Lost and found

Good news, the camera has been found. Someone turned it in and the people at Disney mailed it to us and we should have it back in 5 to 7 days. So look for pictures from the trip next week.

Disney and smiles, always go together

This is a long post of our trip to DISNEY WORLD

DAY ONE (Tuesday)
Travel to Orlando on two different planes with three children. They all did really well (thanks for all the tips, play dough and silly putty worked the best) J had a visit to the doctor on Monday before we left and so he was pretty drugged up for the trip there.

DAY TWO (Wednesday)
Animal Kingdom was the park visited today. The kids loved all the animals and K2 had a blast in Dinosaur Town. We saw the Nemo show, road the new Everest roller coaster and even watched a parade. S got her face painted like an Indian princess, she was very happy about the way it turned out.

Day Three (Thursday)
Magic Kingdom is always a joy. Dumbo was the ride of choice today. J said again after every ride he did. We had a character breakfast at the 1900 cafe and the food was fantastic, but the characters kept passing right by us and another table. After several complaints we left. The kids seemed ok with us leaving and going back to ride more rides. S was a little scared on splash mountain and they both refused to ride thunder mountain. The rain hit late tonight.

DAY FOUR (Friday)
It was a rainy day at Epcot.We traveled the world today and the kids discovered all the Kidcot stops for arts and crafts in each country. This was great because it made the kids excited to stop at each country. We had a great lunch in Germany and even a great show. My wonderful in-laws took the kids back to the hotel and K1 and I had dinner alone and rode a couple rides before heading back to the hotel. Although it was raining off and on, it was a great day.

Day Five (Saturday)
Still rainy, but off to Hollywood Studios. The new ride there is Toy Story Mania. This ride is awesome for all ages. We rode it at least three times, it is a 3-D adventure of shooting at targets and getting point, almost like the Buzz Lightyear ride at Magic Kingdom. We saw the Indiana Stunt Show, Beauty and the Beast stage show, which had J clapping and dancing. Tower of terror, which the kids refused to ride. S said she heard me screaming and she knew it was scary. I can not help it, it makes me scream every time I ride it. We saw the fireworks at night and headed to bed rather late.

DAY SIX (Sunday)
It was our day of rest as well. No parks today, we went to lunch at the Whispering Canyon at the Frontier Lodge and had a blast. This is a very family friendly restaurant. The kids get to ride stick horses around and loud is welcome. We walked around the grounds and caught a bus back to our hotel for nap time. About 20mins after returning home, K1 asked me for the camera, so he could charge it and I realized I did not have it and I left it on the bus. We called the lost and found and they said it would take about 30mins to contact all the buses and we need to call back.

DAY SEVEN (Monday)
Still no camera. I am just so sad about loosing all the pictures we have taken. We went back to Magic Kingdom for a couple hours and then to Hollywood Studios and finally to Epcot for dinner and a great choice of sweets in France and the fireworks show one last time. We kept checking all day, but still no camera had been turned in.

DAY EIGHT (Tuesday)
Time to check out and head back to reality. We went back to the airport and started our trip home. the kids did really well and people even made comments on how well they did.

I am glad to be home and get the kids back on schedule. Overall our trip was fantastic. We lost 2 pacifier's, ! camera, and used all the wipes and had to buy more for the trip home. K2 was up at 5:40am today and is currently napping. I only had 2 loads of laundry to do because we had a washer and dryer in our room. The suitcases are already empty and we are now getting ready for Halloween.

Hopefully the camera will return and I will be able to show you pictures.

HI HO HI HO

It is off to Disney World we go. Our family planned this trip back in March. We have been threatening our children for 7 months, if you don't behave you will not go. As Aunt Bonnie said " it is now time to follow through with the plan". My dad and step-mom have been gracious enough to let us use their Disney points to stay on property and K1's parents are coming along to help and have fun themselves and my mom and step-dad even gave the kids Christmas money early so they could buy something they really want. (within reason of course) I hope my kids know what great grandparents they have and will truly appreciate them someday.

So we leave on Tuesday and I am looking for any ideas you may have to keep three kids busy on the plane ride their. I will have the DVD player, some never before seen sticker books and the uno game. Any other suggestions would be helpful. I know S can only do so much of her homework before she will tell me she is bored.

We are packing and doing laundry and some are even bike riding, in the hopes that I will pack for him. We have also been fighting our first colds of the season, glad it happened before we left. So as usual this trip is well needed and deserved.

I will post once we return with all our adventures and possibly even mis-adventures.

Trip to Zion

I am finally getting around to posting pictures from our family's annual Zion trip.
K1 and his family have been doing this trip for 17 years now. Family and friends gather for a weekend of hiking. Over the years the hikes have changed to accommodate children. We usually do a family friendly hike on Friday and then a more serious hike on Saturday. We take turns watching children, so everyone that wants to can go. We use to camp and that has changed to renting a home, although once the kids are old enough we want to return to camping.

This year was a little different though. We took our trip without one family member. The one who is always out front and leading the way, she did this in life and in death. Sharon was on every one's mind and talked about often this year. K1 even said S reminded him of Sharon on some of the hikes. S wore her aunt's old hat and soon took on the role of leading everyone and telling the younger kids she was in charge. (and none of them complained) We also had some poor weather for the Saturday hike and had to cancel it. We took the kids on the shuttle bus (aka fun bus, according to J) and did some smaller hikes in the rain. Overall it was a great trip and the kids look forward to next year.

Here are some pictures of the trip.

Kids say the darndest things

So the refrigerator guy came today and K2 watched him move the refrigerator and this is what happened next;
K2: "mommy, that man is really strong"
Me: "your right K2 he is"
K2; "it is because he is fat, fat, fat...(I stopped him)
Me: "we don't talk that way"

I am so embarrassed, and know the man is right behind me listening, because K2 doesn't talk quietly. So the man ordered the part needed and told me he would be back on Friday to install it. I hope it goes better on Friday, Good news though is that, the part is covered by the warranty. YEAH!!!

Having trouble?

Have any of you ever had trouble with your appliances? How about the same one twice in 2 months? When we moved into this house there was a side by side refrigerator. We had it replaced because the freezer side hit the wall and you couldn't open it all the way. We got a freezer on bottom in August of 2004. August of 2007 the freezer stopped working and it came down to the electronic board having to be replaced. In August 2008 the whole thing stopped cooling and freezing, this time it was the overload system. Not two months later we are at it again, this time the compressor is shot. At least this time the company has to pay for it, but we have to go through there repair person. I talked to customer service yesterday and the earliest they could get to me was Tuesday the 14th. I explained that this is my refrigerator and I need it fixed sooner. They then gave me a couple numbers of other repair people to call on my own to see if they could get it fixed sooner. So I have a repair person coming today between 3-6pm to hopefully fix it. I am highly disappointed with my Amana fridge and the customer service I have received from them. Whirlpool bought Amana and the service is still bad. I have been dealing with them since last year and it is the same story every time. Then to top it off, my washing machine is having problems. i guess it didn't like all the attention the refrigerator was getting. I spend at least 2 days a week with this thing, always filling and refilling it with clothes, you think that would be enough. What does it want from me? I hope all of you have a great relationship with your appliances.

The Big 40

K1 is 40 today. He has done so many things in life and has accomplished much. I am so glad to have him in my life and to share a wonderful family together. Hope you have a greaet day and you don't look a day over 35.