Resolutions/Goals

• Run 365 miles
• Run a 10k race
• Weight lift 2x/week
• Only go out to eat with family ONLY once a month (plus birthdays if applicable) to save money (previously going 2-3 times a month)
• Date night with Brian once a month
• Start bullet journaling and updating it once a week

 

My Harry Potter Obsession

A few months ago I went to Harry Potter World (aka Universal Studios Orlando) with Nolan. Why just us two? Here's a summary of the conversation that took place between Brian and myself:

Elizabeth: So we're going to HP world some day right?
Brian: Yeah sure
Elizabeth: When?
Brian: IDK, you pick
Elizabeth: Well if I don't go by the end of this year I will certainly perish
Brian: I don't actually like rides so go with someone else
Elizabeth: OK

If you can picture this conversation happening regularly and over the course of a few months (years) until we finally go to the last 3 lines but slowly building towards the bursting point where I had to go or else... that's what happened.

So basically I asked some other adults if they were interested and I was told that they couldn't make it work. Admittedly I didn't try very hard. I was very adamant that if I'm going to Universal - I'm doing it R.I.G.H.T. That means spending a little more money to have a fast pass and staying at a hotel that allows for early park entry. Being a control freak about this, I decided that I would bring along someone who I could (in theory) boss around. Hence, bringing my 5 year old who had JUUUUUUUUUUUUUST reached 42" in height.

42" is the minimum height for many rides at Universal. This was important.

SO I had another conversation with Brian.

Elizabeth: Ok I'm taking Nolan
Brian: Cool
Elizabeth: I bought tickets... they were $120... per person... per day...
Brian: That sounds about right
Elizabeth: I also bought fast passes... they were $120... per person... per day... We're going for 2 days
Brian: Ok that sounds fun... (trails off while he's doing mental math)
**Elizabeth kisses and runs away**

Just wiped my eyes... you can tell

Now I don't mean to brag, but I came in 2nd place in the Harry Potter trivia contest on the cruise this summer. Not only that but I have read the books countless times and could have answered much harder questions than the trivia contest asked. I've watched the movies countless times as well. Whenever I watch the end I am just SO PISSED at J.K. Rowling for bringing this world into my life that I can never actually be a part of which is WHY me going to HP world is such an obsession for me.

After coming back you would have thought my obsession would have waned. Well it didn't. In fact, we're planning a trip to go back when Maxwell is in kindergarten - March 2022. By then he should hopefully be 42" or taller and we should get to go on a ton of rides together as a family. I have reassured Brian that the rides aren't very jerky so you won't have neck pains from them. So we're all in agreement that a visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (the formal name) is happening again.

And in better planning fashion - I have devised a plan to make it a 4 day trip with all the glitz and glitter from before and am now stashing away money each month to pay for the trip. SO RESPONSIBLE.

So what did I think when I first stepped into Harry Potter World? What did I do when I made the very long walk through Universal and finally saw Kings Cross? What happened to my heart when I started to hear the Harry Potter music as I walked into Diagon Alley?

If you're wondering if I cried - the answer is yes, I fucking did.

Walking through the park was like an adrenaline rush for me. I felt like there was no way I was going to be able to take it all in. All of the details were overwhelming. Particularly seeing Gringotts and the dragon as well as Weasleys Wizard Weezes.

The trip with Nolan was so freaking amazing I can't describe it. It was just such an amazing time to be with Nolan and to expose him to the magic that he could do with the interactive wand he got. Even though the wand chooses the wizard - Nolan selected the wand that is a Harry Potter replica. Of course I got a wand too - but I let Nolan pick it blind for me. I just told him to pick a box and that would be my wand.

I am definitely hopping all around how my experience went because I'm writing this 3 months after the trip. So come with me as I recall the highlights:

There are several locations within the park where you can do real magic with your interactive wand. The favorite of Nolan was "reparo" to the armor that had fell apart. When he said the magic words the armor would rebuild from the scraps that lay on the ground. Watching him do this magic while I had a butterbeer was a highlight. Butterbeer is, regrettably, non-alcoholic but still very tasty!

