Zoey's First Week of Preschool

Well, this week was a big week. Zoey started preschool! I was nervous about how she would do, but I'm not really sure why. She has been going to daycare for almost two years now, so she is used to being away from me. However, school is more structured and has more demands, so I guess I was worried that it would be too much for her. Now we are only a week in, so the worry is still there, but so far so good.

Zoey seems to be loving school. She went in the first day, and every day since, with no problem at all. She puts her folder and snack in their respective buckets, hangs up her backpack, and then goes in to start her table work. She actually loves it so much that I wish I would have done morning instead of afternoon because the mornings drag because she is asking me every 15 minutes if it is time to go to school. LOL!

On the way into school, she points at every other kid and says "there's a friend". I am trying to work with her on not pointing and on asking them what there name is instead of asking me or just making up a name for them. The other day she decided one little boy's name was JJ, so she went up to him and said "Hi. JJ". 

When I pick her up from school, she is happy to see me. She takes me on the obstacle course in the gym and then goes on the elevator up to the slide and I meet her at the bottom and we head out the door. Yesterday we got out the front door and she was asking to go back to school. On the car ride home, she started crying and told me I was going the wrong way and we needed to go back to school. LOL!

The one thing negative about school so far is that it really seems to be zapping the energy out of her. The first day she fell asleep before we even got out of the school parking lot. Yesterday, she fell asleep on the way to daycare and then was a wreck when I tried to leave. She didn't even want to have anything to do with her friend, Rahenna. She has also been a terror at night since school started. Hopefully she adjusts and things get better around here at night.

All in all, I would say the first week of preschool has been a success.

MDBD - Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

It's been a few weeks since Zoey and I had a MDBD. Things have just been super busy and unfortunately, MDBD got pushed to the back burner. Well today I was bound and determined that we were going to do some backing. I also was looking at past posts today and realized Zo and I have been doing MDBD for over a year (I started blogging them in June 2013 and had been doing them a few months before that). Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to show how much Zoey has grown in a year.

August 2013

August 2014

Wow how grown up she looks in that pic. She's headed to her first day of preschool tomorrow. I can't believe it!!! Anyhow, back to MDBD business. Today's recipe is for Snickerdoodle Cupcakes from Deliciously Sprinkled.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Our Ingredients

Our Ingredients

2¾ cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoons salt
¾ cup shortening (I used margarine)
1⅔ cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
2½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1¼ cups milk

Instructions

 
Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Line (2) muffin tins with 24 cupcake liners (I just put my silicone liners on a baking sheet)

In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt

In large bowl, beat shortening with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds
Gradually add granulated sugar, about ⅓ cup at a time, beating well after each addition
 Beat 2 minutes longer
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
Beat in vanilla
On low speed, alternately add flour mixture and milk, about half at a time, beating just until blended
Divide cupcake batter evenly among muffin cups
Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

For the frosting, I just used a can of white frosting and then I used my cinnamon & sugar grinder and sprinkled some on top.

I was not a huge fan of these cupcakes. I thought that they tasted too much like butter. That could have been because I used margarine instead of shortening. They were also very dense. Not bad. Just not my something I would go out of my way to make again.

 

Zoombezi Bay 2014

Last Tuesday was our annual family trip to Zoombezi Bay. This is the fourth year we have gone. It's always something that we look forward to. It's also a crap shoot in terms of the weather. The three years prior were good. Last year was a little colder than we would have liked, but not bad. This year had me super stressed out. For the two weeks prior to the day of our trip, the weather channel app had the chance of rain ranging from 60% to 30%. I think the actual day of the app said 50% chance. We figured either way we should make the most of it. We had a cabana booked and Scott took a vacation day, so no backing out. That morning we loaded into the car and just down the road from Zoombezi it started to lightly rain. No big deal ... we would be getting wet anyhow. Pull into the parking lot ... torrential downpour for a good 15 minutes. It lightened up some, so we decided to brave it and head into the park. It sprinkled a little bit while I was switching our cabana reservation (I had gotten one by the wave pool, but decided that since Neko and Robbie were going to be with us as well, that one by the kids area made more sense). After that I don't think it rained. It was a little cold at times if the breeze was blowing and you weren't in the water, but all in all it was a really nice day.

