Magic Kingdom

Animal Kingdom

Disney World part 1

Loud and Proud we entered the state of Fl the day of the Tn vs Fl game and you better believe we had our orange on!


We began planning our trip about nine months ago. If you know me at all, this is completely normal. I wanted everything to be perfectly planned. I read the books, Googled, talked with several families that had already made the trip and started making the reservations. Like I said, everything had to be perfect. Well, after speaking to a few other moms one of the pieces of advice I really took to heart was "have no expectations, and your trip will be magical". SERIOUSLY?? I started praying that night that I would let go of my perfectly planned trip and let God do the planning..sounds ridiculous..I know :) I felt anxious, nervous, sick to my stomach for the next 6 months. Why am I like this??!! The week before school I was considering keeping my kids home so they wouldn't pick up any little virus lurking around their classrooms. I prayed about it..and once again God reminded me that I am not in control and they are his children. And..I thought I will never get anything accomplished with them home! Note to readers: Ava was diagnosed with strep throat 3 days before we left...yes, I spent every night up until we left anticipating J.Riley's symptoms to pop up. UGH!! Just a little reminder from the Lord!

The only thing the kiddos knew before school on Friday was that we were going on vacation. I got the privilege of announcing our surprise to them on Friday at breakfast. Unfortunately Brent had an early morning case so we caught it on video for him! So fun!!!

We decided to rent a mini van for this long road trip. More room, DVD player, navigation system..all the obvious reasons:) and the fact that no one I knew would see me actually driving the van:) was a plus! We packed up on Friday, picked the kids up from school and got on the road. Of course we had plenty of goodies to keep the babes entertained. I backed them each a Disney backpack with things like Slinkys, color wonder books, dry erase boards, snacks, figurines, flashlights..ect. We made it just outside of Savannah with relatively no problems. On Saturday we finished up the rest of the trip and pulled into our resort a little after lunch. Our Disney vacation had officially begun! Just one last surprise...My parents would be joining us!

We had such a wonderfully busy time! We saw everything! Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Fireworks shows, Laser shows, Meals with Characters and even managed to squeeze a little R and R at the pool. This will definitely be one of our most memorable trips as a family. AND NO, not everything went as planned and J.Riley did get strep throat the fist night we were there BUT it all worked out and we had an amazing time!

I do this blog for my children so I am going to post pictures with little things that I remember under them. Although, I have a feeling they will not need this post to re capture the memories!

Real Life

Future Olympians

I think not! Ha! My sweet girl is finally old enough to participate in a sport that is dear to my heart. I remember the day she was born, day dreaming that she would be in love with Gymnastics throughout her child her just as I was. I grew up in the dance studio as well as in the gym. It was something that I was never amazingly talented at but that I loved to be a part of. I loved the feeling of working hard on a skill and finally perfecting it. I loved being a part of team of girls. I loved bouncing and flipping and showing off. Here is a list of the reasons both my children are enrolled in their very first gymnastics class! Both my kids are in love! They are doing so well. Even though I only have pictures of Ava, J.Riley is doing particularly well. He has mastered the cartwheel after just three classes!

10 Reasons to Get in the Gym

1) Develop coordination
2) Develop flexibility
3) Develop strength and power
4) Learn to listen and follow directions
5) Gain self-esteem and confidence
6) Social interaction with peers
7) Learn to set goals
8) Learn fundamentals of movement
9) Develop skills to enhance other sports
10) It’s FUN!!

First day of Pre-K and 3's (August 9, 2010)

More Pink!

Pinkalicious!

My sweet baby girl, is truly no longer a baby! She is 3! I can't believe how fast she has grown up. She has brought so much fun, joy and happiness to our lives. Ava Kate, we love you so very much and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for you!

* Loves anything Tinkerbell or princess related.
* Tells us that she is "not Ava, she is Tinkerbell"
* Rides a bike
* has become a fantastic swimmer
* Loves to have her toe nails painted
* Enrolled in Gymnastics class for the first time
* Gets REALLY upset when she has a "wedgie"
* immediately strips the minute we walk in the door to put on some sort of dress up enable on.
* Refers to herself as "little mommy" when she is playing with her babies.
* Extremely independent :0
* Not interested in anything on TV
* Refuses to learn her ABC's (we see tutoring in her future) :)
* Cautious
* obsession: GUM

These are just some things I wanted to record for myself. These are the things that I don't want to forget.

Grandfather Mountain

The kids and I had the privilege to spend two nights with our friends the Springer's at their family mountain home. We try to make this trip happen once a summer. It is always one of the most relaxing times of the summer for me.I enjoy being surrounded by God's awesome creation..country club style of course :) Insley and j.Riley play really well together and the little girls just love to tag along. It seems if it rains or if the sun shines brightly we manage to have fun at the lake. The first day we had lots of clouds and we just knew it was going to just down pour on us. It never did! The kids swam, played in the sand, played board games, ate a delicious lunch and even got to roast smores. Margo and I had great girl time over some bubbly of course! The next day Miss Valda and her sweet girl Lula joined in on the fun! Valda even swam to the trampoline with my kids ( because their Mama sure wasn't getting in that cold water!) She has two new fans!

We had a small scare at the lake that day. A father could not find his son and really thought he was at the bottom of the lake. It was one of those moments where your heart goes to your stomach. It ended up the little boy was out on a paddle boat but definitely made me squeeze my little ones a little bit tighter that night.

Thanks you sweet Springer's for inviting us to have such a wonderful time! We love you and we are so blessed to call you our friends!

3 strikes and you're out!

Tonight we enjoyed some local fun! We attended a Greenville Astros baseball game. The Astros are a rookie league team in our area. We got to enjoy the game and some yummy food in a nice suite box thanks to our friend Clay! The kiddos had a blast..when there is popcorn there is fun! The Pioneer Park is a beautiful minor league field. Not only was this J.Riley and Ava's first game other then t-ball, but their one and only daddy is actually a former player for the Astros. Brent was drafted by the Astros in 2002 and played with them when they were located in Martinsville. Unfortunately none of the coaches that he played for are still with the team. It was a great family outing, we can't wait to do it again next season!

Lake Days

Brent decided to take some vacation days this week. And he thought he was in for some rest and relaxation, HA! We sure have stayed busy. J.Riley started his first week of swim lessons, we saw a great children's singer at the library on Thursday, three birthday parties this weekend, an afternoon on the lake and DollySplash! Whew! We did manage to get out for a date night as well!

This was J.Riley's first time out on the tube alone. He did great! we are thinking maybe ski's next year :) Ava loves to just cruise around The lake, snacking helping her papaw drive the boat. We are so thankful that papaw invites the "tornado" out for some water fun every once in awhile. We really are excited that our kids have the opportunity to grow up with such awesome water toys! We hope they continue to have a love of the water!