This past week was my first real trip to Disney World. I went for a day and a half about five years ago but that trip was organized by someone else and I didn’t even realize Disney World wasn’t just ONE PARK until I walked into Magic Kingdom for the first time. I spent half a day there, half a day and MGM (Now Hollywood) Studios, and half a day at Animal Kingdom. It was a whirlwind and we didn’t do a whole lot since we had so little time in each park. So…I call this past week my FIRST trip to Disney World. EVER. And let me tell you, there were definitely times where my enthusiasm and my excitement rivaled NikkiZ’s.

First off…NikkiZ is the perfect age for Disney. She’s old enough to understand lines and why they’re annoying. She can decide whether something or someONE is worth the long wait. She does fine without her nap and her schedule can be disrupted without total meltdowns. However, she’s also young enough to believe in the magic of it all. She didn’t question (too much) the fact that we saw Mickey in a parade about five minutes after this picture was taken. And he was in a different outfit.

But for every princess she met? My heart fluttered a bit too. I’m old enough to understand that yes – those two Ariel’s we met? Were not the same person. Yet I got totally thrilled meeting both of them. And I referred to them as Ariel and made sure NikkiZ got BOTH of their autographs. I also wished I had my own autograph book. I didn’t get to meet my two favorites (Eeyore and Pocahontas) – but if I had? I might have just had them sign my shirt or something.

After NikkiZ got her face painted I decided I wanted it done too. I wasn’t going to let her have ALL the fun. I rode roller coasters with MrZ even though I hate them. I even kinda liked Space Mountain. But Everest at Animal Kingdom? No thank you. I kept my eyes closed the entire time. We saw amazing 3D shows that had me laughing and great stage shows that had me Ooooh’ing and Aaaah’ing. While NikkiZ is definitely the perfect age for Disney, there’s something to be said about going for the first time as an adult. We can’t afford to go every year. And it’s not much of a vacation since you come back feeling like you’ve been run over by a heard of elephants for 3 months straight. (I’m sure the 13.1 miles didn’t help.) But we WILL go again. As soon as AndyZ hits that magical age. I may not be a as swept away the next time, but I will meet Eeyore and Pocahontas and will surely giggle a bit when that happens.

Tomorrow MrZ and I are leaving on a 5-day trip…by ourselves. We are going to Tucson to visit my brother and I can NOT wait. We have not ever gone a trip that long without one or all of our kids. Ever. The most we’ve ever done is an overnight trip here and there, and one 2-night trip before NikkiZ was born. We’ve been together for almost 10 years now and have never taken a trip alone. It’s weird to imagine that. The funny thing is…it didn’t really occur to me until a few weeks ago. That this was going to be a first. Since I was a Mom when MrZ met me, that’s just always been what we’ve been together: Parents. Even before NikkiZ was born, we had LilZ together. We went on a FamilyMoon, not a Honey Moon, because we did more than marry each other. We created a family. So we took our first family vacation after we got married! Now, we’ve gone on solo trips without kids before, traveling for work and such. But together? Sans children? Never.

So…for five days we will be together and not drawing straws for who gets to change the next diaper. Not trading out baths for dishes (that’s a nightly ritual in our house…one does baths while the other does dishes) or packing up bags for school the next day. No carpools or sporting events. We don’t even have to make sure anyone gets fed for five whole days! No scheduling a day around naps (unless it’s our own) or bedtimes. We can go on walks without strollers and go to restaurants without high chairs. This may possibly be the weirdest trip MrZ and I have had together because we don’t really know how to function as just…a couple. 10 years and this will be the longest time we’ve spent NOT as parents together. Weird.

Of course – the prep before hand may kill me. Trying to make sure every kid ends up where they’re supposed to be without putting the strain all on one friend or family member? Is like it’s own geometric theorem that needs solving. Thank god we have willing family and friends to help us. The little kids are staying with MrZ’s parents while my friend Stace (who also has a high-school aged child) is responsible for LilZ. Of course, she doesn’t quite realize what all that’s going to entail. I’m going to sit down with her tonight and beg for her help getting LilZ everywhere he needs to be. Maybe I’ll bring her chocolates. Of course two of NikkiZ’s BFFs are having birthday parties this weekend that she “can’t miss” and we’re not even going to stress about the dogs. We’re boarding them instead of having someone take care of them. It’s hard enough making sure the kids are ready, I don’t even want to worry about the dogs too.

But once we leave MrZ’s parent’s house without the kids tomorrow? And head to the airport? That’s it. It’s just the two of us for five days without one diaper bag in sight. It’s going to be the weirdest thing EVER, and hopefully exactly what I need to rejuvenate myself for the holidays.

One of the earliest pictures I have of just the two of us. May, 2001.

