Flashback Friday

It's flashback Friday and I couldn't think of a more appropriate flashback today

than to go waaaayyy back to the summer of 1987.

I was fifteen going on sixteen and my wonderful aunt took me on a trip to England.

It was the one and only time in my life that I ever considered the royal family with any great interest.

You see, there was still one eligible prince left (Prince Edward) and maybe, just maybe, I would bump into him

and I would catch his eye.

Where and how, I do not know, but I was fifteen and silly and I knew it wasn't going to really happen,

but a teenager can dream.

Let's just say, that even if I had run smack dab into him, 

I hardly think that my awesome 80's perm,

my ginormous glasses,

and my baggy sweaters 

were going to make him say "Wow!"

(or whatever exclamation a prince might choose.)

Oh yeah... lookin' good!

So this week, as William and Kate's wedding approached, my first thought was to ignore it.

But then I thought "why not make a party of it?"

So I broke out our tiaras

(yes, we do have our own tiaras... another story for another day)

and the good china,

had the girls sleep-over in my room

and set the alarm for 5:30.

At 5:30am we woke to the sound of chimes.

(I didn't realize that my alarm was set to 'chimes', but how appropriate!)

We opened our bleary eyes, popped on our tiaras,

drank tea apple juice

and ate scones in bed while we watched the wedding.

Ohhhhh... the wedding....

totally worth it!

The pretty dress, the crazy hats, the pomp and ceremony.

I rather enjoyed it.

And now we go back to our regularly scheduled and happily common lives.

I'm quite content to be Queen of my own world.

The magic dress, part 1

Once upon a time... oh, so long ago,

Dan and I took our kids (only three of them at the time) to Disney World for the first time.

It was wonderful.

It truly lived up to it's reputation of being "the happiest place on earth."

After three days of riding rides, watching shows and window shopping,

I realized that my then 4yo hadn't asked for a thing.

Nothing.

(The same couldn't be said for her 6yo brother.) 

I wanted her to have something special,

maybe a stuffed animal or a little toy to bring home,

so I directed her to a shop and asked her if there was anything there that she would like to buy.

She took her time looking at all there was to offer

but once she saw this Snow White dress

there was no question.

She wanted the dress!

 I have to admit that when I looked at the price tag

my generous offer to buy her anything suddenly seemed a little extravagant.

Eighty dollars for a dress?!

Eighty dollars for a dress-up outfit?!?

We were a young family and eighty dollars seemed like the moon,

but that's what I wanted to give her.

She had been so good and all I wanted was to give her the moon.

Or maybe an eighty dollar Snow White dress.

So we bought it and a few accessories...

what's a few more dollars?!?

We had one more day left at Disney,

so when she woke up and asked me if she could wear the dress

I was happy to say yes.

(May as well get our money's worth out of that thing!)

We hadn't gone more than ten feet past the main gate of the Magic Kingdom when a little girl no older than Quincy herself, approached us and asked if Quincy would sign an autograph book.

I looked questioningly at the girl's mother, then shrugged and helped my 4yo sign both her name and in parentheses, Snow White.

I think both Quincy and I were a little stunned, but we moved on.

I looked up and noticed that there were long, long lines wrapped all around the main courtyard.

Lines of people waiting to hug, pose for pictures with, or get autographs from Disney characters.

I said right then and there that there was NO way I was going to waste our last day at Disney

waiting on lines to hug anyone...

unless...

maybe,

Snow White.

We continued down Main Street and out of the corner of my eye, 

I saw a flash of yellow.

Snow White and several of her dwarfs were down one of the side alleys.

Suddenly, I became one of those crazy parents.

I grabbed Quincy by the hand and practically ran down the alley

only to watch as Snow White slipped behind one of those mysterious doors to the unknown.

Noooooo!

Happy and his handler were still out.

"Please," I ask the handler "is there any way Snow White can come out for just one more picture?"

Happy's handler gently shot me down, but then assured me that she would be back in just 15 minutes.

15 minutes?

Not a problem.

We can wait 15 minutes!

I spent time talking to the handler, asking about her job and other Disney related things.

Happy and Bashful took turns taking pictures with the kids 

and dancing with mini-Snow White.

More tourists stopped Quincy and asked if she would pose for a picture with them.

Uh... sure, I guess?

Quincy didn't quite know what to make of it, but she was a trooper and went along with it all.

At one point, Happy and his handler took a moment and went "behind the wall."

Moments later, the handler (I wish I knew her name) came back and said to me,

"Snow White would like to know if your daughter would like to walk down Main Street with her and the dwarves."

Uhhhh... YES!

I turned to my husband who had just returned with something to eat 

and said, "Throw that away! We have to go!  You need to get the video camera out!"

Slightly confused and not particularly happy to part with his breakfast,

Dan followed me as I filled him in.

The handler took Quincy's hand and led us to another side alley to another door further down Main Street

where we met up with Snow White herself and all seven of the dwarves.

