Sharing Dreamz

Turning 30 Birthday Party

2012-01-25T22:50:00.001-05:00

Some birthdays are memorable and should be celebrated…There’s the FIRST birthday…A milestone from being born…A 1 year old gets to put all their fingers in the icing and smear it all over their face…or they can scared to even tough the icing…The next biggest milestone of birthdays is when you turn THIRTEEN…Now you are a teenager, not tween…The third biggest milestone is when one turns EIGHTEEN…Out of school, now you are an adult (or so you think)…The fourth milestone is when one turns TWENTY ONE…Now you are of drinking age..You can now go clubbing…You can now order drinks and be asked for an I.D. and you are proud to show that I.D….Next comes turning THIRTY…This is where our eldest daughter was at…She turned the big 30 and wanted to celebrate that fact…

We flew back to where she lives and spent 10 days with her and our granddaughters…We were there for her birthday and for Thanksgiving…The birthday bash was being held in the Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD at Howl at the Moon…I was only at one Howl at the Moon in San Antonio, TX on the River Walk and it was just to get a Sex on the Beach shot…We got the shot on the outside of Howl at the Moon (HatM) so I didn’t know what the inside was like…

Some of us went down to the Inner Harbor early and walked around…We got some lunch prior to going to HatM at Hooters…The infamous Hooters which I found was no big deal at all…The girls were “okay” and the food was very late and cold…We walked some more around the Inner Harbor and then started heading towards HatM…None of us could go in to the place until 5:30pm to get a good table near the Pianos…A first experience for us but not for our daughter and some of her other guests…The fun part was that we were not far from HatM to where we were going to spend the night…Never spent a night at a hotel in the Inner Harbor, Baltimore…

Here is our birthday girl and one of her besties and her sister-n-law…

A Norway ship was in at one of the docks and it was free to go onboard…It would have been nice to go onboard but time was passing by quickly and we needed to start heading to HatM…

Ah, Ravenstown…Phillips Seafood…Hard Rock Cafe…The National Aquarium…The Constellation…Favorite things to see…

Shaking the booty dance contest…I can’t remember the song that the Piano guys played but we knew that this was our girl’s shaking booty dance song..There were 5 contestants and knew it was going to be close between our girl and the guy in red…but he wasn’t suppose to be on stage cause he didn’t have the right color armband…Our girl did win with a showdown between the man in red and her…She won a huge bucket of alcohol filled sweet drink that delicious that runs about $12 or so for the bucket of drink…

There are signs like this in about 3 areas of the room…A person would pay the price that was up in one of the corners to put a message up…I was lucky and got away with just paying $3 for my message…The price went from $3 to $5 then to $8 and so on…My brother paid $30 for his message to his life long partner, M, to tell him Happy Birthday (below)…I was real glad I got mine cheap…lol

This was the hotel we stayed at for the night…We had a pretty nice room and we thanked our daughter lots for the room…We had a blast and can’t wait to do it again at some time in the future…Maybe we will celebrate our birthdays this year although it would be more near Christmas/New Year’s but still in the same month…

Easter 2011 – On our way to Texas

2012-01-25T22:05:00.001-05:00

So at the end of Pt. 1, we were getting ready to dye eggs for the Easter Day egg breaking contest…Everyone got some hard boiled eggs and colors and off we all went decorating 5 or 6 eggs each with our own design so we knew who had what eggs…After all of that, the adults decided to play a game while the kids got to watch tv or do other things…

Easter Day…Richard and I drove to Crestview to spend the day with the family…and do some egg cracking…This was something I use to do with my dad every Easter and it’s lots of fun…The object is to collect as many eggs as possible to be the winner…There were 9 players so it took a while to play but it went fast too…It was lots of fun and laughter was plenty…

What you do is the person who started the egg cracking and who has won the next person’s egg, gets to pick which end to crack with…Both of you crack the egg with the same ends, pointed end to pointed end…On a count of 3, the winner waits for the player to “punch” their egg against the “winner’s” egg…If your end cracks reverse you egg and hit again…If the “winner’s” egg cracks, then that person must turn their egg over…If both ends are cracked, the person with an uncracked egg or just one end cracked is the new “winner” and they move on to the next person to crack eggs…It’s a lot of fun and see which egg you think is the best egg out your bunch…This went around for a while until we had one winner…

Our niece, Bayne, won most of the eggs…So she was the winner of the egg crackin’ contest…Anyone for some egg salad? hahaha!

Now it’s time to hide some plastic eggs out in the front and back yards so the kids can find them…What fun this was…We are so glad that Kevin and Kelli let us in on the fun of hiding eggs…but I had to take pics of where I hid mine cause I knew I wouldn’t remember where I put them…There was one “gold” egg with the money in it that I got to hide…and HIDE it I did…It was in plain sight but hid well too…At the end of the “I give up” stage, we had to tell the kids “hot or cold” to let them know how close or how far away they were from the “gold” egg…It was fun to see them RUN to the area where it was…Such fun…Thanks Kevin and Kelli…

Inside the logs was the best egg of them all, the Golden Egg…Money was placed in this egg…It was fun watching the kids go past this egg many many times…

This is how close the 3 kids were to the Golden Egg…We finally had to tell them if they were HOT or COLD…Bayne just missed seeing the egg and Kevin was very close to finding the egg…However, it was Shyler who found the Golden Egg…It was so fun to watch…

The kids and all their eggs…It was just as much fun to hide all the plastic eggs and it was to watch them go over the front yard and the back yard…Trees, trucks, porches, wood pilings, near the swimming pool, in the garden, on the hills and every where we could find a good hiding place…Thanks again to Kelli, Kevin and the kids for letting enjoy the fun on Easter Weekend of 2011…Pictures and Memories, that’s what it is all about…and Family!

We love you guys and miss you all too! Uncle Richard and Aunt Shelly…xxooxxoo

Various Pictures of My Youngest Over the Years…

2012-01-25T21:53:00.001-05:00

My youngest, Misti, was born overseas at RAF Lakenheath…She weighed more than my other 2 children for a little thing that she is now…Her head was full of hair that curled when wet…Time flew by as she got older and some of my pictures that I do have have been scanned so they may not be the best quality…

Before we left England, a friend of mine back then had a little boy…His name was Jeremy…We were the best of friends and hung out together all the time until all of us left England…On one of the days before we left, we just happened to catch the following moment…Misti’s first kiss from a little boy…lol

Misti and Jeremy were only a month apart and it looked like he wanted to show that he was the oldest..lol 18 months old and already wanted a kiss….With such an adorable daughter, what little boy could resist…lol

I’ve keep some school pictures just as a remembrance since I knew that as I get older, my memory would fade…The picture on the left was when she was 9 and on the right was when she was 7…The face on the picture on the right reminds me of my eldest daughter’s youngest daughter…but as she grew up, Misti began to look more like her father’s sister…Spitting image of her to be exact…

I can’t tell you how old Misti was in these pictures…Her hair always went from long hair to short hair or from short hair to long hair…Misti always long beautiful hair just like I did when I was young…Glasses are always funny to see..I remember when I was in the 6th grade and had to get glasses….However, my glasses were bigger and gaudier than hers…

More school years went by and I can see some of the changes…My little girl is growing up so fast…Karate classes didn’t last long but at least she tried it…Nice kick there! Wish I could have seen her do some of her Karate but it was at a time to where I couldn’t travel to see her do well and excel…

In 1999/2000 (can’t remember which year for sure), we spent time together on Skyline Drive…What fun we had and the closeness we had back then…That soon passed as she got older but I will always cherish our time and closeness…Pictures are always awesome and the memories that come rushing back…

Misti’s step-dad was going through some photos on a website and came across this picture…He was truly amazed on how much this picture looked like our daughter so I just had to keep this one…I would want to see her look like this, at any time…So, is it my daughter or not?

This isn’t the best scanned picture but it is one of my favorites…USA flag behind her and the pose is priceless…

After growing up and going through some changes, she met her soul mate, Chad…They got married and now have 2 gorgeous kids…I love to see how happy she is…We don’t get to spend a lot of time together but I think about her all the time…I may not be able to see her but it’s always nice to see pictures and see how she is doing…

I love you Misti and I always will forever…..Love, Mom xxxoooo

Welcome to My Blog of Family, Friends & Travels

2011-12-31T21:00:00.000-05:00

Hello to all my Family & Friends...I've always wanted to find a way to keep track of the events in my life...Then along came Blogger which I learned about from someone who use it to post what was going on in their life...I don't know if it's better than a diary, but at least everyone can read what has gone on and see photos that represent what was going on...

The best part about this blog is that in 1999 I met the Love of My Life via AOL Personals...Yes, folks, it does work...We chatted via email, then went out on a date and several dates in a weeks time frame...He was approved right on the spot so I knew that I could not let him go...This special man in my life is Richard...In 2003, the house was sold, a 40 ft. Fifth Wheel and a GMC5500 truck was bought...Our life on the road as full-time rv'rs have begun...What fun..

So enjoy all that I write about...I'm not as expressive as my love, but I do my best to tell of my happy moments...Our kids, grandkids, family and friends of all sorts, Disney, Legacy Resorts, etc. Thanks for reading...

Wallet and Desk Photos of Family 10.10.11

2011-10-11T01:21:00.001-04:00

After getting the rv all cleaned, I was ready to sit down for a while to finally put together some new wallet photos and new desk photos. On top of Richard’s desk is a piece of plexiglass and between that the plastic protector for the desk is where we put our photos. They aren’t very big photos, mostly the size of wallet sized photos, but the photos are there for our viewing pleasure…After picking up the plexiglass to clean and getting up the old photos, that’s when I realized that I do need more updated photos…So I got rid of the old photos and started putting together more recent photos of family…

I started with the 3 eldest grandchildren and their mom…These 4 ladies in our lives are aged 7, 6 & 4 (grandgirls) and our daughter, almost age 30…I had a school pic of our eldest, Kayla but thought I would like a more recent pic of her as she was going to her first concert on Sept. 28, 2011…She even had a new hair cut…Love the hair cut! Her first concert was to see Keith Urban with her mommy…What a treat!

Couldn’t resist putting this picture up…What a great photo of Kayla and her mommy, Brandi…They look like they had a blast getting tot he concert…Isn’t Kayla a doll…I don’t know if Kayla had a fun time at the concert but she is very adorable in her new pretty dress…Poppy and I sent her a cd with Keith Urban music on it so she could listen to him and know a few of his songs…

The next in line of ages is our 6 year old, Brianna…Brianna got a new hair cut too…Our middle grandchild is a big ham…She likes to wear skirts or dresses all the time…No jeans please…lol I think she should grow up to be a model but she wanted to be a singer…I’m sure she will change her mind in a few years over and over…

Brianna got to go bowling in late September…She did really good for picking up a ten pin bowling ball…Bri said she had lots of fun…

Oh my! It looks like a very good thrown ball down the lane…Will it be a strike??? No matter if was a strike or not, she did a really good job of getting the ball down the lane…

Our youngest granddaughter out of the 3 is Elizabeth who is 4…She goes to Pre-K four days a week…She is enjoying it a lot and she even got a new hair cut…A school bus comes to the sitter’s house to pick her up and when she gets to Pre-K, she can have breakfast…Lizzi says she has lots of fun there too…

Look at the lovely smile…but I think the backpack is bigger than she is…lol She is already for her day…We are done with one set of granddaughters…Those printed pictures were trimmed and put under the plexiglass for safe keeping and so we can look at them all the time…Well, Richard can see them a whole lot more than me all day cause they are on his desk…but it’s comforting to know that I can look at them anytime…

Look at those adorable dimples…She is such a sweetie and I miss all 3 very much…We have been around all 3 of the grandgirls since they have been born…I was very lucky to be with 2 of them at their time of birth…I will always cherish those moments…We Love Them with All Our Heart…

Now on to the other grandchildren who are not in our lives due to the fact that it is impossible since they were born over in Sicily…Yep, overseas and getting ready to move to California…My son-n-law, Chad, is in the Navy and I am proud of him for being in the service…Of course, my youngest daughter, Misti, is married to him and while overseas they had 2 babies…Laurianna and Nicodemus…I got to see Laurianna from time to time via webcam but with 7 hours difference, it is very tough to get times together to webcam more often…So, pictures of our grandkids are posted via another site so we can how big they are growing…

Laurianna is beautiful but also can look like a wild child…I love it when she is all dressed up and her hair is pulled back to see her pretty blue eyes…One day we’ll get to see them…Who knows how old they will be and how old we will be…but I am always grateful for pictures via internet…

Now, how is this for a fashion statement…Yes, Anna has a mind of her own and she knows exactly what she wants to wear….Long john pj’s and her daddy’s military boots…I don’t know what the weather is like over in Sicily right now but I don’t think it’s that cold….It looks like she ready for snow…lol

Look at those beautiful blue eyes…There are 2 granddaughters who have beautiful blue eyes, Laurianna and her cousin, Brianna…

Laurianna has a baby brother now…His name is Nicodemus…His daddy arrived home (their home in Sicily) after being TDY for 7 months…Nicodemus waited for his daddy to be home and then after a small time, Nic decided to come in to the world…With all the grandbabies, I made Birth Announcements…It was such a joy to do and keep and for my kids to hand out to their family/friends…Nic’s Birth Announcement I did for myself…Misti wanted to make her own for Nic…

In 7 months, Nic has been growing like a weed…He smiles, tried to rollover, gets up on his knees and rocks and really wants to crawl…It’s tough not being able to see all of that happen…but like I said, Misti is great in posting pics via internet…

Look at him…Isn’t he precious…Time is flying by so fast and I can’t wait to see just how much alike his sister, Anna, and him will be…

The last set of grandchildren are our step-grandchildren but I don’t look at them that way…Our son, Josh, met this terrific girl and she has 2 kids…They are both teenagers so it’s tough to really get to know them…plus it don’t help that we live far away from them in order to get to know them…I don’t have many pictures of them as much as I ask for them…(hint hint to my son and daughter-n-law)…but I do have a few…

This is Mary and Timmy…We met them at Cheeseburger in Paradise in Pasadena, MD on one of our visits to Maryland…We had a great time there…

This is the wedding photo with Timmy, Mary and my new daughter-n-law, Sandy…Like I said I don’t have hardly any pics of them that I can use to put on my blog and brag about them…All I can say is that I am glad that they are in the family…

So there you have it, we have 7 grandchildren total…but there is one more granddaughter out there in Nebraska…She just turned 13 in September but we aren’t allowed to keep in touch with her and haven’t been in touch with her since she was about 2 or 3 years old…Her name is Corrine Christine…Don’t know her last name…Some day, when she is past 18 years of age, maybe she will look up her dad, my son Josh, and really find out what happened…Why we weren’t in her life…but I do keep the couple of photos that I do have of her out in the open…I want her to see that we have not forgotten about her…

Some of these pics are what I made wallet sized printed pics to put on the desk to be able to see every day…Finally I did what I’ve been wanting to do for months….

I want to add one more photo…It’s of my ex-sister-n-law and her hubby with her kids & grandkids…We are all close although we don’t get to see them as much as want to…but they are Family…and always have been to me…We love our niece and her family and when near their home, we go there as much as possible…It’s tough to see my nephew and his wife (and now new baby boy) cause there are no campgrounds close enough to be able to visit…My sister-n-law lives in Maryland…but when in the area, we do get together…

We sure do miss them all, All our family!! All kids and grandkids, nieces and nephews, sis and brother n law…We love you all and Miss you all very much….

