Dana Daily

Our last day at Disney. Our flight wasn't until 9:55pm so we had a whole day of fun ahead of us, but it was hard to get into it knowing we were leaving Florida behind. We planned on spending the day at EPCOT and had a FastPass for Soarin', Pixar's Short Film Festival, and the Character Spot Meet and Greet. After breakfast, we dropped our luggage off at the Custom House with Bell Services since we had to check out of our room. We saw Daisy at the entrance of EPCOT and had our picture taken. It's one of my favorite of our trip, and my four-fingered, gloved hand makes me giggle. From there we went to the Character Spot to use our FastPass. We met Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy again and took some more pictures with them. The girls didn't seem to mind seeing the same characters again and again. They also wanted to meet Joy and Sadness, for which there is no FastPass. First we waited for Baymax which ended up being a disappointing meet and greet. Emmy whispered that s...

Day four of our trip and our second day at Magic Kingdom! We planned to meet up with the rest of our group for brunch at Chef Mickey's. However, we wanted to get a head start on our day and so we headed to Magic Kingdom with plans to be there at rope drop. It didn't necessarily go as planned, but it wasn't totally terrible either. We slept in later than we had previous mornings, then a (non-essential) piece of the stroller fell off on the bus so we spent time trying to reassemble, and then as soon as we walked through bag check Sarah told me she felt like she was going to throw up (motion sick from the bus ride). I could feel our plans falling apart, but I moved her off to the side and dug out a Dramamine from the diaper bag. She claimed to feel better almost immediately and we headed to Fantasyland. Whew, crisis averted. Now, all the touring plans and Disney tips and tricks suggest beating the crowds by getting into the parks early and then as far away from the entranc...

It's kind of amazing that our mornings are going as smoothly as they are. We're in a routine. I get up first, shower, and start getting ready. Sal gets up and I finish getting ready while he showers. Then I wake the girls up. They begin getting ready while Sal's shaving, and Seth wakes up on his own. Somehow we're all magically ready to go at about the same time. Then we head to Old Port Royale for breakfast. From there we head to the restrooms and then to the bus stop. We made it to Magic Kingdom today just after rope drop at 8am. The girls and I met Tinkerbell while Sal and Seth met Mickey since there was only about a 15 minute wait for each. Seth had a haircut appointment at 9am, and I didn't realize Harmony Barbershop was tucked into Town Square next to the fire station. I thought I'd remembered it being out on Main Street somewhere. At any rate, we found it and made it to his appointment. The barber took more off than I had initially wanted, but it IS hot...

Amazingly, we got to Animal Kingdom just in time for the opening ceremonies in front of the Tree of Life where macaws fly out over the crowd. I don't like birds, but this was cool to see. It's always fun to be at the parks for rope drop. Kim, Kurt, and the rest of the gang weren't at the park yet, so we decided to ride the Kilimanjaro Safari and see what animals were already out and about. The stand-by line moved quickly and we were on our way in no time. A giraffe was quite close to the road, but we also saw a black rhino, hippos, crocodiles, birds, and quite a few other animals. The heard a lioness roar was which pretty impressive as well. I had made the conscious decision to keep my cell phone in my bag and just enjoy the scenery. When we exited the ride, we met up with the rest of the group and rode the safari again using our Fast Pass. This time we got to see a hippo out of the water, which our guide said was highly unusual since they typically stay in the water to...

We got up early and headed to the airport. We arrived and got through security in plenty of time. We had breakfast at TGI Fridays (row 1, pic 1) and then we boarded our flight. This alone was part of the adventure for Sarah and Emily. They loved take-off and we had packed activity books and Mad Libs. We also had a coloring book and crayons for Seth. He fell asleep midway and woke up when we landed. We rode in the people mover from the terminal to the transportation area and when I saw the palm trees and beautiful sky outside I thought, "I'm home." I've always loved Florida. It just feels right to me. Anyway, we boarded the Magical Express (row 2, pic 2) and 30 minutes later arrived at our resort, Caribbean Beach. We found out we were placed in the Aruba section and couldn't wait to check it out. This wasn't an "island" I had selected as my preferred area, but I decided to roll with it.  The room was bigger than I expected so that was a pleasant...

Going to Cleveland for an Indians gamed seemed like the most perfect Father's Day gift. Sal's been wanting to go to a game anyway so he and I sat down and figured out which seats would be best for us. I wanted something shaded, mostly for Seth's comfort. We ended up with really good seats on the third base line in section 169. While we started out in the sun, by the third inning we were in the shade which was perfect. It wasn't the most exciting game for the first nine innings, but they did win in the 10th in a most exciting finish. To beat game and Cavs watch party traffic, we left just as the 10th was starting and zipped out of the parking lot and onto the interstate. We listened to the rest of the game on the radio. We got home uneventfully, and then the Cavs game came on. I had given Sal the most perfect Father's Day ever, until LeBron James handed Cleveland their first championship in 60 odd years. He totally stole my thunder so thanks for that.