Snow White took time to admire Quincy's dress 

and the ruby ring that was obviously a ruby from the dwarves' mine.

The dwarves were quite impressed, 

but Dopey was particularly taken with our mini-SW.

Dan ran ahead with the video camera

(I think that's him on the left.)

and I stayed alongside snapping as many pictures as I could

while still pushing a stroller and guiding my 6yo.

Once we arrived at the designated stopping point,

Snow White took lots of time posing for pictures with her mini-me.

And was sure to call over the two handsome princes.

Quincy got a bit of the VIP treatment and was directed to the front of all of the dwarves lines.

This did not endear us to the mom's that were waiting on line and that we were effectively cutting in front of.

We went from dwarf to dwarf hugging and taking pictures

until I could no longer bear the daggers being shot at me from the eyes of those moms

We hadn't visited Grumpy yet, but I didn't think that would matter.

I gathered Quincy and the rest of my clan and said that it was time to go.

Dopey caught wind of this and came running for one last hug.

When we finally had a moment out of the whirlwind 

and a chance to regroup as a family,

I asked Quincy what she thought of all that.

You know what that stinker said???

"I didn't get to hug Grumpy!"

Really?

So, Quincy, I'm sorry and for many years I had a teensy bit of guilt, 

but after seeing that last photo,

I realize that it was actually Dopey's fault.

He blocked us from Grumpy!  

I'm sure of it.

So now my mother guilt is appeased and I will happily blame Dopey.

(Thank you Dopester!)

The ambition of little dictators

Once upon a time...

There was a little boy who, though he was no more than four years old, 

had the soul of an emperor. 

Sadly, his closest friends and family members were all a bit older than him in years and when the time came to annex the worlds lands and incorporate them into their own realms, he often got only what they had left over or were gracious enough to hand over.  

The boys discussed this annexation as they played on what might seem to you to be just an ordinary swing set placed behind an ordinary ranch style home on a small corner of an ordinary cattle farm in West Virginia, but for them it was a platform for ruling the world.  Their mother (a rather ordinary mother) was inside this home, enjoying the peace and quiet and using the time to get a few chores done when she heard sounds of distress.  The siren-like sound of a four year old who wasn't getting what he wanted.  As he burst through the door, his mother asked him, "Grant, what's the matter?"

She could tell that it was quite upsetting and that it most likely had something to do with the two eight year old boys that he had been playing with, but she couldn't possibly imagine what it was.

"Grant, what's wrong?"

Wail, sob, sob, sob..."I want ROME!!!"

"I'm sorry, honey, you want what?"

Sob, sniffle, sob, sob.... "I want Rome! but they won't let me have it!"

Oh, dear... what's a mother to do?  Certainly, there is a temptation to tell the older boys to give the little one what he wants, but they did lay claim to it first. 

And as one of the boys mentioned, "You don't get to be the ruler of the world by giving away all of your land."

He had a point.

So mommy held her little Napoleon and comforted and soothed him with these words, "Don't worry, just wait until you're a little older, then you can be president.  Then you can have anything you want."

It may not have made sense and it may not be true, but to her ambitious little ruler, it was exactly what he needed to hear. 

Well... sort of...

Somewhere deep inside, I think that he still would have liked to have taken over Rome.

Flashing Back through 2010

I've got a couple of "looking back" posts ready and want to get them up and out of the way today

because I'm ready to bid adieu to 2010 and say hello to 2011.

There are lots of big and exciting things in the works for the new year, 

but 2010 had it's great moments too.

Especially some great family moments.

The year started of with 

Snow,

Snow

and

More Snow!!

When we couldn't be outside,

there were often fun indoor activities

that had us laughing so hard we were crying 

and I could hardly get the picture.

And just when we thought that we'd never get warm,

we took off on a too short, but rather wonderful trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba!

The snorkeling and splashing about in the waves were the highlights of our trip

and I'd go back there again if only it were possible.

2010 brought us LOTS of cousin time!

(Do you see the little sliver of pink at the bottom left of the picture?

That's my shirt.

I was laying flat on my back at the bottom of the slide to get this shot.

The things we'll do for a picture....)

Also a little time with Nana.

We spent two glorious weeks in Maine

eating lobster and blueberries

Hiking, kayaking, exploring

and just hanging out with the extended family.

We tried out our alter-egos on "talk like a pirate" day.

and our other alter-egos on Halloween.

(I posed as a photographer on both days.)

And finally, we spent Thanksgiving with the Grandparents, Aunts, Uncle and Cousins

Grandma got the privilege of sitting at the kid's table.  :)

A Halloween Flashback

This one is going back.... way back...

I dug through the old photos and found quite a few pictures of me in my 1970's era Halloween costumes.

My mom was pretty good and coming up with homemade costumes. 

I don't remember ever having a store bought one.

Maybe that's why I usually try to make my kids costumes.

All the ones at the stores look cheap or, for the girls, cheap in an entirely different way.

