Since I’m not sure of proper slacker protocol, I’m just going to wing it. This pretty much describes how I’m living life these days anyways and gives answer to the question “why aren’t you blogging anymore”?

So how about a summary? Starting with a week after my last post. Imagine sitting at dinner with your entire family. Both sets of parents, sister, brother-in-law, kids, dogs, etc. Everybody is there feasting on some amazing grilled pork chops, when suddenly your husband can’t speak. He’s looking at you, wanting to tell you something, and all he can manage is “something’s wrong”.

You begin to get annoyed when each time you ask “What? What’s wrong?” and all he says is the same thing, “something’s wrong”. As time goes on, the rest of the family realizes he is having symptoms of a stroke. Thank God they were all there with me because I don’t know that I would have EVER believed that my 34 year old soul mate needed to be taken to the hospital.

But he did and that’s where they confirmed a TIA which is an abbreviation for a long fanciful word meaning “stroke without permanent damage”. So after an additional 3 days in the hospital being poked, prodded and tested it was undetermined as to what caused the stroke.

Now that’s some reassuring news.

So whatdaya say we move on the more positive aspects of summer. We celebrated Emery’s 5th birthday in July.

Savannah went to C3 Camp for a week and also an art class for a day where she painted her Daddy this football picture for our new house (or next house, or whatever).

My sister’s boss gave her a timeshare week up in Big Canoe, Georgia at the end of July. She invited all of us to go up with her and we had the BEST time!

There was a rock water slide, lake, pool, golf course, and plenty of good food. We visited Amicalola Falls, Dahlonega, and took a drive over to Babyland General where Savannah adopted a Cabbage Patch Doll she named Ella Rose.

By August school was in full swing. Emery started baseball and Savannah began tennis lessons. And apparently I lost the ability to use my camera because I don’t have much to show for that month!

And now I find myself on September 12th! Good grief! This year is flying by at rocket speed! If I’m not careful, Christmas will be knocking at my door and I’ll still have Halloween candy sitting next to it!

So while most of Atlanta was under water last week, we were soaking up some serious rays. Rain? What rain?

This was my first time to the Gulf of Mexico. It’s gorgeous there!!! White, sandy beaches and crystal clear water. We’d hang out on the shore just long enough to get sunburned, then stay an extra hour before heading to the pool.

Jeremy was pleased to get in some time with a fishing pole. It made him a nervous wreck to fish while in the water. He was certain a shark would make its appearance! But one morning the guys took off early for an all day fishing expedition and brought home a freezer full of King Mackrel and Amberjack. We will definitley be fullfilling our daily recommended amounts of Omega-3′s in the coming months!

So thank you to the Waters’ family for inviting us along on your vacation! I know I speak for all of us when I say that we had a wonderful time!

Now when was that Disney Cruise again? :)

(sigh)

We drove to Disney on pins and needles after my Expedition had “issues” just days before we left with the transmission, battery, tire pressure, etc. Nothing like 3 women and 2 kids getting stranded along the road in 90 degree weather on a Sunday afternoon. I didn’t even want to know what a tow truck would charge for that!

But here’s my mom and the kids when we so thankfully made it without any trouble. Jessica said, “I just want to get there. Who cares if we can get back?”

Amen, Sister!

We stayed at Port Orleans which had a total of 7 pools. SEVEN! That fares well with my kids who, when asked if they were ready to head to the Magic Kingdom and see Buzz Lightyear said, “No! Let’s go to the pool!”

Besides the pool, Emery’s other favorite Disney activity was riding the escalator at Epcot. Yes, that’s right, 2 things we can do right here in our very own hometown.

The trip was a lot of fun. I did feel bad for Jess having no one to ride the fast, scary rides with her. Some of the highlights include: Midway Mania, The Laugh Floor, Pirates of the Carribean, the pool, finding Lady (from Lady and the Tramp), Mickey Mouse waffles, Indiana Jones stunt show, Soarin’, sharks in the aquarium, the pool, and of course, the pool.

