Rough and Crazy week....

To begin with, I was sick for 2 days last week, and thus missed one of my sessions with James, and I suppose losing a few pounds through vomiting doesn't really count.  I missed 3 days of cardio, and by the time I saw him on Saturday, though I felt better, I was still so weak.  And did I mention I'm really beginning to hate that pulley piece of equipment that James is convinced I have the strength in my arms to sit on the floor and pull 50lbs down with each arm????  more than once???  and do three sets???  I kinda felt at one point that when I extended my arms they would rip out of their sockets, but when I envisioned that happening and blood splurting all over the gym with my hands stuck clinging to the handles, I gutted it out and did the best I could.  I would have felt really bad if Brandi had to clean up that mess!  I'm feeling much better today, and hit the gym with Brian for a quick 45 minute/500 calorie burn cardio session-and it felt goooood! 

Now, Brian on the other hand, had a kick-ass week and though he didn't lose but a few pounds by the scale, he lost 6 folds on his stomach which means 3.1% body fat loss!!!  In two weeks!!!  Rock on hubby!  We are both at the point where if we don't make it to the gym for a day-we get kinda bitchy with each other and tend to be snappy.  AND Parker and Hailey are getting in on it too, I even tried to get Park to get me a Coke from the cooler outside and pretend like it was his if Dad saw him-and he wouldn't do it!!!  He looked right at me and said "Mom, NO!  You are on diet and you are doing so well, I'm not gonna get you one!"  THEN he dimed me out to Brian!  I am proud to say that I DID NOT have that Coke, and I lived! 

Just kidding, I am very proud of him for shutting me down in a weak moment and I know he's doing it out of love-isn't that what we are supposed to say to our kids?  I'm only doing this because I love you....
I feel soooo loved!
And that's exactly what I said to him when I made him run around the block the other day for talking back to me!  I love you Parker-and instead of taking your stuff away, or grounding you, or smacking you, just go run around the block.
He half-laughed and looked at me like I was joking, when I pointed my finger to the door Go-NOW!
He looked at me like I had three heads and pouted his way out the door.  Brian heard me and had to leave the room so as not to laugh at Parker in front of him, then I heard him yell from the garage Your Mom said RUN Parker, not walk-get a move on boy!
Then we both had a good laugh!  For those of you who don't know Park very well-he's not exactly the running type-and was less than thrilled to learn of his new punishment.  BUT-he agrees it was a good idea and decided to stop talking back-for the rest of that day anyway....he's run the block a few times since then.

Hailey turned 14 last week-oh, how the years have flown by!  So, craziness must have set in, because I agreed to let her and one of her BFF's (whose birthday is the day after Hay's) have a combo party together at our house!  Just a few-30 kids-Mom, please!!!   And I can't drink any alcohol!!!  What was I thinking??  It was good though, all the kids were very well behaved, and a good time was had by all!  Though when a couple of Moms I haven't met before dropped kids off for the party, they didn't think I was funny when they asked if Brian and I would be there all night and I laughed and replied  Well, yeah, except for while we are out to eat and at the movies....  I don't think they thought my dry humor was too humorous!  And yes, we remained home all night! 
We are going shopping soon with all her b-day money! 

The Ref was wishing Hailey a Happy Birthday after we walked in with all our homemade signs!



Hay and Tay-Happy 14th

The Party group!



Ethan not loving kisses from his big sissy!



                                                     

                                                     

Brian and I both managed to be off tomorrow night, so after my hour of grueling torture with James, and Hailey's volleyball game we are going on a date!  Since we can't very well go out to eat, we are going to the movies to see the new Ben Affleck flick 'The Town' and we'll be taking our bottled water, Crystal Light drop-ins and rice cakes with us-no movie popcorn or nachos for us anymore!  Hell, that ought to save us about thirty dollars at least!  !

My friend Andrea finished her transformation this weekend-and I cannot wait to see her 'after' pictures!  She looked awesome the last time I saw her about a month ago, and I know she has continued to work her ass off 'til the end!  You did it girl!!! 

My friend Jenn had a rough week, we spent some time on the phone in tears wondering what the hell we were doing, and her trying to convince me she couldn't go on.  But she got up and got to it!  She is hanging in there and kickin' butt too!  Jenn-those jeans are not far from looking hot on you too Momma-YOU CAN DO IT!!!   Brandi gave Jenn a tip I am going to steal for myself-every Wednesday try those jeans on and each week they will fit a little more, eventually, until they slide right on like they were made for you!  I have a cute pair of black pants I bought a few years ago that still have the tags on them, and I'm going to do the same thing until they fit!  They are hanging up in my closet-kinda creepy like-but when I feel like I can't do it anymore, I go look at those pants and know that I can do it, and I am going to fit into them by Christmas!! 