During my travels to Chicago this week…my Dad got hospitalized with possible kidney failure. Turns out there are all sorts of other symptoms as well and they’ve decided to biopsy his kidney this morning to try to figure out what is going on. My brother is already there and I’ll be heading up tonight. Let’s just say I’m a wee bit frazzled right now. He would hate me writing about this on my site because he doesn’t like to cause a fuss. But – that’s what he gets for being hospitalized so he has to just DEAL WITH IT. If he’s going to go get sick on me, then I’m going to blog about it, DAMMIT. BAH!

My trip to Chicago was awesome and I do have a lot I want to talk about it, but I want to wait when I’m in more of a happy mood because it feels kinda fake right now as I’m STRESSING THE HELL OUT.

Luckily, my husband somehow found out he has the magic hands and can put my son to bed in his crib and he sleeps through the night. He did it while I was gone and I hated him for it. BUT – he did it again last night? And it worked! My son slept through the night last night. PRAISE ALL OF THE GODS IN ALL OF THE LANDS.

So…in the meantime…here is a funny video of my daughter talking about polar bears while coloring ON MY TABLE.

Watch her color on my table! from zoot on Vimeo.

Thanksgiving was exhausting and awesome – all rolled into one great big ball of turkey and gravy. And sweet potatoes. And pumpkin pie. And green beans. Mmmmm…..Wait. Where was I?

Oh, yeah. Thanksgiving was awesome.

Unfortunately, I am now into Major Crunch Time for Huge Project At Work so I don’t have time to fill you in on the details of the week (like how I considered trying to steal MrZ’s cousin’s dog because she is literally the most AWESOME DOG EVER (aside from our own, of course)) because I have to Work Work Work.

I do have time for a few pictures though! Yay for pictures!

We stopped in Tuscaloosa, home of the Crimson Tide. My husband’s football team of choice. And by “of choice” I mean that he is such a fan of this team he follows recruit news, memorizes stats, and orders digital cable just so that he can buy Pay Per View games throughout the season. We went by the stadium and ate at the locally significant Waysider. Oh, and we also did some Toddler Tossing. Of course.

I also had to do the Torture My Kids By Taking A Million Shots Of Them In Their Dress Clothes routine that my children just love. Seriously. They look forward to it because it’s SO MUCH FUN!

(Too much sarcasm?)

And then I thought Hey! I look decent too! and I made LilZ take some pictures of me and the kids. I should have gotten MrZ to take pictures of all of us, but I think he was running or something. I don’t remember. But still – pictures of me that I actually like! It’s a Thanksgiving Miracle!

Then came Food…Food…and more Food. Of which I have no pictures because I was too busy EATING IT ALL.

We came home just in time for the Iron Bowl where one of my gifts to MrZ was to buy Crimson Tide outfits for the whole family since we were going to his parent’s house (where there would be Auburn Fans) to watch the game. First time I’ve ever worn a shirt for Alabama…it didn’t burn as bad as I thought it would. But more importantly? Look at this adorable cheerleader! Irresistible!

Roll Tide!

So, that was my break. In a very quick and photo-intensive nutshell. How was yours?

Yesterday went well. MrZ and I make a damn efficient team when it comes to just GETTING SHIT DONE. We drove 80 miles to get the furniture (Which is about as far as we’ll drive for free furniture with the price of gas and the low-mileage minivan.) and loaded it all up and drove back in time to nurse AndyZ. We took apart and loaded a twin bed (and mattress) a trundle bed (and mattress) a chest of drawers (not a DRESSER as I kept calling it) and a nightstand. All into the minivan. And by the time we had to go pick up the kids at 4:30, we had even unloaded it all and put it together again and in a spot inside the house. AND! And we also went to lunch together AND! And we also watched two shows on the TiVo together.

In terms of maximizing the amount crap a person can get done while their kids are at daycare? We totally won a gold ribbon, a trophy, and a giant cookie. Don’t you think?

Of course – the one negative is that somehow the two entries I had set to go live yesterday while we were gone? Those entries didn’t go live. As a matter of fact – they disappeared entirely. I’m fairly certain this is my fault somehow, I’m just not sure how. Maybe my subconscious didn’t like the entries and deleted them in the middle of the night while I slept? I don’t know. What I do know is that when I sat down to check my email this morning I was very sad to see no one had commented on either entry. And then I realized – there were no entries.

I’m evidently only allowed to be awesome at a few things before the necessity to be a dumbass forces it’s way into the mix. Yesterday? Awesome about moving furniture. And also? Dumbass about blogging. See? One can not live without the other. I guess because the universe can’t handle my awesomeness unless it’s tempered by a little dose of dumbass. I’m just THAT awesome.

(And possibly delusional.)

I painted these too! Aren’t they cute?