Waiting for surgery I've been a mom for nine years now, and today I got to experience my first stitches. Seth was running across our patio, something he's done a 100 times and ran smack into the chair I was sitting in. I was out of it before he had even hit the ground. I picked him up and we ran into the house. He was screaming the whole way. Sal noticed a cut on his forehead and I cleaned him up before realizing he had bled all over me too. Seth's cut looked very similar to one Emmy received when she fell into the baby gate when she was about the same age as Seth. I've always wondered if I should have taken her for stitches. She has a scar, and I decided to run Seth to the pediatrician to see if he should have stitches. Numbing Just as we were getting ready to walk out the door, Sal leaned down to pick Seth up and pulled his back. I sent him to the chiropractor instead of coming with us. We leave for vacation next week and his back needs to be in good wor...

Seth is 16 months old today. What's he up to now? He zips right up the steps from our first to second floors. He's not very sure about going down them backwards on his belly, but we're working with him. His vocabulary is expanding. He says Mama, Dadum (Daddy), Up, Puppa (his puppy blankie), and Soo (shoe) quite clearly. He understands everything . He's always been a veggie guy, but recently he's been trying some fruits as well. He likes strawberries, grapes, pineapple, and cantaloupe. He loves being outside exploring more than anything, and here he is at the backdoor looking out longingly and praying for the rain to stop.

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning, and the kids put themselves on this chair. Seth was sitting so nicely between the girls, but it took me too long to find my camera and he was trying to wiggle off by the time I got back. I still love this though. In other exciting news, Seth is now climbing up stairs. We obviously keep an eye on him, but he's quite steady and confident. So far he hasn't tried to come down them yet so that's good for this mama's heart.

I should have taken a before picture so that you could fully appreciate how clean this looks, but I didn't. While Sal worked on detailing our cars, I put my sweat into cleaning out the garage. I'd like to epoxy the floor, put in some new storage, and paint the walls, and put a new door into the laundry room, but those are future projects. For now, we have to settle for cleaned up. We're also have issues with this drain in the winter, but I'm afraid to open up that can of worms. I'll need to talk to my dad and see what course of action he recommends.

Just a few of the pictures and thank you notes Sal and I came home to last night. Think they're excited?

Today we let the girls in on a little secret. WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY. We gave them a note congratulating them on a successful school years, and then told them we're going to celebrate in Florida. Included with each of their notes was a $50 gift card for spending money and an autograph book. Sarah and Emmy were almost three and 15 months old, respectively, the last time they visited so they have absolutely no point of reference. They are excited, but don't even know what to ask or what they're about to experience. I think they're almost more excited about flying. I have a few last minute things to buy before we depart, but eeep, it's so exciting.

Once I decided to switch the girls from St. Ursula's to Shaler, I just needed the school year to end. I saw a side of people that I hadn't wanted to experience. There was too much drama. I expected to feel something after dropping the girls off in the morning, but the truth is, I felt nothing but sadness for how this all went down. In time, I imagine those feelings will be replaced by all the good things we experienced at St. Ursula's, and there are lots, but for now it's just too raw. Since Seth had a post-op ENT appointment, my mom came down and met the girls at Mass and then brought them home after their 11am dismissal. I was relieved to turn this task over to her. Sarah received pins for participating in the school musical and choir. Emmy received one for choir. They also received certificates; Sarah for being an outstanding teacher's helper and Emmy for Math (of all things). It was a good year for both of them. In this picture, Sarah is in the third row, ...

Amazing views of the city iwth the color guard on the field We had tickets to St. Ursula's tailgate and Pirates game this evening. I scrambled like crazy to get home, and usher everyone out of the house. We made it to the tailgate with no problem. Then we headed to Mazeroski Way by PNC Park to assemble the color guard prior to the game. The kids got their armbands and eventually headed into the stadium. Emmy on the Jumbotron directly above the start on the right Sal, Seth, and I found our seats and Sal pointed out that the field wasn't yet lined. He (correctly) assumed that the Pirates organization knew something about the weather that we didn't. The Star Spangled Banner was sung and the color guard waved the flags. Just as the kids exited the field, we felt the first sprinkles and the tarp was pulled over the field. Nothing showed up on the radar on Sal's weather app, but when we checked me we realized we were in the direct path of some pretty strong storms...

Seth and I met Katie and Bill at Houlihan's for dinner. Katie had met Seth a year ago when she was visiting in Pennsylvania, but this was the first time Bill met him. We had a wonderful visit, and cannot wait to visit them in Tennessee this July.