The Griswold Family Vacation Part 2!

If you haven't caught onto my reference in the title- then shame on you! Several times during our drive to Florida we compared ourselves to the great Griswold family in National Lampoon's Vacation. They traveled across county to visit what was essentially Disney Land, and we drove South to DISNEY WORLD!

Yep, we decided to take a couple of days and make the quick trip to Orlando to see Mickey Mouse. A couple of weeks before we left we started mentioning to the girls that we were going to see Mickey Mouse, but I don't think they really understood what it was. Morgan knew the princesses lived there, and knew about the castle, but that was about it. She also knew that she was going to celebrate her 5th birthday while we were there. So on Tuesday night we drove to Orlando and got ready for our big trip. Greg's mom, and two aunts came along with us and were able to surprise Morgan with a birthday party in their room. She was pretty excited when we walked in and saw a cake on the table!

So after indulging in some birthday cake Morgan wanted to open her presents! There were quite a few so she started tearing into them as soon as she could.

She got a lot of Disney stuff which was very appropriate given our surroundings and she loved all of it. Her sister on the other hand did not like the fact that she was not the center of attention and she really didn't like the fact that she didn't get any presents to open. After awhile I found her sitting in the living room looking like this.

That straight back and sad face quickly turned into a mini dramatic scene. There wasn't really any crying, but she did throw herself on the floor to add to the drama!

But lucky for Elizabeth she has some wonderful family members that figured she needed to open some presents too. So she got to tear into her very open stash of presents.

I think one of Morgan's favorite gifts from the trip was a new Jessie doll from Toy Story. At home we have Woody and Buzz and now there was a new one to add to the mix. Every night when we went to bed Morgan tucked Jessie into "bed" which was the couch with a pillow and blanket.

Since the girls were in a good mood I was able to catch them with smiles. Here is Morgan and daddy after cake and presents.

And here is Elizabeth and Grandma 'C'.

And here is the birthday girl. You can see the stash of presents and cake behind her.

So after the birthday party we went back to our room to get some rest. Morgan was pretty sad that we couldn't go swimming but by the time we made it back to our room it was dark and late! We told them we had to go to bed because we had a big day tomorrow. So within a few minutes of getting them tucked in they were out.

The next morning I got them dressed and told them that today was the day! We were going to Disney World! This was the basic reaction I got.

So we had breakfast and were ready to go. We were lucky enough to stay within the Disney property so there was a shuttle that took us from the park to our hotel. So while we waited for the shuttle I made the girls pose for more photos.

Not really sure why Morgan is making that face, but imagine the face below accompanied by "When is the shuttle coming mom?"

And when I told her it was here this was the face I got.

After a brief shuttle ride we had to choose between the monorail or the ferry. We thought the girls would like the ferry so we loaded the boat and set sail for Disney.

Finally we made it into the park. Both of the girls got buttons that said it was their first visit which they proudly wore for about 20 minutes.

After renting a stroller and getting our stuff situated we were ready to go. The minute we walked onto Main Street the girls were pretty impressed with the castle. Morgan knew that's where the princesses lived and immediately wanted to see them.

After getting through the castle Morgan saw that there were rides at Disney world and immediately wanted to ride one. The first one she saw was Dumbo. So we stood in line for about 30 minutes (which I must say they tolerated well) and took our first ride. Morgan rode with Grandma and Elizabeth rode with me. Elizabeth and I stayed up high so Greg couldn't get a picture of us, but he was able to get one of Grandma and Morgan.

Then it was Elizabeth's turn to choose a ride, and she chose the carousel. The line for that was minimal so we got on quickly.

After wandering around for a little bit we decided to take the girls on It's a Small World. Greg and I both have great memories of this ride (as do our parents). The girls weren't overly impressed and we mainly enjoyed it for the air conditioning!

After awhile we stopped and ate some lunch.

And then went back to riding rides! The teacups were right outside where we ate lunch so we all piled in and spun ourselves around.