Brandi told me how much she enjoys hearing from others how her story and her success has inspired others to get healthy, and I after this week I know how she feels.  Two people have emailed me privately asking the same questions I asked of Brandi before I took the plunge and told me I have been their inspiration to get up and get to it themselves!  To begin to make better choices and change their lifestyles for the better.  I can't believe I've ever been called inspirational  before.  It is a tough road though, and anyone willing to take the plunge, I don't take credit for-but will stand by their sides as they have me, and offer as much encouragement, advice, tips and recipes on how to make chicken taste less like chicken when you've had it for 37 days straight that I can!

Thanks to all of my wonderful friends and family for the support and encouragement!  Off to do some exercise ball sit-ups and plank before bed!

It was so much easier to get fat than to take it off......

With that being said, I'm gonna throw some numbers at you all now, drum roll please......

weight Monday AM   186lbs
weight Tuesday PM    191lbs -evening, clothes on, 4 meals in, etc. 

the big news:  1.25% body fat loss

YEAH!!! 

I have been told not to watch the scale, so for the next two weeks, until measurements again, I am not going to weigh myself at home.  (and I'm going to make a morning appt with James so we see a HUGE loss that day-just kidding!)

As I look at myself in the mirror, I am noticing changes that I'm sure other people don't see-my husband does-but then again, he's the only one that does see me naked, well, besides my gynecologist, but that's another story.
In my torso I've noticed the biggest change.  You know that aspect of a woman's body that makes them look like an hourglass shape?  Well, the area from armpits to top of my hips has slimmed down immensely-the part of the hourglass the sand sifts through.  Now, I still got me some wide hourglass shape below that-but we're working on it!  My scrub pants are fitting better, and I'm close to getting into all the pairs I have hanging in my closet that are a whole size smaller!

I've seen James 6 times now in 3 weeks, and each time I feel stronger and less clumsy.  Though I think he can tell just how uncoordinated I am and he's not too willing to risk me falling over yet and having to pick me up off the floor to make me do anything to crazy like one-legged step ups on the square box thing with weights in my hands-yeah too coordinated for me to accomplish just yet!  Stronger-yes, most definitely.  I feel myself sitting up straighter, walking taller, and having more confidence-does that sound crazy?  It might-but it's sure how I feel! 

After my first post about my journey, I got lots of emails and phone calls of support and encouragement.  Thank you so much for those of you that took the time to post something, or call-it really does mean a lot to me.  It's funny how taboo weight is to talk about, especially amongst women-so many were people thanking me for being so honest and open.  Some told me it really made them realize that they, too, need to do something to get healthy.  Because I don't want everyone to think the only reason I am doing this is to be skinny.  It's a BIG reason, yes, cause I want to get me some cute new jeans at Christmas, and wear that slutty, made-for-a-12 -year-old-body Halloween costume next year for the party, and put on a swimsuit I would actually wear without a cover-up again someday.  But NO, that is not the main reason.  My main reasons?
my health
my children
my husband
my life

My health:  not good when you are overweight-all the terrible health risks that come with obesity: diabetes, heart disease, etc. etc.  Also, we recently found out that I have a mass on my right ovary-as a matter of fact, there is not much ovary left.  I will be having surgery sometime in October to have it removed and sent to pathology.  Is it cancerous?  Probably not,  but no one can say for sure until it's out and through path.  It is not a cyst, though has some cystic components along with a large solid mass.  And with my family history-a Grandmother who died from ovarian and breast cancer-it must come out!  After a recent ultrasound, it has been determined that it is a little larger than it originally measured before we went on vacation, so I have another ultrasound scheduled for mid-October to check it out one more time.  That has been my driving factor in getting healthy-an abdominal laprascopic surgery will put me down for 2-3 weeks, with no lifting and other restrictions, and I didn't want to wait until then to get started.  I talked to James about it before we began our sessions, and he was cool with it-start now, work my ass off, deal with what I can/can't do when the time comes-oh, but he will hold me to the diet during my down time-RATS, still no cheating there!

