A Beautiful Life

For my last birthday, my parent's got me a card that was so beautiful, so perfect, so touching, I kept it so that I could look at it, read it, whenever I wanted to. I'm honestly tired of carrying it around, so I figured I'd put it on my blog so that you all can enjoy the sentiments, and so that I can get rid of the card and just refer to my blog when I need a boost! SO here goes...there's no author named, otherwise I would totally give credit by name. All I can say is that it's a Hallmark card!

How to Make a Beautiful Life

Make peace with who you are at this moment in time.
Listen to your heart.
If you can't hear what it's saying in this noisy world, make time for yurself.
Enjoy your own company.
Let your mind wander.
Try.
Take Chances.
MAKE MISTAKES.
Life can be messy and confusing at times, but it's also full of surprises.
The next rock in your path might be a stepping stone.
Be happy.
When you don't have what you want, want what you have.
MAKE DO.
That's a well-kept secret of contentment.
There aren't any shortcuts to tomorrow.
You have to MAKE YOUR OWN WAY.
To know where you're going is only part of it.
You need to know where you've been too.
And if you ever get lost, don't worry.
The people who love you will find you, count on it.
Life isn't days and years, it's what you do with time and with all the goodness and grace that's inside you.
MAKE A BEAUTIFUL LIFE...the kind of life you deserve.

Disney part VIII

Our last full day of vacation, we went back to the Magic Kingdom to finish up the rides we didn't get to the first day!
this is what we saw every time we drove into the parks...it truly is a magical place and our kids had a blast!

we saw chip n dale again

we saw stitch and Aaron kept trying to eat his ear!

my boys hanging out waiting for ice cream!

I went inside the castle for the first time and they have these amazing and elaborate mosaics all over the walls. So pretty!

We went on the jungle cruise this time and charlie was allowed to drive the boat!

it was a great day and a great way to end our vacation!

Disney Part VII

Our almost last day in florida, we spent at Disney 's Hollywood studios. It was soooo cold (32) in the morning, and we were not prepared clothing wise for that so we got there are rushed to find gloves for the kids.
the place was packed which is the first time this week we encountered that issues all week. Most of the parks were somewhat crowded at times but actually pretty empty. At hollywood studios, we couldn't get on several rides due to ridiculous lines and insane crowds.

Charlie was still psyched!

we saw chip n dale!

We went into the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show and Aaron was quite a little brat. He was nuts all day in fact...it was alot to deal with. I had to leave early from the show with Aaron but above is him enjoying it at first!

We saw Handy Manny! He played a game with Charlie and he was in heaven!

A little boy's dream come true!

More excitement!

We even got to eat at the REAL pizza planet!

Charlie the hoolahooping fool!

Disney part VI

The next day in our Disney/orlando adventure was at Universal Studios...Charlie checked out the racecars before we headed into the park

We went on Jaws and Charlie liked it! He was able to go on all the rides throughout the week and know that most things are pretend...the things that he really had fun with, he determined that was real! He loves roller coasters and acting shows and he really just had a blast with all of it!

none of the kids have ever watched barney but they didn't want to pass up a photograph opportunity with characters!

universal had a great space for kids as well called Feivel's playland, there was also a curious George playground and the boys just loved all of it!

We were SOOOOOO excited when these guys showed up!

Charlie LOVES the Penguins of Madagascar (a show on Nickelodeon) and was so psyched to meet them!

We hung out in the concert area while the guys rode the Rip Ride Rocket Rollercoaster...it was closed earlier in the day because of higher winds and cool temps, and we happened to be there right when it opened up...so they ran on and had no wait!

Bode took the time to rest...

Charlie decided to try and teach Bode his yoga moves...Bode wanted no part of it!

We saw Dora who had her backpack on...say backpack, say backpack!

After Shrek we saw Fiona and Donkey

And then Shrek!

There was an 80's toon concert

Aaron gave Goerge a big kiss...it was sooo cute!

After our day at the park Alex, myself, Christy and Mike were treated to dinner out for our anniversaries by my parents. We went to Emeril's and it was great!

we had several drinks at several places and above is Alex after we got home that night! Too funny! We had a great time! thanks mom and dad!!!!!!

Disney part V

The next park we went to was the Animal Kingdom...I think aside from the Magic Kingdom, this was my favorite..it was very creative and had lots of fun things for the kids!
Scary African percussion guy!

the boys playing the bongos

We had breakfast with the characters at the Tusker house. It was great food although we waited a long time (even though we had reservations) and that really pissed me off...but once we got in and seated and fed, I was in better spirits! We had Donald, Daisy, Mickey, Pluto and Goofy come to the table and then the kids got to dance and sing in a parade with Goofy

The kids dancing in the parade...

Goofy being goofy!

Dinoland USA

There was a great playground called the Boneyard...it had some amazing slides and lots of fun things for the kids to do...they could have stayed here all day!

hanging out in the fossils at the Boneyard!

We saw Pooh and the gang!

I made autograph books for both Charlie and Bode and they had a great time getting signatures and pictures with all the characters!

Charlie liked to bounce with Tigger

my dad liked to make sure that Aaron got time with the characters too!

They had this amazing and beautiful tree woman...she was on stilts and had arm extensions and she moved around so gracefully. Above she is doing a backbend

this pictures shows how amazingly beautiful she was!

we went on safari!

Rhino

Giraffe

african tree that has pretty flowers half of the year

baby elephant but!

the Tree of Life

closeup of the tree of life

the boys next to a life size cut out of a rhino!

and a tiger!

Pocahontes

Rafiki

Jiminy Cricket

at the petting zoo

baby brown cow that christy fell in love with

it was a fantastic day and we stayed will close! The weather was great and the kids had a great time!