What's going on?!?

 Cheeser.. sporting Mom's head band!

 Burke's Vday Presents...

 We had to wake him up.. He was kind of a grump!

But some french toast (heart shaped!) and strawberries and all smiles (yes again this year he is in halloween pjs.. I don't know how that happens?)!

 I don't love his new "cheese" face, but I do love him!!!!

I have been HORRIBLE at blogging these past few weeks.  I'm not sure what is going on.. I can say we have been just as busy as ever, but really it's laziness!  I haven't been taking pictures, and I feel like blogs are NO fun without pics!  We have done lots of fun stuff over the past few weeks.  We had a great valentine's day, met up with Brian's dad and aunt for dinner and just enjoyed some nice weather!  We've had a little illness, Burke in the form of hives that looked like chicken pox (NO clue where they came from!?), Brian in the form of puking and migraines.. luckily I've stayed relatively healthy :)

Since Brian was sick this past week, Burke and I went out on Thursday for our first Mother/Son Date night.  We had SOOOO much fun! I was looking for something to do outside of the house, since Brian was having a migraine and keeping Burke quiet can be quite difficult, so we headed out!  We spent a good chunk of the evening at Barnes and Noble reading books and playing on the train table, then headed over to chickfila for dinner.  I never get fast food for Burke, so this was quite a treat :)  He loved watching the kids play and eating his chicken, fruit and ice cream!  Our Chickfila playland isn't toddler friendly (kind of disappointing), but Burke didn't seem to mind at all.  We sat there for a good 45 minutes watching the kids run around and eating/talking.  It was so cute listening to him.. If you have seen him lately, he has LOTS to say.. But still doesn't speak english :)

Friday was a pretty normal day for us.. Work, mom's morning out and nap.. Saturday we had a busy day though!!  We went to Winterfest on campus.  If you don't know.. It's an indoor carnival with lots of moonbounces, balloons, music, facepainting, etc. AND it's FREE!!  We met up with some friends and enjoyed an afternoon there.  We had to leave to nap, before a birthday party.  Alex's 10th birthday party was at the school next to our house, so after a short nap, we headed over to the party.  It took Burke a while to warm up to everyone, since we haven't seen them in forever :(  but he finally did and enjoyed playing with Addison and her little friend.  We had to leave early, so I could head to babysit, but we had a great time!

Today, we enjoyed an early lunch then I headed to babysit and the boys went to the park and napped.  We had dinner, ran errands and played trains.. Stinks that Monday is already here.. But have a good week!!!

I'm behind yet again on my blogging.. I don't even know what to blog about :)  Nothing too fancy going on around here.  We're around and I'll post more when I feel like typing :)

Today's Project..

For a couple of weeks now, I have talked about wanting to reorganize the kitchen.  We don't have a very big kitchen (or house for that matter) and I am trying soooooo hard to minimize our life.. stuff included!  So I'm trying to tackle one room at a time.  For the kitchen, I started by searching low and high for things to make it organized.. Then with Ashley's advise, I decided to go ahead and make a plan first then buy things if I needed.  So today was the day.. I decide to go ahead and clean things out, then buy stuff throughout the process.  We started this morning bright and early.  Brian had to help me reach the high stuff, so he was stuck helping :)  I'm very proud of my accomplishment today, and I only spent about $10... YES! We donated a ton of stuff and that really helped along the way!

So here are the before and afters...

The first and second... I failed to take a before picture.. but trust me.. This is MUCH better!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Our little make-over took pretty much all day.. I'm so happy about this.. I'm ready to tackle another room.  What you can't see in the pictures is there is NO food or things (except treats) on top of my fridge.. AND NOTHING on top of cabinets!  Super excited about this!!

Catch-up...

"not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted."  

Albert Einstein

 

I know I am still playing catch up on everything, but I am glad to finally finish posting about Disney.  It was a great trip and this time I was DETERMINED to get everything blogged about, so I can remember later :)  Now.. to catch up on the rest of our life.. Things are going well in the Williams House.  I am working way too hard these days trying to keep up with everything, but I am still afloat!  

I came across this today when reading a friends blog and decided that I need to remember this everyday!  There are so many things we worry about that we shouldn't and too many things we don't do enough about :)

Here's to staying afloat and enjoying life!

Disney Photopass Pictures!

Disney Day 7 (and last day :( )

I KNOW! I KNOW! If I lived in Florida, Disney wouldn't be nearly as fun, but I still hate leaving.  I tried to make sure our last day was the BEST!  I planned the best breakfast and Magic Kingdom to end the trip...

We started off the morning at Chef Mickey's.  It is next to impossible to get reservations here. I'm not exactly sure why.  It is a very nice experience, and the food variety is the best at any buffet, but really.. it's a character buffet?  Anyway, we went our last morning.  To start the meal off, a bird pooped in Kaitlin's hair.  It was hilarious!  Although she wouldn't agree.  :)  Chef Mickey's is in the Contemporary, where the monorail goes through the hotel, so it's almost like you are outside.

During breakfast we had a great server.  She gave Burke a button and cupcake for his "first visit" even after we told her it was his second.  Her response "well, he doesn't remember his first, so this is the first real one" :)  We enjoyed time with the characters, some singing and dancing, and a good breakfast.

It took some coaxing to get Burke to try the cupcake, but as soon as he did, there was no going back :)

After breakfast, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom.  It was REALLY cold this day!   When we got there, the first thing we noticed was ALL of the Christmas decorations were gone.  It's crazy. The day before they were all there!  We shopped a lot and rode a few things.  But since it was only 35 degrees, we were trying to stay inside as much as possible.  We did get to meet Buzz, which Burke and I were thrilled with!  Unfortunately, my camera died during breakfast, so I don't have any pictures of the morning.  After a few rides, etc, we were forced to leave and make our way to the airport.....

