Homefull

Well, just as soon as you say one thing everything changes right!?

We may not be homeless for Halloween after all, in fact it looks like we'll be homeFULL!

We were going to wait until the end of November to close on the house for one reason only. We were hoping to get the tax credit. We sold our home in Blackfoot 3 years ago at the end of November, so we thought we had to wait 3 years from the time we OWNED ANY home. In talking with our loan officer I had a couple questions that came up as to whether we were even going to qualify for it at all or not.

As it turns out, we moved up here 3 years ago last week, so our home was NOT considered our PRINCIPAL residence during Oct & Nov of 2006, which is what they go by. So we moved everything up and we're hoping to close this week and be moved in early next week! Our loan officer called the IRS to double check everything, so it looks like we'll still qualify just fine, but they warned we'll probably have to send in some kind of proof. YAY!

We're busy getting things packed up and headed for the door!

Nikkya had a fun birthday! She came crawling into my bed about 5am sunday morning and whispered, "Am I 3 now?" It was the cutest thing ever! She wanted to open presents so bad! I don't think she even cared what was in them, she just wanted to OPEN OPEN OPEN! We got her a princess kitchen set! She loves it, we've been eating lots of pretend food so far this week! We also got her a diaper bag full of stuff for all her babies, Hannah Montana stuff for her new bedroom, a couple outfits, and a few other little things. Hannah Montana was the theme of the day! Her grandparents all came over, and she got to see most of her aunts and uncles too! We had a little BBQ at our apartment amidst all our boxes and moving mess! Grandma Stander got her the Snow White movie on Blu Ray! We all love it!

Kudos to Walmart in Ammon who made the cake and managed to turn her name into Kikkya! :)That's officially the silliest version we've seen of her name yet! Of course I didn't even notice until it was time to light the candle!

At the end of the day I was cleaning up and turned around to find this!

Next time I post I fully plan on being a homeowner in our cute little new home! :)

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I'm almost a month early in saying it, but lets face it... I probably won't post again before it's too late. But with good reason!!

It's STILL not a done deal, but we'll probably be HOMELESS during Halloween! As of the 15th of October we'll be all set to close on the house in Shelley (as long as nobody else makes a better offer on it in the next 9 days!) come the end of November. So... We figured we could save Novembers rent and move out before the end of this month if all goes as planned. If our parents will have us for a few weeks over Halloween and Thanksgiving that is! :) We're not sure yet, but it would be nice to pocket that money instead of paying for this silly apartment for another month. We'll see!

Due to the probability of our temporary homelessness, we're all ready for Halloween here! We've been decorated for over a week (since we'll have to take it all down soon) and have taken pictures in our new Halloween costumes. Earlier this year Keegan had his heart set on being Aladdin. I loved the idea, I was so excited! Times changed and go figure, he HAD to be Troy Bolton from HSM. A while back I designed some pj's for him to look like Troy's basketball uniform. The costume he wanted is the same dang idea only made out of that cheap costume stuff. I found it on sale, so we got it. The problem with it was... we live in IDAHO. Given that we already have about 3 inches of snow on the ground as we speak, Halloween is not the time to be pulling out a skimpy short set. I put my creative powers to the test and "researched" Mr. Troy Bolton online and found a black and red track suit that he wears in one of the movies. So easy to personalize. I found a pair of black and red track pants and a black zip up jacket and went to work with my trusty iron on transfer paper and whipped up a TROY BOLTON costume better than anything we found online! (and guaranteed NOBODY else will have it!) He loves it! He's been wearing the jacket to school! I was all prepared for Nikkya to be Dora, or a Disney princess (she already has almost all the princess costumes!!) or even Gabriella from HSM since Keegan chose to be Troy. How wrong was I? She chose to be HANNAH MONTANA. Should have known. Hannah Montana costumes are so easy to find, but soooo never look like Hannah Montana. We picked one that says Hannah Montana across the front, so there wouldn't be any confusion, and we even found a HM hat/wig to match it! Those costumes are always so unflattering though aren't they!?!