BTW I'm a Slytherin and my patronus is a Black and White cat.

Super Quiet On The Homefront

Man, what do you say when it's been nearly a year since you last blogged? I suppose you bullet points the highlights of the year... Here goes!

• Nolan is 5 and he "graduated" from daycare to kindergarten in August! He loves it! He is so excited about learning how to read and screams "sight word!" whenever he sees one. He's been able to identify "pizza" when written out although that isn't a formal sight word...
• Maxwell is 2 and just so big! He's chatting up a storm and has his favorites of many things. Although they tend to be whatever Nolan has at the time. He likes singing songs like "you are my sunshine" and the TMNT theme song. He also likes it when I make goofy faces.
• Brian is able to work from home at the end of the day now. He used to have to go back in to work for 2 hours or so every night to catch up on paperwork but recently they allowed him to start doing it at home through their laptops and whatever encryption they decide is necessary.
• I have had a big year myself. Although I haven't talked about it much I am so proud that I've taken health and fitness very seriously for the past (almost) 2 years and have lost 50 pounds very slowly but surely. Oh I also started a new job which I LOVE where I do room scheduling for the university. Long story short - you have a class, I help decide where you'll be taught. It's kind of a superpower.

I'll write more when I can - promise!

Last Monday of 2017

Counting down... I have just this week until I get 10 full days off IN.A.ROW. 

I love working here. The pay may not be amazing but dang the vacation time is prime. 

My plans you ask? 

Well of course we have the upcoming holidays. 

Weekend Before Xmas:

• Go to the library
• Wrap presents
• Play at the park
• Grocery shop

Same old same old I guess. But this year for the holiday I am actually going to make some special food for the kiddos. Including Santa pancakes:

And holiday pizzas with star, bell, and tree shapes instead of the stockings pictured below:

For lunch we're probably going to go with the staple of peanut butter and jelly lest my 4 year old starve to death (what is it with picky toddlers?)

The week of xmas:

• 25th & 26th - Keep kids home from daycare
• 27-29th - Take kids TO daycare

Ok, let me explain... yes I'm going to be home those days but I have plans. Seriously. We're having the Salton fam over for the holiday the following weekend so I'm going to:

• Clean the sh*t out of the house including having the carpets shampoo'd 
• Do some spin classes (why not?)
• Get my hair cut
• LOUNGE

This is my one time of year where I can really get stuff done without having work looming over my shoulder. 

If I'm being real the list also includes:

In the criminal justice system sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

TING TING!

Brian and I have concluded the old episodes are where it's at. I watched them at first when I was on maternity leave and was basically in a haze of sleepiness. There's a 60% chance I slept through the episode while they played right in front of me and a 30% chance I don't remember them due to exhaustion so it's like they're brand new to me. 

Stay posted for the Pinterest Fail post that is 98% likely to happen ;)

The Sure Thing

In January 2016 I was about 39 weeks pregnant when our furnace went out. It was a record low that week (I'm talking negative 20 degrees) and I went home randomly and realized that even though the thermostat said it was trying to make the house 65 degrees (in the middle of the workday) the house was in the low 60s. So I called up the furnace guys that check our furnace annually to see what we needed fixed.

Unfortunately, the furnace was shot. It was old and we could see this coming if we really thought about it. 

They scheduled an appointment with a sales guy to come to my house and discuss options.

What I thought was funny was he was trying to sell me on their company and their product. Like, "the reason this brand that we carry is the best is X, Y, and Z" and why their customers like them so much etc... 

As I sit in the room with space heaters and the faucets all running to ensure that my pipes didn't freeze I just looked at him and wondered if he had ever seen a more sure thing for a sale in his life. At the time of our appointment, I believe I was 6 days from my due date and we were sleeping with Nolan in our room with electric blankets to make sure we were all warm without having a scary space heater in the bedroom at night. 

