Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

I promised myself that I would catch up blogging all our summer fun before fall.  With the symbolic end of summer fast approaching - tomorrow to be exact, it's time to get cracking.  So, here is the drive by version of July and August.

4th of July.  Festive Feet.  Parades.  Downtown cafes.  Face Painting.  Fireworks.

Playing.  Hanging out.  Loving being home.

Girl Trips to Pigeon Forge with Mimi.  Fun, fun, fun.

Swimming.  Laying in the sun.  Lounging by the pool.

Goodbye lazy, hazy days of summer.  Hello school, crisp air, apples, and football.

Oh Baby!

Our summer fun continued with a trip to Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Ga.  BGH is the birthplace of Xavier Roberts' Cabbage Patch Dolls.  I still remember my Cabbage Patch babies - Emily Suzanne and Matthew Reece.  They sat in a basket beside the door of my bedroom for years.

Grace and Emma Kate are right smack dab in the middle of being in love with baby dolls.  Every where we go, we take 2 baby dolls, 2 diaper bags, 2 bottles, and about 2 million other baby items because you never know when your baby is going to need a diaper change, clothes change, new hair 'do, get bored and need to be entertained, etc.  In other words, the trip came at a perfect time.

After we signed in at the front desk, our tour began with the preemies.  These little dolls are cute enough to eat, and they're dressed in the likes of Feltman Brothers and Petite Ami.  Seriously.  We started picking out which preemies we wanted to adopt until we found out their cost resembles that of an insurance deductable paid when having an actual human baby.  Ha.  Moving on.

Emma Kate found a box of Sour Patch Kids candy in the car right before we got out.  Naturally, they were by far the most interesting thing she found.  No, she hadn't eaten lunch yet, but they were compliments of Uncle Brad's weekly gift of candy, it was week 1 of potty training, and most importantly, they were just enough to distract her from the fact that she wasn't pitching a fit every other minute.  I call that a win-win situation.

The search is on.  We encountered Cabbage Patch babies from newborn through big kid, and for every interest group.  Did you know you can get a Cabbage Patch Kid wearing a petticoat skirt and Converse tennis shoes???

It's a girl!  When it's time for a baby to be born at BGH, the doctors are paged, an ultra sound is performed, the baby is delivered and named.  It's fascinating, and fun, and precious.  The name is chosen by the crowd that gathers to witness the birth.  I am proud to say that there is a bouncing baby girl at BGH named after Grace!

So much to take in, we don't have time to look at silly cameras.  In addition to the preemie nursery, tree house, and actual cabbage patch, there are dolls gathered around Christmas trees, riding a school bus, learning in a classroom, and chilling in bedrooms.  

We must look at and touch each and every doll to make sure we are choosing the right one.  Even more mandatory than good hair or the right color eye is what the baby is wearing.  Just ask Grace.

After a comprehensive search and in depth naming conversations, Grace and Emma Kate are the proud mamas of Lydia and Sarah.  What attentive mamas they have been.  Well, Emma Kate has ensured that Sarah has been naked 95% of the time, but what's a little free spiritedness when you are loved?

Zoo-licious

Lions, and tigers, and bears.  Oh MY!

Okay, maybe not so much of lions.  Or tigers.  Or bears.  But, definitely elephants, and wart hogs, and zebras.  Our trip to Zoo Atlanta with Mimi was planned with leisure in mind.  And then summer temperatures and southern humidity collided.  So it was more like take in as much as we could handle before melting.  We did manage to scope out some pretty cool animals and a couple of fun rides before the heat got the better of us and at least one of us threw a temper tantrum.

Here's a picture walk through our zoo-rific day.

You know the pink animals were loved by a certain sassy princess.

Hakuna Matata!

The 3 year old knows more about meerkats than necessary thanks to The Animal Planet.

Lunch time!

Watching the giraffes was one of the dozen or so times we had to reassure Emma Kate, the scaredy cat, that the animals would not hurt her.