Since we're on the subject of Hannah Montana... We went to the Miley Cyrus concert in SLC last week. If there is one thing that was made perfectly clear, it was that Hannah Montana is NO MORE. Of the 17 songs (There were supposed to be 19, but she cut 2 songs from the setlist because she had strep throat) only 4 were in any way Hannah Montana related... and she did her best to play them down as such. There was absolutely NO mention of Hannah Montana either during the show or in the merchandise and advertising. Hannah was only to be found on the tshirts and purses and wigs of all the little girls spending their parents' money to see her. I wouldn't go so far as to say the show was inappropriate for kids... but she made it clear with her costumes and dance moves that she's done with the Disney girl image and probably the next show won't be so much child friendly. With that said... she is a great performer!! Especially under the circumstances! She did run off stage sick during one of her songs, leaving the back up singers to finish it, and taking a 15 minute break, but finished the rest of the show like a trooper! (She cancelled her next show in Omaha, so we were happy she made it through!) Metrostation was fun! Nikkya loved them! She was up dancing and shaking it like a rockstar more through their show than Mileys! We had a great time! It was a fun experience, and Keegan was thrilled to go to a REAL concert with REAL rockstars! He was surprised how many songs he knows that Miley's brother (metrostation) sings! The weather was BEAUTIFUL when we left, we were so suprised when we returned to a land of SNOW AND ICE!

I've been watching my nephew for a few days recently, so I took a few pictures of him while I had him. He's a cute little guy!

We spent our last couple weekends of the late summer enjoying the local Drive In theater! The kids LOVE going to The Spud, and ask us what movie is playing every day when we drive by. One weekend they played Aliens In The Attic & My Sisters Keeper. The next weekend they played Shorts & The Time Travellers Wife. I love that they play a childrens movie followed by something Quintin & I can watch!! We just fold down the back seat in the SUV and the kids can go to sleep after their movie and Quintin and I get a mini date out of the deal! :)

September 2009

My baby girl turns THREE in less than a week!!

I can't believe how fast the last three years with her, and in this apartment, have flown by!

(we moved into this place 2 days before my little Princess was born!)

The Happiest Place On Earth!

Last week Quintin & I were questioning what to do for Labor day weekend. Of course there's always the EISF, but we didn't want to waste a lot of money there this year. We talked about camping, or driving to Mt. Rushmore like I've been wanting to do all summer. Quintin brought up the idea of going to Disneyland. It had crossed my mind a time or two, but I thought I knew how Quintin would feel about it so I never suggested it. We played with the idea until Friday morning when it was time to make a decision. On a whim we booked it to fly out the next morning bright and early and come home Tuesday night! I love so much that I married a man who shares my love for traveling, and for silly last minute vacations! :)

We had so much fun for such a thrown together occasion! I had such big plans for my kids' first trip to Disneyland. All of which flew out the window when we had less than 24 hours to be ready to go. We arrived in Long Beach by 8:30am and picked up our rental car. We got our choice between a PT Cruiser... or a Chevy that looks just like a PT Cruiser. Let me tell you... 4 people and luggage plus a sit and stand stroller don't fit in those little things as well as you'd imagine. It felt like a circus act actually. After we stuffed ourselved into our clown car we turned on our trusty GPS and headed for the beach. It was the kids' first sight of the ocean, and they were THRILLED! They loved running into the waves and picking up tiny seashells. I have a jar of seashells that Quintin & I collected on our honeymoon that Keegan loves to look at, so he was really excited to get some all his own! The look on their faces when they got their first taste of ocean water was priceless! Between the gagging and the surprise on their faces Quintin & I got a good laugh! When it was time to go, they became suddenly aware of the "load" they were carrying. In their swim suits that is. They had sand in places they didn't even know about! As much as they loved the beach, they weren't in a hurry to go back once they were out of the water and sitting on a sand dune.

By that time it was approaching afternoon, and we checked into our hotel and got cleaned up. Then it was off to Disneyland! The plan was to go and watch the parade and fireworks that first day, so the other 2 days we could stick to the rides. Scratch that. We rode a LOT of rides that first half day and had a BLAST! Nikkya fell asleep after a while which gave Quintin & Keegan the perfect opportunity to ride some rides she isn't quite tall enough for without her even knowing about it!

