Vacation!

After Hubs returned from training and before we started school, we went on vacation to visit family and friends.
Our first stop was in Tennessee to visit wonderful friends. They home school all five of their kiddos, so I picked her brain to pieces! We had a lovely time, so much so that I completely forgot to get my camera out to take pictures. Ugh!
We moved on to Central Florida to visit my extended family.
Gator got to meet Chandler and a friend of his, and played HORSE with a whole bunch of BIG kids. They had to get pretty fancy with their shots to knock him out of the game! On my dad's side, there are 11 grandchildren of which my sister and I are the only girls. Of the 8 great-grandkids, there are only two girls, who belong to my sister.

(my boys with my grandparents)

After spending the night, we travelled to North Central Florida to visit Hubs' family. While we were there, we did some exploring and observing.

We also got to see Hubs' sister and her family.

(four generations - the oldest will be 99 in a few days, the youngest is due in December)
We also got to see the football stadium, explore the museum with all the trophies, and see the other fields and courts. They were painting the stadium, so we had to throw Hubs' shorts away when we got back to his parents' house. That orange paint doesn't come out of khaki shorts!

We travelled to Northern Florida and spent a few days with my parents. We visited Wild Adventures and had a blast! Gator and Bull rode their first roller coaster. We all played in the water park too. We also got to see my mom's side of the family as well. We ate some yummies at their restaurant while they chewed on Monkey and played with Gator and Bull.

On our way home, we stopped in Louisiana to visit our friends from our seminary days. It was so great to see all of them! We haven't seen most of them since leaving there in April 2009. We met new babies and couldn't believe how big the kids had gotten! We worshiped on Sunday with our church.
Feeling refreshed, we began our journey home, passing through Tennessee once again. A couple weeks later, we travelled south to see my sister's family to celebrate my niece's first birthday. It was so wonderful to see so many loved ones.

October wrap-up

What a full month we've had!
My big monkeys:

Hubs visited Spring Canyon over this past weekend. There was 3-4 feet of snow on the ground! He got to go sledding for the first time too.

I had two Red Rangers for Halloween.

And I have less than 4 weeks to go with Monkey if he comes when Gator came! Yikes!

Florida vacation - Animal Kingdom

8/5/2009
We woke up extra early today to make it to the opening ceremony for this park.

It wasn't all that I had hoped it would be, but it was fun to be there first thing. We grabbed a fast pass for the Kilimanjaro Safaris and then explored thePangani Forest until it was time. The safari was pretty cool, but the animals were hard to see at some points. Next we rode the train to the Affection Section.

Bull wanted nothing to do with the animals, while Gator hesitantly engaged with some grandmotherly coaxing.
After eating lunch, we headed to DinoLand. We played at The Boneyard playground and rode the Triceratop Spin.

We then made our way to the Tree of Life

and waited in line for It's Tough to be a Bug. This was a little bit scary, but still pretty cool. Bull once again exclaimed that he did not want to see Donald again. I guess he associates every 3D movie with Donald Duck now!
To end our time at the park, we watched The Lion King show. Wow. This was really neat. The boys enjoyed the acrobatic monkeys a great deal, and the adults enjoyed the sheer amount of talent embodied in the performers.
When we emerged, another downpour was upon us. FYI - there aren't many places to hide from the rain at Animal Kingdom (unlike the other parks, there aren't many things indoors)! So, we got soaked and headed back to the hotel. We grabbed a percussion instrument for Hubs, a stuffed spotted leopard for Gator and t-shirts for both of the boys as our souvenirs this time.
At the hotel, we enjoyed dinner and some more playtime at the pool. Gator, of course, went down the water slide at least 10 more times while Bull ran through the fountains again and again.

We really enjoyed our time at Disney. Gator is definitely at the best age for it. He understood that waiting in a long line yielded a pretty cool experience. Bull was much harder to convince of that fact depending on how tired he was. Gator's legs did get tired a few times. But because we tried to take it easy (and not try to do everything on the first trip), I think we had a more enjoyable experience. One family told me before we went to remember that the money was already spent, and you can't get it back. So, enjoy yourself instead of trying to do everything and make yourself miserable in the process. I'm glad that I laid out our route each night. It really helped to minimize walking and to maximize our ability to get fast passes for the things we really wanted to do.
A super duper big thanks to Grandmommy and Granddaddy for celebrating Gator's kindergarten graduation in this way! We had a blast!

