Date Night(s)

So, I had an epiphany over vacation....a scheduled date night with the kids. Sure, you always hear about husband and wives making time for date nights, but what about that one-on-one interaction with your children? It came to me when Chapel and Eli stayed at the "Neverland Club" at our hotel while Brett and I went to dinner at an awesome rooftop restaurant on Disney property. Conor and Jude, due to their young age, could not go to the Neverland Club so I dressed them in cute new outfits and called it date night with mom and dad.

Entering the Neverland Club - Chapel and Eli begged to go back to this "kids only" club!

Balancing act at the rooftop restaurant. Check out Magic Kingdom in the background!

Brett ordering at California Grill.....

Conor and Jude's sophisticated menu choices on date night....no chicken fingers for these babes!

Although not quite one-on-one, it did inspire my new date night philosophy with my kids at home. So far this week, Chapel chose to play American Girl Dolls on her date night, Conor and Jude each got to walk around the block with just mom, and Eli & I read about superhero's from his new book. I don't know, there must be some truth to safety in numbers because children act so differently when removed from the group. I feel like my new date night allows me the opportunity to explore each child's personality on a more individual level. I love that they are already talking about what they are going to do next week!

Happy Birthday, Eli Edison Fogle Barker

Eli turning 4 was special for the entire family. We went to Disney World for the sole purpose of celebrating big man's birthday. Eli was born on April 18th, which was his EXACT due date. How many babies are born on their due date? I remember the doctor told me to expect an early delivery because Chapel was 2 weeks early. So every morning, for two weeks, I would wake up and think - today is going to be the day. But, no! Eli decided to wait until the very last minute to make his arrival. When I told Brett on the morning of the 18th that I knew the baby was on his way, his response was, "How prompt. He's right on time."

Eli is a particular, loving, and strong-willed child. He *has* to wear pajama pants at night. He *has* to have chocolate milk first thing in the morning. He *does not like* swimming at the school pool because it is too deep, but can swim in the Disney World volcano pool. He naps better than anyone in his class; thus, allowing him to say up way too late at night. He *loves* superhero's and he *loves* a good tickling. Eli never ceases to amaze me with his demands or his sweet demeanor. Happy Birthday, Eli.

Eli's birthday dinner at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge - an African style resort with real wildlife. The kids posed both inside and outside the lodge.

We ate dinner at BOMA, located in the hotel. It features traditional African cuisine.

Eli loved, loved, loved his tie...Such a grown-up.

When we returned to our hotel room, we had quite the surprise! Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto had made a visit and each had left Eli a special birthday package!

The favorite package was from Donald because he left behind feathers!

We'll Be Pirates

I am not sure when it happened - when Chapel decided pirates are cooler than princesses but during this trip to Disney, she definitely was far more interested in all things pirates than anything princess. Which actually worked out beautifully because Eli, of course, has been fascinated by pirates for over a year now. When given the choice, Chapel preferred to dress like a pirate and go on the pirate cruise rather than visit the Bippity Boppity Boutique and be magically transformed into a princess. Eli, especially, wanted to dress like Captain Hook, and what a handsome Captain Hook he made. The first step in becoming a pirate was getting a new pirate name: Chapel's was Cat Coalface and Eli was renamed Nathaniel (which he promptly changed to Capt'n Hook). Next step: wardrobe. Finally, make-up was applied and the pirate oath was taken. Make-up on a boy pirate? Yes! Eli was ever-so-cute with his "guyliner". Seriously, this boy could break some emo hearts! I love these kids, and their sense of adventure! And I love that Disney has the forethought to make little kids' dreams come true....

Changing into their outfits...

Getting make-up applied...

Taking the pirate oath. Chapel liked it when her guy told her, "your daddy is gonna need a shotgun to keep all the boys away!" I don't think she has any idea what a shotgun is, but she liked the phrase none-the-less and repeated it to us about 5 times that day!