The next day we slept in and ate breakfast at Denny's at noon. Then we headed off to California Adventure! I had never been to the park, so it was new for all of us! We had a good time there, even if Keegan chickened out of Tower of Terror as it was their turn to get on the ride after waiting in line for 45 minutes! I don't think I would have gone on it at 5 years old, so I'm impressed he made it that far! After that park closed we went back over to Disneyland and got front row fireworks seats! We were so excited! What we didn't know is that they no longer close the sidewalk off to people walking in front. Nikkya loved seeing Tinkerbell fly through the sky and Dumbo gliding through the air! Disney fireworks truly are magical! :)

On our last day at the park we had big plans to get up early and beat the crowds (and the heat) to Fantasyland and Toontown, the two lands we hadn't yet explored due to the heavy afternoon traffic in them. We made it there late morning, but still did pretty well! We left that day well before dark and having rode pretty much all the rides! We took the monorail out of the park and into Downtown Disney to make our way out. The kids were SO sad to go.

The next morning we lounged at the hotel pool and then had lunch at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. Then we were off to return our circus car and catch our plane home. We arrived in SLC at 10:30pm and made it home about 4am Wednesday morning just in time for Quintin to get ready for work. I felt so bad for him! I drove the last couple hours home, but he was a trooper for the first 3 on his own while I napped! I picked a good guy! :) He loves us so much! I couldn't believe it was HIS idea to take off to Disneyland for a weekend! That's my kind of guy!

Keegan had school that morning (luckilly 5 year olds don't know the difference between a car and a bed when they're sleeping) and Nikkya and I woke up sick. Nikkya was HOT. I was so afraid it was her ears after the last incident with Keegan (we kept a lot of gum in his mouth this time around, and NO sleeping on the plane for him) and she had fallen asleep during the last 20 minutes or so of the flight home. But she never complained of anything hurting at all. She just slept ALL DAY. She was only awake a couple hours that day. By Thursday she was back to her cheery little self. Must have been heat exhaustion or something!? I'm glad it passed whatever it was.

Our August Update

Life, as usual, has not slowed down at our house!

Keegan recently started Kindergarten. So far he just loves it! We planned on taking him to school and picking him up everyday, but we sent him on the bus the first couple days so he'd know what he needed to do in case he ever needed to ride the bus. Now he wants to ride the bus all the time! He loves it! He has a red locker at school (just like Troy Bolton on High School Musical), he thinks that's pretty awesome! We were disappointed to see that none of the kids he went to preschool with were in his class... or even in the PM session. His two best little buddies from preschool have the same teacher as he does, but they go to the AM class. That's where we'd have liked to have been, but so does everyone I guess. It seems to be working out pretty well so far. Keegan likes to stay up late and sleep in late, so it's probably actually much better for HIM this way. Just not so great for any kind of a work schedule.

off to school - first day!
My baby is growing up! :(

Telling daddy about his day on the walk home from the bus stop.

Nikkya doesn't seem to mind Keegan being gone too much. At least not yet. I think she actually enjoys him being gone. She loves snuggling up to me and watching Dora with no brotherly interruptions for a few hours. I on the other hand don't know how much more Dora I can take, but I do love the snuggle time with my girl!

Keegan has been doing great in soccer! They had their first game last week, and he did amazing! For having never played the game before in his life, he's quite the little natural! He even scored the winning point!

The winning point!

We recently put an offer on a house in Shelley. They accepted our offer, but because of the terms it's not 100% yet. We can't close until the end of November, so in order for them to accept the offer we allowed them to keep taking offers on the house until mid-October. We LOVE the house, and we're really looking forward to moving back that way, so we're keeping our fingers crossed! I think we're all ready to get out of this little 3 bedroom apartment and into a nice spacious 5 bedroom home with a yard to run and scream and play all day! (they currently think my living room is a race track, so I would LOVE a place for them to release their energy! One of those extra rooms will make a fantastic playroom for those not so nice days Idaho is famous for.)

I took pictures for another wedding a couple weeks ago. A friend of ours got married in Soda Springs, a beautiful simple backyard wedding! I was so excited that she asked me to take pictures for them! Quintin took a few pictures with my old camera, and I have to say, he did a pretty dang good job! I think he even enjoyed it! :)

The kids & I went to SLC last month to take Quintin's mom to a Dr. appointment. As we were waiting I remembered that High School Musical had been filmed there. I pulled out the GPS and looked up the address of East High School. We were something like 1.8 miles away, so after the appointment we took the kids to see the school. Kya fell asleep on the way, so she stayed in the car with Grandma while we explored the school. Keegan LOVED playing basketball in the same gym as Troy Bolton, and seeing the cafeteria and other places where so many scenes from the movies were filmed! We took lots of pictures! It was a dream come true for Keegan! We had happened to stumble on a HSM basketball themed comforter set just a couple weeks before, so the pictures finished off his bedroom great! He loves it! While we were in SLC we also stopped at the Hogle zoo and had fun playing in the pool at the hotel!

