Our kids had quite the support system for the last day of school this year. Eric's parents along with my mom and nephew were able to attend along with

Have you read the poem "When You Give A Boy A Baseball?" If not, you should. It's sweet and sentimental and the kind of thing that will have a t-ball mom in tears just thinking about Senior Night.   It's also true, but if I'm being honest, it's just a picture of the sport through rose-colored glasses. You see, I grew up in a football family and am far from an athlete myself, so my only exposure to sporting events was under the Friday Night lights of high school stadiums where it was perfectly acceptable to yell things like "Break their legs," or "Knock their heads off."  Trust me when I say that those phrases do not translate well into the baseball world, so it's advisable to omit them from your vocabulary. My first experience with baseball, other than my brother's  t-ball team (which by the way, was played on fields at the local airport) came during my engagement as I accompanied by sweet husband-to-be to wa...

We spent our fifth day of the trip at Hollywood Studios! For our family, this is always a really easy park. We like to hit it early, leave after lunch for a rest/swim and then return for the evening.  I'm sure this will change when Star Wars Land opens, but for now, we enjoy the much slower pace. We hit the park super early so we could rope drop Toy Story Mania since we had a Fast Pass for Slinky Dog Dash.  It worked out beautifully because the standby line was only five minutes long while the masses ran (walked briskly) to the coaster. We took our time exiting the ride, taking in all the details and, of course, taking pictures with the themed walls. We had an early FP for Slinky Dog Dash, which was a first for the kiddos. Even with the FP, it was still a short wait, but the kids loved  the theming and activities while we were in the line. They gave the ride their complete approval as well!  After leaving the Slinky Dog Dash, we hit up a few fa...

Here’s to you  You were pink or blue  And everything I wanted Here’s to you  Never sleeping through  From midnight till the morning  Had to crawl before you walked, before you ran. Before I knew it,  You were trying to free your fingers from my hand  ‘Cause you could do it on your own now  But do you think somehow, you could... Slow down  Here’s to you  Every missing tooth  Every bedtime story  Here’s to Barbie cars, light saber wars  And sleeping in on Sunday  Had to crawl before you walked, before you ran. Before I knew it, You were teaching me  The only thing love can... Hold hands through it.  When it’s scary, you’ve got me But slow down  Won’t you stay here a minute more  I know you wanna walk through the door  But it’s all too fast  Let’s make it last a little while  I pointed to the ...

Do ya'll remember way back in January when I promised to be a better blogger?  Yeah, I know. Basically, I have totally failed at that little commitment. Two things happened today that made me realize I need to step up my "mom game." For starters, Ellie got sick at school and when Eric picked her up, she told him that I had to send her because I am too busy at work to take off.  Talk about a dagger to the heart. I rarely have "working mom" guilt, but ya'll, that was kinda brutal!! In full discloser, she told me her stomach was upset but I ignored it and instead told her the story of the "Boy Who Cried Wolf."  Eli chimed in as well cause the Watsons are "suck it buttercup" kind of people. Ellie whines so much and complains of tummy aches anytime she has to do chores, clean up her room, wake up before she's ready or participate in any activity she deems unworthy of her time, so I really didn't think much of it. Apparently s...

Tuesday was our first park day with the entire family, and I must say that traveling as a group of 10 was easier than I expected.  Last summer we all went to the beach.  It was wonderful and we can't wait to do it again, but it was also difficult to separate and do our own thing because we worried about offending someone or others being bored.  With Disney, that just wasn't the case.  We had things we did together as a large group, other times we kinda paired off into smaller groups, and sometimes we were we separated by family unit.  No matter what, everyone was entertained and that was key to a relaxing trip.  We ended up walking nearly 11 miles on Animal Kingdom Day and left the park completely exhausted but in the very best kind of way! Every time we visit this park it grows on us a little more and our kids absolutely agreed that this was one of the very best days they had this trip.  Suffice to say, my advice is to ignore what you read ...