We had a safe flight back and got into Richmond around 6.  Brian and I decided to drive back on Thursday night, so we could all sleep in our own beds and get our lives back in order on Friday.  It was definitely sad to be back, but we were ready for a routine again!

We had an AMAZING trip!  Although we go often, no two trips are the same and it is so worth it!  Thanks so much to Mom, Dad and Kaitlin for a great trip and helping with Burke!  We would never be able to enjoy it as much without you guys!


And for anyone wondering.. We have already talked about our next trip, but nothing is booked yet.. We may try Disneyland next... :)

Disney World Day 6..

We visited Animal Kingdom on Day 6!  As you can tell by the pictures, it was a little chilly on Wednesday while we were there.. Luckily I packed Burke's jacket.. unfortunately, B and I didn't pack anything more than sweatshirts, so we had to layer... Anyway, can't complain.. We were in Disney World!!

We started off the day with a character breakfast at Tusker House.  Our breakfast was at 9:15, but the park opened at 9.. we could have gotten in early, but they have a "rope drop" every morning and the cast member suggested we watch.. I'm glad we did.  We were front row and it was definitely a fun little show. They had the characters and some singing :) My new goal is to make it for rope drop at every park at least once :)

We had a really good breakfast. I had heard great things about Tusker House before, but we went there for lunch in May and NO ONE liked it! Needless to say I was a little worried, but we did eat at Boma (Animal Kingdom Lodge) for breakfast during the previous trip and everyone loved it, so I had high hopes! It was pretty yummy.  Everyone really likes the juice they have (African juice?), so how can you go wrong?  We also got to see characters again and Burke is a pro now!

After breakfast we headed over for the Safari ride.. The storyline is kind of silly, but I love seeing the animals!  The ride was a bit cold, but worth it to see the baby giraffes and elephants!

After the safari, we did the mandatory Mt Everest ride (LOVE LOVE it!).  I actually rode twice, once with Brian and Kaitlin and then again with mom :)  We did take Burke on the Dinosaur ride also.  It's basically the same as Dumbo, but you ride in Dinosaurs.  Can't see me or Burke, but Mom is waving!

We stayed at AK for a bit longer, before heading back to the room for a little bit.  We had to do some packing/laundry before going to dinner at EPCOT.  Depressing (not the EPCOT part.. the packing part!)!

Kaitlin, Burke, Brian and I ended up heading to EPCOT early.  As the trip goes on and we get closer to the end, I feel a real urgency to spend every minute doing something. I wanted to ride a few more things and walk through the world again, so we did just that!  Natalie had told us about a black cider drink in England and I was DYING to try it.. Unfortunately, we never did find it?  Next time!  But we did get the chance to see Pooh!  We happened to come across him and no one was around, which makes for a much better experience.  We made our way around the countries, going through stores and art museums.  We even made jokes about what they sell in America.  We were taking bets, so we HAD to stop in.  For the record, Brian won.  They sell colonial hats and guns and "Williamsburg" stuff as well as some random red, white and blue stuff.  Anyway, we made our way to Mexico for dinner and met up with Mom and Dad.

For dinner we went to the NEW Mexican Restaurant.  There was some big debates on whether we should go there or to the NEW Italian Restaurant.  I was kind of sad because I heard Italy was so yummy, but MEXICO WAS AMAZING!! I highly recommend everyone go!  But skip the maragritas.. definitely not worth the money!  After a very good dinner, we went out for fireworks, "illuminations." I usually love it. But not so much this time?  Not sure if it was because I was freezing to death, the view, or what?  But I think I like Wishes better.. Anyway, it was a GREAT way to end our trip and last night there....

Disney Day 5

He's just pondering his next move :)

We woke up early on Tuesday to get over to breakfast at the Beach Club.  Brian and I went here for breakfast with the Eschenmann's a couple of years ago and LOVED it, so we thought we would take everyone else.  The variety is nice and the food is pretty yummy!  This meal is where we learned Burke is MUCH more comfortable with the characters if mommy is holding him :)

SCARED TO DEATH

Okay.. I just need to keep an eye on him...

Oh okay.. Minnie's kind of cool :)

After breakfast we walked over to Epcot.  The Beach Club comes into the back of Epcot by France.  The world wasn't open yet, so it was such a quiet and nice walk to the front of the park!  We went first to Soarin' for fast passes, then took Burke over to ride the Seas with Nemo.  I think he really liked the fish!  

While we waited for our fastpasses, we headed through the world.  We had lunch at France and can't say we really like it at all.. Although Burke slept through lunch, so it was peaceful! I was the most disappointed with this meal, because I have heard such great things.. Oh well, don't waste your time though :)

After lunch, we walked through the world some more.. I LOVE walking through the world!  I don't think Brian and Dad enjoy it nearly as much!

Heading to Japan...

And to America...

And Mexico... (I couldn't resist :) )

After the world showcase... We headed back to Soarin' to ride and guess who we found?

Ashley and Chad!

We rode Soarin' together and hung out for a bit.. After a little while we parted ways.. They were on their way to the world and we were headed back to the room!  Rest time :)

We went to Brian's FAVORITE place for dinner, 'Ohanas at the Polynessian.  It is really great food!  They serve it family style and everyone LOVES it..  Brian talked about it everyday asking when we would get to go..  :)  Even Burke loves it.. No need for hands when you can just Hoover it!

After dinner, we headed back to the room to watch the fireworks from our balcony.. It was pretty neat to see them from our room and even better because we could just climb in bed and not fight the crowds to get out of the park!

Next up.. Day 6 - A chilly day at Animal Kingdom!!!