My dad has been busy cutting grain. Keegan always looks forward to this time of year and going out to ride on the combine with Grandpa. This year was a first for Nikkya, but she was just as excited! I couldn't believe how long they wanted to ride!! They didn't want to leave! My dad just got the A/C fixed about a week before, and it quit again that afternoon, so it was like a sauna in there! That didn't stop them! I love that they want to spend time out there with my daddy!

My mom's side of the family had a reunion earlier this month. This year it was held at a river side event place in Rupert. I forget what it was called. It was such a pretty place! Unfortunately it was cold and rained the whole time we were there, but it didn't stop the kids or adults from playing in the river all weekend! I think everyone had a good time, but I miss the days when we'd all go up to Grandpas Ranch in wolverine. We always loved it up there, climbing up the mountain and watching the sunrise... there's just nothing else quite like it. I'm so glad Quintin was able to go up there with us a time or two before they sold it. It's now part of Broadmouth Canyon Elk Ranch.

Karaoke

dancin'

Uncle Mike's Trading Post

Uncle Justin & keegan kayaking

Daddy & kya jet skiing

Well, I guess that does it for this post.

I'm out...

"PEACE"

Out To Lunch

We've been busy lately!

Keira, Jace, Keegan, & Nikkya - Fathers Day Weekend

Quintin had a birthday! He's finally the big 25! Halfway to 50 as my kind sister would say! :) The kids and I worked really hard this year to surprise him with the brand new stainless steel BBQ grill he's been wanting! It's not easy hiding a huge grill (that was purchased in IF and didn't fit in my car) OR that much money from that man! Somehow we managed to pull it off and he loves his new grill!

Keegan finished up his T-Ball season. He loved playing! Now we're getting him signed up and ready for soccer to start! He's loving the warm weather we're finally getting, and wants to play on the monkey bars, play candyland, and eat slushies all day! At least he's finally getting a break from the darn wii! Now if we could get him to ride his bike without training wheels!! I think we made a mistake letting him ride the 4 wheelers before learning to ride a bike! He's such a good kid! He's hyper and excited, but he has such a sweet heart, and listens to us so well! He's an amazing big brother!!

Nikkya has been learning to love the trampoline, playing in the water, & still watching Dora every morning. We've been painting lots of toenails together this summer and reading Cinderella & Snow White (she won't even watch the movies). She's really into Jasmine (from Aladdin) & Rainbow Brite right now, so if we're not watching Dora, we're probably watching either one of those. We made a Rainbow Brite t shirt for her with iron on transfers, and she wants to wear it EVERY DAY! She's our independent little girl. She wants to dress herself, find her own meals, and pretty much rule the world! I have no idea what I'm going to do when that stinker is a teenager.

We wanted to take the kids to Disneyland this fall. We were informed by the royalty in the house however, that they'd rather see Miley Cyrus. So, instead we bought tickets to take them to see Miley Cyrus in concert in SLC this September. They both LOVE her! Keegan LOVES all the Disney "RockStars." Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens ...(of course he knows them all as Camp Rock girl, Wizards of Waverly Place girl, High School Musical people and/or Troy Bolton and Gabriella, and Hannah Montana) he just loves the whole rock star/COOL image they all portray. It's all "Hantana" and High School Musical for Nikkya though. She hasn't really gotten into the rest of them yet, but it's so cute to hear her running around the house with her microphone and barbie guitar singing HSM or Hannah Montana songs at TWO YEARS OLD! lol We get a kick out of that girl!

We took the kids to Idaho Falls for the 4th of July to watch the fireworks and eat dinner at Olive Garden! We had fun visiting with Tyler, Amber, & Micky, and loved the fireworks, but the kids got restless toward the end of the show. We usually buy a bunch of fireworks and light them off at Quintin's parents' house, but this year we decided to save the money and let somebody else do the work. We bought some sparklers & pop-its, and let each of the kids pick out 2 fireworks, and called it good!

