When the Cat is Away…

Rob and I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with our youth at Dream Now Weekend.  It was a youth retreat that focused on finding God’s dream for your life.  It deserves a post all of its own, so I’m going to do that a little later.

Since we spent the weekend with our big kids, our little kids spent the weekend with Papa and Gamma at the river.  My children LOVE the river and the water in general. 

Cade’s number one passion in life is fishing.  Here are a few pictures of him from the weekend:

The fishing pole is as big as he is.

 

It looks like someone missed a spot with the sunscreen!

 

His big fish!

 

Papa looks a little proud.

 

Check out his Red!

The bounty.

Papa got to catch at least one.

While the boys were on the boat, the girls hit the pool.  Beas and Brinley joined in for the day.

SaraGrace is a little fish.  Her only problem with swimming is that she attempts to drink the entire pool of water!

This was Emmy’s first swim in the pool.  She was just chillin’ as always!!!

I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family that can pitch in when we need to be away.  I know that we are truly blessed!

My Birthday Weekend

As I get older, birthdays aren’t quite as exciting as they used to be:)  But I always love a good excuse to have a great time!!!  This weekend was no exception.

If you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know that sweet Rob HATES Disney.  But thankfully he LOVES me, so he took me there on Saturday.  We haven’t gotten any time to ourselves lately, so I was super excited to have a day for just US! 

We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends in our lives. The Rose’s are no exception!  They kept all three of our children while we went on our birthday trip.  They are such a blessing to us!

Our entire trip was based on one rule:  I had to behave!  Rob hates Disney because I embarrass him when people are disrespectful.  You know, like skipping us in line.  Can you believe we got SKIPPED at the ticket window?  By five people?  I was about to flip my lid because it was already happening and we hadn’t stepped foot in the park.  Rob’s famous last words became, “Cheff!  You promised you’d behave.”  I was a good girl and held up my end of the bargain for the rest of the day.

While at the ticket window (Finally…after being skipped by 5 people), Rob told the lady the ONLY reason he was  there was because it was my birthday.  So I got my birthday button. Then I just had to have our picture made in front of the castle.  What is a trip  to Disney without the castle picture?

  Our first order of business was Space Mountain.  We don’t typically get to ride it when we have the kids, so we waited an entire 65 minutes to ride it.  I realized one thing by the end…I am getting old.  I felt like I had been jerked around and beat up.  But it was oh so fun!

We made our rounds to the Haunted Mansion, then Splash Mountain.  We rode Pirates of the Carribbean and some others, too.  The waits were really short, so we got to do everything we came to do. 

Here we are at Splash Mountain!

 

We even rode the Magic Kingdom Railroad.  We went all the way around.  I haven’t ridden that in years!!!  It was relaxing and fun to just people watch.

Rob asked me why I love Disney so much.  I have come to the conclusion that it is because I carry so much responsibility in my every day life (and I wouldn’t trade it for anything) but it is nice to feel like a kid every once in a while!!!  Disney just seems to do that to people!  Adults act like kids:)

Sunday was my actual birthday.  Mom fixes us our favorite meal on our birthdays, so I had shrimp, baked potatoes, and a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing made just for me by Wimmy!!!  It was DELICIOUS!!! 

That night, Rob took us out to eat at the new Longhorn restaurant.  It was AMAZING!!!  But the most amazing part was the card I got from my son.  As a parent, sometimes it seems as though you are failing every time you turn around.  I feel like I don’t deserve to be a parent sometimes because I can get snappy, and ungrateful.  But gifts like this are God’s way of telling me He’s got it under control.

  Cade had been hiding this card under his shirt the entire time we were at dinner.  He was so proud!

 

 

I am so blessed to have been given another year on this earth.  My prayer is that I make this year more fruitful than ever by being obedient to God’s calling in my life!!!

The Last Two Weeks

Here is a recap of what has been going on with the Vaughn family the last two weeks:

Easter- The only time of year we get family pictures is on Easter. 

 

It amazes me how much our family has grown/changed:

2009

2011

 

2012

  

SaraGrace looked beautiful in her dress!!

Cade was all too serious about egg hunting this year, because he found out there were rewards of financial magnitude in every egg…a quarter:)

    Aunt Amy and BzR got to spend Easter with us.  Amy is one of the greatest blessings in my life!!!!

BzR helped Cade figure out how to work all of the gadgets in his Easter basket.

Good friends are hard to come by, and the Lord has definitely blessed me with a few!  My dear friend, Kristen (Kicken), moved a couple of years ago.  We don’t get to catch up often, but when we do, it is always so much fun.  We always meet up in Downtown Disney with the boys for lunch and a trip to the Lego store.

