Adventures with Auntie: Back-flips, lost teeth & candlelight dinner

My streak is broken......14+ years with NO accidents when the kids come over.  14 years....that's a lot of weekends.  Well, my record is tarnished and it happened last weekend.
I pretty much go by the honor system at my house.  I ask them if they are allowed to do _______ and trust they give me an honest answer.  (First hint that I am not a parent, haha)

Friday started off great.  I picked three of my nieces up on my way home from work and my husband ordered pizza for us.  They requested to eat on the back porch and a first time request...to eat by candlelight.  

After dinner, it was time to swim.  We had the music blasting and all was well.  The girls are doing canon balls, diving and back flips.  Well, after 20+ backflips, Logan came up a touch short and found the wall.  Poor girl.  Auntie stayed calm and avoided total chaos but I felt so bad.
Logan asked if she could see her injury but stayed amazingly calm when she did.  A little wimper but that was it.  Phewwwww.......  No more back flips for a while.

 

We got all the girls in the house and tried out a Pinterest recipe I found.  Oven baked waffle cone s'mores.  They of course, loved them.

 

 

Logan had an adventurous day.  She had also lost a tooth so we were on double-duty and our second tooth fairy responsibility.  Thank goodness Simon was home because I fell asleep before the girls and totally forgot.  Simon woke me up at 3:00am when he remembered and we got the silver dollar in exchange for the tooth.  Logan woke up at 6:15 and ran around squealing with excitement that the tooth fairy came.  Phew...another close call.  

Saturday was a typical day...soccer in the morning and racing the rest of the day.  This is my team. Aren't they the cutest?!  My nine little ladies.  

This week has been busy, busy and my Dad and I head to Georgia Friday night to race.  Hope you've had a super week!    

Weekend Rewind

Hey friends!  Hope you had a great weekend.  We were busy little bees.  Friday after work, I stopped by and grabbed my twin nieces for a little sleep over.  Simon ordered pizzas and we partied the night away. 

 

Saturday we woke up early and the girls hung outside with Uncle Simon while he got ready to go out with his buddies for the day.  We left for Payton's soccer game.

 

Taylor went home after soccer but Logan wanted to stay so we went to Target for some new flip-flops sandals and went for afternoon pedicures.  Those sandals are the cutest, aren't they?!

 Simon was still out around dinner time so Logan talked me into taking her to one of our favorite restaurants, Taverna Opa.  She overheard me on some work calls (we are having dinner there tonight) and begged and begged until she convinced me to get reservations.  We grabbed my nephew Shane and cruised over for some delicious food and tons of fun.

 

I was one of the many that headed out to Target Sunday for a little Lilly action.  I got going pretty early (for a Sunday) and got there around 8:30.  I was so excited when I went in because there was no chaos.  Of course not, I was a half-hour late and the entire place was sold out already.  Dang, I was so naive to think that these pastel patterns would cause such a frenzy. 

Oh well.  I made the rest of the day productive and cleaned the house nearly from top to bottom so I was feeling great starting the week off sparkling clean.  

I have a work dinner tonight and another busy week ahead.  Hope you are getting some sunshine your way.  Looks like lots of the south had a rainy weekend and that is no bueno for trying to be productive.  

Favorite pins of the moment: Around the house

I was hoping to share a couple style pins but I haven't got any new ones....boooo!

I am in real estate for work so I often keep an eye on new trends and ways to decorate model homes.
This pin is almost unreal that such a transformation can be achieved in such a small space.  Wouldn't you agree?

This idea is so simple and just as awesome.  These style lights were on trend for many years and it can be frightful to take them down and replace.  Mainly due to the uncertainty of the drywall and paint behind it.  This makes an update beyond easy.

OMG...is this the best or what?!  Perfection for an old TV cabinet.

Another major small space reno....gorg!

Our return air is in the ceiling BUT if it was on a wall and visible, this would be ideal.

I am overdue for a family room update.  I can easily find stuff I love but it can be tricky to have them work in my space.  Here is a happy medium.  Grays are all the trends this year and this is on point.

What are your Spring projects?  I found my online motivation, just need to get to work and put these into action!  :)

Weekend Rewind: Soccer + Charity Kickball Tournament

YESSSS!  I am feeling so much better.  I woke up Friday sick again and finally took my behind to the doctor. My doctor couldn't see me so I went to an Urgent Care by my office.  It took four (yes, four) attempts at getting into an office but I finally did and was diagnosed with a sinus infection.  I got antibiotics Friday and was significantly better yesterday.

Saturday we had a soccer game at 11:00 and it was smoking hot.  My forehead got toasted.  Our little team won again.  We are undefeated this season so far and they are playing so great.  It's very rewarding to see them finding new personal bests and giving it their all.
 