Not the zebra's best side, but he was not up for my posing suggestions.

Posing with Willie B.  Who remembers the REAL Willie B?  Please ignore the sign behind us that says to stay off the statue...

Tired Mama who had recently given birth, nurturing her newborn.  

Hammin' it up

The pandas looked so snuggly!

In the petting zoo.  This was as close as Emma Kate would get to any of the animals for fear of them hurting her.  *Sigh*

"This one kinda stinks!"

Ready for the train ride!  And, also right before the little boy in front of us chunked his empty slushy cup out of the train.  Before I even realized it, I had given him my "Mama Eye" and he and his friend didn't move the entire train ride.

Waiting patiently... But, don't let it fool you.  This was mere minutes before the tantrum inside was unleashed.  She may look passive, but the girl is packing some serious attitude!

Thank you, Mimi for such wonderful summer memories!

Magical Moments

It doesn't matter how old I am.  It doesn't matter how many times I've been.  Seeing Cinderella's castle from the ferry gives me goose bumps.  Each walk down Main Street, USA causes a giggle to threaten to erupt from my belly.  That's right.  I'm talking about Magic Kingdom, Disney World.

The. Most. Magical. Place. On. Earth.

This trip was a bit different though.  This time, I got to see it through the eyes of my children.  This time, a certain element of magic was added as I heard their squeals, saw their smiles, and felt the tightening of their hands as we went through Snow White's Scary Adventures.

Okay, so they don't look too thrilled here, but I promise it gets better. :)

We went to Magic Kingdom with one mission - meet the Princesses who have ruled our world for the last year.

Our first stop once we got past the castle was meeting Mary Poppins who, from the look on Grace's face, was just alright.

Next stop - carousel, which was pretty great.  What kid doesn't love the carousel?

The Fairy Godmother with her Fairy Godmother pose was just a warm up for the enchantment that was anticipated.

That Walt Disney is a genius for incorporating air conditioned attractions.  Minnie's house was as cute as a button, as was the little girl who skipped through it.

Giddy is the word I would use to describe Grace as she checked out Minnie's crib.

Clearly Emma Kate was not quite as electrified by Toon Town as her older sister.

We felt bad about Emma Kate not having pictures in Minnie or Mickey's house, so like the good parents we are, we forced her out of the stroller and into a pose.

Like I said, air conditioning in a southern summer is as magical to parents as the Disney characters are to the kids, so the hour long wait we endured for our photo op with the ambassadors of Disney World was welcomed.

The play area was great for kids and pretty nice for parents too... if you were one of the first 5 to snag the benches.  And, if you weren't afraid of your kid making a break for it and escaping the play area.  Oh wait, that last part may just be me and my kids.

So, all that was pretty cool, but remember, the Bramlett girls went to Magic Kingdom with 1 goal - to meet the princesses.  Let me assure you that the 90 minute wait in the princess line, the sweat running down my back, and the sore arms from holding a restless Emma Kate were all worth hearing the gasp that Grace let out and seeing her jaw drop and her eyes bulge when we entered the room with Cinderella, Belle, and Aurora.

Cinderella asked us if we had any pets and informed us that she had a dog named Bruno.  

Saint must be synonymous with princess because these ladies have patience that would make Mother Teresa  envious.  After talking to people all day, each princess still took the time to talk to each visitor in their sweet princess voice and act genuinely interested.

Aurora is Grace's favorite princess because she ... wait for it... wears pink.  Emma Kate finally got in on the conversation as we talked to her.

Snow White was the last princess to complete our tour.  Not 5 minutes after this picture was taken, both girls were asleep in the stroller.

After our trip, Justin asked Grace who the prettiest princess was at Disney World.  Her reply: "Me."  Half right you are, Princess Grace.  Even Walt Disney, in his wildest dreams,  couldn't create the 2 princess package like the one I've got.