Summer Trip to Indiana

The Indiana Crew

Three quarters of the Ward family just got back from our annual summer trip to Indiana to visit family and friends. Zach and Dylan did great. My brother was nice enough to drive the three of us (his family wasn't able to go because they were starting school on Monday so needed their rest). Off we went on a 10 hour drive each way. The ride wasn't as bad as I had imagined it could be. Zach was happy as could be to sit and watch movies the whole way. Thank goodness they had Bolt in the car and we don't own Bolt so it was a new movie to watch. Not to mention Alvin and the Chipmunks that he must have watched 4 times in a row....why? I'm not sure. He was pretty funny on the ride up. The headphones to watch the movie made him sound like your older relatives at Christmas, talking way louder than everyone else or any reasonable person needs to talk! I think my brother was reminiscing about the "old" days when his kids were that little. Probably the first hour he kind of missed the young age, but by hour 2 we had him thankful he could ride in peace with his children now that they are old enough to play video games and listen to Ipods!

Zach and PJ - Fast Friends

We arrived in Indiana and went to dinner with the Chambers. Then after Zach "drove" the table in honor of Paul, the "adults" went to the Chambers house and dropped the kids off at the hotel with the grandparents. The story was that while my Mom put Dylan to sleep in one of the adjoining rooms, Granddad was entertaining Zach in the other room. My Mom reported that she went in to find Granddad sound asleep and Zach wide awake watching TV. No one was too surprised. Meanwhile the "adults" were learning the rules of the Chamber household and enjoying an adult beverage or two.Zach showing his bottom after he sat in the Lightning McQueen bubbles

After a late night at the Chambers and a 5:00am "wake up call" from Dylan, I started Saturday a little groggy. Zach, Dylan and I swam in the hotel pool, then we all played at Aunt Betty's for awhile. We got to visit with Aunt Betty for a bit before heading out to Uncle Terry and Aunt Stephanie's for a fabulous cookout and lots of playtime for Zach. He had a great time playing with PJ in the pool. Lightning McQueen bubbles were a hit as well as the bubble airplane!

Grammy, Dylan and Zach
Swim time for Dylan

After a long two days, we woke up on Sunday and headed back out on the road to come back to Kansas. The trip home was longer, because it always is for some reason. The last half hour, Dylan decided he had had enough of sitting backwards staring at nothing for 20 hours and was going to cry until someone did something about it. The someone was Dylan and the something was falling asleep. Of course, it was about 5 mins from our exit where we switched cars and he woke up. Zach refused to sleep even though he was working on about 6 hours of sleep each night. He finally gave in when Craig picked us up in Joplin and he slept in our van and then continued to sleep for another 17 hours. He only woke up to have Craig change him into his pj's and get a drink of water. We were all beat, but had such a fun time seeing all our friends. We miss you all and are so happy that we still get to see you, even if it is only once or twice a year!

Granddad entertaining Dylan or maybe the other way around?

The Griswolds Go to Disney (aka - Florida Entry #2)

Look at this optimistic family
dry and planning on a great day
(don't mind that giant storm cloud hanging over Cinderella's castle)

I think it was decided that maybe I was more excited about my first trip to Disney World than Zach was. Craig and I had never been, so it was a first for all the Wards. I was glad that I waited until I had kids to take, because Zach made the whole trip that much better.

We arrived in Orlando on Sunday afternoon with plans to see Disney World Magic Kingdom on Monday. So Sunday we just spent some time at Downtown Disney shopping and met our Uncle Rich and Aunt Lila on Sunday evening for dinner. Uncle Rich, Aunt Lila and Dylan

And that's when the rain started. We got sprinkled on at Downtown Disney, but the torrential rain started Sunday night. I was so sad we were not going to be able to go to Disney on Monday, but nothing stops the Griswolds when you have a mission

Jill and the Loch Ness Monster made of Legos

The one day whirlwind trip to Magic Kingdom was well worth it. I had a great time and we managed to ride Dumbo, Peter Pan, Tomorrowland Speedway cars, Buzz Lightyear, Monster Inc Laugh Floor, Big Thunder Mountain Roller Coaster and Zach's official first roller coaster ride - Goofy Barnstormer. Zach also managed to get his pic taken with Buzz Lightyear and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. The Disney gods were smiling on us. All of those pics were by chance encounters and did not involve long waits in any lines.

My personal favorite part of the day was the parade. We waited for about 15 mins and got a good spot - luckily the crowds were slim because of all the rain. I positioned Zach right next to the rope and had my video camera going. He got lots of high fives from lots of characters, but the best was the wicked stepmother. She came by and I believe she was trying to stretch out her time because a float had broken down behind her so there was a bit of a gap in the show. She walked over to Zach and in a loud theatrical Wicked Stepmother voice said, "Girls, look at this one. One of you should marry him. And next thing you know, one of them (don't know which one) gave him a HUGE kiss on the cheek. Even better, he immediately took his hand and gave it a big wipe to wipe off the kiss. Luckily I caught it all on camera and as soon as I can figure out how to download it, I'll see if I can cut it down and put it on here.

Disney Ponchos - $8 EACH
Stroller Rental - $12
Disney Tickets - $60
Overpriced Disney Beach Towel - $22
Being proposed to and kissed by the wicked stepsister - pricelessThe Griswolds at the end of the day - and we were still speaking to each other

Thank you Grandad and Grammy for a great trip! Thanks Amanda for your insider tips on a great day at Disney!

Florida trip - Entry #1

The "White" Family (aka The Wards) go to the beach

We are in Florida now and can check off the "firsts" list, airplane ride for Dylan. He did great. He actually slept on and off, but our children are not great public place sleepers so he didn't pass out like we would have liked. Zach is so much easier than when he was little. He really enjoyed watching the plane take off and land and seeing the ocean as we flew out of Tampa. Everyone should check out Southwest fares - ours were unbelievably cheap and the flights were nearly empty. Zach was excited to see Grammy and Granddad and we've been having fun in Florida. Between the great pool with an awesome slide (that Zach's too short to go down), the fabulous kids playground with giant treehouses, putt-putt, golf for the grown-ups and a great exercise room too, we are having a hard time even wanting to leave the neighborhood.

The play house at Eagle Landing playground. Carved into the bottom of a big tree - very cool!

We did ventured out to the beach today and everyone had fun. I can now see the great advantages of beach vacations. Zach was totally entertained in the sand and a couple of trips to the water. Other than that, it was pretty relaxing. Of course, everyone is a little sunburned - including Dylan :(. Sunscreen, a hat, umbrella and still Dylan got sun. And I forgot my sunscreen on my feet...ouch. Why do I always miss a spot?

Proof I used sunscreen - not just on Craig.

Of course, every vacation requires several photo shoots.
Grammy and Dylan - Grandad had to work :(
(maybe he'll make the 2nd trip)

So besides the trip to the ER with Craig for another round of kidney stones....we are having a great time. More on the kidney stones later. (no pics) Never a dull moment with the Wards. I just realized, April was hospital free and darn if May ruined our hospital free streak.