After the teacups Morgan wanted to drive the race cars, so we stood in line for a little while and waited our turn. While we were waiting I caught a glimpse of Space Mountain. Unfortunately on this trip Space Mountain wasn't in our future because both girls were too short and Greg and I didn't think it would be fair for us to go without them. Maybe next time!

Finally it was our turn to drive the race cars!

Morgan rode with me and while we were waiting for our car Greg and Elizabeth took off. If you look closely you can see Elizabeth's little head poking out of the car. This was the case in a lot of rides, she barley could see over the car!

After the cars we were all overheated. By this point is was 1 pm, and the sun was blazing hot, then add in that you are surrounded by asphalt pavement and you basically feel like you are on fire. So we ducked into Minnie Mouse's house for a minute to cool off.


Even the air conditioning in Minnie's house didn't help so we decided to retire for the afternoon and we headed back to the hotel. And the minute we got back what did Morgan want to do? SWIM!

After a dip in the pool and a nice long nap the girls were ready to head back to the park. They were kind of cranky earlier when we were there so we were worried that they weren't enjoying the park but we were determined to give it another chance. By the time we left it had been raining and was still sprinkling. We had our fingers crossed that it would stop by the time we got there.

By the time we made it back to the park it had cooled off quite a bit and people were already lining up for the fireworks and parade. So the lines were minimal and we were able to move around a lot quicker which made the girls happy. They were also excited to see the castle change colors as the sun went down.

Even though we got rained on a bit the girls were much happier this time around. Morgan was able to find her favorite ride when we went back. It was Aladdin's flying carpet. She even rode it twice!

Even Elizabeth didn't mind standing in line for the flying carpet.

After riding several more rides it was finally time to go. Our plan was to escape the park before the end of the fireworks so hopefully we could beat some of the crowd. We had said all along that at the end of the day we would stop in the candy shop on the way out. It was Morgan's dream- an entire store full of candy! So while Greg was in the shop I stayed out on the street with the girls. While we were waiting the fireworks started.

The girls have never really seen fireworks before so I was interested in what they would think. So I quickly grabbed the camera and snapped some pictures.

I think it's safe to say that between the music, fireworks and utter exhaustion they were pretty impressed. Finally it was time to go. we decided to take the ferry back to the parking lot and once we got situated the girls got to enjoy their candy treat. A giant lollipop.They also got a big Mickey Mouse balloon that made it back with us.

After Disney World we headed back to Clearwater for another day and just relaxed. Then after a week of being in Florida it was time to go home. We loaded up the car (which was much fuller then on the way down) and headed back to Indiana.

We decided to do the drive all in one day rather the stop and it actually worked out okay. The girls didn't get too restless and we didn't get too tired. We were all happy to be home!

Intermission....

So in preperation for the second part of our family vacation we tried to tell the girls where we were taking them. While they got the overall concept of where we were going I'm not sure they really knew what it was so as you can see from the video they were slightly more excited about the visit to the pool....

The Griswald Family Vacation Part 1

Okay, so maybe we aren't the Griswald's, but as we were pulling out of our driveway scenes from National Lampoons Summer Vacation popped into our heads. But it's official- the Clark family went on vacation this year! It was really our first ever family vacation of any magnitude so we were all really excited. We decided to take the girls to Florida since Greg wanted to see his mom, grandfather and aunts and it also provided us an easy place to stay since his family lives there. We have been thinking about making this trip for awhile and put it off since Elizabeth was still pretty young, but we committed to going this year and finally figured out the logistics of making such a long trip.

Since flying would be fairly expensive and a logistical nightmare (think paying for four tickets and not being able to get a direct flight) we decided to drive. To make the drive easier we bit the bullet and rented a minivan for the trip. We figured it would be easier for the girls to have their own space and we needed extra room for all of our stuff. So we finally loaded up our stuff on Thursday June 24 and headed out at 3:30am on Friday morning.

We had a great theory of getting on the road incredibly early and the girls going back to sleep the minute they got in the car...well this is what they looked like shortly after leaving....