Fun Time in San Antonio, TX Sept. 2011 – Pt. 1

2011-10-04T23:47:00.001-04:00

I’ve been wanting to go back to San Antonio River Walk for a very long time…The last time I was there it was in 1995…I love the River Walk and while here in Texas and not far away from it, I wanted to take my sweetie there…As it worked out, my brother (Nick) wanted to visit us at the Jellystone Campground…This gave us the opportunity to go travelling around…One catch, we had to travel to a hotel near the San Antonio Airport to meet Nick since the flight to Hobby Airport in Houston was cancelled…

We had a great time at the hotel where we met my brother…It was a long drive at night to get there but there was no traffic and it was a shorter drive to San Antonio…Our first stop was going to be The Alamo…We found a good parking spot across from one of the Rivercenter Mall’s entrance…$5/day to park…Can’t beat that…We walked a short distance to the entrance of The Alamo…What a beautiful place on the outside…As I remembered The Alamo, There really wasn’t much on the inside to see and you can’t take pictures…But the garden in the midst of The Alamo was beautiful…

Here we have my sweetie, Richard and my brother, Nick…They are standing in the front entrance of The Alamo…

There were beautiful flowers, cacti and live oak trees…It was very serene with benches here and there…We rested a bit before moving towards the part of The Alamo where they have exhibits that you can not touch or take pics of…You can’t even touch the walls…

Once done with The Alamo, we headed towards the Rivercenter Mall to get the River Walk Taxi that will drive us around the different areas of the River Walk…To ride the River Taxi all day was $15/person and it was worth it..We went through the River Center Mall out to the sidewalk where one can pick up the River Taxi…We were off to The Hard Rock Cafe…It was time to get a nice cool drink and a new pin…

The second floor of the HRC was being under construction…The first floor was a bit small due to the construction and there wasn’t much on the walls to take pics of but we had a blast…We got some nice cool refreshing drinks and a small bite to eat…We sat inside for a bit and then migrated out to the porch/deck that overlooked the River Walk…So peaceful and we had one of the best waitresses ever…

This lucky man was our River Taxi driver…He was taking us from the Rivercenter Mall to the Locks/Dam area of the River Walk…It was getting to be a hot day and on the seats of the river taxi were a few umbrellas…Nick and I decided to open up our umbrellas for some shade from the sun…The River Walk sites were beautiful…The trees, flowers, restaurants and their umbrellas or seating arrangements was awesome…The day was perfect for fun with family…

Just beautiful and breath-taking…This was the way to the Locks/Dam area…

This story will be several Parts due to the pics that take up most of the space…but I have to show pics cause words just don’t do it justice..

A New Great Nephew is added to the Family

2011-09-21T22:12:00.001-04:00

I know that I am not in the “family” via being married to the family uncle. But over the years I always wanted to be in the “family” and as time went by, I found that I was still in the “family”…Well, my “family”, my nephew and his wife just had a baby boy…Louie and Melissa have been so blessed to have this little one in their life…I know that they will be great parents but they won’t know how fast kids grow up…Tonight I made them a Birth Announcement and am waiting for a final decision to keep it or make a few changes…

Little Ayden Joseph was born on Sept. 14, 2011 in Augusta, Ga at University Hospital…His time to arrive was at 11:54am and as far as I know, he came out fine and was finally screaming his lungs out as he was getting air…Ayden weighed in at 5lbs 3.6oz and was 17.5 in. He came in the world with a head full of hair…

He’s gonna grow up being a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs with his daddy and mommy…He’ll probably learn to play golf too…

Welcome to our world, little Ayden…Bring lots of joy, laughter, love, sorrow, tears, happiness, fun times in to your parents life…One day I hope to meet you…

Many hugs and kisses are sent your way…Aunt Shelly

Heading Towards Texas – Pt. 1

2011-07-06T21:44:00.001-04:00

At the end of April 2011, Richard and I started our journey towards a campground in a small town called Waller, TX. Our first stop was at our membership resort in DeFuniak Springs, FL called Sunset King Lake Resort. At this resort, we have come very close to some who now reside at this resort. It was very good to see our ol’ friends and spend time with them. About 30 minutes west of DeFuniak Springs is a town called Crestview. This is where our niece (Kelli), her hubby (Kevin) and their 3 younguns’ live. So it gave us time to visit with family too. What was cool, too, was that friends who we haven’t seen in about 2 years were coming to the resort on the same day we were arriving. Whoo hooo! We went to Cheeseburger in Paradise, Ed’s Restaurant and probably a few other places that my mind just can’t remember. But our 10 day stay was absolutely wonderful. It was sad to leave our friends/family behind to head west.

Fun at Cheeseburger in Paradise with our good friends, Doug and Lois…We always have a blast with them…

Our family comic and fun girl, Kelli…She is such a joy to be around…She loves me! lol

While visiting Kelli and family, we were lucky enough to be invited to their son’s/daughter’s birthday party. Lil’ Kevin (Boo) and Shyler were turning one year older. Their birthdays are about a week or so away so Kelli & Kevin decided to combine the parties. It actually was a pool party and their friends were invited to enjoy in the fun. We took them and their older sister, Bayne, something from Disney that we thought they would like. The cakes were pretty awesome. Spongebob Squarepants for Boo and Fairies for Shyler…

It was pretty awesome to see 2 different kinds of birthday decorations…All their friends came and the first thing they wanted to do was hit the pool…We didn’t take our swimsuits and I didn’t want to swim with kids, all the yelling and screaming and having fun splashing water…The kids looked like they were having a blast…

The kids were having such a good time…Kelli and Kevin were preparing the cookout meal of hamburgers and hotdogs…When lunch was over, it was time to get on with the party…There were pinatas for each of them…They were strung earlier between 2 trees…The boys and girls took a turn each trying to break open the pinata…Finally, after battling the hard put-together pinatas, all the candy went tumbling down to the ground…Kids were scrambling to get all the candy that they could put in their hands…As you can tell, Spongebob was still in one piece..

Present time…Presents were all brought out on to the deck and piled up in their perspective areas for each of them to open…Boo & Shyler each took a turn opening up their presents…It seemed like forever until all the presents were opened up…I do believe the kids had a good time…

At the end of the day, it was time for the adults to play Cornhole or Beanbag Toss…I didn’t play cause “tossing” the beanbags makes it tough on my back & shoulders…but it was fun just watching Kelli, Kevin, Richard and Kelli’s dad, Lou, play the game…I enjoyed a beer while talking with one of Kevin’s work mates…The day was winding down and Kelli & Kevin were ready to play Pegs and Jokers, a game we taught them several years ago…We always play girls vs boys and that night the girls whooped up on the boys…They were whining cause Kevin thought we were cheating…Wahhhh!!!

Hey Kev, I think that bike is too small for ya…! lmao…and not quite your color…lol

This was the end of a very good day in Crestview…The next day was Easter and we were getting ready to dye eggs..This will be a Pt. 2 story so stay tuned…

Southeast Texas Attitudes

2011-07-06T21:39:00.001-04:00

Along time ago, more like 35 years, I was living in Killeen, TX near Ft. Hood…Back then I remember people waving and being friendly…Thirty five years later, I find myself in Waller, TX (about 30 miles northwest of Houston) working at a Yogi Bear Jellystone Campground…The campground is about 15 minutes south of US Hwy 290 & FM1980 (Prairie View)…The campground is a pretty good sized park with rv sites and lots of cabins (Yogi, Cindy & BooBoo cabins)…There is a Fun Park/Splash Zone for the kids along with an Adult Pool…There is Miniature Golf with 18 holes, an Outdoor Theater, a Yogi Stage where Karaoke takes place, Yogi’s Kitchen where the Ice Cream Social takes place and the Crafts Center (where I work)…There is a U-shaped lake with 5 cabins in the center with the lake going around them…Trees are throughout the park along with lots of sand…The Ranger Store/Office area is pretty big compared to some store/office that I’ve been in..The only thing I see is that most of the souvenirs are centered around Yogi, Cindy and BooBoo…But there are some nice keychains with saddles or cowboy boots attached to them…Pretty cool! I may have to buy a few and send them to some family members…lol The grounds are flat for bike riding and golf cart riding..But in the way back are the woods with lots of hills and flat areas where golf carts can go but they have to be careful of the hills and not tipping over…

Every weekend lots of camper/tenter/cabin people come in the campground…There are about 1000 – 1200 people in the campground every weekend, at least…They are from all over the area probably no more than 2 hours away in all directions…They all have their bikes, pets, toys for the kids, grills, coolers, beer, food, more beer and other amenities for them…Every weekend come all new attitudes..Most think the employees are here to “serve” them..Some constantly complain about how this is wrong and that is wrong…If something didn’t work in their cabin, can I get something for free…Moaners and groaners all day long..Even during the week, we get weekly people who come in and they gripe too…Now there are some who have a good time, they don’t let little things interrupt their good times…They now what is going on around the park at what times…They laugh with you and have fun…Then there are the ones that you have to hand them a schedule to cause you can’t remember everything that they ask you…Friendly, some are…Snobby, most are…Uppidty Up, most are…Do they think they are better than you, most are…

The attitudes are terrible…If you tell them NO, they are at you like a cobra snake…Head up, snarling at you or hissing at you…They are ready to strike if it don’t go their way…If you tell their kids to stop doing something cause the parents aren’t watching them, you are wrong…The kids 14 and under are sent to the pool without adult supervision which is not the rule…14 and under, YOU MUST HAVE AN ADULT WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES…but the 14 yr. old is watching the 6 yr. old..Sometimes the little ones “loses” their parents and we have to find their parents…but yet it’s our fault that the child is parentless…They want you to move out of their way…They tear up screen doors on the cabins…They take pillows…They make very high fires…They drive the golf carts too fast…All of which the staff here is suppose to tell them the rules but it don’t pertain to them…None of the rules pertain to them…After 8 weeks, one finally realizes how to deal with people like these…One – Don’t wear a red shirt (the park’s color of employee shirt), Two – Wear a tye dye tee, for some reason the guests seem friendlier, Three – Hand them a schedule when asked questions cause you just can’t remember everything, Four – Post all you can on the boards outside the crafts room or in any of the 5 bulletin boards around the campground…and still they dont’ read and still ask questions…

We’ve worked at a park before where the campers thought they were better than you and we learned how to deal with them too…So we do our best to deal with the attitudes and the snears and the “what’s your name so I can tell on you” look…

I hope all of Texas isn’t like the people here…I think they leave their good manners in their house when they leave to come here…Even the kids dont’ have manners which is a shame in this day and age…There are no Thank You’s, No Yes Sir or Yes Ma’am…The kids act just like their parents…Even the parents have temper tantrums when things don’t go their way…It’s funny to see a parent “stomp” off cause their kid can’t sign up for Karaoke at night at the stage when they had all day from 10am – 4pm to sign up in the crafts center…It’s not our fault that the parent can’t get their kid to the craft center in time…but they blame us cause “they didn’t know”…

Will we come back here…Possibly…Why? So that we can save up money to head out west and to the west coast to see our 2 little grandchildren who we have not seen yet…Once we know how to deal with the people, the rest is easy…Maybe not cleaning up after them, but we know how to deal with the attitudes…

Ya’ll come back now, ya hear!

Two Grandchildren So Far Away…

2011-07-06T21:20:00.001-04:00

It’s tough choosing a lifestyle where you decide not to have a house and a yard and all the things that go along with a house…It’s another to have children spread out who have kids which are now our grandchildren…It’s tough not to see those grandchildren but via pictures over the internet or being able to talk to them by phone or chat online…But is wonderful to have 7 great grandchildren who live in 3 different places who like to post pictures of what they are doing and how they are doing…It’s how one keeps up on how big they all are getting…There are only 5 out of 7 grandchildren that I get pictures to see how they are doing…It’s tough getting the oldest 2 grandchildren and their parents to post any pics of them…Pictures are a blessing…Two of our grandchildren live in Sicily until October of this year…Then they head to San Diego where it will be easier to call them and chat with them and there won’t be a 7 hour time difference between us and them…The collages that I am going to post are how they are growing up so far…The fun things that they do with themselves or with their parents…

Laurianna and Nicodemus, Poppy and I (Mommom) love you very much and can’t wait to “meet” you one day…It was wonderful of your mommy to post pictures of you guys so us and everyone else can see how big you both are getting and the fun things that you both do…

As one can tell, this our princess with beautiful blue eyes…She has lots of fun with her Daddy and Mommy…She loves to play with and in boxes…She got to take a train ride with her family to go to Rome, Italy for a Supernatural Convention..Well, the convention was more for her parents…hahahaha…Then she wanted to see how tall she was compared to stacks of soda in the commissary…She’s getting very big…

The little pride and joy of a newborn…Nicodemus was born in March just after his daddy got home from Afghanistan…Big sis, Anna, looks like she is telling her little brother a story…The biggest smile and cutest smile is always on a newborn…Ah, to see that in person would be a blessing and the giggles that they make…I can’t tell if Nic looks like his daddy or his mommy…What big teeth you have their Nic?? The better to drink your blood or baby’s milk…hahahaha…What an awesome and odd pacifier…The love you can see between Anna and Nic is so precious cause in about 10 years, she will not want her baby brother hanging around her and her friends…hahahaha…

Time sure does fly and it has…I remember when Misti was waiting to give birth to Anna and then time flew by again and she was waiting to give birth to Nicodemus…Now he is 4 months old shortly, July 8 and Anna is almost 30 months old…They won’t remember Sicily much except via pictures and even then they won’t remember….but their Mommy and Daddy will have great memories of them being born in another country…Richard and I can’t wait to meet our youngest 2 grandchildren one day…We can’t wait to have as much fun with them as we do our other 3 grandgirls…The oldest 2 grandchildren are in Maryland and are in their teens…Can’t have much fun with them…hahahaha..

Lots of love, hugs and kisses are sent your way…Enjoy their lives and the fun and the laughter they make…When you get as old as me, you can’t wait to have grandchildren so you can hear that all over again…

Football Season is Almost Here – Go Baltimore Ravens!

2011-06-26T21:37:00.001-04:00

Historical Moments:

1996: On September 1st, the NFL finally returned to Baltimore as the Ravens coached by former Colts coach Ted Marchibroda took the field at Memorial Stadium against the Oakland Raiders. Led by Quarterback, Vinny Testeverde, the Ravens would beat the Raiders 19-14 before 64,124 rowdy fans. However, the joy would not last as the Ravens finished with a 4-12 record, despite holding the lead in 11 out of 16 games. Testeverde would have a solid season earning a trip to the Pro Bowl with 4,177 yards passing.

But it was the first team for Baltimore for the season…Everyone had to get to know Baltimore and the fans…It takes time to make a great team!

1998: On September 6th, the Ravens opened their new stadium against the Pittsburgh Steelers by losing 20-13. The Ravens would continue to struggle as newly acquired Quarterback Jim Harbaugh and back up Eric Zeier played mediocre football all year as the Ravens got off to a 2-6 start. On November 29th, the Indianapolis Colts returned to Baltimore, as the Ravens overcame two 14-point deficits and scored 25 second-half points to win a 38-31 thriller. On December 13th, the Ravens and Minnesota Vikings set an NFL record with three kickoff returns for Touchdowns, all in the 1st quarter. Ravens Corey Harris and Patrick Johnson along with Vikings David Palmer all scored Touchdowns on returns in a Vikings 38-28 win. The Ravens would go on to finish the season with a 6-10 record, as Ted Marchibroda was fired at the end of the season. The Ravens would go on to hire Vikings Offensive Coordinator Brian Billick to replace him. Also needing replacement was the Ravens shield logo, which was the focus of a court case that said the team used it without permission of a bank security guard who claimed he came up with design.

2000: The Ravens get off to a solid start winning three of four games in September including two shutout victories over division opponents. In October, they continued to win winning their first two games despite not scoring a Touchdown, while posting another shutout. However, the Ravens offensive struggles caught up with them as they lost three straight games closing the month of October without a Touchdown. Sitting at 5-4 the Ravens had a stellar defense, but Quarterback Tony Bank’s struggles were hurting the team. This led to backup Trent Dilfer getting the starting nod for the rest of the season. Statistically Dilfer was not much better, but the Ravens won all seven games he started to finish with a 12-4 record and qualify for a Wild Card berth. In their final seven games, the Ravens outscored their opponents 193-63 as their defense led by Ray Lewis who overcame an off-season in which he faced murder charges to win Defensive Rookie of the Year set a16-game record with only 165 points allowed. Along the way the Ravens defense shut their opponents out four times and allowed less then 10 points, nine times. In the first playoff game at PSInet Stadium, the Ravens defense continued to overwhelm the opposition shutting down the Denver Broncos 21-3. A week later in Tennessee, the Ravens were heavy underdogs facing the Titans in the Divisional Playoffs. The Titans controlled the game most of the way but the Ravens defense held the game tied 10-10 going into the 4th Quarter. However, the Titans appeared on the verge of taking the lead as Kicker Al Del Greco set up for a short Field Goal. The Ravens defense would step up and snatch the game away as Anthony Mitchell blocked and returned the kick 90-yards for a go ahead Touchdown. The Ravens would seal the game 24-10 on a 50-yard Interception return by Ray Lewis moments later. In the AFC Championship at Oakland, the Ravens were heavy underdogs again facing the Raiders. The Ravens grabbed control early as Quarterback Trent Dilfer hit Tight End Shannon Sharpe on a 96-yard Touchdown pass. It was all the points the Ravens would need as the defense smothered the Raiders in a 16-3 win to earn a trip to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XXXV: Facing the New York Giants in Tampa, the Baltimore Ravens found themselves in an unlikely Super Bowl match up. In the first half the Ravens defense was dominant holding a 10-0 lead. Late in the 3rd Quarter the Ravens defense scored again, as Duane Starks returned an interception 47-yards for a Touchdown. However, on the ensuing kickoff the Giants would get on the board as Ron Dixon returned the kickoff 97 yards for a Touchdown to get the Giants back into the game at 17-7. However, the Ravens would respond in the blink of an eye as Jermaine Lewis returned a kickoff of his own 84 yards to give the Ravens a 24-7 lead. In total a record three consecutive returns for touchdowns were made as fans got whiplash in the most exciting 36 seconds in Super Bowl history. The Ravens would go on to score ten points in the 4th Quarter for an impressive 34-7 victory as Ray Lewis was named Super Bowl MVP.

