Animal Sightings at the Lodge

We were delighted to find that the animals actually did come down into our little corner of the savanna. 

Some of the rooms that were further out might have been able to see more animals more often, but we were content with the ones that came down to visit.

This male Eland showed up every evening, as this seemed to be his favorite spot for sleeping.  He was there when we went to bed at night and if we were up early enough in the morning, he was still there.

Alaina swears she heard him walking around, clip clop clip clop. 

Rob and I didn't hear anything, but then maybe we aren't as in tune to the animals as our daughter is.

On Friday afternoon, before we headed out to the pool, the Grant's Zebra came down to visit. 

 There were actually two of them hanging out together, but this was the best picture from Alaina's camera (zoomed and cropped).

Friday evening, when we got back from the pool, the Eland was already settled in for the evening and the Reticulated Giraffes had decided to come down for a bite to eat.  There were three of them, but they were pretty far away from our room and by the time we ran down the hall to find a better view, they'd pretty much moved on. 

 If you want to see a really good picture of a giraffe, check out our pictures from our Backstage Safari at Animal Kingdom Park.

Saturday morning when we checked outside, the Roan Antelope was visiting.  Alaina was watching it eat when another guest started whistling.  She got a fun series of pictures of the antelope looking up and walking towards the sound.

There was a small watering hole a couple of rooms away from us and we saw birds visiting there several times but it was too hard to get a good picture of them. 

We also visited the main overlook area, just outside the main lobby area and saw Ankole Cattle, Greater Kudu and Thompson's Gazelle.  Disney brings in Cast Members from the African continent who act as Guides and will share interesting facts and information about the animals you see at the lodge. 

Rob and Alaina went out Saturday night to use the night vision goggles at the overlook area by the pool.  I didn't join them because I really needed to rest my foot at that point but they really enjoyed it.  I'm sure they told me all about it when they got back to the room, but frankly, I don't remember much of that conversation.

Adventures with Alaina

Alaina LOVES Disney ... 

She loves the movies, the cartoons, the channel, the tv shows, the characters, and their corresponding plushies.  In fact, I would be hard pressed to come up with one thing DISNEY that she doesn't love.

Now, a truth about Alaina is that when she loves something, she embraces it with her whole heart and her whole essence.

That is why it was so much fun to share this short trip to Disney World with Alaina.  She was delighted with each and every aspect and part of the trip.  She had a smile on her face the whole time (I believe that is a minor miracle when traveling with a teen) and allowed herself to absorb every detail, every moment and every memory that she could.

The fun started on the Magic Express (Disney transportation from the airport to the resorts).  During the bus ride they show an introductory video about the resorts and the parks and then follow that up with classic Disney cartoons.  Alaina moved behind us after the first stop.  She happily talked to the girls she sat next to and began watching the adventures of Donald Duck, laughing out loud at the funny parts.

Soon, the little girl sitting next to her (probably 11-years old) started laughing too.  Her younger sister looked at her funny and said, half sarcastically and half curiously, "Are you laughing at this cartoon?"  The older sister said, "Yes, It's FUNNY!"  Soon the little sister was watching and laughing too.

These girls had not made any comments or any noise until Alaina sat down next to them.  Her enthusiasm and willingness to be open to the fun that Disney works so hard to create meant that their fun began a few minutes sooner than they had expected. 

This was the magic that Alaina shared with us the whole time we were there and it was a joy to share that with her. 

A Funny Story

Alaina wrote and illustrated a True Story on her blog.  She has been a great storyteller since she could talk; many years ago she had a great desire to be an author (writing and illustrating children's stories while living in a trailer parked in our yard).

I don't know how many people actually read my blog, or how many of you jump over to her blog and read it but in this instance I highly recommend that you do.

Her blog can be found here:

A Miss Alainius Life (click on the name)

I get such a kick out of her voice and her instant art.  She just grabs her tablet and whips these pictures out without even thinking.  What really amazes me is how she is able to capture personality with just a few strokes of her pen.

By the way - the ducks she is referring to used to live in the canal a couple of blocks away from my parents house.  We would walk over and feed them when we would visit their Oma and Opa.  Sami was fascinated by them, snuck in through a hole in the fence and then when the ducks came after her, because they didn't appreciate sharing their space, she freaked out and couldn't figure out how to get herself back out.  We had to help Emily climb over the fence so she could save Sami. 

A Sketchbook Satchel for NYC

Alaina is heading to NYC early Saturday morning with a group of art students from Waubonsie.  I KNOW!  How fun!  They are going to spend hours visiting the fabulous museums there and doing other fun touristy things.  Tiffany, who is going to be Alaina's roommate at BYU next year is going too.  The girls figure this will be a good trial run and have already started sharing and working out a good compromise.  Tiffany wants to check her bag and Alaina is going to pay her $10 each way to carry her toiletries.  That way Alaina won't have to deal with carrying the minimum travel size that the TSA requires since she just wants to bring a carry-on.