They don't look too tired do they! In actuality the girls probably slept a total of 45 minutes the first day. So that means they were up from 3:30am until they finally passed out at 7pm. They were troopers. One thing that made their trip so much easier was our investment in a dual screen DVD player. The girls were able to sit in the back of the van and watch their movies pretty much the entire drive. I also packed coloring books, crayons, toys and lots of snacks!

On the way down we decided to split the drive into two days because we thought it would be easier on all of us. We stopped outside of Atlanta to spend the night and the girls were introduced to the swimming pool. They loved it. After swimming we grabbed some dinner at the steakhouse and Morgan and Daddy played tick-tack-toe while we were waiting for our food.

On the second day we got up again at 3am (the hotel clerk looked at us weird when I said I wanted to check out) and we made it to Clearwater, Florida by 10:30am. The girls were so excited to be in Florida! Shortly after we got to Greg's mom's house we had some lunch, took a nap (I forced this on the girls- mainly because I was tired too) and when we got up we went to the pool! Grandma had gotten the girls sunglasses, towels, flip flops and goggles so they were ready. I was slightly worried how they would react in the pool but after our afternoon in the Georgia pool I knew they were going to do great.

They both had arm floaties which saved the day. Once they realized that they couldn't sink when they had them on they both pretty much had no fear of the water.

Grandma's pool also had a huge supply of noodles, so arm floaties + noodles= mom no freaking out about them drowning!

They both even tried their goggles on so they could see underwater.

After awhile the girls got so comfortable that they were swimming and jumping all by themselves. It was kind of nice not to have to hold onto them while in the water. We were all able to float around by ourselves.

Just as proof that they were doing so well I made them jump in so I could catch it on camera. Now just imagine them doing this over and over and over again.

The girls loved going swimming and they pretty much wanted to stay in the water all day. It wasn't long that we wanted to show them that there was more to do then go to the pool, so we decided to take them to the beach. There was a great state park near the condo so we headed up with all of our new beach gear for a day at the beach.

This was the view when we got there. It was so pretty! We were lucky that none of the oil had made it to the area so we got to enjoy beautiful water, beautiful sand and a pretty light crowd!

I was trying to get the girls to take a nice picture together...but they had different ideas.

So when we got to the beach and unloaded our stuff the girls took off to investigate the water.

Morgan was a little apprehensive about it at first, and would go to the edge and when a wave came in she would run back onto the beach. She much preferred to hang out by the towels and play in the sand.

Elizabeth on the other hand let Greg take her out into the ocean. They started out wading....

and then kept creeping out even farther. Elizabeth loved it!

When they weren't playing in the water they found plenty of things to do on the beach. They chased the poor seagulls around for a solid five minutes. Those poor birds didn't have a chance!

They made sand castles (or sand angels in this case)

We took turns burying each other in the sand. This was Morgan's idea and it started with me but both girls got their turn being buried!

Around lunchtime we got tired and headed back to the condo for some rest. When we weren't at the pool or the beach we watched cartoons and movies on our DVD player. It was a great way for everyone to rest!

We went out to dinner one night with Greg's family and afterwards we stopped by another beach because we promised the girls. Elizabeth was able to jump up when the saves came in thanks to her two helpers!

The first part of the week was great. We swam a lot, played at the beach, saw the ocean and ate some really great food. The trip almost couldn't get any better....but we had a big surprise in store for the girls. And although they knew where we were going next, I don't think they really understood what was about to happen.....

To be continued....

It's summer time!

Summer is finally here which means the Clark family has been spending a lot of time outside. The girls are still using their swing set all the time but since it's warmer we can now add the sprinkler and pool to the list of outdoor activities. I thin Memorial Day weekend was the first time the girls made us haul out the pool (and it wasn't even that warm yet!) but since they asked Greg blew it up and we filled it with luke warm water. The girls loved it. The both put on their bathing suits, lathered up with sun screen and hit the water.

But first the posed for this wonderful bathing suit picture for me. I'm not really sure why they felt the need to put their hands behind their heads and flaunt their little bellies, but it is cute! The pool I bought last year was a last ditch effort to find something to fill the gap at the end of summer. Our original pool got a leak and I found this small dinosaur pool on clearance in August. I figured we would have to replace it with something else, but the girls love it.