Baltimore Ravens Mascot – Poe #103

2003: The Ravens entered the season with rookie Quarterback Kyle Boller under center, meaning the Ravens defense was going to have be stronger then ever, to help keep the young team competitive. With Boller learning under fire it meant a greater role in the offense for Running Back Jamal Lewis who going into the second Week against the Cleveland Browns, after losing their first game to the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-15. boasted he could break the single game rushing record. Lewis's boast backed up as galloped for a record 295 yards in a 33-13 Ravens win in the home opener. For much of the season the Ravens would alternate wins and losses, but in the weakest division in the NFL they were at or near first place all season. Boller's season would end early due to injury as Anthony Wright stepped in a keyed a dramatic 4th Quarter rally as the Ravens who trailed the Seattle Seahawks 34-17 late in the 3rd Quarter won 44-41 in overtime. With Wright under Center the Ravens offense began to click on a high level as they won three straight games, including a 31-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14 to surge to the top of the division. The Ravens would go on to win the AFC North with a record of 10-6, as Jamal Lewis won the Offensive Player of the Year award by rushing for 2,066 yards the second highest total in NFL history. While Jamal ran led the team on offensive Ray Lewis again led on defense winning his second career Defensive Player of the Year award while newcomer Terrell Suggs won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. However in the playoffs the Ravens offensive weaknesses would catch up against the Tennessee Titans who held Jamal Lewis to just 35 yards rushing in a 20-17 win, which ended the Ravens season in disappointment.

2006: The Steve McNair era in Baltimore began with the Ravens using their defense to earn a road win as they blanked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-0. A week later the defense was just as strong in the home opener allowing just two field goals in a 28-6 win over the Oakland Raiders. It would not be as easy the following week as they needed a 52-yard Field Goal by Matt Stover with 20 seconds left to beat the Cleveland Browns 15-14. A week later they needed 4th Quarter magic again, as McNair found Todd Heap in the end zone from ten yards out for a dramatic 16-13 win over the San Diego Chargers with 34 seconds left. A week later, there would be no magic as their offense sputtered in a 13-3 road loss to Denver Broncos. A week later there would be more frustration as the Ravens lost Steve McNair to an early concussion then lost the game to the Carolina Panthers 23-21. Steve McNair would return a week later, and would pass for two touchdowns and run for another in an impressive 35-22 win over the New Orleans Saints, over the next four weeks the Ravens would take a stranglehold for the NFC North winning five in a row. After a frustrating 13-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Ravens second ranked defense continued to lead the way as they would close the season with four straight wins, winning the division championship and earning a first round bye with a record of 13-3, their best regular season ever. In the playoffs the Ravens faced the ghosts of Baltimore as they faced the Indianapolis Colts with a trip to the AFC Championship Game on the line. Once again the Ravens defense rose to the occasion, not allowing a Touchdown and intercepting Peyton Manning twice. However, the Ravens would have their own offensive struggles as the surging Colts held the Ravens to just two field goals, while the Colts with Adam Vinatieri hit five field goals and won the game 15-6, on the way to winning Super Bowl XLI. Following the season the Ravens would say good bye to Jamal Lewis, as they acquired Running Back Willis McGahee from the Buffalo Bills.

2008: It was an era in Baltimore, as a rookie Coach, Jim Harbaugh, and a rookie Quarterback, Joe Flacco led the Ravens into the season. In their opener, the Ravens jumped out fast thanks to a 42-yard run by Receiver Mark Clayton on a double reverse. Flacco, would take care of the ball just fine, and would add a touchdown run of his own of 38 yards as the Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals 17-10. The Ravens would end up getting an early rest a week later, as damage from Hurricane Ike in Houston, forced the Ravens to reschedule their game against the Texans to Week 10. After beating the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, Flacco and the Ravens faced their first test as they faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in a Monday Night Game on the road. The Ravens played well early, holding a 13-3 lead at the half. However, the Steelers clawed their way back into the game as a Joe Flacco fumble led directly to a Steelers touchdown, as the Steelers won the game in overtime 23-20. The Ravens would see another game slip through their fingers a week later, as the Tennessee Titans scored ten unanswered points in the 4th Quarter to stun the Ravens in Baltimore 13-10. After a 31-3 loss to the Indianapolis Colts dropped them to 2-3, Flacco and the Ravens went to Miami, and came up with a big win, as Terrell Suggs returned an interception 44 yards to lead the Ravens to a 27-13 win over the Dolphins. The win would be turning point for the Ravens, as they won seven of eight games, entering a rematch with the Steelers at home. Once again the Ravens controlled the game early, only to see the Steelers rally late winning the game 13-9 with ten unanswered points in the 4th Quarter. Needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive the Ravens played spoiler to the Dallas Cowboys in the final game ever at Texas Stadium, winning 33-24 behind to dazzling 4th Quarter Touchdown runs, one by Willis McGahee who streaked 77 yards down the field, and the other by Le'Ron McClain who galloped 82 yards down right through the heart of Texas. Entering the final week of the season controlling their own playoff destiny the Ravens jumped out early and never looked back as Joe Flacco passed for 297 yards to lead the Ravens to a 27-7 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars to clinch the Wild Card with an 11-5 record. While his number were not overwhelming, Flacco was good enough to take care of the football and let the Ravens running game and defense lead them to a playoff berth. Facing the Miami Dolphins again in the Wild Card round the Ravens defense led the way as Ed Reed returned a Chad Pennington pass 64 yards for a touchdown to give the Ravens the lead, as they picked off the Miami Quarterback four times on the way to a solid 27-9 win. In the Divisional Round the Ravens were underdogs facing the Tennessee Titans, who secured home field in the AFC with a 13-3 record. However, the Ravens defense held the Titans in check all game, as a 48-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Derrick Mason enabled the Ravens to answer the Titans only touchdown quickly in the 1st quarter. Still tied 7-7 entering the 4th Quarter the Ravens took the lead for the first time with a 21-yard field goal from Matt Stover. After Rob Bironas tied the game, with a 27-yard kick, it was Stover again with the game winner, nailing a 43-yarder with just 53 seconds remaining to give the Ravens a 13-10 win, to send them on to the AFC Championship Game where they would get another shot at the Steelers. This time it would be the Steelers jumping out early, as the black and gold led 13-0 early in the 2nd Quarter. The Ravens would finally get on the board late in the half as Willis McGahee scored from three yards out. After the Steelers added a field goal in the 3rd Quarter, McGahee again got the Ravens on the board with a 1-yard run in 4th Quarter to get the Ravens within two points. However, it would get no closer as Joe Flacco had a pass intercepted by Troy Polamalu who returned it 40 yards for a touchdown to put the game out of reach, as the Steelers advanced to Super Bowl XLIII with a 23-14 win.

2009: The Ravens made news in the NFL Draft when they traded with the New England Patriots to select Guard Michael Oher from Ole Miss., with 23rd overall pick. Oher was on hand with his guardians Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy completing a heartwarming story, where Oher was left homeless due to his mother's drug problems, while his father was in prison. The Tuohys tutored Oher allowing him to get his grades up to attend a private school, where he first excelled at football. The Oher story would be the subject of blockbuster movie "The Blind Side," which earned an Oscar Nomination for Best Picture, while Sandra Bullock won the Award for Best Actress for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy. In his rookie season with the release of the "The Blind Side" Oher became an instant star on the Raven line starting every game, while finishing second in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting. Coming off an appearance in the AFC Championship Game, the Ravens jumped out to a fast start winning their first three games. However, Joe Flacco struggled and the Ravens lost three games in a row. From there the Ravens alternated wins and losses for the next six weeks, and stood at 6-6 with four games remaining. The losses included a second frustrating loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and Indianapolis Colts while, the wins included an overtime 20-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Needing to finish strong to reach the playoffs, the Ravens delivered a 48-3 pounding of the Detroit Lions, and a 31-7 win over the Chicago Bears. However, with a chance to clinch a playoff spot the Ravens suffered a 23-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. Through most of the season Ray Rice emerged as the Ravens go to Running Back, with a 2,041 All-Purpose Yards. However, in the finale it was Willis McGahee who ran the Ravens into the playoffs with a career high 167 yards rushing and three touchdowns as the Ravens beat the Oakland Raiders on the road 21-13. At 9-7 the Ravens were underdogs as they faced the New England Patriots for the second time in Foxboro, where they suffered 27-21 loss in Week 4. This time with Ray Rice running the first play from scrimmage 83 yards for a Touchdown the Ravens were able to get off to a quick start, scoring 24 points in the 1st Quarter, as the Ravens picked off Tom Brady three times. With Rice rushing for 152 yards the Ravens took the crowd out of the game and did not even need Joe Flacco, who completed just four of ten passes for 34 yards as the Ravens won 33-14 to hand Tom Brady and Bill Belichick their first home playoff loss, and only home loss during the season. A week later the Ravens would not be as fortunate, as they committed four turnovers and were eliminated by the Indianapolis Colts 20-3.

And so entails a few of the main years that Baltimore has had the Ravens…The Ravens do practice out in Westminister, MD and I and others have had the distinct pleasure of going out there and watching our Ravens practice…Then after practice, some of us were lucky enough to get pictures of our favorite players or autographs of anyone we could get…I’ve been very fortunate to get a lot of the Baltimore Ravens players autographs…Matt Stover just retired and I am very lucky to have several of his autographs, along with Rod Woodson and many others…I miss going to the practices, standing near the fence and clicking away with my camera and hoping to get an autograph…I hope one day to be able to go to a practice again…It sure was a lot of fun even tho it does get hot! C’mon Football! I am ready for some Football! This may be Ray Lewis’ last year of football so I hope our team can get behind him and win a Conference game and head to the Super Bowl…That would be so sweet….Pretty soon I will be putting out all my Ravens logo stuff to show my spirit although I am between Houston Texans Football area and Dallas Cowboys Football area…Move those Chains!!! That’s what I love to hear on game day…

Some more facts:

Coach:
John Harbaugh 2008-

Stadium:
M& T Bank Stadium* 1998-
*-Known as: NFL Stadium @ Camden Yards 1998, PSInet Stadium 1999-2001 & Ravens Stadium 2002

Nickname:
Ravens was selected from a poll conducted by the Baltimore Sun. Baltimore fans selected the name in honor of Edgar Allan Poe, the American poet who penned his famous poem, “The Raven” while living in Baltimore.

Colors:
Purple
Black
Gold
White

Coaches: (3)

Ted Marchibroda 1996-1998
Brian Billick 1999-2007
John Harbaugh 2008-Present

Stadiums: (2)

Memorial Stadium 1996-1997
M & T Bank Stadium* 1998-Pres.

*-Known as: NFL Stadium @ Camden Yards 1998, PSInet Stadium 1999-2001
Ravens Stadium 2002

Super Bowl Champions: (1)
XXXV (2000)
Super Bowls Appearances: (1)
XXXV (2000)

AFC Championship Games: (2)
2000, 2008

Division Champions: (2)
2003, 2006

Playoff Appearences: (7)
2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
Record in Playoff Games:
9-6 .600

Hall of Famers: (3)

Deion Sanders CB 2004-2005
Shannon Sharpe TE 2000-2001
Rod Woodson S 1998-2001

Defensive Rookie of the Year: (2)

1997 Peter Boulware LB
2003 Terrell Suggs LB

Defensive Player of the Year: (3)

2000 Ray Lewis LB
2003 Ray Lewis LB
2004 Ed Reed S

Offensive Player of the Year: (1)

2003 Jamal Lewis RB

Super Bowl MVP: (1)

XXXV Ray Lewis LB (2000)

Best Season:
2006 (13-3)

Worst Season:
1996 (4-12)

Favorite Cartoon Characters…

2011-05-02T21:42:00.001-04:00

As a kid you start watching tv and find out what cartoon shows can and will be your favorite…I remember Tom & Jerry, Johnny Quest, Thor, Mighty Mouse and many others…But you always want to the cartoons that hit your fancy…Then as you get older, one finds out that these cartoons are violent or stupid or what were the cartoonists thinking…I still like to see Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes and most of the Marvel Comic characters like Thor…Then there is Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner…Beep Beep!!

Then time goes on and more cartoons catch your fancy…Scooby Doo (Scooby Roo), Little Einsteins, Dora the Explorer (Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping)…

Then movies came out like Shrek and Ice Age…Fiona sings and blows up a bluebird, not good…The Sqeazel (Sqrat) is always chasing his nut to no avail…and he is one of my favorite characters…

I visit Disney in 2004 for the first time and I find out that there is a new character in town that I truly like…Tinkerbell…Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust! The motto of the pixies in Pixie Hollow…There are other Disney characters that I like but not as much as Tink…

Now if I had to choose a very favorite character of all time since I was a child, I would pick THOR…and the movie comes out soon and I can’t wait to see it…

I’m Hooked on Supernatural…

2011-05-02T19:23:00.001-04:00

There are many shows that come along and you either like them or you don’t…I have never heard of the show, Supernatural…I have seen a face on someone’s Facebook profile and wondered who he was…Then one day on Facebook, my daughter was talking to me about this show that she puts up Flair Buttons about and talks about Minnions for Misha or something like that…One day I just had to ask her who or what this was about…Needless to say she told me about Supernatural and that I might like it…One day while cruising through the Directv channels, I came across the show, Supernatural, on TNT…I decided to see the show and liked it…There was another episode on after that episode so I watched that one too…I had some questions but thought I might hold off to ask them…Then I saw that the show came on Monday through Friday, 2 times a day…That’s 10 shows in one week that I can get caught up on but somehow the shows weren’t in order and I wasn’t understanding some things…So I asked questions to my daughter…She asked me what Season was it in…I don’t know…Well, come to find out I was watching the middle of the fourth season of Supernatural…BUT, what happened on TNT was that once Season 5 was done with, TNT started showing Season 1 through Season 5 again so I was able to catch up on EVERYTHING!