Alaina wanted a bag to carry her sketchbook and pencils in, but also wanted it big enough to hold her wallet and a couple of other minimal necesseties (the Girl is NOT a purse carrier).  I thought it would be fun to try to make one for her.  So I went to my favorite place (Google!) and pulled up a couple of tutorials that showed exactly how to do this.  I let her choose from fabric that I already had at home and this is what we came up with.

I think it turned out really cute.  Alaina loved the giraffe print, but that cotton was way too weak to make the whole bag out of it.  So we combined it with the stripe and the polka dot and just used the giraffe print as the fun accent fabric (the colors actually match better in real life).  I added fusible interfacing to every piece of fabric on the outside of the bag.  I also doubled the bottom layers and quilted the layers together for extra strength.   

The messenger bag / sketchbook satchel was created from three different tutorials and piecing together parts from each.
MMMCrafts had good basic instructions and line drawings to follow, this was the main tutorial that I followed.
Heart of Mary had very good pictures but I wasn't about to try to insert a zipper into my first attempt at making a bag
Bluebirdbaby actually has each step broken out with an accompanying picture.

The tutorial for the fabric flower was found at Little Birdie Secrets

p.s.  I have more pictures, but it's late and Rob is very tired because he didn't sleep well on his trip this week and he's trying really hard not to get impatient with me.  Since I have work tomorrow, I knew if I didn't get this post up tonight, it might not get up at all, so I only put up one picture.  If you want to see more details let me know and I'll come back and edit this.

Mormon Prom

Today is Mormon Prom

also known as the Priest/Laurel Formal Dance

Alaina's group of friends decided to make it into a real event.

Josh asked Alaina to go with him

by stringing twine from our front door

through the neighborhood

all the way down to

and through

Jenessa's house 

to her backyard

where he stood waiting for her by the trampoline.

He attached encouraging signs along the way so she would know to keep going. 

if you want more details ask her

She happily said yes.

Hair and makeup was at Sarah's house.

Pictures were here.

Dinner was Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

at Giordano's.

Then the kids drove back here and met the LIMO for a fun ride to the Schaumburg Stake Center where the leaders of five stakes have joined forces to decorate, provide great food and good, fun, clean music for a memorable evening.

Friends from the Naperville and Joliet Stake.

Alaina borrowed the dress Emily wore at Mark and Em's reception. 

We decided it would be really cute if she added a petticoat underneath.

So I sewed one for her.

Resolving Resolutions

One of my goals from LAST YEAR was to go through my house - room by room, closet by closet, area by area sorting, purging and organizing.

Planning a wedding, reception and starting a new job got me sidetracked from achieving this goal.
Which is okay.
I'll just keep working on it as I can.

I wanted to redo the gift wrap area in our basement and since Alaina decided to host a party this weekend I realized it was now or never (or I'd just do what I've been doing and live with it "good enough" for another year or two).

I told Rob what I wanted and he built it for me.

Just Like That

How cool is he?

At one point he was banging the 2x4 in between the studs to create the shelf for the paper rolls to sit on and I asked him how he knew to do that.

His response....
"Granddad Lawrence"

I have mixed feelings about not ever getting around to finishing our basement - but then when I can do something cool like this between the studs and use the space effeciently I don't mind so much.

Thanks honey for being willing and able to accomodate me and all the gift wrap that I have collected over the years. 
If anyone needs to wrap a present, come on over.  I've plenty of paper (especially if you are looking for something in the RED family) and am more than happy to share

Christmas Memories

I've been entering Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen Christmas Countdown Giveaway this week and the prompt was, "What was your most memorable Christmas gift as a child".  

Perfect timing!  Just last night I was sharing with the family, as we returned from our Caroling, While Delivering Pumpkin Bread activity, my memory of this HORRIBLE little doll I received one year.  She was frightening, to say the least. 

If you don't believe me...click on the link below and watch the commercial for Baby Laugh-a-Lot

My Most Memorable Christmas Present
(excuse the swear word at the top of the YouTube title)

What were my parents thinking?  Did they really think it was cute and funny and that I would love it?  Or did they think I was rather sad and needed some cheering up?  Or did they think it was funny and would make a great practical joke?  I have no idea! 

I put the thing in the back of my closet and would hear it randomly cackle if something fell on it.  My happiest day was when I realized the batteries had coroded in the back and the doll could no longer LAUGH MANIACALLY for what was probably just half a minute or so, but what felt like hours.

Parents - take note.....practical jokes are fun and funny, scary dolls are not!