It was also fun to see our friends from Illinois while we were there. Thank you Nanny for taking us on such a special trip. I hope you enjoyed your first visit to DW, and maybe we’ll go back again when we can spend more time at the parks and less time in the pool!

As the kids have gotten older, there are some traditions that they look forward to. Including, in no particular order, the making of a fire, roasting marshmallows, sleeping with the family member of their choice, and hiking in the woods. This year Nanny and Grampy also surprised us with tickets to Fantasy in Lights and also the nearby Wild Animal Safari.

Here is Emery feeding a giraffe. These guys would come right up to the bus and stick their heads inside to get the food. It made Savannah a little nervous, but Emery thought it was great! Other animals we got to feed were zebras, camels, water buffalo, pot bellied pigs, ostrich, deer, and my personal favorite, big beautiful elk.

The next day we visited the park where my dad watched the kids a few minutes while my sister, mom, and I walked around a small lake. Then we played some hide and seek before jumping on a hiking trail. The weather was perfect and after a few hours of fresh air, we were ready to head back for snacks and naps!

After waking up refreshed, we dressed warmly for an evening enjoying Christmas lights. Callaway Gardens has a phenomenal light display that takes an hour to drive thru on an open trolley, which included music, warm beverages, and a Christmas house full of handmade gifts.

This is also where the kids got their requests in early with Santa. Emery made it a point to tell him that he wanted Planet Heroes…”the whole set, Santa” and when Savannah asked him for Littlest Pet Shop toys she didn’t leave out the fact that what she really wanted was a rabbit “but Daddy said no.”

Before coming home the next day we stopped into Callaway one more time to visit the Butterfly House. For whatever reason, Savannah is deathly afraid of butterflies. But we did get her to agree to go with us and take her art supplies in hopes of looking through the glass and drawing them. In a way we were trying to desensitize her. It sort of worked too. After a while I asked her to come just inside the door and sit with me on a bench. She did, and soon after, she asked me to walk with her down the path. Unfortunately we didn’t get far when a group of butterflies zoomed past her face and she panicked, screaming “Get Me Out of Here, Mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!”

All in all it was a fantastic weekend. For me, it’s really the first year we’ve gone that I felt like I could sit back and relax. I didn’t have to worry about someone falling off a deck, getting burned in a fire, packing tons of diapers, pack-n-plays, or special foods. Everyone enjoyed being together as a family and a Mom, nothing makes me happier.

Thanks Mom and Dad for starting this wonderful family tradition!

Disney was great! Our family favorite ride was the new Toy Story Mania 3-D ride at Hollywood Studios. Jeremy’s favorite “big person” ride was Everest at Animal Kingdom. The fireworks at Magic Kingdom were “vewwy cool” and breakfast at Whispering Canyon in our hotel was the most fun meal…twice!

Yesterday we went to the Magic Kingdom early for breakfast at Cinderella’s castle. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. The weather was perfect and there were literally no lines. We walked right up and got onto each ride. A few of them we got off and got right back on. How awesome is that???

Savannah surprised me yesterday by wanting to go on Splash Mountain. Jeremy went with her because her mother is a ride-whimp. After the ride was over I was gushing, “Wow, Savannah, that’s great! I can’t believe you did that! How was it? Did you get wet???” She very simply replied, “It was fun. But I’m never doing that again.”

Maybe she is her mother’s daughter after all.

Against Jeremy’s better judgement I took the kids in the Haunted House. I figured they’d be fine, I mean c’mon, it’s Disney, People. How bad could it be?

Turns out, pretty bad. They both got freaked out and didn’t want to do anything for about 20 minutes afterwards. Oops. But in all fairness, Savannah got me back when I rode the Magic Carpet ride with her and she made our carpet go all the way up as far as it would go. She laughed when she told me my face turned green.