The show is about Demons/Ghosts/Satan along with some funny shows that just make you laugh hysterically…Like an episode called Yellow Fever…The 2 main characters are Dean (the strong, non-fearful brother) and Sam (the brave but more laid back kind of guy) Winchester…They fight these demons in towns where needed along with their friend, Bobby and many other friends…Then there are girl demons who want to be good and help the Winchesters and demons who want them dead…Then comes along Angels…Castiel is one of the “good” angels…He is funny and serious and can take you out in a blink of an eye…One truly does have to follow every episode to make sure you know what is happening…

So far Richard and I love the show and can’t wait to see Season 6…Don’t know when TNT will put on the tv but I hope it will be soon…I tried to watch Season 6 online but you really have to have a great connection for the feed..There are also Supernatural Conventions…My youngest daughter and her family went to Rome (since they are stationed over there anyways) to the convention, Jus Bello 2…They could take pictures and get autographs and see the actors up close…They got all of their autographs and even got me all the autographs on a mousepad…I can’t wait to get it…

So if you like shows that have to deal with demons/angels/good guys, then this is the show for you…Hooked we are…

Family Additions – 2010

2011-04-27T22:53:00.001-04:00

Let’s start off with the boys…My hubby Richard and my son Joshua…

Then let’s add in 2 new step-grandchildren…Mary and Timmy…

Oh, we need to add in the grandchildren’s momma…Sandy…

and there you have a brand new family who is now in our family lives…What a great choice in a woman and kids…Wish we could spend more time with them and really get to know them…but they are always in our thoughts…The best part is my “grandmother” name is I’osu (pronounced E O Su)…It’s a very special name from the kids to me…Mary and Timmy call Josh “Ada”…Special thought of name are more special when you are a step-parent and worth millions…

Our 2 love birds…We love you guys! and miss ya’ll too….xxooxxooxxooxxooxxoo

Brandi’s Florida Vacation April 2011 – Pt. 2

2011-04-27T22:52:00.001-04:00

April 14 – It was a day to go have breakfast at Boma’s at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and then head off to Blizzard Beach to enjoy all the water fun that one can have in a day without trying to get burned from the sun…The temperature was going to be in the high 80’s-low 90’s…First stop is Boma’s in Animal Kingdom Lodge…

Boma’s is a buffet style dining place in the Animal Kingdom Lodge…It is very beautiful but dark except for the lighting…The buffet has all kinds of foods ranging from carved ham with exotic sauces to oatmeal to scrambled eggs that are plain or with chives and goat cheese to pancakes/waffles, fruits, breads, bacon/sausage and many different cereals…Boma also serves their African specialties which I am not inclined to try out..Brandi, Richard and I found the foods we liked and came back and ate our fill..Brianna had a cheese quesadilla for her breakfast…Everybody ate their delicious breakfast and off we went to look in the gift shop…Brandi found a really nice Disney one piece bathing suit and some things for Lizzi and Kayla to take back to them…Time to head to Blizzard Beach…

Coming through the gates of Blizzard Beach, Bri just had to tell the Cast Members that this was her first time here…They made a big deal of it and the Security guy actually went and got her a Disney Security sticker…Bri traded a few pins with another cast member and off we went…A special 1st memory for Bri and Brandi here at Blizzard Beach (BB, for future reference)…We grabbed a map to see where everything was at and decided to start looking for some chairs in the shade…Luckily enough we did find 3 chairs and a lounge chair under the cover of shade so we put all our stuff on all the chairs so no one else would take our seats…

Guess who Bri ran in to…Goofy at BB! Oh wow! Goofy was even wearing his swimsuit…Unfortunately I have no pics of us here cause it all involved water and my camera is not water proof…hahahaha! Richard grabbed his chair and sat down for the duration of the stay with his mp3 player…Bri, Bran and I walked to where the lazy river was and grabbed an intertube and started floating down the river…We did get off at one of the locations for water fun…We walked up many flights of steps to get to the top, carrying our inner tube for single rider and their double inner tube just to find out that I can not do down the OPEN flume…Only the double inner tube can go down the OPEN flume…I was not happy cause the single riders must go down the CLOSED flume…I almost walked down all those steps but I said I need to go down and just scream my head off…OMG!!! OMG!!! I got on my tube and started down the closed-in flume and was zooming down like butter being melted…I was riding the sides all the way down IN THE DARK…I was laughing so hard just to not be scared…Finally, I see light of day…I entered the big pool at the end of this neverending ride IN THE DARK…I didn’t do that again but Bri had FUN and wanted to do it again…We walked to another area of water fun…Bran and Bri walked up more steps and did some sort of toboggan ride…I just sat and waited…They had fun on that one too…The sun was hot, the water was cool and there were too many people at BB but we had fun…There was a tidal pool that we got in to and had lots of bouncing around in…The waves that did hit us were knocking Bri off of her feet…Finally, the last day of swimming, Bri decided she wanted to swim without her arm swimmies and go under water…The best part is that she could go under water and be able to stand back up without feeling unsafe…Brandi and I were so very proud of her…The sunburns were on and it was time to pack up and grab some dinner…

Wendy’s is where Brandi wanted to go…It wouldn’t have been my choice and she wasn’t treating but she was driving…So we go where the driver goes…Everybody got a bite to eat and then Brandi treated us to a small frostee…Our day ended well…

French fries and frostee anyone! Bri found it to be delicious…Not my cup of tea…hahahahahaha!!!

Richard had a strawberry shake with his meal…Good to the last drop!! Or he was trying to get out the last drop…hahahahaha!!

Our Newest Grandchild - Nicodemus

2011-04-27T22:51:00.001-04:00

Military takes families all over the world..Part of our family are stationed in Sicily near Catania…This is where our youngest grandbaby, Nicodemus, was born…His sister, Laurianna, was born there too…Nicodemus was born on April 8 in the early am…Mom and baby were doing great and after 1 day of being in the hospital, both of them went home with his big sister and daddy…

At first it seems that Laurianna don’t know what to do or looks like she is asking permission to “touch” this newest addition…but her daddy is letting her see the little brother…One day later, daddy and mommy gets to take their newest addition to his new home…The best part that after 1 day, it is good to know that Nicodemus and Misti were in such good health so that they were able to go home…

Nicodemus in his new car seat heading home…He looks so tiny in that big chair…

This is one of the sweetest and cutest pictures between big sister and little brother…Laurianna is giving kisses to her little brother…

Nic is so cute looking at his toys…Sometimes it would be nice to know what their little minds is thinking…but I love how wide is eyes are open…

In October 2011, our far away family will be heading to San Diego for their next tour of duty…Hopefully, Richard and I will be able to head that way and see all of them…Well, that is if gas prices aren’t way too outrageous, like $8/gallon for diesel…by then, it might be cheaper to fly…

Brandi’s Florida Vacation April 2011 – Pt. 1

2011-04-20T22:07:00.001-04:00

It is always fun to take family and friends in to Disney here in Florida…This is more special cause our daughter, Brandi, came down for about a week to visit her bff who lives in Lakeland and to go to Disney and do a few things that she didn’t get to do a few the last time she was here…

The weather was going to be HOT…So we gave her the option to go in to the chosen park early in the am and then go swimming in the hottest part of the day or sleep in, go in a chosen park when it is getting hot and then go swimming…Luckily she chose to get up early and go in to a chosen park…

April 13 – Magic Kingdom (MK)…We started about 8am when it was very cool…We arrived at MK, got a double stroller for our snack bags and cooler bag for our lunch…We headed towards the Carousel ride so Bri and Bran could ride it together…All of us actually got to walk through the middle of Cinderella’s Castle…

The line wasn’t long so they got on the ride very quickly…Richard and I found a spot to take some pics but it was tough to get some good pics of them when they are sitting in the middle of the horses…Round and round they went…The joy of seeing their smiling faces…While waiting for them, I spotted Pinocchio over by the Pinocchio House…We headed to the line so Bri can get his autograph…

After the autograph signing, we all was heading to Pecos Bills to eat our lunch but along the travel Bri and Brandi got on the Peter Pan ride…The Stand By wait time was only 15 minutes so Richard and I told Brandi that they should get on that ride…Richard and I sat down on a wall in the shade waiting for them…After the Peter Pan ride, all of us decided to get on It’s Small World with a Stand By time of 5 minutes…We all agreed that we should get Fantasyland over and done with before heading out of that area…

Time to move on…Thought we were going to go eat lunch but we went to see how long the Stand By line was for Splash Mountain because Brandi saw the ride and asked what it was…So we headed to Splash Mountain and the Stand By time was 10 minutes but it was quicker than that…We got to the log plume seating quicker than normal and off we were around all the bends and turns until we hit the 50 foot plunge…Brianna and I got a little wet from the splash down but not too bad…Bri was a bit scared but had fun…

Finally after the wet ride we finally went to Pecos Bills for lunch…Everyone was hungry…We got a few toppings from the toppings bar in Pecos Bills and found a big table…Lunch was over and we headed to Monsters Inc. before leaving MK to head out to go swimming but just had to stop by Mickey and Minnie for a few quick pics…

Our girl was trying to get a tan without burning but I think white girl got more burned than tanned even with tanning lotion…lol

We headed out and then went swimming for a little bit…Brandi wanted to spend some evening time with her bff, Nicole..Richard and I were getting tired and worn out…

Grandchildren are Wonderful

2011-04-05T21:58:00.002-04:00

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always couldn’t wait to be a grandparent…Maybe because I spent most of my preteen and teenage with my grandmother on my dad’s side or because of how my family was….I just don’t know why but I knew…I couldn’t wait to have kids of my own, 2 at the most but 3 was the number and I’m so happy with that…Then one day I find out that I’m gonna be a grandmother, my son’s (Joshua)daugher…I am overjoyed…but as time went by and things changed, that didn’t work out due to no fault on my side of the family…There is a little girl out there who is now somewhat grown but not old enough to get in touch with this side of the family…I have but a few little photos of her and will always keep them to let her know that I’ve not given up on one day of being her grandmom…After time there came 3 beautiful granddaughters by my eldest daughter (Brandi)…and then 2 more beautiful grandchildren, 1 girl and now 1 boy, by my youngest daughter (Misti)…Now all of these grandchildren are biological grandchildren and I love them…but I also have 2 non-biological grandkids who are teenagers and who just came in to the family in August 2010…So total in all, I am a grandmother of 8 grandkids…Wow! How amazing is that!
I have created some collages of only 5 grandkids because 1. I do not have any recent photos of my eldest granddaughter who I have not seen since she was 2 or 3 yrs. of age 2. I do not have many photos of my step-grandkids that are recent…So I have only 5 collages of grandkids made and I hope to get some pictures of the step-grandkids from their mom and step-dad…
The first 3 collages will be of Brandi’s daughters…The last 2 collages will be of Misti’s daughter and son…
This is our silly Kayla…She is in 1st Grade and has done really great…She loves to make funny faces, jump rope and have fun…
This is our little model Brianna…She likes to play games, have fun in the water and loves to visit Disney…
This is our little superstar Elizabeth…She loves her Poppy, loves to pose, and loves her sisters…
This is our little Sicilian princess Laurianna…She loves to play with all her toys, be with her mommy and daddy, and loves to eat all of her food or wears her food…We have not seen her yet because her daddy is stationed in Sicily until October 2011…Hope to see her one day soon…
This is our little newcomer Nicodemus…He was just born on April 8…Just seeing the pictures of him is awesome and it’s a boy! Tonka Trucks and overalls…His mommy and daddy are very lucky and big sister, Laurianna, will love him forever…
I hope soon to put up a few collages of my step-grandkids so I can show them off as well…I am a very lucky grandmother and very blessed to have them all in my life…

Some 2011 Fun at Resorts

2011-04-05T12:53:00.002-04:00

More fun than a barrel of monkeys…Bri has had “the best day of her life” for many days while being here with us…We have had “the best days of our lives” with her here…We are the most lucky grandparents in the world to have our daughter let us keep one of our granddaughters, 1 at a time, come to where we are and stay with us for 6 weeks or more…During this time we try to have lots of fun with each one doing various things, depending on where we are at…During Bri’s visit, we are in the Walt Disney World area and we are having the time of our lives…We haven’t been to do much else since the price of gas has risen to an enormous extreme for traveling but we are playing games, having movie days, visiting friends of ours, doing pre-k workbook, coloring, working on crafts, dancing, drawing, and from time to time being able to play on the computer…

We have been able to visit the Disney Resorts and show her what they look like…We’ve even gotten our feet wet, grabbed a small bite to eat or even get an ice cream…Every resort on Disney property is very unique in their own way…There are still more resorts to see and I hope that we can get to a few more before she heads home…

Yummy! A very cold treat for such a hot day…We’ve traded some pins and walked around the Wilderness Lodge…Bri got to put her feet in the water and we got to relax and enjoy her having fun…

While out and about, Bri spent some time swimming while we got to sit under an umbrella and watch her have fun in the sun…Too bad the goggles didn’t match her swimsuit…hahahaha! I can’t quite place what she looks like here but she can look under water without having red eyes…

The Wilderness Lodge has another section to it for the Disney Vacation Club people…We took a slight tour of the resort and came upon some games to play…A checker board..Um, there’s some thinking going on here…I wonder who will win? hahahaha!

Chinese Checkers and Backgammon was a few more games to play but we were still doing some exploring…We found huge rockers and Bri wanted to “drive” one of them so we had some fun pretending her rocker was a car and she was going to McDonalds…It was so funny…Poppy was paying for his order of burgers, fries and a drink…

Can you tell what she was doing here? Bri found some hoof prints and was deciding what it was that crossed the sidewalk…What we thought it was is standing out in the front yard of the Wilderness Lodge…This was all in a few days fun of seeing the resort and see what we all could find different…We carry snacks and lunch sometimes and get a drink wherever we are at…The day of investigating tires us out and at night she falls sound asleep…but it’s “the best day of our lives” with her…

Swimming Fun with Friends Visiting in March

2011-04-05T12:52:00.002-04:00

Sun and Fun here in Davenport, Florida with some friends who came down for about 10 days…We spent about 6 days with our friends, Durwood – Dottie and their daughter, Amy, son-n-law, Dustin and their 2 kids, Nikki and Nicholas…A rental home with a nice pool was very relaxing and fun and we got spend many hours watching Bri and them have tons of fun…

Here is our goggle swimmer with floaties…I have not been able to get her to try to swim without them…but not yet…

Anyone want to be squirted??? Come closer…closer….a little closer….Squirt! Got ya!!! Yes, she had a blast squirting the other kids and adults who were in the pool…No one was safe unless you were out of the pool and sitting at the table protecting all the cameras and cell phones…hahahahaha!!

Then there was some tube tire fun…Nikki and Bri would climb on to the tire at the steps in to the pool and then paddle their way out to the middle and then count to 3 before falling backwards off of the tire…Sometimes, one of them would wind up inside of the tire…

Then this is some form of “cannonball”…She loved jumping in to the pool…Bri, Nikki and Nicholas would jump in doing cannonballs…

Bri was having fun with Nikki’s dad, Dustin…Dustin was tossing the kids up in the air so they would land back in to the pool with a giant splash…All 3 kids were trying to get Dustin to toss them around in the pool…Can I say jealousy for all 3…but then I understand cause Bri just loves having fun in the pool and didn’t want to be left out and thanks to Dustin, he had fun with her too…

Cannonballs, Water Squirting and Relaxing

2011-04-05T12:51:00.002-04:00

Our friends, the Herrings and Roeders, were down in Davenport from March 19 to March 28…They rented a house with a pool and we went to their rental 5 days to spend quality time with them and to let Bri have some playing time with the kids…The most fun part of our visits were the kids (young and old) playing in the pool…

Can someone say “CANNONBALL”…Dustin did a jump in to the pool that just splashed water all out of the pool…It was a great cannonball…

Here’s Nicholas, Dustin’s son, who was doing a cannonball but sometimes he wouldn’t jump up and out far enough…Nicholas still had a blast jumping in to the pool…He wanted to be like his daddy…

This is our friends, Dottie, in the background and Amy who is due in the beginning of May…The sun was out, the kids were at the other end of the pool and no splashing was going on…at least not yet! Amy is Dottie’s daughter…

Dustin was having a blast with the squirter…The one getting squirted is his daughter, Nikki…Dustin did some pretty good aiming while jumping in to the pool…To only be that young again and to be able to do all of that…

Anyone for some tossing up in the air out of the pool and then be able to land back in to the water with a huge splash?? Nicholas is being tossed this time…Brianna was waiting her turn to have the same thing done to her…

Ahhhh! Some relaxing time…Nikki and Brianna were still playing in the pool…They were like fishes and didn’t want to come out, no matter what…Water logged and having fun…Our friend, Durwood, who is in the blue tee, was telling us a story and we all were chiming in…Poor Amy’s feet were so swelled up from this pregnancy that she had to put her feet up on her Poppa…This is what we did those days that we visited our friends and we were sure glad to have been able to do so…Sure did miss them when they all left for their homes up near Tallahassee…Bri missed her newly found friends too…

ESPN the Weekend Fun…3.4.11

2011-03-23T11:56:00.002-04:00

Anquan Boldin

                                                                                                                        Larry Fitzgerald

Jason Witten
                                                                                                                     DeAngelo Williams

                                                 Derrelle Revis
                                                                                                                              Brandon Jacobs

This is the first year that we got to go to ESPN the Weekend at Hollywood Studios…I just happened to come across this event on the Cast Members Hub and thought it would be a cool thing to go to…The first thing I had to do was find a sitter for our granddaughter, Bri, because I knew she would be very restless during the whole day just waiting around, standing in lines and just passing the day away without getting on rides or seeing shows…The big blown up Football was at the entrance of Hollywood Studios along with a huge soccer ball but the only sport I care about was Football…lol
After grabbing an itinerary of what was going on, I circled what I wanted to do and see…Richard was just like “I’ll follow you around all day and just relax” which was fine with me…lol We headed over to where NFL Live was going to be at Premier Theater…I wanted to get there early so that we could get up front seats as close as possible…The NFL Live show started at 11am and we were in the Premier Theater area at 9:30am…We met a family from Baltimore, big Ravens fans and a Jets fan…So we all took turns keeping our spaces while each member in our families went to get some breakfast like coffee and buns or coke and buns or go elsewhere…About 10:15am, the Cast Members came out of the theater and told everyone where to line up…Whoever was standing/sitting around was rushing to get to where the line to go in to the show was actually starting…Not bad, we were about 4th in line along with the other family, who we let go in front of us…Time to go in and get our seats, wait for the show to start and start clicking away with our cameras…

The NFL Live hosts came out and I didn’t know who Trey Wingo was but I knew who Mark Schlereth and Merril Hoge was…The guest who I was really interested in and hoping to get an autograph from was Anquan Boldin, our Baltimore Ravens WR for the 2010 season..After all the questions/answers from the studio audience and all the talk about all the players careers, the show was over and the audience was scrambling for autographs…I, of course, was one of them but with no luck…

