DISNEY WORLD! Day 1, August 18th

On Tuesday, August 18th, we set out on a journey to Disney World in Florida. We woke up super early (at least it was super early to me) and drove over to Jon's brother's house. Dave was going to drive us the rest of the way to the airport so we wouldn't have to pay to park our car there. We got the the airport about an hour and a half before our flight. We couldn't check-in online for whatever reason so we had to stand in line to check in. We got up to the check in kiosk and we still couldn't check in. So the lady at the counter took our IDs and reservation number and disappeared for awhile. She never did say what the problem was, but she came back with our boarding passes in hand. Then we looked at the line for security...it was so long. Thankfully they had a separate "family" line so we didn't have to wait at all. Getting through security is quite the ordeal when traveling with children, but we made it through all in one piece. We got to the gate and they were already boarding, score...no waiting in the airport with 2 small children who wanted to run around!

The first plane was great, we flew into Atlanta and both kids slept most of the way. Once in Atlanta we had a 55 minute lay-over, so in other words just enough time to stop at the potty for diaper changes, grab so grub, and make it to our gate...again they were already boarding! We went to board and they stopped us telling us there was a problem with our seat assignment. After standing there awhile the guy gave us new seat assignments and we got on the plane. Of course there were already people assigned to the seats he gave us and our original seats were wide open so we just sat in them anyway. This time the kids were awake most of the ride, but for the most part they were still good.

We arrived at Orlando airport and went to find the Disney Magic Express bus (notice I didn't say we found our bags first...a great service of using the (FREE) Disney Magic Express is they get your bags for you and deliver them to your room a few hours after you get there). A half hour bus ride later we were checking in at the Caribbean Beach Resort. The CBR is a very spread out resort. Our room was on the second floor of a building in Trinidad South, which with the stroller was not fun since there were no elevators. Trinidad South was also the farthest away from just about everything, but there was a resort shuttle that just drove around the CBR all day. It helped a little but it was a bit annoying. Our room was a pirate themed room.

Pirate Ship Beds

Curtain that seperated the sleeping area from the bath area.

It was pretty cool, but we did pay extra for the room (not our choice, it was the cheapest room available on Disney property when we booked) and I don't think the price of the room was worth it. Overall we were not super impressed with the CBR and will probably not stay there again. 7 years ago for our honeymoon we were at Coronado Springs Resort and we loved it, so that will be our first choice when opting for a moderate resort in the future.

After getting in our room Jon took Nathan and Emily to the little beach area nearby our room. It had a little playground. I waited in the room for a crib and our groceries to be delievered (we ordered some groceries from gardengrocer.com, a local online grocery store that delivers to residents and resorts in central Florida). Before we knew it it was time to go to our dinner reservation for the evening. We had a 6:30 reservation at the Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. If you ever go to Disney, this is a MUST EAT restaurant! The name "Whispering Canyon" is very misleading (we knew that going in). It is a fun, loud, hootin' and hollarin' kinda place. Jon ordered a lemonade with his meal and when he got a refill the waitor brought out an iced-tea instead (not exactly something we are going to drink) so Jon told him of his mistake and he came back with a HUGE jar of lemonade and said he wouldn't make that mistake again! They had the kids do stick horse races around the restaurant, random sing alongs to the Hokey-Pokey, and watch out if you ask for Ketchup or a specific color crayon!

Jon's Lemonade

Nathan asked for some Ketchup and the waitor yelled "Can somebody please pass the ketchup?" and tons of kids came over to the table to bring us our ketchup...lots of it!

We thought about going to Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios) that night but by the time dinner was over it was late, we had had a long day, and the kids were ready for bed.

Where did the summer go?

This summer has just flown by, and I've been a bad blogger. Let's pick up where we left off...the rest of our New Jersey trip was fine. It rained the entire time we were there and was a bit chilly, so we were indoors most of the time. We searched for a mall with a play area but apparently they just don't have those in NJ. Our last night there was quite the adventure, not so much in a good way though. We lost power at my Grandma's house which wasn't good. Grandma was on oxygen 24/7 and no power meant no breathing machine. She did have a portable one that she used but she wasn't getting enough oxygen and I had to call 911. Luckily my aunt and uncle lived right next door so they and my cousins came right over knowing more about what to do than I did. They also had a few neighbors down the road that were part of the response team for their area so my aunt called them right away so they got there within minutes. We left the next morning while Grandma was still in the hospital. Typical Grandma, she didn't want us to make a fuss over her so she insisted we still continue with our plans to leave the next morning. We drove pretty much to the Pennsylvania/Ohio border and decided to get a hotel for the night and drive the rest of the way home the next day. Pennsylvania just does a toll on us mentally, it's such a big state that it seems like it is never going to end so the break at the border was just what we needed. On a sad note I must also report that in mid-July Grandma did pass away. But on a much happier note she is now with her husband again in heaven, they have been apart for far too long...42 years.

Once home we spent our days at the zoo, library, pool, and several MOMS Club events. Jon finished his last few classes for his Master's degree (in fact he is presenting his "thesis" later this afternoon...I say "thesis" because it's not really a paper like a traditional thesis, instead he had to put together a compilation of all of his conducting experiences throughout school, just about as time consuming as a thesis would have been).

Emily's adoption was finalized in July, so she is officially ours. We are taking her to the temple this Saturday to be sealed to us. We chose this Saturday (Sept 5) because it is her 1st birthday as well, so we think that makes it extra special. She's grown so much this summer and we can't believe our little baby is going to be 1 in less than a week. This past Saturday we took her to get her ears pierced. She did great, only crying for a few minutes, and she looks so pretty.

