go. At one point in Epcot we were all heading to the bathrooms...most of the bathrooms were situated with ladies to the left, men to the right. Well, add in the fact that most of the vacation we blindly followed whoever knew where they were going around like lost puppies. SO when Arwen went to the bathroom with a group, she was totally following Hubby right into the bathroom. I yelled her name (she snapped out of the blind following) and I was howling...well, what goes around comes around?

I was in the airport and really had to pee...the bathrooms were not side by side and I ran in...when i got in and looked up, I thought - oh, my gosh! There is totally a man in the women's restroom...then it happened. I saw a 10 year old walk out of a his stall...oh s*#@! I was in the men's room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I was so distraught I seriously couldn't find the women's room so I walked back to where Hubby was waiting! Totally embarrassed!

Red Hair (Disney 6)

We arrived early enough in the day to do both Big Thunder Railroad and Splash Mountain several times in a row. (Ohhh, and I should've mentioned this before, Arwen and I renamed whatever we wanted - to what we could remember it to be...including animals at Animal Kingdom...soooooo, just in case you don't recognize the names, or think they renamed it....they didn't, we did!)

We got the kids to put their hands up on all the big rides...whether or not they needed to be up! This was probably the 2nd or 3rd time on the ride. The first trip through, I was in the front and got drenched...looked real pretty!

Back on the dreaded Tea Cups, this time with no Sarah - forced on...and Tonya just had to try to spin it...thanks. I really hate the Merry go Round and Tea Cups...why did I find myself on them ALL the time, right after every meal?????

We ate at the Crystal Terrace and had a meal with Winnie the Pooh and Friends. And again, poor Maiya was terrified. She ate very little and spent most of her time...under the table.

Maiya under the table...Piglet was coming around...

Swiss Family Robinson's Treehouse...

Sarah and I met up when I had the two little ones and we road on the paddle (river?) boat and explored Tom Sawyer's Island until it got too dark. Kb and Maiya had soooo much fun running around exploring the island! (Did I mention...I love Sarah, she is the best!)

Late in the day, I took my girls to go see the Princesses in Toon Town. There was a very short line and we took advantage of it. Kp got to see Cinderella and she was sooooo happy. When I exited and met up with everyone else, Kd was displeased that he didn't see the Princesses. Last year, that is all we did...wait in line after line to get a picture and autograph of the Princesses and other characters. We skipped that part this year. But he REALLY wanted to see the Princesses...so back in line I went, with my son. Luckily Maiya and Tonya joined us, so that it wasn't just Kd and I going through. He was tickled pink when meeting with the princesses! He even gained a kiss from Belle! Too cute!

One of Hubby's most favorite rides is the Jungle Cruise. He just loves the dry humor of it all. Well, the first tour guide we had was really bad. Really, really bad. This is one of the two rides Sarah usually works on, SOOOO with an itty bitty favor, we got a guest tour guide and a private tour - and she was great!!! The little ones (Kb and Maiya) were so tired at the end of a long day, that I took them and sat between Splash and Thunder Mountain. They totally fell asleep on my lap while the others rode another round of each of the Mountain rides. Precious!

One of the several times we split up, Arwen somehow got stuck with ALL the munchkins under 44 in. A group of us were going on SpaceMountain, and she was going to take all the little ones on that one ride that you sit in and it takes you all around Future World. OK - we were also blessed (*thanks*) with 6 free drinks. Arwen went to get all the drinks then take the 4 kiddos on the ride. The six extra drinks really caused her to be short on hands and when getting ready to board the ride one went sliding under the ride. Then Kd (being his helpful self) went flying under the car to retrieve it...ride grinds to a halt. Nice. Anyway, he didn't get lost and they all enjoyed the ride. End of story.

Sleepy time on the bus...and another bus story: At the end of the day, the bus drivers take it as their life life goal to see how many people they can fit on the bus. Well our crew of 13 was at the very end of a very long line. At this point, Kb and Maiya were still sleeping (from falling asleep on my lap...yep, LONG walk out of the park). The bus driver yelled for everyone to move back to make room for us. Seriously there was room to fit two (maybe) more on the bus. All 13 of us were not going to fit. Conversations to follow:

Hubby: Sir, I don't think we are all going to fit.

Bus Driver: I have room. AND if you are carrying a child, you get a seat. (He then proceeded to make older people, and younger kids get up to make room for us to have a seat. Not to mention that the rest of our little ones would have to stand and hold on - although they loved to try this, they were far too young to make it the whole way home in such a manner. AND they are to have a 5 point harness at home, why is it legal for them to stand on a bus???? Hummm????)

Hubby: Sir, I am not going to make those people stand and I am more concerned for my children's safety then seeing how many more you can fit on, I am not riding this bus (tense moment as we all disembark the bus).

Bus Driver (yelling to the rest of the line): I have room for more. (A few more who had no problems standing to hold on entered...)

As they did another bus pulled up behind him, sooooooo all those people were crammed into that bus for NO reason! We all had seats and enjoyed our ride home!

Green Hair Day (Disney 5)

Hollywood studios was never my favorite, but this year it was really fun. Ky remembered the Star Tours ride from last year, and was her favorite, and all the other boys are really into Star Wars. We got to the Star Wars demonstration early so we were in front. And since we all had green hair, we hoped the boys would be picked. Well all the boys were picked...so Cam, Kb and Kd went onto the stage. We were a little concerned with Kb following directions. Neither of my boys could get their robe thing on (I am sure there is an official name, but not a star wars fan, so I don't have a clue!). Once the boys got their robes on, they stood on a circle (haha - Kb was funny with that one), and then they learned a series of steps to learn to be a jedi! After they practiced it Darth Vader came out and each kid got to fight him. When Darth Vader came out, Kb cowered behind all the other kids...quite funny. It was hilarious when each kids fought the "big black guy." Cameron came out and totally attacked Darth Vader, disregarding the pattern that they learned. The lady had to come out with Kb because he was terrified! But ended up doing well. Kd did exactly what he was supposed to and loved it! Check out the video!! Took it on my phone, so its not the best...

(We are the ones with GREEN hair!)

We ate at this really cool restaurant...looked like a drive in theater. Which happened to be the same place we lost Kd. Yes, he is the one we lost last year in Disney as well...seems to be a tradition? I am not sure exactly what happened, but I stayed behind to pay the bill...and a group of kids/adults when to the bathroom and then went outside to wait. Apparently everyone went out and forgot Kd (who knows where he was or how he was left). When I got out there and asked where Kd was, panic hit the adults outside! One particular adult went flying back inside to look for him. I guess he was left in the bathroom, but made his way back to the table. That's where he was found. Honestly, I wasn't concerned. Had it taken longer to find him, I would've been irate, BUT he was safe and found quickly so all was good :-) SO the joke for the rest of the trip was, "trust me, I'll take your kid...and won't lose them!"


Poor littlest Maiya, she was so tuckered out, she fell asleep on the cement wall while waiting for the big kids to get off Aerosmiths Rockin' Rollercoaster!


***It would've been funny to count how many pairs of underwear were thrown away during our trip. One of my boys and one boy we were with...apparently could never "hold it." Everyday one of the boys were underwearless! Once I was peed on during the Safari ride in Animal Kingdom, and I was not happy about it, to say the least!!!