A Memory for the Wall

Just before Christmas, Sophia's school had a fundraising auction, and I purchased a "Family Masterpiece" session from ArtMart. Essentially, you get to choose a style of painting based on number of people (3) and age of children (6). These factors set us up perfectly for the Jackson Pollock style of painting. And it was SO much fun!

Armed with squirt bottles, cups full of paint, brushes, eye droppers and even a super soaker, we got to turn a blank canvas into our own masterpiece.

All three of us enjoyed the process from start to finish.

Sophia particularly enjoyed the squirt bottles of yellow and red. For a while, our painting resembled a hot dog.

We got a bit dirty, but it was entirely worth it.

The canvas is on here somewhere...

This is what it looks like dry and in our dining room. Beautiful! It was a memory that we'll always cherish -- unless someone offers us a fortune.

I highly recommend the experience to anyone. Yes, we probably could set up the same experience on our own, but it wouldn't have helped out Sophia's school and, more importantly, I would have had to clean up that mess!

Group Hug

This picture just makes me so happy. I thought it might bring a smile to the faces of others as well. Sophia loves her friends. She enjoys every minute they get to spend together. And this right here makes me willing to share her as much as she needs.

I'm back

It may not seem like that long since I've posted a blog. To me, though, it seems like it's been weeks.

Erick was sick last Monday when we were traveling. He really didn't feel better until about Thursday, mostly because he still had to go to work because he had things to catch up on from our vacation. Thursday was the first day that Sophia had a fever. So I had just finished putting away all of the vacation stuff and the laundry in order to spend the rest of the week and weekend snuggled up to my sweet and sad little princess. I'm not complaining. It's just been quite a roller coaster start to our year.

Anyway, I've still been looking through our pictures from the trip. Sophia was a little less willing to be on camera than usual. I'm really not sure why. No, really, I don't know.

I got a lot of pictures like this. She's smiling into Erick's shirt. And it's not even like I'd been snapping them all day like I do sometimes! 

Honestly, I don't know where she learned it. Erick and I are always ready for our pictures to be taken. We happily obliged when it was her turn behind the camera...

Always ready with a smiling face. That's us!

        
Maybe next trip I'll have a camera that doesn't need a flash so I can be more sneaky...

Our Disney Vacation

I'll be honest. I'm really unsure how to sum up our/my Disney experience. I have a few observations and some pictures. They don't necessarily go together, so I'll start with the observations. 

Disney World is incredible. It really is magical. So much so that I had to wonder if there was some sort of narcotic being filtered into the park. That's how euphoric it felt and how difficult the feeling is to explain. Of course, being that I'm a romantic and love being a child, it should come as no surprise that I fell in love with a place where dreams become reality and everyone is happy. Still, I was very surprised by just how much I enjoyed my Disney experience.

The Disney people - the imagineers - have thought of absolutely everything. Any time you think to yourself, "Boy, I could really go for a drink right about now," a drink stand would be in your path. There was never a line for the restroom. Never. And it was packed! There were foods to suit all needs. If you didn't feel like eating a meal, you could just buy a piece of fruit or some veggies and hummus! Fresh food in an amusement park. Strange. When we found ourselves distracted and almost ready to feel bored, a parade would come by, a show would start or someone would offer a suggestion! Disney had professional photographers at every great spot. They'd take a picture with your camera and one with their own. For $15, I can have a copy of one of these. Expensive, yes. Brilliant, definitely. I'm just saying, it was unreal how perfectly Disney World meets the needs - known and unknown - of its guests.

There are other observations, too, but maybe they'll fit into the pictures. We'll see.

We started out by going to the Animal Kingdom. I fully expected to enjoy myself, but I didn't know just how unlike a zoo the Animal Kingdom would be.

After a couple hours spent walking around and riding the Safari ride (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!), Sophia managed to snag her first autograph. She was thrilled to get Pocahontas's autograph, and it was just the beginning!