A couple of my cousins from Arizona came to visit early this month! It was great to see Heidi and Holly! I hadn't seen them since my wedding 6 years ago, and my little flower girl Ashley has grown up a lot since those days! Keegan had a blast playing with his "desert cousins" Ashley, Carolynn, and Emily, and has been talking about them ever since!

I had the awesome chance to take pictures at a good friends wedding in June! It was awesome getting the opportunity not only to take pictures for my best friend through high school, but also just having the chance to do a low-stress wedding! She had another gal taking pictures as well, and it totally relieved the stress of getting or missing "the shot," while also giving me a great idea as to where my weaknesses fall. With that said, I got some good shots, and some not so great shots, and with the experience the amazing opportunity to photograph another wedding coming up in a couple weeks! I'm really excited about it, and my sweet husband has decided it's time to upgrade my camera to a real one! I think I'll be getting the Nikon D60 SLR. Anyone have any helpful advice in this area? I've always had a love for photography, and enjoy taking pictures whenever the opportunity presents itself, but I have been a little insecure about it when I compare myself most "photographers" I know. Everything I've figured out had been self taught and the result of lots of experimenting, so I'm constantly perfecting my technique. I'm ready now to dive in and get going and pursue photography a little further. My kids get a little tired of it, so I'm always willing to take on new victims! :) I've done a few little sessions recently, here's a snapshot from each of those.

Micky



Jacque, Victor, & Cameron

Quintin and I bought a new wii game called Active! WOW! That game seriously gives you a WORKOUT!! We're talking, 2 days later, and I still can't entirely walk. My legs are SOOO sore! This is no Wii Fit. (although it works WITH the wii fit board) This one works you out FOR REAL. No games, no breaks, just working it out. What we love about it is that we can work out together! Unlike the wii fit, this one has the option to split the screen and work out side by side with a friend! You have to buy the extra $20 expansion pack to get the extra gear, and it requires 1 wiimote, and 1 nunchuk per person, but it's totally worth it if you're looking for a good workout game and definitely don't want to join a gym and humiliate yourself! Try it! We love it!

Monday the 13th was an important day! It marks 1 year until Lisa will be home from her mission in Houston! We sure miss her! It was also the birthday of the newest member of the Stander family! Lance & Tasha welcomed 6lb 8oz, 19.5" long little Landon into the world about noon on Monday. Unfortunately the little guy has had some trouble keeping his oxygen levels up, so they're still resting at the hospital for now, but should be coming home tomorrow!

ConGRADulations Graduates!

Keegan graduated preschool on May 21 and we couldn't be more proud! Of course it's only preschool, but he's really excited to "graduate" the same year as his Uncle Justin graduated high school, and we're happy that he's so excited about SCHOOL! He can't wait for Kindergarten to start, he asks me almost every day when he gets to go back to school! Keegans graduation was really cute, he sat next to his 2 best preschool buddies Denver & Olivia (who "is NOT his girlfriend" he insists) and the class sang fun songs to all the parents before they received their diplomas. Keegans favorite songs were the Bear Hunt song, and Tootie-Ta.

Keegan & Olivia

The 3 Amigos

Accepting his diploma from his teacher, Miss Stephanie

Keegan & Nikkya just after graduation

Justin graduated high school on June 3rd! We were driving through some pretty crazy weather to make it (crazy marble size or larger hail forcing cars off the road), and walked into the building looking as if we'd just stepped out of the shower with our clothes on, but WE MADE IT! Keegan kept asking me when Justin was going to sing, and it took me a little bit to realize why he was asking! He thought EVERYONE sings at their graduation like HE did! We're really proud of both our graduates this year!

Keegan has been doing great with T Ball! He LOVES it! Its so funny to watch them playing! None of the kids seem to know what to do until somebody tells them what they need to do next! It's pretty entertaining to watch a bunch of kids running around with a confused look on their face and balls flying through the air! Nikkya loves going to watch and cheering for her big brother!

Team Picture

1st game, ready to play!

Running Home!

We went camping over Memorial weekend with some of Quintins family. The kids LOVED getting outdoors and getting dirty! Nikkya especially! She loved cruising around in her Barbie Jeep! We're hoping she'll finally be big enough for her 4 wheeler by the end of the summer! Keegan had a blast riding his 4 wheeler with his cousins, trying to learn to ride his bike with no training wheels, roasting Smores on the fire, and just running wild! It was a great (although wet) weekend, & we can't wait to get out and go camping again!

