Orange and Blue

Well, we have returned from our big 25th anniversary getaway.  We had a glorious time with all four boys.  Great weather, lots of fun and memories, and no one got sick.  A+!

We began the adventure by leaving my poor kitties behind at 5 in the morning and heading to Gainesville.  Ds1 got tickets to the Florida Gators annual Orange and Blue Debut game.  We were all pretty excited to see the campus and famous stadium.

As you can tell, we got there pretty early.  The stadium did fill up later in the day.

We were probably on tv.  Sorry, no autographs at this time.  ;)

Ds4 turned his poster into a telescope.

Former players teamed up for a flag football game.

We had some lunch and headed to the shaded part of the stadium to watch the scrimmages.

Don’t know who this is, it’s just a cool shot.

Posing with Tebow!  It was a great way to start off our vacation. 

Fall Disney Trip Day One

No one is really surprised by that title are they?  Yes, we are back from yet another trip to Disney (3rd this year!)  No, we are not made of money lol.  We buy season tickets so for the cost of one trip we can take multiple trips.  Plus we use dh’s hotel points to score free nights.  And these trips are our only vacations…seriously, anyone will tell you we only ever go to Disney World.  :)

We didn’t stay on property this time, but at our favorite non-Disney hotel, the Embassy Suites.  We had a pool-view room.

The front desk had a cute Mickey ghost decoration.  Yes, Disney celebrates fall/Halloween very early.

The boys almost immediately hit the pool.  The days were nice and sunny and not overwhelmingly hot.  But still hot.  :)

Ds3 and I outside our room.

We weren’t really planning on going to any parks that first day, but after the pool time we all felt pretty refreshed and decided to go to Epcot.

Right when we walked up to Spaceship Earth we were greeted by an RC Mickey, with stickers to share with ds4.

Next up was the Living Seas.  The place was practically empty, we just walked right in with no wait.

We spent a good while watching the sea life, including rays and really big fish.  The dolphins were also pretty playful that day, and I snapped this possibly indecent pic of one up close.

Me and the little guys.

We got to sit up front on Living With The Land so I got some pretty good pics.

Ds4 didn’t want to go on Imagination, so we played with the jumping water outside the attraction.

Now get this.  We actually parked our car in the MK parking lot, not at Epcot.  Here’s why.  Dh loves the long monorail ride from Ticket and Transportation to Epcot.  So we parked at MK, rode the monorail to Epcot, rode it back, hopped over on the resort monorail and went to the Polynesian.  Why?  Because I am a resort mug freak, and I had to have one lol!

The boys in the Polynesian lobby.  Then we rode back to TT and ended a rather long but fun first day.  Tomorrow it’s Animal Kingdom!!

Summer So Far

has been hot, lazy, wet and fun.  We’ve gone to the beach a lot.

Ds3 has been learning to surf.  He’s done really well, even stood up and made it all the way to shore on our last trip.

Our 4th of July was quiet and spent at home, watching the neighbor’s fireworks (with headsets on for ds4.)

Dh took us out to Chili’s for lunch one day.

I had soup and pasta.  Not all in one meal mind you…took me three meals to finish that off lol.

Ds2 turned sweet 16 and got a new guitar.

There has been slipping and sliding.

Afternoon thundershowers.

My broken toe has healed.

Did I mention the beach?

It’s been a great summer so far.  I have yet to begin preparations for school, which starts August 1st.  I just can’t seem to kick my butt in gear.  Would someone mind doing that for me?  Go ahead and yell, I’ve got thick skin.  Just be brutal, tell me to put the kitten down and get started already!  A little louder.  What?  Can’t hear you, the waves are too loud and I have sunscreen in my ear. Thanks for trying!  Ah, summer.

