Spring Break

Snap back to reality....


We were talking the other day and realized that we've only been in school for 7 and a half days in one month's time (including Spring Break). I have enjoyed the time off, but I am excited to get back in the classroom and finish out this school year.


Last week was our Spring Break. In the past four years I've lived in Tennessee I have YET to know why they take Spring Break before it's even technically Spring. Whatever. Anyitsstillcold, we had a good one nonetheless.


We had Camden the first weekend of Spring Break. We started our weekend running errands and playing at home while Jack attended a couple of AdvoCare meetings. We read books, played on the iPad, and watched (of course) Ninja Turtles due to the yucky rain and he didn't seem to be feeling well. Sunday was B-E-A-Utiful and everyone was feeling much better! Soccer was played, cars were washed, and we even did a little yard work. Future reference- Camden hates yard work. Even if it's something as simple as picking up sticks and putting them in the brush pile out back. He just wasn't having it.

We had baseball games Monday and Tuesday (lost them both- BOO.) Wednesday it was time to head to Georgia. We got there just in time to visit my sister and her husband before church. Jon was just about to cut the grass so I made him a Spark so he'd have the energy he'd need  get the job done. They have a new house and a HUGE yard.. He LOVED it. The next day he told us "I cut the grass, I cleaned the nursery, organized the closet, rode my exercise bike...I couldn't stop!" Needless to say he loved Spark! Thursday we ate lunch at Mossy Creek Elementary with my sweet Ryleebug. She made sure we knew EXACTLY what time to be there (11:17AM, KayKay). Little goof didn't eat a bite of her food except for her ice cream Jack bought her.

Fast forward to Saturday night- my parents very graciously hosted a wedding shower for us on Saturday. We decorated with bright, Spring colors and flowers. It looked super cute. It was a nice, small gathering of family members and close friends. Jack's parents were even able to drive down from Knoxville to attend, which was a nice surprise for us. Thank you SO much to everyone who did come. Jack and I truly appreciate you all being there. It meant the world to us that you took time out of your busy lives to spend a couple of hours with us while we were in town.



Rewind to Saturday morning- Jack and I wanted some "traditional" wedding pictures, even though nothing about us is "traditional" in any way, shape, form or fashion. We got all fancied up, and I picked up some cheap (Dollar Tree) flowers and made a surprisingly beautiful bouquet. My sister Carly did an amazing job with the pictures, and it could not have been a more beautiful day. We had several people ask us if we had another ceremony, but nope- these were just for photo-ops. We got married in December. :) Here are some of her amazing pictures (I know most of you have looked at them on Facebook already.) I just can't get over how good they are and how much I just LOVE this husband of mine.

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Disney Snowcationmoon

Y'all. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of cold weather. Just ridiculous. Snow! Ice! More snow! More ice! 8763 inches of snow on the way! Puke. I couldn't take another second of cold weather. When I saw on Monday that we were supposed to get up to a foot of snow, I thought my brain was going to explode. I immediately hopped online and started looking at places to escape to before the snow hit us. I looked at Destin- rainy and cold. I looked at Phoenix- $800 for one flight?! Umm, no, thanks. So then we looked at Orlando- sunny, 80s, DONE. We waited until Tuesday to see how the weather was going to pan out. With the snow looking more and more imminent, we figured we were safe to book our getaway. We booked our hotel through Hotwire, and we knew we were getting a MINDBLOWING deal that we couldn't resist. We packed up, loaded the car, and were ready to take off at the first sign of flakes. We also decided to seem this our honeymoon. We didn't get one right after we married, so we figured this should definitely count as one. And since it was just like our wedding (very last minute, "fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants" kind of deal) it seemed quite appropriate.

Wednesday rolled around, and just after 9am they decided to release us from school early. When the clock struck noon, we were OUT! Bye cold, yucky Nashville- hello sunny, hot, humid Florida. We drove straight through, stopping only for gas and a potty break. We made it down around 1:30 in the morning and passed out. We woke up the next day to blasting sunshine and a heat wave. YES THANK YOU JESUS LORD. We put on our swimsuits and headed out to soak in as much sun as possible. We got a little sun, but I mostly loved laying there sweating, feeling the sun on my face, and hearing water splashing around. It. Was. Perfect. We've already decided that we are going to be THOSE snowbirds with a Florida home, or we are just going to retire here altogether.

Friday we decided to take on Disney- ALL of Disney. As in fourteen hours, all four parks. Doable? Yes. Crazy? Yes. Does anything about us surprise anyone anymore? Probably not. We got our park hopper tickets and took off! We strategized the night before about what parks to go to in what order, what we wanted to ride, what we were going to eat (yes, we are THOSE guys who meal prepped for Disney, lol), what all shows we wanted to see, etc.