They love the water that comes out of the tail, and will wait until the pool fills up to turn it off. While it is filling up the pool they use the tail to spray each other.


Even the dogs are having a great time outside. Pretty much every time the girls have their pool out I hear yelling of "Mom Belle is in the pool!" and I turn around and Belle is camping out in the pool getting sprayed by the tail. I guess even dogs like to go swimming.

The best part about being outside all day is the fact that the girls come inside and are dead tired by the end of the day. One afternoon I even found Elizabeth passed out on the couch in her diaper. I covered up and left her alone for a couple of hours.

This is just a small tasting of what we have been doing this summer. We spend quite a bit of time at the spraypark, spraying each other with the hose, going to birthday parties and we even went on vacation. The summer is only half over so I'm sure we will think of even more fun things to do!

The Gators End Thier Season!

Several weeks ago (I'm a little behind in blogging) was the end of Morgan's first season of soccer. I think she was a little excited that it was her last game- but as always she was excited to go to the soccer field. Since it was late in the season and lots of families were on vacation Morgan's team was down to just a few members- so after practicing the coach gave them all a little pep talk to get ready for the game!

The coach knows that Morgan does best when she actually gets to kick the ball so he let her kick off at the beginning of the game. Look at the concentration!

Morgan did really well for several, plays and even ran with the ball and her teammates!

Some of you might wonder what Morgan's personal cheerleader (a.k.a Elizabeth) does during the games. Well on this particular day she decided to be a little fashionista and wear her pink sunglasses since it was so nice out.

Most of the time Elizabeth sits with us on the sidelines (in her own special chair) and eats snacks and cheers on her sister. But since there weren't very many kids at this game they only played on one field, which left one open for Elizabeth to practice her skills. She spent quite awhile kicking the ball into the goal over and over and over again.

Sometimes she would pick up the ball and run with it...

Either way I think in a couple of years we might have two soccer players in the family! The day of the game was really the first super hot day of the summer, and since there weren't a lot of kids Morgan had to play pretty much the entire time. Which meant lots of water breaks.

Towards the end of the game she needed a pep talk from dad to keep her going, otherwise I think she might have stopped half way through.

Finally the game was over and the teams congratulated each other on a great game. And after the game the coach handed out trophies for everyone! Morgan absolutely loved the trophy and was pretty excited that it had her name on it!

All in all it was a good soccer season. It was full of lots of tears, pouting and smiles. I think overall she had a great time and she even got to play with a couple of her friends from school. Morgan finished the season with two goals (we aren't mentioning the fact that they were in the other team's net) and she had plenty of kicks. We decided to take a break from soccer during the fall, but I have a feeling she will want to do it again next spring.

My Little Picaso's

So lately I have been amazed at how far Morgan has come when it comes to drawing, imagination etc. Before her pictures were always good: she would draw people, give them some hair etc. But now she draws complete scenes! I didn't really take notice at first, but then all her pictures started to show suns, grass, flowers (she's big into flowers right now) and multiple people. And each picture seems to have a story to go with it.

So I gathered up some of the recent works of art to share with everyone.

When she first did this one she told me exactly what the orange things are and I think they are caterpillars (because they have lots of legs). Each caterpillar has a flower and there is a sun shining on them.

Can't remember who this person is exactly (but 99% of the time when she draws a person it is someone in particular. But this person is carrying a basket of flowers.

This is a bumble bee (see the stinger on the butt??) flying over some flowers. Again I told you she was really into flowers.

See why I was impressed! It's always fun to see what she will draw next. She has draw all of her friends on the playground (complete with swings and a slide!) but we had to take that picture to her teacher. She draws our family all the time, and makes each individual member a different size- daddy's always the biggest and Elizabeth is always the smallest. As time goes on I will try and post more so you can chart her progression!

And Elizabeth is getting pretty good too. She colors almost everyday and her teacher always tells me she is enthusiastic with her coloring.

As you can see she really gets into it!