Epcot

Here's a few pictures from Sunday's trip to Epcot. We parked at the Boardwalk again today. When you enter the Boardwalk Resort they have one of these big sofas on each end of the foyer. I love them . They are so big and comfy! I wonder if they would notice me dragging one of them out the front door?

We entered Epcot through the international gateway before the world showcase was open so it was like we had England and Canada all to our self. This picture is the street of England. You can see the red telephone booth behind Braden.

Braden posed for a picture in Canada. The sun was a little bright.
We did the Figment ride. It's one of Braden's favorite. The ride exits into this fun interactive play area. Our kids love playing around in there. Again we didn't have many kids to share with...
On the way out we stopped in England to meet Alice.
Then we had to stop and see Mary Poppins. Braden has a crush on her. He says she has a pretty voice. We've been trying to find the movie for him to watch. It's a tough one to find.

Epcot was very empty. We had planned on doing 5 attractions and having lunch but instead we did 7 rides, ate lunch, meet 2 characters and still left an hour earlier than planned. Ashlyn is now 40" so we got to ride Soarin' as a family for the first time. She wasn't afraid at all! She loved it.

Braden tackled the thrill rides for the first time. We had planned on doing Test Track but since we had so much of the park to our self, they did both test track and Mission:Mars. Ashyn and I shopped and played in the little astronaut area while the boys did their thing.

Another Busy Weekend!

This weekend was so busy! We kicked off the weekend Friday night at Nanny's 86th birthday. 86!!!! We met the family at the beach for some yummy pasta and then ice cream. Happy Birthday Nanny!!!

Sidenote: I love lOVE LOVE Cold Stone's banana ice cream!

We drug ourselves out of bed Saturday morning for Braden's soccer game. He didn't have any goals this week. In fact the picture below is the only time that he even really touche the ball. His team had the early game so we had to be there at 8:30. He spent most of the game standing like a statue in the middle of the field. He didn't give any effort. Hopefully he'll try some next game.
After the game, I volunteered to watch Ava. Braden and Ashlyn both had such a great time with her here. They love their little cousin!
Ava loved Ashlyn's baby stroller. She spent almost the entire time pushing it around the house. Which was adorable! She hasn't been walking very long so it makes me smile watching here toddle around.

After Ava went home, we watch the Hogs take their weekly beating. Then we went to our happy place to forget about it. We spent Sunday at Epcot. I'll post those pics later. I'm out of time now. I have to be in the parent loop in 15 minutes.

Great Cause & Great Blog Candy

As I was blog surfing a few days ago I found a link to a HUGE blog candy giveaway. It really is an amazing prize but cause behind the prize is just as wonderful. The giveaway is to lift up and honor the caregivers of Alzheimer patients.

Being married to a nurse, I know that they work hard without much praise. So if you know someone that is a caregiver or know someone who has a caregiver, make them a card today.

Here's the card I made. If you make a card make sure you check out the awesome blog candy. The link is below.

http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/2008/09/heart-to-heart-blog-candy.html

KA BOOM!!!!

KA BOOM!!!! I'm pretty sure a bomb went off in my house Sunday afternoon. Friday, I cleaned both Braden and Ashlyn's room. I spent the whole day putting all the My lil' pony stuff together, the Barbies together, Transformers, funkeys, .....etc....etc.....etc. It was all perfectly neat and orderly.

Sunday I went out shopping for a little "me" time and when I returned 3 hours later this is what it looked like. WHAT IN THE WORLD???? There is no way they were actually playing with all these toys. (Unless they were playing War of the Worlds or something.)

They are LUCKY that they are so darn cute!!!

Dogs on the Boardwalk

Saturday night after we finished watching the Hogs take their beating, we headed out to Disney. We decided to go to the Boardwalk. Mike and I haven't been there since our honeymoon. We had planned on eating at ESPN but being a Saturday during football season, it was packed! So we went with hot dogs on the boardwalk for dinner.

I loved it!!! It was nice having room to spread out and take our time. Ashlyn was able to wander around without us worrying about the crowds. We checked out the stores there too. Usually there are so many people trying to walk around that it can be hard with 2 kids and a stroller but it wasn't like that on the Boardwalk.

That had it's down side too, though, because Braden and Ashlyn were able to have really check out the loot. They picked out almost the entire store to buy "tomorrow". I'll have to win the lotto to buy all the stuff that wanted. When Braden catches on that "tomorrow" means most likely never, I'll be in trouble!!!


Our original plan was to spend the night and then spend today at Epcot. We got to the hotel at around 10 pm. We then found out that we had a small hiccup in our plan. Our reservations were made for next weekend somehow (MIKE!!!! We didn't hold it against him though). At 11 pm we started home. I was so tired!!!

Now the big dilemma is..... do we go back to Disney next weekend? We've already paid for the room. It'd be like throwing money away! What kind of parenting would that be? ;)

GO HOGS GO!!!

Mike always wanted to share his love of football with his kids. I'm not sure if he thought it would be his little girl who would be all amped up for the games though. Ashlyn loves all sports. Braden....not so much.

another soccer weekend.

Today we spent another Saturday morning at the soccer complex. The zebra's lost again today 6-10. Braden scored a goal (for our team!!! and NONE for the other team!) so he was really excited. I have yet to get a picture of him scoring. I always seem to miss it.

He was also excited because today was our snack weekend. He had fun handing out the powerades and granola bars to his team.

I'm sorry if y'all are getting tired of looking at the same pictures every week. Soccer is a big part of our life right now. But don't worry..... we are leaving in a few hours for Disney so I'll have lots of pictures to share next week. ;)

Out with Pink. Hello Purple!

