Train Ride to Tombstone

Florida Rail Adventures is running a program right now where you can ride a train to Tombstone, Arizona in just 20 minutes (use your imagination)! Steve loves all things western so I thought it would be something he'd like and I knew the girls would get a kick out of riding the train. Basically, you ride the train 20 minutes to a vacant lot to watch a reenactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral and then ride the train back to the station. We were able to get seats in the dome of the train which was great for the view. They had decks of cards on the tables so we played crazy eights with the girls while we made our way to Tombstone. The view left a little to be desired since we were riding through residential Eustis, but it didn't undo the fun of being on a real train for the girls.

Once we got to the sight of the show, we watched the reenactment of that famous gunfight, then got back on the train to head back to the station.

Volume Control

We recently had a mid-year conference with Ali's preschool teacher, Mrs. Johnson. She shared that she loves having Ali in her class but if she had any suggestion of what Ali could be working on, it would be volume control. Steve and I just had to laugh because we are constantly asking Ali to turn her volume down. She gets to excited about everything in life, she just shouts constantly! It doesn't matter if we're at home or in public, she's always operating at a few decibels higher then the rest of the world. This comment from her teacher reminded me of a few incidents of volume control that I wanted to memorialize before my brain leaks again.

• I was at McDonald's with the girls and Ali noticed a boy with a mohawk in the next booth. She said in her not-too-quiet voice, "Mommy, that boy has crazy hair!" The boy was seated with his mother and she looked at Ali and said, "Yes, he does."
• We were standing in a line at a fast food joint and there was a heavily tattooed man in front of us. Ali bursted out, "Mommy, look! That man has stamps on his arms!"

My First Blog Book

I just received my first Blog Book in the mail! I started blogging back in late 2008 when I realized all my precious family memories were slipping away and not being recorded. My greatest intentions of scrapbooking and journaling for my children just weren't following through. I had some friend bloggers and decided to jump into the blogger world. Thankfully, this has been a process I've been able to maintain. However, there is that little part of me that doesn't want to trust the Internet to not lose all my memories, so I ordered a Blog Book. I went though www.sharedbook.com and they printed all my blog posts for 2008 into a beautiful bound book. You can pick and choose the entries you want, customize the cover, pick a picture for the front and back, and write a dedication page. Now that I've seen how they turn out, I'll be better prepared to order my book for 2009.

Brooke's Artwork

Brooke's artwork continues to amaze me. Maybe it's a mother's love that can see no fault in her drawings, but I've always felt she has great talent for artistic things. This is a book cover she made for a booklet on the 23rd Psalm (I love the shepherd's shoes).

More Birthday Fun!

After our amazing birthday/anniversary/valentine weekend, we came home to Super Bowl Sunday. We usually host a big party but our celebration plans didn't make that possible this year. Instead, we had family over to celebrate my birthday and watch the big game. We had a Mexican feast and mom made a yummy pie!

The following day (which was my actual birthday), we grilled shish kabobs and the girls made me this fun clown sundae!

Best Birthday EVER!

I LOVE Surprises! So when Steve said he had an idea for how we could celebrate our anniversary and asked me if I wanted it to be a surprise, I said YES! I had some suspicions as to what he was planning, but I had no idea what I was really in for. Even though our anniversary is in November, the first free weekend we could find to celebrate was in February, so the event quickly became a combo anniversary, my birthday, and valentines extravaganza (or as we called it, the Happy Anni -Valen-Birth-ary getaway). Steve gave me some suggestions of what to pack, but I knew nothing else. We left the house at about 9:30 am on Friday, with the girls staying with Grandma. Our first stop was at the mall where he told me he wanted me to pick out a dress! It's hard to shop for a dress when you don't know where you're wearing to, but fun nonetheless.

This was NOT the dress I picked!

After we found the dress, we headed across the street to one of my favorite restaurants on the planet, FUDDRUCKERS! Greasy burgers, yum.

As a side note, Steve was so sweet to be taking pictures of everything we did. He knows that the scrapbooker and blogger in me would want pictures to document our special weekend. With our bellies fed, the next stop was Disney Quest, which is a huge video game and virtual reality attraction. It was fun to act like kids, compete against each other (even though Steve can kick my butt in every game except the Nascar one), and just hang out with my hubby.

