Best of the Best

 

Here's a lovely little collage of some of our most memorable moments on our recent visit to the magical land of Disney. Sorry for the duplicates, Picasa chooses...

Best Day Ever

5:30 am Lee awakes, showers, Jen snoozes
5:45 am Jen awakes, showers, kids snooze
6:45 am Hutch awakes, Maggie snoozes
7:00 am Lee prods Maggie awake - breakfast in the room
7:30 am On our way...



Little did the general public know but the Magic Kingdom opened at 8:00 instead of the usual 9:00, therefore The Ezells were some of the first to enter the park! Woohoo!

We studied the guidebooks carefully and Jen prepared a plan of attack the night before based on the Fodor's recommendations for a "Blitz with Kids". As instructed we proceeded straight down Mainstreet, through the castle and then on to Fantasyland. First stop, Flying Dumbo for Hutch and Jen while Lee and Maggie went to grab a Fastpass for Winnie the Pooh.

Hutch was terrified by the Dumbo ride and almost didn't get on. Jen shoved him through the little doorway and fastened the seatbelt...tightly. Once moving, Hutch was okay and even agreed to raise the Dumbo car into the air!

Due to insanely light crowds first thing we were able to hop onto the Winnie the Pooh ride (took the place of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, sniff) and ride once with everyone and then Lee and Hutch rode again immediately. Jen and Maggie hung out at the Winnie the Pooh playground and caught a glimpse of Pooh himself!

From there we proceeded to Mickey's Philharmagic 3-D movie. Neither kid moved a muscle for the duration of the 15 minute show. It was a combintation of Fantasia and Disney movie music videos from their most popular movies.

Onward to Peter Pan's Flight...twice in a row, still no crowds! Hutch requested the carousel next, another ride two times in a row with NO waiting! Then we hit the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups for a quick spin.


Finally, It's a Small World, but only once. Maggie and Hutch were both fascinated by the singing, dancing, and spinning dolls.


More to come...

Uh-oh

I called Lee on the way home from work and he said Hutch had done something very bad at daycare. He couldn't give me details because Hutch was nearby. A few minutes later he called back to give me the scoop so I could get myself together to give Hutch a "serious talking-to".

Apparently during the morning snack time Hutch asked to use the restroom. There are restrooms just off the main cafeteria area so the teachers allowed him to go. A few moments later they heard laughing. They looked in to find Hutch MOONING the cafeteria from the restroom door!! Bare butt shaking in the breeze and laughing like a hyena.

We made him sign this letter of apology to his teachers. Sorry for the sideways view - computer was not cooperating. On the other side of the card I wrote another note to the teachers explaining how difficult it had been to keep straight faces while talking to Hutch about this serious matter. Who knows what pops into the minds of 4-year-olds???

Hutch's Big Debut

Here is one of the songs from last night's performance by the kids at Hutch's daycare. Pardon the shakey cam effects...Lee was laughing as he recorded - you'll see why. Enjoy!

More information...

Here's a link to the story as cleverly told by Clare and Joel themselves!

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

Seeing as how the other family members have become slack in their blogging, I get to be the first to blog about the impending nuptials!! Joel proposed to Clare last night! They were at an Eric Hutchinson concert, just as they were two years ago on their first date. Apparently Joel got in contact with Eric who took a moment on stage to acknowledge Clare and the coincidence of their last names. He then went on to say that Clare needed to turn around. Joel was on one knee and saying all those delicious things we girls like to hear! The spotlights were even focused on the happy couple. Clare called around 3am our time(as instructed) so I hope I have the story straight!

Kudos to mom, dad, Lee, and I for keeping tight lips for the last week or so. Joel spoke to dad over Thanksgiving and he kept it secret for about 12 hours, maybe longer before he told mom. She kept it to herself for about 23 1/2 hours before telling me and I told Lee as soon as I saw him that day.

Way to go Joel - sounds like the perfect proposal. We're all thrilled!!

Now let's start talking about the dance we'll perform at the reception...there are many options - Thriller, Time of My Life, Big Butts, etc.

Hutchy Leibowitz

 

Our kitchen through the eyes of a 4 year old.

 

Okay, so here's another one so everyone can see that we weren't torturing the poor girl.

Maggie's First Haircut

 

I don't want to give the wrong impression, Maggie was actually quite good for her first trip to the beauty shop. This photo was the winner of the collection however! She really only had a fraction of an inch taken off, but it made a difference. We're taking her back for some highlights next week.