When the salesguy said something to the tune of "well I'll let you think about it with your husband [who wasn't there at the time] and IF you decide to go with us we can schedule installation."

IF we go with you? 

Dude, it was -20 degrees and I was kind of a ticking time bomb. I needed that furnace installed yesterday. I responded, "nah, we'll be going with you" and pretty much said "take all my money". 

I was a sure thing for that salesman. There was no way I was going to shop around for a new furnace at that point and he didn't even act like there was any urgency. 

I just thought of this when I was driving around the other day and just laughed at what must have been obvious desperation that the salesman overlooked. 

Hello? Is this thing on?

Goal: Posting Once A Month

OMG Branson was so much fun!

Hard to even really capture everything in the photos but we were so busy! The highlights were:

• Ride the Ducks
• The fish hatchery
• Talking Rocks Cave
• TITANIC MUSEUM
• Branson Mountain Coaster
• Dixie Stampede
• Fritz's Restaurant (KC)

Basically it was a non-stop vacation. When we weren't out doing museums/touristy things we were taking naps at the air bnb or swimming at the pool at the air bnb.

Pretty much my take home though is that my kids can survive on just rolls apparently even though we bought them food every time we went out they would only eat the fries or whatever carb was in front of them despite their request for chicken strips *coughNOLANcough*.

It all worked out though and we had leftovers to enjoy at the air bnb which, in my opinion, is the only way to travel anymore. The place was really nice with a king sized bed in one room and two twin beds in the other room. Unfortunately Maxwell wasn't the best sleeper in his pack and play and Brian and I divided and conquered the sleep arrangements by one of us in each room. Maxwell pretty much woke up each night and I just cuddled with him in the king size bed while Brian was slumming it in the twin beds.

One thing that surprised me was on the mountain coaster - which is literally a 1-2 person car that you ride up a hill and then gravity pulls you down the twisty coaster through the mountain - was a thrill for Nolan. I knew I wanted to ride this with him but I had no idea he'd be screaming "faster" instead of just screaming. 

Now the only problem is that I've been bitten with the vacation bug and can't wait to plan our next trip somewhere. Which I guess will be OKC for a family wedding. I'm sure we can find something to do while we're there :) 

In other news, we got some family photos done...

Growing Up!

My kiddos are getting so big!

Of course Maxwell transitioning from infant to full-fledged toddler (ie kind of a stinker) probably has the most updates so here goes:

• He's starting to talk!
• Bye Bye
• More
• Ball (anything with the I-State logo he also calls "ball")
• Hat
• Dog (and he thinks they say "moo" which is so adorable I almost don't want to correct him)
• He knows where his body parts are when you ask
• He LOVES playing peekaboo
• He loves bathtime
• He has favorite books that he brings us to read and sits on our laps
• He's starting to eat a lot more "grown up" foods that we don't have to cut into as tiny of bites anymore... yes there is usually a cleanup involved
• He loves snuggling before bed and wants his butt patted. When you're not patting his butt he'll swing his arm behind and start patting his own butt (so cute)
• He loves playing outside, especially blowing bubbles and playing basketball

I'm sure there's more that I'm missing but that's the major stuff.

Nolan is:

• Talking a lot more - there was a time where he was really still hard to understand but now I feel like I can really have a conversation with him
• Loving going swimming
• He loves playing with his water shooters in the backyard
• He picks a new favorite toy about every few days or so that's his toy he sleeps with and then wonders where it is immediately when he wakes up
• Doesn't mind going on errands and can usually be happy with whatever we're doing without needing to be bribed to behave with a movie (we never did that... *cough*)

We've been keeping really busy playing pokemon go (yes, really... yes, still) and going to parks and the pool or library whenever we can. We've also really enjoyed the farmer's market lately and the Blank Park Zoo etc. 

