August 2010 (so far)

40th birthday brewery tour, party, and first days of school!

July 2010

Bosco (1 pic ;), Camper of the Week, trip to Lake Ouachita

Anna Jayne's Dance Recital

Day 7: Friday, May 28

Up and at ‘em by 7am, loaded the car, breakfast at the hotel and in the car by 8:15. We made it back home by 5 – picked up Barkley, unpacked and are now in piles of laundry. Thank goodness for the 3-day weekend!

Our Disney World Vacation, 2010

Day 7: Friday, May 28

Up and at ‘em by 7am, loaded the car, breakfast at the hotel and in the car by 8:15. We made it back home by 5 – picked up Barkley, unpacked and are now in piles of laundry. Thank goodness for the 3-day weekend!

Day 6: Thursday, May 27

Magic Kingdom Day 2 – plan in action and ready to go. We went to the park before 9am and immediately went to Fantasyland for the Tea Cups, It’s a Small World and the Carousel (via Cinderella’s Castle, of course). We had to do everything that Anna Jayne missed the first time around  After the rides, we made it to Mickey’s Toontown Fair right when it opened and had primo spots in line to meet the Princesses! More autographs and photos with Aurora, Cinderella and Belle. Then, we all rode the Barnstormer (Anna jayne’s only rollercoaster of the trip) and headed across the park where we caught a show at the castle with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, the princesses, Peter Pan, Hook, and Maleficent! Bobby and Anna Jayne went to wait in line for Tiana (again!) and Dean and I took off for Splash Mountain. After getting photos and autographs from Tiana and Naveen, we walked around a bit more, took the train ride around the park then headed back to the hotel for some pool time and relaxation. Then, we cleaned up and headed back to Downtown Disney for a little more shopping and dinner at The Rainforest Café. Great night to finish off our vacation then it was back to the room to pack and get ready to hit the road early in the morning.

Day 5: Wednesday, May 26

Epcot day – now we are starting to get a hang of this… we walked in and saw Daisy, so Anna Jayne and I stopped for photos, autograph with her, while Dean and Bob collected fast passes for Soarin. After Daisy, we went inside the giant golf ball to the time travel ride, which was really great for the whole family. Then, the boys went wandering while Anna Jayne and I waited in line to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Donald – lots more photos and autographs! We met up with the boys and Dean and I road Soarin while Bobby and Anna Jayne picked up fast passes and road The Land boat ride in the Soarin complex. Dean and Bobby did Soarin, then we walked across the park and dropped them off at Space Mission while Anna Jayne and I waited for them by the boat launch near Mexico. When they were done, we took the boat to Germany, had a beer, lunched in America, then the boys went to Test Track while Anna Jayne and I walked through Africa, China and Norway and back to Italy. Then, it was Kim Possible time. In Italy we received a cell phone that told us where to go for our secret mission. Our first mission was in Germany where we made beer steins sing, a train run (which contained a secret code) and finally the glockenspiel in the town square go. It was so much fun, that we had to do another. Our next mission started between France and the UK, and we ended up in the UK where we went through a butterfly garden, retrieved golf balls from a red phone booth, put them in an “analyzer” then finally caught the bad guy behind a shop in a store window. By this time, we had worn Anna Jayne out and after too many trips throughout the day taking her to the bathroom, finally called it a day at 5. Our longest, most successful park day of the entire trip! Hooray! Back to the hotel, picked up dinner and ate in the room and called it a night.

Day 4: Tuesday, May 25

Animal Kingdom day! Woke up wishing I hadn’t cancelled our breakfast reservations, but oh well. Arrived at the park around 9:30, and went directly to Camp Minnie and Mickey. We saw the Lion King show, then Anna Jayne and I met Minnie and Dean met Goofy. Next was off to the Safari for the whole family, which we all enjoyed. Then, through and around the park to check it all out – Asia, Africa, Dinosaur land, Tree of Life – so much to see. We got a fast pass for Kali River Rapids, then dropped Anna Jayne and Bobby off at the Nemo show and Dean and I wandered around, saw Flick, walked through Dino World and then to the Kali River Rapids where we got soaked! Then, we found a trail with bats, tigers, a snake and aviary that was a fun excursion. Back to Dino World where we rode the triceratops, then got Bobby and Anna Jayne who had an accident, so it was time to walk around the Tree of Life, then head back. We got back early enough to spend the afternoon at the pool. Then, we cleaned up and got on the boat from our hotel to Downtown Disney where we shopped a bit and had dinner at T-Rex café, which was fun, for the most part  Couple of melt downs, but we made it through.