My children:  Hailey, Parker and Ethan are the loves of my life, they mean the world to me, and I think we have done a pretty darn good job bringing them up to be contributing members of society someday.  We are pretty strict with them, and they work hard at school and help out a lot at home.  Hailey and Parker are good kids, polite, kind, empathetic and caring-they haven't had typical childhoods because of having a brother like Ethan.  Though I don't think either one of them would change a thing-there are times I have rewarded them for dealing with what they have with food.  Our little vice for the last few years has been our Sunday nights together.  Brian goes to off-duty, and we pack up and head to QT-it's 32oz sodas, Twizzlers, Reece's Pieces, and cupcakes for all-everybody gets a couple of snacks!  Then back to the house, in my bed we all hang out and binge out.  TERRIBLE HABIT!!!  Parker is getting chunky-the round the middle kind of chunky-the bad fat, belly fat chunky, and he's only 11!  We are doing him no favors, just guaranteeing that he will probably get diabetes someday if we continue this ritual.  And Ethan.  Ahh, my special little guy.  I would really like to be around for him for as long as he needs me-and as long as he's alive, he's gonna need me!  By not taking care of myself, I am essentially not taking care of him, and that thought kills me.  Ethan is 35lbs of skinny, dead weight that would rather giggle and curl up in a ball when you pick him up than help you at all.  The last thing I need is to have a bad back or be too fat to haul him around!

My husband:  My greatest love, my husband of 8 years, the man I knew I would marry the day I met him and showed him my tatoo....we are doing this together, and man that feels good!  I love going to the gym with him, and shopping for our food together, and then making and packing all our meals together.  That probably sounds crazy too, but it's sooo true, and wonderful to have him by my side and supporting me!
AND-he started with James last week and he's doing awesome also!

My Life:  Well, more than anything, I've learned that my life and the people in it and the people who count on me are worth making better choices for and living life to the fullest of my potential! 

This was kind of a sappy post-but more humor soon-got lots to share, and big laughs coming up!

James and all the HitchFit Trainers going to Ontario this weekend for competetion-GOOD LUCK!!!!

Let's get Physical, physical. I wanna get physical!

Since I'm going to share my current journey of suffering and pain for the whole world to read, know that I am also going to be perfectly frank about all of it-good and bad.  Because I, for one, am usually pretty frank, if nothing else, so why change now I figure???

I am going to a personal trainer to lose weight and get in shape.
(that was weird even typing it-it kinda felt like a confession-but since I haven't visited a confessional since prior to Ethan's baptism, probably not an appropriate comparision-THAT story is a whole other blog about religious issues and what-not, so moving forward....)

It's time, it's been time, it's past time, whatever I can say that basically conveys there's no time like the present!

It all started with my friend Brandi-the wonderful photographer who has taken the gorgeous pictures of my children and our family for the past few years.  Brandi was introduced to a personal trainer through a friend and client, began going to him, and I have followed her journey since January. 
I watched her sit at our KCPDFF meetings with her bottle of water and Crystal Light mix-in, while I sat there with my pizza and beer and thought 'poor girl'. 
I guzzled mexican food and beer at our annual holiday party and watched as Brandi arrived late to avoid wanting to eat any of the awesome food we were having, instead eating her chicken and green beans before coming over. 
I worked with her at a sale in some cute-ass, skinny-ass jeans, as I snarfed down McDonalds and a big 'ole Coke(it was noon-a little early and inappropriate location for beer being as we were at the Police Academy, or I probably would have had one) 
And 5 months later, I saw her pictures on her facebook profile, and WOW!!!  Brandi has always been beautiful, inside and out, but boy did she look like one hot Mommma now!!  (and yes, I spelled Momma with 3 m's cause she deserves the extra one!)  Let's just say I became ever so slightly jealous.....as I stabbed a pin in the arm of the blond, skinny voo-doo doll I had under my bed named, ummm, Randi.....(just kidding, really. maybe. mostly kidding)

So, I decided to do something about my jealousy-make it a productive jealousy, envy myself skinny.  Doesn't work quite like that I figured out. 
I gave up Coke (for like a day) 
I told myself Brandi was too skinny(yeah, like I want to be!)
I began eating more chicken (chicken tacos, chicken enchiladas, chicken pizza)
I told myself I could never give up beer(or wine, or Vegas Bombs, or alcohol in general)
I switched from Miller Lite to MGD 64(saving myself 33 calories per beer!)
I climbed up and down a few flights of stairs at work with Allison(and actually thought I might die in a dark, dirty hospital stairwell)
Brian and I got a gym membership (only works if you actually drag your ass out of bed and GO THERE!)

I started going to the gym 3 times a week religiously (and if you read my 'confession' above, you can probably tell how religion and I work out...)
BUT, I did do cardio-45-60 minutes a day, and I lost 8 lbs!  Then I would go to work and get me a big 32oz refill of Coke and stop by the vending machine for some chocolate donuts 3 times a week, and those 8lbs came and went weekly. 