I'm recovering from strep throat. I have pictures if you want to lose your lunch. 

Anyways here's the cute pictures!

Hello, I'm a ham

Nolan and Maxwell with their Very Scary Monster named "Frank Toot Monster" - Our neighbor is a children's book author/illustrator which features his "Very Scary Monsters" pretty cool to have an author in the neighborhood!

Nolan feeding the parakeets 

Animal Crossing Sign - I took a picture because Nolan was scared that the mouth was suuuuper open. If you look at the loose feather on his neck you understand why. Pretty funny stuff. 

Twisted my arm and he got to go on a carousel ride

Maxwell letting a push pop melt while slowly licking it. I couldn't help eat it because I'm recovering from strep throat. WAAAAT

Looking Forward To

It's the 2nd day of my work's summer hours! It's soooo nice to leave at 4:00 instead of 5:00. It's one of the many perks of my job :)

Anyways, I'm really excited for summer and the nice weather. I think that having kids has really changed my perspective on what to do with my leisure time. No longer am I content sitting in front of the TV all day, I want to get outside and play! Having kids renewed my joy for things I did when I was little, like going swimming or bike riding, and I get excited for the time when they can do those things with the same excitement as myself!

So here's a short list of my reasons I'm excited:

• We have a pool membership for the summer. 
• I bought a bike rack for the back of my car! (Hello finding new trails)
• Our backyard is mostly thistle free so we can run around barefoot!
• I'm leaving work at 4:00 (I can't stress this enough)
• Brian and I are planning our first road trip/family vacation to the Ozarks!!!! (more to discuss on that later)
• Nolan is turning 4 this summer and I'm taking his birthday off for a Mama/Nolan play day (probably going swimming if we're being honest)
• We bought a membership to the science museum in Des Moines as well as the Blank Park Zoo - the hidden benefit of these memberships is RE-CI-PRO-CI-TY. That means many other zoos and museums will allow FREE entry! (There's a zoo by the ozarks that does reciprocity)

Ok, the above things that I'm excited for all have the possibility of going down a rabbit hole and talking about the minute reasons that I'm excited for each of the above but I think I want to zone in on the Ozarks vacation. 

I have been SO wishy washy with vacation planning lately. Like I've had dreams of going to Germany/Harry Potter World and did everything except for buying tickets as far as planning but things fell through. To back up, when Brian and I got married in 2011 we went on a honeymoon to Mexico at an all inclusive. I was kind of pushing for a european vacation but he really wanted to do Mexico and I, being a little more traveled than he, figured that he could decide. We made a decision to have a "big vacation" (ie one that's a little more expensive, maybe a week or more, to a destination that you definitely can't drive to) every 5 years. That means we were due for one in 2016 but GUESS WHAT? Wehadababy Itsaboy. So instead of doing the big trips when the kids are so little and, let's face it, still sleep terrorists it makes more sense that they come with us rather than having them stay with family. 

So Brian and I were discussing something to do this summer - and we hemmed and hawwed about Colorado. I mostly wanted to go because I wanted a mountain vacation that was relaxing with some hiking. Something that didn't take a lot of structure because the kids are so little it seems like they (especially Maxwell) won't remember it anyways. But I still wanted to go and do something because we really only have 14 years until Nolan moves away for college... That sounds like a long time but that's, in my eyes, 14 potential vacations as a family if we only do one a year. So what better time than today?

That's my background anyways. So I've started a very pathetic pinterest board and come up with the below ideas for activities during the day:

• Hiking
• Zoo visit (fo FREE)
• Cave tour
• Water Park

That oughta do 'er. And I'm guessing the kids will be tired when the day is over. 

Anyways I think that the next few weeks/months of planning is going to be really fun and going there will be a fun way to end the summer. More to come? 

Before I click "Publish" I have to share this:

MRW I'm the designated driver

"Hold still... please smile!"

When you turn 1 and grandma gives you the best present of all time.