Save or Spend

A few months ago Matt and I decided to start giving the kids an allowance to help them learn how to manage money. It has been interesting to see how their different personalities affect their attitudes about money. Kylee is more of a saver and really thinks about what she wants to buy. Brayden, on the other hand, is a spender and money just burns a hole in his pocket. Kylee and Brayden had to use their own money they had saved to buy any souvenirs that they wanted at Disney World. While in the souvenir shops Kylee would spend an hour looking for something and then not really buy anything. Brayden would pick something out right away. He just wanted to know if he had enough money to buy it and if he would get change back. It didn't matter how much change back as long as he would get something back. Then, after he purchased a cheap electronic game he kept looking for things to buy explaining to me that he still had room in his bag.

Disney Day 5 Animal Kingdom

Kilimanjaro Safari ride 

Taking a break to cool down with some popsicles.

In front of the Tree of Life. 

It was an action packed week and we were all exhausted by the end.  Here is a summary of the week from each persons perspective.

Blake - lots of hanging out in the stroller while the kids went on rides

Julia - a week of heaven in the magical world of real princesses

Brayden - braved the high speed roller coasters and even claimed to like them 

Kylee - first time really experiencing big roller coasters and discovered she is hooked

Disney Day 4 Magic Kingdom

Riding the shuttle to the ferry.  

Matt and Blake on the ferry to the Magic Kingdom

The girls were excited to meet the  princesses. 

Disney Day 3

With Tuesday being a late night we decided to take it easy the next morning.  We went swimming at the Orange Lake Resort pool.  It was the first time for Blake to be in a pool.  

 It was fun to relax and hang out that morning at the pool.

In the afternoon we went back to Magic Kingdom.

Disney Day 2

We decided to spend Tuesday at Magic Kingdom.  The day started with riding on the monorail.  

Disney World 2008 Group - Gaspar de Alba's, Crane's, and Caldwell's.

We came back to the hotel early afternoon for the kids to take naps.  We had pre-oredred tickets for the Not So Scary Halloween party scheduled for later that evening.  It was going to be a late night and we didn't want the kids to be so exhausted.   Katrina went to Walmart and picked up some costumes for the kids to wear to the party.  We had some pirates, the little girls were princesses, and Kylee and Paloma started out being cats.  Kristina helped get the little girls ready by putting make-up on them.  They loved it.

The Not So Scary Halloween Party had trick or treating,  a parade, a Villain show at the Cinderella Castle, and different places with music and dancing.  The kids were all given bags to use to trick-or-treat throughout the park.  There were designated spots on the park map to get the candy.  It was fun to see the different Disney Villains walking around the park.  The kids enjoyed themselves

All the kids right after we got in the gates for the party.  

The 2nd time Julia got lost was after the Not So Scary Halloween Parade.  She was sitting in the stroller with Blake watching the parade.  After the parade she decided to get out and wander off.  All of the sudden I looked and she was gone.  The next thing I noticed was an older lady holding Julia's hand walking the parade loop looking for her mom.  Julia was kind of clueless about what had happened.  

Disney Day 1

On September 21, 2008 we made the 10 hour drive from Cary, North Carolina down to Orlando, Florida to spend a week of vacation at Disney World. We met the Gaspar de Albas and Cranes who had already made the trek a couple of days earlier.  We stayed at a time share called the Orange Lake Resort through Brother Gaspar de Alba. 

We spent our first day of fun, Monday, at Hollywood Studios.   

Our first stop was the Rock 'n Roller Coaster.  Among the first group to go on it was Brayden with me (Kristel).  Brayden had not ridden a big roller coaster like that before.  As we were riding I thought Brayden had passed out. His eyes closed and his head went limp.  I kept calling his name with no response.  After it was over he said, "That was FUN!  Let's do it again!".  So he went again with Matt, though never opened his eyes.  Brayden was not as adventurous at The Tower of Terror ride where he opted out.  Kylee enjoyed all the rides and rode them multiple of times.   


The day turned out to be rainy and the ponchos came in handy.  The kids enjoyed dancing and entertaining themselves in the rain.  

Julia got lost 2 times during the week.  The first time she got lost was in Hollywood Studios.  We were hanging outside of a theatre after watching a show and trying to figure out where to go next.  As we were leaving we noticed that Julia was not among our crowd.  We frantically searched all around.  I told an employee outside of the theater and described what she was wearing.  She went in the theater to go look for her.  Then I took off trying to find her.  My heart sank.  There were so many places she could disappear to.  After a frightful five minutes the lady came out of the theater with Julia.  She had wandered back in.  When we went back and saw the footage of video on that day we can actually see the point where she walked off.  Scary.  

Kylee is 8

Our Kylee turned 8 yesterday. It is hard to believe that she has been a part of our family for 8 years. She did not have a very fun birthday, but it will be one that she will never forget. She woke up at 4:30 in the morning throwing up. She continued to be sick for a full 24 hour period. She was not able to enjoy birthday cinnamon rolls, a waffle dinner, and a birthday cake. Luckily we had partially celebrated her birthday on Saturday, September 13th with some friends and cousins. Kylee had a bowling party at the local Cary bowling ally. It was fun with lots of bowling, pizza, cake, and arcade games. Kylee is a sweet responsible girl. When asked to do something she is usually quick to get it done. She enjoys helping me take care of Blake. She loves to do crafts, draw, and play with her cousin Paloma. She is a great leader and can get her siblings to play together.

Tutu Princess

This past Thursday, September 11th was a monumental day for Julia. It was the first time that Julia did not wear her tutu at some point in the day. It may not sound like much, but Julia has lived the past four months in this tutu while at home. She usually would strip down first thing in the morning and put on her tutu. That means no shirt, shorts, socks, or shoes just a tutu and pull-up. I required her to put on clothes when we would leave the house, but even then sometimes she was able to sneak out to Aunt Frina's (Katrina's) house with the tutu on. After returning home she would soon realize that she had normal clothes on and proceed to take them off and yes put her tutu on. She would then bring me her normal clothes and say, "No want it." The tutu has received a lot of love by Julia. When she first started to put it on it was cute, now it has snags, holes, and strings hanging from it. Around the same time that Julia started to wear her tutu she also decided not to wear barrettes in her hair anymore. So, when people show up at our house unexpected they will find a tattered tutu wearing, scraggly haired 2 year old girl. I guess it all goes down hill for the 3rd child.