Adventures in Wellonsland: It can be done! Surprisingly

This March started out pretty much like every other month in South Florida, with a notable exception - Daddy is going to be gone until end of April! Ahhh, a little rest and relaxation - NOT! I have been known to ~~blame~~ credit Jim with all the crazy antics that we do every month, but as I sit down to write this one it looks like perhaps some of that over-scheduling has rubbed off.

Let's jump right in!

Daddy hasn't left just yet, so we got to finish our last football and soccer games of the season first! Ben has really enjoyed playing flag football and has become quite good. As good as his team was, they were not able to defeat the other (much bigger) team and fell short of their goal of season Champions!

Go Ben Go!!

Here you see Ben's legs as he leaps from behind to pull some flags!!

The girls, on the other hand, dominated the other teams all season and the final game was no exception. Although the final score of the game did not reflect the action on the field, we managed to defeat the challenger and remain Champions! This will be our last season with the i9 sports. I have promised the kids we will try some other activities before we move. Thanks for all the memories i9 and hopefully we can continue the kids love of sports once we land in Yuma.

The next day the girls led their Girls Scouts/Brownie troops in a first aid demonstration to earn their First Aid badges. We had discussions, coloring, and build-your-own travel First Aid kit in addition to an interview where each child was given a medical situation and they had to decide what was the best course of action. While Lucy was being interviewed she passed out! Actually she just kind of slowly eased herself down to the floor and zoned out for a few seconds. It was scary!! Well the scouts decided (once we got her stretched out on the floor with her feet propped up) that it was a perfect opportunity to practice some of their new "skills." I think I was more shaken up than Lucy was. We set her up on the couch at home and the next day Lucy and I visited the Doctor's office! Everyone was pretty much in agreement that her blood sugar levels had dropped, but just to be sure we scheduled an EKG for the next day.

Lucy was a tad nervous about the procedure, but after a quick google search and a video showing what would happen she was ready! As expected, the EKG was normal - whew!

All Smiles!

With Daddy officially TAD (temporary assigned duty -- in Yuma!) we are on our own! Nothing new right? Daddy is gone a lot, but still...this was a really long time away. First up for Ben was a NHL Hockey game!!! The Florida Panthers were playing the Winnipeg Jets. Unfortunately it was the same night as the Science night at the school. I tried my BEST to talk the girls into going to the game, but they were dead set on Science night. Plan B was for me to take the girls along with Katrina's daughter to the school and Katrina take the boys to the game. Science night was EXACTLY the same as it was the year before. How I wish we had gone to the game. Sigh. Oh well, at least Ben had a great time. Katrina definitely got the better end of that deal, but she's Canadian so I guess it's appropriate she went with the hockey option!

Next up, Saint Patrick's day!!! The Leprechaun found us AGAIN! I was really hoping he would skip us this year. Or perhaps instead of tearing up our house, he would CLEAN it! Now there is a novel idea.

He left a little treat. Not enough to cover the "damages" though

Seriously? Leave me out of this!

Sooo, since we are done with gymnastics, soccer and football we are moving on to tennis! The kids took to it pretty quickly and really like it. It is nice to have an activity in our backyard! Not literally of course but the tennis courts are at the park behind our house - SCORE!

The biggest adventure for us this month BY FAR was going to Disney with the kids over spring break by myself. Yes, you read that right, Disney, Spring Break, BY MYSELF. You may remember that ~~Jim~~ we bought 3 days passes in January and we only used one day. Originally we were going to go back in May when Jim returns but in a moment of weakness I decided to take the kids. I know! What was I thinking?! Well Mommy guilt had something to do with it, I am almost positive. Or my fear of being stuck in the home with the kids alone for an entire week! We had early release on Thursday and no school on Friday to kick off Spring break, so we packed up and headed north. We made good time. I was banking on our timing to play a huge factor in what parks we would visit. Since we were arriving late in the week but before the weekend maybe that would work to our benefit. We knew we were not going to Magic Kingdom since we had just gone there in January so that just left Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Jim gave me a crash course in the new Disney Fastpass app and we were ready to go!

I told the kids to get some shut eye because we were going to be the first ones into the park to knock out SOARIN' since we did not have a pass for it. Jim told me to not be so ambitious - yeah right. I have done this enough with him driving that train. We were going for it!

SUCCESS!