Now it’s off to see the NFL Athletes Motorcade that is going to go from the main entrance of Hollywood Studios, down Hollywood Blvd. and end up at the Sorcerer’s Hat…Unfortunately, the parade went by fast but it was great to see a legend at the end of motorcade, Tony Dorsett…

After the Motorcade, we headed to the Sports Zone to see what that was all about and maybe, hopefully, possibly get some autographs…Lots of things for kids/adults to do…Jump hoops, swing a golf club, so some fishing, hike some footballs…None of which I was interested in…Along my journey of the Sports Zone, I did come upon a few mascots…I know of the Atlanta Braves mascot, Homer but I know nothing of the “DUCK” except he/she was from Oregon…Is that a basketball team? Don’t know, didn’t care…I got some autographs even if they weren’t from athletes…hahahahaha   Moving on, Ah, there are the Tampa Bay Bucs cheerleaders…Aw man, I was too late to get a picture with them or any autographs…They were heading to another location or back to locker rooms somewhere on property…But a quick snap shot would do…There you go sweetie, wave your hands in the air like pom poms…hahahahaha

Richard and I grabbed some lunch, walked around a little bit, relaxed while waiting for the show to begin on center stage of the Sorcerer’s Hat…Richard relaxed while I waited to see Teddy Bruschi, retired New England Patriot…Standing in the crowd of baseball fans waiting to hear all about this so called pitcher for the Phillies…Finally, the baseball show ended and football talk was about to begin…Teddy came out along with Trey Wingo and Merril Hoge…Then Tim Tebow came out..It wasn’t his time but he made a guest appearance…I was done with that show and needed to go rest…Found Richard over at the Sweets Shop sitting under an umbrella…Our next stop on my list of things I wanted to see was the Stump the Schwab All-Star Game held at the Drew Carey’s Sounds Dangerous Theater…The 3 teams got their questions and gave their answers…DeAngelo Williams and his partner made it to the final round, Stump the Schwab…Howie Schwab came out and the Championship Round question was put up on the big screen…
Howie had to give an answer and then DeAngelo team had to give an answer…Howie could not come up with a team to this Championship Round…He lost…What did the DeAngelo Williams team win? Nothing…It was all for fun…But afterwards when the show was over and all the people in the audience was running up to try and get autographs, I was able to “push” my way past a few people and stick my collage of some of the athletes that I made up in the air to get anyone’s attention to sign…I did it, I got Brandon Jacobs autograph…Finally my day ended with an athlete’s autograph…It may not have been from my own Baltimore Ravens team like I had wanted but I got an autograph…
It was a great ESPN the Weekend day…Thanks sweetie for a great day and for going to this…I love you!

A Carnival Cruise So Long Ago…2004…Pt. 3

2011-02-26T18:41:00.002-05:00

May 11 took us to Belize…We bought some lunch there and sat under a tree..Then we took a boat ride down a little river to see all the vegetation and any animals…Unfortunately, this is the only picture that I have on my computer…but I do remember it was fun and all the stuff that the locals made were all done by hand…Up to today, I still have this much colorful and neat hat…
May 12 took us to Cozumel…

The walk to the shops was very interesting…So many plant life and thatched roofs of many stores…Every local who was running the stores were very friendly and trying to get you to come in to their shop to buy something to keep…
A nice little photo of Richard in the white sand with the clear blue waters…and the Carnival Glory and Carnival Fantasy in the background…
Crackers, hot sauce, and Act II popcorn was available to buy..Thank goodness for pictures of what it was…
The blouses, dresses and skirts were beautiful but not made for “chubby” people…One must be “skinny” to wear these clothes…Even the baby clothes were adorable but at the time there was no reason to buy something for a grandbaby…One other day perhaps…

Flowers were gorgeous…
Shopping and looking around Cozumel was so much fun..There was even a pool bar around the shops but we didn’t do that cause we didn’t have any swimsuits on…but it looked like fun..

Which ship is which? Glory vs Fascination…I’m glad that the names on their ships…lol
One of the excursions for this day was going on a catamaran and going snorkeling…A bunch of people signed up for the snorkeling fun and all gathered for the catamaran ride…Once out where we needed to be, everyone got their life vests and snorkel equipment..What I didn’t know was to hold on to the mask…oops! It kind of came off but I got it fixed once I was in the water…Richard really didn’t want to do it but he did it anyways..You see he can’t float…but he did it just to do it…It was awesome to see all the tropical fish that were around me…I had wished I had a water camera to get all the pretty fish…but I have the memories…Someday, I hope to do this again and maybe learn a few things about snorkeling…
The catamaran ride also took us to a small island where you can swim in the most beautiful blue waters, grab a beer, grab a seat, or do other things…What fun!
Now for some island treats..Oh la la! Too bad that isn’t me with these men…Oh well… We left the port of Cozumel and was heading now to Progresso…Our last town trip for this cruise…So far what a grand time…

A Carnival Cruise So Long Ago…2004…Pt. 2

2011-02-26T17:26:00.002-05:00

Arriving in to the Progresso port…The building looked so small..I was very excited to see what the town of Progresso was like…
Carnival Glory docked at the port of Costa Maya on May 10…Our trip was going to Chacchoben to see some Mayan ruins and see the culture…A bus ride to Merida was interesting being able to see how the houses were…

The buses arrived at Chacchoben…Everybody went to the gift shop under the thatched roof and was getting ready for our tour guide…

Look at those steps..Could one imagine walking up those steps all the time, possible a few times a day…The Mayans had to be in good physical condition..The amazing thing was how the rocks were all formed together to make the steps and the walls of this ruin…
The lush flowers and trees were different from what we see in the states…I had wished that there were signs telling what kind of flowers, bushes and trees were around the area…
This tree’s roots look like some sort of dinosaur feet to me…There were all kinds of these trees around the area…

Costa Maya was a very interesting piece of land…Listening to the guide about the nature and the ruins and the people who use to live around this area was very interesting…
One of our guides…
Our next day of travel on the Glory was going to Belize..

A Carnival Cruise So Long Ago…2004…Pt. 1

2011-02-26T16:44:00.002-05:00

In May of 2004, Richard and I took a wonderful short notice cruise from Cape Canaveral. Being able to take a cruise at last minute or a few weeks before time to sail was the best thing while in the Clermont, FL area…I’ve never been on a cruise before and I was very excited…The cruise was taking us to Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Progresso…The next thought was “What to pack and how much”…

Luckily the Port was only under 2 hours away and the drive was all highway..Getting to the Port was all highway but once at the Port, cars were everywhere, lines were long and the getting in to the ship time consuming..Thank goodness for patience..lol The first thing was to drop off the rental car in Cape Canaveral and getting a ride to the Port..The ship was HUGE..but also docked at the Port was the Disney Cruise Line ship..One day I would love to take a Disney cruise..

Leaving Port Canaveral..Slowly the cruise ship was pulling out from the dock..Everyone was waving to the mainlanders..We were on our way..Our bags were in our rooms and we had a drink in hand..

The best part about our room was when the staff came in to make the beds..They would make little animals out of the towels/wash rags and leave them around..So creative and great to see..It was something to put a smile on your face..

Amidst the cruise, one had the luxury of Formal Dining..This is where we got to meet a new couple and they stayed our Formal Dining companions during the whole cruise..Everything seemed very fancy and the maitre d’s were exceptional..Always entertaining..

Oh my! I am dressed up…It was a rare moment in our lives..Both of us dressed up..and no, I do not own this dress anymore..lol Did find out that I do not like dressing up everyday for Formal Dining..If ever I go on a cruise again, I would rather stay away from Formal Dining..Plus I do not have any formal dining clothes anymore..lol

Fancy foods and fancy desserts and it all was very good..The waiters sang and danced while everyone ate..The lights were dimmed and conversations was going strong..

Anna’s 2nd Birthday and Pregnant Pics of Misti

2011-02-07T14:12:00.002-05:00

Our youngest granddaughter, Anna, had her 2nd birthday in January and her mommy made some Blues Clues cupcakes for her party…The theme for her 2nd birthday was Blues Clues…

Ain’t nothing like having something to remember your birthday…but when you are 2 years old, I guess you won’t remember the big bump on your forehead…Wow! what a hit! I hope she didn’t have a big headache to go with that bump…

I don’t have any pictures of Anna opening up her birthday presents but it looks like she wanted to be a birthday present…She loves to play with bags and boxes so why buy her toys…I’d buy or find bags and boxes, let her color them, then let her have fun…lol
I don’t know if this was her birthday outfit but she looks so adorable in it…I hope she had a blast with her birthday balloon…They can be fun to hit around and have fun with…I miss not seeing our grandkids birthdays…

Misti and Anna

Carrying around a football shaped baby…Boy or girl? Hopes are on a boy but a girl would be great too…Not much longer baby girl!

Princess Colorings

2011-02-07T13:58:00.002-05:00

The one thing that all girls like to do is color…This is no exception with Brianna…She loves to color and when she is done she says who it is for…This Cinderella page was done for her Mommy but for some odd reason she likes to write my name on the page too…

I don’t quite remember who this page was for but as one can see everyone she is close to is on this page…I think we are suppose to share this page…lol But she gets to practice her names…

Ladder Golf Fun with Poppy & Brianna

2011-02-07T13:43:00.002-05:00

fWe’ve been playing catch with a yellow Mickey Mouse balloon not filled all the way in the house cause outside it will get blown away…Then at Walmart I got a red bouncey ball for outside but after playing catch or kickball (sort of), Poppy and I get tired of “running” for the ball after Bri kicks it towards us, which never goes near us…lol One afternoon, Poppy remembers about a game we had in the basement of the rv…Ladder Golf, an anniversary present from Brandi and the girls…So, that was pulled out and put together…Poppy and Brianna were the first to play…Brianna learned how to play Ladder Golf up at Lake Ridge RV Resort the past 3 summers…
AFter throwing the balls a few times back and forth, Brianna had tangled her lines together…Poppy thought he would help her untangle her 3 lines of balls but instead he kind of mixed his strings of balls with her string of balls…What a tangled mess he weaved…lol

xThe game went on and on…Poppy would score and get close to winning and Brianna would toss her balls and cover his score so that no one got a score…It was a great game to watch and take photos of…

Back and forth the game went…At one point the game points were Poppy 18, Brianna 13…Put Poppy kept going over 21 and Brianna was creeping up slowly…Finally, Poppy went over and back several times and Bri was 3 points away from winning…The red balls are Bri’s and she got her 3 points while Poppy got 5 points, 3 on the mark to be at 21 but 2 back so he was at 19…The new champ is Brianna…

Then Bri and I played…I played fair and square and she beat me by 3 points…Granted she don’t toss her strings of balls back from the other ladder so she tosses them in between the 2 ladders and she does a great job…One day, she may be able to truly beat us with no problems…We all had a blast…

A Day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – 1.27.11

2011-02-07T10:19:00.002-05:00

The day begins with being a little dressed up, a new outfit and shoes, wavy hair and make-up on…Then a few pictures of posing…Brianna was ready to get going to Hollywood Studios…Autographs were on her mind and seeing the Indiana Jones Show…

The way to Hollywood Studios was via The Beach Club…Outside the resort is this historic car that Brianna just had to see…What we didn’t know at the time was that she could have gone inside the car…We will do so the next time we go to Hollywood Studios…We take the boat from the dock between The Beach Club and The Yacht Club to Hollywood Studios…

We got to Hollywood Studios, got a few autographs…Handy Manny was available and Lotso from Up…

After getting autographs and having lunch, we found our spot for the parade that started at 3pm…While waiting, Poppy pulled out his “snack” of a big rice krispie treat…Bri isn’t much for chocolate, at least while not with us, but she liked taking big chunks out of the rice krispie side…She loved the parade but the parade wasn’t very long but she loved waving to the characters…

When the parade was over, Bri wanted to head to The Indiana Jones Show…Brianna loved the show…She was a bit scared when Indy Jones jumped down from the ceiling…

Indy Jones and the German airplane soldier were fighting in this scene and during the fight, the airplane propellers “killed” the German soldier…The Karen Allen double was in the cockpit of the plane waiting for her Indiana Jones to rescue her…
After the show, it started to get a bit chilly and knew it was time to head out and go to the boat dock back to The Beach Club…We had a great time today…

Seaworld and the Makahiki Luau – 1.22.11

2011-01-27T21:17:00.005-05:00

A L O H A

The week turned out so well with the visit from my brother, Phil (Nick to family) and his partner in life, my brother-n-law, Michael…However, towards the end of the week, Michael had to go home and couldn’t join us in the luau at Seaworld…On Friday, Nick called to see what our plans were for Saturday the 22nd and if we could still find out if there are any available seatings for the Polynesian Luau…We made calls and came up with seatings at the Seaworld’s Makahiki Luau…The most unexpected part of this luau business was that Nick wanted to treat us to the luau…It didn’t matter to Richard and I just as long as we could spend time with him..So off to Seaworld we went about 3pm…

There is nothing like arriving at Seaworld and heading to the Dolphin Nursery…It is always neat to see mamas and babies swimming around and playing…This day there were a couple of babies swimming around in the nursery pool…

After getting some photos of the mamas and babies, we walked in to a shop just to browse since we had some time before the 5:30pm check in for the luau…There were some awesome glass figurines that I would love to have some of them…So since we can’t buy any and put them anywhere in the rv, the best thing to do is to take photos…Shamu the whale was awesome…A sea ray was beautiful…A blue crab reminded me of the Chesapeake Bay crabs…

I really loved this squid or octopus…The color blue was spectacular…but the price was not spectacular…If only!!!!

After walking through the shop and seeing all kinds of tees, flipflops, bags, sunglasses, souveniors of all sorts, candy and kids stuff, we headed back to the Seafire Inn where it was a bit warmer inside…About 5:25pm, we went outside to wait the few minutes to head down the walkway to the Luau…

At the end of the pathway were 2 members of the luau who gave out the leis…Then you walk a little bit farther, and another member takes your photo…After the photo, you head indoors to get a free drink, a beer or a hawaiian drink of rum/punch for adults or lemonade or you can buy a drink once inside the hall…Once led in the doors to the luau room, a member takes you to your table and seats you…On the table are well designed plates of food with glasses and drinks…The first food served is the salad, a roll and grapes..Sticky rolls are in a basket just waiting for you to grab one and wish you had a wet one…lol…

While beginning your plate of salad and grapes, hawaiian singers come out on stage and start singing songs…They sing for a little bit and then the Kahuna and his wife comes out and talks about their culture…Dinner is served of pulled pork, fish in coco lopez, chicken and fried rice…Sodas and teas were free along with the dessert and coffee…Once eating, the dancing begins…During the entertainment there was even a fire dancer…The whole evening was really cool and fun…but the best part of the night was just being with my brother and hubby…

Thanks Nick for a grand evening…Someday we hope to return the favor…Just time together is enough for me… :-)

Orange Lake Fun with Nick & Michael – Part 1

2011-01-27T21:17:00.004-05:00

This is the living room in their Orange Lake complex…It’s a very roomy apartment sized timeshare…It has a little screened-in porch to help keep the bugs from attacking you…The kitchen is big enough to work in plus it has a dishwasher…whoo hooo!! There is plenty of seating at the dining table plus 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms…Plus the room comes with a washer and dryer to do your clothes…

Say Cheese! Uncle Nick and Uncle Michael with their niece, Brianna having a little bit of fun… No mommy, we didn’t stop at the bar…I just needed to rest my legs…lol

See, Poppy and Mommom were with me…lol

Nick and Michael showed us around Orange Lake resort where they were staying for the week…The weather was nasty to go in to one of the parks so we all decided to take a walk around and see what Orange Lake was all about…First stop, a drink…Richard and I got treated to a drink…I got a strawberry dacquiri and Richard got a coke…Nick got some sort of drink and I just don’t remember what Michael got…The rain was iffy…drizzly here and there…but seeing the HUGE Orange Lake complex was something else…Brianna actually ran in to a pirate on our walk..along with getting a wet butt going down the slide in one of the playgrounds…She wasn’t too happy about having a wet butt…lol

Nobody were in the pools or in the lazy river…That’s how nasty of a day it was…There are cabanas here at the lazy river…Plus there are shops, a restaurant or 2, rental shops and a mini golf course…None of that was done today…We just had some fun looking around and seeing what Orange Lake had to offer…No wonder Nick and Michael come down here for a week…

More Universal Pictures from 10.7.10

2010-12-24T14:00:00.001-05:00

It’s always tough to add lots of pictures to a blog page so that when you go to publish the blog you just wrote that it don’t get hung up…So I am going to just add photos with captions to some of the highlights of our day trip to Universal Studios…Enjoy!!

