The Most Magical Place on Earth

We just returned from our summer family vacation to Disney, and I cannot begin to express what a magical experience we had all week (including the fact that all three babies did not complain once about the hot Orlando heat!)

We started our first day at the Magic Kingdom VERY early, so we could watch the Welcome Show with the characters before the gates opened. Despite this only being our second trip to Disney with the kids, we have learned that it is vital to be there early to knock out a ton of rides with no lines before the crowds pour in around 11am. Maggie requested to ride the teacups first, so we walked straight back to that classic ride.

We enjoyed Dumbo, "It's a Small World," the Little Mermaid ride, and Winnie the Pooh with little to no wait time right away. The temperature was even pretty comfortable in the morning. After the jungle cruise and the Peter Pan ride, we finally ate lunch at the new Be Our Guest restaurant. Everyone was exhausted and ready for food at that point, so it was perfect to spend a few minutes in air conditioning and sitting down. I am not sure if I was just starving, but I absolutely loved the food at the Beauty and the Beast themed location, especially the French onion soup!

We separated for a little while for Maggie to meet her favorite princess, Rapunzel, and for Tuttle to ride the race cars with Daddy. 

At that point we were all pretty hot and tired, but a parade in front of Cinderella's castle put everyone back into the magical spirit. The sweetest family let Tuttle and Maggie stand in front of them, so our babies got front row spots for the action. Tuttle made it a mission to try to get the characters to wave at him. :)

We finished the first day with a visit to the Haunted Mansion and buying some huge balloons. 

I cannot believe we lasted almost eight hours at the park, and the award for the "Best Little Baby" goes to Jacob! He never cried, slept off and on in my arms, and ended the day with his signature smile.

We all slept in the next day until 9:30 and took our time getting ready to attend our first character meal at Chef Mickey. I was not sure what to expect, but Disney exceeded my expectations with this experience! We fixed our plates from a yummy buffet and waited for all the classic characters to make their rounds to visit us at our table. We had special time with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy. Each character interacted with us, signed autograph books, and took photos. We did not feel rushed, there was no line, and we were inside out of the June heat! Complete success.

Next we headed back to the Magic Kingdom for another full day. We hit the Buzz Lightyear ride, the Carousel of Progress, Pirates of the Caribbean, and climbed the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. Maggie's highlight was watching a musical show at the Magic Kingdom starring Rapunzel, Anna, and Elsa. It was HOT but worth it to watch Tuttle and Maggie soak in the performance.

Maggie had special reservations, so the boys headed back to the race cars and even fit in a roller coaster. Maggie and I walked over to the Bippity Boppity Boutique for the royal treatment. Maggie was pampered with a princess up-do, makeup, and sparkly nails. I have been waiting months for this surprise, and Maggie LOVED it!

We showed off Maggie's new look to Aerial in her grotto. :)

Our goal was to make it to the lights parade at 9pm. We ate dinner and rode on the carousel for one last ride at Disney. (Plus a quick detour to attempt to pull the sword out of the stone. No luck!)

We parked the Thorne family on Main Street USA and waited for the parade to start. We had a great spot, and Jacob even fell asleep right before the action started. We were BLOWN AWAY with the parade. The lights and floats were so over the top and magical. I put my camera away since it was so dark, and sadly missed capturing the most magical moment of all in my opinion.

As Snow White was walking by our family, I told Maggie to stand up, so Snow White might see her dressed up. Much to everyone's surprise, Snow White stopped walking with the parade and came directly to Maggie! She told her how beautiful she was and asked for a hug. I was so mesmerized by the attention that Maggie was getting that I did not realize everyone else must be watching, too! As Snow White hugged Maggie, I heard a clear cheer from the rest of the audience. Maggie definitely felt like the star of the show. Snow White then continued on with the parade. It was such a special moment!

We spent the rest of our Orlando vacation at our hotel pool which also included a 3 hour nap in the room for Jacob (and Mommy!) We later ventured to Disney Springs for dinner at Bongos and a little shopping.

Disney provided us with the best family vacation this year. We cannot wait to go back!

Annual Beach Trip with Gram

 We just returned from our fourth annual St. Simons Island beach trip with Gram, and it was a blast! I was a little apprehensive on how smoothly it would go with three babies, but everyday was so much fun!

After an easy drive to the beach, we arrived at "our beach house," unpacked, and headed to dinner and to walk the pier, Tuttle's favorite spot on the island.

Our first day was full of breakfast out, grocery shopping, and a visit to the pool. We enjoyed dinner at Bubba Garcia's and then ventured to the beach. Gram and I finally found a way to really enjoy the beach. It is just way too hot to go during the day, but around sunset is just perfect! 

The next day we traveled to Jekyll Island to try out the water park there. Gram did some research and found Summer Waves for the kids. I was nervous about the idea of a water park and handling all three babies, but it was Tuttle and Maggie's favorite day of the week! They would have spent their entire lives in the lazy river! :)

Wednesday everyone enjoyed shopping for beach tshirts and a souvenir and the introduction of a family tradition: a beach puzzle! After lunch Gram stayed at the house with Jacob while I took Tuttle and Maggie to the pool! It was a win for everyone!

We ate way too much for dinner at Barbara Jean's and returned to the beach again at sunset. While Maggie and Tuttle played in the sand and investigated a small hammer head shark that a fisherman caught on the shore, Jacob splashed his feet in the water. I think Little Boy loves the ocean most of all.

