Magic

I grew up in a Disney family. It's true. I remember every Sunday night, having dinner in front of the TV while watching The Wonderful World of Disney. (Which, in my opinion, they should TOTALLY bring back.) If I am remembering correctly...and I am...I had my 5th, and 6th birthday at Disney World.

Oh yes I did. We piled the family into an orange Tioga motor home and drove from Tiny Town Illinois to Orlando, and parked at every KOA Campground along the way. It must have taken us forever to do that...what, like 3 days? (3 days...forever...what do I know)

Here's what is SO freaky weird about Disney World. I haven't been there in about 12 years...and yet...we dumped our stuff at the Polynesian Hotel, hopped a monorail to The Magic Kingdom, and made a bee line straight to The Haunted Mansion (and proceeded to do the hallway walk of shame when The Little Man chickened out at the door:/) all without even looking at the map!

The place hasn't changed in like ever. Don't get me wrong...it's completely polished...and clean...it's like I walked in yesterday and was 5...and the next day, I'm Mom and bringing my kiddos. To exactly. the. same. place. I'm fascinated how it's completely updated, and completely the same.

I just love this place. There's something really comforting to me that many parts of it hasn't changed (Except Mr Toad's Wild Ride...Who's bad idea was it to get rid of that ride?)...hope it isn't another 12 years til I make it back...

6

I love you elephants!

If you haven't guessed...we were in Disney World for the last six days.

Lots of fun...but EXHAUSTING:O

One of the many things Miss Peach was looking forward to was seeing actual LIVE elephants.

Yes...we live in Chicago. Yes, there is a zoo 2 blocks away. Unfortunately, that zoo does not have any elephants:(

Miss Peach has been obsessed with elephants since the day. she. was. born. (True story...ask Sissy.)

When the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride said "see live elephants" we were in! Instead of pointing my camera out at the elephants...I pointed mine in. I wanted to see her first reaction at seeing a real live elephant...

OMG ya'll...she cried! She loves them so much...she cried!

Then she said she wanted to marry an elephant and live in the Magic Kingdom...so there's that:/
*The hair is a whole nother post...

5

Oh Mr. Rabbit...

Where have we been?

Ummm...How can I put this?

We fell down the rabbit hole.

I don't know why...but I assumed there'd be WiFi down the rabbit hole:/ I. Was. Wrong.

Six days without WiFi...and I feel like The White Rabbit...I'm late...I'm late!

Off to catch up:)

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Burnin Down the House

Walked into this Friday when I picked the kiddos up from school...

 Holy Moly, it was a BIG fire!

It took down the house quick! I mean...that's a brick facade...but the whole inside burned out, and took down the building:O

Would you believe this is exactly ONE block from the firehouse?

It is. Even then, they couldn't save the place...No one was living there...and I'm thinking they suspect arson.

Scary stuff none the less:O

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3:42 am

Sleep is gold in my house. GOLD.

I work about five hours a day on my computer. When I'm not working, I'm hauling kiddos around the city. When I'm not hauling kiddos around the city, I'm sleeping. Sleep is gold.

Trying to get to bed before 10:30...is no easy feat. You know how it is...between The Jon Stewart Show, the Internet and my luscious Macbook Pro...it ain't easy to turn off. Last night...I did just that. In bed, asleep by 10:30...snooze ville:)

Enter 3:42 am. I don't like 3:42 am. It's one of those times where like, the demons arise in horror movies...or the possession starts...or the stalker looks through the window...yes, I've seen WAY too many scary movies. Anyway...3:42 am.

My. Phone. Rings. I'm all looking around...what, who...oh, it's my phone. I look at the display, it's my Mom's home number. This can't be good. Nobody calls with good news at 3:42 am.

"Hello"

No answer...nothing...not even breathing.

Damn ghosts:/ I hang up, and immediately call my Mom's cell...

Nothing...I go to voicemail:/

I call the home number again...

Busy:/ What the heck?!?

I call my Nephew. (He is 24 and lives with my Mom, which makes me happy since at least she's not living alone on the farm.)

Again, no answer:/ I'm starting to think I'm the only victim who answers the phone when the haunts call at 3:42 am.

After replaying this scene about 4 times...I accepted the fact that there wasn't anything to be done at this time. Mom lives over 2 hours away, it's not like I could just drop by. So...I went back to bed...totally worried...and totally creeped out:(

My Little Man woke me up at 5:50 am. I was happy it was past nighttime. The ghosts never come in the morning...at least we were past the witching hour. Now, in my right, slightly more awake mind...I was in full blown worry mode.