My pirates!

Exhausted from the fun...

Next day. Make-up still partially on. Getting ready to board the pirate cruise...

Ohana Means Family

The Polynesian Resort was our home during our stay at Disney. The past three times we have visited we have always resided at the Grand Floridian so this made the trip extra exciting - a new place to discover! The Polynesian is based on resort you would find in the South Pacific and it is modeled after a relaxing tropical paradise featuring lush vegetation, thatched roofs and waterfalls both indoors and out. The main building is called the Great Ceremonial House and it is surrounded by smaller villa's that contain the guest rooms. The atmosphere was awesome with the employees all saying "aloha" and calling you "cousin". The kids, especially Jude, were excited each time they saw the waterfalls and tiki's. He would squeal with delight. Chapel and Eli had been looking forward to the volcano pool for months and it did not disappoint. Conor was quite taken with the baby ducks that swam in the lagoons. Seriously, with all the entertainment at our hotel we almost didn't need to bother with theme parks. Brett and I joked the kids would have been just as happy staying there all week and never leaving to visit the Magic Kingdom or Epcot.

As for mom and dad, we loved the restaurants at the Polynesian. My all-time favorite is Ohana, a word for family, where there is an open fire and turkey, shrimp, steak, and pork are brought to your table on these big skewers. They also bring you this awesome pineapple bread and dumplings and noodles to the table and everything is served family style.

We also attended the Spirit of Aloha dinner show which is all-you-can eat family style luau featuring authentic dances from the south pacific (including the hula dance) and my favorite, fire spinners. It was amazing and made me feel like I had been transplanted straight to Hawaii. Chapel and Eli were also certainly amazed by the chocolate volcano dessert.

Our third and final meal at the Polynesian was a character breakfast which featured Lilo and Stitch and the ever-popular Mickey Mouse, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, of course. Lilo and Stitch are a perfect fit for the Polynesian - if you have ever seen the movie it takes place in Hawaii. I have decided Jude's nickname should be Stitch due to both his propensity to be a troublemaker and adorable at the same time!

Let the Magic Begin

We have made it! After months of planning our family is in Orlando, at Disney World, to celebrate Eli turning 4 on Sunday. I am lucky to have a wonderful husband who has planned this entire trip for his big man's bday. Today we took in an awesome Orlando attraction known as WonderWorks - or as my kids called it, the upside down house. It is a lot like the Discovery Place, packed with science experiments and Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not like moments. Some of the highlights include:

The building which is obviously a spectacle in itself!

Wearing goggles and standing during category 1 hurricane winds (64 mph).

Stretching out on a bed of nails..... Chapel LOVED this....

And using the system of pulleys to raise off the floor.

For lunch, we dined at Downtown Disney's T-Rex Cafe, which boasts realistic dinosaurs that move and growl and meteor showers which get all of the mechanical dino's excited at once. Eli wore his new bday present, his dinosaur shoes, to commemorate the occasion.

Conor and Jude were not as enamored as the big kids with this attraction. As a matter of fact, they acted as if they were terrified one of the dinosaurs were going to swoop down and eat THEM for lunch! Conor cried and cried, and she is very loud when she is all worked up. And Jude clung to me like a little monkey. He would hardly even look up at the dinosaur we were sitting directly under. Which, by the way, would roar every so often and get Conor wailing all over again! By the end of lunch, and three meteor showers later, the babies had loosened up a little. They must have realized the dinosaurs were not going to get any closer to our table. Conor actually started growling back and smiling a tiny smile. Jude finally made eye contact with a dinosaur; however, he never did muster the courage to sit on his own. He remained hesitant and insisted I hold or carry him the entire time. Poor babies, they need to get accustomed to all this action or the theme parks are going to seriously overwhelm their senses....

Chapel trying to comfort her sister.

Conor giving the dinosaur one of her famous looks...

Eli's Sabor Tooth Sundae.