February on my phone

Just going through my phone looking for photos I missed.  All the first graders had to do a project on a state.  Carigan got Tennessee, and we were thrilled since Daddy was born and raised there and she's been there many times.  Per instructions, she made a poster featuring at least three Tennessee attractions.  Michael was right here helping her, printing the pictures, watching her glue them down.  The day of her presentation she came home and said, "Graham had Tennessee too, but he put the flag upside down on his poster."  Well guess what... Graham was right.  My born-and-raised 3rd or 4th generation Tennessean husband helped Carigan glue his state flag down upside down.  As I was making fun of him he snarked, "Well are you sure you know which way the Kentucky flag goes?"  Umm, yes... where the people are standing on their heads. 

Jennifer Canady told Wesley to be sure to attend the open house for RISE, and come check out student projects.  Wesley is super excited about being a part of the RISE Institute next year, and has his heart set on the robotics program.  The younger kids were getting antsy (Michael had some work thing so he wasn't home), so I spent most of the time on the playground with them and with Wynne.  I can't believe this is going to be Tate's playground this fall!  -BELOW- Aunt Cynto's Christmas present to both me and Mom was to take us to see Wicked in Tampa this month!  Makes you wanna be popular, like Guhlenda with a Guh! 

Mom finished her stint at Madeira Beach and will be waiting out the winter here in Lakeland for awhile.  The kids welcomed her with the royal treatment.

Carigan lost her very first tooth on February 15.  And when I saw she lost her first tooth, I literally mean she lost it.  She happened to lose it while at church on a Wednesday night, and at Legacy they run around out back in an open field during church and it's dark. So apparently it went flying out while she was running around in the dark, so she had nothing to put under her pillow for her very first lost tooth.  I expected her to be upset that she lost it, but she didn't really care.  She just wrote the Tooth Fairy a note and had full confidence the loss of her first tooth would still be rewarded (Anna Kate on the other hand had a total meltdown the time her tooth fell down the drain and Daddy had to take apart the entire sink to retrieve it before she calmed down).  Carigan left her note and was utterly amazed in the morning when the Tooth Fairy left a note saying to check under her pillow... the Tooth Fairy magically found her tooth!  I love winter in Florida (aside from having awesome weather while everyone else is freezing) for its sunsets.  Sometimes I take a picture every night:

Carigan announced on a Monday that she would be needing the grass skirt and coconut bra I got her in Hawaii to wear to school on Friday. Then she said she wanted to take some of the candy Daddy got in China a few months ago to hand out to her classmates, as they are studying other countries. We were all set (except I substituted the coconut bra for a tasteful Muumuu), when I checked my email last night and saw one from the first grade teachers, telling us Friday was "Heritage Day" and that we were welcome to dress our child in an outfit that reflects our heritage. So we had to make some last minute changes.  Isabelle's mom had lunch with the girls and texted me this picture. She also commented, "Carigan really loves ranch dressing, huh?"  Apparently she was drinking it.  I had lunch with Anna Kate and her crew later the same day.  Emma, AK, Tate and Lydia:

Grandma has been crashing at Aunt Cynto's (empty) house, and the kids love to make forts.  Tate will go full force playing and then screech to a halt like Roadrunner when he spots a lovey.^  Tate felt quite left out when I was taking pictures of the girls with Daddy the night of the Father/Daughter dance.  We had to stop and make sure he got some photographic attention:

The problem with using the Mickey Mouse plate is that Tate demands round food, and he demands them in threes.  Then he demands I take a picture.  -BELOW- We finally decided (very last minute) to visit Heritage for the firs time on February 26th.  I've felt God pulling me toward Heritage since before we left Highlands, but I just couldn't seem to take that giant leap from CofC straight into a denominational church.  Legacy felt like the most logical place to transition, but it was actually much more different than I anticipated.  I've spent 7+ months trying to talk myself into making compromises and telling myself not to cling to tradition, but it was hard to imagine raising our kids long term in a church that never sang hymns and that had women leading communion.  When we attended Coach Evans' funeral at Heritage in January, it was the most worshipful experience I've had all year.  That word "Baptist" seemed too scary a hurdle, but God leaned in on me one morning and we found ourselves at Heritage for service.  I knew Mrs. Nilius went there, but I saw so many other LCS teachers I had no idea went there.  Wesley's teacher Mrs. Copeland was there, and well as Mrs. Stump.  Sandy (Nilius) was so excited when we walked into the foyer and she helped me get all the kids signed up for children's worship.  Carigan was over the moon to see Selah, and Anna Kate quickly found Emma Green.  As much as the word Baptist has scared me, worshiping at Heritage felt much more like a coming home than a falling away.  I've been uncomfortable at Legacy, and it was so encouraging to feel a little less lost and wandering.  I don't know what God has planned for our future, but it was a good day.  Had to snap a picture with Selah & Olivia:

Not only is it flu season, it's oak pollen season, so it's hard to tell if the kids' glassy eyes and runny noses warrant a trip to the doctor or an extra dose of Benadryl.  Poor Carigan can't play outside for more than ten minutes without getting puffy eyes.  I tried to keep her inside, but she was determined.  I literally said, "Fine, but you'll get puffy eyes."  Fifteen minutes later I found her hiding from me with wads of wet toilet paper held to her eyes.  And Tate's just sick.  But he's super snuggly.

Lake Walk in Water

David and Kim Burnsed invited us to come spend the day with them at their home in Lake Wales. They took us out in their boat on Lake Walk in Water, let us do some fishing, cooked up a huge fish fry dinner, and then had a bonfire with s'mores.  Doesn't get much better!

