A Disney Trip Ending

Eight days in the land of Mickey Mouse. 

Eating extravagantly. 

Drinking cold drinks until your brain freezes. 

Soaring on roller coasters that looped and made us scream. 

Riding a tower of terror and laughing about it. 

Seeing princesses and a bear who adores honey. 

Traveling to various countries all in the blink of an eye. 

Marveling that my daughter rode a waterslide that even grown men wouldn't attempt. 

It was hard for me to leave Disney World. 

Where your day is greeted by singing and dancing, streamers and fireworks. 

I could see that every day of my life. 

And I doubt it would get old.

There's a joy when you take your young children to a special place like this. 

Yes, it's expensive. 

Yes, it's touristy. 

Yes, it's hot and you sweat in unmentionable places. 

But, when your five year old wants to ride It's A Small World over and over and you see her beaming like this...

You have hope. 

Is she marveled only by the costumes and songs?

Or is she a future ambassador of global unity?

Well, when she's done taking a selfie, I'll let you know...

A Disney Trip Middle

We have stood in so many lines to see so many different Disney characters I believe my husband's knees gave out around 2:45 today. 

His knees!

They gave out!

The heat in Florida is like oven heat. 

I'm used to something else, I guess. 

Corn reduction/woodland greenery heat?

Anyway, it's probably intensified by all of the concrete I've been surrounded by since last Friday. 

The rain comes every single day. 

My friend Mark from high school, who now resides in Orlando with his hubs Tom, sends me a radar rain report daily in my FB messages. 

Luckily, and we aren't always in that camp, we've missed many of the huge downpours. 

We've been in restaurants. 

Or shows. 

But, we have had to pull out the umbrellas and ponchos and my rubber CROC sandals have been a godsend. 

Sunday, September 7th. 

The 4 year anniversary of Zoe's cancer diagnosis. 

She spent the day at Epcot in Disney World. 

Oblivious to the date. 

To the anniversary. 

She was instead engulfed in fun with Princesses.  

She traveled to Japan, France, and England. 

She went to space and soared over California. 

She celebrated life and the fact that she still had hers. 

As our day ended and we walked to the shuttle to head back to our resort, she literally was signing and dancing in the rain. 

Oh, and I had some orgasmic French Macarons. 

Oh. 

My. 

Word. 

Heaven in a box...

A Disney Trip Beginning

We've been at the Wonderful World of Walt for a day and a half so far. 

It's rained a lot so it's a good thing we have ponchos and umbrellas...

Besides rain we've also dealt with...

A crabby-ass five year old who sneers when you ask to take her picture just about anywhere. 

A grandma who doesn't want to ride anything but wants to watch you ride everything. 

A crabby-ass five year old (same as one above) who begs to ride Expedition Everest three times and cries three times.

A grandma who forgot her umbrella and the sunscreen in her room. 

A crabby-ass (you know who) who doesn't ever want to fly on a plane again.

But I'm not walking home, kid. 

There's also been this...

 And this...

And La Fou's Brew. 

And Mickey pretzels. 

And dancing in Africa. 

And a safari through the savannah. 

And my oldest daughter saying "I'm so glad we're here!"

And that crabby-ass five year old declaring "this is THE BEST RIDE EVER!" while floating along in a boat through It's A Small World. 

What a magical day and a half it's been. 

Summer Rules

Summer starts at our house tomorrow. 

Today is the last day of school and tomorrow it sets in...

Boredom. 

I have prepared the rules on the back door. 

The rest of the summer looks like this...

A few camps

Swim lessons

A White Sox game

A St. Louis Cardinals game

Swimming in our pool

Reading program at the library

Reading all of those books they'll checkout at the library (which will be Zoe's hardest summer endeavor). 

When the above things aren't being done they'll need to make their own fun... 

Draw, wander, climb trees, paint toenails, swing, brush the goats, look at summertime clouds in the sky, dance. 

And if those clouds darken in the sky...

I'll come up with something.

Talking To Hazel

Ever since I was a little girl, my family has put flowers on our relatives' headstones at the cemetary next door to my grandparents' house on Memorial Day. 

The house that is now my house. 

And today we are cutting fresh flowers from around the yard. 

To take next door to the cemetary. 

For Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Vern.

Aunt Marie and Uncle Howard. 

Aunt Mary and Uncle Delmar. 

Uncle Dale. 

Baby Rachel who no one got to meet because she left the world before she was brought into it.

Cousin Bill. 

Minnie and Charles. 

Grandma's first husband Harry who died in the war. 

W.E., the uncle who built our house at the turn of the century. 

And Great Grandpa Walter and Great Grandma Hazel. 

Hazel died in our house. 

In our living room in 1953. 

She was 57 years old. 

18 years before I was born. 

Right there where my couch sits. 

And my youngest, Gigi, knows this. 

And she's been talking about Hazel a lot lately. 

"Hazel said she likes my shoes."

"I think Hazel would want this for dinner."

A five year old is fascinated by things from the past. 

Well, my five year old is. 

She's always asking how she is related to so and so. 

"Who is that holding my Grandpa Bob in that picture when he was a baby?"

"Do I remember Great Great Grandpa?"

"Right here?  Hazel died right here?"

Fascinating. 

It's all fascinating to her.

And maybe she has been talking to Hazel. 

I hope she's telling Gigi to be a good girl. 

She needs all the advice she can get...

Dogs, A Party, My Boots

Monday was warm. 

Without wind. 

It was like springtime. 

But I wasn't to be fooled. 

I knew it wouldn't last. 

So, I got the dogs out to play with their mini jolly balls that they got for Christmas.

Jolly ball is the name of a hard rubber ball that is found at your local rural farm supply store. 

It has a handle and is supposed to conquer boredom in horses. 

The pony has a large jolly ball, but is scared of it. 

Just as she was with the jolly ball she used to have. 

We gave her first jolly ball to Lola who proceeded to tear the thing apart in no time. 

These jolly balls are supposed to be super-dog tough. 

My dogs have super-super tough teeth, though. 

Zoe turns 9 in February. 

She's having an art party. 

She loves her some art. 

She always says she's going to grow up to be an artist/designer/Egyptologist. 

I made her party invitations on Tuesday. 

I had been to Lowe's where I snagged free paint sample papers. 

Two of each color scheme. 

I also found colored staples at, where else, Staples. 

So, I took the color coordinated paint samples and stapled them together. 

Colors on front and back, ya see. 

Then I printed out the information for the party on clear labels. 

Peeled and applied as so (the RSVP information is on the back of each card)

and threw them in the mailbox this morning. 

I hope her school friends can make it.

I always get party anxiety when the RSVP deadline approaches and I haven't heard a "nay" or "yay" from the guests' parents. 

Here's a self portrait. 

Kind of. 

I'm always on winter afternoon barn duty during the week. 

I go out around noon and give the animals hay and check the water bucket. It's a heated bucket so we don't have to worry about the drinking water freezing. 

And here's an interesting tidbit for you...when it's colder out the pony and goats drink more. 

So, here I am lugging an empty water bucket back to the house.

It will be filled up later at the house and taken back to the barn. 

I'm on evening/dinner barn duty as well today because Chad has to work late.

In the mid to late spring and summer months we don't feed them hay in the afternoon. 

Or at all really. 

They forage on the pasture grasses.