She thinks she's HOT STUFF

Almost got it!

That boy would live on his 4 wheeler if we'd let him!

We got rained out Saturday night!

Target Practice

Watching Daddy shoot

The 3 loves of my life!

Here & There, but mostly there.

FIRST of all...

Happy 6th Anniversary

to my amazing husband!

on May 10!

We've been all over the place lately, and I just haven't had a chance to sit down & update the blog to say how much I love him and how grateful I am for him for being there for me everyday, being my best friend when he'd probably like to turn and run away, and for being such a great daddy to our 2 crazy monsters! Just to top the list. We sure do love him! (look at those baby faces! We were YOUNG!)

I even love him so much that I accidentally jumped ahead of myself and told people in Orlando it's our 7th anniversary! lol Oops!

The truth is Quintin,

6 or 60...

you're the one I want to be beside me forever & ever

I Love You!!

Thanks for being the one to remind me just how many years we've kept this "fling" alive!

On a different note, we had a pretty great Easter! Of course we had lots of snow up here, so we had ourselves yet another indoor/apartment Easter egg hunt! Quintin & I have concluded since he's a bunny and all... next year the Easter Bunny will be bringing baby carrots in the eggs! Or at least a lot less candy. Maybe little toys or something? I can't believe how much we spent on CANDY only to end up taking it away from them (and throwing it away) when they reach the point that we're afraid they're going to go into a sugar induced coma. No seriously. I found a bag of Halloween candy just the other day I had hidden from one of the kids and forgotten... most probably NIKKYA. Keegan is pretty good about candy actually. He's smart! He knows it's not good for him, & he just never really had a huge sweet tooth! But he's also just very careful & protective about his teeth too. Kya on the other hand would survive merely on sugar if I'd allow it. That girl has candy literally hidden from me... at TWO YEARS OLD! I can't even comprehend her sugar addiction! I try to allow them to eat candy as they please on holidays, (they don't get much otherwise, FROM US anyway) but it NEVER fails I have to take it all away because Nikkya gets.........almost drunk or something off of it! I don't even know how to explain it!! She just gets all lethargic and her eyes look sunken in and slow to respond.... and she'll still have a mouth and two handfuls of candy ready to shove down the tube. I initially take only hers away because by this point Keegan still has MOST of his left... but at some point I ALWAYS have to take even his away because otherwise she gets into it. I feel bad that Keegan rarely gets to enjoy HIS because of HER addiction. What a pair they are! We compensated SOME this year by asking the Easter bunny to bring a couple wii games for Keegan to enjoy... HIS addiction.

Just a month after we left to Las Vegas with the kids, Quintin & I had a business conference in Orlando Florida for a few days! We were gone a total of TEN DAYS! I've never been gone that long before, and it was pretty hard leaving the kids for so long... hard for all of us actually. We extended the stay a few days to enjoy sunny Florida while we were there. We saw the first of only 2 armadillos seen the whole trip, as we left the Orlando airport the first day. I really wanted Quintin to get a good look at one, and I wanted to take a picture of one! They're such crazy looking little creatures! The conference went pretty great! We came home with a lot of information & material for work! It was however, exhausting! With the 2 hour time difference we ended up with little sleep. We had to be down to breakfast by 6AM every morning (4am home time) and the meetings went through 11pm each night(9pm home time). We of course then had to call home and check on the kids and whatever else we needed to do (like swimming in the hotels amazing pool one night!)... keeping us up most nights til at least 1:00 am. The hotel was pretty amazing though. We stayed in the Orlando World Center Marriott. The main pool (there are 6 total) was really cool, and really pretty, and our room had a balcony that overlooked part of the hotel golf course and had a pretty great view of the Disney fireworks at night! (though we were only around to see them the night we arrived)

the view out from our hotel balcony & part of the main pool area

Quintin at a work event.

