Zach headed off to Ireland on Wednesday, June 13th. I met up with Robyn at pretty much the same time Zach left to drive down to Orlando. I’ve never driven my kids solo before for that long of a drive with any of them at this young of ages. I was pretty nervous about it but thankfully Spear is on the 4-hour schedule which means he wouldn’t have to stop and eat because we can for sure make it from our house to the Disney House in under four hours!
The Ireland Crew!
We did make a pit stop on the way and I probably should have kept driving and just had Robyn meet me but since she was stopping I figured it’d be smart to stop too. I needed to change out dvds for the kids and let them get a potty break! BUT that drive after the stop was def the roughest part of the haul. Spear cried a good while but I really couldn’t help soothe him or anything because I was driving!
Going on this trip with the kids on my own def gave me a deeper appreciation for Zach. Whenever we travel we get to the destination and everyone helps unload then car and then I unpack it all while he goes to the store and gets the groceries and such. Having to do it all after that drive was not fun haha!
Plus it was DOWNPOUR RAIN on me. I literally loaded the car full of groceries barefoot in the middle of a storm. It was not a cute look ha! I also went ahead and got pizza for everyone while I was out for dinner and felt bad it took me so dang long to get back with it!
Robyn held down the fort with ALL 6 kids while I was away! When planning out what I’d do while Zach was in Ireland I’m so glad I invited Robyn and her crew to come down. We’ve been friends for 9 years now and our kids are all friends because their moms are friends…but this trip really gave them the opportunity to become friends because THEY want to be friends, ya know? It was such a nice solid block of time for them to interact and form their own bonds and truly enjoy each other. It all went SO great!!!
So many kids to play with yet Tessie chose to read 🙂
We’ve done some updating to the Disney House! We changed both the Star Wars Room and Moana Room to separate twin beds rather than the bunk beds (that way adults could share the room if needed depending on the guests wanting to stay). W also added some wall decals to both of those rooms to bring in the theming a bit more. I LOVE how the decals turned out and appreciate Wallpressions. They did a PHENOMENAL job!!!
Tessie was perfectly happy to sleep on her own in the Mickey Room!
This kid is about too chunky for a sink bath 😉
This was my first trip using my new travel makeup bag and Yall. GAME CHANGER. Every time we go on a trip it’s so annoying taking all my makeup out of the bag and then putting it back in. But with this bag it opens completely flat so I can easily use everything and then just pull the strings back up and it’s all nicely put away!
Here’s a direct link to the makeup bag…and I’m also working on making lists of all my favorite Amazon finds: here’s the link to my favorite travel items 🙂
It was so nice not having a very busy agenda and just getting to hang out!
This kid is SO CHILL!
I brought along our GoPod and it was a great spot for Spear to sit and take in all the kids 😉
An update from Daddy! They visited a golf course that doesn’t have many visits from Americans so the course put up our flag in their honor, so cool!
We hung out all morning then headed to Disney Springs after naps!
Spear’s first time sitting in a big boy stroller!
I’ve had our City Mini Double since I was pregnant with Britt and it’s been AWESOME!
(if you’re pregnant my tip is to register for it on your Amazon Baby Registry and then when it’s close to your due date they will give you a code for 15% off!!!)
6 kids…2 mamas…Disney Springs…we got this!
I swear Spear has been fed in so many random places in his life haha It was HOT out so I just hung out on the floor of a Star Wars store and fed him while everyone else looked around and did a little shopping 😉
All the swimming got to my sweet girls eyes! She was not in the best mood about it either, bless.
This was THE most random Disney PhotoPass option I’ve ever seen. They had this old camera set up and had us all look at it for the picture. So. Weird. And not really Disney-ish, right? I kinda love it haha!
Lorelai said to Britt “You are my best friend”
Britt replied “You are in the top of my list”
Bahahaha!
Dinner at T-Rex!!!
My kids LOVE looking around at all the dinosaurs but Cooper wasn’t too sure about it (which made me feel so bad b/c when I made the reservation I honestly thought of it b/c I thought he’d LOVE it!) so he stuck with Robyn and I took the other kids around to see everything while we waited on our food.
So Britt.
Thanks LL for taking our family pic 😉
My dino loving crew!
Dino Bites 😉
When we came in February I didn’t love the food choices so I wanted to try something different and am SO glad I got the BBQ! I didn’t like the mashed potatoes but the sandwich was super good!
I let the kids order whatever they wanted from the kids menu. Which if you know us, you know this NEVER happens. I usually pack their food and have them share and dictate what they get. But really this was our only big plans for the week cost-wise so I went YOLO a bit 😉
Tess ordered popcorn shrimp. I think she thought they’d be actual popcorn because she did not like them once they arrived.
So basically I dropped $50 on a meal for Tess to just eat french fries ha!
At least this kids love for food makes the spending worth it 😉
First time in a high chair!
I don’t feel like I’m at the point of life with four where I feel like I’m rocking it yet. I was VERY confident in my life with three position. I would go and do and really didn’t feel frazzled or anything when out and about with all my kids. I’m not there yet with having four. This outing was a bit much for me for sure and when Spear got fussy I got a bit flustered! I told Robyn it probably made her glad that she stopped at two haha!
