Daddy's Day

In our house Father's Day should be renamed Daddy's Day not only because we try to pamper Mike more than normal, but because it takes a lot to be a daddy. It takes patience, commitment, time, humor, energy, and love - lots of it. Luckily, we have just the man for the job!

Cloudy with a Splash of Fun

 It was the first Monday of summer vacation. The first Lolli-pop concert of the season. And the first rainy day in weeks.

 The rain didn't deter the kids from playing at the splash pad or on the playground.

After a morning of singing, dancing, splashing, picnicing, and climbing we needed to refuel with some fro-yo with friends.

The meteorologists may have said plans were spoiled with the rain but I think the rainy Monday was just perfect.

Destined

I remember getting the call on my cell phone while vacationing in North Carolina from the director of human resources offering me an interview - even she said that she normally wouldn't call based on my application but something just told her to.

Destiny.

That was June of 2002.

10 years, 2 buildings & 2 kids later the friends I met at that job are as dear to me as ever. None of us still work in that building, 3 of us have moved, and only 1 still teaches - but none of that matters. We may go weeks and sometimes even months without talking but once we're together its like nothing has changed. The evening is filled with laughter and fun - not only from us but from our kids.

I'm looking forward to the next 10 years with this amazing group!

No Boys Allowed

Alec spent the weekend with family while Mike spent the weekend with kayaking friends on the Scioto so instead of feeling abandoned, Molly I embraced the NO BOYS weekend!

 

  

We had cupcakes for breakfast - cinnamon roll ones of course.

We had chocolate ice cream for snack - with sprinkles.

We played outside and talked to goldfish.

We drank from the hose.

We had a McDonald's picnic lunch

We ate cookie dough BEFORE our movie picnic dinner.

We models our garage sale finds.

We watched movies, snuggled, and acted silly.

We missed our boys.

But more importantly we had an amazing NO BOYS day and we will eagerly embrace the next one.

Awareness

This weekend last year we pleaded with you, yet again, to raise money, awareness, and prayers for Batten's Disease, Celia, and Celia's family as we've done every year since we started our blog in 2008.

This year I find myself searching for the right words for this weekend and I've discovered there aren't any. How do I, a mother of a daughter who's nestled snugly in her bed for her afternoon nap, have the right to describe the urgency of this cause? So please humor me as I hand this post over to Celia's mom.....http://www.betzfamilycolumbus.blogspot.com/

Sometimes

 Sometimes my heart is heavy.

 Sometimes there's too much emptiness.

Sometimes I have too much space in my weekend.

But sometimes I hear a song, tell a story, see a photo, or recall a special memory and my heart swells with love and a smile crosses my face.

I may not get to take my dad to Church, kiss his whiskery face goodnight, or tell him, yet again, what a good decision it was to get my Master's degree. But I do get to share his everlasting love with my family and for that I am thankful!

Cruise Infomercial

Some readers and Facebook friends have asked for details regarding our recent trip on the Disney Dream and a blog post seemed the most efficient way to share our experience so you may just want to skip this post and come back in a few days to see whats new.

1. Why a Disney Cruise and not Disney World?
There are 11 years between our kids so their interests are varied and we were looking for a trip where we didn't have to 'divide and conquer' the entire time. The ship also offers the characters and shows since Alec prefers Kings Island/Cedar Point and Molly isn't a fan of rides, it was a perfect match.

2. Cost?
Yes it is expensive! We used credit card perks to pay for 3 of our 4 flights & our hotel room. We paid for the cruise using Disney gift cards purchased at Giant Eagle which resulted in $400 in free gas. Please note that Disney refunds in whatever currency you purchase with so you would need to keep track of the gift cards.

Once you make a reservation (we did ours solely online) you have 30 days to make a deposit and then can make payments up to 2 months before you sail with no interest or fees.

3.Worries
We had lots.

Dining
Dining at 8:15 and with people we didn't know. Well 8:15 was awesome - allowed us to get a full day's activities in before a late nap. Disney does rotational dining which means you sit with just your family and you are at the same table (we were #57) but at a different restaurant every night. However your servers are the same. Room service was available at no additional cost!

Sleeping & Space
Both were abundant! Our room was 300 square feet. We had a queen bed and both kids had twins. There was a thick light/sound reducing curtain between the kids and us so we could be in the room when Molly napped.

Control
Some may say I like to be in control or that I have control issues. We were worried about the lack of control on the cruise but the only defined activities were loading and unloading the ship. The options were endless!


4. Do's/Don'ts
Do go on a family cruise (no I'm not being paid to endorse Disney Cruise Line)!
Do plan excursions - the dolphin experience was worth every.last.penny!
We brought gifts for our kids so every night after dinner they entered the room to see their beds (Molly's was on the flip side of the couch and Alec's came down from the ceiling) and to get their gift from "Mickey". Much cheaper than buying souvenirs on the ship.
Do sign up for the early boarding, as soon as you get on the ship start exploring. We had lunch and were in the pool before 1pm.
Remember your luggage won't make it to your room until 5ish so have a day bag with your suit and such.
Some random things to pack: safety pins (no Walgreens to run to if you have a wardrobe malfunction), sand toys, over the door shoe hanger (for make-up, brushes, sunscreen, sunglasses, etc you don't want cluttering the small amount of counter space available), wipies, beach bag (towels are provided), water proof watch, and a hoodie/sweater.

5. Additional Costs
You will tip your server, assistance server, head server, and host which ends up being close to $50-$75/day.
Alcohol & canned soda is extra.
And of course excursions.

If you are looking for a way to vacation with your kids but also time for yourself - Disney's secure childcare is amazing. For teens, there was a ton of structured activities with counselors. For non-teens there was a secured play area where kids wore a GPS bracelet and when parents picked up their key card located their child. There was also open play so parents could come in as well. We didn't utilize the child care option for Molly but Alec LOVED the teen scene which was obvious as we didn't see him until 1:30 every morning!


No, Disney isn't paying me for this endorsement as we should be paying them even more for the best vacation our family has ever been on and for helping cross things off our bucket list.