Then vacation was upon us-our family trip to Florida! 
Disney-where I wore capri pants and short sleeve shirts in 97degree weather.
The Beach-where I had my plus-size, one piece swimsuit on under capri pants that I would never have taken off in a public place. 

We got home from vacation, and I found out another friend and fellow PD wife was also going to a trainer at the same gym Brandi went to(Andrea you look great girl!) and I was doubly jealous.
THEN, I was chatting with another friend on my way to work one Monday afternoon, and she told me she was starting HER 12 week transformation the following week(Jenn-you get it girl!) and as soon as she and I got off the phone I called Brian crying.  And I'm not a cryer, feel sorry for myself kinda girl.  I'm a 'do it' kinda girl, and it was waaaayyy past doin' it time! 
So, I picked Brandi's brain the next time I saw her.
She laughed and said she had been waiting for me to take the leap!  She gave me some accurate info, gave me the name of a trainer in her gym that she thought would be a good fit for me, she encouraged me to contact them right away, and she hugged me and told me she knew I could do it!
I spent hours on the phone with Brian that night while he was at work, we crunched numbers, we looked at schedules and 3 days later on our way to Costco I shot a FB message to Brandi's trainer Micah Lacerte at Hitch Fit Gym.  He responded in about a minute and a half-oh shit, the first step was taken, no turning back now!  
The trainer I was asking about had a pretty full schedule, but he would forward my info on to him and I would hear back from him that day.  I'm a deal maker-mostly with myself.  And the deal I made was
"if I hear from him tonight, it was meant to be and I'm all in.  If I don't hear from him tonight, and he waits until tomorrow to call, I won't answer any calls on my cell from numbers I don't recognize.  I can snake out and pretend he had no openings, I must have just had a brain fart thinking I could do this, oh, well!"
Well, he called.... 
That night.

AND he had openings.....
THE NEXT DAY!

HE is James Hanton, personal trainer extraordinare-or at least that's what I'll call him since he is actually willing to take me on as a client!
I was nervous as hell to go down to the gym to meet him for our first sesssion.
I even put on my good underwear.  Who the fuck does that???  Not like he was going to see it!?!!?? 
What the hell is wrong with me???
I called Jenn-where do I park?  where do I go in the gym at?  do I take a towel, water?  do I take my purse in?  Did you wear a sports bra for your before pic?  Did they let you put your t-shirt back on after the pic-or did you work out in your sports bra???
In the parking lot-duh.
In the door marked 'Hitch Fit Gym Entrance'-duh, again.
Newbie herself-didn't know yet.
Ummm, of course-you are in a shady neighborhood.
Yep-wear that sports bra proudly and let it allllll hang out for that lovely before pic.
Most definitely-the t-shirt goes back on prior to work-out.  whew!
Check, I was ready. 

I walked in to Hitch Fit(with my purse) and met James!  Instantly loved him!  We chatted for a few minutes, talked about payment, schedules, menu, etc.  then did the dirty deed-weight, measurements and picture.
Here's the frank part:
weight: 195 lbs 
I've shocked a few people with that one!  but you don't look like you weigh that much-you carry it well!
Well, let me tell you, I've been carrying it for about 6 years now, and I'd really like a lot less body baggage.
BMI: 44.4%
those numbers spare me from the 'morbid obesity, very high risk' category by less than a percent.  I'm actually in the 'severely overweight, high risk category'
Picture:
Ha-ha! Thought you were gonna get to see that huh?  Well, you're gonna have to wait until I have an "after" picture to post beside it!

Down to the nitty-gritty we got that day.  Lower body work out.  Yep, James kicked my ass-with my own weak legs, and fat body.
And I went back for more the next day!  Upper body-again kicked my ass with my own weak arms and fat body. 
And I loved it!

I have seen James for 3 sessions now-2 per week.  With cardio 7 days a week, and a diet from hell or a shitty women's prison whichever you compare monotonous, bland food day after day to.

And when I got on the scale this morning I weighed 188lbs!  That is 13 lbs down from 2 weeks ago yesterday and 6 lbs down in a week!
Rock the f*%!k on!!!

I haven't had a coke(or a taco, or a piece of pizza, or one of the brownies my daughter brought home from Topeka) in 9 days.
And I've lived! 

My wonderful husband is doing the diet with me, and so are the kids-by default since neither have jobs or transportation to buy themselves any crappy food anymore!  And better yet-Brian meets with James for the first time this week-we are truly going to do this together!
We will be skipping the Weston Irish Fest this year (oh, the blasphemy!)  But it will be too soon for us to be tempted by the wonderful Irish food and even smoother Smithwicks!
And the Williams' are upset we can't get together and have hot wings-soon, I promise, soon-like in 5 months!
And Aaron was at my house today drinking my beer-go ahead baby-drink it all!