Dr. Suess Land…Many things for the little ones to do…but not my cup of tea…

Harry Potter…This is where my brother and his hubby wanted to go to…The Dragon ride, roller coaster, was in this part of the park…So off we went to do this coaster…But first we had to put all objects of value in a locked safe so I didn’t have my camera to take pics of the ride…While waiting for my brother and his hubby to come out of the Harry Potter castle, I was able to grab this pic of the coaster ride…It was too scary for me…I know I screamed the whole time…I will never ever get on that ride again..Promise!

Then we off to River Adventure to take a rafting tour of the dinosaurs…I hope we don’t get too wet at the end of this ride…Cover all cameras…

Nick (my brother) and Michael (his hubby) climbed in first…This worked out great so I could get a good pic of them…We are all in and ready to take off…Luckily the ride is slow and well lit but there are dark areas where the dinosaurs “roar” at you…

Doctor Doom was another ride I wasn’t getting on…I’ve done this sort of thing a long time ago at a place called Six Flags in Maryland and I didn’t like it then…Free fall just isn’t my type of ride but Nick and Michael went and had a blast…

At the end of the day, we headed out and stopped by Margaritaville for a drink…That was a great way to end just a fabulous day…Thank you little brother for the wonderful treat and day spent together…This is the bestest photo of them all!

Christmas Time in Florida

2010-12-24T13:40:00.001-05:00

It’s Christmas time again and we are spending it near Disney World in Florida…At this time of year, I still decorate somewhat but when I do decorate I think of kids, little kids…I miss when my kids were little and I would decorate so that they would see the house should look when Santa Claus comes to visit…Plus a house decorated for Christmas just puts one in the spirit of things…As of a few years ago, Richard and I went to a small Mickey Mouse Christmas tree…I still have some old Christmas decorations and some new decorations…The best part of Christmas is when Richard puts together Christmas pictures of all the grandkids and us or just of the grandkids…and of the kids when we have pictures of them…So enjoy the creations…

On this picture, featured above, there are all our grandgirls…The 3 sisters and 1 little sister who expecting a brother or sister in Mar. 2011…I can’t wait for the added grandchild to be in our holiday pictures…Bets are it’s another girl…tee hee!!

And last but not least, our Christmas card to everyone, family and friends…Making a Christmas card is so much more special to send out even if it is via email…Happy Holidays everyone…

Our little tree with snowflake lights…This little tree has fiber optics too…My Tinkerbell snowglobe plays music and when you push in th ered button, music plays and snow just flows all around on the inside…

Even the crafts table gets a little decorated…Mickey and Minnie sits in front of our showboat of characters…Oh, the snowball machine, well, that’s for when it’s hot here and we want a snowball…Dreamsicle, Cherry or Chocolate…Yummy!

Having Fun….September Visit 2010

2010-12-24T13:30:00.001-05:00

It’s always great to be around kids who like to have fun…In this case, Brianna and Kayla were practicing their dancing routine in Kayla’s room to music…No one knew what they were doing until they came out and wanted to show us what they were doing and practicing on…I guess they have watched Dancing with the Stars several times…

A little turn here, a little twist here, put the feet just right, put in some swinging and what a dance routine they had…It was awesome and I wish I had a video camera just to show everyone…

After the dance routine, or maybe even before, these 2 were playing together very nicely…Barbie dolls are a great way to get 2 sisters together just as long as they don’t bicker amongst themselves…

It was great seeing the 3 girls play together without fighting…I love seeing the girls play…

I think Poppy was resting but it was tough to tell…It seems that Brianna wanted to be an angel on Poppy’s back…

So much for resting thought Poppy…When 3 girls come out and attack you, what are you gonna do…Attack back…What fun they all had…

Who has who??? At first glance, it looked liked the girls had their Poppy but then he turned the tide on them and he had them…They were laughing so hard that they got the hiccups…or at least 1 out of 3 girls got the hiccups…LOL…

We sure do miss our girls…We can’t wait to do the same thing with the granddaughter and grandchild to come in Mar. 2011 and be able to play with them…

Christmas Photos 2010

2010-12-13T23:27:00.001-05:00

It’s always great to see pictures of little ones visiting the great Santa Claus…Granted the real Santa is still up in the North Pole where he lives and he gets his Santa helpers out there to see all the little boys and girls while he making his list and checking it twice…

Misti and Anna – Photo taken in Sicily

Anna was taken to go see Santa but I don’t think she wanted to see him…Little ones at this young age have a tough time seeing a stranger with a white beard…but at least she wasn’t screaming and throwing a fit…I’m sure Santa knows that she is a good girl and won’t get coal in her stocking…

Brandi, Elizabeth, Brianna & Kayla

This Santa was ready to see what all these girls wanted for christmas…I’m sure they talked off Santa’s ears about what they wanted for Christmas…All are smiling which is very unusual…but what a very good photo…

All my girls are getting so big…Time sure does fly by so fast…Merry Christmas from Poppy & Mommom…Thinking of all of u everyday!

Visiting the Upper Echilon of Resorts – Grand Floridian

2010-12-13T22:43:00.001-05:00

Walt Disney World has many resorts on their property…They range from the lower resorts to the upper echilon of resorts…There is the low end resort of Pop Century and the All Star Resorts to the Contemporary and Polynesian Resorts…but there is one upper expensive resort called The Grand Floridian…Where the people with money stay or if you are lucky enough, you may get an upgrade to this resort…It’s a very beautiful resort with all the inlaid Italian marble with Disney characters inlaid in to the marble…The Fab 5 are inlaid in the main entrance, 2nd floor hallway leading from the monorail entrance…Tinkerbell was found on the 2nd floor by the elevators…

As you come in from the monorail entrance side, there are 2 good sized christmas trees, one on each side of the balcony…This is where you can look over the railing and see just how big the resort’s christmas tree is…

The resort’s christmas tree is decorated with Victorian decorations…There are bird cages, doves, gold ribbon and christmas balls…The tree is about 50 feet tall and is put together in several sections…It is an awesome tree to see in person…

In the Grand Floridian are 2 high-class restaurants…The Citrico and Victoria & Alberts…Reservations are most definitely needed and are very hard to get…I didn’t see any sort of menu to see just what they serve or how expensive a meal can be…but I have heard that they are always packed..

Even the lettering for the name of the restaurant looks expensive…lol

Inside the Grand Floridian is a huge Gingerbread House…You can buy gingerbread cookies and cakes from this house…It is a spectacular sight to see…

One of the chefs who work the gingerbread house was showing the guests how she makes a small gingerbread house…It was so interesting how she uses the royal icing to make icicles and how to make all her decorations stick to the gingerbread house…It does take 24 hours for the small gingerbread house to dry…Then you can eat the house but once you make it, would you want to eat it? All that hard work go in to someone’s tummy…I don’t think so…

At the entrance of the Grand Floridian, ground floor, there are 2 different vehicles…A vintagecadillac and a vintage carriage…I would love to have a ride with my sweetie in this being rode around with a driver and several horses and a warm blanket…Or if one is getting married to be put up in the carriage and driven around to the wedding and/or reception and have everyone look at the bride…How spectacular that would be…

The Grand Floridian is decorated with all the christmas spirit of wreaths and trees all around…It’s a beautiful place to come and see at least once…Richard and I are lucky enough to be able to come every christmas to see these decorations…

Our Son-n-Law Serving in the Military

2010-12-13T22:42:00.001-05:00

Our son-n-law, Chad, is in the Navy…We are proud of him for serving our country…He is a corpsman in the Navy and so far, is planning on retiring from the Navy…Right now he is away from home for the Holidays and our daughter, Misti, is pregnant with their second child…Their daughter, Anna, gets to see her dada via internet…It’s heartbreaking but they are not the only family in the military who are without someone home for the holidays…We are very proud of Chad and every other member(s) who are serving this great nation and who aren’t home for holidays, births or any other reason…Thanks for our freedom…

Luckily in this year of technology, there is the internet…Talking to someone miles away is awesome…One of the programs used for this is Skype…Video and microphone/speakers or a headset with a microphone works great…Misti and Anna might not be able to talk to him every day but when they do get to chat/see him, it lights up their day as I am sure that it lights up his day…Anna gets to see her dada and when she does he gets a hug and a kiss…Oh, how sweet to see this and so precious…

I am so glad that Anna gets to see her dada…I know she misses him a lot as does Misti, our daughter…Chad, we can’t wait for your return home to your wife and daughter…Be safe…We may not know you much and hope to do so some day but we send our best, hugs and kisses…We wish you Happy Holidays and hope you get to call home on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day…xxxoooo

Eat to the Beat Concert Series at Epcot

2010-11-26T21:58:00.001-05:00

There is a great way to end the Eat to the Beat concert series at Epcot during the Food & Wine Festival…One of the biggest attractions to this concert series is Big Bad Voodoo Daddy…There was Starship and some other bands there (I can’t remember the names now)…

We went to Epcot on Nov. 12 to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and hear the great swing music that they play…One of their songs is Go Daddy O and the song from Jungle Book…The music is awesome and ongoing…We were expecting to stand in a line forever for the 7:45 showing but when we got back to the American Theatre there wasn’t a line and plenty of seats to choose from…Camera in hand, we set off to find a good spot to sit, except for up close cause that’s where the guests who pay for a dinner/show get to sit…At 6:30pm, the band started to come out in their zuit suits and the music started…

The horn section was awesome…The way they could play their instruments was fabulous…The suits helped with all the swing music…

Everyone in the audience was clapping and singing…

The lead singer has a great voice…He didn’t stop for a drink or take a break..He just kept on going…I would have to applaud him cause some singers take a drink break…

Boys Boys Boys

2010-11-26T19:20:00.001-05:00

Well, it’s more like MEN MEN MEN but there is a song called Boys Boys Boys and it was actually played on the TV show for Peoples 25th Year of the Sexiest Man Alive…It was tough to see all the front covers of the People magazine on tv to see what year every “sexy” guy was in, so I looked it up…The issue started in 1985 just because someone in a meeting shouted “The world’s sexiest man alive” as one of their articles…Well, since that meeting, it’s been an annual event to find the “perfect” sexy man alive…Unfortunately, with the list, there are a few that I just don’t see as being sexy or even cute with sex appeal but I guess others saw something..Hence, everyone’s different tastes in men…

1985 – Mark Harmon – NCIS, Jethro Gibbs; 1986 – Mel Gibson – Mad Max hunk; 1987 – Harry Hamlin (for me, I don’t see it) – LA Law; 1988 – JFK, Jr.; 1989 – Sean Connery – Better known for his roles as 007 James Bond (for me, I don’t see it back then but now he is debonnaire); 1990 – Tom Cruise; 1991 – Patrick Swayze, Johnny in Dirty Dancing; 1992 – Nick Nolte (how in the world did he get in there…I don’t find him cute, handsome, sexy or anything else); 1993 – Richard Gere – Pretty Woman, Gigilo & other movies; 1994 – No one was chosen in this year; 1995 – Brad Pitt; 1996 - Denzel Washington; 1997 – Geo. Clooney - ER; 1998 – Harrison Ford; 1999 – Richard Gere – This is the second time he is on the cover; 2000 – Brad Pitt – Second time for the appearance of Brad on the cover; 2001 – Pierce Brosnan – James Bond, 007; 2002 – Ben Affleck – he beat his best bud, Matt Damon, to the cover; 2003 – Johnny Depp – Capt. Jack Sparrow and many other roles; 2004 – Jude Law – Another person I just don’t see what the thing is about him…He’s not handsome or cute..Maybe it’s his accent; 2005 – Matthew McConaughey – Many movies; 2006 – George Clooney – Second time on the cover; 2007 – Matt Damon – I don’t see it but everyone else did and at least he can say he made if finally with his best bud, Ben Affleck; 2008 – Hugh Jackman – XMen, Wolverine & Van Helsing; 2009 – Johnny Depp – Second time on the cover and almost a third time and he was just a little bit out voted by the 2010 man; 2010 – Ryan Reynolds – Two Guys & A Girl, tv show, Blade 3 and The Proposal movie…

So there you have it…25 Sexiest Man Alive cover names…Now I think there should be a few more in that list that just didn’t make it…Let’s start with the tv shows that I watch…

Shemar Moore – Criminal Minds as Derek Morgan; George Eads – CSI: Las Vegas as Nick Stokes; Christopher Meloni – L&O: SVU as Det. Stabler; Alex O’Laughlin – Hawaii Five-O as Steve McGarrett; LL Cool J – NCIS: LA as Sam; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – Wrestler & Actor…

These are just a few of the men who were on the cover of People’s magazine since 1985…The one chosen for 2010 is Ryan Reynolds..

Now I have a few I’d like to post that I thought should be on the cover…

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Christopher Meloni – Law & Order: SVU – Det. Stabler

Alex O’Loughlin – Hawaii Five-O as Steve McGarrett

Shemar Moore – Criminal Minds as Derek Morgan

So with all the people (women) out there, I guess there are many opinions and reasons why these men didn’t make it…Maybe one day compared to some of the ones who showed up on the cover of People’s magazine…

The Grandgirls – Trick or Treating 2010

2010-11-26T14:36:00.001-05:00

Halloween was on a Sunday this year and all 4 grandgirls got dressed up to go Trick or Treating or Trunk or Treating..Our youngest granddaughter, Anna, was dressed up for the Renaissance Period of time…Somehow, I don’t think the shoes would qualify but that’s okay cause our little princess looks awesome…Her mommy and daddy picked out a great costume for her to wear…Anna was able to go to the daddy’s hospital to Trick or Treat…then she got to “ride around” for Trick or Treating…What a doll!

After all was said and done and riding around getting all the candy that she could grab, she passed out…All that riding around just wore her out…LOL…

Kay, Bri & Lizzi went trunk or treating and trick or treating…According to their mommy, they got “loads” of candy…Kay got to be the devil, Bri was a diva and Lizzi was a princess….

They got to trunk or treat at Kay’s school and at their great aunt’s church on Halloween day…Then that night they got to go trick or treating around their aunt’s neighborhood..What a great time they had…

Unlike their cousin, Anna, these 3 girls didn’t pass out after going trick or treating…They had a 2 hour ride home and they were still awake when they got home…All they wanted was “CANDY”..Go figure!!! LOL

We hope all our girls had a fabulous time and they all looked adorable and pretty…I can’t wait to see what they will be next year…

Vinylmations – The New Craze for Disney

2010-11-11T07:53:00.001-05:00

The new craze for Disney guests are these plastic Mickey figurines that comes in many different designs…They are small, big, keychains, & trading pins…I am a little bit hooked on the trading pins but it depends on what the vinylmation pin looks like…They have plain white vinylmations that you can decorate yourself with stickers or use, I’m guessing, some sort of marker…A new store opened up on the West Side of Downtown Disney in April, 2010…Our walk to our truck from the boat dock took us past this store so we just had to walk in and see what it was all about…The first person we encounter is a Cast Member with a lanyard full of vinylmation pins…I went to trade for 2 of them (and Richard wanted to trade for 1 of the pins) and the Cast Member told us that we had to trade a vinylmation pin for a vinylmation pin…I did not have any of those pins with me cause the ones I have at home are the ones that I liked…I saw a 2010 Happy New Year’s pin that I liked and couldn’t get it…So sad…but we walked around the store and got some photos of what was there…

These are the little ones that you can hook on to your purse, zipper pull or put anywhere you want..These are only a few…

These are your normal sized vinylmations…This is The Muppet series vinylmations…These are about 2 1/2” high and cost about $10 each…

These are the Holiday series collection…

This is part of another type of series…There are several series to choose from…One of the series is the Urban Series and the Clear Series…There are Urban 1 Series, Urban 2 Series and so on…So much to choose from and many to like and want…Pictures help out a lot…LOL

These are the larger vinylmations…They are about 8 inches tall or so…They come in plain white or already decorated…The thing about the vinylmations is that they are in boxes and you do not know what vinylmation you will be getting…You may like a certain vinylmation but that don’t mean that you will get the one that you like…It’s a big surprise…Not sure if I like that or not especially if I just want a certain one and the larger vinylmations are about $20 each…For that kind of money, I want what I want…

This was different…Not sure if you can actually put any condiments in these but I wouldn’t want to…

In the store there is this large glass case of vinylmations…This is just a “few” of them…Some of these vinylmations I have as a trading pin like the vinylmation, 3rd row from the bottom, 2nd one from the left between the white/purple vinylmation and the lime green vinylmation…

All of these are very interesting and could be an expensive hobby…but I will stick to pictures and trading pins…The one trading pin or vinylmation that Richard would like to have is the Monorail vinylmation..I hope to find it one day for him…

A Relaxing Walk Around Saratoga Springs Resort

2010-11-11T07:10:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a gorgeous day so we thought we would do a little bit of exploring and see what Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa (SSR&S) was like…So we headed out to Downtown Disney to park the truck and take a small walk (hike) around the path from Downtown Disney to SSR&S…On the West Side of Downtown Disney is the House of Blues…Do you know that they want about $14 for a Cheesburger…We won’t be eating there…LOL

At first we thought we would take the boat from the West Side of Downtown Disney to the SSR&S boat dock and then get on the boat that would take us to SSR&S…However, after waiting about 10 minutes for the boat, we decided to walk the path…But while waiting, we saw an Anhinga just sitting in the sun…We thought he had a fish in his beak but when you look closer, what he actually has attached to his lower beak is a piece of netting…We figure that he went for a fish and caught a piece of the netting that is under the rocks/lake here at Downtown Disney…

After the walk (hike) to SSR&S, we found our way in via the gift shop/food shop…This wasn’t a very big shop..Only a few food vendors for the guests to grab a bite to eat and a very small shop…What I didn’t realize was the name of the Resort had to do with horse racing…I just never put 2 + 2 together until I saw this patch on a purse…

While walking around the shop, I came across this bottle of wine…Francis Coppola…Now is this the Francis Ford Coppola, the famous director of movies or another relation…I do know that this name is a relation to Nicholas Cage whose last name use to be Coppola…

Another bottle of wine that I found in the shop was a Fess Parker chardonnay…Anyone hear of Fess Parker…aka Daniel Boone…

I told Richard about the Fess Parker wine and he just had to get his picture taken with the bottle of Chardonnay…

At the Carriage House Check-in is a beautiful carriage from way back when…Someday it would be nice to take a carriage ride…Just sit back and relax…Maybe on a “chilly” day, snuggled up to my sweetie, hearing the clip-clop of the horses hooves…but at SSR&S they do not have carriage rides…One has to go to Port Orleans – Riverside or Fort Wilderness Campground..