Our passes had the rest of the morning pretty well set up with Test track and Spaceship earth and Mission Earth - which we ended up blowing off because only Lilly wanted to do it. On to the countries! Everything was going along nicely until we got to China. I lost Lucy in China. The kids were going around to the different countries and if you go to the Kidspot the representatives will stamp your fan and draw a symbol of that country or write your name in their language. We really needed the fans because of course it was HOT! Not that crowded though which of course was nice. Back to China, the store where the Kidspot was located was HUGE! Lucy just took off (as usual) and before you know it - poof - gone. Awesome. Lilly started to freak out a little bit, but I told her to stand at one entrance and I put Ben at another and told them "DO NOT MOVE!" I started at the back of the store and started working my way forward. Finally after what seemed like 15 minutes I spotted her. She was a really glad to see me!

Lucy needed a moment after we were reunited to calm her nerves - so did I

That pretty much ended our day in Epcot. We rounded out the countries and headed back to the hotel to laze by the pool. Another early night to prep us for tackling Hollywood Studios the next day! This park was a gamble. Jim had set us up for fastpasses for two rides that I KNEW Lucy and Ben were not going to get on. If Jim had been with us he would have tried bribing them and to be quite honest I was not going to let a ride (or two) ruin the entire day. So Lilly rode them by herself. We all stood in line with her and that gave me the extra time to ask them again if they were sure they did not want to ride it - which they didn't. Sigh. Fine. Meet you at the bottom Lilly. Don't understand why Lucy and Ben won't ride "Tower of Terror." I mean what could possibly go wrong - AGAIN?! I WAS surprised they wouldn't even do Rock n Roll Roller Coaster -- weak!!

The big score was getting there when the park opened and RUNNING to the Toy Story ride and crossing that off the list before the wait lines were impossible. Jim told me I was crazy, but my plan was to stay all day and take in the Fantasmic show at 8:00pm. Right after Toy Story we decided to do the Star Wars ride and the kids started begging me to do the Padawan Training Academy. After asking around we were pointed to another building and signed up for the 6:30 session. Which was going to be perfect because we had dinner reservations right across from there at 5:00. How crazy is that? The kids had been great all day with absolutely no fighting. It seemed too good to be true. The other shoe had to fall - it did, just not yet or in the way expected.

The kids got suited up for their training session and of course Darth Vader and a couple of storm troopers crashed the party.

It is finally time for Fantasmic. None of the kids really remember it from the last time we saw it which was about 5 years ago so I am glad we were able to stick around to see it. Of course the end is when the wheels fell off. Ben and Lilly took off in one direction and Lucy and I got behind a group of people and lost sight of them. Lilly was waiting for us at the top but Ben was not. I lost another kid. This is not happening - again. There are only two ways out of the place. The girls went one way I went the other. I told the girls to meet me at the entrance of the theatre. I caught up with Ben about 1/2 way down talking with a group of teenagers who had their cell phone out dialing my number. Crisis averted. Now to find the other two. Of course we were not let out where we went in so Ben and I had to RUN to the entrance. The girls were hanging out with some staff members who also had their cell phones out. Dodged ANOTHER bullet! So did we leave? Nope, we had just enough time to ride the Toy Story Mania ride before the park closed! The kids slept like the dead that night!

Once we woke up the next morning we headed to the beach to spend a few days relaxing which was our original plan. Jim outdid himself on the accommodations. They were spectacular! Three days of pool and beach time. Just what was needed after Disney.

We had some friends come up to join us! Why should we have all the fun - alone!

The place was awesome! Lots and lots of family/kid activities every day. Several different "get to know the owners" which included free food and drink! Just what Mommy needed.

All good things must come to an end and so we end up back in Pembroke Pines with a few days left on our break. What to do, what to do! Well one thing that was on the agenda was get Lilly new specs! She is super excited to have glasses that transition to sunglasses. I had a pair about the same age and I must say hers are much cooler.

So the only thing left to mention is my birthday! Jim and the kids conspired to make it special with breakfast, gifts and a RUM CAKE! One of my personal favorites is the jar full of slips of paper (46 of them) describing why I am special to them (only 46 of them)!

My friend Christine threw me a party as well! Complete with a crown and whale cupcakes!! She knows me so well!! It was one of the best birthday parties I have had in quite a while.