So now that I gave a run down of the weather, lets talk about the actual fun we had. Our niece and nephew were staying with Scott's mom and step-dad for the week, so they got to join in on the Zoombezi fun. We decided to start out by taking Zoey on the one big ride that she could do (I seriously can't wait until she is taller and can do some other stuff). Neko wanted to go with us, but Robbie said he didn't want to do big slides, so he stayed in the kids' area with Bev and Leland. We took the lazy river over the the area the slide was at, which allowed Zoey to get comfortable in the water and know that she could touch. I will say, I was nervous and had a mild anxiety attack while climbing the stairs. I'm not really sure why. Anyhow once we got up there we piled into the raft, which is big enough for five. The slide is called the Tahitian Twister and for the majority of it you are in the dark. The first time we went down I ended up going down backwards, which makes it a bit scarier I think. Zoey loved it of course and wanted to ride again, so we went for a second ride. (This time I got to go down forwards).

The blue and black one is the one we went down

Scott took Neko on some of the bigger slides that she was tall enough to go on but the other kids weren't and Zoey and I took the lazy river back over the the cabana to wait. Bev and Leland mentioned that they wanted to go on some of the bigger slides, so I volunteered to look after Robbie and Zoey. Wow, what was I thinking? I took them over to Baboon Lagoon and figured I could keep them both with me. Well, I hadn't been to that area yet and it had been remodeled since last year, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Robbie was content to go down the little slides right at the beginning of the structure, but of course Zoey wanted to go and explore all over. Well I couldn't leave Robbie and I wasn't going to let Zoey take off without me, so I made them go back to the cabana where I could wait for reinforcements.

Drenched!!!

Robbie was content to lay down and get some sun

Zoey preferred to dance

Once everyone got back to the cabana, we all headed over to Baboon Lagoon. I was not happy when I learned that the changes to the kids area did away with the slides that you could go down with the kids. I didn't think that Zoey would have as much fun because when we went to Maui Sands in April, Zoey wouldn't go down any of the slides because one of us couldn't go with her. Well, that was not a problem at all here. Zoey went down the slides by herself with no hesitation. She loved them. The one thing I was not a huge fan of is the fact that all the slides end underneath the middle of the structure, which is impossible to see unless you are under there as well. Zoey isn't coordinated enough to get out of the slide pool herself, so someone had to be there to help her out. That meant that you got soaked as well. There was no way to avoid it. Whenever someone sprayed one of the things by the slides and especially when the bucket dropped, you got soaked. I ended up ruining my camera because it got drenched as I was trying to walk out from underneath the slides. Oh well, I needed a new one anyhow. LOL!

This was Robbie's favorite slide. He went on it again and again

This was probably Zoey's favorite slide

The bucket drop. Neko is in there in the pink suit

Robbie and Neko

More of Zoey

A picture of Baboon Lagoon from our cabana

After some fun at Baboon Lagoon, we spent some time in the lazy river. Zoey loved the fact that she could touch. We also headed over the to wave pool. That was a good time as well. Zoey thought it was tons of fun when the waves would hit her. Once we had our fill of being smashed by waves, we decided to take Zoey and Neko back on the big slide. Well, Robbie had built up the courage and wanted to go as well. So Scott and I took all three kids. Going down it was hard to tell how Robbie was doing since it was dark. Once we hit the light I looked at him and her looked absolutely terrified. However, when we hit the pool he said he wanted to go again, so I guess he liked it. The second time we took Zoey and Robbie and Neko rode with Bev and Leland.

After all the sliding fun, we figured we better grab some lunch, so we headed back to the cabana. Zoombezi actually has some pretty good food and you get a discount if you rent a cabana. The kids enjoyed chicken tenders and fries. Scott and I had burgers.

I made Zoey take a selfie with me

After lunch and some time to let our food digest, we spent a little bit more time in Baboon Lagoon. By this time, it had gotten a little bit colder and I was shivering standing watching Zoey go down slides, so I suggested we go to the pool area of Baboon Lagoon. It is heated and felt SO good. Zoey really built some confidence during the day and was paddling (with her life jacket) back and forth between people. I also made a little bit of progress in teaching her to blow bubbles in the water.

After a fun filled day, we headed home. It turned into a really great day. Boy were we worn out though.

On the car ride home

Crashed out once we got home

Because I think it's fun, heer are pics from the past three years of Zoombezi

2011

2012

2013

King's Island 2014

Well, as always I am way behind on blogging. Figured I would take a minute and catch up, so I can post our latest adventure. But before I get to that, here is a post about our trip to King's Island in July.