I have so many memories of Kye being fussy at a restaurant and just walking around with him to help him cheer up. Spear is very much the way Kye was (Britt there was no cheering up possible once she was upset and Tess rarely got upset ha!) where he’s easily distracted when upset and very easy to cheer up. The dinosaurs were def my friend!
I whispered to our waitress that it was Cooper’s birthday (it was a week early) and they surprised him with a song and cupcake. It was really funny b/c when she asked me how old he’s turning I was like “4 no 5 no 6” haha I can’t keep up with other people’s kids ages when I have so many of my own to keep track of 😉
We had such a fun dinner and headed home right after as it was def enough of an outing for us 😉
Huge props to Robyn for getting a pic where ALL MY KIDS ARE SMILING!!!!!!
A little sightseeing on the way to the car 🙂
Now he’s happy 😉
After Tess only eating fries at dinner I wasn’t about to order dessert…popsicles for the win!
Along with the changes to the kids rooms we also have updated both of the full bathrooms upstairs (we updated the two master bedroom bathrooms when we first bought it). We made one of them into a “Tiki Room” bathroom and the other into “Coco” I LOVE them both!
Our goal with the house is to have little touches of Disney but nothing tacky or overboard. We want even non-Disney fans to feel comfortable and enjoy the house too!
Another day…more pool fun with friends!
Sunkissed cheeks and chlorine eyes – you know it’s summer!
Robyn and her kids soaked UP some Spear time! It was so nice having Robyn there with me as her love for Spear is so true and pure and it makes my heart happy to have a friend who adores my baby!
Picnic lunch!
This table and chair set have been SUCH a nice update to the back deck (I ordered them from this link)
We also recently added a pool towel rack and a pool storage tub!
These two were SO sweet together the whole trip!
Kye also did really well managing hanging out with Cooper who is a good bit younger than he is. Robyn and I felt a little bad that Kye didn’t get to hang out with Lorelai (Britt monopolized her!) because they are the two that are closest in age. But Cooper ADORED Kye and loved getting to play with him!
Kye had his frustrations but overall he did really, really great. I’m going to be having a huge long brag post about Kye soon because I couldn’t have survived the week without Zach if I hadn’t had Kye. He was AMAZING.
Starfish Crew!
We love Tiny Bubbles and LOVE the freedom that comes from having kids who are so confident in their abilities to SWIM! Robyn and I didn’t even have to get in the pool the whole time because our crew can go and go and go! (you can read about our survival swim experiences here!)
Pro Moms!
Usually when we visit the Disney House we have a pretty full agenda to do actual stuff at Disney but the location of the house is SUPER close to TONS of other fun things too! Robyn and I decided to take the kids to get some ice cream at this super cute ice cream place that is literally 2 minutes from the house 🙂
This outing resulted in a great talk with my kids. When we went up to the window to order they started spouting off what they wanted, which was fine, but also ended up in me spending more money than I wanted to. I talked to them afterwards about how we have FOUR kids in our family and that it means I have to be more mindful about our spending because it really adds up FAST. I explained when we go on outings like that they need to let ME give THEM the choices of what they can have as I’m trying to work out the most cost effective ways for us to still go and do and have FUN but to also not spend a lot of money.
They have these super cool taco ice cream things which totally made me have a flashback to when I was pregnant with Kye and craved chaco-tacos like a crazy person!
#momlife
Ice cream. Outside. In 100 degree weather at 4 pm. Makes sense 😉
I have great memories at this same ice cream spot from back in 2013 with Casey when Britt was almost 2. Whew we got sticky and messy but had so much fun!!!
(and yes, I have a clothes-memory where I literally remember events by what we were wearing at them so I packed the same dress for Tess to wear in case we went to this ice cream spot ha!)
Cool Moms letting our kids go crazy with sugar 😉
All the crew!
My babies!
(Spear was content in his car seat which was wise on my part because I can’t fathom managing that mess while trying to hold him ha!)
Since I was about to enter the section of the trip where I’d be totally solo I needed to do a quick Targer run for a couple things so Robyn handled bedtime while I grabbed what I needed and picked us up some dinner!
I mean can this Target be any cuter?
Yall I’m so bad with directions. I was IN the parking lot and KNEW Panera was there somewhere but couldn’t find it haha!!!
Genius move: get our drinks without ice!
Happy baby with his buddies 🙂
Such a pretty sight on the way back in!
At home Spear has been ALL about his Jumperoo and the whole time on the trip he kept pumping his legs like he was wanting to jump. Robyn convinced me to go get him a jumper for the doorway and that smile made it worth EVERY penny!!!
Last snuggles before heading out!
The kids had SO MUCH FUN and were so bummed when the Mullican gang headed out!!!
So thankful to Robyn and her crew for spending a few days with us 🙂
They stayed Wednesday through Saturday morning and then we entered phase 2 of the trip which was my Mommy solo time with the kids!
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