Disney Trip Report - Day 1 and Day 2

Day 1 - got up EARLY to head the Panama City Beach Airport from Destin. We finally told Sarah that she was going to Disney World once we arrived at the airport! I think she was almost more excited about going on the airplane!!

Panama City Beach Airport (brand-spanking new) is very nice and super easy to navigate! We were up and away and in Orlando by 11:00. A quick ride on the Magical Express and we arrived at Wilderness Lodge, checked in, headed to the room, put away the Garden Grocery items and then headed back down to eat lunch and then we were off to Magic Kingdom!!


Crowds were LOW LOW this day, so we were able to catch the tail end of the stage show at the castle, do lots of rides in FantasyLand, TomorrowLand and AdventureLand (Beth and SK's first ride on the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain). We hopped back on the boat and had a super yummy dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge- a must do again!! Downtime in the room and bedtime by 9:30!

Tuesday - up and out the door by 9:30...I think, but not before enjoying coffee and breakfast on our balcony overlooking the Courtyard at Wilderness Lodge.

We finished up Magic Kingdom and did everything we wanted to do - included Jungle Cruise, meeting a few characters, Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain and Haunted Mansion AGAIN and a few other things. I also finally got my pineapple float from the Dole Pineapple stand! YUM!!!!

Tuesday night -we headed to The Spirit of Aloha dinner show. I was low expectations going in, but it was really fabulous! We all enjoyed the show and the food! See next post for pictures!

Disney!

WE'RE GOING BACK!!!! Its been a LONG 2 years and 9 months...but we are finally going back and taking Sarah this time!! She's finally tall enough to ride 98% of the rides!

We're changing things up this time after our so-so stay at Pop Century last time. We visited Wilderness Lodge while there in Jan. '08 and fell in love! Its in the Magic Kingdom area and while NOT on the monorail loop, it is only a very cool boat ride away! That beats a crowded hot bus anyday!! We plan to probably only do Magic Kingdom and Epcot this trip. (and a day at Seaworld, too, but shhh....even Beth doesn't know this yet!) We got a bunkbed room in hopes that the girls will be able to settle down better at night sleeping separate, as sleeping side-by-side in hotels tends to do nothing but delay sleep for hours and get them in trouble! :-) We HAVE told Beth, but we plan to not tell Sarah until a day or two before we go! The plan is to drive to Destin -hang out at the beach for a few days, then fly from Panama City Beach to Orlando! (I found AWESOME rates of $49 each if we fly from Panama City Beach instead of our "home" airport and I think part of the Disney experience is the flight and the airport and the Magical Express bus taking you to your resort!!) Plus this will allow some "down" down before and after the week at Disney - which will be needed!!

This is Wilderness Lodge - isn't it awesome! Beth is super excited about the pool! (So am I!) I am excited about spending more "down" time this trip - hanging at the pool!

Only 47 days!!!

The Calm Before The Storm

The last three weeks have been calm and completely uneventful. No news is good news, right? Its HOT (not sure we've had a day undre 94 degrees since like July 8th). Heat pretty much sucks the motivation right out of everyone, so we've done nothing but hang out at home, only occasionally venturing out to the pool or farmer's market or outside after 7:30 at night, when it might finally dip under 90 degrees. Ugh!

School starts August 10. Next week is our "last" week of summer, and although I wish it was going to be a nice, calm week, it won't be, I'm sure. All school supplies have been bought, so we can check that off our list. However, we have dance registration next week, 2nd grade open house, haircuts and a few other misc. things. I'm also going to start Beth back on her alarm clock in the morning, gradually moving it a few minutes earlier each morning to prepare her for 6:30 the following week. And we have to get back into the routine of bedtimes, although the last few nights both girls were IN bed by 7:30 (albeit not asleep till much later). I think both girls are bored and getting tired of each other. The sibling rivalry has REALLY picked up in the last two weeks, with me or Bob constantly playing interference or breaking up fights or squabbles that end in hitting or kicking each other. Ahhh...sisterly love.

So, the chaos will begin soon.....hectic mornings, packing lunches, doing homework, carpooling to different activities, etc....oh well...bring it on!

Destin...again...

So, we headed back to Destin for our annual 4th of July trip to the beach! Its so fun! There are fireworks right on our beach and a big cook-out. This year, 4 of the owners did a rib cook-off, including Bob. He didn't win...but it was good effort! We had a bum judge who didn't like "smoked" anything...so she didn't like his ribs. bummer. Oh well...we had fun!!

The Rib Cook-Off:

Sarah Katherine's 4th of July swimsuit...so cute!

Patriotic Sisters

Goofing off at the cook-off

The whole fam...

The girls with Aunt Erin before fireworks

Some fun at the beach....

Beth and I at The Ocean Club:

And some fun taking white dress pictures at sunset...

And this one is getting blown up and going on my mantel:

Father's Day

We spent Father's Day on KY Lake with dinner at Bob's favorite catfish restaurant, Cypress Inn and Marina, which is right on the lake, so we usually partner a trip to Cypress with a day on the lake, then just dock the boat for dinner! Its always a fun trip back home b/c its usually around sunset on the lake and a beautiful boat ride! The girls love the lake and the boat....here are some fun pictures of the day, the evening and the silliness that occurred on the way home!

Spammers- please don't make me do it...

EEERRRRRRRRRRRRRR...................
I'm sick of having to delete random spam comments to my posts. If you do not know me, don't leave a comment randomly asking me to look at your blog. Anymore random comments and I'll be making this a private blog to my family and friends who actually might care. Its super annoying to have to police my own blog.

Blame Facebook

You can blame Facebook for my lack of keeping up with my blog. Sorry. All photos, updates, etc, go straight to Facebook b/c it is just so much easier. It will probably continue to be this way, so if you read this blog and we AREN'T Facebook friends and you want to be, leave me a comment or find me on Facebook!!

Just a quick update:

Beth:

She just finished 1st grade and had a great year. She says her favorite subjects were lunch and recess, however, she loved science and reading! She is also a great little writer! Writing was always my strong point, so maybe she'll follow in my footsteps. She has a rather extension summer reading list for 2nd grade that she has already made it about 1/3 way through! She loves to read and I'm so thankful of that. She has not been impressed with the 2nd grade reading list, as she says the books on it are way too easy! She is reading chapter books like they are going out of style. I'm guessing her test scores will say she is reading at a 3rd grade level, but who knows! She is enjoying a busy summer already! We've already been to Destin once, in anticipation that we might not get to go our usual 4th of July week b/c of the oil. (The jury is still out on that, though. We watch the oil maps like hawks!)

Her summer babysitter is keeping her busy with the library, pool, parks and more! She is going to her first "REAL" camp this week -Church camp. Just a 1-night camp, but she knows NO ONE there and is actually very excited!

Sarah :

She will be in 4-year old Nursery School (preschool) next year. She is super excited! She is also staying busy this summer and finding her confidence to be my little fish in the water again!

She loves to swim, go to water-play-day at daycare on Tues/Thurs and play outside. She is getting ready to go to LadyBug camp at mom's this week and is SO excited about that, too! Its her first year and Beth has her all hyped up about it!

Bob continues to stay busy with his company. He is booked solid through the first part of October, so that is very awesome!!

I continue to stay busy with work, Church stuff and mom stuff! Always running and always busy! Story of my life, but I love every minute of it!