Destination Disney - On the Road Day 2

And we're back in the van again for another long day of driving.  The bad weather was at least behind us now so I relaxed a bit.

We couldn't believe how incredibly well-behaved Jacob was in the van.  We totally thought he would be the issue being the youngest.

But he surprised us and was sooooo good.  He was happy and just very pleasant.

His sister on the other hand, was another thing.  The look on her face says how much of a pleasure she was!

She did have her moments though, where she was alright.  Here she's having fun with her neck pillow.

The van joke was asking Jacob if he wanted a popsicle.  The storey behind this is that Grandma took him out for a walk a few days ago and they passed by the corner store and she asked the kids if they wanted to get a popsicle.  Ofcourse, they said yes!  She didn't have anything on her so she told them they had to go home and get money first.  And all Jacob could remember were the words popsicle and money.  They go hand in hand.  And everytime you asked him if he wanted a popsicle, he would say:

We made it all the way to mid-Georgia today to try to shorten our drive tomorrow.  They're getting excited!

End of day 2.

Destination Disney - On the Road Day 1

Our summer vacation is finally here!  We hit the road around 8 am and headed for the border.  We crossed at Detroit this time.  We passed tonnes of wind farms on the way - with the big wind mills.  There were at least 200 or so.  It was a sight to see.  The kids were fairly good while we were still on this side of the border although Claire asked us when we would be there 15 minutes after being in the car!  We had snacks in the car and did not stop until we crossed over.

Our first stop-over was somewhere in Ohio for lunch.  They were happy to get out of the car.

They have no idea there were still 2 whole days left of driving!

After lunch they finally fell asleep in the van.

 I have no idea how Claire was breathing through her neck pillow and dolly.

Just when we thought things were going well, a little after 3:30pm the sky started to get dark and very quickly.   It reminded of when we were driving back home from Florida and we were in Georgia when we hit a tornado and I was recounting the story to my mom when the warnings started coming on the radio....I was sick to my stomach.

The advisory announced that there were severe thunderstorms approaching in the following towns (1 of which we were in) and that they had potential to have hurricane force winds and threaten life. Are you kidding me?!

What is one to do in a situation like this?  We had no idea.  We tried to ride it out and then decided we better stop given the winds were getting pretty strong.  We parked in a rest area, along with others and just listened to the wind howl and waited for mother nature to have her moment.

We waited for it to calm down a bit and then decided to continue on.  We ended up getting stuck in traffic because this was just ahead of us:

There were 3 tracker trailers that jack-knifed on the road we were on.  We saw 2 of them.  Then we hit more traffic because of this:

I said to myself, I can't do this drive anymore, not with my babies in the back seat.   We tried to find a place to spend the night but the next 2 towns were without power, so we kept on going.

We finally found a place that had electricity and settled in and had some dinner.  We were happy to be out of the van and in the safety of some sort of structure.

End of day 1 on the road!

Preschool Graduate

Not only do we have a grade 8 graduate, but we also have a preschool graduate! Today she had her preschool graduation but we missed it since we were on the road. Her pictures turned out absolutely beautiful this year though, the best she's ever had, honestly! See for yourself!

She looks so mature in these pictures.

Sooo cute!

Even cuter!

OMG, soooo cute!

This one is the best - the hat, diploma and flowers, ha!

She totally reminds me of myself in one of my grad pictures.  Oh my little princess is growing up.  We have to stop this madness!!!!

Early Bday Present

We decided to give Claire her birthday present early given we knew it would entertain her while we embark on our very long drive down to Florida.  Here is some video footage:

Not quite the reaction I was anticipating...again.  And my camera battery died but I think she's going to like it (crossing my fingers) and remembers that we gave her her bday present early and does not expect anything else!  I'm being too naive, aren't I?



Suitcases

We're getting ready for our summer vacation and I picked up these cute suitcases for the kids.

They spent the morning dragging them all around the house in their pyjama tops and undies.  It was really cute.

Fruitastic

I cut up this fruit plate for everyone for breakfast but Jacob thought it was all his.  My kids do not like to share food at all.

He ate, no joke, 3/4 of the plate.

He takes after Daddy and Grandpa with his fruit plate.

Look at how stuffed those cheeks are.  He's a squirrel and just shovels it in and does not chew.   Well, let's just say he's "regular".  That's good for something!

Isaac's Graduation

Tonight was Isaac's Graduation ceremony.  I can't believe he's starting high school in a few months!  What happened to my little boy?

We arrived early to get good seats.  Claire and I were super excited!

Claire was on her bestest behaviour.

That's Isaac between the tallest boy and tallest girl, ha!  He's so small.

Accepting his graduation diploma.

Accepting his academic award of excellence for over 80% average.

The ceremony started to get long and Claire and some of the other little sisters got really comfortable on the carpet.  This was so unlike Claire.  I guess she'll be okay in JK afterall!

The ceremony is done.  Say goodbye to grade 8!

And goodbye to good friends made.

A picture of the 3 of us.

His graduation picture.  Apparently this is what a grade 8 graduate looks like.  I don't think so.  He still looks 10 to me!  That's the oldest I'll let him get in my mind....that way I stop aging too!

I know what you're thinking, he needed a hair cut. Hey, I tried, but he said it wasn't necessary. Mental note to self: Mother knows best.

On the weekend we had a little celebration for him with the whole family.  It was a first class meal centred around ribs....look at those racks!

There was a lot of dessert too.  Isaac requested Angel food cake, sugar cookies and banana chocolate cake.  We couldn't say no.  He deserved them all!

Their kinda Saturday

If you asked Claire and Jacob what their favourite thing to do on Saturdays was, they would say they like to visit 2 places.

#1 - stop by our local library. I love that my kids love books. Claire is great at the library and Jacob not soo much as he enjoys pulling everything off the shelves.

#2 - drive to Grandma and Grandpa's.  And that's what we did.  It was a nice day for the slip and slide.

Jacob wouldn't slide but he liked to feel the water sprinkling.

Drying off with Grandpa on the swing.

#3 - see their cousins.  Claire always has a blast with Ryan.  He brought her a some sort of slime ball, haha.

They like to make silly faces together.

Annual School BBQ

Isaac's school (and Claire's soon to be school) had their annual school bbq tonight.  They have tonnes of bouncy castles and food.  Our mayor was even there to take a few pics with the community.

Jacob didn't enjoy the bbq as much last year since he wasn't really mobile, but now...he is all over the place and owns the bouncy castle.

We had to drag him out of it to give the other kids a turn.  He wasn't happy about that.

Claire having some yummy cotton candy.

Oh yeah, that's good stuff!

Claire and her little friend.  They'll both be starting school together in the fall.

Jacob loved the inflatable dog in the bouncy castle.  Real or fake, he's a dog lover.

He was very territorial and did not like when other kids got near his puppy dog.  Look at his nasty face.  He's saying "Noooo!".

Yippe, slide fun.

Bouncy castles rule!

Isaac's Confirmation

Today we celebrated Isaac's confirmation.  He is below, centre, deep in reflection.

A picture of all the confirmandi.  They were all dressed up so nicely but you can't tell with the robes on.

Family photo after the ceremony in our "fancy clothes" as we put it to Claire and Jacob.  As you can see, I am still learning how to smile with my braces.  I believe it's good to laugh at yourself...haha.

Isaac with his godparents.

Isaac with Anthony, who was his sponsor - great choice!