After the conference we switched hotels (we're cheap like that) rented a car, and stayed in a Disney hotel! We felt pretty silly in the 101 Dalmatian themed room with 2 small beds, all to ourselves, but honestly it's the ONLY way to do things if you're going to spend time at Walt Disney World... which we did... for 4 days! lol We went to each of the 4 major parks within Disney over 4 days (I wanted more time so we could go to the water parks...but there was NO WAY) and we had a great time! It was Quintins first Disney experience, and he doesn't get all the hype... but I SO do! :) I LOVE DISNEY PARKS! I have to admit they don't hold the same magic they did for me as a kid, but they are definitely fun and a great way to re-live my childhood! I keep telling him it's just not as special to him as it is me, because he didn't get to go & feel the Disney magic as a kid. That's got to be the explanation, because I know I'm not crazy! lol Magic Kingdom is still my favorite, but I felt like Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM studios) and Epcot both went downhill since I was last there in 1991 as an 8 year old! They have their new additions to each park that are amazing, and worth the add... but they got rid of some classic amazing things that I had been looking forward to seeing again. Animal Kingdom didn't exist yet when I was last there, so it was fun to visit it and all in all it was okay... but I have no childhood experience to re-live there... so maybe that's why I didn't love it. I think my kids would have loved it! Downtown Disney was fun! I loved the vibe there and we stopped several times for dinner or shopping or something! We also went to the Cirque Du Soliel show at Downtown Disney. Totally disappointed. I LOVED the one we went to in NYC... this one... not so much. It had great reviews, and we recommended it to several people based on our NY experience, and are actually pretty embarrassed about it now!

Downtown Disney was exciting! I loved the atmosphere! We ate dinner at Planet Hollywood (we got a discount through our hotel and regretted even using it!) and a cool place called T-REX. If you've ever been to a Rainforest Cafe it's the same idea... just with dinosaurs and prehistoric surroundings. It was a fun little place to eat! Several other times we used our GPS to take us to Red Lobster (where we tried Lobster for the first time ever... and not really into it) or Outback Steakhouse. It was cheaper than eating in the parks or at the hotel, and was better food too!

I LOVE the Magic Kingdom and everything about it! I love the Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, Pirates of The Caribbean, Carousel of Progress, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan's Flight, Mickey's Phillarmagic 3-D show, & It's A Small World! I wanted to ride the Dumbo ride... but with Quintins help I was able to control my urge! haha I also LOVE the fireworks show! For lunch we got 2 hot dogs, shared a drink, a snack size bag of chips and a little bowl of fruit from a little stand for a whopping $30!!! Ouch!! Dinner went better. We found a little sit down place and had a couple really good burgers and our own drinks for about $20. We figured out pretty quick where to find a good deal on good food!

In front of the Tree Of Life at Animal Kingdom

On the Kilamanjaro Safari

Part of the Finding Nemo Musical

One thing I wish I'd known going into Animal Kingdom is that it's a place to SEE... not to DO. Quintin's favorite ride of the whole trip was in this park (clearly Disney financial scheming to get people to this park). It's called Expedition Everest! It was INSANE. 10 years ago I would have LOVED it... but my old motherly body can't take things like this as well now days. Its a crazy coaster that goes through a mountain (not at all like the Matterhorn like I'd thought it'd be) before reaching the end of the track and starting backwards down the hill and plunging into darkness twisting and turning. I'm still waiting for my head to catch up with me. Dinosaur was a fun one, and Kali River Rapids LOOKED fun (think Rattlesnake Rapids at Lagoon... we didn't want to get wet), and the Safari was ok although a lot of the animals were hiding. My favorite part of this park was The Lion King show, the Finding Nemo Musical, and the exploration trails! We got to see cool animals through the trails. A Komodo Dragon, an Anteater, vampire bats, etc We ate at a place called Flame Tree BBQ for lunch, it was pretty good and pretty cheap, and had a really pretty view, as long you don't mind dining with the ducks! :)

Epcot was a little disappointing I guess. I remember it being SO futuristic and cool to explore. I guess the world caught up to the future, because it didn't seem that way AT ALL. We had a good time on some of the rides though! Test Track was really fun! Quintin liked Mission:Space & Soarin' a lot. Spaceship Earth was still pretty cool, and Ellen's ride (I forget the name of it) was....interesting. Good idea... but unfortunate execution of the idea. At least in todays world. I took a nap on that one, but we only rode it just to pass the time in an air conditioned place until the fireworks were going to start! The Nemo ride was cool, and the Manatees were...big fat blobs with teeny flippers. They are what they are I guess! We were at Epcot during the Flower & Garden Festival, so they had some pretty cool plants displayed around the park! We at lunch at a little mexican restraunt in "Mexico" with fairly decent food... but you couldn't take your eyes off your plate or the birds were all over it. Literally. A little boy got swarmed with birds while his mom went to get napkins. It was sad!




