Tuesday, July 30, 2013

12 - no big thang

maybe not for you Aidan...

but for me it is a very big thing.  It means I am thinking about all of the growing you have done and worrying about all of the growing still to do.  Mostly I worry that you are happy.  No, not happy.  Fulfilled, really.  Happiness might just be overrated, but being fulfilled is where it's at. 

That is where my hope lies for you. 

That you will look at all you have done on this earth and feel fulfilled.  That you will close the cover of a book and sigh with contentment and the heavy weight of knowledge.  That you will hug your sister and know that you will never have a better friend.  That you will wipe the sweat off of your brow after doing good work for someone else and be satisfied with the ache in your muscles.  That you will read our silly notes to you and swell with knowing that we are proud of you and grateful for you.  That you will smile back on your progress of each day toward the goals you have set for yourself.  I hope you are fulfilled with your dreams and your effort every day.  I hope you are fulfilled with love and laughter and family and friendship and Aidanness- because that is what fulfills our lives because of you.
Happy Birthday Aidan.













Thursday, July 25, 2013

did somebody say vacay?

6 adults * 9 kids * 3 cars * 1 trailer * 15 bikes * 266 miles * 1 house
a ski lift * lava tubes * hours of conquest of the empire * only 1 game of phase 10
hot tub * deschutes river * the sharc * journals * xbox * American girl dolls
real conversation * hours of rhonna designs * flatbread community oven
chicago mix popcorn * no a/c * one costco trip to feed 'em all
 
 












 ***long live jobaba***


 
 

i love my sister

and her boys

lane   -   aidan  -   kaid   -   nadia
age 14 - age 11 - age 12- age 10

and i am so thankful they are here for a visit.  it has been way tooooooooo long.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

speaking of pictures

I love them. 
Don't you?

I'm quite fond of looking through old pictures and reminiscing.  And by fond I mean I pretty much do it obsessively.  So why don't we do it together?  Come on.  It'll be fun. 

sitting with 'da Goof in 2008
 Sitting with 'da Goof 2013.
See what we did there?
Fun, right?

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

again...

i know i should be fawning over a vacation where we lie for hours in a luscious green meadow figuring out the pictures in the clouds, biking through a nearby village, stopping to eat locally grown fruits and veggies and beautiful pastries, having a few hiking and a spur of the moment rafting adventure and sleeping in a cozy little yurt.  just the four of us experiencing something new and lived-in and earthy.

or maybe i should be celebrating our return from the heart of the city where our children reveled in the symphony, ate up the theatre shows like a decadent death by chocolate cake, marveled at the view of the bright lights from the towering luxury hotel room and of course notched up their iq a few points from all of the museum visits. 

or maybe we should have spent a week soaking up the sun and the peace only a silky sandy beach can give you.  washing our troubles away with the salty ocean waves and taste testing island treats in the moonlight. 

man. 
all of those sound like perfection. 
but since every single disney experience* has been the happiest moments on earth for us, we packed up our four tiny carry-ons and headed to florida to make some disneyworld memories.
(*like this one, and this one, and this one too)


 
 
 
tony did all of the planning.
he is a disneywarrior. 

seriously. 

the longest we waited was to get into the magic kingdom.  he knew when to bob and when to weave and everyone knows that it is all about the bobbing and weaving.

he had a plan for every day, every fastpass, most meals, ponchos, sunscreen, he even packed hair ties for nadia and me. this guy. 

we rode every single ride we wanted and didn't even get the chance to bust out our waiting in line games. 










so that's what we did.  we felt the magic at the magic kingdom (thunder mountain railroad at night during fireworks was our fav in case you were wondering).  we loved us some animal kingdom (it's all about the kali river ride for me, the details of asia and africa for tony and expedition everest for aidan and nadia).  toured the worlds at epcot (dude, there is a whole part of epcot we didn't see in 2008! and don't even get me started about the cutest japanese lady making candy). we powered through hollywood studios (migraine for aidan and all). we fell in love with typhoon lagoon and blizzard beach, even sliding down the summit plummet. 

but really it's about the pictures right? 
so here are some, with no rhyme or reason. 














 








 someday we might dabble in some of those other adventures. 
but for now, the magic of disney is exactly what we want in a vacation.