Ashlyn and I went on a little shopping spree today. It was fun watching her. At three she is already an experienced shopper. She is so cute because she really shops! She goes from display to display and says cute things like "Oohh pretty flowers." I try to guide her but she doesn't even know that I'm there. In fact today I got a lot of "Umm, maybe NO!" from her today. I guess her taste has officially surpassed mine.hee hee hee.

She ended up with 2 dresses, a new swim suit (which turned out to be a size to big), a hat, and a set of white pom pom pony tail holders. Other than the pony tail holders, everything she bought was purple. I guess she's had enough pink. I did convince her to get a green dress with purple butterflies instead of the purple dress with green butterflies. That was the only time today she even considered my opinion.

Of course, she had to try on everything as soon as we got home. Like a true diva,though, she wasn't into having her picture taken after a long day at the mall.

6x6 mini album

I made this cute little 6x6 mini album with MBI's August kit. It was featured in the August Newsletter. I loved this project. It is made with just 1 sheet of double sided paper. JUST ONE SHEET.

I designed it with a little hidden page for more pictures or journaling. Here's the link to the MBI University for the step by step instructions and more photos.

http://www.memorybookinspirations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=113&t=5130

First GOAL--- for our team!

Today was Braden's second soccer game. His team lost 6-15 but they did much better!!!! Braden played a lot better. He did tucker out after the 3rd quarter but he scored his first goal (we're not counting last weeks since it was for the other team ;) ). He was really excited. He threw his hands into the air and enjoyed his moment. Then a few plays later he scored again...... for the other team. He gets confused when they switch goals but we're proud of him. He played hard.

At the Park

Yesterday Ashlyn and I went out scouting birthday locations for Braden's coming birthday. We were going to have it at the park he plays soccer at. The pavilion at that park isn't maintained by the city but by the firefighter athletic league. The city pavilions cost $55 for the day. The athletic league charges $200 for the day. Two hundred for a pavilion is a little much.

We then considered McDonald's. If half of his classmates come +his soccer team+ a few friends from church+ a few preschool friends + his cousins= WAY MORE THAN WE CAN AFFORD!!! So we decided that a city park would be the best location. This is the newest park in our city and it is GREAT!!! Since it's just a few months old everything is very clean---including the bathrooms. I was nervous about the bathrooms. I know the bathrooms at the little city park in my hometown were always nasty or locked because they weren't working.

Ashlyn had fun testing out the equipment. Woody and Jessie (from Toy Story) helped her. You can see them on the slide next to her. This is a really neat park. All the areas are handicap accessible. They have special benches & swings. The walk ways on the ground and on the equipment are all wide enough for wheelchairs and walkers. There is that rubbery floor under most of the equipment instead of mulch so wheelchairs and walkers can move around easy. It was a neat park.

We have a call out the park and rec department. I hope it's available his birthday weekend.

2 Down!!

Braden lost another tooth today! I promise I'm not knocking them out! Yesterday on the way home from church, he said his teeth hurt. He even let me wiggle it to see just how loose it was. I thought about surprising him then and just pulling it real quick. I knew that he would have freaked though so I left it.

It came out this evening while he was eating. That's two in just one week! I hope the tooth fairy stops at the ATM on the way home from work!!!!

GOAL!!!!

There's my handsome soccer player! The teams didn't pick the uniforms. They were assigned. There is a black team, red, maroon, purple, neon green, dark green, silver, orange, yellow,......... All those colors and our team got white. I'll have to buy a big bottle of shout! This week Braden didn't fall but he did dribble his orange gatorade down the front of it. I guess that's part of breakng it in.

The league doesn't keep score for Braden's age group. The league doesn't. Mike does!!! He has issues with playing just for fun. I think part of sports is learning how to deal with losing (and winning too!) Today they lost 4-15.

The Tigers (maroon team) had a little super star! She was a tiny little thing but she was AWESOME! Braden had one goal....it was just for the wrong team. I think everyone does that at least once. He just got his out of the way really early. Other than that he did have one assist and a few really good passes. I think that was pretty good considering he's only played two times prior. Maybe next week he'll get a goal for his team (hee hee hee!).

Pictures with Nanny and Greg.

The Other One

Braden has been getting a lot of attention the past few weeks. He started school, he started soccer, he learned to body surf, he went kayaking, and then today he lost his first tooth. I thought I share a few pictures of Ash. We thought she would be starting dance class Saturday but the class was canceled. I guess they didn't have enough kids to fill the class. I'll have to find something new for her to do. (You know something besides being totally adorable!)

Toothless

Today on the way home from school Braden was going on an on about a new kid in his class. Then all of a sudden he mentions that his tooth came out while he was eating a round apple. WHAT????? Mike and I both were shocked but sure of enough he lost his first tooth today at lunch. Last week I noticed that he had a gap between two of his bottom teeth and one of them was slightly loose. I didn't expect it to fall out for a few more weeks.

The tooth didn't make it home. Well I guess it did make it home but it's not accessible. He swallowed it! I really would like to have it but I'm not going to look for it. Braden thought Mike should look for it because he's a nurse. I think that he should too. He has more experience in that area.

We've decided to write a note to the tooth fairy and leave it under his pillow instead of looking for the tooth. Braden doesn't care. He just wants the dollar.

Kayaking Safari

Our little local zoo has a kayaking tour that Mike has done before but this weekend was Braden's first time. At first he said NO WAY because he thought the alligators and crocs were in the water. After we explained that the the gators and crocs lived by themselves on the other side of the zoo, he was ready to give it a try.

I thought he would just sit there while Mike did all the paddling but Braden immediately starting paddling. He did well too. I'm not sure what animals they saw besides the giraffes but I know they got really really close to them. The giraffes walked up to the waters edge when they paddled by.