In celebration of the release of Super Mario Galaxy....

Too bad they were on the wrong side of the field.

Maggie's Debut

Here's Maggie and her buddy, Kenslie (sister to the boy in the black Spider Man costume in Hutch's picture).

Costume Parade

They have a Costume Parade at the daycare center every year. This is Hutch with his classmates and teacher, Miss Jessica. As you can see they were heavy on the superheroes this year... Also, there really are only a couple or three girls in his whole class (only one in the picture). Can you imagine a room full of 3-4 year old boys!

Happy Halloween!

Yeeehaaawwwww....ride 'em cowboy!
And our cute little "punkin"

Sacked Out

The aftermath following a day spent at home with Mr. Mom and Maggie! Lee came home after being gone a couple weeks on Tuesday and on Wednesday spent the day at home with the kiddos. Don't you know that Hutch had a perfect copy of the corduroy pattern from the slipcover on his cheek when he awoke. Of course he didn't think it was nearly as funny as we did.

Negotiations at a Stand Still

Cheese

While waiting for the skylift they herd everyone by a photo op background. When you come back they've got your pictures waiting for inspection. For only $20 you get a 5x7, four wallets and two, count 'em, TWO souvenir picture keychains!! What a deal. Normally we wouldn't fall for these tourist shenanigans, but in one rare instance my eyes AND my mom's eyes are OPEN. You see, we're genetically inclined to close our eyes for pictures. Maybe dad's are closed, but it's difficult to tell with the Jack Nicholson shades.

Favorite Part of the Day?

Here we are in front of the giant pumpkin "tree" at Stone Mountain. We had a lovely day at the park with the grandparents. It was perfectly sunny and nice with only moderate crowd. We rode the train and the skylift as well as having lunch, funnel cakes, and popcorn. We also went to the Plantation and visited the petting zoo where we watched some goats butting heads. Hutch even got brave and petted a sheep! After all that, I asked Hutch [while he was perched on the potty at Chipotle] what his favorite part of the day was and he promptly replied, "Getting a toy!". Greenie bought him a toy car at the gift store on the top of Stone Mountain - those are the moments you cherish...

On a side note, I had my first psycho mother moment when Hutch suddenly vanished while we were waiting for Greenie to buy waters at the snack bar on top of the mountain. Greendaddy and I were standing there with Hutch and Maggie, I looked down and Hutch was GONE. I immediately began calling and looking for him. My yelling ramped up pretty quickly because there were lots and lots of people around and a couple different ways he could have gone. People started staring and as I entered the snack area I really yelled loudly, "HUTCH EZELL YOU COME HERE NOW!!" Greenie's head popped up over the little wall separating the line from the seating and she said cheerfully, "He's with me!". Whew. I could not believe he had left us with no notice and just trotted away to find Greenie. He could not see her from where we were! I was eyeing that kid on the leash that we saw on the skylift down and thinking....gotta get one of those....leash, that is.

No, I've got more important things to do

As we exited the plane (last, see previous post) we peeked into the cockpit. The co-pilot was still there and she invited Hutch to sit in the pilot's seat!! He refused saying, "No, we have to see Daddy, we have to rescue him!". Oh well, this is as close as I could get him to the pilot's seat. Maybe next time.

Chi-town

Brave Mommy took both children on the plane to see Daddy and Auntie Clare in Chicago last weekend. It's taken a week to recover and finally download the pitiful few pictures I have to document the trip! I got to be the last passenger off the plane both times. The first stewardess radioed to the desk in the airport "Yes, we have our last one, she's got two kids, one on her back (Maggie in the backpack thingy) and one walking." What she said wasn't rude or anything, but you could tell by her tone she was feeling sorry for me. Traveling with Hutch and Maggie was actually quite easy, they were the perfect companions.

Hutch was only a little freaked out by security in Atlanta. The security guy on the other side of the metal detector was not encouraging in the least...matter of fact he looked a little like 50 Cent. Hutch didn't like having to take off his shoes and he certainly did not agree with having to put his Thomas backpack of treasures through the magic machine that's like Superman because it can see inside your bag and make sure your toys are safe. He ended up sitting on the floor in tears on the other side of the metal detector while they searched my carry-on and I reassembled the stroller which had to be emptied and folded and sent through the magic machine that's like Superman because it can see inside and make sure the stroller is safe.

