Disney vacation memories

Disney vacation vids completed! Six chapters for your utter enjoyment. Feast on!

The Great Outdoors

Last weekend we went to DeSoto State Park to attend the Knox family reunion. Mom was a Knox before she married, and boy, are those genes strong. Every one of us is a nutjob. ;-) But we are darn adorable. Poppie's jovial presence was palpably absent, but I like to think he was observing us all. I could almost picture him there, chatting and cutting up and telling all those well-worn stories everyone's heard at least a dozen times. We used to laugh every time.

Steve and I decided to add extra spice to our experience by attempting our first tent-camp Saturday night. I had a tiny bit of anxiety about how it would play out, but things really went fairly smoothly. The kids adored their breezy accomodations, and Connor was overjoyed over having full license to pee in the grass whenever he felt the urge. We ate wild blackberries, we hiked trails (bunnies!), we visited the Nature Center and observed all the stuffed creatures. The scenery was breathtaking. Maintenance of two wandering wee ones made things a little less relaxing than the ideal, but we would attempt another excursion in a minute.

Cracking good toast!

Connor's birthday present is complete. I put the finishing touches on this little fella tonight:





Ten points go to you if you can name this little guy correctly.




Time's up. This is Gromit. Isn't he cute-ums? If you haven't heard of Wallace and Gromit... they're a series of animated films starring a goofy bald dude named Wallace (he's British and he loves cheese) and his mute dog who is clearly the brains of the outfit. The entire catalogue of films includes three shorts and a feature-length (one more feature-length has just been released in Britain, entitled Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death...it's set in a bakery. Expect highbrow humor, obviously). My love affair with these little guys began in high school. I've passed it on to my kids. Ask Connor and he'll tell you, they're his favorite movies. We own every DVD and he's about worn them ragged.




He's nuts for the little dog, Gromit. Problem is, it's darn near impossible (and fairly expensive) to locate any memorabilia promoting the characters. The only stuffed "Gromit" I was able to dig up was a tiny stiff miniature one. Not ideal for snuggling, which I know he'll want to do at night. And it was unavailable at the time. So I decided I'd make one. Believe me, this has been an exercise in experimentation...but hooray--Mommy's Gromit is plushy, snuggly, entirely hand-stitched (with luuuuv!), and measures an ample 18"! Maybe not something Toys R Us would want to mass-produce, but in our household, he's sure to be loved thoroughly.

My personal favorite touch is his little leather collar, complete with engraved license:



I've totally got dibs if Connor decides he's not interested. Is it his birthday yet?????

OPTIMISM...

Days on end of rain make us Medlins downright melancholy...




Even a bit insecure...



But it makes for marvelous puddles in the garden...




And sometimes it helps us meet new friends...



And it certainly makes things delightfully green...




The best policy is to just grin and bear it...



Isn't that better?

Birth and Birthdays

Everybody and their Aunt Tilly is having babies lately! I've been busy cranking out cards. Here are a couple I put together. Connor scrawled "Welcome Baby" inside. That's the best part.


Can I admit to being positively giddy with planning Connor's big Fourth birthday party (FOURTH? Gak! Where did the year go?)? His chosen theme this year is "Robin Hood." I went to Hobby Lobby today and started experimenting with materials to enhance the theme. I cranked these out today. They're just thin wooden dowels (2 dollars for a bag of 30 at Hob Lob!) outfitted with red feathers and florist tape. They'll eventually be fitted with foam tips.




Am I really going to outfit a bunch of preschoolers with primitive weaponry?

You bet.

Just not until they're headed home.

Going Buggy

Who can stay inside with all that gorgeous sunshine floating around?

I opened all the windows this morning to let in some fresh air, the Mini-Medlins and I went to run some errands, and when we got home, Connor's room was filled with red wasps! I shut the window (most of them were clinging to the screen) and trapped the majority between the window and the screen (yep, they're still there), then I went on a killing spree and I think I got the free-range ones. No idea how they got in--there must be a gap someplace in the screen. I yanked down his window blinds in my rampage; I'll fix that after we're sure we have found their point of entry. Connor's going to nap in our bed this afternoon.


This weekend we had our first family hiking excursion, at the state park in Guntersville! It was a wonderful day for it. Connor was so excited he couldn't sleep the night before, and when we got there, he was ecstatic, running up and down the trail and gathering sticks. Both the wee ones were troopers, really.
We did end up carrying them both a good bit (we didn't have a backpack carrier for Mia so I threw together a sling and hauled her on my hip, no prob), but they had fun, and I was relieved to discover that we don't have whiny "indoor kids." We have a camping trip scheduled for early July, around the weekend of Mia's birthday. I think they'll be into it.

Hot Chocolate

Captain BrownBeard, fierce pirate of the Cocoa Seas.



And then apparently he wiped half of it on my living room furniture.

Nine tenths of a century...

My Poppie's ninetieth birthday is coming up in a month. He is so dear to our family, and we all have such fond memories of growing up with him in our lives. He's such an unforgettable individual. I feel especially blessed to be able to watch my children, his great-grandchildren, developing a warm relationship with Poppie that reminds me of my own tender years with him. My project for him has been an 8x8 memory book, complete with sentiments from every generation descending from him. I completed the first two pages tonight, one for each of my children:

Take a Letter, Please

We are now learning to write in our household!

...Steve's a little behind the rest of us, but he's practicing a lot. He's hoping to master his own name by the end of the month...

One of the most miraculous and worthy investments in our playroom appears to be the revered Aqua Doodle. Connor can't get enough. It was a Christmas gift from his Uncle Jason, and on it he has drawn his first recognizable face, complete with ears and hair, and now his fledgling attempts at letters. Last night he'd write a letter and then get up and do a celebratory dance. Soon he was scrawling out simple words all by himself, like "papa," "Mia" and "poop" (Thanks a lot, Daddy, for that last one. They're going to love my kid in preschool next month).

I raided the dollar bins at Target this morning and found Connor some Disney workbooks for practicing writing. Here's his very first solo attempt at his name in pencil:



And just so Princess Mimi doesn't feel left out after Brother's been the subject of three consecutive blogs, here's a peek at her big day. Click on the mosaic to enlarge: