Scrapbooking at Wendy's

When Dan called to let me know that he was going camping with his Dad for the father's and sons this weekend, I started scheming. I called Erin and we thought we should scrapbook!!! She thought that Kendall was going to do the same thing with Sam and it could be a real party. I got Seth and Dan packed and prepped for the overnight'er and then headed out with Chloe, some pj's, and a smidgen of colored paper, pens and pictures.

It never seems simple when we gather but Erin, Jennifer, Wendy, Laura and I spread out our stuff and laughed the night away. After scrapbooking with Krista a little while back I purchased a new tape gun, the Scotch ATG700. I was so excited to use it tonight and after organizing the pictures I just picked up from printing at Costco, I opened the packaging of the above mentioned tape gun... There was no tape. I was so excited and talking about it. I had coveted this tape gun and was practically singing a song about this wondrous product when my face fell, my song faltered and I realized I was without any sort of adhesive ~ ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily I scrapbook with the most generous women who bring back ups. I also forgot my paper cutter and was borrowing the entire night! Chloe and Morgan had so much fun playing together. Other than the two new babies Chloe was the only addition to roll call at the Steeneck household. They started by jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers on underneath and finished by getting their matching pajama's on, doing their hair the same and giggling the night away.
As luck would have it, neither Desirae or Maggie would stay asleep and it turns out that Kendall had to work Saturday morning so we pulled an all night'er but left around 4 AM.

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I WON!

I started the day thinking it would be a great idea to move my computer from one side of my desk to the other. My big old desk is great for the kids to color at sitting opposite of me, but when I am blogging {there is a slim chance I might be doing something else on my computer} my back is to them. I began by cleaning my office. I still had some stuff to put away from unpacking the suitcases and laundry baskets tend to make an appearance for some strange reason. I washed everything down and got rid of all of the accumulated dust. I unplugged cords, scooted the PC and then tried rewiring everything with my cable cord & box. I failed! I had to move everything back because the cords were too short. Everything looked so nice and clean that I kept at it and tried blowing all of the dust and bits of paper/garbage out of my keyboard with canned air. I could still see gunk down in between the keys and took my staple remover to the keys:
Fortunately I had enough sense to snap some pictures of the order of the keys so that I could put them back in place. I thought I knew exactly where each piece belongs, I can type pretty fast... But I did have to look at my snap shots to get all of the keys that aren't numbers or part of the alphabet in the right spot!

It took more time than I planned and I was late to Make and Take but it didn't matter because I still won the drawing for the flag craft!!! I love it and can't wait until next month! If anyone is interested in coming with me ~ let me know. Not only would you be entered into the drawing for coming and placing an order but {more importantly} I would get another entry for ME!

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Discovery Gateway

Jennifer holding Desirae, Erin, & Liz

Sam, Maggie, Chloe & Seth

So if you live in Salt Lake City and are part of the City Library district (not County!!!) you have access to a great discount pass, just like my sweet sister-in-law Jenn. She offered to let both Erin and I join her and we jumped at the opportunity to pay just $4.25 each!!! After spending more than five hours there, it was well worth it.

Seth fell asleep on the way home and we couldn't even wake him up to eat his dinner ~ that's a great day!!!

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Swine Flu Celebrity Fatality

This is just so sad... and we all know who gave it to him!

I should have put a picture of Ms. Piggy for the way I feel since being home from vacation. It has been so nice to make dinner and eat left overs. I could always take or leave the dishes, but it is nice to know what is in the food I'm going to eat. After more than seven days of eating out, I am ready to start choosing better foods to eat and trying to be healthier. I hate thinking the word diet because I can never stick to a diet but I have to do something. I didn't add this information to my posts about Florida but I do want to remember this moment in life so that I will never forget... After walking around for two days, my feet hurt. I don't know if they were shin splints but my shins really hurt and ached without end. On the third and fourth day of theme parks I rented a motorized scooter to get around. I wanted to enjoy the time I spent there and I didn't want to complain and miss out on anything. Being home, my calves and feet hurt but we are getting back to normal.

I am going to eat healthier and exercise every day. The kids are now both riding bikes so I hope to go out for adventures. I was never able to really get any exercise when they were walking with me or riding in the stroller. They had to stop for one thing or another. But with them both on a bicycle, it should be a work out to keep up with them. I have been trying to get a lot of water in me and I am going to stop drinking both caffeine and carbonation.

I am embarrassed that I couldn't or wouldn't traipse around Disney World. I am too over weight to enjoy my children. I am going to participate in a biggest looser group and I am not going to be the same person I am today. We are going to weigh in twice a month and measure our bodies every three months. Each time we check ourselves on the scales we will put some dollars in the biggest loser pot {somewhere between $2 - $5} and the person with the biggest percentage of loss will win the pool. It is insane, but we have set the date for the first gathering for June 17th and I am having a hard time not binging from now until we begin. I will be adding posts about our bi-monthly happenings and I am hoping this will hold me more accountable to myself.