Kicken got to meet Emmy for the first time!!!

The boys were so glad to see each other.  It’s been soooo long.  Of course, I was ecstatic to see Kicken.  I love this girl!!!  And I’m even more ecstatic that she is expecting a little GIRL in August.

Because this post is a little nostalgic, here is a picture of our last Downtown Disney outing.  I was pregnant with Faith.

We had one last photo op in the parking lot. 

I always love seeing Kicken, but I’m so sad when we have to part ways:(  I know one thing’s for sure…I will see her in August when Baby Girl makes her arrival! 

Itsy Bitsy Spider

This precious girl is getting so big!!!   After a LONG day at work on Tuesday, I came home, changed her into her pj’s, put her down and got into the tub to SOAK.  It was so nice to just relax.

But my relaxation didn’t last very long.  As I got out of the tub, the paranoid momma came out in me and I went to check on her to make sure she was breathing (as I do every 5 minutes). 

This was hanging from the blinds just over her bed…

 

I liketa died!!!  I.DO.NOT.DO.SPIDERS!  Rob wasn’t home, so I gently hoisted her out of the bed and put her into mine.  I called Rob and told him he better put on his big boy panties because he had Daddy Duty when he got home.  I sat on the bed and kept my eye on this  creature.  I wanted to be sure he didn’t escape.  To pass the time, I did some internet spider verification, and learned that this is a Huntsman Spider (read-not poisonous, but big enough to make you hurt yourself).  Although I was thankful he wasn’t a bad one, my philosophy is “The only good spider is a dead one!”

Once Rob made it home, he took care of Mr. Spider and brought him to his final resting place.  I am so thankful that huge ugly thing didn’t actually make it into Emmy’s bed.  I may have just died right there!

Jesus Loves Barabbas, and He Loves You Too

With Easter upon us, I cannot let this time of year go by without recognizing the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for my sins.  And not just this time of year.  I am reminded of His love each and every day I am alive.  I am reminded every time I look outside at His wonderful creation.  I am reminded of His sacrifice and love every time I look at my children.  It was a harsh, cruel death that He didn’t deserve.  But He loves me more than my small mind could ever comprehend.

Tim posted this video to our youth page, and when I saw it was 8 minutes long, I almost didn’t take the time to watch it today.  I thought I would wait until tomorrow.  I am so glad I watched it. 

Please take 8 minutes of your day and watch the entire video.  While Jesus loved Barabbas enough to let him go free, it’s a love that He has extended to you and me.  This Easter, search your heart, and think about the gift He gave us.  If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, what are you waiting for?  He is waiting on you with open arms.  He’s already paid the price and given the gift.  All you have to do is accept it.

When I think of the gift of salvation that was paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ, I think of God the Father willfully  giving His son.  He knew there would be some that would reject Him.  He knew there would be many who would turn their backs and ignore what He had done.  As a parent who had to give a child back to our almighty God, I see His gift in a very different way.  I have said it before- I didn’t have a choice in Faith’s life and death, other than to glorify God and be obedient.  It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  I would never willfully choose death for my child.  But God had a choice, and He chose you.  He chose me.  This Easter, I pray you choose Jesus!!!

Disney Cruise on a Dime (or two or three)

Rob and I knew that if we were going to take our family of 5 on a Disney Cruise, we were going to have to be somewhat frugal and get the most for our money.  This post is going to include some tips that we found helpful in accomplishing this.  Now…I don’t know that there is such a thing as a “cheap” Disney cruise, but there are plenty of ways to make it less expensive!

• The travel agent- We have used vacationstogo to book several cruises.  They have always been wonderful, and we have had no complaints.  We have also used Sam’s Club and the actual cruise line as well.  This time we went with Disney directly.  I am so glad we did because they knew all of the ins and outs, and were dollar for dollar with vacationstogo. 

 

• The specials- I looked online to see the “Special Offers.”  There were a couple we could choose from- Florida Resident and Kids Sail Free.  The Florida Resident was a better option because we were able to go earlier and longer for less money.  I feel like this is an advantage of using Disney direct.  Our poor Disney agent was a doll.  He ran numbers and options until we got the best deal for our family.  He knew all kinds of loops and options that I would have never thought of.