I called my Mom, house and cell, and my Nephew's cell again. Nothing...still a busy signal on the house phone. At this point, I had played out the horrible scene in my head of someone breaking into the home, attacking my Mom and Nephew...one of them managed to dial me right before they passed out...and now they were laying on the floor waiting to be saved. Who should I call? Do I call the police? I called my Mom's boyfriend. It was early...but I had to call someone...I was worried. Aren't you worried right now?

I dial the phone...

My. Mom. Answers. Whew....OK...so what the heck?

"Mom...I got a phone call from your house phone...at 3:42 am. No one was on the line, and now I can't reach anyone and the phone is busy. What the heck?"

She had no idea. Now we were both worried about my Nephew. She called him. I called him. I texted him...nothing. I felt a little better knowing there was nothing wrong with Mom, but I was still really worried about the Nephew. What. To. Do. Next...

My phone rings...It's the Neph!

"Hello" I say.

To which a very groggy young man answers "Hello...what's up?"

"You tell me" I say "I got a phone call at 3:42 am from the house line. Is everything OK?"

He walks into the other room, and looks on the desk where the house phone sits.

"Oh..." he says "The dog knocked the phone off the hook again." "He must have hit the redial button when he did it."

Wait...what? "You are telling me...I got a phone call...at 3:42 am...from the DOG?!?"

Yes...you got it...THE DOG called me at 3:42 am. I can't make this stuff up:/

Stoopid Dog! :/

1

Alien in the room

This is my living room...

 I know, there's stuff...kiddo stuff...pretty much all the time.

I like it, it's comfortable...and while kiddo stuff is everywhere...it's easy to pick up...and then it's really clean...which I like. What I don't like...is stuff.

Enter this...

Yeah...its a baby grand piano...and it's BIG:/

It's a long story how this 100 year old piano ended up at my house...but here it is. It feels like there's an alien in the room. Like right now...it's just sitting there...taking up space...looking at me...

Yes, Miss Peach wants to take piano lessons, which is great. I just wish the darn thing wasn't so dad gum big!

5

Stuff...

I looked out my window tonight...

This is after I finally...(and I might be high fiving myself to early on this)...finally, got kiddos to bed. I'm blaming the weather on this. You know when it's 7:30, and it's still kinda light out, and kiddos are wired from school, and they don't. want. to. go. to. SLEEP.

They use every excuse under the sun..."I have to go to the bathroom.", "I need a drink of water.", "I need to tell you something.", "I lost my elephant."...whatever, go to bed:/

Last night, I made the rookie mistake of thinking they were in bed, asleep, because they were so quiet. Turns out, they were tearing my closet apart. Literally. They took every piece of jewelry, every piece of clothing, tore through my purses...it was a mess:/ Not Happy:(

I can't help but wonder of it's my fault. Is it my fault that raising my kiddos is like having wild raccoons in the house? Is it? I don't know...but is it:/

So, I think they are asleep, I think, and I come down the stairs to clean up a bit of the mess that once was a minimalist living room...and I look out the window, just in time, to see a woman on her bike, get hit by a car!

What the?!? She got hit, went down, got back up, picked up her bike and walked away.

The dude got out of his car, asked if she was OK, locked the door to his car, and walked away.

I wanted to yell out the window..."Is that all? Like...the least you could do is apologize...for running her over...sheesh!" I mean...I know it's not my business, but do you really need that parking space so badly that you are willing to run people over to get it?

I'm stunned:/

5

#94 Rainbow pony!

Daily Chuck...

"Oh...I see...we're back on this again...I'm SO thrilled...No really...thrilled:/"

And the beat goes on=)

5

Marylin...Anyone?

Did you hear about the 26 foot Marylin Monroe statue on Michigan Avenue?

No, this is not the beginning of a dirty joke...

There REALLY IS a 26 foot Marylin Monroe statue just north of the river on Michigan Avenue.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean...I don't hate it...it's more like, I kinda don't get it:/

Did New York turn down the option on it? Were we second choice? Do I think too much?

Yup..I took a picture of her underwear...just like everybody else:/ Perhaps this wasn't a scene that was meant to be blown up to 26 feet...in Chicago.

Seriously...what are the odds of anyone putting a Ferris Bueller statue in Times Square???

1

Get set...GO!

FINALLY...the first day of school is here! I can't help but ask myself...

Who are these children? Seriously, Mommy breaks out her camera to take a picture...

...and they strike a pose! Not just one pose...(well The Little Man had one pose)

...but Miss Peach struck pose after pose.

What is with the expression on The Little Man's face? Is that the four year old interpretation of a cool guy look?

*sigh* School, sweet wonderful school:)

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