Nathan has kept us busy this summer. He is still just a big ball of energy. He loves to go to nursery at church with his new nursery teacher. Nathan has been such a big helper at home too. He tries to take care of Emily and help us with the house work that needs to be done, his favorite thing to help with is cooking.

In August we went on our ward camp out, just a short little overnight with friends from church. The rain held off all night but first thing in the morning it all came down. Lucky for us I told Jon to take down the tent as soon as we had woken up, so it was still dry!

The big conclusion to our summer, the thing we most looked forward to all summer, was our trip to Disney World! Disney deserves a post all of it's own, so check back soon to see all about our trip.

Day 1: New Jersey Trip

Today we set out on an adventure...New Jersey or bust! Our day started when the alarm went off at 2AM! After a few clicks of the snooze button we were up and ready to go at 3:30am. Now for a normal person this is a 10 hour drive, however we aren't your normal people.

Our first detour happened right off the bat when we realized the 75 is still closed, so we got to follow the detour through Detroit and actually drove under the Ambassador Bridge. Hop back on the freeway and we have smooth sailing until Ohio.

Get to Ohio and my memory of how to go doesn't match the directions that google gave us. So we decide to go with what I know and realize that we are now on a toll road with only a few dollars in change with us...opps! So we stop and look at a map and figure out how far we can go with the $$ we have then determine a route taking back country roads to get us from middle of nowhere Ohio to Pennsylvania. It was a beautiful scenic route but it really added time to our trip.

After I had been driving for 7 hours (and we were just barely in PA at that point) so we switched drivers. Jon drove for 4 hours (so most of but not all of PA...it's a long state) and then I took the rest of the stretch (so the final 3 hours). We did stop a few times but not as much as I thought we would.

It rained for most of our journey, drizzle through Ohio but pouring through PA. It was not an easy drive. And the hills in PA were terrible. It's like they are trying to lull you to sleep.

The lifesaver of the trip...I sent Jon to the store late last night to buy a portable DVD player. We got an awesome clearance deal for a dual screen DVD player so both kids had a screen where they could see it and they were happy as could be.

We are now at my Grandma's house and I have been awake for 18 hours and it's time for bed. We are staying in the camper outside since the beds in the house are all claimed (my dad and sister are here too).

The weather doesn't look to great but we will have fun anyway. I'll write more about the trip at a later time (since the rest of the trip hasn't happened yet).

Job Found, well sorta

Thought I should update my blog readers with the latest on the job search. We found out yesterday that Jon has been reassigned back to his old full-time job (yay!)!

So the job search is over although we now have probably close to 40 applications out there and if the right offer were to come along we may just have to take it (but chances are we are staying right here).

I was excited about the thought of moving but I am so glad we don't HAVE to move. And to celebrate the good news we planned a trip to Disney for the kids. Ok so maybe it's for us since the kids can not fully appreciate Disney, but Nathan is excited to see where Mickey lives.

Job Hunt Update

Not that there is much to report. We have applied to probably close to 30 jobs and have yet to hear anything from any of them. It's still early, but still discouraging. Most of the jobs we have applied for are in Texas (big state with a love for music so lots of band openings). We've also heard of some prospects here in MI but we REALLY want to move, it's time for a change. Jon's current district is doing a "restaffing" and there is one possible thing they could do that would give Jon his old job back. That was supposed to happen yesterday so I don't know when or if we will hear anything but it would be nice to have that job security back again, just in case nothing else comes through.

Job Hunt

As some of you may have heard we are about to begin an adventure. We are on a nationwide job hunt for a full-time band/music teaching job for Jon. His district has made crazy cuts for the fall and he will only be part time, giving us a 40% pay cut. While we are grateful for the fact that yes, he does still have a job, which is more than many can say, sadly we can not live on what his new salary would be...which means it job hunt time. One major problem we are running into is that many full-time openings we have found pay less than what he would make here working part-time.

I'm sure that some of you may be thinking that I (Michelle) going back to work could help the problem. We have thought of this. However, I have been removed from the classroom now for over 2 years and I left my last job mid-school year (major taboo). In order for my certificate to stay current I would have to start taking grad classes, which we obviously can't afford. I also have no where near the earning potential that Jon has. He has 5 years experience and almost a master's degree (he'll finish it this summer). Jon can actually make more money part-time than I could full-time as essentially a first year teacher. The only thing I have going for me is that I have a more diversified certificate being able to teach K-8 self-contained or 6-8 language arts or science. However, the cost of daycare would negate nearly one of our whole salaries so it still leaves us in the same spot as we started.

So, while i know my readership is rather low...if any of you out in cyber-land know of any jobs that my wonderfully talented hubby is qualified for, if you wouldn't mind sending the info our way that would be great. Thanks!

Oil Painting

As I mentioned in the update I took an oil painting class this past weekend. I am not a very artsy person (yes I can be creative but I really don't have the patience to actually make art). But I needed a new hobby and this sounded like fun. So here it is, my painting, "Rocky Mountain View". The class was about 4.5 hours and it was a wet-on-wet oil painting technique.

Just waiting 2-3 weeks (or longer) for it to dry so we can get it framed and then hang it up somewhere. I can take 1-2 classes per month (I'm thinking 1 since it's not super cheap) so soon my house will be filled with my own art work.