Violet & Lincoln go to Disney

The aftermath of hurricane Irma wasn't going to stop Violet and Lincoln from going to Disney just days after the storm.

Violet was up bright and early on the day of departure ready to go see her favorite Disney characters.

While I was stuck at home watching Lola and Khloe. As soon as I dropped the Taylors off at the airport, they began to pout.

The airport in Orlando is just the start of a magical adventure.

Violet got to experience the true meaning of the word princess. She had her hair and makeup done.

Then posed for pictures with many of the Disney princesses.

Lincoln was totally awed by the magic of Disney. Quite a bit bigger than his frequent trips to Worlds of Fun.

Violet even got to have breakfast with the Disney characters. I asked her to bring me a shirt that said "Ma is Goofy" but she said Goofy was a boy and I needed a shirt that said "Ma is Daisy". The child doesn't quite understand sarcasm yet!

Melissa and Jamie say they're taking the kids to Disney but secretly I think they enjoy it more than Violet and Lincoln.

Lincoln wasn't with us when we made our first trip to Disney and we each got a monogrammed hat. So this was his trip to get his own special hat.

Even though the temperatures were soaring, the Taylors had a very exciting trip to Disney with no after effects from hurricane Irma. Maybe next time they'll let Ma go!

Bathroom Paint Job

It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do to a room to make it more modern and bright.

I decided to paint my guest bathroom. It only took me a few hours. I already had new tile floors installed, so the new paint just brought it all together. Slowly but surely, my house is coming into modern day times.

Me vs Hurricane Irma

I can't catch a break. What started as three friends taking an annual trip to Florida ended in an evacuation because of Hurricane Irma.

Never did we think when we met at the airport on Tuesday that by Thursday we'd be stuck in bumper to bumper traffic all the way to Nashville.

We did have one good day with clear skies and ocean breezes. But that was soon to fade when we found out our flight was cancelled and they were closing the hotel. We were literally being kicked out of Florida. Luckily we had a rental car which we hijacked to drive back to Kansas City.

Thinking that the night time would be less crowded, we headed out of town. I was amazed at the bumper to bumper traffic. How many people actually live in Florida? I swear we were all trying to leave at the same time. And God forbid you needed to stop to go to the bathroom. Lines along the freeway were at least 2 miles long just waiting to exit. I've never seen anything like it.

We finally made it to Nashville 14 hours later. We didn't even have the energy to do any sight seeing. We just wanted to go to bed, get up, and head home. We did stop along the way at an antique store thinking that might be fun. I don't even remember the name of the city but it was so small. There were a few antique stores but most of them were going out of business. They were so desperate to get rid of things, they were literally giving stuff away. I got a spatula...for FREE!

Words of advice. If you're ever in a place where they say there's a "possible" evacuation. Leave immediately. Otherwise you'll be searching the store shelves for bottled water, standing in line to get 6 gallons of gas and desperately searching for at least one fast food restaurant that wasn't closed.

Violet's First Day of School

Today Violet started her first day in 4 year old preschool. One more year and it's off to kindergarten. Where does the time go?

She was so excited to see her old friends again that she was up bright and early and ready to start her day.

This was meet the teacher night, a small prelude for getting ready to head back to school.

I think Lincoln is a little confused that he won't be going with her. He's so used to having Violet around. But once he realizes he gets all Melissa's attention three days a week, he'll probably start pushing her out the door!

Another Florida Trip Ends in Disaster

I don't think going away on vacation has been in the cards for me this year. On my last trip to Florida, I came home to find my toilet had been leaking. This time mother nature wasn't very kind.

Getting away to the beach is at the top of most people's wish list. The great weather. The calming ocean waves. The sand you can sink your toes into.

And happy hour at great ocean front bars with friends. What more could you ask for?

But all this fun ended when I received an early morning text message from Melissa telling me her rental house had flooded again due to excessive rainfalls. Worrying about my own house, I quickly called Teresa and asked her to stop by and check my house on her way to work.

Not only was the water blocking her entry to my street, but the water had somehow seeped through to completely soak my basement carpeting.

So now my beautiful basement guest house is now back to concrete floors. I'm not sure how the water came through but I'm hesitant to replace the flooring until I can figure it out. I'm not hoping for another drenching of rain and it could be another 10 years before anything happens again. But for now I'm keeping my eyes glued to the basement next times it rains.

Solar Eclipse

I was in Florida during the solar eclipse and didn't have any protective glasses to see it. I was afraid to just look up. So I was content to watch it get a little bit darker outside and figured that was the eclipse.

But Violet never misses an opportunity to be part of history. She watched the the eclipse and told Melissa what she was seeing. Maybe I'll watch the next one....not. It's decades away!

Trip to the Sky Zone

Trips with Violet and Lincoln to the Sky Zone are fun but it's hard just watching from the sidelines. My inner child brain wants so much to get out there and jump with the kids. But my outer adult brain says I'll wind up in the hospital.

Besides several trampolines, they have a basketball court. Violet is relentless and wouldn't give up until she made a basket.