Summer Fun!

Spending time with my grandparents once a week!

Learning how to climb trees - and be completely serious about it!

Visiting the rose garden at Julia Davis Park

Going to the zoo with friends

Sparklers on the 4th

Rhett's blanket babysitter - it was great while it lasted!

Our Newest Addition!

So - if you know me well you know that I LOVE antiques! They intrigue me and I think it comes from my LOVE of history. I look at each piece like it has a story of it's own and I feel proud that I get to have them displayed in my home. Ever since I've been married I have wanted a piece of antique furniture but our meager income did not allow for such frivolities so I put that dream on hold for what I imagined would be a LONG time. I do have little antiques laying around that I love dearly, mostly my collection of antique books - all of which I hope to read one day. And some of my most precious heirlooms from my grandparents and great-grandparents such as a few antique trunks, some teacups and an old milk box. I love looking for new things to add to my collection but time doesn't present itself with many opportunities for me to go around looking for as some would say "old junk".

However, on Saturday Jeremy and I had a rare opportunity to go look at an antique store. My kids were at my sister's apartment and we were in Boise to pick some relatives up from the airport. We had some time to kill and an antique store was first on my mind of places that I wanted to go. Luckily, I married someone who appreciates antiques as well, probably not as much as I do but he does enjoy antiques which I'm grateful for. We had a fun time looking through all of the old stuff when towards the end of our journey through the wonderland of history we ran across an antique pump organ. My eyes caught it immediately - it was so cool looking and fun. I had never seen anything like it before. That's when Jeremy pointed out that it was only $149 and my heart skipped a beat. I was hooked - I had to have it. I suddenly became giddy and excited and constantly letting Jeremy in on how much fun it would be to have it and where I would put it and that I really, really wanted it. The look on his face gave him away and I knew that my excitement had spread to him and that we were going to leave this antique store with a late 1800s pump organ. I could not tell you how much fun it was to be spontaneous - as we were driving away we looked at each other and I was just beaming and he said "Do you have any buyer's remorse?" And the funny thing was that I didn't. On big purchases like that I usually do have a little bit of remorse because I always wonder if it was the right thing. But strangely this time I waited for that feeling and it didn't come - even for him which is extremely rare. The bottom line was we enjoyed ourselves and had more fun together than we have in a long time. I will cherish the memory of this outing forever and I really can't put my finger on the reason why because it's not that I have a new piece of antique furniture - it was something more. I think that after almost 9 years of marriage we can still make each other laugh, be giddy together, have fun, be spontaneous and truly enjoy each other's company - just the two of us and I guess I just feel so blessed that our marriage has been so great. And I can tell you that even now with this new piece of furniture in our house I still do not have buyer's remorse. I LOVE it!!! The pictures below do not do it justice - you'll just have to come over so I can gloat over my new treasure.

Any names?

O.K. - I'm in need of a name for my Kindergarten blog that I'm going to be starting on soon. I need something cute and catchy. Hopefully some of you can help me out.

Day 8 - Magic Kingdom

Day 8 - Magic Kingdom

This day was sadly our last! We had a blast making it through Magic Kingdom again and doing all of the things that we missed doing the first time. We enjoyed riding on the Dumbo ride, standing in long lines to meet the characters and enjoying a romp through Tom Sawyers Island. It was a wonderful day. I wish that I had more to post but our trip ends here - I am even a little bit sad to post this last day. We had so much fun on this vacation and look to return to Disneyworld sometime soon.

Addison and Tinkerbell
Waiting in line for the Barnstormer

Yo! Ho! Yo! Ho! A Pirate's Life for Me!

Tom Sawyer's Island

Addison and her favorite princess - Sleeping Beauty!

These pumpkins would make really cool jack-o-lanterns at Halloween. It would have been fun to borrow one from Mickey!

Rhett and Daddy in Mickey's House

Rhett finally got the hang of what to do on the rides! Scream!

Addison on the Dumbo ride

Mary Poppins and Addison

Getting ready to drive like a maniac with Daddy

Apparently you have to be a King to pull the sword from the stone - nice try though Addie!
Bye-Bye Disneyworld - We hope to return real soon!

Memories, Moments and Miscellaneous!

* We stood in line for see the Disney princesses for 20 min. and we waited to see the Fairies for 90 min. with Addison about ready to pee her pants. I'm seriously surprised that we made it without an accident.

* No one should go to Disneyland without having an adventure on Tom Sawyer's Island. It's so much fun - great caves, mines, bridges, streams, and forts to explore.

* I enjoyed pushing a double stroller through all of the Disney shops - Just kidding!

* Jeremy had to end the vacation with a bang and he decided to lose the keys to our rental car this time. They must have just fallen out of his pocket sometime during the day. And so, we piled the kids in my parents rental but they couldn't leave because we had Rhett's carseat in our car and Jeremy and I made our way back to Magic Kingdom by way of trolley car and the monorail, found the Courthouse where the Lost and Found must be and the lady at the desk looked in the back and came out with - low and behold - our car keys. Amazing!! I'm encouraged to report that Disneyworld does not disappoint in the Lost and Found department - incredible!

* All in all this vacation was fantastic - a little too short but so much fun!

Day 7 - Epcot

Day 7 - EPCOT!!!



This day was different than the rest. It wasn't really an amusement park but rather a park that you walk around and experience music, food, shopping and culture of different countries. Epcot has always been very interesting to me and even though we were there for an entire day we did not come close to seeing everything there was to see. Maybe next time!

