Disney-Bound

 This summer, our family had the privilege of going to Disney World with the Walquist side of the family. It was our kids' first time to visit Disney, so they were thrilled. We first told them about our vacation plans at Christmastime. We gifted the kids with a set of matching Disney shirts on Christmas morning and announced the news. Here is the kids' reaction.

Fast forward six months and lots of family zoom meetings to plan details, and we were finally Disney-bound!! Our family drove the distance to Orlando in two days. All three kids are great travelers.

The rest of the family was a half-day ahead of us and would periodically text us pictures of their travel status. We tried to copy the photo that Matt and Kim's family took in Mississippi. Sitting on this sign was much harder than their family made it look!

After two days in the van, we were very excited to see the sign for our Disney resort hotel, Saratoga Springs. The hotel stay was generously gifted to our whole family by some of my parents' dear friends from Albuquerque. It was such an amazing gesture! This hotel was so spacious. We had 2-bedroom suites with a separate dining area and living room. It felt like a mini apartment!

The resort grounds had a couple different pools and a community center with games, movies to rent, crafts, and other activities. We felt so pampered!

Our family arrived in Orlando after lunchtime. We spent the evening at Disney Springs with the large family group.

My Uncle Rick, Aunt Mary, and cousin Brielle live in Florida, so they popped over to Orlando to spend time with the family. Rick and Brielle were able to stay longer than my Aunt Mary, so those two joined us at Disney Springs.

Our original plan was to eat dinner at the food trucks, but these were closed down due to lightning in the area. We made the best of our time near the food trucks! ;)

Instead, Jason found a nearby restaurant that, surprisingly, could seat our entire crew! 

The kids found great ways to entertain themselves as we waited to be seated.

We had an interesting, new culinary experience at this Spanish restaurant, as we learned all about tapas and paellas. Thankfully, as the adults pored over the menus, the kids were kept occupied with this dining table that doubled as a foosball table. What a great idea!

After dinner, we enjoyed strolling around Disney Springs. The most popular shops were so busy that there were lines of people waiting to enter, so we didn't go inside many places. We loved seeing the amazing Disney Lego creations outside the Lego store. So impressive!

 

This Rainforest Cafe even had an "active" volcano.

Eventually, the distant storm that had shut down the food trucks headed our way. Little did we know, this afternoon rainstorm would become a standard of our week! Good thing the kids didn't mind a little rain!

We made sure to get dessert at the Ghiradelli shop. Soooo delicious!!

The rest of the evening was spent eating tasty ice cream treats, chatting with family, listening to the live band, and dancing in the rain.

A great start to our full week!

Adley's Swim Lessons

 At the beginning of the summer we signed Adley up for swimming lessons with our teacher-friend from church. Mrs. McQuary partnered with either her husband or her college-aged son to teach these beginner lessons. Last summer, Adley cried during nearly every moment of lessons, but this year, she didn't shed a tear. She was so eager for each lesson and made some fantastic progress over the 2 weeks of lessons.

Adley had no fears about jumping into the pool on her own. Woo-hoo!

Here are some videos of our budding little swimmer in action.

Way to go, Adley!

9th Birthday Party

 As we were discussing plans for their upcoming birthday, Cody and Jaden asked me, "Do we have to have a themed party? Can we just plan whatever fun activities we want?" Part of me was a little saddened by their question, as it seemed like the end of an era. I've always loved choosing a theme centered around my boys' interests and planning fitting party activities. The more I thought about their plan, however, the more I could see the benefits. Planning their own party would teach the boys a lot, ensure that they would love every portion of it, and in the long run, save Mommy quite a bit of time! I was sold! 

The boys requested a store-bought cookie cake with LOTS of frosting.

Cody and Jaden spent quite a bit of time planning and adjusting their party agenda, especially when we saw a big thunderstorm in the forecast. They had to make adjustments with the order of their events the morning of their party. Thankfully, they planned a mixture of indoor and outdoor events, so the activities all worked out! While their friends trickled in as the party began, the kids played the game Not Parent Approved. This is always good for some laughs.

Then, we headed outside to play a game of kickball and get everyone nice and sweaty. It actually started drizzling a bit during this game, but there was no thunder, so we played on. None of the kids seemed to mind!

When everyone was sufficiently hot and worn out, we had an all-out Water War! Thankfully, the short rainburst had moved on. The kids had a free-for-all battle with water balloons and water guns.

We quickly discovered that some of these kids (Jaden and Cody perhaps being the worst culprits) can chuck a water balloon at dangerous speeds. Because the kids weren't really following the "no head shots" rule very well, Jason declared himself the moving target for all water balloons. The kids loved ganging up on Jason!

We ended the Water Wars with a large water cooler dump!

Everyone was happy and thoroughly soaked!

While the kids played, we had hard-working grandparents setting up the food on the sidelines. What wonderfully supportive grandparents! Grammy helped with set-up, too, in addition to being the primary photographer. She took most of these great photos! 

We figured since everyone was still fairly wet, eating outside was the best option. It sure made clean-up easy! Since it was the middle of the afternoon, we didn't serve a full meal-- just cookie cake, plus a few snacks.

Back inside, everyone changed into dry clothes, and then I led the kids in a game of Careers. Jaden and Cody LOVE this game, and I was surprised at how much their friends enjoyed it too. It's a fairly long game, and we played two full rounds.

For our last set of activities, we divided the kids into 2 groups. One set played MarioKart...

while the other four played laser tag. The laser tag kids enjoyed hiding in bedrooms, behind furniture, and running up and down the stairs to battle each other.

It was an active, enjoyable party, and the kids all seemed to have a blast. Cody and Jaden had a perfect blend of ideas to make the party successful. It sure helps that they have a great group of cousins and friends too. What a wonderful way to celebrate being 9!

The following evening, we had the large family group over for dinner to celebrate a little more. We didn't have any planned activities for this gathering-- just family hangout time, dinner, and birthday desserts.

Cody's request was for scotcheroos, and Jaden asked for mint ice cream cake.

Happy, happy birthday to some pretty great nine year olds. We thank God for your lives, Cody and Jaden!