The longest line we waited in was for Emery to meet his hero, Buzz Lightyear. When it was his turn, he went up to Buzz and started talking to him. None of us could hear what he said, so after the obligatory “thumbs up” picture, we asked him. “I told him I loved his movie.” Well of course. What else would you say to your favorite movie star?

Around 4:00 we decided to call it a day. I was surprised the kids had lasted that long and they were still going strong. At that point, parents have a decision to make. Let them nap and get up for a late dinner, or keep ‘em awake a while longer, eat, then crash for the night early. We opted for the nap idea. Emery and Daddy did anyways. Savannah and I couldn’t sleep so we went down to the pool and enjoyed the waterslide and swimming with ducks. Not in the lake mind you. The ducks were in the pool. Savannah was determined to catch one. “What are you going to do if you catch it?”

“Put it in a cage and take it home.”

I don’t think so.

We found out later the nap idea wasn’t such a good one. Our dinner reservations ended up being at 9:00 last night. Savannah fell asleep on the way there and Emery was so hungry by the time we got to the restaurant that he stopped, turned to the bus driver and said, “Esscuse me, Shir. Could you take us to ‘da Waffle House?”

Being the excellent parents that we are, Jeremy and I did learn from our mistake. The family is sleeping right now and should be getting up any minute. Today we had breakfast at the Animal Kingdom with Donald Duck and all his friends. It’s much hotter today and lots more people than yesterday. When they get up and it cools off a little we are going over to Hollywood Studios. Our friends recommended a restaurant there (how many times have I mentioned food in this post?) and then they have a fireworks thing at dark. So that’s the plan.

There wasn’t anything we were totally over the top about doing. And given where we live, all of the above options are within about a 3-5 hour drive that we can do in a weekend. So we began planning ahead to this year’s family vacation.

What if we didn’t take a vacation for one year and instead, saved for a big ole vacation in 2008? I mean, the mother of all vacations! Disney World!!!

So far I’m the most excited member of the York family. Jeremy has too much on his mind. Savannah doesn’t really remember her last trip there…she wasn’t quite 3 yet. And Emery, having spent the last Disney vacation at my parents house since he was a wee 3 months old, doesn’t have a clue what’s in store for him but asks me every day, “do we go to Dizzy Word today?”

Thursday we fly out. Between sky miles, going in the off season, unexpected inheritance from my Grandmother, Discover card member rewards, and 13 months of putting money away…we are paid in full with cash to spare! I am thrilled!!!

Don’t wait up for me! See you when I get back! :)

Now I think I have everything and I’m just waiting for Jeremy to help me load it all in the truck. I’ll catch up with all of you bloggers out there sometime next week! Later….

First we hit Imagine It, the Children’s Museum. It was loads of fun with tons of hands-on type of activities. They even had Alice (from Wonderland) there singing songs and helping the kids find a rabbit hole.

Next we walked across the street to the new World of Coke building. It was pretty fun, although I did miss the room at the other location where the Coke would fly through the air and into your sample cup. That was cool! But this new facility had Coke samples from 6 continents! I always thought Coke was the same everywhere, but trust me…it’s not! Emery liked the Fanta Apple Kiwi and Jeremy liked Sprite Ice, from Asia. Savannah and I just stuck to “the Real Thing” from here in North America. They also had a really cool 4-D movie that ended up scaring Emery toward the end, but both kids agreed that their favorite part of Coke World was the big polar bear:

By the time we finished the Coke tour it was way past naptimes. The kids crashed in their car seats as Jeremy drove me around site seeing. An hour passed quickly and soon everybody was awake and ready for dinner. So on the way home we hit the Spaghetti Factory which was very, very good!!!

But if I had only four words, they would be:

LAKE, SPA, SCRAPBOOK, FRIEND

Want to play the game? Visit Sportsmama and tell us which 4 words best describes your weekend.