Florida vacation - Hollywood Studios

8/4/2009

Today was a great day for the boys. They really seemed to enjoy this park a great deal.
As we walked in, we saw bits and pieces of the High School Musical 3 street show. We went straight to Toy Story Mania and got fast passes (the wait was already an hour long). Then we high-tailed it to the back of the park so we could meet the Power Rangers.
We were first in line for the Red Ranger from SPD.

This was SO COOL for the boys. If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that my boys are huge fans of these guys. It was really fun to meet them.
We let them run around the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground for a little bit while the adults got to rest.

We got some pictures with Lightning McQueen and Mater. Then, we saw Muppet Vision 3D - enjoyable in spite of its' age. While my mom, Bull, and myself ate lunch, Gator and Granddaddy went on Star Tours - Gator's first "real" ride. Apparently, he was apprehensive at first, but really enjoyed it. By the way, the gift shop at the end of this ride has a station where you can make your own light saber. Had I known that such a place existed, we would not have bought the Mickey light sabers at Epcot!
We hit the car stunt show next. It was cool, but a bit too long and technical for my kids' attention span at that (very hot) part of the the day. While we waited for the next event, we chomped down on these delicious, huge popsicles.

Then, we walked right into Toy Story Mania - a 3D ride/game. Without our fast passes, we would have waited for 100 minutes according to the sign. This was the highlight of the day! Bull cackled the entire time and Gator was very competitive. The adults enjoyed it a great deal too!
We watched the Playhouse Disney Puppet Show next. Both Gator and Bull really enjoyed this show. They were very familiar with all the characters and songs from TV - Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and My Friends Tigger and Pooh.
We got caught in a downpour while buying our souvenirs for the day - Playhouse Disney characters, Princess cups for my nieces, Mickey Skywalker and Goofy Vader. Such is Orlando in the summer though! What a great day though!

Florida vacation - Epcot

8/3/2009
This morning, we slept in, had a yummy breakfast provided by Grandmommy, and went swimming in the hotel pool. Gator finally worked up enough nerve to go down the water slide - in fact, he did it 10 times!). Bull wasn't tall enough yet.
We arrived at Epcot after lunch and went straight to the Nemo ride and pavilion. Turtle Talk was a hilarious, great show! We explored the aquarium for a little while afterward the ride and show were over.
Our next stop was the very cute and relaxing Figment ride. Bull loved Figment and kept looking for him to pop up again! We explored the Imagination Pavilion for a little while after the ride and then hit "Honey I Shrunk the Audience." That was a mistake. The movie is old and a little too scary for my kiddos.
We headed over to the Epcot Character Spot where we got to meet Mickey and Minnie,

Pluto, Donald,

and Goofy all in one shot.

We waited an hour, but it was well worth it! Once I reminded Gator that there were just people inside of costumes, he warmed up to the characters. Bull thought Donald's tail was really funny for some reason. This stop alone made the trip to Epcot worthwhile.
We got some dinner and stopped at Spaceship Earth on the way out of the park. The virtual games after the ride were a hit. We got some Nemo bathtoys, an Etch a Sketch and Mickey light sabers as our souvenirs today. And we caught some of the fireworks show too.

Florida Vacation - Travel and Magic Kingdom

The first installment of our Disney adventure:
8/2/2009
The flights were mostly uneventful. There was a squabble over the window seat and ear-popping issues. Gator said, "The pilot is doing a really good job on this one!" My parents picked us up at the airport and swept us away to our hotel. After a long day of travel, we fell asleep very quickly.
Today we went to the Magic Kingdom. We hit FantasyLand first and spent the majority of our day there. We rode Dumbo first - I think that it is an unspoken rule that Dumbo is the first ride!

We walked over to TomorrowLand to ride the Speedway. Pregnant girl decided to sit this one out. I wasn't feeling too chipper (it was hot), and the exhaust probably would have put me over the edge. Gator rode with Grandmommy while Bull rode with Granddaddy. Gator bumped them at least once!
We went back to FantasyLand and got fast passes for Pooh and PhilHarMagic. (I LOVE FAST PASSES!!!) While we were waiting for the show to begin, Granddaddy and Gator rode the carousel. All of us loved PhilHarMagic. What a great show! Afterward, we bought some race cars/launchers in the gift shop, ate lunch and rode It's a Small World. Gator COULD NOT BELIEVE how much money was in the water. He wanted to jump in and collect some! Bull was mesmerized by this ride. It's hard not to be!
We strolled over to FrontierLand next and waited in the A/C for Country Bear Jamboree. Bull said, "I don't want to see Donald again!" referring to PhilHarMagic. The boys weren't so impressed by this show, but we were in the A/C! We enjoyed some ice cream and Aladdin before the parade started. The boys both loved the ride because of the controls. In fact, Bull said, "I think I like this one!"

