A visit from Grandma and Grandpa...

This week, we got a visit from Grandma and Grandpa. They were very kind and drove my car from San Diego all the way over here to Orlando, FL. So besides getting a nice visit, I have my car! Yay!

This was also a big week because it was the first week of school. We took it slow, but I was very impressed with the amount of information that the girls retained from last year. Believe it or not, they actually had a great and productive week of school, even while Grandparents were here.

We took Grandma and Grandpa to Epcot on Tuesday. We visited several different pavilions that represented many different countries. Mulan greeted us in China and Mary Poppins stopped to smile with us in the United Kingdom.

This was a troll in Norway.

Wednesday the girls hit the books, but that night we joined Grandma and Grandpa in Downtown Disney at the Rainforest Cafe. It was a themed restaurant with animatronic gorillas, elephants and a thunder and lightening storm about every 30 minutes.

Mike took Friday off so that we could play all four days of Labor Day weekend. Friday morning, we got up bright and early and headed about an hour North-East to the St. John's River. We met Captain Gator Bruce at the boat ramp and he took us on an air boat ride to look at the gorgeous Florida wetlands and spot some gators. This was a highlight of our time here. The boat ride was fast and loud, while the scenery was beautiful. We saw many gators slinking around the murky water. We even glimpsed a bald eagle. It was wonderful.

 Here was the bald eagle that flew away moments later.  We were lucky to see him.

 Mackenzie and Grandpa on the airboat.

Sarah was supposed to be looking at the camera in this shot, but she turned away. So here I am, just to prove I'm really here.  :)

 This little guy is really difficult to see, but he was about three feet long.  Captian Bruce said he was probably about two years old.  We chased him around for a little bit in the shallow grass.

 At one point we pulled up to an area that we counted about 12 gators with thier heads and noses sticking up out of the water.  This was just one of the many shots I took.

Here is a nice close up.  We were just feet from him.

Captian Bruce took us back into some trees in a no-wake zone. It was so beautiful. The black water reflects the trees so that it's difficult to tell where the trees end and the water begins. Here are just a few amazing shots.























Isabelle was smiling like this the entire time we were on the water. I think she might be just like her daddy and love speed and adrenaline.                                                                

Saturday we headed to Fantasy of Flight which is an interactive airplane museum. It was Disneyland for Mike and his dad.
The girls tagged along for most of the day and I'm really glad we did. This place had very well done exhibits that you could climb in and walk through. The dark hallways lead you through the trenches of World War 1 to climbing through a bomber of World War 2. Then there were the hangers packed full of aircraft that Mike could tell you everything about. They even had a kids room where the girls built paper airplanes, played in a hot-air balloon simulator and a hang gliding simulator.







The day only got better for Mike (and his dad) as they both went for a fly in a SNJ3. The pilot in the back seat of the airplane handed the controls over on the taxi way out and didn't take back the controls until landing. Needless to say, Mike was grinning for the rest of the day. 




















We are taking it easy for the rest of the weekend as we are all "Labored" out.  We hope you have a great holiday weekend too.  Here are my random shots of the girls playing on their new toys in the pool.  Also, for those of you who were really concerned about Sarah's swimming ability (mom) here is a clip of her swimming.  Hasn't she gotten pretty good? 

A nice deep breath...

It's taken almost a week, but with meals cooked at home and the same bed each night, we've found some peace and comfort, finally.  It's like taking a nice deep breath.  The girls have been such troopers through all the moves and strange beds but I expect this next week might actually feel normal. 

Since I last posted, we have had a week of getting organized here in this home while trying to get the girls out and about a little.  We took Daddy to work on Monday and Tuesday so that we could get some grocery shopping done and sneak over to a park.  We decided on the Magic Kingdom again because Rapunzel was at the top of the list of characters to visit. 

Rapunzel was just lovely!  She was fun and couldn't believe that the girls would volunteer to go on a ride called TOWER of Terror....seeing as how Rapunzel stays away from towers as much as possible.















Then we headed over to some of the old favorites: Prince Charming's Carousel, It's a Small World, Snow White's Scary Adventure, Peter Pan, and Haunted Mansion.  By the time we made it to the car that afternoon the temperature read 102 degrees!  We were very relieved when the air conditioner kicked in and we got on the road for home.

While waiting in line for one of the rides, we snapped a shot of this wonderful saxophone quartet.  The girls gave their own horns a toot.









