FLORIDA: Part I

Looking for jelly fish.










We've been looking forward to this 11 day trip to Florida for months. We booked our resort awhile ago and it is great timing to break up the summer. We were off for a long drive, but excited the whole time. We stayed in Pensicola the 1st night and then went to a nearby beach there. There were jelly fish everywhere, so we did a lot of digging in the sand. The sand was white and beautiful!

Outside of our room.

These are all made of Legos.














We got to Orlando and went to a ward on Sunday. Nice people. We then checked into our resort. We loved that it had a kitchen and we were ready to do Disney that week. The next night we went to downtown Disney. Jake was in heaven. Austin and Matthew slept the whole time!
















We first went to Magic Kingdom. OK, how did ALL of my kids get to love roller coasters. I detest them. Why would going upside down and in circles in a seat your barely buckled into be fun? Sean and the kids loved the big rides and my excuse was staying with Matthew. I loved seeing them have fun! It rained every day we were there, but we had our little panchos and it worked in our favor. After awhile the parks would start to clear out. We were soaked to the bone sometimes, but it was great!


Arrrgh! Getting stuck on the Pirates of the Carribean ride...in the dark...right before the big drop. Yes, we survived!


Oh, when I was coming off the Peter Pan ride with Jake we saw Kobe Bryant. He was about 2 feet away getting on the ride with his wife and daughters. Man is he tall!

4th of July

I love everything about the 4th of July...the fireworks, red/white/blue, bbqs, swimming, watermelon, and family time. Kristen and Kelly came in town from Austin and we swam and bbqed at Heathers. That night we went to the Frisco Soccer Stadium and saw a band, fireworks and then the Temptations. The kids were out late, but we had a great time. Jake and Austin's favorite part was playing with their light-up lightsabers down on the field. Too funny to watch their "moves".

Who Knew the Antique Roadshow was so Fun!

My great sis-in-law, Heather, called and asked if I wanted to go to the Antiques Roadshow at the Dallas Convention Center. Her company-Liberty Mutual-was sponsering it, so she had tickets. I hesitated at first, but I looked at it as a great "girls afternoon" together.


Mother/Daughter time


I have to say that it was the most interesting and fun afternoon!!! We got a back stage tour and saw how they organized and filmed everything. I was fascinated and wished I had brought some ancient valuable to have it looked at. Taylor's favorite part was winning a T-shirt and one of mine was laughing so hard as a lady from PBS told us a hilarious story. (If anyone wants to know the pedicure story just let me know).



Of course our trip was not complete until we stopped at Sprinkles afterwards! Gotta love those cupcakes.

Surprise Anniversary Morning

Taylor spent the night before our anniversary at her friend Sydney's house. Kimberly took them to the store and Taylor bought (with her own money) muffins for breakfast, streamers, confetti, star sunglasses, and a fun cake. Tay surprised us in the morning with this spread of goodies. I couldn't get over it. She is the sweetest daughter there ever was :)I sure love our Taylor girl.

10th Anniversary

Sean and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary. Time truly flies!!! I have the best guy ever. He is amazing. I took some time to reflect on "HIM". Let me share...

His Likes: (things he is passionate about)
Aviation
His family
The solar system
The church (everything about it)
Travel
Sports (watching, playing, coaching)
Animal Planet
Comedies
Me!
Long showers
Maps
Good 80's songs
Talk radio
Missionary work
Boating
Sushi
Good basketball shoes
"Combos"
Hot tubs

His Dislikes:
Women driving while talking on cell phones
When the boys miss the toilet
Cutting nails over carpet-yuck
Bad drivers
Lots of shopping
Cheap trash bags
Sad movies
When he gets hit in the face/head :)

What I Love About Him:
Watching him be a great dad
His nicknames for me
The twinkle in his eyes when he talks about his family and about flying
The way he does his hair-it's an art
When he gets fired up about politics
When he gives me tickles
When I go out with friends, etc. and he says "have a great time or enjoy"
When we talk or play Uno

Lake Lewisville on a Perfect Afternoon

On a perfect Friday afternoon we went out to Lake Lewisville with the Plowmans. We had a blast with them! I was the 1st to try wakeboarding and got up on my 2nd try. I was secretly hoping it would take Sean awhile to get up, but of course he was up on his 1st try and stayed up longer than I did. Darn! Jake tried and had a great attempt, then Taylor tried and got up! It was fun to just feel the breeze while riding in the boat and play in the water. (it was fun seeing the Perkes and Palmers there too).
Go Sean!
Go Taylor!
Go me! Why isn't there a picture of me actually up.

School is Out...Summer Begins!

What a great year. Taylor finished 2nd grade and Jake finished Kindergarten. They were both wonderful teachers and the kids learned so much. What great memories! Here a couple of pictures from the last day of school.