Day 3: Monday, May 24

Magic Kingdom day! The morning started off great – we hopped on the bus to the Magic Kingdom, then to the monorail to the Grand Floridian for our Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. At the breakfast we saw Tigger, Pooh & Mary Poppins and ate a great breakfast buffet – Mickey waffles for the kids and lots of grown up yummy food. Then, back on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. Again, we were overwhelmed at first, headed to Adventureland where Anna Jayne and I rode the magic carpets and the boys went to get fast passes for Splash Mountain and rode Thunder Mountain Railroad. Then, we walked around and happened upon Tiana and Prince Naveen! We waited in line for about 10-15 min, then when we were next, Anna Jayne just HAD to go potty – so we missed them. We then went to the Jungle Cruise, which AJ wasn’t up for, so Dean and I rode it together. After that it was to Fantasyland for Mickey’s Philharmagic followed by the Peter Pan ride, which the kids loved, then that was it for AJ. The boys stayed and rode Thunder Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Race Cars, Blue Line Transit, Stitch’s Great Escape, Buzz Lightyear, Tom Sawyer Island, and the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. At the room, AJ was running a fever and was to and from the bathroom all afternoon. She also slept most of the afternoon. I’m thinking a bacterial virus from swimming. Yuck. The boys returned, wet from the rain (the only thunderstorm of the week) and I picked up some dinner from the hotel restaurant for us, drank some wine and that was it for the night. Whew – emotional day!

Day 2: Sunday, May 23

Woke up, packed up, breakfast at the hotel, then on the road to Disney World! We arrived at 12:30, checked into the Port Orleans, Riverside Resort and were able to get into our room asap. We unloaded the car and headed directly to Hollywood Studios to see if we could catch some Star Wars characters. Park was pretty crowded, plus we were figuring out how this whole Disney thing worked. Mistake #1, I forgot the camera. Boo! So, no photos of Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Sand People and any of the other Star Wars aliens we saw hanging around throughout the day. When we walked into the park, we were a bit overwhelmed, walked around a bit picked up a Fast Pass for Star Tours for the boys, then split up. Anna Jayne and I ended up at the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse/Playhouse Disney show where she saw Mickey, Minnie and pals (puppets) along with Handy Manny, Little Einsteins and My Friends Tigger and Pooh characters. Lots of fun & dancing for her. We had a Mickey ice cream snack and then found the boys who had just ridden the Tower of Terror – according to Dean, it was “terrifying!” they also found a couple of fast passes for Rockin Roller Coaster, so Dean and I headed over there – fun, fun! Freaked Dean out a bit, but for my first roller coaster experience in many, many years, it was a good one! While we were on the roller coaster, Bobby and Anna Jayne went Beauty and the Beast. Then, the whole family did the back lot tour (OK), then it was time for the boys to do Star Tours. After that we headed back to the hotel, had dinner and the kids and Bobby went swimming while I unpacked all of our stuff to prepare for the big week ahead!

Disney Day 1

Day 1: Saturday, May 22
Packed up and left Mandeville at 9:30 and drove to Tallahassee, FL where we checked into a Marriott Residence Inn. Went swimming then took the kids to dinner at TGIFridays, then back to the room for a good night’s sleep. Big day tomorrow!

Anna Jayne's Birthday and Pre-K Graduation

Anna Jayne's 5th Birthday Party

Dean Field Trip to Red Bluff Farm

Spring 2010

Lombardi Gras, Mardi Gras 2010