After Pocahontas, Sophia caught the bug. She then got Donald Duck, Chip and Dale, Rafiki and Minnie at the Animal Kingdom. Erick and I had fun with it too!

The next morning was our big splurge. We had breakfast with the princesses inside Cinderella's castle! That was definitely a highlight for all of us. It was completely worth it. Here is Sophia as we waited for our shuttle to the Magic Kingdom that morning.

When we got to the Magic Kingdom, we got to see the Opening Ceremony. It actually brought tears to my eyes. I was just so excited to see what the park held, and I was touched to see how excited Sophia was, too.

It only got better. Once we got into the castle, Sophia was greeted by Cinderella herself!

After our breakfast with the princesses, we just wandered through the park. We happened onto these two. Woody and Jessie are two of my absolute favorite characters.

We took a break on that long Magic Kingdom day. We went back to the hotel to swim. Just because we could. And because Sophia was not going to be happy if we didn't take advantage of having a pool. I couldn't blame her! 

After a little rest, we headed back to Magic Kingdom to enjoy the park at night. It might have been an even more spectacular place at night. Regardless, it was magical.

The fireworks were everything I hoped for. Sophia really enjoyed seeing them, although she did not enjoy hearing them.

We stayed at the park after the fireworks, wandering through the park and making a plan for what we wanted to do the next day. Another stroke of luck ended up with Sophia getting autographs from Tiana and Naveen, who chatted with her for several minutes!

This brings me to another observation. The characters at the park are eerily similar to the characters in the Disney movies. Seriously. They look and act EXACTLY like the prince/princess/random character that they portray. I know that's the idea, but how is it possible that they found just the right person for everyone? Genetic engineering, perhaps? Plastic surgery, maybe? I'm not sure, but I know it's incredible. These people were fantastic.

Our last day was just more of the same: swimming and wandering around the Magic Kingdom. It was an even more beautiful day and even more crowded at the park. I cannot wait to go back to Disney World, although I'm more than willing to give Disneyland a shot since it's so close to the beach. I have fallen completely in love with all that Disney has to offer. I am a hopeless romantic who has found a place to call home -- while on vacation, at least.

What a Weekend!!

We returned this morning from our long-awaited Disney vacation. It was so much more awesome than I could have imagined. I'll try to post more images and words. For now, I'm still on the second load of laundry - out of a bajillion. So, you'll just have to settle for this picture of Sophia and Snow White. Sophia is as happy as she looks - I think.

More to follow! Probably tomorrow. Hope you have a magical day. Sorry. I couldn't help myself.

The Average Weekend

 A weekend at the Creach house is pretty average if it includes lots of dancing.

A mustache or two.

Some butterflies, perhaps, maybe even on the face...

And it ALWAYS. Yes, always. Ends in a slow dance.

And some snoring.

Judo Warrior Princess

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Sophia has decided to give martial arts a try. Each semester, I try to give her the option of having one activity for the brain and one for the body. She chose martial arts for the body. It may turn out to be for her brain, too.

She is one smart cookie, but like her mama (yes, I'll completely own this one) she has some difficulty translating verbal instruction to physical response. I would give anything to be able to have better body control and understanding. So, I'm hopeful that she can learn some useful tools from martial arts.

She had her trial class yesterday, which went so well that she committed to going again today and even got the outfit. Convincing, isn't she?

First class or not, she and her friend Ryan (the one in jeans) learned to throw their opponents. She said she felt bad at first about throwing this guy, but then she got thrown and felt much better. This is SO good for Sophia.

I'm thrilled that she's so interested in martial arts. Discipline, respect, strength. What kid couldn't benefit from learning these qualities in a fun and safe environment? The sensei has kids of his own, who are also in the class. I assume that it's for that reason that he only asks us to pay a month at a time, with the expectation that their interest will ebb and flow. I'm glad he sees that coming because this is Sophia we're talking about. For now, she wants to go every time they have class, but we'll see...