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When Zach's dad first talked to him about the Ireland trip my heart instantly went out to Zach's mom. Sure, she isn't a golfer. But it would crush me if Zach planned a trip to Europe for his birthday and I wasn't included in his plans! Even if it made sense for her not to go (and I'm sure her feelings weren't hurt in the way mine would be) I still felt bad about it. I talked to Zach about trying to make sure she had some special time too while they were all away. Typically each summer there is also a Parker Family Trip with ALL of Zach's side of the family (his parents, sisters, and all the kids). Zach and I were under the impression that it wasn't happening this year so we thought it'd be nice to invite Zach's mom and sisters down to the Disney House for a few days so his mom could get to have all the grandkids together. Even though the men wouldn't be there, it'd still give her the memories and experience with all of her grandchildre...
Robyn's crew headed out first thing Saturday morning and we had a LAZY day planned. When I made plans for the trip I really wanted to make sure I carved out a couple days for JUST the kids and I. While time with friends and family is always fun, it usually results in adults talking and kids playing. I wanted to make sure I had quality time WITH my kids while Zach was in Ireland. We started our Saturday with a big, yummy cinnamon roll breakfast then had some fun playing games while Spear napped.
Zach headed off to Ireland on Wednesday June 13th. I met up with Robyn at pretty much the same time Zach left to drive down to Orlando. I've never driven my kids solo before for that long of a drive with any of them at this young of ages. I was pretty nervous about it but thankfully Spear is on the 4 hour schedule which means he wouldn't have to stop and eat because we can for sure make it from our house to the Disney House in under four hours! The Ireland Crew!
Y'all know how much I LOVE talking about all things Disney! However, there are many aspects of planning the perfect Disney vacation that I'm just not able to give a whole lot of input or advice about. One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is regarding the Disney Dining Plan. Which I have ZERO percent experience or knowledge on at all. So thankful for Carrie (from Wiley Adventures ) and her post today: The Disney Dining Plan can be one of the most overwhelming parts to planning a Walt Disney World Vacation, but it can also be one of the best parts if you know how to navigate it well.
We we both so sad to leave our trip and have to head home! We kicked off our last morning getting all packed up. A nice perk of club level was all the sweet helpers we had throughout our entire stay :) We felt like royalty! Disney always does it right and Yacht Club was an incredible experience. Hit up that VIP snack area for the last time ;)
We finished up at the pool and headed up to the room to get ready for our last night! We had dinner reservations at our actual resort (The Yachtsman) so it was really nice to be able to take our time knowing we just had to walk downstairs for dinner :) I loved that our view was overlooking Boardwalk! I've actually never visited the Boardwalk area but am super excited to do so sometime soon :) I love that there are practically endless options and opportunities at Disney World, you can go a million times and still have new things to experience!
The second day of our trip was also our actual anniversary! Monday May 28th which was neat because we did also get married on a Monday :) My big gift from Zach for my birthday was getting to do the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. It's a behind the scenes tour at Magic Kingdom. I've been SO PUMPED for this experience and we booked it on our actual anniversary to make it extra-special :) It's so much easier rolling into the parks when you're kid free haha! No strollers, coolers, a billion kid items. EASY!
Zach and I have always put traveling together as a top priority in our marriage. We use our trips as a time to really reconnect and to keep our marriage strong. Over the years we've had to switch up when and how we go as the more kids we have...the more difficult it is for someone to keep 'em! Zach works with Aflac and earns MANY free trips through the company so we try to stick to those as our "trips together" and do smaller, quicker trips other times of the year. We typically do a little getaway at Christmas as well as our Anniversary. This past year for my birthday Zach gave me the gift of an EPIC Disney trip ...but with us not knowing when Spear would be born we decided to hold off on it. Obviously we also didn't do anything for Christmas with Spear being born on December first. So we combined my birthday gift trip with our Christmas trip AND our Anniversary trip! It really worked out so well because the kids got out of school right before ...
On our last full day of our trip (Saturday) we spent the morning at Disney Springs. We headed back pretty early so ALL the kids could nap and then the big three and I headed to Epcot. It was my first solo mom experience at night at the parks. Nights at the parks tend to be more crowded and it means dealing with the massive crowd of people when exiting at closing. Plus the dark is just a new ballgame vs when it's nice and bright and light outside. I'm just conquering all these park goals ;) When we arrived at Epcot we went straight to get some pics and this was an odd location but I'm always all about finding the photo pass person without anyone waiting so whatever. It works!
Awhile back we received an invitation to my cousin's wedding in the mail. It's been roughly 6 years since I've had a relationship with my mom and with many members of her side of my family. Slowly, over time, doors have been re-opened with family members and I've been SO thankful to those who have reached back out and made those efforts to reconnect. It's been a HUGE blessing in my life and receiving the invite for Susi's wedding in the mail was a HUGE deal to me. No hesitation on our part, we wouldn't be missing it for the WORLD.
After our morning at MK we all got to work! Zach's family was heading back the next day and our crew was heading back the following day. A lot of what was left were little tasks that the kids could help with and that I could be of help handling too! Kye was AWESOME at jumping in and getting to work! He assembled all the lamps I bought at Ikea and helped me by going room to room and taking photos of the lamps that were already in each room so I could know what we were working with and decide how to change things up :) He also was an awesome helper with Spear! Monday morning I made cinnamon rolls for everyone. I used the canned type but put them all really tightly into a pan and undercooked them. OMG these were the BEST cinnamon rolls ever. I can gain 5 lbs just thinking about them! Cutie Pie working that camera ;) Everyone loved having break time for some Spear cuddles! Zach's Aunt Cheryl! My heart! We all were working HA...
When Zach and I made the leap and bought our house near Disney we knew we'd want to put some "sweat equity" into it and the timing couldn't have been better...the kids had THREE days off of school for a winter break! We made plans to go down and spend the whole time working. It was SUCH a blessing to have Zach's mom, grandmother and aunt come down with us and put in the work too. I seriously don't know how anything would have gotten accomplished without them!!! Our plan was for me to take care of the three older kids the whole weekend. If yall have ever tried to do any house projects with "little helpers" then you know it made sense for me to try to keep them BUSY and OUT of the house as much as possible! Spear is still so little and sleeps so much that he was a breeze to care for so the working crew took turns taking breaks and snuggling up with him for his feedings and awake times. It all went SO well. The big kids and I had a really fun-fi...