 

• The ship- Disney has 4 ships.  The Wonder and the Magic are the older two, while the Dream and the Fantasy are the newest.  Obviously the two newer ships have better pools and slides, and I am sure they are nicer all around.  Our first choice was to take the Dream out of Port Canaveral.  We have seen the ship in port before, and Cade was salivating over the thought of the Aqua-Duck (the really cool slide.)  We took the Wonder for Cade’s third birthday and knew it wasn’t too shabby.  When we started running the numbers, it was $1500 cheaper to go out of Miami on the Wonder, and one day and night longer.  To me, that was a no- brainer. 

 

• The rooms- We never spend the extra money to get a nicer room on  a ship.  Truth is, you spend very little time in them, so I see it as a waste.  However, be sure and ask your booking agent about all options available.  If a verandah room is available for small additional fee, you may feel it is worth it.  Sometimes, depending on the special and time of year, you can get a verandah room for the same, even less than the others.  Just check!!!  Because we were last minute booking, and we had a family of 5 using the Florida Resident discount, they made us purchase 2 staterooms.  Both were ocean view and they were 6 doors down from one another.  They didn’t care if we all piled in one room to sleep, but they made us purchase the additional room.  At first, I was really upset because the more in a room, the cheaper per guest.  However, I am so thankful that God works these things out.  Traveling with a 3 month old takes a lot of luggage.  We used the second room to store all of our luggage and souvenirs in, so our sleeping quarters weren’t so crowded.  We were also able to split up taking showers and baths.  It worked out perfectly.

The NUMBER ONE tip for saving money on the initial cost would be to BE FLEXIBLE!!!  Be flexible with the dates, with the ships, and the rooms.  I’m telling you, you won’t regret it.

• Snacks and Drinks- Disney is one of the only (if not THE only) cruise line that offers sodas and milk at no additional costs.  There is no cup to buy, no soda card nothing.  They are all included.  Except…if you order a soda or milk from bar service (like during a show) you are charged $2.01 for a can of soda.  If you are off of the ship, you pay for soda.  There is a soda fountain that is open 24 hours a day onboard.  We took our own sports bottles and filled them up with soda and ice before shows, before we got off the ships, and before we went to bed.  I know this sounds like a lot of soda, but there is also pink lemonade, juice, etc.  But hey…we were on vacation!  I did pack some bottled water for the baby, and to take when we got off the ship.  I also packed some snacks like goldfish, granola bars etc. for us to eat while we were off the ship.  Food on the island is EXPENSIVE!!!  And I hate to pay for food when we spent all of that money to eat on the ship!  On our shore excursion, our lunch was not included.  So I packed some peanut butter crackers, goldfish, cookies, water and we had our sodas.  It worked out great!!

 

• Shore Excursions- Because we had saved so much money on our initial cost of our cruise, we decided to splurge on a shore excursion.  Let me start by saying that you would never be bored if you stayed on the ship the entire time.  There is so much going on onboard, that if you decided to never get off, you wouldn’t miss anything.  But we decided to do an excursion in Nassau since we have been there before.  We have always wanted to do the dolphin thing.  But it is always SOOOO expensive.  I talked to our Disney fellow about his thoughts.  Our options were the Atlantis or Blue Lagoon.  Now the Atlantis has an aquarium and a water park, both of which are amazing!!!  But again, you pay for that amazing.  That is also the number one tourist attraction (next to the straw market) in Nassau.  So we opted for Blue Lagoon.  This excursion offered the same dolphin experience for a total of $150 less for all five of us.  And…..it wasn’t crowded at all.  It was very relaxed and beautiful.  We did purchase ONE picture of all of us, because we were able to take our own camera as well.

 

• Pictures- This is where we always spend WAY TOO MUCH MONEY!  I am a sucker for memories, so I always get reeled in.  Cruise ships take amazing pictures, and who doesn’t want to remember all of your fun times?  One 8x 10 is $20.00.  A 6x8 is $12.99.  There are soooooo many photo opportunities on a Disney Cruise, especially with the characters.  The really awesome thing about the photo staff is that you are able to use your own camera at EVERY photo opportunity.  And they will even take them for you!  This will save TONS of money.  Now…I was so stressed out making sure I got EVERY.LAST.SHOT I wanted to get, that I was missing out on watching my kids interact with the characters.  We made friends with one of the girls at the photo store and she told us about the picture CD.  The actual cost of the CD is $230, and it has each and every shot of you and your family on it.  They swipe your room key at each photo, so it is easy to keep up with.  You can go at any time and check the kiosk to look at all of the pictures.  They still print all of the hard copies too.  For an additional $50, you get each and every hard copy print as well.  While this was a splurge, Rob and I decided that we would do this for our souvenir.  I don’t regret it.  If you saw my photo album in the previous post,I think you would agree that we got our money’s worth.  And that wasn’t all of them!  We didn’t decide until late day 2 that we wanted it.  They only do 100 per cruise, so we knew we better take advantage of it.  I don’t regret one cent of that purchase!