Hey, Hey, I (Almost) Hugged A Monkee

Okay, finally, the Davy Jones post.  Back story…12 years ago, in 1999, we were on a Disney trip.  Back then it was only me, dh, ds1 and ds2.  We were walking around Epcot, waiting for the fireworks show and an announcement came on saying Davy Jones was about to perform!  What luck.  We walked right up to the outdoor theater, sat and watched a super fun show.

Fast forward to now.  Ever since seeing that show we have said we were going to go back and see Davy Jones again.  We’ve been saying that for 12 years!  Yet somehow we never were able to go when he was scheduled.  Last year dh made plans to make sure he was off and we could go to this year’s show.  And we did.

Once again he performed at the outdoor theater in front of the American Pavilion in Epcot.

Screech!  There he is!

He sang a few Monkees songs, but did a lot more 60’s songs.  Still, it was super fun as always.  The only problem was that the part of the theater we were in wasn’t shaded.  And the sun was shining right down on us.  The boys were getting red faced and squirming.  I took them over to more shaded areas while we were waiting for the show to start and that helped.  Toward the end of the show they were really sweating and miserable so I took them to the shady back of the theater and we watched the rest of the show from there.  We danced and sang along to songs I knew.  And then I glanced back to the stage.

Davy Jones had come into the audience.  Hmm, that’s fun.  Oh look, he’s hugging people.  Oh look, isn’t that the woman who was sitting right in front of us?  Holy cow, Davy Jones is standing right in front of the bench where dh and ds2 are sitting.  I was telling everyone within earshot, “That’s where I was sitting.”  “Davy Jones is standing where I was sitting!”  Sure, crazy lady.

The show ended and dh and ds2 made their way up to the entrance where we were waiting.  Dh said Davy Jones made his way into the crowd hugging women all the way and then stood on the empty spot of the bench, between dh and ds2, where the boys and I had been.  He looked down at dh with raised eyebrows like, “You want a hug, too?” and dh said he just held up his hand and gestured, “Uh, no thanks.”  I don’t know which to be more upset about, that I missed getting hugged, or that dh didn’t take any pictures of Davy Jones when he was standing right next to him! 

Moral of the story?  Forget saving your young kids from heatstroke.  Stay seated and wait for Davy Jones to come hug you.  Because your dh won’t even take pictures.  The End.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

We spent the morning of our only full day at Disney in Hollywood Studios.  We didn’t do much at all besides walk around and enjoy just being at Disney World! 

I had to record this moment, it was a first.  At the entrance to every park your bag is inspected.  They do have a line where people with no bags can just walk through.  Usually dh takes the boys through that line while I go through security.  This time dh volunteered to take the bag duties!

This is ds3 behind the desk at the Tower of Terror.  We didn’t ride the attraction, just browsed around.

See the cup I’m holding?  It’s my little secret.  I love the souvenir refillable cups from Disney resorts, but they charge over $12 for them.  At Hollywood Studios, and only at Hollywood Studios, you can get a specially themed cup for $5 filled and less if you don’t get a drink.  Once I got a Pirates of the Caribbean cup, but this year it was Tower of Terror themed.

There is a lake in the middle of the park and we strolled around it, stopping to watch a family of ducks.

I couldn’t believe that my boys would sit still for this long without being on a ride!  But they, too were just soaking up the atmosphere and relaxing feeling you get being at Disney.

Along our walk we came upon a Jedi training session.  These are always fun to watch as the little boys and girls learn to defeat Darth Vader. 

Ds4 found a friendly cast member to exchange pins with.

We found ourselves in front of the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playground and decided to give it a go.  Ds4 really got into the whole thing, pretending we were really being shrunk as we walked through the entrance.

He seems to be thinking, “Hmm, maybe I did shrink!”  Or maybe, “Wow, I’d love to get my hands on that Play-Doh!”

We made our way over to the Backlot Tour and it wasn’t crowded so we hopped on.

I think they enjoyed it.  :)  We left the park at this point, ate some lunch at the McDonald’s near the All Star Resorts and headed to Epcot.  More on that in the next post!