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And Home Again!

This little man was entertainment for the entire airport. He loved steering his luggage around and only when it got too heavy would he give his precious backpack to Dan for safe keeping. We had stopped at a Winn Dixie to gather some snacks and restock our carry-ons for the flight home. He picked out both red and black licorice to enjoy only during the flight which didn't leave until just after four in the afternoon, but we made great time and landed in Salt Lake half an hour early, at seven-thirty!

Chloe charmed everyone she met on each of our three plane rides. I secretly reveled in all of the compliments about her cute hair flowers {thanks to Auntie Erin}. She enjoyed taking advantage of the fact that these strangers couldn't get away from her and talked their ears off! It was a huge relief to find Beaker alive and swinging with plenty of food and water ~ we could have stayed a few more days!!! We were all so excited to sleep in our own beds {with clean, fresh sheets}. I'm sure that Grandma and Grandpa were glad to be home, too.

It should come to no surprise that some of her drawings have encountered a little rain!

I am so grateful to Bry and Sue. Not only would Dan never willingly choose to go to Disney World or Florida but it would have taken us another twenty years to have saved up for such a wonderful trip!

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Pool Day

On Sunday everyone agreed that I should be in charge of our itinerary for the week. I didn't want to miss anything! The fabulous resort we stayed at was opening a new swimming attraction on Friday and when checking the weather it was supposed to be the hottest day. So, we planned to just relax and swim all day. Seth was being too saucy while complaining he had a stomach ache during breakfast and Dan volunteered to stay in our room with him. While they napped we lounged around the lazy river:

I'm not sure if the waterproof camera was worth it.

Maybe we needed some goggles to actually see what we were doing under water...

I tried to keep my chuckles inside, but I loved that people were actually laying out,

as if they were tanning in the sun. It was drizzling off and on the whole time we were there!

Chloe's photo work:
She loved this shower:

Isn't the resort beautiful:

I love one on one time with her!

It was the first time we have had the chance to use my camera under water

and it was really fun trying to capture her daring jumps!

I think we are going to put it to good use!!!

If you can imagine these pools we were in were the old ones. The new pool area wasn't scheduled to open until after lunch and, you guessed it, it started to rain with lightening and thunder. It seemed to just work out for us ~ if we had waited for the new pool we would have missed swimming all together!

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Disney's Hollywood Studios

We had considered to go back to the Magic Kingdom today but at the last minute Dan decided to stick to my plan. I wanted to see Fantasmic and it was only scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday this week at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Today was our last chance! Dan decided to eliminate any opportunity I would be able to nag about the need to ever come to Disney World again.

I was really looking forward to the new Toy Story Midway Mania 3D adventure,

but I think it was more fun to wait in line for the ride:

But right out side we got to see Lightening McQueen!!!

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular was pretty cool with the fire and guest participation. I am ashamed to admit that I actually believed the guy that was hamming it up and taking fake punches was actually a tourist and not an actor/stunt man ~ pathetic, I know! We got to see the Muppet Vision 3D with Kermit and Miss Piggy. One of the highlights of our trip was riding Star Tours!!! Neither Seth or Chloe has watched any Star Wars movies yet but they loved the ride and both Dan and I were excited to get them light sabers.
When we got to the check out the cashier told us that the light sabers we picked were actually for costume use and suggested we head over and make our own... I hope he will be able to remember this!
It was kind of fun for Dan to pick out a double edge light saber so that he could combat with both kids at the same time!

I can't wait to get home and watch the movies with them!

I probably should be ashamed but seeing as we had already stuffed Seth's shoes with extra socks for height, it seemed a waste not to use it to our advantage...

We took both kids to The Twilight Zones Tower of Terror!

Although they were both a little frightened, Chloe still thought it was a cool ride.

I think that the moment that I will never forget is watching the Beauty and the Beast ~ Live on Stage. It was so well done and both kids were mesmerized through the entire show:

It was awesome!!!

We left the park when it started to rain again. It seemed that we got to ride everything we wanted and because the crowds weren't there, we got through things faster than expected. We headed over to the Rain Forrest Cafe for dinner. Then Dan shocked me when we were leaving and he headed back to the theme park for Fantasmic. We sat there for two and a half hours in the rain waiting for the show to start, all the while hoping it wouldn't be delayed. It was so great, for me and Chloe, Seth fell asleep right before it started. Mickey Mouse's dream gets turned into a nightmare where all of the villains make an appearance. The water display and the fireworks were pretty cool and I am so glad Chloe got to see it.

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