Before we left for the day we made a quick stop to visit another of our favorite princesses and her prince.  Prince Eric and Ariel made a sweet couple.  Sarah didn't exactly warm up to Eric, but she was very excited to see Ariel in person.  She was so caught up in the excitement that she walked away without asking Ariel if she used a dingle-hopper to comb her hair that morning.  We will just have to make another visit another day.

















As I mentioned, we spent the rest of the week organizing, getting ready for school to start, and closely watching the predicted path of hurricane Irene. We didn't even get a drop of rain or breath of wind from this storm.





And here are my usual random photos that I am compelled to post. 



Sweet sisters!












We are always looking for the new and different wildlife that we spot everyday.  Here are some fun creatures that live in our neighborhood.

This is a Dusty Pygmy Rattlesnake that was just off of our front walkway near the front door.  Mike stepped out to go to work and we were saying goodbye at the front door and there he was. 

These are fairly big scavenger type birds.  They get into the garbage just like the black birds at home, but these are something like a Turkey Vulture. 

These birds wander the neighborhood like they own it.  We have counted 7 so far and according to the locals they are mean like geese.  They too will get into the garbage so all the trash cans here have metal locking latches to prevent a mess.

I think this actually catches us up to the present.  We have been so blessed to have this opportunity to be here and really get a feel for the life in Florida.  The Lord has provided our comfort, peace and joy.  We miss you all and keep you in our prayers daily.  We look forward to coming home. 

  

We're still here...

I know it's been a really long time since I've been able to post.  I'm sorry for the delay.  We've had quite the busy last two weeks.  In interest of boredom, I will attempt to catch everyone up on our crazy adventure without droning on for pages.  I think I will attempt one week at a time.

When I last posted we were still living in the hotel anxiously awaiting our move into a home.  Well, we still had a few more days to play before making the move so we decided to make the most of it.

One day the girls and I decided to explore Disney's Quest which is a five story building in Downtown Disney that is filled with all types of video games.  The day we decided to go was a bit drizzly and apparently everyone vacationing that day had the same idea.  It was very crowded and dark, so we didn't stay long.  We redeemed the afternoon with a stop at the Candy Calderon where the girls got to pick out a yummy treat.

Waiting for our shuttle bus.

Later in the week, the girls and I took the hotel bus to The Magic Kingdom again and this time we got to meet quite a few princesses.





Cinderella was very sweet and polite.

The girls told me later that Belle must have been tired this day.  She looked it and wasn't very cheery. 

They were all very wonderful, but Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) took the prize today. 

She relayed a hilarious story about the three fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) squabbling as usual and turning Prince Philip's boots pink and turning breakfast blue.  "Have you ever had BLUE orange juice?" she asked the girls.

As you can see the girls were beside themselves.  Sarah kept rolling up her skirt because she just couldn't stand it! 

They also got to meet Cinderella's Fairy God Mother outside of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Fantasyland.

Moving day arrived and we got everything packed up and ready to go.  The hotel was wonderful and allowed us to check out but leave our things that didn't fit into the car in the room until we could come and get them.  We couldn't move into what I will call House #1 until 4pm so we had a whole afternoon to kill.  We decided to take Daddy to Disney Quest and this time, we had a blast.  Daddy makes everything more fun and the smaller crowds didn't hurt either. 

Sarah couldn't believe that we didn't have to pay to ride this firetruck!

Isabelle is showing her daddy's concentration.

This may not be the last time Sarah and Isabelle play a role in knocking out teeth.

This is a virtual rollercoaster game.  Go figure, while at DisneyWorld, Macky chooses a ride more her speed. 







After getting mostly settled into the first house Sunday night and grocery shopping Monday, by Tuesday morning, Mike and Sarah were sneezing...a lot.  I realized it was because there was gray pet hair on everything!  Also, while trying to clean as much as I could, I discovered a snake skin near a sliding door in my bedroom.  That about did me in.  So we called our booking agent and to not bore you with too much drama our booking agent creatively booked us into a temporary home (House #2) for three nights, then into the home we are now (House #3) where we will be until the end of September.  Needless to say, I re-packed, lived out of a suit case and then unpacked again all in a one week window.