In 2012 Scott and I started a tradition of taking Zoey to an amusement park each summer. In 2012 it was Cedar Point and we went for Pointfest. Last year it was King's Island and we went for Spirit Song. This year the line ups for both Pointfest and Spirit Song were not great, so we decided to pick a random weekend and go to King's Island. This year my sister and nephew joined in on the fun.

I will say that I went into this trip a little bit disappointed because Zoey LOVED all the rides when we went to Disney and I knew from King's Island's website that she couldn't ride a lot of the bigger, funner rides. Disney really did spoil us in that department. I think the only rides that Zoey wasn't able to ride there was Everest and Space Mountain. She did Splash Mountain, the River Rapids, and the roller coaster over by Splash Mountain (I can't remember what it's called). I was even more disappointed when we got there and realized that she also couldn't ride a lot of the rides in the kids area. We still ended up having a pretty great time though.

Before we started our time on the rides, we stood in line at guest services for awhile. I found out that due to Zoey's Autism diagnosis that she could get a special pass that would basically allow her and three other people to get the equivalent of the fast pass at Disney, so she wouldn't have to wait in line. That was pretty nice. We didn't use it that often because the lines were not bad at all, but we did use it a couple of times.

Once we had the pass, we headed over to the kids area, Planet Snoopy. The first ride we did was the small log ride. Scott, Zoey, and Tiffany went on it first and then Scott, Zoey, and Trey took a turn. I sat this one out (as well as most of the other ones). Zoey had fun, but not as much fun as she did last year. I think Splash Mountain made this seem like nothing to her. LOL!

I was having camera issues, so this is the only pic I got of this ride

Next up was the Linus Launcher. This one had a weight limit for who rode with Zoey, so Tiffany got the honor of riding next to Zoey and then Scott rode behind them. I was a little afraid of how Zoey would do on this since she was laying on her stomach and basically by herself. Of course I was worried for no reason. LOL!

After flying through the air, Scott took Zoey up in the air on the Kite Eating Tree. He's such a good daddy for taking her. This ride is so uncomfortable for him since he has such broad shoulders. He really doesn't fit in the restraints. It's also a pain in the butt because they strap you in and then make you get back out and change where you are sitting in order to balance the weight. However, Scott takes her because she LOVES it. The smile she gets on her face is priceless, and she laughs the whole time.

We then did two rides that I went on (hence no pictures). Zoey wanted to ride Woodstock's Whirlybirds, which was super lame. Luckily we used the pass to get on that one because there was a line and it was not worth standing in line for. We also went on Boo Blasters, which is like the Toy Story Ride at Disney, where you are in a car that turns around as you go and you shoot things. Scott went with Zoey and I went with Trey. My gun must have been broken because my score was horrible. LOL! Plus I was dizzy from the rotten egg smell that was permeating that ride. It was so bad.

After those two rides, we took a break for lunch. Nothing fancy, just some pizza. It was nice to just take a short relaxing break.

Zoey and Trey (This is her version of smiling)

 After lunch, we went over to a different section of the park and rode the viking ship. Trey sat this one out, but Scott, Zoey, Tiffany, and I went. OMG!!! Zoey was so funny on this ride. We sat in the middle of the boat and Scott and Zoey sat so they were facing Tiffany and I. I got my phone out to record her reaction and I am so glad I did. It was priceless. As the boat started to move she yelled out "Ahoy maties". She's so random sometimes. LOL! I ended up getting reprimanded by the ride operator for having my phone out (you can hear it at the end of the video), but it was totally worth it. I'm not sure if the video will work or not. Last time I tried to upload it to my other blog it didn't work.

After that, we took Zoey to see if she wanted to ride Monster. Scott had a headache from the viking ride so he wasn't able to ride Monster. I once threw up on a similar ride, so I wasn't having anything to do with it. Zoey really wanted to ride, so Tiffany agreed to take her. She's such a good aunt. I couldn't really get any good pictures because of the way the ride is built, but I think they had a good time.

Monster ended up being the last ride we went on. It started raining pretty hard shortly after that, so we called it a day. It was a really fun day and Ms. Zoey did awesome. That was especially surprising since she has been up until the wee hours of the morning trying to convince us that it was daytime and time to go to Kings Island. LOL! We now know we can't tell her things until the day they are going to happen.