I said I'll be frank, and frank I'll be, if you promise to follow me on this journey, cheer me when I do well, cry when I cry, encourage me when I'm feeling tempted, and keep your negative thoughts to yourself. 

I have no room for negativity

and remember

I haven't had a Coke in a loooong time......

Home Sweet HOT Home!

Yes-we made it back home to the terribly hot weather here, brown grass, dead flowers and piles of mail! Oh, but it was sooo wonderful to sleep in my own bed once again!

We hit Cocoa Beach on our last full day in Florida-about an hour and 20 minute drive that cost us about $6 in tolls from Orlando! Their toll roads are hilarious-we were often paying tolls on the highway when we never left the same one-weird! I will say their roads were nice though-I did miss throwing a handful of quarters into a urinal looking thing waiting for the red light to change to green once we hit I-70 in MO! I forget just how much that highway sucks! And someone told me MO just passed a law that truckers have to drive in the right hand lanes only-not the far left one? Maybe someone should tell them that because that was one thing I loved about driving down south-that is the law-and they know it-and it made for way smoother(faster) driving!

Anyway-back to Cocoa Beach...we arrived on the beach with the yellow (caution) flag hanging on the lifeguard chair and within 20 minutes of getting our towels arranged, umbrella staked, Ethan situated and kids in the ocean......CRACK! Thunder and lightning in the distance and the Red flag went up! Out of the ocean and off the beach! We did get all our money back from the umbrella/chair rentals when Brian returned them-the gal saw his PD shirt and asked if he was a cop-so he showed her his badge and she gave us all our money back-said her hubby was a Sheriff's Deputy! Nice little brotherhood we have there!

So, we found a local pizza place, sat for a while and watched the rain pour then headed to Ron Jon's Surf Shop! If you've never been to a Ron Jon's-GO! Parker got a boogy-board, Hailey got some swim shorts and a new swim suit top, we got t's and a bag and some cool beer glasses and flip flops! Then we hit the SpaceCoast Harley store and stocked up on some more stuff and got some advice on where to try to hit the beach again for the kids. The gal from the Harley store sent us across town and into some residential area-and viola! Beautiful beach and nearly empty! We put our coins in the meter and our feet in the sand-all that was missing was an ice cold beer.....

The kids loved playing in the ocean, and Ethan LOVED the sand! We put him on a towel and he kicked and kicked and kicked until he had dug about 10" holes with his feet! He was covered in sand-in his diaper, both legs covered, shorts wet, up his back and in his butt crack! And he was happy as a lark! The kids only got to play for about an hour because it was nearing dusk and I'm a shark freak. The last shark attack in Cocoa Beach (that I could find online) was in Nov 2009 just down the beach from where we were on- a 9 or 10 year old boy who was playing in the surf and a bull shark came up and snatched part of his leg off. Have I ever mentioned how terrible our luck is??? Well, instead of tempting fate-we hauled the kids out of the water and headed back to Orlando!

The kids thanked us over and over again for this wonderful trip and we relished in how perfect it turned out! Then it was back home to KC and work and reality. I'm still trying to recover from actually having to work 2 whole days this week upon return-good thing I have 5 off now....

The kids start school Monday-all 3 of them!! Hailey with VB try-outs and Cross Country, and Parker with Soccer. We're trying to find a sport for E-teeth grinding, distance rolling or repetitive crunching he would be great at!

I have got to hit the gym again-Allison my Ultrasound night tech buddy talked me into walking the stairs with her last night (umm, 12 flights up and down) and I really thought she was going to have to call a code on me before we reached the top so I have got to get in shape and lose some weight! Some of you remember my blog a couple of years ago when I first started with a personal trainer-well prepare for some more laughs-cause we are going to meet with one next week!

And a push for the KCPDFF-I am the president of our KCPD Friends and Family group and earlier this summer some of you may remember when I posted about a friend's house burning down. Tiffany Wells, our KCPDFF Secretary and great friend lost her home and all belongings except about 3 cardboard boxes worth of stuff in a fire caused by faulty electrical wiring. Our group is hosting a night out (adult night out!) to help raise money for the family as they rebuild their home and their lives! The event is open to the public-ALL ARE INVITED!

It is Saturday August 28th starting at 6pm at the Tuscan Ball Room at Liberty Hills Country Club-dress is casual!

Dinner/dancing/music provided by Soundgate Productions/raffle/silent auction items and all round good times raising money for a special family and one whose husband devotes his life to the citizens of this city daily!

Tix are $60 couple and $35 single and with that you get 2 drink tix-cash bar rest of night.