After the parade, we jumped in line for the Jungle Cruise. Bull fell asleep and didn't wake up again until we were back at the hotel!

Monkey and I took a picture by the castle.

We hit the Emporium on the way out of the park for some cute onesies (one for our new nephew and one for Monkey). After dinner, we went swimming in the hotel pool and crashed for the night! Today was a nice introduction to the Disney World experience - nothing too scary, the lines weren't too long, and we quit while the boys were still doing alright. Tomorrow is Epcot!

Go West Vacation - Omaha, Kansas City

7/25/09

Yesterday, we spent the day in Omaha with some Navy friends. We caught an IMAX movie, and enjoyed getting to visit with them.

Today we stopped in Kansas City on the way home to purchase a daybed for Monkey's room. We managed to fit the daybed in the back of the van. I love my van!

We had such a wonderful time on this vacation. It was so nice to get away for a few days with just the four of us. Here is a beautiful South Dakota sunset to wrap things up!

Go West Vacation - Mount Rushmore

7/23/2009
Today we visited Mount Rushmore. It was an amazing sight!

We bought a 500 piece puzzle of the monument. Gator is really excited to put it together! None of us were up to exploring for a very long time. We were tired. We saw these crazy goats at Old MacDonald's Farm.

The boys thought it was hysterical! We decided to bypass our planned stop and continue on to Omaha. It made for a very long trip, but it was worth it. We won't have to travel tomorrow!

Go West Vacation - Little Big Horn

7/22/2009

Today we made it to Little Big Horn National Battlefield. We explored the Cemetary while we waited for our tour to begin. Call me morbid, but I've always enjoyed wandering through cemetaries. Those buried at Little Big Horn include Native Americans, infants and children, women, and soldiers.


We received a tour from an Apsaalooke (Crow) Native American (the battlefield is on the Crow Reservation). She gave a very detailed account of the battle at Little Big Horn, including troop movements, and all sorts of other interesting information. After the tour, we climbed Last Stand Hill, and saw Custer's marker.


Gator really enjoyed this stop. In fact, he and this battle inspired our trip. I'm so glad that he was asking questions about Custer on the way to school one day!

Go West Vacation - Yellowstone (day two)

7/21/2009

Well, we definitely saw a whole lot of animals today! This guy was hanging out at the main entrance.



We visited Mammoth Hot Springs. It was A LOT of walking. This pregnant girl was hurting! The springs were really neat though.


We then headed out the northeast entrance of Yellowstone. We saw a mama bear and her cub,



elk, and hundreds of bison (all those dark dots are bison!).

We stopped to throw rocks in a creek.



I think that the boys enjoyed this the most! Bull was trying to pick up rocks the size of his head!



Gator enjoyed looking for new rocks for his ever expanding rock collection.

Once we made it out the northeastern gate, we drove through the Gallatin, Shoshone, and Custer National Forests on the Beartooth Highway that meanders through the Beartooth Mountains. We stopped to play in the snow and have a snowball fight.



We ate pizza in Red Lodge, MT, and stayed the night in Billings.

Go West Vacation - Grand Tetons, Yellowstone (day one)

7/20/2009

What a fun day today! We drove through the Grand Tetons

and some of Yellowstone.

While we were leaving Grand Teton National Park, I got to see a bear. It was brown and kind of smallish. I couldn't tell if it was a grizzly or a black bear. When we (FINALLY) arrived at Old Faithful, Gator said, "I smell eggs!" It took me a minute to figure out that he was smelling the sulfur. Old Faithful finally erupted.

It got us a little bit wet. Then, we proceeded around the boardwalk and saw lots of cool thermal pools and little geysers. Bull fell asleep on the way back to the van. We saw lots of elk (one group of 6 from about 50 yards!)

and one bison. So much beauty! We're going back to the park tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll see some more animals!