Since Thursday had rain in the forecast, we spent a lazy morning at the house watching movies and napping and later headed to see Angry Birds at the theater. While it was not Gram nor my top pick, Tuttle had been waiting for the release of the movie for a year, and Maggie is always eager to be interested in something that makes Tuttle happy. :) On our way home Gram suggested that we try the local BBQ restaurant, Southern Soul. I am not a big bbq fan, but I found other options on the menu, including collard greens and fried okra. We ended the meal with fried Oreos. (Our original goal had been to eat light that day! Oops!)

We wrapped up the trip with a grand finale adventure on Friday: a dolphin boat tour! Everyone loved our time on the ocean! We saw a ton of dolphins, listened to some history of the island, and soaked up the ocean breeze. We will definitely take the boat tour again next year!

Our last dinner out was at my pick: The Half Shell. I devoured oysters on the half shell, she crab soup, and the yummiest mahi mahi salad. I order the same meal every year!

We are so grateful to Gram for treating us to our beach trip every year. We continue to make such special memories that I know all three of my babies will carry with them throughout their lives. I love that my mom can still keep up with our busy family, and she is ready to help me repeatedly. We love you, Gram!

We are already looking forward to next year and more Moo Cow ice cream! :)

Jacob Turns Five Months!

Jacob Corbitt Thorne has been a part of our family for five months now.

Jacob eats six ounces every 2.5-3 hours. We introduced baby food, but while he seemed somewhat interested initially (specifically with sweet potatoes and green beans), he quickly became upset each day when I tried to feed him. Since we are heading on vacation for the next two weeks, I made the decision to stop pushing it until we get back home and into a normal routine again. Jacob take 2-3 naps during the day: a morning nap for about an hour, an afternoon nap for 1-2 hours, and a short nap before the bedtime routine if his afternoon nap was early. He definitely sleeps better in his crib at home and only sleeps in his carseat while the car is in route. Once we arrive at any location, he wakes up because he does not want to miss any action! Jacob still sleeps from 7pm-7:30 or 8:00 am with 1-2 feedings during the night. Since he allows me to snooze so late in the morning and we are enjoying our carefree summer days, I do not mind getting up for a quick feeding during the night. :)

Jacob loves playing in his Exersaucer, rolling onto his tummy, smiling and laughing at Tuttle and Maggie, and grabbing toys when held in front of him (His favorites include a green ball and a red dog with wheels). He prefers to be sitting up and absolutely loves when you hold him in a standing position. He typically has a hand in his mouth and will immediately put anything else in his mouth that he can if he can reach it. Half of the photos with his monthly sign included trying to eat the sign or the red fox! He still always has a huge grin on his face and now laughs especially when Mommy kisses his neck!

Little Boy wears 6m and some 9m clothes (especially in pajamas) and now uses Size 3 diapers. He takes a bath each night and really enjoys the warm water. He was not a fan of the cool water at the pool when we dipped his tiny toes in!

He still loves riding in the Ergo and has started tolerating the stroller which will be super helpful when we head to Disney in a week! Woo hoo! Although he still fusses when I put him in his carseat, I think he may also learn to tolerate that because he is going on his first road trip tomorrow to St. Simons Island with Gram!

We are looking forward to rolling from his tummy to his back, sitting up unassisted, and cutting his first tooth. I think all of these milestones are quickly approaching! We love our sweet boy and continue to learn more about him everyday!

Mission Camp

This week Tuttle and I attended Mission Camp at our church, Peachtree Road Methodist. It was a three day camp for elementary aged students and their parent. We had a fun time while also learning about important needs in our community.

On Monday the kids worked on assembling bags of food for various groups, including trail mix for our deserving firefighters near the church and produce bags for AGAPE families in the community. As a bonus the children were able to surprise the firefighters with the goodies and explore the fire station a bit. We concluded the first day with a pizza lunch in the church's new youth center complete with video games which Tuttle LOVED!

Tuesday we hosted a group of widows at the church with Bingo and lunch. I was the most impressed with Tuttle's generous heart this day. The leader announced to the students that she wanted them to find a guest and invite them to sit at their table. I was tending to Jacob and returned to the table to find a sweet lady had joined us. She told me that Tuttle had approached her from across the room and requested that she sit with us! I was so proud of my boy. He definitely had a connection with Ms. Ethel. He talked to her the entire morning and had a great time comparing Bingo boards during the game. I know Ms. Ethel probably still has a smile on her face from Tuttle's interaction with her.

Today (Wednesday) we ventured to the City of Refuge to volunteer at Feed My Lambs, a free tuition preschool for at-risk children. We told them the story of "Jonah and the Whale," made cute ocean waves hats with fish stickers, played a balloon game, and served them Chick-fil-A for lunch. Tuttle was a huge help with the kids and walked around the room making sure each child was happy and participating in the activities. 

I was so proud of Tuttle's attitude during Mission Camp, and I was honored to participate in such an enriching experience for both of us!

My Babies

Our summer is already full of memory making, and I am always camera ready! (Tuttle has even developed a "no teeth" smile that allows him to tolerate my pictures!)

June is filled with camps, vacations, swimming, and sun! I love having these babies home all summer!