A friend asked me to play in a kickball game for charity on Sunday.  I thought it was just one game but it was a full-day tournament.  There were ore than 10 teams and we played SIX 50-minute games. OMG.  It was a charity fundraiser.  It's a heartbreaking story.  A 17 year old high school senior and baseball player in our area was diagnosed with lukemia.  Even worse, he was originally diagnosed with ALL T-Cell and two weeks later, AML was also found. Less than 5% of people with Leukemia have two forms of this cancer. With two forms of leukemia, he needs a Stem Cell Transplant so it was a fundraiser for his family. His brother is a match for the stem cells but the procedures and his medical care are several hours away and a single mom is doing all this on her own.  So sad.

The fields were packed.  It was a great day raising money for his family.  A girl on my team won the 50/50 raffle and she gave it to the family.  So sweet.  We played in the heat, rain and 100% humidity. I got there at 8:30 and finally left at 4:00.  We finished third.  Missed the championship game by one point.  Last night was a little quiet.  I came home, showered and crashed.
Kickball is known to have funny team names.........we had a great one.

Meet our team: "Pitches Be Crazy"

Weekend Rewind: Easter

Dang, I hate to complain but I am sick of being sick.  I have been bogged down off and on the last few weeks feeling under the weather every four or five days.  After much denial, I am realizing that I may need to eat better, rest more and maybe even take vitamins.  Ahhhh.....so sad.  I am not in my 20s anymore. :(
Moving on to happier subjects....EASTER!  I conquered a little Pinterest project I saved.  Since our family is into racing, I created little go-kart racing Peeps with Twinkies and Swiss Cake Rolls.  I used crushed Oreos as the race track.  The kids loved them.

I also got a sad realization that my oldest nephew Shane is now taller than me, even with heels on.  He was the first born and we are very close.  He has been standing head to head with me for a year, telling me he would be taller soon and in the last few months he has sprouted up a couple inches.  

 I normally do baskets for the kids but this year I decided to do towels.  I caught them on sale with Pottery Barn {here}.  I got the full size towels and had their names added to them.  Our family spends all summer boating and these are sure to get tons of use.  They each also got a new pair of summer flip-flops.  They loved them and the embroidery came out so cute.
It wasn't long after lunch the kids slipped into swimsuits and although they were freezing, they had a great time.

Simon sighting! I was hoping for a nice photo with a pretty background but this is the best we got. My husband is as bad as a child, he hates pictures.  Add that to the kid's new favorite trick, hopping into pictures at the last second and it's nothing short of an adventure.  

 Hope y'all are off to a super week!

Disney's Fort Wilderness: Cabin Tour

My first post from our trip to Fort Wilderness highlighted some of the areas around the resort.  As I shared, we stayed in one of the 300+ cabins on property.  Each cabin is numbered.  We stayed in the 2600 block in cabin #2695 on Moccasin Trail.  This is a great block to stay on.  There is a bus stop right in front and a pool plus laundry directly across the street.  We read online that the higher numbers are newer cabins but we only saw ours so we cannot say for sure.  

One thing we learned quick, you cannot drive your vehicle around the resort.  Well, you can drive it around BUT you cannot park it anywhere. You have to rent a golf cart or take the bus.  The golf carts go fast.  They are booked up to a year in advance.  Seriously.  

We didn't know that so my kids had to take the bus around. It's no charge to ride the bus and although some online reviews complained of a long wait, we never waited more than five minutes for the next bus.  Plus, if it's cold or rainy out, you are protected from the elements when you ride the bus. 

 

Home sweet home.  From this angle, the bedroom is on the left, bathroom is in the middle and the kitchen/family room/murphy bed are on the right.

You pull right up to your cabin.  You can unload and lock the keys inside.  

     

A BBQ grill is outside BUT there is no charcoal.  You can have it delivered for less than $10.00.  There is a vast grocery list of anything you can want or need.

There is inside dining plus this picnic table outside on the front porch.

 

 Our backyard view and a peek from the family room into the kitchen.

The kitchen is STOCKED!  Plates, glasses, flatware, mugs, saucers, paper towels...everything!

Had we known, we would have taken the time to get meals to cook at the cabin, especially breakfast and dinner.  The kids were so tired from playing at the pool all day and having dinner there (we grabbed pizza to go) would have been perfect.  And, who wants to get up early and get all these kids ready?!  I wish we brought breakfast supplies.  We will next time for sure.

A murphy bed pulls down for even more room to sleep.  There are nightstands, lamps and outlets too.

Yes, a bathroom is included.  And the vanity is FULLY stocked with towels.

Four to six can sleep on this side of the cabin.  The bunks are oversized and two toddlers easily slept in each bed.  We had plenty of pillows too.

There is a hanging closet, baby play pin, changing table, iron and lots of drawers for storage.

Our pool right across the street from the 2600 block.  This isn't as adventurous as the main pool that has slides and fountains but it's also not as busy so that was nice.  

We didn't see any towels at either pool so pack some or grab them from your cabin.

Walking to our bus stop.  There are colored loops so you know where your bus is going.  The kids loved running onto the bus and grabbing their seats.  The bus was ice cold inside, perfect for ducking out of the hot sun and cooling off in between stops.