Sometime in the mix of packing and unpacking, we were able to get out just a little.   The girls and I were invited to a Park and Picnic Day with the homeschooling ministry at First Baptist Church Windermere.  The park that we played at was lovely, but very different from California parks.  My kids were almost the only ones with flip-flops on.  Woops, I guess you should wear sneakers in the grass here in Florida.  The trees were really wonderful though.  There is Spanish moss hanging down from every branch.  The girls played with a few of the kids and I think mostly they were relieved to get out of the house.



Since I am without a car most days, the girls and I try and find things to do around the neighborhood.  Well, in House #2 there was a community pool, so we wandered down there one day and the girls played air hockey, pool, tennis and swam under a big mushroom. 










On our next moving day, we moved most of our things into House #3 then had to find something to do while the house keepers cleaned up after the last tenants.  So after missing the start time for Cars 2 we decided to head over to Epcot.  It was really hot out and we were tired and hungry, so we decided to trek back to the German pavilion to get a brat and beer.  We had a really nice rest in a cool shaded area where we all felt a whole lot better.  We hung out in "Germany" for about 45 minutes, popping into gift shops and candy stores. 

This is a Christmas tree decorated entirely in glass pickles.  If you aren't familuar with the tradition, here it is:  “A very old Christmas eve tradition in Germany was to hide a pickle [ornament] deep in the branches of the family Christmas Tree. The parents hung the pickle last after all the other ornaments were in place. In the morning they knew the most observant child would receive an extra gift from St. Nicholas. The first adult who finds the pickle traditionally gets good luck for the whole year.”
We have celebrated this tradition since the girls were just babies, so everyone knows if they come to our house around Christmas time, alway look for our Chistmas pickle. 








About the time we decided to head to the next attraction we noticed the sky had darkened and then the rain started.  We stood at the candy shop doorway deciding whether we should wait out the storm or not.  We decided to go for it.  30 minutes later we were at the car, soaked to the bone.  We drove home partially clothed and a little chilled, but have a great memory of walking bare foot through Epcot in the pouring rain, while splashing in the puddles that were as warm as bathwater.  It was wonderful!


Since we were tired and a little shy on Daddy time, we slept in on Sunday morning and decided to hit another park, so Hollywood Studios, here we come!  It was pretty hot and busy on this particular Sunday, but we were able to hit a few of the more popular attractions.  We began by watching a stage show of Beauty and the Beast.  The girls loved it.  Then we headed over to the Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror!!!  We decided Sarah, although tall enough, just wasn't old enough to go on this ride.  So we did what is called a "rider switch".  We all waited in line together, then Mike, Isabelle and Mackenzie went on the ride while Sarah and I waited.  Once they were done, I got to go on the ride and Isabelle volunteered to go with me.  She is so brave!  It was horribly scary and I can't say I will do it again, but Isabelle and Mike immediately loved it.  Macky, after three days, is coming around and decided she really did like it after all.

Another excellent attraction was the Journey into Narnia film.  It wasn't the movie trailer on steroids that was all that great, it was the set that we got to walk up to and see.  They walk you into Aslan's How and there in the center is the stone table!  Macky and Isabelle are such fans of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia that they were in heaven.  The stone table, if you are not familiar with the story, is the table that Aslan is sacrificed on in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  It cracks in half just like the tapestry that hung in the temple and tore in half when Jesus was sacrificed.  It's all very symbolic.  Once you leave Aslan's How, there is a small area set up with the costumes that some of the main characters wore in the movie Prince Caspian.  All very exciting. 

This brings us to Sunday, August 21.  I always like to throw in a few random photos that have no chronological significance.

I received my box of curriculum that I packed up and my mom was kind enough to bring to the post office once I had an address to ship it to.  Can you believe the condition in which it arrived.  I am so thankful that I haven't discovered any important items missing; maybe a pair of scissors and a ruler, but nothing of any real value.

   

Some very exciting news is that Mackenzie received her very own cell phone from Papa this week.  She loves getting calls from all of her friends that she misses so much in San Diego.  She has even let Isabelle use it on occation.  So keep the calls coming!

If you don't remember, Isabelle has been trying to get this top tooth to fall out for months!  She would gross us all out by giving us her best Nanny McPhee impression.  Well, finally on a drive to pick Daddy up from work, it fell out! And if it's possible, she is even cuter with a gapeing hole in her mouth!

 

We are finally feeling settled and almost rested.  So I will leave you here, but I will post again soon with the latest in our travels and adventures.  We miss you all and can't wait to see you soon.