 

• Costumes- Dress-up for Pirate Night is a must!!!  No it is not a requirement, but you will be wishing you did it when you see everyone else in their costumes.  We were so blessed to be able to borrow our costumes.  Emmy’s costume had to be made, but we did that on a dime, too.  Mrs. Stacy made the tutu and the bow, I made the onesie with a rhinestone iron-on that I found on clearance at Michaels for $2.99.  We already had the leg warmers from Christmas, and I think she looked pretty cute!!!  Rob’s costume was one I had made for Cade’s 4th birthday.  We purchased the mask, then I made the rest from a consignment shop.  I also made the crab claw.  We had sold this costume to our friend, Tim in the Keys.  When I called him to ask him if he still had it, he told me he would ship it to me.  That’s what he did!!!  He still had all of the pieces!  If you have little girls, they are going to want to dress up like the princesses.  Bring your own!  They sell them in the shop for a whopping $75, and that does not include a crown, shoes or anything other than the dress.  Pack one in your suitcase.  You’ll be glad you did!

 

• Souvenirs- On the ship they have a shop or two.  It is pretty much the same stuff you can buy in the parks.  Kelly had given me some good advice to go to Walmart, the dollar store or anywhere else that may sell Disney paraphernalia.  We got several items for Cade and SG, and had them on their pillows at night.  SG thought it came from the characters.  Cade is way too old for that (so he thinks.)  My friend, Amanda, told me about the autograph options onboard.  Per her suggestion, we bought pillowcases for each of the kids.  Our friend, Robyn, put their names on them for us, along with the year (including the Mickey Ears.)  We took them, along with a sharpie, to Guest Services once we got onboard.  They had every single character sign the pillowcase, and had it waiting on their bed the last night.  Stress Free!!!

SG’s and Emmy’s were the same and included the princesses.  Cade’s was red with yellow embroidery, and he didn’t care to have the princesses on his:)  This is something they can use and can have forever, for a total of $10 each!!!  My sister did give each of my children spending money, so they were able to buy some things in Nassau and onboard.  But that’s what Aunts are good for:)

This post is getting really long with lots of information.  I will do a separate post tomorrow with additional tips and tricks to make your vacation as stress-free as possible!

“Swimming with the Dolphins…kinda sorta”

When we asked our kids what their favorite part about our vacation was, it was unanimously decided that the dolphins were their favorite.  We have been on several cruises and never spent the money to go see the dolphins.  But because we were able to save quite a bit of money on our trip overall (that will be the next post), we decided to try it out.

We decided on the Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter.  It was a blast!  We had a 25 minute boat ride to the island, which was beautiful.

 

This was the scene pulling up to the island.

At Blue Lagoon, they have dolphins and sea lions that you can interact with.  They also have a beach day that you can purchase.  Look at this inflatable water park!

There were two dolphin options: the encounter and a deep water swim.  Our first choice was to do the swim, but SaraGrace wasn’t old enough to do that.  Also, Emmy could go as an observer, but obviously someone had to sit with her.  My husband is AWESOME and sat with her on the observation deck.  He took all of these pictures but one.

The dolphins were swimming around having a great time.  When we got separated into our groups, they advised a wet suit.  I despise wet suits!!!  I thought I would tough it out, but that water felt like Ginnie Springs on a good day.  So I gave in:)

We made it over to our designated dolphin area, only to learn that our dolphins were in time out.  WHAT!?!?  We had to laugh that OUR dolphins would be the ones in time out.  Apparently they weren’t following directions, so they had to take a time out.  The cute part was that Andy (our dolphin in the picture) tried to earn brownie points by collecting marine debris and bringing it to his trainer.  It was very sweet:)

We got in the water onto a waist-deep platform.  I had to hold SG because she was too short.

The first order of business was to get a family photo.  The Blue Lagoon photographer took this one.

Rob was behind us so he got some pictures as well.

  We each got to hug Andy.

Then we got a kiss.

Me and SG had a group hug.

But she wanted her own kiss.

We got to pet his belly and his head.

Then we got to dance.

At the end of our time (which was about 25 minutes), he did some jumping tricks for us.

 

We had to get back to the ship pretty quickly since it was Pirate Night, and we had a lot of dressing up to do.  I am so glad we spent the money to do this.  The kids are still talking about it, which means that they made memories.  Some of the best money we spent all week!