Great items for auction and raffle including teeth whitening package $350 value,

DJ package $500 value, event at the Tuscan Ball Room at huge discount, morning in the studio of radio personality Chris Stigall (priceless!) and lots of other great gift cards, products, etc.

Contact me to purchase tix, raffle tix or just donate to this event.

Or visit our website to purchase online at www.kcpdff.org

Or get your tix from either of our two KCPCU Credit Unions www.kcpcu.org

*just don't contact me to be your designated driver-right Jenn???

Come join us and have a great time-if you have a group you would like to ensure being placed with-let me know and we will reserve tables for your party to PARTY!!!

Oh, I almost forgot-we got home to find out our other house is set to close (again-for real this time!) in September! Yeah for my St Joseph statue buried in the front yard!!

Ethan happily digging 10inch holes in the sand with his feet while kicking!

Parker and Hailey playing in the Atlantic at Cocoa Beach

Brian tried to put E's feet in the ocean-he kept laughing so hard and pulling his feet back up!

Cocoa Beach 2010

The kids when the beach closed -Cocoa Beach 2010

Shamu ROCKS! and so does Sea World!

Sea World today was awesome! We got there around 11am and tried to get the extra tickets which took us backstage at the Sea Lion/Otter show, to pet a shark and a penguin and to feed and pet the dolphins-but they were already sold out! So, the gal at Guest Relations told us to head to Dolphin Cove and push the 'little cutie in the wheelchair' right up to the front and pull the sympathy card and see what happens....well, I hate to say it, but we did just that! And we got our own private feeding/petting show with the dolphins! All the while, everyone else watched us from waaaay behind a fence and across the lake and were crazy jealous I'm sure! The Sea World crew was so kind-we were so excited for Ethan to pet a dolphin-and he did and he was smiling and loving it. That is until the dolphin he was petting moved-that FREAKED him out! He square-mouthed it all up and even cried a few tears! You can see the loveliness of it in the pics below!

From there we hit the Dolphin Show-beautiful!

The 'Believe' Show featuring Shamu and all the other killer whales (minus Tillikum of course)

The Sea Lion/Otter/Walrus Show-hysterical

We also walked through the shark encounter and the kids fed some small sharks and pet some stingrays.

And of course-Brian and Hailey rode The Manta-a crazy roller coaster which you are diving head first and upside down into twists and turns! And the Kraken-one of Orlando's largest steel coasters-again, not one for the faint of heart-namely me and Parker!

We finished up the night with Shamu Rocks! An amazing night show in Shamu Stadium with lights and loud rock music! The kids sat down in rows 2 and 4-so they had a really wet ride home-while we sat in the wheelchair section with E-and remained dry!

How funny is it that we ran into the Kellers from KC today-they have been in Florida on vacay for the last week also! AND we hooked up with a former Sgt of Brian's, Buddy Hunholz and his family who were at Sea World today too. Buddy moved to Palm Beach 3 years ago and works for Miami Gardens PD!

Had another great day today-headed to Cocoa Beach tomorrow and maybe Gator Land-ssshhh don't tell Parker-it's going to be a surprise cause we aren't sure we can make it. It will be great for him since he doesn't do the rides like Hailey does-it will be more his 'thing'.

Then back to reality as we head home Sunday and Monday!

Our private dolphin feeding/petting

This was Ethan's face after the dolphin he was petting moved-it freaked him out!


Shamu Rocks!

The dolphin show at Blue Horizons Theatre

Brian & Hailey on the Manta-look closely-top of the screen last car-Hailey in white shirt at the top of the pic, Brian next to her in green shirt with arms up!

The Kids with Shamu!

Disney Days 3 & 4-Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

Day 3 Magic Kingdom
On Wednesday, we slept in a little bit, knowing we were going to be at Magic Kingdom pretty late! That park is absolutely mind-blowing! So many of the rides were wheelchair friendly-and I don't mean that we could wheel right up to them and transfer E onto one of our laps-I mean he rode the rides in his own wheelchair!

The Buzz Lightyear Ranger Spin in Tomorrowland was the first ride we hit-while we waited for our Fast Pass time for Space Mountain. We cheated and got 4 Fast Passes for it, knowing I and Parker would not ride it-but so Brian and Hailey could ride twice in a row-or if they didn't want to, pass it along to a stand-by rider in the 75 minute wait line! Then we hit the Astro Orbiter, the Transit Train, and the Carousel of Tomorrow. We spent the first half of our morning in one section of the park! Oh, and I did ride Space Mountain with Brian-not a bad ride at all! Pretty cool in the dark-I can't see the upcoming crazy turns and drops so I wasn't anxious with anticipation! I mostly rode it because my husband said if I didn't at least ride it-people's opinions of me would be shatttered-meaning they wouldn't think I was as big a bad-ass as I have most people convinced I am!