Anyhow, Mom, I love the bunny suit idea.

But I definitely DID NOT like the snowman.  

My mother worked sooooo hard on this costume and I outright refused to wear it. 

I remember this vividly.

She was NOT happy with me.

However, if she was going to go through all that work, I was darn well going to put it on and get my picture taken!

I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that this ghoul was the alternate plan.

I remember being quite happy about this costume because it was soooo scary!

But why am I wearing that hat?

Apparently, the bunny costume got recycled and my sister got to wear it several years later.

I was a gypsy. 

That was one of my mom's "go-to" costumes.  

I know I was a gypsy more than once and so was my sister.

(The scariest thing in this picture may be that couch!  Plaid!)

Not really sure what I am in this one.  

A hobo maybe??

Batgirl was a friend of mine.  

She had a store bought costume...

Don't tell her, but.... I like mine better.  :)

So... tell me...

What was your favorite Halloween Costume?

Check out some of my kids costumes from years past.

 The Ghosts of Costumes Past

And for more flashbacks this Friday check out Christopher and Tia's Flashback Friday.

And it was all yellow...

In my search for a yellow themed photo to enter into I heart faces latest contest,

I have learned that our family has not 

worn, 

touched,

posed by,

held 

or eaten 

anything yellow 

in the last five years.

Seriously... NO yellow.

However!!!

I was able to find this yellow gem tucked away in the photo archives all the way from 2005.

We were traveling across country on our way from Florida to Washington State,

hitting every national park and monument we could on the way there. 

This photo was taken in Yellowstone National Park and YES!  Grant was wearing yellow!

That was one incredible summer/fall for our family.  

We started our grand adventure in early August.  I was determined to make one last trip to my family's favorite vacation spot in Prospect Harbor, Maine before we left the East Coast.

Dan stayed behind in Tampa to complete the sale of our house and to finish up his work, so I packed up the mini-van with all our worldly possessions (or those that I didn't want the movers to take) and four kids ages 12, 10, 8 and 5.

We spent a wonderful week in Maine, visiting with extended family.  

Two weeks in Virginia visiting/ camping out with friends (we were essentially homeless at that point.)

Another week back in Tampa to pick up my husband before we "officially" hit the road on our way to our new home in Washington.

Stops along the way included:

Chicago

Wall Drug

The Badlands

Mount Rushmore

Crazy Horse

Custer State Park

Devil's Tower

Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range

Cody, Wyoming

and finally... Yellowstone

This was fun, this was amazing...

we have great pictures and even better memories.

But... when you have spent the better part of two months traveling, the kids can get a little tired.

And maybe just a tad less appreciative of nature's wonders.

So pretty much, by the time we got to Yellowstone, I was hearing murmurs like this...

"Yep... hot water."  sigh

"Look... more hot water shooting into the sky."  ho hum

"Mud with bubbles?"  fascinating

"Really, another waterfall... I'll stay in the car."

Okay, okay... that sounds dreadful, and they really weren't all that miserable,

they perked up significantly with every wild animal sighting 

(The grizzly bear was a particular favorite!)

but you have to admit that there comes a point in most long road trips when you'd really like to be done,

to sleep in a bed that belongs to you, and to just veg out for a while and watch TV.

We had definitely hit that  point in the trip.

Now that we look back on it, we all agree that we would love to go back to Yellowstone and have since added a few new locations to our list of top spots to visit.  

In 2008, we traveled across country again from Washington State to Washington, DC via California, Nevada, and Utah.

(No we do not travel in straight lines!)

Now we are looking forward to planning another trip back to Washington State next summer.

So...now that you are armed with the knowledge that we rarely take direct routes,

what favorite spots do you recommend we try to visit on our next Westward adventure?

Thanks to I heart faces for this trip down memory lane.

Tales of a 38 year old poser

 In the early 90's...

I was in college, then I wasn't...

I was looking for Mr. Right, then I found him...

My music came to me through the radio... I let the DJ's make the choices.

So, yes, I listened to Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but I never owned their cd's. 

Then as their music became more popular, I was too busy to notice.

I got pregnant.  I had a baby.  

I got married.  

My focus was inward... 

We bought Sesame Street music and Veggie Tales.

The years passed and my music tastes grew with me and with my children.

I'm finally getting the opportunity to attend concerts with and without the children.

(Something, I didn't have much time to do when I was in my 20's because of the whole marriage and baby thing.)

So, when Dan asked if I wanted to go to a Pearl Jam concert, my instant answer was, "YES!"

We left the house, not worrying about babysitters and time schedules.

We were free to rock all night long!

We had decent seats. 

The concert was excellent.

The crowd was excited.

But here's the thing...

When you are sitting next to die hard fans,

fans that have been into the band since it's conception in the early 90's,

fans that know every single word to every single song,

you start to feel a little bit...

just a tiny bit...

like a poser.

and that kind of sucks.

Joining in on Tia's Flashback Friday.