After we left Disney Quest, it was time for the next mystery stop! Steve was driving me into the Disney resort area and with every turn, I started to wonder if a dream of ours was about the come true. Giddy with excitement, I asked him if we were staying at the Wilderness Lodge and indeed we were!

This hotel has very special significance for us. Not only is it absolutely beautiful and just our style, but it is also where Steve gave me a promise ring after we had been dating for six months. We've always wanted to stay there. In fact, we were on Disney property earlier in the week and I had made a comment that one day we should splurge and stay there. Little did I know that I would be doing that just a few days later! When we checked in they wished us a happy anniversary and birthday and told us that we had been upgraded to a suite and club level privileges.. ooo la la!! Our room was AWESOME! It had two balconies and an amazing view of the lake and the woods.

Before long it was time for the next surprise. I put on my new dress and Steve whisked me off to the Luau at the Polynesian Resort. The food was yummy and I loved the fire twirler guy!

After the Luau we had some fun at the Atlantic Dance Club and then headed back to the Lodge. We made a stop at the fireplace where Steve gave me my ring 14 years ago and reminisced about how we fell asleep on the couch in front of that fireplace and eventually got asked to leave by security.

We snoozed for a bit on the couch for old-time's-sake, and then realized we were paying guests and didn't have to sleep on the sofa.
Saturday morning brought more surprises! Steve had arranged for me to do the Richard Petty Driving Experience. I was a rider in a race car that went 140 MPH! It was very thrilling. It reminded me of skydiving in a way since my life was totally in the hands of another human being who I didn't know! Gentlemen, start your engines!

After a yummy Mexican lunch, the next surprise was a couples massage at the Grand Floridian! What a treat, and so relaxing! Sorry, no pictures of that one. :)

Dinner that night was my favorite meal of the weekend! We ate at Antonio's on Sand Lake. It's a yummy Italian restaurant and we're pretty sure the Orlando mafia hangs out there. The lasagna was amazing and I got serenaded over my birthday tiramisu.

After dinner, we hung out at Disney's Boardwalk and then hit the hot tub at the Lodge. It was perfect hot tubbing weather (in the 50's).

Sunday morning we checked out of our room (BOOOOO!) and enjoyed a huge breakfast buffet at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We even found a few animals to watch.

Animal Kingdom Lodge Lobby

After breakfast we left the Disney area for one more surprise. Our last stop was to the IMAX theatre at City Walk to see Avatar in 3D! We've been wanting to see it but finding time for us to get away to a movie has not been easy with our busy lives. The movie was great!

Steve spoiled me with an unforgettable weekend. It will always be the gift he won't be able to top (Ooo, is that a dare?). The best part of it all was quality time with my man. Planning this entire weekend took a lot of work and I love him for it. I was giddy with excitement all weekend and find myself frequesntly daydreaming about all the fun we had. I love you, Steve!

Grandparents Day at ICS

Brooke's school had a Grandparents Celebration today and Granny, Grammy, and Grandma all got to come! The kindergarten classes did a performance in the church sanctuary and then we moved to the gym for some yummy refreshments. Brooke had made a craft for each of her grandmothers.

Brooke got to introduce her Grandmothers to her teacher Mrs. Krepfle (and in true Krepfle style, she made sure that proper manners were used) and then got to introduce them to her best buddy, Katherine. It was a fun afternoon and I hope that each grandma felt loved and appreciated.

Brooke with Grandma

Brooke with Granny

Brooke with Grammy

We were on a roll with the picture-taking and decided to have some fun..

Disney Fun

Wednesday we were headed out to Disney to celebrate Ken's birthday. So we decided to make a a fun evening of it and got there early for some monorail riding, hotel hopping and Disney pin trading.

Waiting for the monorail

Playing on the beach at the Grand Floridian Hotel

Celebrating Uncle Ken's birthday at the Polynesian Hotel

Crafty Time

I love my Cricut!!! No, not a new pet, but rather a crafty gadget that cuts all kinds of shapes and letters, and such. I've been having fun stealing away a minute or two here and there in my craft room to indulge my creative side. Here are some of the things I've made lately.

These were the favors for Laura's shower. It was a candle and glass beads in a valentine holder.

A card I made for a friend who was getting ready to run a half marathon

And my personal fave, valentine mailboxes for our family. We each have one with a paper doll likeness of each of us on the door. Now we can leave love notes and treats for each other. The girls are having a blast with these and get so excited when they see that their mailbox flag is up.