Garden Paver Presents

Emily's paver

 For the kid's teacher's gifts, we decided to make little homemade paver stepping stones for their gardens/flowerbeds.  We collected some river rocks and purchased some "gems" from the dollar store.  The kids practiced and then transferred their designs to their teacher's paver.  They had a lot of fun, but were sad that we have to wait until they dry before we are able to see how they look :).  Will add a final product picture when we take 'em.

Lydia's paver

Ryan making his paver.  Grammy helping us out.

Strawberry picking

Kids riding the wagon/tractor that took us to the "lower patch"

Yesterday we decided to go strawberry picking.  We went to a local strawberry farm, picked out our basket/boxes and jumped on the wagon to head out.  It had been raining the night before, but I had NO IDEA it would be as muddy as it was.  The mud was so bad that Emily and I had to take off our shoes and walk barefooted!  The kids did not like it at first and I thought this would not only be our first time picking strawberries, but also our last.  As we reached the upper area of the patch, the mud was not as bad.  This made the picking more enjoyable.  We picked 18 pounds of strawberries.  Did not realize we were picking that many :).  We have made strawberry jam, strawberry Popsicles, smoothies and sugar covered--in just two days :).  It ended up being quite fun and I think we will be back next year!

Emily and Lydia eating on the job.  Ryan is the little guy bent over in the back of the photo.

Favorite Pasttime

This spring Lydia and Emily started playing T-ball.  They LOVED it!!  They have been watching Ryan play ball for 3 years now and were ready for their turn.  They played on the Orioles team for the McGaheysville Baseball League.  Their coach was a friend of ours and they had some school friends on their team.  They are both quite good!! 

Ryan started Farm League this year.  Mike was his coach again this year.  That was great too!  He loves that Daddy coaches his team.  He is growing so much and hits really well!  I can see a homerun hero in the making!!  Once his coodination is completely there--that's all he's gonna hit!

Driving North

Driving North . . . Why are we doing this?  Living in Orlando, or better yet, Disney World, might not be too bad!  Guess going home makes the most sense.  Sadly, it's time to go back to Virginia.  2 driving hours down, 12 to go.  What a great time we had!  We went to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot.  In addition, we scheduled 2 break days where we hung out at our resort for the day--swimming, riding the water slides, playing putt-putt and relaxing. 

The weather was sunny everyday and in the lower 90's everyday.  Fantastic weather!  Kick back, let the shuttle take you to and from the park each day--great!!  The next few posts will show the fantastic time we had at each of the parks!  I will try to not bore you too much :).

2nd break day

We spent our last day in Florida riding the 2 water slides at our resort and playing in the "water park" area. Swimming, swimming and more swimming! The kids participated in the pool-side craft where they painted their own cloth bag. We dragged ourselves inside at 7:00.

FANTASTIC VACATION!

Epcot

Originally we had decided not to go to Epcot, but decided not to do the Magic Kingdom again and hit Epcot instead. Soarin was our first stop. Very cool ride! Hanggliding simulator ride. Long wait, but worth it! We ventured over to the cool fountains and got wet. That kept the kids cool, and sometimes cold, the rest of the day. This made the complaining about walking a little less :).
We checked out Captain EO, rode Journey into Imagination with Figmant, Rode the Seas with Nemo and Friends and did Turtle Talk with Crush. This was so cute! And Lydia had her 5 minutes of fame! Her 1st 5 minutes I imagine :).

The kids wanted to go "in the ball" so we rode Spaceship Earth. We ate at the Electric Umbrella with our 20% off coupon :) and checked out Club Cool to get free sodas from all over the world. Mike and Ryan rode Test Track while I took Lydia and Emily to the Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden where they also did a Kidcot Fun Stop.

Mike wanted to stay for the laser show and fireworks, but the kids didn't. Long days :). Instead, we went back to our resort and watched the Fireworks from the Presidential Suite. Not the same as being in the park, but nice. Our last Disney Park day. Awesome again!

Ryan at the Epcot fountains

Mike and Ryan riding the Imagination Station ride

The one where Ryan actually smiled

Getting wet at the fountains made the hot day much easier to take

Cool Club--we tried different sodas from different countries

The landscaping is so amazing!

Hollywood Studios

This park was more for Mike and me than for the kids. Unfortunately, we found out when we arrived, that Star Tours (that all three kids had been looking forward to) was closed for refurbishing. Ryan was so looking forward to training with a Jedi :(.

We rode Toy Story Mania--very cool, and watched the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Disney Jr. Live on Stage. The lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show was too cool! We met Mr. Incrediable and Frozone and ate at Pizza Planet!! We hit the Star Wars gift shop and saw the Studio Backlot Tour where we watched a tanker truck blow up. I remembered, seeing that, from my last visit all those years ago. We grabbed our light sabers and Goofy Darth Vader and it was time to go.

Lydia on a Speeder

Emily on a speeder

Ryan on a Speeder

Waiting to ride Toy Story Mania

Ate at Pizza Planet

Emily with Yoda on her back, holding her Lightsaber

Lydia, ready for Toy Story Mania ride

Ryan at Honey I Shrunk the Kids playgroun

We met the Incrediables!

Stunt show--sooo awesome!!

Honey I Shrunk the Kids