When David attempted to place his hand on the wheel, Tate picked up David's hand and removed it, telling him, "It's not your turn right now." 

Kim was loving all the snuggles!  Tate was in a very affectionate mood... when fishing he kept picking up the worms and asking, "Do they love me?" 

Ready to head to the house for the fish fry!  Michael and I helped David and Kim cook while the kids played with the dogs.  They were in heaven.  The dogs were the highlight of the day, especially for Anna Kate and Tate:

We had the most amazing fried fish with cheese grits and green beans.  Then we gathered around the bonfire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores under the most brilliant stars.  Thank you, David and Kim, for such a wonderful day! 

President's Day was so magical... until it wasn't

We had the most fun-packed day at Disney, cramming in more rides and shows and fast passes than we've ever had before.  We literally just about did the entire park.  The weather was beautiful and everything went perfectly the whole day (almost... things when downhill fast at the very end, but let's focus on the good for now).  Wesley got the squid hat at his OM competition.  He got a lot of compliments on it.

Poor Sherry drove all the way to Champion's Gate form Lithia with her cousin, and then her cousin started throwing up and she had to turn around and drive her all the way home.  I can't believe she actually came back!  That woman is a trooper!  Poor things were exhausted from driving for hours and hours and had to go use their fast pass for Peter Pan, so we made plans to meet up for a Dole Whip later.  Rogers four with Henry, Isabel and Emmylou:  

We were determined to make it over to Tom Sawyer Island!  It closes before dusk, and we never seem to make it in time.  And it doesn't sound appealing on a super hot day, so today was the perfect day to catch a raft to the island. 

Crossing over on our raft (Carigan was over my picture-taking).  It's been such a long time since we've been on Tom Sawyer island!  I have a pretty vivid memory of coming over on President's Day when Carigan was a baby (not sure why that day stands out in my memory but it does), but that was two annual passes ago, before Tate was born.  And I honestly don't remember if we made it to Tom Sawyer Island at all the last time we had passes when Tate was little baby.  But none of the kids remembered it (Wes vaguely remembered there being a cave and shooting a gun).  I love how we've been to Disney a million times by now, but there are still days when something feels totally new and undiscovered!

We loved this barrel bridge!  We went across it again and again, which Daddy shaking us the whole way:

Like I said, I have no idea why some memories are so seared into my brain, but standing right outside the gate to this fort, I had the clearest recollection of Carigan crawling all through that mulch and brush to the left of the trail as a baby.  I remember just getting her go at it and she got filthy.  I mentioned the memory to Carigan, and she immediately started crawling around in the same spot to re-enact my memory.  I had to go home and dig up the photos from the same day (President's Day!) six years earlier.  Sure enough, the exact same spot:

Pirates of the Caribbean before dinner and roller coasters!

Thunder Mountain & Splash Mountain!  We really did have such a great day riding so many rides with no waiting.

Dumbo with the littles while Michael took his turn on the roller coasters with the big kids.  And of course we had to dance with Mr. Incredible before Tate could fall asleep in his stroller.

So everything could not have gone more perfectly, right up until the very end of the day.  We all even got to sneak a ride onto Mine Train because Thunder Mountain broke down and we were unable to redeem our rider swap passes for it, so they told me to just take it somewhere else and they would honor it at another ride.  They probably didn't mean at Mine Train, the ride that always has a 2+ hour wait.  But it worked!  Wesley and Anna Kate were beaming and Carigan and Tate were falling asleep and we should have just called it day and not pushed out luck!  But we're not that smart.

I was waiting for Michael to return from his turn on Mine Train (via the Thunder Mountain rider swap pass) with Carigan when the fireworks started and suddenly the posted wait time for Mine Train fell from 80 minutes to 15 minutes.  Wesley and AK had just gotten off it, but we couldn't resist the bait.  I told Wes and AK to get in line and I'd wait with Tate.  So Michael came out with Carigan and we set ourselves up directly by the exit so we wouldn't miss Wes and AK coning out, and we waited.  And waited.  And waited and waited.  It made me super nervous and in our haste to capitalize on the low wait time, we didn't think about the fact the kids had no way to contact us.  So my stomach was in knots, and finally after nearly 45 minutes, Wes and AK appear, but not via the exit.  They came back out where they had gone in. They had stood in line for 45 minutes and said they still weren't even halfway there.  Wes was in tears and AK was mad.  We tried to calm them down and just quickly walked them over to Space Mountain to redeem our last rider swap pass of the day.

Space Mountain had spent much of the day shut down, so basically anyone who had a fast pass earlier in the day was coming back to redeem it, so the fast pass line was longer than the standby line is usually.  They waited and waited and waited and waited, and when they finally got on a rocket, the ride broke down.  They finally evacuated, and not an exciting way where they would get to see the inside of Space Mountain with the lights on, but in a crushing blow before their rocket could even enter the tunnel.  They. Were. Devastated.  Wes and AK just could not get over it.  It was so frustrating to have had this perfect Disney day, and to treat our kids to a charmed and privileged life, and to have them leave just inconsolable over the last two hours they had spent waiting and getting absolutely nothing out of it.  I guess I was tired and cranky too, because I was seriously ready to just pull the plug on the Disney passes and declare that Rogers children would spend weekends feeding the homeless instead.  Good grief.  It was literally like it was the end of the world, so I stopped by guest services to see if there was anything they could do.  They credited us with a bunch of extra fast passes for the next time we come, so I assured Wes & AK that all that waiting was not in vain.  But we still took two silent and broody kids home.  Such a bummer ending to such a perfect day!  But I'm still thankful for the memories.  And one day we'll laugh about this.  Just not yet.