We then made our way around the park and hit the Tea Cup ride(me, Parker and E), the Dumbo ride(again, the chicken trio) and the Carousel(yep, us three again) while Brian and Hailey rode the Runaway Train and Splash Mountain. Once over on that side of the park-we climbed the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, did the Jungle Safari Boat Tour-wheelchair accessible for E! the Haunted Mansion ride (Parker clung to Hailey during this entire ride once the first ghost jumped out at him!) and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The Pirate ride was very cool-little boats which we rode in with Ethan sitting on the seat between me and Brian all underground and dark. Not so cool when the boat went down a nice little hill and splashed into the water below in the pitch black dark-which we weren't expecting-by then Brian had put E on his lap-and it's a good thing, or he might have ended up on the floor!

We hung out and watched the electric parade and the amazing Summer Nightastic Fireworks-and it almost made me cry! Watching the incredible fireworks show with the family-the whole while Ethan squealing and laughing at them. I told Brian if that had been the only thing we had been able to do while there-I would have left happy! For me it was the icing on the cake of this trip-and worth the whole thing!

I was so looking forward to the It's a Small World ride-but it was closed for refurbishing! Drats!


Day 4 Hollywood Studios
Fun-though not as kid ride friendly as Epcot or the Kingdom.
We got some good advice from one of the Magic Kingdom Cast Members who used to work there who told us to go straight to the Toy Story Midway Mania ride because all the fast passes would be gone by 11am-and he was right! When we wheeled up to the ride and asked about wc accessibility, the guy told us he could stay in his chair-but we had to wait in the 115 minute stand-by line. I was not down for that-neither was E in the 93 degree heat. As I stomped off saying that was ridiculous-he couldn't wait outside in that heat-another Cast Member grabbed me and asked if we had the Guest Assistance Card-which we did! She kindly pointed out that the other guy should have directed us in through the exit right to the handicap loading area and she apologized and told us she would educate the other guy on that! Thank goodness for her-otherwise we would have missed a very fun ride! Ethan's first trip on it he sat between Brian and I and did ok-his second trip he stayed in his wc and I sat beside him-however, I forgot to straighten his chair up from the leaned-back position, and the first turn it tipped backwards and poor little E was staring at the ceiling with wild eyes trying to figure out what had happened! It was so back heavy from our bags and his O's and feeding bag! I just about died as I grabbed his chair super fast and sat him back up! I couldn't straighten his chair up then or his face would have hit the pop gun, so I just put my foot on the front wheels to stabilize it, and when we were moving, I held it up with my arm-thank heaven's it was a pretty short ride!

We also enjoyed the Back Lot Tour, the Little Mermaid show, the Disney Animation Show, the Prince Caspian show, the Great Movie Tour Ride, The Muppet 3D Show, the Star Wars Endor Trip ride, and of course the Tower of Terror and the Rock-n-Roll Roller Coaster. The last two were Brian and Hailey rides in case you couldn't tell by the names?!?!? Parker tried to tell us he was going to ride the Tower-but as we approached and could hear people's screams, ummm he changed his mind!

We met a couple of other special needs families from overseas who also had kids in wheelchairs, whom we sat and chatted with for a while! The one family from England had an older daughter who loved the Dumbo ride-and refused to get off of it-her Dad had to pick her up and drag her off! The Mum made a comment much like I have said about E-"As long as she's happy the world is right. But once she's not-the world will know about it!" Sooooo Ethan-speaking of which-he had a complete meltdown today when we stopped entertaining him to actually sit down and eat that the wonderful waitress brought him a light up ice cube in a dish which changed colors-it kept him busy and quiet long enough for us to eat!

Like I have said before-the Cast Members were so wonderful, the parks so accomodating, so much more than I ever expected! We will surely bring the kids back here again in a few years! I was worried Ethan wouldn't get to do anything-and I was so wrong!

We love Walt Disney....

for his dreams have made ours come true!

The parade at Hollywood Studios with the green army men from Toy Story-dancing and singing
In front of the Streets of America-the New York skyline in the background

Tower of Terror-not a Kari or Parker kind of ride....

Now, this was my kind of ride-and Ethan's -he loved this ride too-and it had a wheelchair accessible car too!

The inside of the Toy Story Midway Mania ride-from the handicap loading area

The back side of the castle at night during the Summer Nightastic Fireworks show!