We got to the park at 8:00am. Literally, the Aladdin lot, front row parking. FRONT. ROW. Already a great day. We hopped on a bus and went over to our first stop- Animal Kingdom. I've never been to this park, so I was SUPER pumped about going. We went to guest relations after being told by friends to get the "Honeymooner's Button." These were adorable and we got compliments and special surprises all day. More about that later. We knew we wanted to do a safari, so as soon as they let us in we booked it there after a selfie by the Tree of Life.  No waiting- no line! Awesomeness! The safari was AWESOME. We saw all kinds of animals up close and personal, and it was just a really neat experience. New fav! We also rode the Expedition Everest Rollercoaster and a Dinosaur ride. Again, no lines! I liked Animal Kingdom a LOT, however, it's basically a glorified zoo. We did everything we wanted there, so on to the next park- Hollywood Studios!

     

In front of Animal Kingdom

The Tree of Life

I've been to this park before when I was seven or eight years old and I remember being bored out of my mind. Much, much better as an adult. We had arranged our Fast Pass for the Aerosmith Rock n' Roller Coaster, which was AWESOME. We rode the Toy Story adventure ride (and waited only 15-20 minutes) which is an interactive game ride where you shoot at things and get points. Of course Jack won, and of course it was because I let him. (HA.) We caught the Beauty and the Beast show, which I loved, and then rode the classic Star Wars ride. The one thing we didn't do here- take a lot of pictures. Whoops. We checked off everything on our to do list there- moving on to Epcot!

Toy Story 3-D Adventure Ride

As said before- I went here when I was younger but was way too young to appreciate this park. As an adult- again, AWESOMENESS. We went STRAIGHT for the Chevrolet Test Track, (men, hehe.) it was pretty neat actually- you design your own concept car on a computer, then it's "tested" based on your designs. (Or at least they let you think it is.) Afterwards, we walked to all the different "countries" in Epcot and settled on a Pizzeria, Via Napoli, for lunch.  All day we'd been getting "Congrats!" Thanks to our buttons we wore. At lunch, they brought us a special (and free!) dessert and sang to us. Precious! We received congrats all day- to the point where it was almost annoying the number of times we said thank you in return, but it was fun and special nonetheless. It was also here at Epcot where Jack just happened to see a "Character Spot" and asked what characters were inside- it was Mickey, Minnie and Goofy! Also, NO WAIT! We walked right in and got our photos like a BOSS. I was in complete disbelief at the lack of lines. I know I keep saying that over and over, but DANG, how lucky can one get at Disney?!

Epcot Picture

Character Spot- STILL thrilled we got to meet three of them!

It started to get chilly and windy so we decided to book it to Magic Kingdom for a photo with my home aka the castle before it got dark. We made it just in time to get a castle pic before complete darkness set in. We got to do several things here because of no lines. We went to the Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Carribean, It's a Small World, Buzz's Adventures, and Space Mountain, which was the ride that we waited for the longest all day. (A whopping 25 minutes!)
 I've been to Disney several times and have waited HOURS for these rides. The windy, cooler day was the perfect day to go. Again, I'm still in wonder that we walked on to nearly every ride we went to all day long.  We finished up our last ride and went towards to castle to claim a good spot to watch the fireworks show. It was breathtaking, as always.

Classic Castle Picture

Now I'm going to play pessimist here. The whole fireworks show was narrated by Jiminey Cricket, and was all about a "wishes come true" concept. While this may be an outstanding concept for a six year old, why are we hammering that "If you just WISH for something, it WILL happen"?  If I "wish" for  my masters degree, ta-da! If I wish for a new car, ta-da! If I wish for a million dollars, TA-DA! I wished for it! I wished on a star! Where's my masters degree? My car? My  money? Why can't we teach these kids that hard work and dedication gets you to your goals? I know I certainly didn't get to where I am today because I wished on a star. Why can't we teach them that determination is what makes a wish come true, and that sometimes... (Gasp!) you DON'T and WON'T get everything you want! Hard to believe, I know. I've always wanted a Porcsche. I've always wanted a butler. Neither of those are ever going to happen, and I'm ok with that. (Plus, a butler would be kind of creepy.) But I digress. Let kids be kids and wish on stars and stuff.

Saturday we played putt-putt together. It's a classic and must for us every time we go on vacation. Jack usually wins, but again, it's because I let him, of course. I really just loved spending quality time with my husband. That's what a honeymoon is about right?!

Anyhow, we had a splendid time on our Disney Snowcationmoon. We were blessed with gorgeous weather, small crowds, and each other. The only thing I can think that would have made it better was of we could've brought Camden. I know it was our honeymoon, but the WHOLE time we were saying "OMG Cam would love this!" Or "Man Camden would go nuts!" We really missed the little guy a lot and already have talked about what all we want to do when we bring him back when he's a little older. On our 12 hour drive home yesterday, we made a hilarious video that pretty accurately portrays our road trips together. You'll find the link HERE- go watch! I promise it won't disappoint.