Maggie is awake in this picture, she's just looking down, probably at the mountain of fruity Cheerios we spilled on the floor. Hutch reveled in raising and lowering the window shade. Thank goodness it was just the three of us in the two seats. I'm sure we would have annoyed the crap out of any other human being. More to follow soon...Lee's home now so my computer time is less frequently interrupted with requests for water, and tv, and games, and "wipe me", and etc.

The Face

So this is the face (actually this is a close copy, the original had much more glare and crinkled nose) Maggie unleashed on me at Target last Saturday when I wouldn't allow her to "push" the cart while I was carrying her. Imagine a Superman type hold with her arms locked out in front gripping the cart with white knuckles. I passed the cart to mom and Maggie shot me the evil eye with puckered lips!

Maggie's First Birthday

Although Maggie's actual birthDATE isn't until tomorrow - today, Saturday, is the day last year that brought us our perfect little girl. It's been an eyeblink since that day. Maggie is almost walking and Hutch is really growing into his role as a super big brother. Just the other morning he climbed in bed with Maggie and gently pulled the covers up on her and patted her tummy before curling up next to her.

We celebrated today by grilling steaks and indulging in yummy chocolate cake. We purchased a "Complete Big Brother in a Box" for Maggie (as seen in picture above). Although it is Fisher-Price, it is NOT part of the slew of toys recently recalled. We marked the day with a lovely family photo on the front porch. Out of about a dozen pictures this is the best....again with the herding cats metaphor! Maybe I'll post some of the ones that didn't make the cut- Hutch has a wide repetoire of goofy faces!

A good time was had by all. Happy Birthday, Maggie! :)

Who wants cupcakes?

I actually thought Maggie was going to jump out of the chair and rip the cupcake out of Jen's hands.......

The End

So I walked into the hotel lobby at 1 PM and grabbed the special Amazon box from the front desk. I sat down to read at 1:30. At 7:25, dipping the last bit of bread into the pasta sauce, I closed the book.

It's been almost seven years since I sat on a couch at a rental house on St. George Island and devoured Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in one day. Since then, I've reread each book at least three times, and have listened to the tales on audio CD more times than I can list.

I've looked forward to this final book since I read the first one, as has everyone gripped by JK Rowling's tale. But I've also dreaded it. Not because I was afraid that she would mess it up. Indeed, this is her tale, and if she chose to have Harry go join the Peace Corps and settle down in Namibia instead of facing Voldemort, that would be her choice (though one I would probably find less than satisfying).

I've dreaded the final book because it is just that: the final book. No one wants to see our loved ones to leave us, even if they are fictional. The emotions you pour into a story by reading it and turning the characters into living breathing beings in your mind can be just as powerful as those you attach to the people in your life.

So it was with slightly red eyes that I opened the book at 1:30. And I write this with red eyes now. But as sad as I am to close the book on Harry's last adventure (and I cannot see how it can be otherwise), I cannot wait to open the first one again, and begin to read it to our children. As they discover what worlds reading can take them to, it will remind me that our loved ones do not leave us ever, in the real or fictional world.

Thanks, JK, for a monumental achievement in storytelling, and one that will live through the ages. And thanks for reminding us, time and again, of the love that exists between a child and mother. If people remembered this love more often, I do believe our world would be a better place today.

Ouch

So, after many skirmishes today the toddler was banished to his room. The final straw being him dragging the giant stuffed pink hippo into the office and hurling at Maggie who up that point had been playing peacefully and contentedly on the floor. "GET OUT!! GO PLAY SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!" He did. Witness the Lego Explosion Zone. A little while after banishment I was stirred from the office to see why he was crying as if hurt. Sure enough, he had stepped on a Lego. Amazing that he only stepped on one.

Having been in a math workshop all week I must pose the following problem. Given the room is say, 12 x 12, is it possible to determine how many Legoes are on the floor by counting one square foot and then multiplying? Perhaps there's a probability problem here...chances that Mommy will step on a Lego tonight when checking on Hutch....99/100. What are the probabilities for stepping on a particular shape or color? Gag.

It's almost 9:00. Chances Mommy will finish Harry Potter tonight...not looking good.

The Winning Shot

 

Sunset photo shoot

 

More herding cats....but fun nevertheless!

Beginner's Luck

 

Greendaddy and Hutch went fishing yesterday. Hutch managed to catch 6 pinfish and then to our amazement landed a big ol' catfish! A good time was had by all. Hutch took a well-deserved nap after the big event.