This is a beautiful Carousel horse..The inside of the Carriage House is beautiful…They have little chairs for little guests while they enjoy tv while the parents check-in…The pictures around the Carriage House are “old” and tells you about reminiscing times…

SSR&S is a beautiful place…The landscaped grounds is kept well groomed…There are several “lakes” where you can see some wildlife floating around trying to get some lunch…The pretty pink fluff in more pretty in person than what this picture looks…

SSR&S is a huge resort on Disney property…We hardly touched a portion of the resort by walking…There are buildings all over the place and treehouses which we didn’t even get on the path to those but one day we will…In this lake above, we saw turtles, fish & a cormorant who actually got some lunch while we were taking photos…The cormorant found some small minnowes to have for his lunch…The turtles, 4 in all, were swimming over towards the bridge where we were standing to see if we would drop some food down to them but we didn’t have anything…Not even some cracker crumbs…Maybe next time..

Richard and I were walking around the loop of this section of SSR&S and the landscaping was beautiful…The trellises here were awesome but it made me think how more beautiful they would be if pretty flowers were on them…

Isn’t this gorgeous???

Anyone for a little “me” time? Here is the place to come…

This is where the kids can go for some entertainment while the parents are resting at the pool…

Believe it or not, this is where the food court/gift shop is…This is where a guest can buy a refillable cup for about $14 for their whole stay at the resort and not pay another penny for a drink like soda, hot chocolate & coffee…If one is staying a whole week, it most definitely pays to have this cup..Going back out of this shop ended our day at this resort…On to our boat ride to Downtown Disney and heading towards our truck…What a great afternoon I had…Of course, it is always great to share these days with my sweetie…Love you, babe!

Being a Proud Grandparent

2010-11-07T11:51:00.001-05:00

I remember when my kids were small and going to school…All the cool papers they would do, draw, create and want you to hang up at home…All the kids are grown and now have kids of their own…Right now the only child of mine who has a child in Elementary School is Brandi…Her daughter, Kay, is in 1st grade and for a while she was having some distracted interests in her classroom…With a new incentive program from home, Kay is doing wonderfully in school…Below is a very special award and her Poppy and I are very proud of her..

Another proud moment in our granddaughter’s life is when she looses a tooth….However, Kay lost 2 teeth within the same week…So what does she want for Christmas…Why, her 2 front teeth…When grandchildren start losing their baby teeth, you know they are growing up…I can’t believe that Kay is in 1st grade and doing so well…

Last night was a very special moment for Poppy and me…Kay read us a book over the phone…We felt so special…She did such a fantastic job…She read us the book about the monkeys jumping on the bed and one fell off and bumped his head…Poppy and I can’t wait until she can read us another book…Thank goodness for cell phones and ear pieces…

A Fabulous Day at Universal Studios, FL 10.7.10

2010-10-09T18:41:00.001-04:00

This day was such an awesome day for us…A few weeks ago, plans were set up with my brother, Nick (Phil) and his life partner, Michael, to get together for 1 day…They were going to West Palm Beach (WPB) for a week and during that week, they wanted to come up to where we were going to be and spend the day with us…What they wanted to do was go in to Universal Studios cause Nick wanted to see the new Harry Potter section at Islands of Adventure…Sure, let’s meet..Sounds like fun…

The night before, tho, Richard checked the prices for Universal Studios (US) and the prices were way too high for us to afford but we decided that we would walk the City Walk while they went to do their thing at Islands of Adventure…Well, the morning of 10.7, an email is sent to me and we are going in, courtesy of my brother…We meet them at Downtown Disney so we can all ride together and head to get some sort of breakfast…McD’s it is…It’s fast and easy…Then off to US for the day or until we are all done or until Nick says that they would like to leave about 4pm…OK, sounds good to me…

A parking spot is close to the walkway to the escalators that lead to the big City Walk…Nick gets all 4 tickets and off we go…All are excited (I think)..lol…We enter the walls of Islands of Adventure and we are off to the Harry Potter section…We had to go around Suess Landing, The Lost Continent to get to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter…The gate to the city was awesome…

Here we go…The first thing was the Dragons Challenge…The walk was longer than the ride and screaming was definitely there…OMG, I thought I was never going to stop screaming…Twists, Turns, Flips, Loop and Intertwine with each other..I could not wait for it to be over…It was an experience I think I will never forget but I DID IT!!! Richard and I were done for the day…So out of it…Nick and Michael seemed not phased by the ride…They were ready to drudge on…So Richard and I rested while they went to their next destination, Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey (which was in the castle)…It was a 2 hour wait line…I would have loved to just have seen the inside of the castle…

Richard and I had walked around to the Jurassic Park section and waited for them to be done…A slow, picture taking walk…Once to the Jurassic Park section, we went in to the Discovery Building and grabbed a seat…Richard went to get us a coke while we waited for a phone call…Nick and Michael conquered the 3D ride in the castle and Nick said it scared the bleep out of him…Glad we didn’t do it…LOL…Michael said it was different and scary…Off to the Jurassic Park River Adventure…It’s kinda like a plume ride but with bigger boats…

That’s our boat, JP16…We had the back seat and we were ready for our Dinosaur Adventure and getting wet…Luckily we didn’t get too wet like some others prior to our boat were looking…I think we were lucky…lol

After Jurassic Park, we started to walk towards Toon Lagoon & Marvel Super Hero Island…Nothing in Toon Lagoon and definitely nothing in Super Hero Island for Richard and I…Nick and Michael got on the Doctor’s Doom Fearfall ride…Nick said it wasn’t nothing…

Where are they??? I know Nick and Michael are up there somewhere…Here we go…D R O P! Scream!!!! Not for me…

Now I did find two things in Toon Lagoon section at a little store…2 signs - One for Michael and One for Richard…

and a look-a-like for Bruce Willis…lol…

or not…LOL

The time was nearing for us to end out of the Islands of Adventure…Time for a quick drink at – where else – none other than Margaritaville…

Yes, we all had an alcoholic drink of some kind…Richard had a pina colada, I had my Coors light, Michael had wine and Nick had a salty margarita…Yummy!! Tasted so good…Thanks to the bartender for taking our photo…It turned out great…Now off to Disney’s Animal Kingdom to the BOMA restaurant for our dinner…

I do want to say Thank You Very Much to my brother, Nick, for treating us all day today..Yes, we would have waited for Michael & you to do your thing at Islands of Adventure…It was such a pleasure to spend the day with you both…I’m glad we had the opportunity to do so…Thanks for your generosity…

A 6th B’day Party for Kayla

2010-10-09T17:56:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe how time is flying by…I remember when Kay was born…Being at the hospital waiting to hear if it was a girl or boy…Now those years have gone by and she is 6 years old this July, 2010…The plans were set in motion a year in advance about her party being held at Lake Ridge RV Resort in Hillsville, VA…A cabin was reserved for Brandi & her friend, Courtney along with Lizzi and Bri…Notices were given out way in advance to family/friends to come down to the resort, stay in a cabin & have some fun for the week/weekend…Most couldn’t make it but another friend of Brandi’s from work came down with her daughter, Caim & they tent camped for the weekend…

The party was a Pizza Party and it was being held up in the Crafts Room after the room had closed down for the day…Decorations were put all around, tables were set and the pizzas were ordered…I think 6 pizzas were ordered and almost every one of them were eaten…The guests were a few friends of Brandi’s & some friends of ours who we met in the past 3 years at Lake Ridge…The party theme was Hannah Montana…There were Hannah Montana (HM) plates, napkins & table cloths…The guests kept bringing in presents and they were placed on a separate table…Let’s eat! The time had come to start to eat after swimming…Swimming was from 4 – 5 pm and the Party was from 5pm – 6pm.

Presents galore…Kayla kept pulling out all kinds of HM clothes…She was very excited…Kayla even got some very non-HM clothes and her Walt Disney World Autograph & Picture books from when she visited WDW in Mar/Apr 2009…

After all the presents were opened up, it was time to sing the Birthday Song…The cake was ready and Kay was ready to blow out the candle….All the singing was done & the cake slices were on the plates, then came the ice cream sandwiches…Yummy!

Clean up came after the cake and ice cream…Kayla had such a great birthday day at Lake Ridge RV Resort…Michelle, Brittany & Samantha drove back to Cana, VA and Jessica, Gracie & Landon went back to their rv at the resort and Beverly went back to her pop-up at the resort…Jessica & Caim and Courtney plus Brandi & the girls came back to our rv to relax…It was a great day!

Oh yeah, we did have a little Ms. Hollywood on premises today after the party…That would be little Ms. Lizzi and her glasses…

Rving Bobs’ You Meet While Traveling

2010-08-26T22:59:00.001-04:00

In September 2003, one really don’t think much about all the people you meet from everywhere in the USA and sometimes people from other countries…Over the past years (almost 7 on Sept. 15), we have met so many couples in all the different Rv Parks that we have stayed at…Granted most of these couples are “older” than we are and that’s fine with us…So much so that we have actually “adopted” one older couple as aka Mom & Dad…But we owe meeting this couple to another couple who were next to our site at a place called Gettysburg Farm in Dover, PA…If it wasn’t for Richard building a “huge” campfire, we would have never met the following Bobs…

First was our neighbor Volvo Bob & Donna…He drove a huge freightliner that pulled his 40 ft. fifth wheel around the USA…It was big and black and looked scary to drive…His wife, Donna, didn’t drive that truck…When Richard built the campfire again, they came out and introduced themselves and that’s when I realized that they were from my part of the woods, Dundalk…They were from around that area and we had lots to talk about…Volvo Bob use to teach at my old alma mater, Dundalk High School…They were on their way over to their friends’ place and invited us over to meet them…Sure, why not…That’s what rving is about…Over the years, we have became good friends and have met in Pennsylvania and Florida and done things together…It’s been great knowing them and hope to keep on being friends with them as we all get older…

Volvo Bob & Donna on one of our trips to Epcot at Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL a few years ago…

Another Bob is Montana Bob & Glenda…Bob is called Montana Bob because we had to distinguish the difference between all 3 Bobs’ that we met all on the same night…Montana Bob has Montana fifth wheel that he pulls around with is “little” gray truck…We call them dad and mom…They are from around the York, PA. area…Sometimes when we go to restaurants together we fool the servers by saying that Bob is Richard’s dad and Glenda is my mom…He definitely throws them for a loop…but we are asked afterwards “Are we from West Virginia?”…LOL…Since the meeting, we have hung out with them in the Disney area…We play games, go out to eat, go in to Disney, meet other friends of theirs or whatever…Some day I know that they will stop rving and it will be a sad day for us…They have become like family to us but they are their 70’s and packing up & traveling takes it’s toll…

Montana Bob & Glenda on one of our trips to Epcot, World Showcase, at Walt Disney World…

One more couple that we met the same night of all the Bobs’ is Hitchhiker Bob & Rosie…He was called Hitchhiker Bob cause he pulled about a 36 ft. fifth wheel while rving…They are from New Jersey 100%…The accent Rosie has is awesome…We haven’t been able to see them as much as we do the other 2 Bobs’ but we were lucky enough to get to meet them and know them…When we all were in the Disney area (Florida) at this one park called Encore, we would always get together, grab a bite to eat, play games or just sit and talk at someone’s fifth wheel…The past few years have been rough on the both of them and we have not been able to see them…Just recently, Hitchhiker Bob passes away…He will be sorely missed but we know that he is not in pain anymore…

Hitchhiker Bob & Rosie at a park in Florida called Encore near Walt Disney World…

WE miss all our friends…WE love you all…

An Annapolis, MD Wedding – 8.9.10

2010-08-25T02:51:00.001-04:00

8.9.10 – That’s a wedding date for our son, Josh, and his love of his life, Sandy…They picked that month, day, & year so that neither one can forget their anniversary…How funny is that??? Unfortunately, Richard and I could not be there for this special moment in our son’s life…Sandy is a wonderful daughter-in-law with 2 great kids, Mary & Timmy…We don’t get to see them often enough but they are family now and have been since meeting them several years ago…The plan was to get married at a beach while a friend of Josh’s was going to marry them but before that weekend, the person was sick so that plan was out…But as always, one must have a back-up plan just in case of an emergency…The back-up plan was head to Annapolis, MD to the County Courthouse…The wedding time was around 3pm or so…Luckily there were family/friends attending who were taking pictures/or recording the marriage…The bride and groom were dressed to their coolest since it was a hot day…and it’s always hottest between 1pm and 4pm…Richard and I wish the new bride and groom many years of happiness, sorrows, good times, happy times, bad times, loving times and growing old together to become grandparents one day…Below are a few pictures of our new family getting married…

This is in front of the courthouse, Timmy Josh Sandy & Mary

Inside the courthouse, being married…Mary stood up for Sandy & Timmy stood up for Josh

Sandy & Josh exchanging vows – They had their own vows to say to each other

You may now kiss the bride…Mr. & Mrs. Joshua Barnes

The reception dinner at TGIF’s

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Joshua Barnes!

Welcome to our family Sandy, Mary & Timmy….We Love Ya’ll!