The sorcerers hat is the "new" (new since I was there 17 years ago) icon at Disney Hollywood Studios. BTW, the fact that I can recall something that happened 17 years ago makes me sick!! I personally like the old school mickey mouse ears water tank! Some of my best 8 year old Florida memories were in this park! This time around it was just hot and a little frustrating trying to get to everything ONLY because this park is in good part SHOWS, not RIDES... so to try to coordinate getting to the right show at the right time gets to be a lot of hassle. Some of our favorite rides were in this park though! We LOVED Aerosmith Rock N Roller Coaster!! Tower of Terror was awesome!! Even Toy Story Mania was a lot of fun! They were all new to both of us so they were exciting! We also went to the Lights Motors, Action! stunt Show and really enjoyed it! The backstage tour I LOVED as a kid though is now needless to say... LAME. Totally redone and totally a waste of your time. I loved taking Quintin through the Honey I Shrunk the Kids park thing, we spent a lot of time there as kids, and the Star Tours ride is an old favorite! Because of the show timing issue we didn't make it to see the Indiana Jones stunt show or the Beauty & The Beast show that I loved as a kid. We could have had time... but we were sick of hurrying around waiting for our next show to start... so we cut the day short and lounged at the hotel the rest of the ridiculously hot afternoon. We were Disney'd out by this point.

One of our favorite things during our visit was an airboat swamp tour ride with Spirit Of The Swamp tours! It was incredible! We got to see gators in their natural environment, and the beauty of the swamp is breathtaking! WE LOVED IT and totally recommend Spirit of the Swamp to EVERYONE visiting the Orlando area! They made the tour very personal by providing a smaller airboat (meaning, no strangers on board to interrupt YOUR tour) instead of the big commercial ones the other companies use, they stopped ANY time we wanted to take a picture of ANYTHING, answered every question we threw at them (and gave us other good info in between!), and they had cool little headsets so we could all communicate on the boat! Not to mention they offered to take pictures of us on the boat with our own camera instead of trying to sell us something or using a lame green screen like most attractions do!! If you're ever in the area, don't miss them!


sitting in the captains seat for a picture

An Alligator!!

The swamp!

Quintin & I enjoying the ride!

We also went to Kennedy Space Center our last day. It was fun, but also... not like I remembered it! We saw quite a few gators there, (one of them while we were just driving down the road even!) a few turtles, and not one darn armadillo. (We saw lots of them at KSC when I was a kid) It was a cool experience though. We were there just a few days before Atlantis launched to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, so it was neat to see the launch pad with something ON it, especially where this was a pretty significant launch being the last, as the shuttle program will be retired in 2010 and replaced by the new Orion spacecraft! It seems hard to believe my kids will grow up in a space shuttle-less world! I wish I'd gotten a t shirt or SOMETHING! I did get Keegan a toy shuttle though, so that will have to do!

After we left KSC we drove to Cocoa Beach and played in the big blue Atlantic ocean! (another first for Quintin) The beach was another major highlight of the trip! It was a really clean, nice, beautiful beach! We want to go back! We didn't get much time there, and wished we had at least a full day to spend playing on the beach. That night back in Orlando, on the way to dinner, we saw an armadillo, a raccoon, and a turtle by the road (totally alive, not road-kill mom) within about a minute of each other! No pictures though, we'd left the camera at the hotel.

We had a great time in Orlando, but wished there was a way for our kids to be there with us, and we're SO happy to get home to them, & to sleep in our own bed TOGETHER! We can't wait to take the kids to Disneyland in CA! Hopefully next summer?

*if anyone needs tips on visiting Disney & how to save money there... let me know!

Just before we left I came down with my first ever kidney infection. I don't love the experience, but I must say it's not as bad as a kidney STONE! Nevertheless, I still have the stubborn thing despite 14 days of antibiotic 4X a day. And a sinus infection has recently joined in on the fun of destroying my immune system! Eventually I'd like to return to work... but my body seems to say otherwise.

Keegan graduates preschool next week! Just one more day of school left! :( My little boy will be in kindergarten soon! It's been a great experience for him, he loves going to school! He can't wait for kindergarten to start, but says he's going to miss his preschool. He also plays in his first ever T-Ball game tomorrow! Practice went really well, he seems to be a natural! Good luck Keegs!