Trolls in Norway!

Addison with her new pink parasol that Mimi bought her in France!

Posing with Jasmine and Aladdin!

Hot guy in Moracco!

Together in France!

Gotta love those little red phone booths!

Family pic inside the mouth of Bruce from "Finding Nemo"

Addison and Stitch

Addison and Daisy Duck

Getting ready to watch "The American Experience" and apparently Addison is pretty excited about it.

Memories, Moments and Miscellaneous!

* The Aquarium was probably one of the highlights of this day. We were able to see dolphins, sharks, ride on the Nemo Ride, talk with Crush the turtle from Nemo and enjoy various fishtanks.

* We were able to sample Coke from around the world at the Coca-Cola store which was fun for my Dad. Our favorite was the Coke from China - it had a watermelon flavor to it.

*In one day we visited Canada, France, Moracco, Japan, China, Great Britain, Germany, Norway and Mexico - we were exhausted! Ha!

* We experienced another amazing thunderstorm during the light show at Epcot. God definately outdid them in the fireworks department. It was kind of fun!

Day 6 - Cocoa Beach

Day 6 - Cocoa Beach

This day was a day of sleeping in, relaxation and an hour drive to the coast to swim in the Atlantic. It was a perfect day for it - the weather wasn't too excruiating and there was a slight breeze that made cooling off very easy and refreshing. The water was warm and we had a lot of fun playing in the waves. Addison loved it and Rhett enjoyed eating the sand. After the beach we came back to the rental house and swam in the pool and enjoyed a relaxing evening with the family.

Addison with her seashells

Building sandcastles

Mimi and Rhett

Papa Doug and Addison

Rhett enjoyed the sand a little too much!

Memories, Moments and Miscellaneous!

* As we were heading out to the coast Jeremy ended up backing into another car in the street. Needless to say the next hour was spent exchanging insurance cards, calling the rental car companies and yes - even a police officer arrived at the scene. I wish we would have gotten pictures of it. Jeremy was devastated that he made such a silly mistake he just didn't see the car in the road - and in his defense she wasn't supposed to be "parked" in the road either.

* The beach was beautiful and I thought I had been sprayed with sunscreen but apparently due to the slight breeze it must have gone right past me cuz I was burnt!

* Spending time in our rental house pool was a highlight of our vacation for sure - many laughs persued when we ALL dove in and enjoyed the refreshingly cool water and many conversations were had as we sat in the hottub soaking our tiresome feet.

Day 5 - Animal Kingdom

Day 5 - Disney's Animal Kingdom

This day was probably my most favorite. From the amazing ride "Expedition Everest" to the lush green jungles trails and experiencing an African Safari that made you feel like you really were in Africa was just amazing. The weather also decided to cool down a bit which made the day outside a lot more enjoyable. We had tons of fun!

Addie w/ Donald Duck

Addie w/ Mickey Mouse

Eating Dinner during a massive Thunderstorm - it was pretty cool!

The boys along the jungle trail!

Bat santuary - this was creepy!

Jeremy and Rhett!

Getting ready for the "It's Tough to be a Bug" 3D show

Ginormous Gorilla!

Standing next to a footprint of "The Yeti" - I believe!

Memories, Moments and Miscellaneous!

* The weather finally cooled a few degrees but it was still hot

* Addison got scared on the Dinosaur ride

* The "Finding Nemo" musical show was AMAZING!!!

* Disney's new ride "Expedition Everest" was the most amazing roller coaster I have ever been on - remind me to tell you about it!!

* The layout of Animal Kingdom was very well done and provided lots of shade and gorgeous scenery.

* We sat through a torrential downpour during dinner and a huge thunderstorm - it was very cool!

* My mom forgot her purse at the outdoor restaraunt and we ran back to see if it was still there. The cleaning lady had taken it and luckily it was still at the restaraunt. Close call!

Day 4 - Islands of Adventure

Day 4 - Universal's Islands of Adventure

This day was so much fun!! It was full of awesome roller coasters, water fountains and plenty of water rides - we were pretty much soaked the entire afternoon but it felt nice with the heat.

Addison meeting Spiderman

Dr. Suess Ride

Addison loved Dr. Suess Land

One of many water rides - Addison is already soaked!

Just got off the ride RipSaw Falls - kind of like Splash Mountain only you get a lot more wet!

Attempting to dry off after riding the Bilge Rat Barges in which every ounce of water that came into the boat when right on mom - it was SOOO funny!

This is the only roller coaster to ever make my stomach a bit queasy! THE HULK!

Water! Water! Water!

Memories, Moments and Miscellaneous!

* Today was another hot one! and Humid

* I wish we could have spent more time in Dr. Seuss Land - it was sooo adorable and fun!

* I don't think I've been so soaked in regular clothes and not minded since the last time I visited this place - 7 years ago.

* Derek lost his Mickey Mouse flip-flops on Dr. Dooms FearFall and had to walk around the hot pavement barefoot until he found a store that sold flip-flops. He ended up purchasing a Dr. Suess pair - one of them being Thing 1 and the other Thing 2. - HA!

* We were bummed that the Green Eggs and Ham restaraunt was closed for the day.

* The Spiderman ride is one of the most incredible rides I've ever been on.

* The waiting line for the Dueling Dragons roller coaster was inside a Medieval Castle and it reminded me how much I want to live in one. I told Jeremy that he needed to build one for me in the country.