So many rides at Magic Kingdom were wheelchair friendly-this was the Jungle Safari boat ride

E sportin some new Mickey shades

The Buzz Lightyear Ranger Spin ride-Ethan rode with Brian on this ride in his wheelchair in a special car and he LOVED it!

Cinderella's Castle when we first arrived at Magic Kingdom

Disney Day 2-Wild Animal Kingdom

Well, it was Day 2 of our Disney Adventure-and oh, what an adventure it was.....
we found out where the first aid station at the park was, the name of the local children's hospital, AND if we have to call 911 for Ethan-ask them to take us to Celebration first-they will then fly him down to Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital instead of drive-apparently dowtown Orlando traffic is a bitch!

Now, that sounds a whole lot worse than it really was-Ethan just got a little hot today (record high of 97-and we decided to spend it at the one park that has hardly any A/C buildings!) Only one of the restaurants even had indoor seating with A/C!! But all was well-like I said-Disney is AMAZING! We headed to first aid because Ethan was working pretty hard to breathe, retracting, and then started acting like he was gonna throw up. We threw some O's on him-but knew we needed to get him inside somewhere to cool down-and fast! Literally-the crowds parted when we asked how to get to first aid cause we needed our little guy looked at-the Cast Member helping us was awesome! We tried to check his sats-but alas-the one thing I did not check, double check and triple check before we left KC was the battery on his portable spot check sat monitor-it didn't have enough juice to read his sat-low battery! The paramedics showed up at the first aid station to check him for us-and by then he was doing the 'baby seal' and back to a nice pink color, laughing hysterically at them as they tried to do some vitals on him! The crew was awesome-gave us all the good info I mentioned above-checked his sat-a lovely 94-and sent us on our way!

Other than that excitingly scary moment-we had a great time at this park too! The pics of the very realistic, snow covered mountain in our background was the Everest Expedition ride. I was pretty sure I was gonna ride this coaster-that is until I actually saw it in person! And after Brian and Hailey rode it (twice) and told me all about it-I was really glad I changed my mind. A coaster that spans two buildings, hits a dead-end where the tracks change and then you plummet backwards down the path you just came up, THEN proceeds forward down a steep hill, around a fast corner into a fifty foot Yeti-was not my idea of a smooth ride today..... the boys and I watched-and listened to all the screams! And we were perfectly happy!

We also partook of the 'It's Tough to be a Bug' show in the roots of the large carved tree on Discovery Island. For those of you Disney movie fans, Flik, the star of 'Bug's Life' was the narrator of this incredible 3D show! I can't even begin to describe on here how great it was-the smoke, shooting water, creepy crawlies under our seats and the spiders dropping from the ceiling made for one terrific show! It's a must-see for all ages-and it's in the nice, cool A/C!

We did the Kilamanjaro Safari Ride, where we loaded into jeeps and headed deep into Africa. The ride was very cool-lots of up close views of the animals, and the best part-Ethan laughed his skinny butt off bouncing around in the jeep! I got some great pics of elephants, rhinos, Nile crocs, and a even a shot of the King of the Jungle himself-standing up for a moment to adjust his napping position!

We were back to our resort by 6pm-made some tacos for dinner, hit the RedBox near us and just finished watching 'Kick Ass'. The bald guy is in bed now, and I think he may actually be asleep finally. We are getting ready to watch 'The Bounty Hunter' and I'm gonna throw down a few Corona Lights and try to laugh at a movie where I love the lead actor -Gerard Butler-and am nauseated by the lead actress. Oh well, maybe the beer will make Jennifer Aniston more tolerable. At least the soundtrack is decent!

Tomorrow we are sleeping in late, then heading to Magic Kingdom a little later-we want to be there late for the Mainstreet Electrical Parade (9pm) and the Summer Nightastic Firework Spectacular (10pm). We also plan to hunt down all the princesses for Ethan to get some lovin' from, and I'm sure Brian and Hailey have some crazy rides they plan to hit! Parker is more interested in all the gift shops-and he's really excited about the fireworks! It's only supposed to be 93 here tomorrow-so we should be able to avoid the first aid station at the Kingdom-we'll see!

A Happy Early Birthday to my Dad! When we get back home-we plan to BBQ for you and Teresa's belated birthday! Without the two of you-we wouldn't be able to be on this trip-thank you so much for making this possible! The kids are having the time of their lives and I can't wait to scrapbook all of the great pics I have! Have a great Birthday Dad-love you bunches!

Parker in front of the big tree at Discovery Island

Everest Expedition in the background

Yep, that's E's little head, he had too much to drink and decided to pull over and take a nap instead of drive

Ethan and Daddy on the Triceratops Ride

the kids at Disney's Animal Kingdom