Getting together with my brother, Phil (Nick)

2010-08-16T22:13:00.001-04:00

How nice it is after many many years to finally let bygones be bygones…A few months ago, I decided to get in touch with my brother via Facebook…I didn’t know if he would talk to me or not but I thought I would try…I invited him and his better half, Michael, down to where we work in Hillsville, VA several months ago…He said he would see what he could do…Finally after seeing how he can work it in, Michael and Phil came down to the campground but had to spend 2 nights in town since we were booked…but it didn’t matter…Also, my nephew, Matthew and his girlfriend, Jessica, came down with them…The first day was awesome..It was great to see them enjoy themselves at the pool…

We all decided to go to a chinese restaurant for dinner…We had a nice big round table and had good conversation…A few pics were taken…

This is Michael and Phil…They have been together for about 15 or 16 years…I don’t quite remember what he told me…

This is my nephew Matthew on the left…Matthew didn’t talk much so we really didn’t have a lot to talk about…I am guessing he had fun while he was visiting here…

That night we had a good campfire…A bottle of wine and a bottle of Coors light…Nice weather for the evening…Richard made a great campfire…

Kayla’s Vacation to Lake Ridge RV Resort

2010-08-16T21:58:00.001-04:00

Kayla’s vacation started on May 3rd, 2010 when she traveled from her home in West Virginia to Virginia…She was so excited to ride in our big truck and to come spend time with her Poppy & Mommom…After the pools opened on Memorial Day weekend, the water still wasn’t warm enough yet…We waited until the first week in June to finally let her hit the kiddie pool here at Lake Ridge Rv Resort…

At the kiddie pool is a water slide…She spent a lot of time going up the stairs to the slides (there are 2 of them) and then slide down to the pool…What a blast to watch her have so much fun…

Kayla met some new friends while here at Lake Ridge…Two of the girls she met visits every weekend for a month and while she was outside one evening, one of the girls, Gracie, came over to talk to her…Gracie and Kayla hit it off…They have been best buddies since they met…Gracie is with her while they are getting in the big pool…and Mom, don’t worry, Gracie’s dad was in the big pool and was watching her real good…

This is Gracie’s dad, Jason…We met them over a cake eating contest for Mardi Gras themed weekend here at Lake Ridge…Gracie’s mom, Jessica, and I started talking and Jason was helping Poppy clean up the mess after the cake eating contest…I believe Mardi Gras weekend was the second weekend in June…Ever since meeting them and talking to them, they have fallen in love with Kayla…Gracie immediately invited Kayla over to their camper for a sleepover…Their camper is right behind ours…So the girls and Gracie’s brother, Landon, was having a blast in the pool…

Gracie, Kayla & Jason in the big pool just having fun…It is the first time she has been in the big pool since being with us…We have not had time to take her or she is with her new friends the whole weekend…

Poppy and I are so glad that Kayla has made friends…Another one of her friends is Grace…Their camper is a few sites up from ours and when Grace is here, Kayla will go over there and see if she can play…

Eastern Shore Visit – 4.24-25.10

2010-08-16T21:57:00.001-04:00

It has been nice to go to a place just to relax and enjoy an old friendship…Go out to dinner late and just talk...To sleep on a real soft couch and wake up to sunshine coming in big windows…It was just great to see my old friend and her hubby again…Friendships do last even if you don’t talk often or see one another for years…

My friend is Mechelle and I’ve known her since the mid nineties…We met at Civil Engineering firm and it took a while to warm up to her but after a while, we became great friends…I miss her a lot…

This weekend we enjoyed our s l o w time and just talked…She has a great garden with a great big tree in the back yard and a nice swimming pool…Mechelle has worked on her house for years and you can tell it…It is just a very relaxing place to be…I loved coming to her home on the Eastern Shore on weekends and just relax with her…I miss those times…

The morning of us leaving, their cherry blossom tree was losing it’s leaves…Richard was making it “snow”…It was pretty awesome…

Richard couldn’t resist shaking that tree on everyone…He even had to get Doug, Mechelle’s hubby, in on it…

Mechelle has always had a green thumb…When she bought the house, there were no plants…Now there are trees, plants, shrubs, fences, gates, little ponds, a big garden, etc. around her house…It’s beautiful…

and the flowers are beautiful…Times are hard and at some point I know my friend wants to sell this beautiful home and whoever gets this piece of land and home will be greatly happy…

This is Doug’s dog house…It is actually Mechelle’s work place for her garden…It’s like a very small home on the outside…Behind it is a little play area for Doug’s girls…Mechelle does a wonderful job with everything…

My best friend who lives very far away from me is awesome even tho at first I did not like her…but now I love her like my sister…I miss her greatly…

Football Season Has Begun...GO RAVENS!!

2010-08-15T17:57:00.000-04:00

Ravens football season has begun with the first preseason game on August 12, 2010 at 8pm on ESPN...Flacco looked good and I got to see my favorite player, Kelly Gregg 97...All the other players for the first quarter looked good....Missed seeing Ed Reed on the field...The only person I was not impressed with was Marc Bulger...Where did he come from and why? I would have thought that the Ravens would have tried to fill the 2nd quarterback spot with Troy Smith...Give him play time...

Do you recognize these bad boys of the defense??

The thing I miss most about the football season is going to Ravens camp at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD...but I have heard that getting autographs is harder to get now but I did enjoy getting many pictures of all the players...I have 2 white Ravens tee shirts with many autographs....One day when I really want to take them out of the plastic baggie that keeps them nice, I will take photos of them and post them...

Luckily, again this season, we joined the Directv Football Package...We enjoy watching all the games on our 32" flat screen tv...only wish we had surround sound...The only game we don't get to see if the Ravens play Houston...Why you ask..It's because our home directv residence is in Livingston, TX which is "close" to Houston...The best part is that if we are busy, the game is recorded and we can watch it later on and just skip by all commercials and other commentatives...

So good luck to all the teams out..The Ravens have a great Coach with John Harbaugh...The team now has some terrific talent...All we have to do is put it all together and become AFC North Champs and then go to Dallas for the Super Bowl...

I purchased 2 mini garden flags...One for the yard and one for hanging on our screen door...Then I got me a pair of Flacco earrings, #5...The CRW Flags company located in Glen Burnie, MD also had some pins that I ordered...Only got 3 - Edgar Bobble Head Pin #101, Baltimore Ravens Memorial Stadium Pin & a AFC North Champs 2006 Pin...I just hung up those pins on the window curtain near my chair...I'd love to have a few more pins that the have like the Inaugural Pin Set...I remember going to a Ravens game when they first played at the now removed Memorial Stadium, the place of the late 60's-early 70's Baltimore Orioles...Now everything is in Downtown Baltimore...If only the Ravens stadium was called Raven Park at Camden Yards and not M&T Bank Stadium, how bla-zay...

Let's go Baltimore Ravens...I'm looking forward to whooping some butt at the new Meadowlands Stadium...Play hard and smart...I'll be wearing my Purple and Black on game days...

My Bucket List - My First Harley Ride 7.10.10

2010-07-15T03:24:00.000-04:00

I saw a movie called The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman...I thought to myself "What is a bucket list?"...Now I know...It's things that you would like to do before you pass away...I haven't really thought that I had a bucket list until I had my chance to have my very first motorcycle ride...Then I realized that riding a Harley was one of my life's things that I wanted to do...

Richard and I met this couple here at Lake Ridge in the middle of June...Their names are Jason and Jessica...They have 2 kids, Gracie and Landon (ages 9 and 6)...They were here for 10 days starting July 2 but before that they were here every weekend for a month (monthly rate for their camper)...That's when I found out that Jason had a motorcycle and that he was going to bring it to Lake Ridge for those 10 days...Since we became close, I figured I could ask if I could get a "small" ride on his Harley...(This is the same family who "adopted" Kayla)...So on July 10 about 5:40pm, after work, I finally got about a 40 minute ride with Jason on his Harley...

No, I did not make Jason ride without his shirt...His wife told him too...*raspberries*

I had to have help putting on the helmet ( the straps were difficult)...

Getting ready to leave Lake Ridge...

Whoo hoo!! I was so excited...Do my legs look too short?? LOL...

Coming back to Lake Ridge...(See, our truck/rv is in the background)...What an exhilarating ride...

The end of my ride...Parking the Harley...Kayla is sitting on Jason's lap...Gracie and Landon wanted in the picture too...Landon was "upset" that I took "his seat"...Jessica was taking the photo...

I had such a fun ride...It is so different to see the countryside without a truck window in front of you...The air is cool and you really don't feel how hot the sun is...I can see why there are so many motorcyclers out there...The view is totally different...I even had music in my helmet...

Kayla's Vacation to Lake Ridge - Pt. 3

2010-07-06T14:03:00.035-04:00

Hey Mommy...Look, I've got tattoos...Mommom helped me have them...What ya think???

Kayla and her flower tattoos...They lasted about 2 days..

Yummy! Mozzarella cheese sticks for lunch...

Kayla working on a craft that she wanted to do for her Mommy...She loves her and misses her alot...

Since Kayla is on vacation, she has actually made some pretty cool friends...Plus she has had the couple above "adopt" her...Their names are Jason and Jessica...They are the nicest 2 people here at Lake Ridge and Kayla took to them and the 2 kids as if they were family...

The 2 kids are Gracie and Landon...Gracie is 3 years older than K and Landon is 6 yrs. old...They have enjoyed K being around 24/7 as if K was their sister...It is so cool to see them all play together...

These are the 3 Amigos...When all 3 of the girls are here together camping at the same time, (K is always here with us LOL), they play together...On the left is Gracie, in the middle is Grace and on the right is our K...They had such fun together in the pools (big an kiddie) and also going down the waterslides (more pics to come)...

As you can tell, all of the kids were dressed for Disney weekend here at Lake Ridge...The girl in the cowboy was Jessie from Toy Story...Her name is Sarah...Sarah is a friend of Gracie's in her home town about a 2 hour ride from here...Sarah also became a friend of K's...All of the kids got to ride in the mustang...

Disney weekend...Who do we have here??? Oh no, it's that evil puppy snatcher from 101 Dalmatians...but this evil puppy snatcher is a sweet little girl who K is best friends with...Our lovely Jasmine, makeup and outfit...K did have a crown in her hair but I guess she lost it to her Prince..LOL

Another chapter will begin tomorrow, K's vacation - Pt. 4 - Being in the water...

Kayla's Vacation to Lake Ridge - Pt. 2

2010-07-06T11:19:00.036-04:00

Kayla has had a good time in the crafts room...She does get bored if she is not doing something every minute of the day...We had gone to Michaels in Christiansburg to get her some crafts to do...So far, as of today July 6, she has only done a couple of her crafts...Been too busy with pool to be bothered with them...LOL

What ya think of Kay's sailboat? She did a great job of making it and named it Sparkler...

This craft that Kayla worked on is a secret...It is something very special that she wanted to do for her Mommy...Kayla chose all her stencils and the colors she wanted to use for everything...She was very creative...Kayla was also working on a Lake Ridge tee that she finally finished last week...LOL

In late June we had Disney weekend...Luckily I still had the princess outfits from when Kayla and her sister, Brianna, went to Disney World...So from out under the bed I brought out the outfits and Kayla decided she wanted to be Jasmine...Her friends, Gracie and; Landon, were going to be in costume too...That Saturday night, there was going to be a Costume Hayride...Jessica and Jason had Kayla for the weekend and she got all the kids ready for the hayride...Kayla was Jasmine, Gracie was Cruella DeVille and Landon was Pinocchio, strings and all...

Here is our little Jasmine..

Gracie as Cruella DeVille

Landon as Pinocchio (Strings attached)

The kids got to ride in the Mustang up to the Hayride area...Lucky kids!!

Hayride...

The ride after the hayride...

Kayla had a blast...She was all made up with makeup and all...Hair was done...and her tan made her look even better...Jessica did a fantastic on her kids costumes...At the hayride, I took the pictures so I could pick out who was the Disney Hayride Costume winner...Needless to say, I had a tie..There was only a few kids who dressed up and out of those kids, they only put on a dress or held something and pretended they were a Disney character...I couldn't pick our own little Jasmine cause I didn't want people to think we were playing favoritism...Although we wanted her to be a winner...But in our hearts, she is a winner, Always! Below are the pics that I made for the 2 winners, Gracie and Landon...I could not pick between brother and sister...

Kayla's Vacation - Lake Ridge RV Resort - Pt. 1

2010-07-06T11:11:00.000-04:00

Kayla is having a blast here at Lake Ridge in Hillville, VA...She has been doing so much and has made several friends while being here with us...
Her vacation started on May 3 when we left her home in West Virginia...We drove for almost 5 hours and she did really good for the length of time...We stopped at Bob Evans for breakfast and had a good meal...It actually lasted us until we got home...
Kayla has been up in the crafts room with me, her mommom...She helps me out with guests by getting water, their brushes or just sitting at their table watching them do their craft...She has made several acquaintances with this process...Katie was a teenage girl who would let Kayla sit with her while she did her craft...Kayla would bring her craft to Katie's table and they would work together...People ask if she is my daughter and right away I say "No, she is my granddaughter"...I love saying that...It makes me so proud...

Here at Lake Ridge the pools weren't ready until Memorial Day weekend...The heaters in the pool were getting the pools warmed up...Kayla was ready to get her swimsuit on and go swimming..Her goal this year was to swim in the big pool all by herself with no help with water wings or a floatie...The slide was put at the kiddie pool last year, 2009...All the kids have enjoyed going down the slide...As you can see, Kayla is getting ready to head to the top and make her way down...She has a blast...

Splash!!!

Here's our Kayla girl getting ready to get out of the kiddie pool and go back to the slide...She did this so much that she wore herself out...Kayla did play with other kids in the kiddie pool which is rare for her...She made friends with another girl, Grace...Poppy and I know her family well...

Kayla with no swimmies on...She is such a big girl!!

Before this time of her getting in the pools, she had become friends with a little girl and her brother, Gracie & Landon...Their dad, Jason, was down at their rv for a visit waiting on their mom to show up...Gracie and Kayla became friends instantly...Kayla was sitting outside on our deck swinging her feet when Gracie & Landon came over to say HI...Ever since that evening they have been very close...So much so that Jason kept an eye on Kayla while they were at the pools...I had told Kayla that she could not go in to the big pool without Poppy or I and one day while looking out the big crafts room window, I saw her getting ready to jump in the pool...It freaked me out at first but then I saw Jason...He stayed with her the whole time...He was teaching her to use the noodle and how to swim with it...His wife, Jessica, is very nice too...Jason, Jessica, Gracie & Landon have "adopted" her...They come and get her when they are here and keep her the whole time...Kayla is having the time of her life and she needed so badly...Poppy and I got to know Jason and Jessica after a cake eating contest for Mardi Gras weekend back around June 12...Their rv is right behind ours so we know that we can keep an eye on Kayla and when I'm up in the crafts room, I can see how she is doing...So the picture below is the very first time she has decided to get in the big pool...

This is Jason with Kayla...He stuck by her the whole time they were in the pool...I thanked him for being there and helping her...

The little guy behind Kayla and Jason is Landon...He kept up with them as if he was protecting her too..

I don't know if you can really see Kayla's face but she is pretty happy being in the big pool...

The girl with the pink noodle is her new best friend, Gracie...

This all took place around June 17th...Kayla has not been out of the kiddie pool or the adult pool since she has arrived here...Everyday all she wants to do is go swimming...She grabs her goggles, towel, and has sunblock put on and down the steps through a secret passage to the doors that lead to the pools...I am so glad she is having a blast..

Lizzi’s 3rd Birthday – May 2

2010-05-18T21:39:00.001-04:00

Elizabeth turned 3…I don’t know where the years have gone but they have gone by very fast…

Each year a special day comes around and some of us look forward to it while others just want it to go by…But little kids love it when it is their day…Balloons, Cake or Cupcakes, Party Favors, Drinks, Games & then the Presents…This day was no exception for our 3rd granddaughter, Elizabeth…

Brandi came up with a very good idea for a cake…Cupcakes put together with icing going across all the cupcakes…Then decorate it…Wow! What an awesome idea and all the kids/adults liked having their own cupcake(s)…Brandi did a great job on her daughter’s cake…

Lizzi don’t realize that her “ears” are on backwards…but she had a blast taking her Princess crown ears on and off…Her Princess Mickey Ears was bought at Disney when Brianna was on vacation…We thought Lizzi was coming to Disney in March for a few days…What a better surprise than on her birthday…

Here is the little Princess spinning in her Princess dress…She looked so beautiful in her pink & black dress…It’s a wonder that her ears didn’t fall off…

One of the birthday presents that Elizabeth received was that she wanted her ears pierced…There is a friend of Brandi’s, Gary, who wanted to get her ears pierced as her present…But it turned out that the price was a bit more than we both anticipated so we joined in the present cost…It take Lizzi forever to pick out a “nice” pair of earrings…She did a wonderful job in not crying…Talk about being proud of a little girl who should have cried when the first earring went in her ear…Lizzi picked out little diamond earrings…

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Lizzi, Happy Birthday to you!!! whoo hooo!!!!

Attending the birthday bash were Gramms, Aunt Sarah, MJ, Keylie (I know this isn’t spelled right) & Courtney…Then there is Uncle Josh, Poppop…A pretty good family/friend gathering…

The others attending were Poppy and Mommom (the one taking the pictures), along with Mommy, Kayla & Brianna...

Some more attending the birthday bash were Gary, Brandi's friend, Gary's son Brent and Brent's friend...They traveled from Pennsylvania to be at Lizzi's party...

On the far left is Uncle Josh and on the far right is Poppy (Richard)...In the middle is Gary with his son, Brent and Brent's friend...

After singing Happy Birthday, Lizzi got her "cupcake" to eat...She truly enjoyed her chocolate cupcake...Then came the opening of the presents...Lizzi got plenty of great stuff...

Lizzi received a beautiful Princess Tiana dress with Tiana flipflops...She received a tea set, a hairdressing kit, a big erasable marker board and clothes...This little girl made out very well...What a wonderful birthday party...The kids even had bubbles to use outside...Plus a swing set in the back yard...Brandi decided to have grilled hamburgers & hot dogs, chips and drinks...